Amended  IN  Assembly  May 18, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 17, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 16, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 841

Introduced by Assembly Member Berman
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wallis)

February 14, 2023

An act to add and repeal Section 25216.9 of the Public Resources Code, relating to energy.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 841, as amended, Berman. State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission: Industrial Heat Electrification Roadmap.
Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission to undertake various actions in furtherance of meeting the state’s clean energy and pollution reduction objectives. Existing law requires the commission to gather or develop, and publish on the commission’s internet website, guidance and best practices to help building owners, the construction industry, and local governments overcome barriers to electrification of buildings and installation of electric vehicle charging equipment, as specified.
This bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2025, to submit to the Legislature an Industrial Heat Electrification Roadmap, which would, among other things, identify the industrial subsectors for various California facilities that use heat application equipment operating at or below 1000 degrees Celsius and their locations and evaluate various issues related to the electrification of facilities in those industrial subsectors.
Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Industrial emissions make up 23 percent of the emissions of greenhouse gases in California, the second largest source behind transportation.
(b) California has been a leader on transitioning from combustion to zero-emission technologies in the electricity and transportation sectors.
(c) Already a national leader in industrial production, planning for and investing in industrial decarbonization can strengthen California industries globally and position the state for sustained economic growth.
(d) Advancements have been made in industrial-scale electric heating equipment, including large-scale industrial heat pumps.
(e) Many types of industrial processes rely on temperatures that can be readily achieved with existing zero-emission electric technology like heat pumps and electric boilers.
(f) New federal investments from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (Public Law 117-169) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Public Law 117-58) can assist in the necessary retrofitting of industrial and manufacturing facilities with low- or zero-carbon process heat systems.
(g) Legacies of redlining and land use patterns have predominantly sited industrial sources in low-income communities of color and eliminating this pollution by investing in zero-emission, clean energy construction is an urgent matter of environmental justice.
SEC. 2. Section 25216.9 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:
25216.9. (a) On or before January 1, 2025, the commission shall submit an Industrial Heat Electrification Roadmap to the Legislature.
(b) The Industrial Heat Electrification Roadmap shall do, at minimum, all of the following:
(1) Identify the industrial subsectors for various California facilities that use heat application equipment operating at or below 1000 degrees Celsius and the facilities’ locations.
(2) Identify, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, the emissions emissions, including those for greenhouse gases and criteria pollutants, associated with each industrial subsector identified in paragraph (1).
(3) Assess the heat electrification feasibility and associated costs of electrifying heat application equipment and processes for each industrial subsector identified in paragraph (1).
(4) Identify, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, industrial facilities in under-resourced communities, as defined in Section 71130, that are able to be electrified by January 1, 2030.
(5) Quantify, in consultation with the State Air Resources Board, potential reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases and criteria air pollutants, and commensurate health benefits, from electrifying the industrial subsectors identified in paragraph (1).
(6) Quantify, in consultation with the California Workforce Development Board, the workforce necessary to support industrial electrification.
(7) Estimate electrical load growth under scenarios where 25 percent, 50 percent, and 75 percent of the facilities in industrial subsectors identified in paragraph (1) transition to electric heat application equipment and processes.
(8) Identify, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, barriers to industrial electrification and possible state agency solutions to reduce costs or reduce delays of industrial electrification that may include, but not be limited to, the use of distributed energy resources, infrastructure upgrades, and demand response programs, or accessing federal funding for industrial electrification. The commission may consult, where feasible, with federal agencies to identify federal funding that may aid in reducing industrial electrification costs.
(9) Calculate the effect of state and federal incentive and tax credit programs on incentivizing industrial electrification to date, and estimate their future effect through 2030.
(c) (1) The Industrial Heat Electrification Roadmap to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this section is repealed on January 1, 2028.