AGENDA
ORANGE COUNTY POWER AUTHORITY
MEETING OF THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE
Thursday, June 5, 2025
3:30 p.m.
This meeting will proceed as an in-person meeting at 15310 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92618. In addition, as a convenience to the public, the Orange County Power Authority is also providing an option for members of the public to remotely view and participate in the meeting.
Further details are below. Please note that, in the event of a technical issue causing a disruption in the remote participation option, the meeting may continue unless otherwise required by law.
Note: Any member of the public may provide comments to the Committee on any agenda items by requesting to speak during Item 4, or on any matter not appearing on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the Committee by requesting to speak during Item 5. When providing comments to the Committee, it is requested that you provide your name and city of residence for the record.
Commenters are requested to address their comments to the Committee as a whole through the Chair. Comments may be provided in the following manner:
To provide comments during the meeting, in-person attendees, please fill out the public speaker slip and provide it to the clerk at the beginning of the meeting. Before Items 4 and 5, the Chair or Clerk will ask members of the public to join the queue to provide public comment. The queue will remain open for a reasonable amount of time to allow members of the public sufficient time to request to speak and inform the Committee of the number of speakers. After such time, the queue will be closed and the members of the public who have joined the queue to speak will be recognized at the appropriate time may speak. To join the queue on Zoom video conference by computer or mobile phone, use the “Raise Hand” feature. If joining the meeting using the Zoom dial-in number, you can raise your hand and join the queue by pressing *9. Members of the public will not be shown on video but will be able to speak when called upon.
Comments shall generally be limited to three minutes when speaking, provided that the Chair may equally reduce each speaker’s time to accommodate a large number of speakers or a large number of agenda items. If you have anything that you wish to be distributed to the Committee, please provide it via [email protected], who will distribute the information to the Members.
The public may participate using the following remote options:
ZOOM WEBINAR
Please click the link below to join the webinar:
Launch Meeting - Zoom
Dial-in: 1-669-900-6833
Webinar ID: 867 5219 8677
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
3. ROLL CALL
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS
Opportunity for members of the public to address the Committee on any items on the agenda.
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Opportunity for members of the public to address the Committee on any items not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the Committee.
6. COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Committee Members may briefly provide information to other members of the Committee and the public, ask questions of staff, or report on conferences, events, or activities related to Authority business. There is to be no discussion or action taken on comments made by Committee Members unless authorized by law.
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
All items listed under the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine and may be enacted by one motion. Prior to the motion to consider any action by the Legislative and Regulatory Committee, any public comments on any of the Consent Items will be heard.
There will be no separate action unless members of the Legislative and Regulatory Committee request specific items be removed from the Consent Calendar.
1. MINUTES FOR THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE MEETING OF MARCH 6, 2025
Recommended Action:
Approve as submitted.
8. REGULAR CALENDAR
The following items call for discussion or action by the Committee. The Committee may discuss and/or take action on any item listed below if the Committee is so inclined.
1. LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Recommended Action:
Receive and file.
2. REGULATORY UPDATE
Recommended Action:
Receive and file.
9. ADJOURNMENT
Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act
OCPA meetings comply with the protections and prohibitions of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Individuals with a disability who require a modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, in order to participate in the public meeting may contact 949-263-2612. Requests for disability-related modifications or accommodations require different lead times and should be provided at least 72-hours in advance of the public meeting.
Availability of Documents
Copies of the agenda and agenda packet are available at www.ocpower.org. Late-arriving documents related to a Committee meeting item which are distributed to a majority of the Committee prior to or during the Committee meeting are available for public review as required by law. Public records, including agenda-related documents, can be requested electronically at [email protected] or by mail to 15642 Sand Canyon Avenue, P.O. Box 54283, Irvine, CA 92619-4283. The documents may also be posted at the above website.
Such public records are also available for inspection, by appointment, at 15310 Barranca Parkway, Suite 250, Irvine, CA 92618. Please contact [email protected] to arrange an appointment.
MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE
ORANGE COUNTY POWER AUTHORITY
Thursday, March 6, 2025
OCPA Legislative & Regulatory Regular Meeting of March 6, 2025 Page 1
1. CALL TO ORDER
Director Jung called to order the Regular Meeting of the Legislative and Regulatory Committee at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chair Sonne led the Pledge of Allegiance.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: Chair Susan Sonne City of Buena Park
Director Fred Jung City of Fullerton
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEMS
None
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
None
6. COMMITTEE MEMBER ANNOUNCEMENTS
None
7. CONSENT CALENDAR
Moved by Chair Sonne and seconded by Director Jung to approve the November 13, 2024, Minutes.
The motion carried unanimously by the following vote:
Ayes: Chair Sonne, Director Jung
Noes: None
Absent: None
OCPA Legislative & Regulatory Regular Meeting of March 6, 2025 Page 2
1. MINUTES FOR THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY COMMITTEE MEETING OF NOVEMBER 13, 2024
Action Taken:
Approved as submitted.
8. REGULAR CALENDAR
1. ADOPT 2025 CALENDAR
Moved by Chair Sonne and seconded by Director Jung to:
Adopt the 2025 meeting calendar and set the meetings for 2:30 p.m. on June 5, September 4, and December 4.
The motion carried unanimously by the following vote:
Ayes: Chair Sonne, Director Jung
Noes: None
Absent: None
2. AFFORDABILITY – LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY UPDATE
Regulatory and Legislative Manager, Steven Halligan, provided a summary of the presentation on this item.
Action Taken:
Received and filed.
3. INTRODUCED LEGISLATION POSITION RECOMMENDATIONS
Regulatory and Legislative Manager, Steven Halligan, provided a summary of the presentation on this item.
Moved by Director Jung and seconded by Chair Sonne to:
Recommend that the Orange County Power Authority Board of Directors take positions on legislation as recommended by Staff.
The motion carried unanimously by the following vote:
Ayes: Chair Sonne, Director Jung
Noes: None
Absent: None
OCPA Legislative & Regulatory Regular Meeting of March 6, 2025 Page 3
9. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business to come before the Committee, Director Jung adjourned the meeting at 3:59 p.m.
Submitted by:
Pat Jacquez-Nares, Board Authority Secretary
ORANGE COUNTY POWER AUTHORITY
Staff Report – Item 8.1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Orange County Power Authority Legislative and Regulatory Committee From: Steven Halligan, Regulatory and Legislative Manager Approved By: Joe Mosca, Chief Executive Officer
Subject: LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Date: June 5, 2025
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Receive and file.
BACKGROUND
Staff have identified 121 bills, including 14 priority bills (Attachment – 2025 Orange County Power Authority Bill Tracker) to analyze and monitor. 45 bills have failed to pass through Committees within required deadlines. Staff track bills in several categories including but not limited to affordability, building standards, energy sources, CEQA, transmission, decarbonization, demand forecasting, electrification, IOU rate cases and oversight, and workforce development.
The last day for policy committees in the California State legislature to meet was May 16, 2025.
Fiscal committees had until May 23, 2025 to hear and report bills introduced in their house.
Beginning June 2, 2025 no committee may meet for any purpose. June 6 is the deadline for bills to pass out of their house of origin. The Budget Bill must be passed by midnight on June 15, 2025.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
AB 303 (Addis) - Battery energy storage facilities
Summary: This bill would prohibit the authorization of a development project that includes a battery energy storage system capable of storing 200 megawatt hours or more of energy if the development project is located within 3,200 feet of a sensitive receptor or is located on an environmentally sensitive site, as specified.
Current Status: Failed to pass out of Committee
AB 306 (Schultz and Rivas) - Building regulations: state building standards Summary: This bill would, from June 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, prohibit a city or county from making changes that are applicable to residential units to the above-described building standards unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety. This bill would, from June 1, 2025, to June 1, 2031, inclusive, require the commission to reject a modification or change to any building standard, as described above, affecting a residential unit and filed by the governing body of a city or county unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety.
Current Status: In Senate Committee on Housing
SB 239 (Arreguin) - Open meetings: teleconferencing: subsidiary body Summary: This bill would authorize a subsidiary body, as defined, to use alternative teleconferencing provisions and would impose requirements for notice, agenda, and public participation, as prescribed. The bill would require the subsidiary body to post the agenda at each physical meeting location designated by the subsidiary body, as specified. The bill would require the members of the subsidiary body to visibly appear on camera during the open portion of a meeting that is publicly accessible via the internet or other online platform, as specified. The bill would also require the subsidiary body to list a member of the subsidiary body who participates in a teleconference meeting from a remote location in the minutes of the meeting.
Current Status: Read second time on Senate Floor. Ordered to third reading.
Current position: Support
SB 254 (Becker) - Senate Energy Affordability Bill
Summary: SB 254 is a 161-page, detailed, and far-reaching bill aimed at addressing electricity rate affordability. Among other things, the bill:
• Creates the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority to develop transmission and other infrastructure. The Authority, which is exempt from CPUC oversight, can “finance, plan, develop, acquire, own, maintain, sell, or operate eligible clean energy infrastructure (including transmission and storage) necessary or useful” in the state’s transition to 100% clean energy. It includes public financing of transmission that would be operated and maintained by the utilities.
• Overhauls the framework for oversight of wildfire mitigation project review, introduces the need to evaluate wildfire investments based on cost efficiency, and exempts undergrounding from CEQA.
• Prevents the IOUs from including in their rate base their proportional share of $5 billion of fire risk mitigation capital expenditures and $20 billion of energization capital expenditures approved by the Commission on or after January 1, 2025. • Increases the Climate Credit for CARE/FERA customers and concentrates the credit on peak bill months.
