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2005 California Public Resources Code Sections 25620-25620.11 DEMONSTRATION, AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
PUBLIC RESOURCES CODESECTION 25620-25620.11
25620. The Legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following: (a) It is in the best interests of the people of this state that the quality of life of its citizens be improved by providing environmentally sound, safe, reliable, and affordable energy services and products. (b) To improve the quality of life of this state's citizens, it is proper and appropriate for the state to undertake public interest energy research, development, and demonstration projects that are not adequately provided for by competitive and regulated energy markets. (c) Public interest energy research, demonstration, and development projects should advance energy science or technologies of value to California citizens and should be consistent with the policies of Section 399.7 of the Public Utilities Code. (d) The commission should use its adopted "Five-Year Investment Plan, 2002 Through 2006 for the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program (Volume 1)" (P600-01-004a, March 1, 2001) to ensure compliance with the policies and provisions of Section 399.7 of the Public Utilities Code in the administration of public interest energy research, demonstration, and development programs. 25620.1. (a) The commission shall develop, implement, and administer the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program that is hereby created. The program shall include a full range of research, development, and demonstration activities that, as determined by the commission, are not adequately provided for by competitive and regulated markets. The commission shall administer the program consistent with the policies of Section 399.7 of the Public Utilities Code. (b) The goal of the program is to provide public value for the benefit of California and its citizens through the development of technologies which will improve environmental quality, enhance system reliability, increase efficiency of energy-using technologies, lower system costs, or provide other tangible benefits. (c) To achieve the goal established in subdivision (b), the commission shall adopt a portfolio approach for the program that does all of the following: (1) Effectively balances the risks, benefits, and time horizons for various activities and investments that will provide tangible benefits for California electricity ratepayers. (2) Emphasizes innovative energy supply and end use technologies, focusing on their reliability, affordability, and environmental attributes. (3) Includes projects that have the potential to enhance transmission and distribution capabilities. (4) Includes projects that have the potential to enhance the reliability, peaking power, and storage capabilities of renewable energy. (5) Demonstrates a balance of benefits to all sectors that contribute to the funding under Section 399.8 of the Public Utilities Code. (6) Addresses key technical and scientific barriers. (7) Demonstrates a balance between short-term, mid-term, and long-term potential. (8) Ensures that prior, current, and future research not be unnecessarily duplicated. (9) Provides for the future market utilization of projects funded through the program. (d) The commission shall review the portfolio adopted pursuant to subdivision (c) in accordance with the "Five-Year Investment Plan, 2002 Through 2006 for the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program (Volume 1)" (P600-01-004a, March 1, 2001). (e) The term "award," as used in this chapter, may include, but is not limited to, contracts, grants, interagency agreements, loans, and other financial agreements designed to fund public interest research, demonstration, and development projects or programs. 25620.2. (a) To ensure the efficient implementation and administration of the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Program, the commission shall do both of the following: (1) Develop procedures for the solicitation of award applications for project or program funding, and to ensure efficient program management. (2) Evaluate and select programs and projects, based on merit, that will be funded under the program. (b) The commission shall adopt regulations to implement the program, in accordance with the following procedures: (1) Prepare a preliminary text of the proposed regulation and provide a copy of the preliminary text to any person requesting a copy. (2) Provide public notice of the proposed regulation to any person who has requested notice of the regulations prepared by the commission. The notice shall contain all of the following: (A) A clear overview explaining the proposed regulation. (B) Instructions on how to obtain a copy of the proposed regulations. (C) A statement that if a public hearing is not scheduled for the purpose of reviewing a proposed regulation, any person may request, not later than 15 days prior to the close of the written comment period, a public hearing conducted in accordance with commission procedures. (3) Accept written public comments for 30 calendar days after providing the notice required in paragraph (2). (4) Certify that all written comments were read and considered by the commission. (5) Place all written comments in a record that includes copies of any written factual support used in developing the proposed regulation, including written reports and copies of any transcripts or minutes in connection with any public hearings on the adoption of the regulation. The record shall be open to public inspection and available to the courts. (6) Provide public notice of any substantial revision of the proposed regulation at least 15 days