(a) A person who submits to the commission an application for certification for a proposed generating facility shall submit with the application a fee of two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) plus five hundred dollars ($500) per megawatt of gross generating capacity of the proposed facility. The total fee accompanying an application shall not exceed seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000).

(b) A person who receives certification of a proposed generating facility shall pay an annual fee of twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000). For a facility certified on or after January 1, 2004, the first payment of the annual fee is due on the date the commission adopts the final decision. All subsequent payments are due by July 1 of each year in which the facility retains its certification. The fiscal year for the annual fee is July 1 to June 30, inclusive.

(c) The fees in subdivisions (a), (b), and (e) shall be adjusted annually to reflect the percentage change in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services, as published by the United States Department of Commerce.

(d) The Energy Facility License and Compliance Fund is hereby created in the State Treasury. All fees received by the commission pursuant to this section shall be remitted to the Treasurer for deposit in the fund. The money in the fund shall be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for processing applications for certification and for compliance monitoring.

(e) A person who submits to the commission a petition to amend an existing project that previously received certification shall submit with the petition a fee of five thousand dollars ($5,000). The commission shall conduct a full accounting of the actual cost of processing the petition to amend, for which the project owner shall reimburse the commission if the costs exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000). The total reimbursement and fees owed by a project owner for each petition to amend shall not exceed the amount of the maximum total filing fee for an application for certification as specified in subdivision (a) of seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000), adjusted annually pursuant to subdivision (c). Any reimbursement and fees received by the commission pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in the Energy Facility License and Compliance Fund. This subdivision does not apply to a change in ownership or operational control of a project.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 24, Sec. 37. (SB 83) Effective June 24, 2015.)