Report to Mayor and City Council
Tuesday, April 05, 2022
Consent
SUBJECT:
Title
CONSIDER TAKING A POSITION OF SUPPORT AND SENDING A CORRESPONDING LETTER REGARDING ASSEMBLY BILL 1814 TO AUTHORIZE COMMUNITY CHOICE ASSOCIATIONS TO SUBMIT APPLICATIONS TO THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO RECEIVE FUNDING TO ADMINISTER TRANSPORTATION ELECTRIFICATION PROGRAMS (CITY COUNCIL)
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I. SUMMARY
The Clean Power Alliance (CPA) Board of Directors approved a support position for Assembly Bill 1814 (Grayson), which would authorize Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs) to submit applications to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to receive funding to administer transportation electrification programs. Their trade association, CalCCA, is the sponsor of this bill, and it will be CPA’s top 2022 legislative priority.
CPA has asked each member agency to help support and advance the bill through the legislative process by sending a letter of support (Exhibit no. 1). A fact sheet about the bill is also attached (Exhibit no. 2).
II. RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
APPROVE the City of Carson’s support position on Assembly Bill 1814.
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III. ALTERNATIVES
1. DO NOT TAKE a support position for Assembly Bill 1814.
2. TAKE another action the City Council deems appropriate.
IV. BACKGROUND
This CalCCA-sponsored bill would authorize CCAs to submit applications to the CPUC to receive funding to administer transportation electrification programs in their service area. Access to additional funding would allow CCAs to increase and expand their electric vehicle programs, which will benefit CCA customers and will help meet the state’s electric vehicle adoption goals.
While the CPUC authorizes IOUs to file applications to receive ratepayer funds for their transportation electrification programs, CCAs are not explicitly authorized to access these funds, despite CCA customers also paying into those funds. In some past years, IOUs have proposed more than $2 billion in funding for transportation electrification programs, and the CPUC has approved at least $1 billion of that. Local leaders and CCAs have little ability to tailor electric vehicle infrastructure and programs that are run through the IOUs, particularly for traditionally under-represented areas.
AB 1814 would explicitly authorize CCAs to file applications for programs and investments to accelerate widespread transportation electrification. To submit these applications, CCAs would have to meet the same requirements that IOUs are currently required to meet for program administration and oversight. This is similar to how some CCAs participate in the Energy Efficiency programs. Access to these funds would allow CCAs to provide communities with expanded EV charging programs and pilots that complement the current options.
V. FISCAL IMPACT
None.
VI. EXHIBITS
1. Letter of Support for AB 1814. (Pgs. 3-4)
2. Fact Sheet for AB 1814. (Pg. 5)
Prepared by: Reata Kulcsar, Sustainabil-ity Administrator - Utilities