Loans to manufacturing businesses for energy improvements, job creation, retooling, or clean energy production; the administration of energy utility programs; providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures; requiring the exercise of emergency rule-making procedures; and making appropriations

Funding for loans under the bill comes from current appropriations that fund a variety of economic development programs, including appropriations that receive repayments of loans made by the department under other economic development programs and under the program created in the bill, and from certain federal moneys received by the state. Under the bill, the governor must deposit federal moneys that could be used to assist manufacturing businesses in the state retool for, or expand, production of clean energy in an appropriation account that funds loans under the program created by the bill, unless the moneys are otherwise appropriated and subject to applicable federal restrictions.

Current law requires investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities (energy utilities) to spend a specified percentage of their operating revenues on certain energy efficiency and renewable resource programs (energy utility programs).

Current law also requires the energy utilities to contract with one or more persons to administer the energy utility programs. The Public Service Commission (PSC) has certain oversight duties regarding the energy utility programs, including approving contracts for administration of the energy utility programs. This bill requires the energy utility programs to include components for implementing energy efficiency or renewable resource measures in manufacturing business facilities that are consistent with the objectives under the loan program described above. The bill requires a person with whom the energy utilities contract for administering the energy utility programs to ensure coordination between the loan program and the energy utility programs that are directed towards industrial and manufacturing customers of energy utilities. The bill also requires such a person to submit annual reports to the PSC and the department regarding the energy utility programs that are directed towards such customers. In addition, the bill requires the PSC to cooperate with the department to ensure coordination between the energy utility programs and the loan program.