AB 1103 - California's nonresidental building energy program implementation delayed 3 to 4 years

AB 1103, signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger in September 2007, applies to certain nonresidential buildings in California and requires benchmarking of a building’s energy consumption using the EPA’s Portfolio Manager system and disclosure of the building’s energy usage to potential buyers, lessees, and lenders of the entire building. Originally, AB 1103 required implementation on January 1, 2010. Thereafter, AB 531 became law and assigned the implementation and schedule of compliance for AB 1103 to the California Energy Commission (“CEC”).

Most observers believed the CEC would delay implementation by 12 months to January, 2011. However, the CEC pushed implementation to 2012. The commercial real estate community was bracing for AB 1103 to be implemented on July 1, 2012. However, on March 30, 2012, the CEC issued proposed regulations that sets out the following phased implementation of AB 1103 in 2013 through 2014:

“(a) On or after January 1, 2013, for a building with total floor area measuring more than 50,000 square feet.
(b) On or after July 1, 2013, for a building with a total floor area measuring more than 10,000 square feet and up to 50,000 square feet.
(c) On or after January 1, 2014, for a building with a total floor area measuring at least 5,000 square feet and up to 10,000 square feet.”
  
Will these proposed dates in 2013 and 2014 be delayed yet again?  What underlying influences are driving these delays?  Perhaps the answer is found in the fledgling real estate economy and California’s projected budget shortfall of $16 Billion.  Perhaps California is losing its will to go green while it flounders in a sea of red ink.