Every Wednesday, Stateside Associates will feature energy-related legislative, regulatory, and federal programs impacting state and local public policies and proceedings, including upcoming Groups events, activities, and conversations in This Week in Energy.
For more information on our Energy Practice, please contact Taylor Beis.
LEGISLATIVE, REGULATORY and LOCAL UPDATES
LEGISLATIVE HIGHLIGHTS
CALIFORNIA
The Assembly Local Government Committee will hold a hearing on June 26 regarding SB 1418. This measure requires every city, county, or city and county to adopt an ordinance that creates an expedited, streamlined permitting process for hydrogen-fueling stations. This measure authorizes the city and/or county to refer to recommendations contained in the current version of the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permitting Guidebook or the Hydrogen Station Permitting Guidebook. This measure requires the ordinance to include a checklist of all requirements that hydrogen-fueling stations must comply with for an expedited review.
Contact: Maxwell Klein
The Senate Appropriations Committee will hold a hearing on July 1 regarding the following:
- AB 1918: This measure provides a building is exempt from current standards requiring residential and commercial buildings to be solar-ready or have photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems installed if the building is within the service territory of a public utility district that receives its electricity from carbon-free sources.
Contact: Ian Thompson - AB 2427: This measure requires the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development to develop a model permitting checklist, model zoning ordinances, and best practices for permit costs and permit review timelines to help local governments permit curbside charging stations as part of the office’s development of the Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permitting Guidebook or any subsequent updates.
Contact: Maxwell Klein
The Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee will hold a hearing on July 1 regarding the following:
- AJR 18: This measure urges the Congress of the United States to prioritize its obligation to provide a home to spent nuclear fuel. This would include recommending Congress take action to implement revisions to the federal Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982.
Contact: Ian Thompson - SB 934: This measure requires the Transportation Agency and State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to convene an interagency Zero-Emissions Freight Central Delivery Team for statewide emissions freight infrastructure planning and implementation.
Contact: Maxwell Klein - SB 1374: This measure requires the Public Utilities Commission to ensure any contract or tariff for renewable energy net metering on a single property or multiple meters meets the following standards: (1) Allowing eligible customer-generators to aggregate electric loads of the meters to determine onsite consumption from renewable energy production; (2) Allowing eligible customer-generators to determine the percentage of total generation given to each account; (3) Each account's portion of generation must be subtracted from the account's consumption every 15 minutes for billing; (4) Customers must be compensated at a rate no less than a utility's avoided cost for excess generation.
Contact: Ian Thompson
The Senate Business, Professions, and Economic Development Committee will hold a hearing on July 1 regarding the following:
- AB 2559: This measure requires GO-Biz to create and maintain a publicly accessible internet website that contains a landing page with functionality to collect information and report delays and denials regarding all applicable forms of permitting for zero-emission vehicle infrastructure.
Contact: Maxwell Klein - AB 2453: This measure prohibits, until January 1, 2028, requiring electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) to be retested or placed in service by a service agency or sealer if the EVSE has previously been placed in service by a service agency or sealer before the EVSE is used after receiving maintenance in a manner that does not affect the EVSE being correct.
Contact: Maxwell Klein
The Senate Energy, Utilities, and Communications Committee will hold a hearing on July 2 regarding the following:
- AB 1533: This measure compels the Energy Commission and State Air Resources Board to issue a report every four years regarding technology, forecasts, transmissions, benefits, impacts, anticipated financial costs (on utilities and ratepayers), and barriers to renewable energy resources and 100% renewable electricity.
Contact: Ian Thompson - AB 2368: This measure requires the PUC, in collaboration instead of consultation with the Independent System Operator, to establish those resource adequacy requirements and to ensure the reliability of electrical service in California sufficient to maintain a one-day-in-10-year loss-of-load expectation. This measure requires the resource adequacy program to facilitate the development of new generating, non-generating, and hybrid capacity and retention of existing generating, non-generating, and hybrid capacity that is economical and needed for reliability in the short term and midterm to achieve state energy goals. The PUC must assess if there is sufficient capacity for resource adequacy in the short term and midterm by all load-serving entities.