• Establishes the Policy-Oriented and Wildfire Electric Reimbursement (POWER) program that will use appropriated funds, if any, to reimburse CPUC programs “driven by public policy goals, that provide benefit to the general public and not just to ratepayers, and that are not required for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to the ratepayers….” (e.g. transportation electrification, building decarbonization, energy efficiency, low-income discounts, and wildfire mitigation).
• Modifies the Commission’s reporting responsibility for demand-side management programs it oversees or that are paid for by ratepayers of the IOUs or community choice aggregators by (1) limiting the requirement to provide budgets and actual expenditures to “utility” expenditures and (2) specifies that “public interest impacts” include nonenergy effects, emissions reductions, or equity considerations. • Heightens the burden of proof for proposed costs in excess of inflation to “clear and convincing” evidence and increases reporting requirements for the Commission if such costs are authorized.
• Requires the CEC to prepare a program EIR to analyze the development of classes of facilities, including solar PV, wind, energy storage, and thermal generation so that other agencies considering approval of specific facilities within the class may rely and build on the program EIR.
• Broadens the scope of projects that fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the CEC for permitting by reducing the capital investment requirement for discretionary projects from $250 million to $100 million and extends eligibility to come within the CEC’s jurisdiction from mid-2029 to mid-2034. Makes other material changes to the certification process.
Current Status: Passed out of Senate Appropriations, Amendment: Make technical changes related to large energy consumers and add co-authors
SB 283 (Laird) - Energy Storage Systems
Summary: This bill would require an application submitted to the Energy Commission relating to certification of facilities by the Energy Commission, and an application submitted to a local jurisdiction for an energy storage management system, to include the applicant’s certification that the facility has been designed in accordance with the most recently published edition of the NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, except as specified, and, at least 30 days before submitting an application, that the applicant met and conferred with the local fire department responsible for fire suppression in the area where the facility or system is proposed, as provided. The bill would also prohibit the approval of those applications unless the local jurisdiction requires as a condition of approval that the system be constructed, installed, commissioned, operated, maintained, and decommissioned in accordance with the most recently published edition of the NFPA 855, that after installation is complete, but before commencing operations, the system be inspected by the local fire department responsible for fire suppression or by a representative or designee of the State Fire Marshal, and that the applicant bear the cost of the inspection. The bill would authorize a state or local entity to approve the construction of an energy storage management system with over 600 kilowatt-hours of storage capacity only if it is located in a noncombustible, dedicated-use building or is a remote outdoor installation, as provided.
Current Status: Passed out of Senate Appropriations with no amendments SB 330 (Padilla) - Electrical transmission infrastructure: financing Summary: This bill would authorize the Governor to establish one or more pilot projects to develop, finance, or operate electrical transmission infrastructure that meet the specified criteria, including, among other things, that the transmission line is identified by the Independent System Operator in its transmission planning process as a project subject to competitive bidding and necessary to support clean energy generation to meet the state’s clean energy goals. The bill would require the Governor to designate existing state agencies, local public agencies, tribal organizations, or joint powers authorities to implement the pilot projects. The bill would authorize the pilot projects to develop, finance, operate, and maintain electrical transmission lines and all works, facilities, improvements, and property, or portions thereof, necessary or convenient for the conveyance of electricity, as specified. The bill would authorize the Governor to issue guidelines regarding application and certification of pilot projects.
Current Status: Passed out of Senate Appropriations with no amendments SB 540 (Becker and Stern) - Independent System Operator: independent regional organization SB 540 provides the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) with the authority necessary to implement the Pathways Initiative Proposal if it determines an independent regional organization (RO) meets specific requirements. The bill allows CAISO to tap into a wider market of electricity resources which studies have shown stand to provide significant benefits to Californians including cost savings, enhanced grid reliability, and reduced air pollution.
Current Status: Passed out of Senate Appropriations, Amendment: Modify off-ramp provisions to protect California ratepayers and climate policies
Current position: Support
California Budget Update
In the May Budget Revision, the Legislature is considering choices on the extension of the Cap-and-Trade Program. The May revision proposes to extend the Cap-and-Trade program’s sunsetting from 2030 to 2045. This may cause emitters to pay an additional $200 billion, which may increase gas and diesel fuel prices. The Governor has proposed to rename the program from Cap-and-Trade to Cap-and-Invest. The revised program will extend the California Climate Credit bill subsidy by around $60 million, which can be used to reduce utility bills. To address the major budget shortcomings, the state plans to allocate $1.54 billion from the General Fund to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) to support CAL FIRE’s fire prevention, fire control, and resource management activities. This includes a funding backstop in case the GGRF falls short on their projected revenues, and the budget is projected to reach $1.9 billion by 2029-2030. The proposed budget for CalFIRE amounts to one-third of their total budget, and in total, the High-Speed Rail Project and CalFIRE budget would amount to over half of the projected cap-and-trade budget for FY2025-26. There is uncertainty regarding future reliance on cap-and –trade funding due to an expected reduction in carbon emissions in California.
Two major budget adjustments in the energy sector are expected to take place following the May Budget Revision. $3.7 million will be added towards the CPUC's Utilities Reimbursement Account until 2027, and $2.9 million will be added ongoing in 2028 to support compliance and safety standards in connecting Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) to the electric grid. To expedite renewable energy development in the state, the state will add $1.9 million Energy Facility Licensing and Compliance Fund and add positions to support CEC’s opt-in (AB 205) clean energy permitting program. The May Budget notably plans on shifting $33 million from the CPUC’s solar program from the State’s General Fund to federal funds, should these federal funds be available.
It also shifts $475 million from the CEC’s Offshore Wind Infrastructure Program from the General Fund to the Prop. 4 Climate Bond.
Federal Update
On May 21, 2025 the House passed the budget bill “One Big Beautiful Bill”, on a 215-214, party-line vote. The bill now heads to the Senate. The bill terminates the 48E investment and 45Y production tax credits for non-nuclear clean energy projects placed in service after 2028, with no phaseout period. Projects must begin construction within 60 days of the bill’s enactment — likely later this year — to be eligible for the credits. The bill also eliminates the Inflation Reduction Act’s tax credit transferability framework for most clean energy projects.
The bill proposes a major rollback of clean energy credits. After 2025, the bill repeals four EV-related credits, notably including Section 30D and 25E’s new and previously owned clean vehicle credits. From December 2009 to December 2025, any covered vehicle where the manufacturer sold less than 200,000 vehicles in the United States is no longer considered a “new clean vehicle”, which the Clean Vehicle Credit cannot cover. The bill continues restrictions on clean fuel production credits under Section 38, prohibiting credits for taxes claimed by a “foreign-influenced entity”.
The bill repeals the Section 25D residential solar tax credit. Under this revision, homeowners can no longer receive a 30% tax credit for residential solar installations after 2025. Production tax credits (PTCs) and investment tax credits (ITCs) of renewable energy and battery storage projects that are currently in operation, as well as tax credits for projects under construction by the end of 2024, will be unaffected by the budget bill.
FISCAL IMPACT
None
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2025 Orange County Power Authority Bill Tracker
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
Bill # Author Title Category Summary Status Position
AB 303 Addis Battery energy storage
facilities
Battery Storage This bill would prohibit the authorization of a development project that includes a battery energy storage system capable of storing 200 megawatthours or more of energy if the development project is located within 3,200 feet of a sensitive receptor or is located on an environmentally sensitive site, as specified.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by
committee.
CalCCA
Oppose
AB 306 Schultz and Rivas Building regulations: state
building standards
Building Standards This bill would, from June 1, 2025, until June 1, 2031, inclusive, prohibit a city or county from making changes to the above-described building standards unless a certain condition is met, including that the commission deems those changes or modifications necessary as emergency standards to protect health and safety.
From committee chair,
with author's
amendments: Amend,
and re-refer to
committee. Read
second time,
amended, and re-referred to Com. on
HOUSING.
CalCCA
Oppose
Unless
Amended
AB 526 Papan Energy: new in-state
geothermal energy
generation
Geothermal The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before June 1, 2026, to evaluate and quantify the maximum feasible capacity of new in-state geothermal energy to achieve reliability, ratepayer, employment, and decarbonization benefits, and to establish megawatt in-state next-generation geothermal planning goals for 2035 and 2045, as specified.
In committee: Held
under submission.
CalCCA
Support
AB 527 Papan California Environmental
Quality Act: geothermal
exploratory projects
Geothermal This bill provides that “geothermal exploratory project” includes, among other things, equipment and activities necessary to establish interconnectivity between wells and reservoirs. The bill would exempt geothermal exploratory projects for which the county is the lead agency that meet specified conditions from CEQA. The bill would require the lead agency, at least 30 days before the making the determination to approve or carry out a change in use pursuant to this exemption, to post a written notice on its internet website and at the project site. Because the exemption would apply to projects where the county is the lead agency and the county would be required to determine if a project qualifies for this exemption, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 15. Noes
0.) (May 14). Read
second time. Ordered
to third reading.
CalCCA
Support
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
AB 531 Rogers Geothermal powerplants
and geothermal field
development projects:
certification and
environmental review
Geothermal This bill would expand the types of facilities eligible to be certified as environmental leadership development projects by the Energy Commission to include geothermal powerplants and geothermal field development projects, as defined.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 13. Noes
0.) (May 23).
CalCCA
Support
AB 941 Zbur California Environmental
Quality Act: electrical
infrastructure projects
CEQA This bill would require the commission to determine whether to certify the environmental impact report for an electrical infrastructure project that is a priority project, as defined, no later than 270 days after the commission determines that an application for an electrical infrastructure project is complete, except as specified.
In committee: Held
under submission.
CalCCA
Support
SB 57 Padilla Data centers: special
tariff or program
Data Centers This bill, the Ratepayer and Technological Innovation Protection Act, would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, to establish a special electrical corporation tariff or program, or modify an existing tariff or program, 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 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 minimum requirements for zero-carbon procurement on behalf of retail sellers for eligible customers receiving the tariff.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.)
