(a) No later than July 15, 2003, the commission shall establish policies and procedures by which any party, including, but not limited to, a local entity that establishes a community choice aggregation program, may apply to become administrators for cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs established pursuant to Section 381. In determining whether to approve an application to become administrators and subject to an aggregator’s right to elect to become an administrator pursuant to subdivision (f), the commission shall consider the value of program continuity and planning certainty and the value of allowing competitive opportunities for potentially new administrators. The commission shall weigh the benefits of the party’s proposed program to ensure that the program meets the following objectives:
(1) Is consistent with the goals of the existing programs established pursuant to Section 381.
(2) Advances the public interest in maximizing cost-effective electricity savings and related benefits.
(3) Accommodates the need for broader statewide or regional programs.
(b) All audit and reporting requirements established by the commission pursuant to Section 381 and other statutes shall apply to the parties chosen as administrators under this section.
(c) If a community choice aggregator is not the administrator of energy efficiency and conservation programs for which its customers are eligible, the commission shall require the administrator of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs to direct a proportional share of its approved energy efficiency program activities for which the community choice aggregator’s customers are eligible, to the community choice aggregator’s territory without regard to customer class. To the extent that energy efficiency and conservation programs are targeted to specific locations to avoid or defer transmission or distribution system upgrades, the targeted expenditures shall continue irrespective of whether the loads in those locations are served by an aggregator or by an electrical corporation. The commission shall also direct the administrator to work with the community choice aggregator, to provide advance information where appropriate about the likely impacts of energy efficiency programs and to accommodate any unique community program needs by placing more, or less, emphasis on particular approved programs to the extent that these special shifts in emphasis in no way diminish the effectiveness of broader statewide or regional programs. If the community choice aggregator proposes energy efficiency programs other than programs already approved for implementation in its territory, it shall do so under established commission policies and procedures. The commission may order an adjustment to the share of energy efficiency program activities directed to a community choice aggregator’s territory if necessary to ensure an equitable and cost-effective allocation of energy efficiency program activities.
(d) The commission shall establish an impartial process for making the determination of whether a third party, including a community choice aggregator, may become administrators for cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs pursuant to subdivision (a), and shall not delegate or otherwise transfer the commission’s authority to make this determination for a community choice aggregator to an electrical corporation.
(e) The impartial process established by the commission shall allow a registered community choice aggregator to elect to become the administrator of funds collected from the aggregator’s electric service customers and collected through a nonbypassable charge authorized by the commission, for cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs, except those funds collected for broader statewide and regional programs authorized by the commission.
(f) A community choice aggregator electing to become an administrator shall submit a plan, approved by its governing board, to the commission for the administration of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs for the aggregator’s electric service customers that includes funding requirements, a program description, a cost-effectiveness analysis, and the duration of the program. The commission shall certify that the plan submitted does all of the following:
(1) Is consistent with the goals of the programs established pursuant to this section and Section 399.4.
(2) Advances the public interest in maximizing cost-effective electricity savings and related benefits.
(3) Accommodates the need for broader statewide or regional programs.
(4) Includes audit and reporting requirements consistent with the audit and reporting requirements established by the commission pursuant to this section.
(5) Includes evaluation, measurement, and verification protocols established by the community choice aggregator.
(6) Includes performance metrics regarding the community choice aggregator’s achievement of the objectives listed in paragraphs (1) to (5), inclusive, and in any previous plan.
(g) If the commission does not certify the plan for the administration of cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs submitted by a community choice aggregator pursuant to subdivision (f), the community choice aggregator electing to administer these programs may submit an amended plan to the commission for certification. No moneys may be released to a community choice aggregator unless the commission certifies the plan pursuant to subdivision (f).
(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 162, Sec. 155. (SB 1171) Effective January 1, 2013.)