Bill > AB209

This bill: (1) Renames the Lithium Subaccount within the Salton Sea Restoration Fund as the Salton Sea Lithium Fund and continuously appropriates moneys in the fund to the Natural Resources Agency for restoration projects and grants. (2) Specifies that a disclosure made through the sharing of information between the Independent System Operator and a state agency does not constitute a waiver of public records exemptions, and authorizes a present officer or employee of the Public Utilities Commission to share information with the Independent System Operator pursuant to an agreement to treat the shared information as confidential. (3) Specifies that clean energy transmission projects are climate catalyst projects eligible for financial assistance under the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund Program, and creates the Clean Energy Transmission Financing Account in the Climate Catalyst Revolving Loan Fund. (4) Requires the California Building Standards Commission to consider adopting certain consensus safety standards for refrigerants, and prohibits state or local building codes from prohibiting the use of acceptable refrigerants if installed per specified standards. (5) Modifies the Demand Side Grid Support Program to make only customers enrolled in certain demand response or emergency load reduction programs ineligible, and authorizes the Energy Commission to adopt additional participation requirements or limitations. (6) Establishes various clean energy programs at the Energy Commission, including the Climate Innovation Program, Industrial Grid Support and Decarbonization Program, Food Production Investment Program, Hydrogen Program, Equitable Building Decarbonization Program, and Carbon Removal Innovation Program. (7) Expressly requires specified electrical corporations to participate in the Independent System Operator and prohibits them from withdrawing their facilities from the Independent System Operator's operational control without Public Utilities Commission approval. (8) Deletes the requirement for the Public Utilities Commission to administer solar technologies separately from the self-generation incentive program, and authorizes the use of appropriated funds for incentives to eligible residential customers for behind-the-meter energy storage and solar-plus-storage systems. (9) Requires the Energy Commission to develop recommendations for determining appropriate minimum planning reserve margins for local publicly owned electric utilities within the Independent System Operator balancing authority area. (10) Limits the applicability of the requirement for the Department of Water Resources to submit certain facility applications to the Energy Commission. (11) Authorizes the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority to provide an additional $15 million in sales and use tax exclusions for lithium projects for 2022-2024, and allows consideration of certain relocation criteria in evaluating those projects. (12) Provides that no reimbursement is required for specified state-mandated local program costs. (13) Declares the bill to take effect immediately as a bill related to the budget.