California Energy Commission - History

History

Charles Warren and Al Alquist, California politicians, co-authored the 1974 Warren-Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act that created the Commission. The Act required that, prior to constructing or modifying an electric generating plant, the Commission was to certify the need for the plant and the suitability of the site of the plant.

In 1976, the California legislature amended the Warren-Alquist Act to require the Commission, prior to any new nuclear generating plants being built, to certify that there is sufficient capacity to store spent fuel rods, and to establish a moratorium on the certification of any new nuclear generating plants until the federal government has approved and established a means for the disposal of high level nuclear waste. A legal challenge to this amendment by two electric utilities resulted in the United States Supreme Court case Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, which upheld the amended Act.

Dr. Arthur H Rosenfeld, now a member of the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu's Energy Advisory Board, was a Commissioner of the Energy Commission from 2000-2010.

On 17 January 2001 a state of emergency declared during the California electricity crisis allowed the state to buy electricity for the financially strapped utility companies. The emergency authority allowed Davis to order the California Energy Commission to streamline the application process for new power plants.

On 21 August 2006, the Governor signed Senate Bill SB 1, which directs the California Public Utilities Commission and the CEC to implement the California Solar Initiative program consistent with specific requirements and budget limits set forth in the legislation.