(May 23). Read second
time. Ordered to third
reading.
SB 239 Arreguin Open meetings:
teleconferencing:
subsidiary body
Teleconferencing This bill would authorize a subsidiary body, as defined, to use alternative teleconferencing provisions and would impose requirements for notice, agenda, and public participation, as prescribed. The bill would require the subsidiary body to post the agenda at each physical meeting location designated by the subsidiary body, as specified. The bill would require the members of the subsidiary body to visibly appear on camera during the open portion of a meeting that is publicly accessible via the internet or other online platform, as specified. The bill would also require the subsidiary body to list a member of the subsidiary body who participates in a teleconference meeting from a remote location in the minutes of the meeting.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 10. Noes
1.) (May 6). Read
second time. Ordered
to third reading.
OCPA
Support
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
SB 254 Becker Electricity: wildfire
mitigation: rate
assistance: Policy-Oriented and Wildfire
Electric Reimbursement
Program.
Affordability 1) Creates the Clean Energy Infrastructure Authority to develop transmission and other infrastructure. The Authority, which is exempt from CPUC oversight, can “finance, plan, develop, acquire, own, maintain, sell, or operate eligible clean energy infrastructure (including transmission and storage) necessary or useful” in the state’s transition to 100% clean energy. It includes public financing of transmission that would be operated and maintained by the utilities.2) Overhauls the framework for oversight of wildfire mitigation project review, introduces the need to evaluate wildfire investments based on cost efficiency, and exempts undergrounding from CEQA. 3) Prevents the IOUs from including in their rate base their proportional share of $5 billion of fire risk mitigation capital expenditures and $20 billion of energization capital expenditures approved by the Commission on or after January 1, 2025. 4) Increases the Climate Credit for CARE/FERA customers and concentrates the credit on peak bill months. 5) Establishes the Policy-Oriented and Wildfire Electric Reimbursement (POWER) program that will use appropriated funds, if any, to reimburse CPUC programs “driven by public policy goals, that provide benefit to the general public and not just to ratepayers, and that are not required for the safe and reliable delivery of electricity to the ratepayers….” (e.g. transportation electrification, building decarbonization, energy efficiency, low-income discounts, and wildfire mitigation). 6) Modifies the Commission’s reporting responsibility for demand-side management programs it oversees or that are paid for by ratepayers of the IOUs or community choice aggregators by (1) limiting the requirement to provide budgets and actual expenditures to “utility” expenditures and (2) specifies that “public interest impacts” include nonenergy effects, emissions reductions, or equity considerations. 7) Heightens the burden of proof for proposed costs in excess of inflation to “clear and convincing” evidence and increases reporting requirements for the Commission if such costs are authorized. 8) Requires the CEC to prepare a program EIR to analyze the development of classes of facilities, including solar PV, wind, energy storage, and thermal generation so that other agencies considering approval of specific facilities within the class may rely and build on the program EIR. 9) Broadens the scope of projects that fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the CEC for permitting by reducing the capital investment requirement for discretionary projects from $250 million to $100 million and extends eligibility to come within the CEC’s jurisdiction from mid-2029 to mid-2034. Makes other material changes to the certification process.
From commitee: Do
pass as amended.
(Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (May
23.)
CalCCA
Support
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
SB 283 Laird Energy Storage Systems Battery Storage This bill would require an application submitted to the Energy Commission in accordance with the above-described provisions relating to certification of facilities by the Energy Commission, and an application submitted to a local jurisdiction for an energy storage management system, to include the applicant’s certification that the facility has been designed in accordance with the NFPA 855, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems, and, at least 30 days before submitting an application, the applicant met and conferred with the local fire department responsible for fire suppression in the area where the facility or system is proposed, as provided.
The bill would also prohibit the approval of those applications unless the local jurisdiction requires as a condition of approval that the system be constructed, installed, commissioned, operated, maintained, and decommissioned in accordance with NFPA 855, that after installation is complete, but before commencing operations, the system be inspected by the local fire department responsible for fire suppression or by a representative or designee of the State Fire Marshal, and that the applicant bear the cost of the inspection. By imposing additional duties on local officers, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.)
(May 23). Read second
time. Ordered to third
reading.
CalCCA
Support if
Amended
SB 302 Padilla Personal Income Tax Law
and Corporation Tax Law:
exclusions:
environmental credits
Tax Credits This bill, in conformity with federal law, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2023, would exclude from gross income a refund payment made for the specified federal environmental credits described above and any payment received by a transferor as consideration for a transfer, as provided. The bill would also prohibit a transferee from deducting the amount paid as consideration for the transfer, in conformity with federal law.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.)
(May 23). Read second
time. Ordered to third
reading.
CalCCA
Support
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
SB 330 Padilla Electrical transmission
infrastructure: finacning
Transmission This bill would authorize the Governor to establish one or more pilot projects to develop, finance, or operate electrical transmission infrastructure that meet the specified criteria, including, among other things, that the transmission line is identified by the Independent System Operator in its transmission planning process as a project subject to competitive bidding and necessary to support clean energy generation to meet the state’s clean energy goals. The bill would require the Governor to designate existing state agencies, local public agencies, tribal organizations, or joint powers authorities to implement the pilot projects. The bill would authorize the pilot projects to develop, finance, operate, and maintain electrical transmission lines and all works, facilities, improvements, and property, or portions thereof, necessary or convenient for the conveyance of electricity, as specified. The bill would authorize the Governor to issue guidelines regarding application and certification of pilot projects.
From committee: Do
pass. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.)
(May 23). Read
second time. Ordered
to third reading.
CalCCA
Support
SB 540 Becker and Stern Independent System
Operator: independent
regional organization
Regional Organization This bill would delete the above-described provisions providing for the transformation of the ISO into a regional organization. The bill would authorize the ISO and the electrical corporations that are participating transmission owners whose transmission systems are operated by the ISO, in lieu of the ISO managing related energy markets, as provided, to use energy markets governed by an independent regional organization, provided that specified requirements are satisfied. This bill would specify that the above-described provisions do not diminish the PUC’s authority to direct an electrical corporation to withdraw from an energy market governed by an independent regional organization, and would authorize the PUC to direct an electrical corporation to withdraw from an energy market governed by an independent regional organization under specific circumstances.
The bill would also require an electrical corporation within the balancing authority of the ISO to withdraw from an energy market governed by an independent regional organization under two specified conditions.
From committee: Do
pass as amended.
(Ayes 4. Noes 1.) (May
23).
OCPA and
CalCCA
Support
Orange County Power Authority
2025 California Bill Tracker (Updated 5/27/2025)
High Priority
SB 541 Becker Electricity: load shifting:
dynamic pricing
Dynamic Rates This bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of each integrated energy policy report, to allocate the incremental load shifting needed to reach the above-described load-shifting goal, including biennial adjustments to the goal, to each retail supplier, as defined, based on the commission’s estimate of its load-shifting potential, including consideration of the relative share of statewide load of each retail supplier, and other relevant factors, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before July 1, 2028, and biennially thereafter, to evaluate and publish the amount of load shifting that each retail supplier achieved in the prior calendar year, and the amount of load shifting that each retail supplier is expected to achieve in future years, in comparison to the load shifting allocated to the retail supplier, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the PUC and the Independent System Operator, to identify and evaluate barriers to effectively implement load-shifting strategies and to establish a location-based avoided cost metric that estimates the value of demand reduction at different times and locations, as specified.
From committee: Do
pass as amended.
(Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (May
23). Read second time
and amended. Ordered
to second reading.
CalCCA
Oppose
Medium Priority
Bill # Author Title Category Summary Status
AB 13 Ransom Public Utilities
Commission:
membership: reports.
CPUC Reporting This bill would require that 4 members of the commission represent the geographic locations of the 4 State Board of Equalization districts, existing as of January 1, 2026, and one member be an at-large member with expertise in nongovernmental public advocacy or public interest law and with a nongovernmental background, as specified.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 11.
Noes 0.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
AB 39 Zbur General plans: Local
Electrification Planning
Act.
Local Programs This bill, the Local Electrification Planning Act, would require a city, county, or city and county, on or after January 1, 2027, but no later than January 1, 2030, to prepare and adopt a specified plan, or integrate a plan in the next adoption or revision of the general plan, that includes locally based goals, objectives, policies, and feasible implementation measures that include, among other things, the identification of opportunities to expand electric vehicle charging and other zero-emission vehicle fueling infrastructure, as specified, and includes policies and implementation measures that address the needs of disadvantaged communities, low-income households, and small businesses for equitable and prioritized investments in zero-emission technologies that directly benefit these groups. For these purposes, the bill would authorize a city, county, or city and county to incorporate by reference into the general plan a previously adopted similar plan that meets the above-described requirements, as specified. By increasing the duties of local public officials, the bill would establish a state-mandated local program.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
12. Noes 3.) (May 21). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
AB 44 Schultz Energy: electrical
demand forecasts.
Demand Forecasts This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before December 1, 2026, and in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, Independent System Operator, load-serving entities, and resource aggregators, to adopt a set of upfront technical requirements and load modification protocols, as defined, to provide the option for a load-serving entity to reduce or modify its electrical demand forecast upon aggregated system operation, as specified. The bill would require the commission to evaluate new and existing mechanisms that can support or expand opportunities for load-serving entities to modify their hourly resource adequacy obligations through load management, and would authorize the Energy Commission to include its findings and recommendations in its integrated energy policy report.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
Medium Priority
AB 61 Pacheco Electricity and natural
gas: legislation imposing
mandated program and
requirements: third-party
review.
