The California Public Utilities Commission has issued a lengthy proposed decision (Docket No. R1105005) addressing the establishment of renewable portfolio standard enforcement rules for retail sellers. The proposed decision would establish the process for retail sellers to request waivers from, or reductions to, their compliance requirements; maintain the $50/MWh penalty (i.e., alternative compliance payment) for both the overall requirement and portfolio content requirements; limit the penalty for both (combined) to 1.5 times the $50/MWh penalty; cap penalties for large investor-owned utilities for the 2011-2013 and 2014-2016 compliance periods at $75 million for each period, at $100 million for the 2017-20 compliance period, and at $25 million annually in 2021 and thereafter; cap penalties for other retail sellers (i.e., suppliers other than major investor-owned utilities) at 50% of the overall compliance requirement (in MWh); and establish revised provisions for compliance reporting to implement the decision.

The deadline for comments on the proposed decision is November 5, 2014.