Under existing law, California’s Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates investor-owned utilities, while local publicly owned utilities are governed by their boards, with all required to offer net energy metering (NEM) programs—NEM 1.0 (capped at 5% of peak demand) and NEM 2.0 (uncapped for large utilities)—that compensate solar customers for excess generation. In 2022, the PUC adopted a successor net billing tariff (replacing NEM 1.0/2.0) with reduced export rates (based on avoided costs) and a five-year “glide path” adder. This bill mandates that, starting July 1, 2026, customers on NEM 1.0/2.0 for 10+ years must switch to the post-2022 tariff, losing glide path benefits and paying full nonbypassable charges; similarly, new homeowners inheriting solar systems (from January 1, 2026) must enroll under the current tariff without the adder. The PUC may create a new tariff for these groups if it lowers cost impacts on non-solar customers. Additionally, NEM participants will be disqualified from receiving California Climate Credits (from cap-and-trade revenues) starting in 2026. Violations of PUC rules under the bill are crimes, though no state reimbursement to local agencies is required. The changes aim to modernize NEM policies while addressing cost shifts to non-participating ratepayers.

This bill would prohibit electrical corporations from proposing systemwide rate increases exceeding the inflation rate in general rate cases, unless the Public Utilities Commission specifically approves higher increases for safety improvements, grid modernization, or rising fuel/commodity costs. While maintaining the commission’s authority to ensure just and reasonable rates, the measure creates a new inflation-based cap on utility rate hikes with limited exceptions. Violations of commission orders enforcing this prohibition would be punishable as crimes under the Public Utilities Act, potentially creating state-mandated local costs, though the bill specifies no reimbursement is required. The legislation aims to constrain utility rate increases while preserving flexibility for essential infrastructure and cost-driven adjustments.

Existing law gives the Public Utilities Commission regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, and requires them to set just and reasonable rates. Electrical corporations must identify a separate rate component for programs that enhance system reliability and provide in-state benefits. This bill would require the commission to develop optional dynamic rate tariffs for large electrical corporations, applicable to commercial, industrial, and residential customers by specified dates. These tariffs must include dynamic transmission and distribution rates reflecting real-time grid conditions and certain nonbypassable charges. The bill also mandates that any overcollection or undercollection of transmission- or distribution-related revenue from participating customers be addressed by returning overcollections and assigning undercollections to the same customers.

This bill would prohibit the commission from placing the consideration of an application from an electrical corporation for a rate increase on its consent calendar. The bill would, except as provided, require the commission to provide a public comment period for the application of not less than 30 minutes at the hearing considering the application.

Existing law establishes a Power Exchange as a nonprofit public benefit corporation to provide an efficient competitive auction, open on a nondiscriminatory basis to all suppliers of electricity, that meets the loads of all of its customers at efficient prices.

This bill would abolish the Power Exchange and would make various conforming changes.

Existing law grants the Public Utilities Commission regulatory authority over public utilities, including setting just and reasonable rates, and authorizes the use of default time-of-use rates for residential customers under certain conditions, including requiring at least one year of interval usage data and one year of bill protection. This bill would extend the bill protection period from one year to two years, ensuring that during that time, a residential customer’s total electric service payments do not exceed what they would have paid under their previous rate schedule.

This bill mandates that data centers providing computing resources for developing generative artificial intelligence models must estimate and report the total energy used in the development process. Developers must inform data centers of their intent to develop a covered model and request energy usage data from all involved data centers before using the model commercially. Additionally, the bill requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to require data centers to report energy consumption data annually, adopt energy efficiency performance standards, and include energy consumption trends in its biennial integrated energy policy reports. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is tasked with determining whether costs related to the construction or alteration of data centers are just and reasonable, ensuring costs are not unfairly shifted to unrelated ratepayers.

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to reduce generate a report outlining recommendations to decrease the kilowatt-per-hour rate for electricity charged to ratepayers by not less than 30%. The bill would require the commission, in making that reduction, those reduction recommendations, to take certain actions, as specified.