Programs This bill would request the office to establish, by January 1, 2027, a program to, upon request of the Legislature, analyze legislation that would establish a mandated requirement or program or otherwise affect electrical or gas ratepayers, as specified. The bill would request the office to develop and implement conflict-of-interest provisions that would prohibit a person from participating in an analysis for which the person knows or has reasons to know that the person has a financial interest. The bill would establish the Energy Programs Benefit Fund in the State Treasury and continuously appropriate the moneys in the fund to the office to support the work of the office in providing analyses under the bill.
The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031.
From committee: Do pass.
(Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 222 Bauer-Kahan Data centers: energy
usage reporting and
modeling.
Data Centers This bill would require the Energy Commission to require operators of data centers to annually report energy consumption and performance data, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to include energy consumption trends for data centers in its integrated energy policy reports. The bill would require the Energy Commission to adopt energy efficiency performance standards, as described, for data centers.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 11.
Noes 3.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
AB 368 Ward Energy: building
standards: passive house
standards
Building Standards This bill would require the commission to evaluate the passive house energy efficiency standards, and, if appropriate, adopt those standards, or any elements that align with the state’s existing requirements, as an alternative compliance pathway for the building efficiency standards established by the Energy Commission.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 420 Petrie-Norris Public Utilities
Commission:
proceedings
CPUC This bill would authorize an interested person to submit a written ex parte communication during a quiet period if the commission modifies, rather than materially modifies, a proposed decision. The bill would require each public utility, as a part of its general rate case, to report all transactions performed pursuant to this exemption, enumerated by date, value, location, and party.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
AB 441 Hadwick Wildfire prevention:
Office of Wildfire
Technology Research and
Development: wildfire
mitigation program
Wildfires Would repeal provisions related to the Office of Wildifre Technology Research and Development. From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 14.
Noes 0.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
Medium Priority
AB 443 Bennett Energy Commission:
integrated resource policy
report: curtailed solar and
wind generation:
hydrogen production
Hydrogen This bill would require the Energy Commission, as part of the 2027 edition of the integrated energy policy report and each edition thereafter, and contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose, to include an assessment of funding needs for port infrastructure for offshore wind energy development, as specified.
The bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with specified entities, to include in the assessment any federal, state, and local funding opportunities, including general obligation bonds and funding from the private sector, that can help build port infrastructure for offshore wind energy development.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 615 Davies Power facilites:
emergency response and
action plan
Power Facilities This bill would require that those applications also contain emergency response and action plans, to be paid for by the applicant, that incorporate impacts to the surrounding areas in the event of an emergency and that would be conducted and coordinated with local emergency management agencies, unified program agencies, and local first response agencies. The bill would require that applications for an energy storage system also contain emergency response and action plans, to be paid for by the applicant, and that the plan plans include analysis and feedback from the local emergency management agencies as to whether the proposed facilities require supplemental first responder capabilities and meet National Fire Protection Association 855 Standard as it relates to setbacks, as specified.
From committee: Do pass. To
Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15.
Noes 0.) (May 21). Read second
time. Ordered to Consent
Calendar.
AB 705 Boerner Public Utilites Comission:
Independent Office of
Audits and Investigations
CPUC This bill would delete the provision providing for the appointment of the chief internal auditor and instead provide that, effective January 1, 2026, the internal audit unit of the commission and its staff are transferred to the Independent Office of Audits and Investigations, which the bill would establish within the commission, as specified. The bill would provide for the appointment and removal of the director of the office, who would have the title of Inspector General. The bill would require that the office have access and authority to examine all records, files, documents, accounts, reports, correspondence, or other property of the commission, public utilities, and other entities regulated by the commission, as specified.
The bill would require the Inspector General to report to the Governor and the Legislature, as provided.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
Medium Priority
AB 716 Carillo Fire safety standards:
hydrogen facilities
Hydrogen This bill would require the State Fire Marshal to adopt the National Fire Protection Association Hydrogen Technologies Code (NFPA 2) as the statewide fire safety standards and guidelines for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution facilities. The bill would authorize local governments, in consultation with the State Fire Marshal, to adopt more stringent fire safety standards than the statewide fire safety standards, based on unique local hazards and risks. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to appoint a hydrogen fire expert, with specified duties. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to provide ongoing training to local fire departments and building inspectors, as specified.
From committee: Do pass.
(Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 729 Zbur Public utilities: climate
credits
Climate Credits This bill would require that the electric California Climate Credit be provided to residential, small business, and emissions-intensive trade-exposed retail customers in of electrical corporations on the bills of those customers for the months of August and September of each year unless otherwise directed by the commission, as specified. The bill would require that the natural gas California Climate Credit be provided to residential customers on the bills of those customers for the month of February of each year unless otherwise directed by the commission, as specified.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
AB 737 Qurik-Silva Energy: building
decarbonization: notice
and recordation of a
decarbonization charge
Decarbonization This bill would additionally add gas corporations to the definition of “energy supplier” for purposes of the above-described provisions.
Referred to Senate Com. on E., U
& C.
AB 738 Tangipa and
Patterson
Energy: building
standards: photovoltaic
requirements
Building Standards This bill would, until January 1, 2029, require residential construction intended to repair, restore, or replace a residential building damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in an area in which a state of emergency has been proclaimed by the Governor to comply only with the requirements regarding photovoltaic systems pursuant to those regulations, if any, that were in effect at the time the damaged or destroyed building was originally constructed and would prohibit that construction from being required to comply with any additional or conflicting photovoltaic system requirements in effect at the time of repair, restoration, or replacement. The bill would only apply to the construction of a building if certain conditions are met with respect to the building owner’s income and insurance coverage, and to the location and square footage of the construction.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Medium Priority
AB 740 Harabedian Integrated energy policy
report: virtual power
plants
VPP This bill would require the Energy Commission, on or before November 1, 2026, to adopt a virtual power plant deployment plan. The bill would require the Energy Commission, in developing the plan, to take certain actions, and would require that the plan meet specified requirements. The bill would require the plan adopted pursuant to these provisions to be included in the above-described integrated energy policy report.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 745 Irwin Electricity: clean energy
transmission projects:
utility infrastructure
undergrounding:
financing.
Transmission Projects This bill would authorize the commission, upon application by an electrical corporation to the commission for recovery of costs and expenses related to the undergrounding of utility infrastructure, or in a proceeding to recover costs and expenses in rates related to the undergrounding of utility infrastructure, and if the commission finds some or all of the costs and expenses to be reasonable, to issue financing orders to support the issuance of recovery bonds to finance costs, in excess of insurance proceeds, incurred, or that are expected to be incurred, by an electrical corporation, related to the undergrounding of utility infrastructure, as provided.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 10.
Noes 3.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
AB 777 Rodriguez Food assistance:
disasters: utilities.
Data Sharing This bill would require electrical corporations, gas corporations, water corporations, and local publicly owned electric utilities to respond to data requests from the department, and would require the commission to establish any memoramdum memorandum of understanding or other data sharing agreements agreement necessary to direct those utilities to provide data to the department to maximize food assistance, as provided. The bill would require the department to maximize the amount of assistance requested and received through D-SNAP and all other federally funded nutrition assistance, including utilizing that provided utility data, in order to timely seek automated mass replacement of specified federally funded nutrition assistance programs. The bill would require the department, on or before December 31, 2026, to submit a report to the Legislature related to food assistance, as specified.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
AB 825 Petrie-Norris Public Transmission
Financing Act of 2025
Public Financing This bill would create the Public Transmission Financing Fund within the State Treasury for the purpose of financing eligible transmission projects, as defined, that are necessary to meet the state’s clean energy goals to reduce or offset ratepayer costs associated with the public benefits of transmission projects. The bill would make the moneys in the fund, except as specified, continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal year, for the support of eligible entities, as defined, and available for expenditure for the above-described purpose. By establishing a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 11.
Noes 0.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
Medium Priority
AB 841 Patel State Fire Marshal:
personal protective
equipment: fires
Battery Storage This bill would require the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, to develop a working group with specified membership to make recommendations regarding personal protective equipment used in responding to lithium-ion battery fires. The bill would require, at a minimum, the working group to review, and for the purpose of making the recommendations to consider, the latest personal protective equipment to limit exposure to lithium and other heavy metals, technology to clean personal protective equipment, whether different types of personal protective equipment should be used for different types of lithium-ion battery fires, and current decontamination practices at the fire scene, as specified. The bill would require the recommendations to be submitted to the Legislature on or before September 1, 2026.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 864 Ward Hazardous waste: solar
photovoltaic modules
Solar Panel Recycling This bill would exempt solar photovoltaic modules not identified as hazardous waste and treated, except as provided, as universal waste, as defined, from state hazardous waste regulations, if transferred to a designated recycler for legitimate recycling, as described, and if the facility meets specified criteria relating to registration permits, as provided. The bill would make the universal waste designation applicable to a solar photovoltaic module that is intended for recycling and cannot otherwise be resold, reused, or refurbished only until the department adopts regulations implementing alternative management standards for solar photovoltaic modules. The bill would also designate a solar photovoltaic module that can be resold, reused, or refurbished as surplus material. The bill would make a conforming change.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 915 Petrie-Norris Clean energy project
siting and permitting
Clean energy project
siting and permitting
This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a state central pool of subject matter experts with experience in clean energy project siting and permitting.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 11.
Noes 0.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
Medium Priority
AB 942 Calderon Net energy metering:
eligible customer-generators: tariffs.