Contact: Ian Thompson - AB 2661: This measure permits the Westlands Water District to provide, generate, and deliver solar and hydroelectric energy and permits it to construct, operate, and maintain any facilities that provide generation.
Contact: Ian Thompson - AB 3111: This measure outlines application requirements for a permit to install or interconnect a distributed generation system. This includes the generating capacity and potential contracts for the purchase of that generation.
Contact: Ian Thompson
The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on July 2 regarding AB 2037. This measure authorizes a county sealer to test and verify as correct the accuracy of any electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency located in the county in which the sealer has jurisdiction. This measure requires a county sealer to place a charger out of order an inaccurate vehicle charger.
Contact: Maxwell Klein
OHIO
The House Public Utilities Committee will hold a hearing on June 26 regarding HB 197. This measure provides that a community solar facility may be placed on the same parcel or contiguous parcel that is owned by the same entity if it is on a distressed site and capacity does not exceed twenty megawatts.
Contact: Ian Thompson
REGULATORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW YORK
The State Energy Research and Development Authority will hold an informational webinar on June 27 concerning the eighth annual Renewable Energy Standard request for proposals.
Contact: Genevieve Kaplan
OREGON
The Department of Energy is forming an Advisory Group for the development of the Oregon Energy Strategy. The Department will accept applicant interest forms until June 28.
Contact: Amy Cole
WASHINGTON
The Utilities and Transportation Commission will hold a workshop on June 28 concerning rules to implement consolidated planning requirements for large combination utilities that allow for integrated system plans that may satisfy requirements for existing statutorily required plans.
Contact: Nick Zuppas
LOCAL HIGHLIGHTS
For more information regarding the below local highlights, please contact Stephanie Rojo, Director of Local Services.
CALIFORNIA
The Berkeley City Council met on June 25 to consider approval of an ordinance adding a new chapter to the Municipal Code establishing emergency greenhouse gas limits, a process for an updated Climate Action Plan, as well as monitoring, evaluation, reporting, and regional collaboration. Video from the meeting is available here.
The Beverly Hills City Council will meet on June 27 to consider the adoption of an ordinance amending the Municipal Code relating to the 2022 California Green Building Standards Code. Proposed amendments include:
- Standards for installation of electric vehicle (‘EV”) charging infrastructure in new one and two-family dwellings and townhomes with attached private garages, multi-family dwellings, hotels, and motels.
- Requirements for charging hardware and signage, and for allocating parking spaces for EV charging, including accessible EV charging station spaces. The Ordinance further establishes minimum dimensions for EV parking spaces and parking aisles.
- Requirements for minimum numbers of EV parking spaces in residential and non-residential parking facilities.
INDIANA
The St. Joseph County Council met on June 25 to consider a Codebook amendment regarding revising use permissions and development standards for large-scale solar energy systems. Video from the meeting is available here.
INFRASTRUCTURE HIGHLIGHTS
The section below provides snippets of weekly updates on infrastructure and infrastructure funding policy, programs, and deployment updates related to clean transportation. For more information on our Infrastructure Funding Services, including our first-class grants, awards, and incentives monitoring database, click here.
CLEAN TRANSPORTATION: ELECTRIC VEHICLES & CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE
NORTH DAKOTA
The North Dakota Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) is working to develop a Regional Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Resilience Plan to create a road map for utilities and public entities in the event of a disruption of the electrical grid.
VERMONT
On June 3, Governor Phil Scott (R) signed House Bill 868. This measure appropriates $4,833,828 to increase the presence of EVSE in Vermont in accordance with the State’s federally approved National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Plan, which will lead to the installation of Direct Current Fast Charging (DC/FC) along designated alternative fuel corridors.