prior to the expiration of the deadline for public comments and comment period using the procedures provided in paragraph (2). (7) Conduct public hearings, if a hearing is requested by an interested party, that shall be conducted in accordance with commission procedures. (8) Adopt any proposed regulation at a regularly scheduled and noticed meeting of the commission. The regulation shall become effective immediately unless otherwise provided by the commission. (9) Publish any adopted regulation in a manner that makes copies of the regulation easily available to the public. Any adopted regulation shall also be made available on the Internet. The commission shall transmit a copy of an adopted regulation to the Office of Administrative Law for publication, or, if the commission determines that printing the regulation is impractical, an appropriate reference as to where a copy of the regulation may be obtained. (10) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, this subdivision provides an interim exception from the requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code for regulations required to implement Sections 25620.1 and 25620.2 that are adopted under the procedures specified in this subdivision. (11) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2007, unless a later enacted statute deletes or extends that date. However, after January 1, 2007, the commission is not required to repeat any procedural step in adopting a regulation that has been completed before January 1, 2007, using the procedures specified in this subdivision. 25620.3. (a) The commission may, consistent with the requirements of this chapter, provide awards to any individual or entity for planning, implementation, and administration of projects or programs selected pursuant to Section 25620.5. (b) The commission may provide an award to a project or program that includes a group of related projects, or to a party who aggregates projects that directly benefit from the award. (c) The commission may establish multiparty agreements. In a multiparty agreement, the commission may be a signatory to a common agreement among two or more parties. These agreements include, but are not limited to, cofunding, leveraged research, collaborations, and membership arrangements. If the commission enters into these agreements, it shall be a party to these agreements and may share in the roles, responsibilities, risks, investments, and results. (d) The commission may issue awards that include the ability to make advance payments to prime contractors, to enable them to make advance payments to a subcontractor that is a federal agency, national laboratory, or state entity, on the condition that the subcontract is binding and enforceable and includes specific performance milestones. (e) The commission may issue awards that include the ability to assign tasks on a work authorization basis. (f) Prior to making any award pursuant to this chapter for a research, development, or demonstration program or project, the commission shall identify the expected costs and any qualitative or quantitative benefits of the proposed program or project. 25620.4. (a) To the extent that intellectual property is developed under this chapter, an equitable share of rights in the intellectual property or in the benefits derived therefrom shall accrue to the State of California. (b) The commission may determine what share, if any, of the intellectual property, or the benefits derived therefrom, shall accrue to the state. The commission may negotiate sharing mechanisms for intellectual property or benefits with award recipients. 25620.5. (a) The commission may solicit applications for awards, using a sealed competitive bid, competitive negotiation process, commission-issued intradepartmental master agreement, the methods for selection of professional services firms set forth in Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 4525) of Division 5 of Title 1 of the Government Code, interagency agreement, single source, or sole source method. When scoring teams are convened to review and score proposals, the scoring teams may include persons not employed by the commission, as long as employees of the state constitute no less than 50 percent of the membership of the scoring team. A person participating on a scoring team may not have any conflict of interest with respect to the proposal before the scoring team. (b) A sealed bid method may be used when goods and services to be acquired can be described with sufficient specificity so that bids can be evaluated against specifications and criteria set forth in the solicitation for bids. (c) The commission may use a competitive negotiation process in any of the following circumstances: (1) Whenever the desired award is not for a fixed price. (2) Whenever project specifications cannot be drafted in sufficient detail so as to be applicable to a sealed competitive bid. (3) Whenever there is a need to compare the different price, quality, and structural factors of the bids submitted. (4) Whenever there is a need to afford bidders an opportunity to revise their proposals. (5) Whenever oral or written discussions with bidders concerning the technical and price aspects of their proposals will provide better results to the state. (6) Whenever the price of the award is not the determining factor. (d) The commission may establish interagency agreements. (e) The commission may provide awards on a single source basis by choosing from among two or more parties or by soliciting multiple applications from parties capable of supplying or providing similar goods or services. The cost to the state shall be reasonable and the commission may only enter into a single source agreement with a particular party if the commission determines that