NEM This bill would provide that, on and after July 1, 2026, an eligible customer-generator that has taken service pursuant to NEM 1.0 or 2.0 for 10 or more years is no longer entitled to take service under that contract or tariff. The bill would require that eligible customer-generator to take service under the then-current applicable tariff adopted by the commission after December 1, 2022, disqualify that eligible customer-generator from eligibility for the avoided cost calculator plus glide path, as specified, and would require the eligible customer-generator to pay all nonbypassable charges that are applicable to customers that are not eligible customer-generators. This bill would, on and after January 1, 2026, for a customer that becomes a new eligible customer-generator by purchasing real property that contains a renewable electrical generation facility upon which a prior eligible customer-generator took service, require the new eligible customer-generator to take service under the then-current applicable tariff adopted by the commission after December 1, 2022, would disqualify the new eligible customer-generator from eligibility for the avoided cost calculator plus glide path, as specified, and would require the new eligible customer-generator to pay all nonbypassable charges that are applicable to customers that are not eligible customer-generators.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
9. Noes 1.) (May 21). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
AB 1016 Gonzalez Power facility and site
certifications: thermal
powerplants: geothermal
resources
Geothermal This bill would additionally authorize the commission to exempt from the certification requirement, only until January 1, 2030, a thermal powerplant that generates electricity using geothermal resources and meets specified criteria, including that a person proposing an eligible thermal powerplant files an application on or before June 30, 2029, for certification with the local governmental agency that has land use and related jurisdiction over the area in which the powerplant is located to certify the site and related facility, and that the powerplant has a generating capacity of up to 150 megawatts, or that modifications are being made to a thermal powerplant that generates electricity using geothermal resources that do not add capacity in excess of 150 megawatts. Upon the commission granting an exemption, the bill would require the local governmental agency to be the lead agency to certify the site and related facility, as provided. The bill would make the local governmental agency that has land use and related jurisdiction over the area of the proposed site and related facility the lead agency pursuant to CEQA for any project that the commission exempts from the certification requirement and that generates electricity using geothermal resources as provided.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Medium Priority
AB 1017 Boerner Energy: electrical and gas
corporations: general rate
cases.
General Rate Cases This bill would require an electrical corporation or gas corporation, as a part of its general rate case, to provide to the commission certain information, including, among other things, the authorized and actual rate of return and return on equity for the past 10 years and projects related to the corporation’s distribution capacity that include the forecast submitted in the prior general rate case of the corporation.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
AB 1020 Schiavo Public utilities: energy:
nontraditional funding:
reporting
IOU This bill would require each utility, defined as an investor-owned electrical corporation or gas corporation, to report certain information for any taxpayer funding, as defined, that the utility has applied for or received. The bill would require the commission, for each application in which a utility is seeking ratepayer funding, to require the utility to report all relevant taxpayer funding the utility is pursuing or has secured, and, if the commission determines that a utility is not in compliance with that requirement, the bill would authorize the commission to impose a penalty against the utility, as specified. The bill would require the commission to require each utility to promptly deliver the financial benefits of taxpayer funding to ratepayers, as provided.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
11. Noes 3.) (May 23).
AB 1104 Pellerin Net energy metering:
construction of
renewable electrical
generation facilities:
public works project
requirements.
Solar Existing law provides for various enforcement mechanisms related to ensuring a contractor pays each construction worker the prevailing rate of per diem wages, and provides that an enforcement of a willful violation of any of these mechanisms against a contractor for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility disqualifies that facility from eligibility being eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM
1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff. This bill instead would make a renewable electrical generation facility eligible to receive service pursuant to NEM 1.0, NEM 2.0, or the net billing tariff despite enforcement of a willful violation against a contractor for the construction of the facility, as described above, if restitution has been made to the affected workers and all associated penalties and fines have been paid.
From committee: Do pass. To
Consent Calendar. (Ayes 15.
Noes 0.) (May 21). Read second
time. Ordered to Consent
Calendar.
AB 1117 Schultz Electricity rates: optional
dynamic rate tariffs
Rates This bill would require the commission, through a new or existing proceeding, to develop optional dynamic rate tariffs applicable to each large electrical corporation for the large electrical corporation’s commercial and industrial customers on or before July 1, 2028, and for its other customers, including residential customers, on or before July 1, 2030. The bill would require each optional dynamic rate tariff to include, at minimum, specified components, including dynamic transmission and distribution rates that reflect real-time grid conditions and certain nonbypassable charges, as specified.
From committee: Do pass.
(Ayes 11. Noes 0.) (May 23).
Medium Priority
AB 1156 Wicks Solar-use easements:
suspension of Williamson
Act contracts: terms of
easement: termination.
Solar This bill would revise these provisions to authorize the Department of Conservation to determine that a parcel is eligible for suspension, as described above, upon the request of the landowner, instead of a request from a county or city, and would require the department to additionally make that determination in consultation with any applicable groundwater sustainability agency or services. The bill would revise the eligibility criteria for a parcel to be deemed eligible under these provisions by (1) additionally authorizing land for which there are or will be insufficient surface water or groundwater rights associated with the land to support commercially viable irrigated agricultural use; (2) deleting the requirement that the land not be located on lands designated as prime farmland, unique farmland, or farmland of statewide importance; and (3) additionally requiring that the land meet certain additional requirements relating to the land’s historical use as cropland and whether it is encumbered by a conservation easement or enrolled in a land conservation program, as specified. The bill would also require the Department of Conservation to issue its determination of eligibility within 120 days following submission of a completed application package, and would deem any application not rejected within this 120-day period to be approved.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 11.
Noes 1.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
AB 1167 Berman Electrical corporations
and gas corporations:
rate recovery: political
activities and promotional
advertising.
IOUs This bill would prohibit, except as provided, an electrical corporation or gas corporation from recording various expenses associated with political influence activities, as defined, or with promotional public messages, as defined, to accounts that contain expenses that the electrical corporation or gas corporation recovers from ratepayers. The bill would require electrical corporations and gas corporations to clearly and conspicuously disclose in all of its public messages 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.
From committee: Amend, and do
pass as amended. (Ayes 10.
Noes 0.) (May 23). Read second
time and amended. Ordered
returned to second reading.
Medium Priority
AB 1207 Irwin Climate change: market-based compliance
mechanism: price ceiling
Cap-and-Trade This bill would require the state board to instead consider the full social cost associated with emitting a metric ton of greenhouse gases, as determined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in November 2023.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
11. Noes 0.) (May 7). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
AB 1273 Patterson Public utilities: electricity
rates
Rates 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.
Referred to Senate Com. on E., U
& C.
AB 1280 Garcia Energy Energy This bill would authorize the I-bank to provide financial assistance in connection with the financing or refinancing of a new category of climate catalyst projects, those that enable the decarbonization of industrial facilities’ use of heat and power, including, but not limited to, industrial heat pump and thermal energy storage projects, as specified, with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission and the State Air Resources Board as consulting agencies. This bill would establish and implement an Industrial Facilities Thermal Energy Storage Program within the Long-Duration Energy Storage Program to provide financial incentives for eligible projects to decarbonize industrial facilities’ use of heat and power, as specified.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 1285 Committee on
Emergency
Management
State Fire Marshal:
lithium-ion battery
facilities: guidance
Battery Storage This bill would require the State Fire Marshal, in consultation with the Office of Emergency Services, to develop fire prevention, response, and recovery measures for utility grade lithium-ion battery storage facilities, as specified.
From committee: Do pass.
(Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 1301 Petrie-Norris Electricity: Power
Exchange
Power Exchange This bill would abolish the Power Exchange and would make various conforming changes. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
Medium Priority
AB 1302 Wallis Electricity: customer
generators: departing
load charges.
Departing Load This bill would require the commission, until December 31, 2031, to study and design a new system for allowing electrical customers of electrical corporations, community choice aggregators, local publicly owned electric utilities, and electrical cooperatives to generate their own electricity on their commercial or residential sites. The bill would require the commission, in designing the new system, to ensure all electrical customers are treated fairly, increase transparency in the calculation and application of departing load charges, promote the development and integration of renewable energy sources, support the state’s clean energy goals, consider the benefits of customer-generated energy, and provide a mechanism for stakeholder input, as provided. The bill would require the commission, on or before December 31, 2027, to submit a report to the Legislature detailing the proposed new process for departing load charges and any recommendations for legislative action.
Re-referred to Com. on U. & E.
AB 1334 Wallis Solar energy: official state
energy
Solar This bill would establish solar energy as the official state energy. In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.
AB 1408 Irwin Electricity:
interconnections
Interconnections This bill would require each electrical corporation, and each local publicly owned utility with an annual electrical demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours, to require the evaluation of surplus interconnection options and to consider surplus interconnection options, for purposes of its integrated resource plan.
From committee: Do pass.
(Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 1410 Garcia Public utilities: service
outages and updates:
alerts
Outages This bill would require each public utility to automatically enroll customers in alerts for service outages and updates. The bill would require customers to be provided with the opportunity to opt-out of any alerts they do not wish to receive, except as provided. The bill would require each public utility to provide information on customers’ bills on how to update their preferred contact methods and to allow customers to update their contact information by email or telephone.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
15. Noes 0.) (May 21). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
Medium Priority
AB 1423 Irwin Transportation
electrification: charging
station uptime:
regulatiosn: violations
EVSE This bill would require the above uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024, to also apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified.
The bill would additionally require the Energy Commission, in consultation with PUC, to develop, by January 1, 2027, uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards that apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2024, that either received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to consider specified factors when developing these uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
14. Noes 0.) (May 23).
AB 1436 Avila Farias Public Utilities
Commission: outreach.
PUC Outreach Existing law, in effect until January 1, 2020, required the Policy and Planning Division of the Public Utilities Commission to undertake one or more studies of outreach efforts undertaken by other state and federal utility regulatory bodies and make recommendations to the commission to promote effective outreach, including metrics for use in evaluating success. This bill would repeal that obsolete provision.
In Senate. Read first time. To
Com. on RLS. for assignment.
SB 24 McNerney Electrical and gas
corporations: rates:
political influence
activities and promotional
advertising: termination
of services.
