(a) (1) Subject to this section, the requirements of this article apply to an electrical corporation that as of January 1, 2010, had 60,000 or fewer customer accounts in California and met either of the following requirements:
(A) Served retail end-use customers outside California.
(B) Was located in a control area that is not under the operational balancing authority of the Independent System Operator or other California balancing authority and receives the majority of its electrical requirements from generating facilities located outside of California.
(2) This section applies to a successor entity to all or a portion of the service territory of an electrical corporation meeting the requirements of paragraph (1), but only to the extent that the successor entity will have 60,000 or fewer customer accounts in California.
(b) For an electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity meeting the requirements of subdivision (a), electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources may be used for compliance with the renewables portfolio standard procurement requirements notwithstanding any procurement content limitation in Section 399.16 and an eligible renewable energy resource includes a facility that is located outside California, if the facility is connected to the WECC transmission system, provided all of the following conditions are met:
(1) Any portion of the electricity generated by the facility and allocated by the electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity for its California customers, and is not used to fulfill renewable energy procurement requirements in other states.
(2) The electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity participates in, and complies with, the accounting system administered by the Energy Commission pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 399.25.
(3) The Energy Commission verifies that the electricity generated by the facility is eligible to meet the procurement requirements of this article.
(c) The commission shall determine the procurement requirements for an electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity meeting the requirements of subdivision (a) as a specified percentage of total kilowatthours sold by the electrical corporation to its retail end-use customers in California in a compliance period.
(d) An electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity meeting the requirements of subdivision (a) may use an integrated resource plan prepared in compliance with the requirements of another state utility regulatory commission, to fulfill the requirement to prepare a renewable energy procurement plan pursuant to this article, provided the plan meets the requirements of Sections 399.13, 399.14, and 399.25, as modified by this section.
(e) Procurement and administrative costs associated with long-term contracts for eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to this article entered into by an electrical corporation or qualifying successor entity meeting the requirements of subdivision (a) and approved by the commission, are reasonable and prudent and shall be recoverable in rates of the electrical corporation or its successor’s California customers, provided the costs are not recoverable in rates in other states served by the electrical corporation.
(f) Procurement expenditures for electricity products from eligible renewable energy resources pursuant to this section by an electrical corporation or successor entity meeting the requirements of subdivision (a) shall be subject to a limitation on procurement expenditures established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 399.15.
(Repealed and added by Stats. 2011, 1st Ex. Sess., Ch. 1, Sec. 24. (SB 2 1x) Effective December 10, 2011.)