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§ 1394.1. Retail Disclosure to Consumers.

20 CA ADC § 1394.1Barclays Official California Code of Regulations

Barclays California Code of Regulations
Title 20. Public Utilities and Energy
Division 2. State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 3. Data Collection
Article 5. Electricity Generation Source Disclosure
20 CCR § 1394.1
§ 1394.1. Retail Disclosure to Consumers.
Currentness
(a) Pursuant to Section 398.4 of the Public Utilities Code, each retail supplier shall provide to consumers a power content label that discloses the fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of each electricity portfolio that was sold during the previous calendar year, and separately discloses the fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of total California system electricity, using the schedule and format specified in this section. Retail suppliers shall disclose GHG emissions intensity data on power content labels for generation and procurement that occurs on or after January 1, 2020.
(1) Information disclosed on each power content label shall be consistent with the information reported to the Energy Commission on the annual report for each electricity portfolio.
(2) Any marketing or retail product claim by a retail supplier related to the GHG emissions intensity of an electricity portfolio shall be consistent with the GHG emissions intensity disclosed on the relevant power content label.
(3) The Energy Commission shall provide fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of California's total statewide retail electricity sales for inclusion on the power content label.
(b) Each retail supplier shall disclose the information required in this section to consumers according to the following schedule:
(1) The power content label shall be provided in all product-specific written promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either printed or electronic means, including the retail supplier's Internet Web site, if one exists, except that advertisements and notices in general circulation media shall not be subject to this requirement.
(2) The power content label shall be provided by United States mail to customers served by each electricity portfolio and to the Energy Commission on or before the end of the first complete billing cycle for the third quarter of the year. Retail suppliers may provide annual disclosures to customers via electronic mail, provided that the customer has consented to receiving electronic mail notice in lieu of service by United States mail. Annual disclosures shall also be displayed on the website of the retail supplier, if it maintains one for purposes of communicating information about electric service, in an easily marked and identifiable location.
(c) Each retail supplier shall disclose the following information for every electricity portfolio it offers, except for custom electricity portfolios, on a single power content label:
(1) Fuel mix information of each electricity portfolio and of California total statewide retail electricity sales shall be provided using the following fuel type categories and in the following order, rounded to the nearest tenth of a percent:
(A) Eligible renewable
(B) Coal
(C) Large hydroelectric
(D) Natural gas
(E) Nuclear
(F) Other
(G) Unspecified sources of power
(2) The retail supplier shall include the following subcategories within the eligible renewable category:
(A) Biomass and biowaste
(B) Geothermal
(C) Eligible hydroelectric
(D) Solar
(E) Wind
(F) Other, if applicable
(3) GHG emissions intensity of each electricity portfolio and of California total statewide retail electricity sales in accordance with the calculation method specified in section 1393(c), expressed in pounds of CO2e per megawatt hour. This information shall also be displayed graphically in a bar chart.
(4) The retail supplier's company name, phone number, and website address, and the name, phone number, and website address of the Energy Commission.
(5) Quantity of unbundled RECs retired in association with each electricity portfolio, expressed as a percentage of retail sales.
(d) The fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity disclosed by retail suppliers that offer an electricity portfolio to retail consumers in California and one or more other states shall reflect the proportional share of the portfolio of resources attributed to its California retail sales.
(e) Custom electricity portfolios negotiated under private agreement shall not be included in the power content labels provided to the retail supplier's general customers. Instead, such electricity portfolios shall be disclosed to the subscribed customers on a separate power content label via physical or electronic mail consistent with the provisions of subdivision (b)(2). Custom electricity portfolios shall not be subject to the promotional materials disclosure requirement of subdivision (b)(1) or the website disclosure requirement of subdivision (b)(2).
(f) If individual customers are served by a mixture of electricity portfolios, the power content label shall include a footnote on the power content label stating that some customers of the retail supplier may be served by more than one electricity portfolio.
(g) New community choice aggregators shall report the GHG emissions intensity of their electricity portfolios beginning with the first annual report containing data from the first full calendar year of operation following the first 24 months of serving their first retail customer.
(h) All information contained in the power content label shall appear in one place without other intervening material.
(1) If the retail supplier offers promotional materials that consist of more than one page, the power content label or a note telling the customer where the power content label can be found shall appear on the cover page or the first facing page. If a note is used to tell the customer where the power content label can be found, the note shall appear in a type size no smaller than 10 point.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (h)(1) of this section, if the promotional materials pertain to more than one electricity portfolio and contain multiple pages, the power content label for each electricity portfolio may appear on the page discussing that electricity portfolio.
(i) Each retail supplier shall use the power content label template provided by the Energy Commission on its website to generate its power content label. The format of the power content label may not be altered by the retail supplier.
(j) If a retail supplier elects to include additional information related to the sources of unbundled RECs on any power content label, the retail supplier shall submit the proposed information to the Energy Commission for review by May 1 annually. By June 15 annually, the Executive Director or their designee shall determine whether the proposed language is limited to information specifically related to the sources of unbundled RECs and does not conflict with the methodology established by the Energy Commission for the calculation of the GHG emissions intensity. If the Executive Director or their designee determines that the proposed language meets these requirements, they shall issue a modified Power Content Label template to the retail supplier that includes the proposed language in a footnote.
(k) Separate from the power content label, retail suppliers may provide additional information to customers describing other actions relating to GHG that are unrelated to the electricity portfolio.
(l) The power content label shall include the following information in footnotes:
(1) “Renewable energy credits (RECs) are tracking instruments issued for renewable generation. Unbundled renewable energy credits (RECs) represent renewable generation that was not delivered to serve retail sales. Unbundled RECs are not reflected in the power mix or GHG emissions intensities above.”
(2) “The eligible renewable percentage above does not reflect RPS compliance, which is determined using a different methodology.”
(3) “Unspecified power is electricity that has been purchased through open market transactions and is not traceable to a specific generation source.”

Credits

Note: Authority cited: Section 25213, Public Resources Code; and Section 398.4, Public Utilities Code. Reference: Sections 25216 and 25216.5, Public Resources Code; and Section 398.4, Public Utilities Code.
History
1. Renumbering and amendment of former section 1393 to new section 1394.1 filed 5-4-2020; operative 5-4-2020 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2020, No. 19).
2. Change without regulatory effect amending subsection (j) filed 8-24-2022 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2022, No. 34).
This database is current through 4/26/24 Register 2024, No. 17.
Cal. Admin. Code tit. 20, § 1394.1, 20 CA ADC § 1394.1
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