IOU 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. 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.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
5. Noes 1.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
Medium Priority
SB 80 Caballero The Fusion Research and
Development Innovation
Hub Program.
Fusion This bill would establish the Fusion Research and Development Innovation Hub Program within the commission to accelerate the development and growth of fusion energy by advancing fusion science and technology with the goal of delivering the world’s first fusion energy pilot plant in the state by the 2040s.
The bill would require, among other things, the commission to designate fusion research and development innovation hubs representing regions of southern California, the central valley, adn the San Francisco Bay.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
6. Noes 0.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
SB 86 McNerney California Alternative
Energy and Advanced
Transportation Financing
Authority Act: sales and
use tax exclusion.
Fusion This bill would extend to January 1, 2031 the authorization to provide financial assistance in the form of a sales and use tax exclusion for projects approved by the authority. The bill would increase the maximum cumulative amount of the sales and use tax exclusions authorized under these provisions to $200,000,000 per calendar year. The bill would add electrical generation facilities using nuclear fusion technology to the types of projects qualifying for this sales and use tax exclusion. The bill would make other conforming changes.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (May
23). Read second time and
amended. Ordered to second
reading.
SB 88 Caballero Air resources: carbon
emissions: biomass.
Biomass This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2027, to finalize the standardized system described above. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt a method of quantification of the life-cycle emissions from alternative uses of forest and agricultural biomass residues. The bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to include in the next scoping plan update a strategy to support beneficial carbon removal products, including, but not limited to, biochar, that are generated from agricultural or forest biomass resources.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (May
23). Read second time and
admended. Ordered to second
reading.
Medium Priority
SB 256 Perez Electricity: infrastructure:
wildfire mitigation:
undergrounding:
emergency operations.
Infrastructure This bill would, for the description in the wildfire mitigation plan of the preventive strategies and programs to minimize the risk of its electrical lines and equipment causing catastrophic wildfires, require electrical corporations, electrical cooperatives, and local publicly owned electric utilities to include consideration of low-risk areas. The bill would require a wildfire mitigation plan to include an identification of any lapses in communication coordination during recent past emergency response events with local governments, as specified, and a description of any opportunities to collaborate with local governments, and other steps that can be taken to establish more efficient communication coordination during future emergency responses, as provided. The bill would require electrical corporations, electrical cooperatives, and local publicly owned electric utilities to conduct annual wildfire preparedness workshops in collaboration with and open to any local fire departments in their service areas to provide updates on the latest adopted wildfire mitigation plans, discuss any lapses in, and opportunities to increase efficiency of, communication coordination during emergency responses, and gather input for inclusion in the development of the next annual submission of their wildfire mitigation plans, as provided.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
5. Noes 1.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
SB 298 Caballero State Energy Resources
Conservation and
Development
Commission: seaports:
plan: alternative fuels
Alternative Fuels This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), in coordination with the State Lands Commission, the Transportation Agency, and the state board, to develop a plan on or before December 31, 2030, for the alternative fuel needs of oceangoing vessels at California’s public seaports that will enable the seaports to meet their emissions reduction goals. The bill would require the plan to do specified things, including, among other things, identifying barriers to permitting alternative fuel facilities at seaports and opportunities to address those barriers. The bill would require the Energy Commission to convene a working group to advise the Energy Commission on the development of information required by the plan, as specified. The bill would require the state board to provide the Energy Commission with information regarding fuels for oceangoing vessels that comply with the state board’s regulations for those vessels.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
6. Noes 0.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
Medium Priority
SB 326 Becker and Laird Wildfire safety: The
California Wildfire
Mitigation Strategic
Planning Act
Wildfires This bill would require the deputy director, on or before January 1, 2027, and every 3 years thereafter, to prepare a Wildfire Risk Mitigation Planning Framework sufficient to quantitatively evaluate wildfire risk mitigation actions, as provided. The bill would require the framework to allow for geospatial evaluation and comparison of wildfire risk mitigation actions, as defined, sufficient to direct coordinated mitigation efforts and long-term collaborative mitigation planning. The bill would require the deputy director to, each year the framework is completed, submit a copy of the framework to the Legislature, the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, and the Public Utilities Commission for review and consideration.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
6. Noes 0.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
Medium Priority
SB 332 Wahab Investor-Owned Utilities
Accountability Act
IOU Oversight 1) This bill would require the Energy Commission, in coordination with the public advisor and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), on or before March 31, 2026, to issue a request for proposals for a team to develop a study. The bill would require the study to (1) conduct a historical energy justice assessment of the investor-owned utility’s (IOU) operations and impacts, (2) complete a comparative analysis of the benefits and challenges of transitioning the IOUs to a successor entity in order to identify a recommended model, and, (3) if the study finds that it is in the best long-term interests of the people and ecologies of California to transition away from an investor-owned utility model, create a justice-centered implementation plan for managing the transition. 2) This bill would, among other things, prohibit a utility, including an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, gas corporation, and local publicly owned gas utility, from disconnecting a customer’s residential service for nonpayment if the customer has a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line. The bill would prohibit a utility from disconnecting a customer’s residential service for nonpayment if the customer’s household is the residence of certain persons, including, among other persons, a person who is pregnant or 0 to 12 weeks postpartum. 3) This bill would require each electrical corporation, on or before April 1, 2026, to submit a proposed executive compensation structure to the PUC that is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety through performance metrics, as provided. 4) This bill would prohibit, for proposed rate increases subject to PUC approval and a finding that the new rate is just and reasonable, an electrical corporation from proposing a compounded annual rate increase on residential customers above the increase in the Consumer Price Index. 5) Beginning with the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2026, and ending with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2036, this bill would require the PUC to annually allocate $100,000,000 of the revenues received by the electrical corporations from that allocation of greenhouse gas allowances to the Transformative Climate Communities Program and to the Community Resilience Center Program, as specified. 6) This bill would require each electrical corporation to annually contract with an independent and reputable third party to audit all of the electrical corporation’s equipment and electrical lines and identify any equipment or electrical lines that have outlived their useful life.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (May
23).
Medium Priority
SB 500 Stern Electrical corporations:
performance metrics and
incentives.
IOUs This bill would require the commission to evaluate performance metrics and financial performance-based incentives to identify mechanisms that may serve to better align electrical corporation operations, expenditures, and investments with delivering safe and reliable electrical service and achieving public policy goals, while minimizing costs for ratepayers. The bill would require the commission to prioritize performance metrics and financial performance-based incentives that can reduce electrical corporations’ preference for investments that can be added to their ratebase and instead encourage electrical corporations to propose the most cost-effective solutions for providing safe and reliable electrical service, as provided. The bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to begin tracking one or more of the performance metrics identified, and to subsequently consider whether financial performance-based incentives linked to those performance metrics would be effective and beneficial for minimizing costs for ratepayers.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (May
23). Read second time and
amended. Ordered to second
reading.
SB 533 Richardson Electric vehicle charging
stations: internet based
applications
EVSE This bill would create an exception to the above-described provisions that authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to require that payment for charging services be made through the use of an internet-based application and require the use of that internet-based application for admission to the premises.
Referred to Coms. on TRANS.
and U. & E.
Medium Priority
SB 534 Padilla Green Empowerment
Zone for the Salton Sea
and Southeastern Desert
Valleys.
Green Empowerment
Zone
This bill, until January 1, 2035, would authorize establishment of a Green Empowerment Zone for the Salton Sea and Southeastern Desert Valleys (empowerment zone). The bill would authorize the empowerment zone to be composed of specified land and communities within the Imperial, Eastern Coachella, and Palo Verde Valleys, upon adoption of a resolution by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, and would provide for the empowerment zone to be governed by a board of directors, as specified. The bill would task the empowerment zone with various duties, including, among other things, identification of projects and programs that will best utilize public dollars, distribute benefits to disinvested communities, and most quickly improve the economic vitality of California’s southeastern desert valleys, as specified, in a coordinated effort to support the development and equitable transition to a clean energy economy. The bill would require the board of directors, beginning on January 1, 2027, to submit an annual progress report to the Legislature and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, as specified. The bill would require the empowerment zone, commencing on January 1, 2027, as specified, to post the above-described report on its internet website and to submit a letter to the Legislature informing the Legislature that the report has been posted.
In Assembly. Read first time.
Held at Desk.
Medium Priority
SB 567 Limon Gravity-Based Energy
Storage Well Pilot
Program
Energy Storage This bill would, until January 1, 2035, establish the Gravity-Based Energy Storage Well Pilot Program and would authorize the supervisor to authorize the conversion of not more than 250 wells for use as gravity-based energy storage wells, as defined, to evaluate their use, including the establishment of appropriate operating conditions and physical parameters to safely generate energy. The bill would require idle wells that are authorized for use as gravity-based energy storage wells to be identified as gravity-based energy storage wells in a plan for the management and elimination of idle wells or updates to the plan required to be filed with the supervisor. The bill would require the mechanical integrity of gravity-based energy storage wells to be assessed by the Geologic Energy Management Division not less than annually. The bill would require an operator of a gravity-based energy storage well, in the event of a loss of mechanical integrity of the well or a leak to the environment, to notify the division, the State Air Resources Board, the appropriate regional water quality control board, and schools and community members within 3,200 feet of the well and to cease operation until the mechanical integrity is restored or to plug and abandon the well, as provided. The bill would require gravity-based energy storage wells to be continuously monitored for fluid leaks. The bill would specify that the authorization for wells to be used as gravity-based energy storage wells end at the termination of the pilot program. The bill would, by January 1, 2033, require the Secretary for Environmental Protection, in consultation with certain entities, to evaluate the pilot program and make recommendations to the Legislature for a framework to implement an ongoing Gravity-Based Energy Storage Well Program to regulate the operation of gravity-based energy storage wells, as provided.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (May
23). Read second time and
amended. Ordered to second
reading.
