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/D. A -1�z LEAGUE WATCHES CLOSELY AS ELECTRICITY BILLS ADVANCE Two years ago Californians were stunned when a failed experiment to re- structure California's electririty system produced soaring energy bills and electricity blackouts. This year two legislators introduced bills to remedy the situation and plan for the future. The League has no position on either bill, but is following both closely. One bill, SB 888 (Dunn at al), would, as described by the author, "re- regulate" what was de- regulated several years ago. It also would direct the California Public Utilities Commission to study the feasibility of enacting a program of core and non -core customers, in which electricity customers over a certain size would buy power from third party providers through direct access, while core customers would remain with the existing investor owned utility. It would retain the ability of cities and counties to engage in Commu- nity Choice Aggregation (CCA), as enacted in last year's successful AB 117 (Migden). The other bill, AB 428 (Richman), would actually enact a core, non -core system of procurement for different sizes of customers. As such, it would retain direct access as a means of procuring power for the non -core customers. It also retains CCA as an option for cities and counties. Both bills have passed their respective houses of origin and now face scrutiny in the energy committees of the other house. It's anyone's guess as to how these committees will view the competing proposals from the other house. Some believe the bills will end up in a two -house confer- ence committee, while others view a MAD (mutual assured destruction) scenario as most likely. Although large energy users are pressing for re- authorization of direct access in order to find cheaper power, it is unclear how far SB 888, which has received most of the attention in the press, will go to meet this demand. On the other hand, AB 428 passed the Assem- bly with no negative votes, but will face stiff scru- tiny in the Senate. Both SB 888 and AB 428 retain the provisions that authorize CCA for cities and counties. As noted above, the League has no position on either bill: we believe plugging our generator into either new approach is not warranted at this time — or perhaps at any time. We will be watching as each bill is amended and we will be vigilant in insuring that any legislation that emerges retains the ability of cities to engage in CCA. We'll keep cities posted as this latest chapter of California's energy odyssey unfolds. IAS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS VOLUNTARY BUILDING DEPARTMENT ACCREDITATION PROGRAM The International Accreditation Service, Inc. (IAS), will hold a meeting of its Accredi- tation Committee in Chicago on June 25. The committee has been asked to begin discussions on establishment of a voluntary accreditation program for building depart- ments, and is asking for input and participa- tion from all interested parties, who may either attend the meeting or submit written reference materials. IAS is the accreditation arm of ICC, the International Code Council, and offers accreditation services to inspection agen- cies as well as laboratories and manufactur- ers. The Accreditation Committee estab- lishes criteria and policies for all accredita- tion activities of the organization, and is comprised of seven members drawn from ICC's governmental membership. At this meeting, staff will brief the committee on current building department grading pro- grams along with an evaluation of submitted materials. For additional information on IAS, please visit their website at ww.iasonline.org. PAGE 2 /PRIORITY FOCUS Visit the League's Official Web Site -- www.cacities.org