This bill requires the Public Advocate’s Office of the Public Utilities Commission to establish, by January 1, 2027, a program to analyze legislation affecting electrical or gas ratepayers upon the Legislature’s request. The program will focus on mandated requirements, programs, or other impacts on ratepayers. Additionally, the bill mandates the development and implementation of conflict-of-interest provisions to prevent individuals with material financial interests from participating in these analyses.

This bill would prohibit, except as provided, an electrical corporation or gas corporation from recording various expenses associated with political influence activities, as defined, promotional advertising, as defined, or opposing the municipalization of electrical or gas service, to accounts that contain expenses that the electrical corporation or gas corporation recovers from ratepayers ratepayers, as specified.

The bill would require electrical corporations and gas corporations to clearly and conspicuously disclose in all of its advertising whether the costs of the advertising are paid for by the corporation’s shareholders or ratepayers. The bill would require an electrical corporation or gas corporation, on or before April 30, 2026, and annually thereafter, to provide the commission with a report of expenses from the previous calendar year and would require that, for each business unit of the corporation that performs work associated with political influence activities or promotional advertising, the report contain specified information. The bill would require the commission to make the report publicly available and would authorize the commission to redact information that the commission deems to be confidential in the report.

This bill would implement sweeping reforms to increase utility accountability by: (1) requiring the Energy Commission to conduct a comprehensive study by September 2028 analyzing alternative ownership models for investor-owned utilities (IOUs), including historical impacts and transition feasibility with advisory council input; (2) mandating all utilities to quarterly publish service termination data online and requiring IOUs to submit executive compensation plans tied to safety performance metrics by April 2026; (3) strengthening wildfire safety measures through triennial third-party equipment audits with 5-year replacement requirements for high-fire-risk areas, directing the PUC to create “best value” procurement standards for infrastructure projects, and prohibiting ratepayer recovery of wildfire mitigation costs (including undergrounding) after disasters; (4) authorizing PUC fines for non-compliance while maintaining existing criminal penalties for violations of PUC orders; and (5) specifying no state reimbursement for mandated local costs, with these provisions applying to both IOUs and publicly owned utilities to enhance transparency, incentivize safety improvements, explore alternative governance models, and protect ratepayers from bearing certain costs.

This bill would require the Public Utilities Commission to mandate that electrical corporations adjust consumer protections by July 1, 2026, to safeguard customers from damaging voltage fluctuations, evaluating specific factors to determine necessary adjustments, while also requiring local publicly owned electric utilities to adopt similar protective policies and publicly post their claims processes by January 1, 2027. It expands the commission’s annual safety report to include data on voltage-related damage incidents, claims filed, and resolutions, and establishes that violations of these provisions would be subject to criminal penalties, creating a state-mandated local program for both investor-owned and publicly owned utilities without requiring state reimbursement for associated costs.

Existing law prohibits electrical and gas corporations from disconnecting service for certain residential customers who are financially unable to pay and meet specific requirements.
This bill would expand protections by prohibiting disconnection for six months for qualifying customers. It would require corporations to grant a 6-month payment deferment and, after that period, enroll customers in an arrearage management program or an eligible payment plan. The Public Utilities Commission would be authorized to adopt rules to implement these provisions.

Existing law grants the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) authority over public utilities and their low-income energy efficiency programs, aiming to prioritize accessibility and service quality. This bill would expand that focus, requiring evaluations of program effectiveness to include factors like health improvements, equitable access, and measurable cost reductions. It would also shift eligibility from low-income to low-to-moderate income customers, require programs to prioritize advanced upgrades like heat pumps and deep weatherization, and emphasize improving health and safety outcomes. The bill would expand the Low-Income Oversight Board to cover low-to-moderate income issues, adding members from the Energy Commission and Air Resources Board. It would also require better integration between the Energy Savings Assistance Program and the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program to streamline access and administration, appoint qualified program administrators, and prioritize utility cost reductions for eligible households.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to administer ratepayer-funded programs. An executive order directs both commissions to review these programs and identify any that unnecessarily increase electricity rates without providing justifiable benefits. The executive order requires those 2 commissions to report back to the Governor by January 1, 2025. This bill would require the Energy Commission and PUC to submit a report to the Legislature by July 1, 2025, in response to the executive order, and would declare the bill an urgency statute, taking effect immediately.