This bill, the Ratepayer and Technological Innovation Protection Act, would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, December 31, 2026, to establish or modify a special electrical corporation tariff for transmission and distribution service to eligible customers, as defined, that, among other things, ensures just and reasonable rates for customers of electrical corporations and does not result in cost shifts to customers who do not receive the tariff. The bill would authorize the commission to require an eligible customer, as defined, to site distributed energy storage systems and backup power systems that better enable the state to meet its emission reduction goals. The bill would authorize the commission to establish eligibility criteria for service under the special electrical corporation tariff requiring an eligible customer to meet its load requirements with eligible renewable energy and zero-carbon resources from any retail seller. minimizes cost shifts to customers on other rate schedules. The bill would require the commission to determine whether existing rate designs applicable to large load customers meet the requirements of the tariff described above and to direct an electrical corporation to file new or modified rate applications within 12 months of a commission decision implementing the tariff if the electrical corporation’s existing rate designs are found to not meet those requirements.

This bill would require the commission to assess the extent to which electrical corporation costs associated with new loads from data centers result in cost shifts to other electrical corporation customers, as provided, and would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit the assessment to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature and to publicly post a copy of the assessment on the commission’s internet website.