republic-os/legislation/us/states/ca/20112012-special-session-1/sb-2.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Energy: renewable energy resources."
description: "(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, to identify a separate electrical rate component to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing PUC resolutions refer to the nonbypassable rate component as a \"public goods charge.\" The public goods charge moneys are collected to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets, and renewable energy resources."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20112012 Special Session 1"
identifier: "SB 2"
citation: "California SB 2 (20112012 Special Session 1)"
classification: ["bill", "appropriation"]
subjects: ["Energy: renewable energy resources."]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Simitian"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 20
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2011-02-01"
last_action: "2011-04-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/93a0143d-2505-4fcd-94e9-4ad08e5d383a"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120121SB2"
source_hash: "1faa613a7066d98e21f91be7c9a4902bbf183fd738d9a64a7cbb09aa9fde4ae3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California SB 2 (20112012 Special Session 1) — Energy: renewable energy resources.

(1) Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, as defined. Existing law requires the PUC to require the state's 3 largest electrical corporations, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, San Diego Gas and Electric, and Southern California Edison, to identify a separate electrical rate component to fund programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This rate component is a nonbypassable element of local distribution and collected on the basis of usage. Existing PUC resolutions refer to the nonbypassable rate component as a "public goods charge." The public goods charge moneys are collected to support cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation activities, public interest research and development not adequately provided by competitive and regulated markets, and renewable energy resources.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/01/11 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120121SB2&version=20111SB299INT)
2. **04/12/11 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120121SB2&version=20111SB297CHP)
3. **SB2** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201120121SB2)
4. **03/31/11 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=201120121SB2&version=20111SB298ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass. — **12–3** (pass) · lower
- SB 2 Simitian Senate Third Reading By CHESBRO — **55–19** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading — **26–11** (pass) · upper
- Do pass. — **5–1** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Natural Resources. — **10–3** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on Appropriations. — **6–3** (pass) · lower
- Do pass, but re-refer to the Committee on Appropriations. — **8–2** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Simitian — primary (person)
- Bradford — coauthor (person)
- Chesbro — coauthor (person)
- Kehoe — author (person)
- Skinner — principal coauthor (person)
- Steinberg — author (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2011-02-01** Introduced. Read first time. Referred to Com. on RLS. `referral-committee, introduction, reading-1`
- **2011-02-01** (Corrected March 29.)
- **2011-02-10** Re-referred to Com. on E. U. & C. `referral-committee`
- **2011-02-11** Set for hearing February 15.
- **2011-02-15** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 8. Noes 2. Page 35.) (February 15). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-02-19** Set for hearing February 23.
- **2011-02-23** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1. Page 42.) (February 23). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-02-23** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-02-24** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 26. Noes 11. Page 44.) Ordered to the Assembly. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-02-24** In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk. `reading-1`
- **2011-02-28** Referred to Coms. on U. & C. and NAT. RES. `referral-committee`
- **2011-03-03** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on NAT. RES. (Ayes 10. Noes 3.) (March 3). Re-referred to Com. on NAT. RES. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-03-08** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 3.) (March 7). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `referral-committee, committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-03-14** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 12. Noes 3.) (March 14). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2011-03-15** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-2, reading-1`
- **2011-03-29** Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 55. Noes 19. Page 134.) Ordered to the Senate. `reading-3, reading-1, passage`
- **2011-03-29** In Senate. Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
- **2011-04-04** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 1 p.m.
- **2011-04-12** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2011-04-12** Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 1, Statutes of 2011-12 First Extraordinary Session.

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/93a0143d-2505-4fcd-94e9-4ad08e5d383a`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).