SB 593 Hurtado Voltage changes:
consumer protection.
Notice This bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2026, to require electrical corporations to adjust their consumer protections to better protect customers from significant voltage changes that can result in damage to customers’ equipment and appliances if the commission determines adjustments to the consumer protections are necessary. The bill would specify the factors that the commission would be required to evaluate when determining whether to adjust the consumer protections, as provided.
Read second time. Ordered to
third reading.
Medium Priority
SB 707 Durazo Open meetings: meeting
and teleconference
requirements.
Brown Act This bill would, until January 1, 2030, require a city council or a county board of supervisors to comply with additional meeting requirements, including that all open and public meetings include an opportunity for members of the public to attend via a two-way telephonic option or a two-way audiovisual platform, as defined, that a system is in place for requesting and receiving interpretation services for public meetings, as specified, and that good faith efforts are made to encourage residents to participate in public meetings, as specified. By imposing additional meeting requirements on city councils and county boards of supervisors, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also require the agenda to be provided in English and in all other languages spoken jointly by 20% or more of the population in the county in which the local agency is located that, among other things, speaks English less than “very well,” as specified. By imposing additional agenda requirements on legislative bodies of local agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Read second time. Ordered to
third reading.
SB 710 Blakespear Property taxation: active
solar energy systems:
extension
Solar Under existing property tax law, this exclusion remains in effect only until there is a subsequent change in ownership, but an active solar energy system that qualifies for the exclusion before January 1, 2027, will continue to receive the exclusion until there is a subsequent change in ownership. Existing law repeals these exclusion provisions on January 1, 2027. This bill would, beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, extend the exclusion indefinitely, and would limit the exclusion to customer-sited active solar energy systems, as defined.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (May
23). Read second time and
amended. Ordered to second
reading.
SB 714 Archuleta Zero-emission vehicles:
workforce development:
Clean Energy Workforce
Training Council
Workforce
Development
This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation that would establish a zero-emission vehicle workforce development pilot project and a Clean Energy Workforce Training Council, as provided.
Referred to Com. on RLS.
Medium Priority
SB 782 Perez Enhanced infrastructure
financing district: climate
resilience districts.
Enhanced
infrastructure climate
district
This bill would authorize a city or county to adopt a resolution providing for the division of taxes of any participating entity without following specified procedures for the preparation and adoption of an infrastructure financing plan, if certain conditions are met. The bill would require the district to hold a public meeting to consider the resolution of intention to establish the district and a second public meeting to consider the adoption of the infrastructure financing plan, and would require the district to post specified notices prior to the meetings. The bill would require the resolution to include specified information, including that incremental property tax revenue from the city or county and all affected taxing entities within the district may be used to finance the district’s activities. The bill would require the district to make the infrastructure financing plan available for public inspection at least 10 days before the hearing to approve the formation of the district, and would require the designated official of the district to consult with each affected taxing entity prior to development of the infrastructure financing plan.
Read second time. Ordered to
third reading.
Medium Priority
SB 787 McNerney Energy: Task Force on
Equitable Clean Energy
Supply Chains and
Industrial Policy in
California
Task Force on
Equitable Clean
Energy Supply Chains
This bill would require the commission, on or before March 1, 2026, to designate a person, within the commission, to serve as the Senior Counselor on Industrial Policy and Clean Energy Development and would specify the senior counselor’s duties. The bill would require the Senior Counselor on Industrial Policy and Clean Energy Development to convene working groups that focus on certain issues, as provided. The bill would require the commission, the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, the Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Water Resources, the Department of General Services, and the office of the Treasurer, on or before March 1, 2026, to enter into an a memorandum of understanding on equitable clean energy supply chains and industrial policy in California to, among other things, review, investigate, and develop strategies for building integrated industrial bases in California to support the zero-emission vehicle and battery supply chain industries, offshore wind and offshore wind component industries, and building decarbonization and heat pump industries through industrial planning and public investment, procurement, and subsidization, as provided. The bill would require the Senior Counselor on Industrial Policy and Clean Energy Development to track and coordinate the work taken under the memorandum of understanding and to prepare an annual report summarizing the key findings and recommendations resulting from that work. The bill would require that the report be presented at a public meeting of the commission and be published on the commission’s internet website. The bill would establish in the State Treasury the Equitable Clean Energy Supply Chain and Industrial Policy Fund and would, upon appropriation by the Legislature, authorize the moneys in the fund be expended for the purposes of the bill.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
5. Noes 1.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
SB 804 Archuleta Hydrogen pipeline safety Hydrogen This bill would require the PUC to require that hydrogen pipelines meet specified requirements. The bill would require the PUC to establish, on or before January 1, 2028, and, with the exception specified below, to enforce, standards that meet or exceed those requirements, as provided. The bill would require the Energy Commission to enforce the standards for private, intrastate hydrogen pipelines.
The bill would require a hydrogen pipeline owner to maintain accurate records of hydrogen concentration levels within its hydrogen pipeline and any leakage of hydrogen and, on or before December 31 of each year, to submit a report to the PUC detailing compliance with that requirement.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
6. Noes 0.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
Medium Priority
SB 840 Limon and
McGuire
Greenhouse gases: report Cap-and-Trade This bill would extend indefinitely the requirement for the Legislative Analyst’s Office to annually submit to the Legislature the report on the economic impacts and benefits of those greenhouse gas emissions targets. The bill would require the committee, at a public hearing, to review the annual report by the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
From committee: Do pass. (Ayes
6. Noes 0.) (May 23). Read
second time. Ordered to third
reading.
SB 842 Stern Energy: firm zero-carbon
resources
Zero-Carbon
Resources
This bill would require commission, on or before December 31, 2026, through a new or ongoing proceeding, to establish or identify a process by which each load-serving entity subject to its jurisdiction may solicit bids and propose projects for new firm zero-carbon resources to meet identified local reliability needs, as provided. The bill would require the report to include, among other things, characterization of the resource attributes vital for local reliability and identification of barriers, including market barriers, to deploying firm zero-carbon resources to enhance local reliability.
From committee: Do pass as
amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 1.) (May
23). Read second time and
amended. Ordered to second
reading.
Failed Deadline
Bill # Author Title Category Summary Status
AB 23 DeMaio The Cost of Living
Reduction Act of 2025.
Affordability This bill would require the Energy Commission to develop a rebate methodology to compensate Californians for the higher cost of gasoline, electricity, and natural gas compared to the national average, and, beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, in any year where the average prices for gasoline, electricity, or natural gas have exceeded the national average for those energy sources by more than 10% in the preceding 12 months, would require the Controller to provide rebates to households consistent with the methodology developed by the commission. The bill would establish the Cost of Living Reduction Fund and would require an amount necessary to fund the rebates, as specified, to be transferred from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the Cost of Living Reduction Fund, the moneys in which would be continuously appropriated to the Controller for the purpose of making the rebate payments. By requiring the transfer of moneys into a continuously appropriated fund, the bill would make an appropriation.
Re-referred to Com. on U. & E.
AB 99 Ta Electrical
corporations: rates.
Affordability This bill would prohibit an electrical corporation from proposing a rate increase above the rate of inflation as defined, as a systemwide average for any general rate case cycle, except the bill would expressly authorize the commission to approve a rate increase above the rate of inflation if the commission determines that the costs underlying the rate increase are directly related to safety enhancements and modernization or to higher commodity or fuel costs.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 267 Macedo Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund: high-speed rail: water
infrastructure and
wildfire prevention
GGRF This bill would suspend the appropriation to the High-Speed Rail Authority for the 2026–27 and 2027–28 fiscal years and would instead require those amounts from moneys collected by the state board to be transferred to the General Fund. The bill would specify that the transferred amounts shall be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to augment funding for water infrastructure and wildfire prevention.
Referred to Coms. on TRANS.
and NAT. RES.
AB 273 Sanchez Greenhouse Gas
Reduction Fund: high-speed rail:
infrastructure
improvements
GGRF This bill would eliminate the continuous appropriation of 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to the High-Speed Rail Authority on June 30, 2026. The bill, beginning with the 2026–27 fiscal year, would instead require 25% of the annual proceeds of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to be transferred to the General Fund and for those moneys, upon appropriation, to be used to augment funding provided to local governments to improve infrastructure.
Referred to Coms. on TRANS.
and NAT. RES.
Failed Deadline
AB 275 Petrie-Norris Office of Emergency
Services: wildfire
aerial response:
program
Wildfires This bill would require the Office of Emergency Services, in consultation with the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, to establish, on or before December 31, 2026, a working group to evaluate and develop recommendations for implementing a wildfire aerial response program to provide year-round, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, rapid aerial suppression capabilities. The bill would require the working group to consider specified elements to ensure effective statewide aerial wildfire suppression and to develop recommendations, including whether the program should be implemented as a pilot program, a full-scale statewide initiative, or if implementation is not recommended based on feasibility findings. The bill would require the Director of Emergency Services, in consultation with the department, to appoint members to the working group who are familiar with wildfire aviation response programs, as provided. The bill would require the working group to report its findings and implementation recommendations to the Assembly Committee on Emergency Management and the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization on or before December 31, 2027, as provided.
In committee: Set, second
hearing. Hearing canceled at the
request of author.
AB 286 Gallagher Electricity: mandatory
rate reduction.
Rates This bill would require the commission to generate a report outlining recommendations to decrease the kilowatt-per-hour rate for electricity charged to ratepayers by not less than 30% by January 1, 2027. The bill would require the commission, in making those reduction recommendations, to take certain actions, as specified.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 305 Arambula Energy: nuclear
facilities
Nuclear Power This bill would exempt small modular reactors, as defined, from those provisions. This bill would require the PUC, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt a plan to increase the procurement of electricity generated from nuclear facilities and to phase out the procurement of electricity generated from natural gas facilities.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
AB 388 Rogers Electricity Electrical
Corporations
This bill would revise the definition of “electrical corporation” to exclude a corporation or person employing certain solar or wind generating technology if electricity is transmitted exclusively and directly through private electrical lines to a single facility owned by a different corporation or person that uses the electricity only for new load, not for departing load, and for an electrolytic hydrogen production facility, as defined, or a facility using the electricity to provide industrial process heat, or both.