it is in the state' s best interests. (f) The commission, in accordance with subdivision (g) and in consultation with the Department of General Services, may provide awards on a sole source basis when the cost to the state is reasonable and the commission makes any of the following determinations: (1) The proposal was unsolicited and meets the evaluation criteria of this chapter. (2) The expertise, service, or product is unique. (3) A competitive solicitation would frustrate obtaining necessary information, goods, or services in a timely manner. (4) The award funds the next phase of a multiphased proposal and the existing agreement is being satisfactorily performed. (5) When it is determined by the commission to be in the best interests of the state. (g) The commission may not use a sole source basis for an award pursuant to subdivision (f), unless both of the following conditions are met: (1) The commission, at least 30 days prior to taking an action pursuant to subdivision (f), notifies the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, in writing, of its intent to take the proposed action. (2) The Joint Legislative Budget Committee either approves or does not disapprove the proposed action within 30 days from the date of notification required by paragraph (1). (h) The provisions of this section are severable. If any provision of this section or its application is held to be invalid, that invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application. 25620.6. The commission, in consultation with the Department of General Services, may purchase insurance coverage necessary to implement an award. Funding for the purchase of insurance may be made from money in the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund created pursuant to Section 384 of the Public Utilities Code. 25620.7. (a) The commission may contract for, or through interagency agreement obtain, technical, scientific, or administrative services or expertise from one or more entities, to support the program. Funding for this purpose shall be made from money in the Public Interest Research, Development, and Demonstration Fund. (b) The commission may select the services or expertise described in subdivision (a), pursuant to Section 25620.5. In the event that contracts or interagency agreements have been made to multiple entities and their subcontractors for similar purposes, the commission may select from among those entities the particular expertise needed for a specified type of work. Selection of the particular expertise may be based solely on a review of qualifications, including the specific expertise required, availability of the expertise, or access to a resource of special relevance to the work, including, but not limited to, a database, model, technical facility, or a collaborative or institutional affiliation that will expedite the quality and performance of the work. 25620.8. The commission shall prepare and submit to the Legislature an annual report, not later than March 31 of each year, on awards made pursuant to this chapter. The report shall include information on the names of award recipients, the amount of awards, and the types of projects funded, an evaluation of the success of any funded projects, and any recommendations for improvements in the program. The report shall set forth the actual costs of programs or projects funded by the commission, the results achieved, and how the actual costs and results compare to the expected costs and benefits. The commission shall establish procedures for protecting confidential or proprietary information and shall consult with all interested parties in the preparation of the annual report. 25620.9. (a) Not later than three months after the enactment of this section, the commission shall designate a panel of independent experts with special expertise in public interest research, development, and demonstration programs. In order to ensure continuity in the evaluation of the public interest energy research, demonstration, and development projects, the commission, when practicable, shall select experts that served on prior independent review panels. The panel shall conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the program established pursuant to this chapter. The evaluation shall include a review of the public value of programs established pursuant to this chapter, including, but not limited to, the monetary and nonmonetary benefits to public health and the environment, and the benefit of providing funds for technology development that would otherwise not be funded. (b) Not later than 15 months after the enactment of this section, the panel designated pursuant to subdivision (a) shall submit a preliminary report to the Governor and to the Legislature on its findings and recommendations on the implementation of the program established pursuant to this chapter. The panel, not later than 30 months after the enactment of this section, shall submit a final report to the Governor and to the Legislature, including any additional findings and recommendations regarding implementation of the program. (c) This section shall remain in effect only until July 1, 2006, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2007, deletes or extends that date. 25620.11. The commission shall regularly convene an advisory board that shall make recommendations to guide the commission's selection of programs and projects to be funded under this chapter. The advisory board shall include as appropriate, but not be limited to, representatives from the Public Utilities Commission, consumer organizations, environmental organizations, and electrical corporations subject to the funding requirements of Section 381 of the Public Utilities Code.
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