The bill – SB 1440 - passed by 29 votes to 10 in the Senate. It authorises the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in consultation with the Air Resources Board, to adopt a biomethane (aka renewable natural gas or RNG) procurement programme that would benefit ratepayers, is cost-effective, and advances the state's environmental and energy policies.
“A renewable natural gas procurement programme would create market certainty that industry developers need to access investment capital and build new projects in California” said RNG Coalition CEO Johannes Escudero. “Nearly thirty states have RPS programmes in place requiring electric utilities to procure and use increasing proportions of renewable energy. States should set similar renewable natural gas targets for gas utilities, to create new in-state jobs, decarbonise our pipeline systems, reduce emissions and improve air quality.”
The RNG Coalition's other sponsored bill this year, AB 3187, passed the legislature by comfortable margins. This bill requires the CPUC to open a proceeding to consider options to promote the in-state production and distribution of biomethane, including recovery in rates of the costs of interconnection infrastructure investments, by no later than 1st July 2019. It was unanimously approved (38-0) by the Senate on 27th August after passing the Assembly earlier this year.
Both bills will now go to Governor Brown for signature.
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