(a) The Energy Unit is hereby created within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development.

(b) The Governor shall appoint a deputy director who shall have direct authority over the Energy Unit and serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

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Terms Used In California Government Code 12100.110

  • Process: includes a writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings of either a civil or criminal nature. See California Government Code 22
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Government Code 18
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10

(c) The purpose of the Energy Unit is to accelerate the planning, financing, and execution of critical energy infrastructure projects that are necessary for the state to reach its climate, energy, and sustainability policy goals.

(d) The Energy Unit shall work with energy project developers and load-serving entities, as defined in § 380 of the Public Utilities Code, to identify barriers to construction and development of critical energy infrastructure projects and to make recommendations to relevant state agencies and local governments on how to overcome those barriers.

(e) The Energy Unit shall create a working group that includes local and federal partners to address land use issues related to critical energy infrastructure projects.

(f) In organizing and managing the Energy Unit, the deputy director shall establish and implement a process to coordinate between the state’s climate and energy agencies in order to identify the critical energy infrastructure projects that will form the operational mandate of the Energy Unit.

(g) In operating the Energy Unit, the deputy director shall cooperate with local, regional, federal, and California public and private businesses and investors to eliminate barriers to the completion of critical energy infrastructure projects.

(h) The Energy Unit’s work shall complement, not conflict with, efforts by the state’s climate and energy agencies.

(i) This section, and the Energy Unit’s implementation of this section, does not change the regulatory authority of the state’s climate and energy agencies.

(j) (1) On or before February 1 of each year, the Energy Unit shall annually submit a report to the relevant policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature that includes all of the following information:

(A) The infrastructure priorities identified for purposes of the prior calendar year.

(B) The constituencies coordinated with in order to advance those infrastructure priorities in the prior calendar year.

(C) The strategies implemented and steps taken to address barriers to and advance critical energy infrastructure projects in the prior calendar year.

(D) Any recommendations to the Legislature that would accelerate the Energy Unit’s progress.

(2) A report to be submitted pursuant to this subdivision shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795.

(Added by Stats. 2021, Ch. 77, Sec. 12. (AB 137) Effective July 16, 2021.)