In committee: Held under
submission.
Failed Deadline
AB 434 DeMaio Construction and
safety standards:
battery storage
facilities
Battery Storage This bill would prohibit, until January 1, 2028, a public agency from authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility, as defined. The bill would require the State Fire Marshal, on or before January 1, 2028, to adopt guidelines and minimum standards for the construction of a battery energy storage facility to prevent fires and protect nearby communities from any fire hazard posed by the facility. The bill would require a public agency, when authorizing the construction of a battery energy storage facility on or after January 1, 2028, to require the facility to meet the guidelines and minimum standards adopted by the State Fire Marshal or more stringent guidelines and minimum standards as determined appropriate by the public agency.
In committee: Set, first hearing.
Referred to suspense file.
AB 472 Rogers and
Connolly
Energy: offshore wind
generation
Offshore Wind This bill would amend the definition of “infrastructure” described above to include port infrastructure for offshore wind energy development, and would require the 5-year infrastructure plan to include, beginning in the 2027–28 fiscal year, and contingent upon an appropriation for this purpose, an assessment of funding needs for port infrastructure for offshore wind energy development, as specified. The bill would require the Governor, in consultation with specified entities, to assess federal, state, and local funding opportunities, including general obligation bonds and funding from the private sector, that can help build port infrastructure for offshore wind energy development.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 884 Essayli Campaign
contributions: investor-owned utilities
IOU This bill would prohibit an investor-owned utility from making a contribution to a candidate for elective state office and would prohibit a candidate for elective state office from accepting a contribution from an investor-owned utility.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
AB 1173 Patterson Public Utilities
Commission:
organization
IOU/CPUC This bill would prohibit a staff member who moves from the Public Advocate’s Office of the Public Utilities Commission to the commission from working on any matter that the staff member participated in while employed at the office.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 1174 Alanis Clean Transportation
Program: eligible
programs and
projects: electrical
vehicle charging
stations: vandalism
deterrence
EVSE This bill would add to the categories of programs and projects eligible for funding under the Clean Transportation Program programs and projects to deter and combat vandalism of publicly available electric vehicle charging stations.
Referred to Com. on TRANS.
Failed Deadline
AB 1176 Flora Energy: renewable
energy resources
programs
Energy Spot Bill In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
AB 1182 Irwin State Energy
Resources
Conservation and
Development
Commission: report:
electrical grid
infrastructure
manufacturing
Transmission and
Distribution
Manufacturing
This bill would require the commission to prepare and submit a report, on or before July 1, 2026, to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the status of electrical transmission and distribution grid infrastructure manufacturing in this state.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 1191 Tangipa California Renewables
Portfolio Standard
Program: hydroelectric
generation.
RPS/Hydro This bill would revise the definition of an eligible renewable energy resource for the purposes of the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program to include all hydroelectric generating facilities and would make conforming changes.
In committee: Set, first hearing.
Failed passage.
Reconsideration granted.
AB 1222 Bauer-Kahan Public utilities: judicial
review
IOUs This bill would prohibit the commission from authorizing electrical or gas corporations to recover from their ratepayers the costs associated with seeking judicial review of a commission decision by a state or federal court or requesting relief from a commission decision at a federal agency. The bill would require the electrical and gas corporation to track those costs.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 1228 Essayli Electricity: expedited
utility distribution
infrastructure
undergrounding
program
Infrastructure This bill would specify that the approval of a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan is not a project for purposes of the California Environmental Quality Act, as specified.
Referred to Coms. on U. & E.
and NAT. RES.
AB 1238 DeMaio California Energy
Consumer Freedom
Act
Electrification This bill, the California Energy Consumer Freedom Act, would prohibit state agencies and local governments from adopting or enforcing a rule, regulation, resolution, or ordinance that directly or indirectly results in prohibiting the use of gas appliances in residential or nonresidential buildings, and the buying, selling, or use of gasoline-powered vehicles or equipment.
Re-referred to Com. on U. & E.
Failed Deadline
AB 1260 Ward Electricity: renewable
energy subscription
programs
Community
Renewables
This bill would revise and recast the requirements for the customer renewable energy subscription program to, among other things, specify that the avoided costs include certain avoided cost values. The bill would impose additional requirements that the program is required to meet, including requiring facilities participating in the program to have no more than 5 megawatts of generation capacity and no more than 5 megawatts of storage, and capping the total program capacity at 5 gigawatts or ending program subscription after 7 years, when either limit is first reached. The bill would require the PUC, on or before September 1, 2026, to adopt or modify the community renewable energy program to ensure consistency with certain requirements, as provided. The bill would require each community choice aggregator and electric service provider, within 180 days of the adoption or modification of the program, to notify the PUC regarding whether it will participate in the program. The bill would authorize a community choice aggregator or electric service provider to begin participating in, or end its participation in, the program at any time by notifying the PUC. The bill would require the PUC, beginning 2 years from the adoption or modification of the program, to evaluate the program to ensure consistency with the program’s requirements and would require the PUC to authorize the termination or modification of the program if the PUC determines that the program does not meet those requirements. The bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to evaluate community solar and storage projects as a load-modifying resource so that those projects may be counted as a load-modifying resource. The bill would require the Energy Commission to undertake the evaluation and issue a determination on or before September 1, 2026, as provided.
In committee: Held under
submission.
AB 1295 Patterson Public utilities: bills
and notices:
consolidation and
transparency
Billing This bill would require the commission, on or before June 1, 2026, to evaluate all customer billing and noticing requirements existing on January 1, 2026, that apply to gas or electric utilities, and to identify and consider potential avenues to consolidate and enhance billing transparency, including avenues that clearly show the source and value of each charge within each customer’s bill, as specified, and use the most cost-effective communications channels, as provided. The bill would authorize the commission to seek and consider input from utilities and other relevant stakeholders to inform its evaluation and identification and consideration of potential avenues to consolidate notices and enhance billing transparency.
In committee: Held under
submission.
Failed Deadline
AB 1342 Soria Public Utilities
Commission: energy
efficiency programs:
report.
Programs Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission, on or before December 31, 2018, and biennially thereafter, as part of a specified report, to identify and report to the Legislature on electrical and gas corporation ratepayer-funded energy efficiency programs that are similar to programs administered by the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, the State Air Resources Board, and the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority. This bill would instead require the commission to identify and report to the Legislature on those programs on an annual basis.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
AB 1347 Carrillo Electrical
modernization zones
Electrical
modernization
zones
This bill would require the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, in conjunction with the ISO, to identify six electrical infrastructure modernization zones, as provided. The bill would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to recognize these zones as load growth priority areas. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation that serves a customer within an electrical infrastructure modernization zone to work with the local jurisdiction to update its electrical load projections. The bill would require the PUC to authorize an electrical corporation that serves a customer within an electrical infrastructure modernization zone to expedite cost recovery and to manage microgrids, as specified.
In committee: Set, first hearing.
Hearing canceled at the request
of author.
AB 1372 Papan Renewable electrical
generation facilities:
electrified commuter
railroads: regenerative
braking: net billing
Rates This bill would, upon an electrical corporation, electric service provider, or community choice aggregator and an operator of an electrified commuter railroad that produces electricity through the regenerative braking of electric trains, including the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, completing certain technical studies, require the electrical corporation, electric service provider, or community choice aggregator to adopt or modify a net billing contract or tariff that is approved by the commission or the appropriate rate approving entity, as provided. The bill would require that contract or tariff to, among other things, require the supplier or distributor to apply bill credits for the electricity exported to the electrical grid based on its value, as specified. The bill would require the load-serving entity responsible for the delivery of electricity to provide, or install at its cost, if necessary, metering that records and documents electricity imports and exports, as specified.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
Failed Deadline
AB 1404 Ortega Electrical
Corporations:
connections:
affordable housing
projects
Rates This bill would require an electrical corporation to connect an affordable housing project, as defined, to the electrical distribution grid within 60 days, except as specified. The bill would require the commission to streamline any necessary review on an affordable housing project that is ready to connect but sitting vacant and that has not been connected by an electrical corporation within the required 60 days. The bill would delay the effective date of a rate increase approved by the commission for the greater of either the amount of time the electrical corporation took, beyond 90 days from receipt of the project building plans, to provide a final contract, or the amount of time the electrical corporation took, beyond the 60 days allowed, to connect the most recently completed affordable housing project within the electrical corporation’s service area.
In committee: Hearing
postponed by committee.
AB 1484 Bennett Energy reliability Spot Spot Bill Read first time.
SB 58 Padilla Sales and Use Tax
Law: exemptions:
certified data center
facilities
Data Centers This bill would, on and after January 1, 2026, provide a partial exemption from those taxes with respect to the gross receipts from the sale, storage, use, installation, assembly, repair, maintenance, or other consumption of data center equipment, as defined, used at or for the benefit of a certified data center facility, as defined. The bill would require a data center facility to meet specified requirements in order to receive certification from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, including requirements relating to job creation, investment, and renewable energy procurement requirements. The bill would require the department to revoke certification where a data center facility obtains certification and subsequently fails to meet these requirements after reasonable opportunity for the data center facility to cure noncompliance, as provided.
May 14 set for first hearing
canceled at the request of
author.
SB 252 Valladares CEQA: exemption:
undegrounding
powerlines
CEQA This bill would exempt from the provisions of CEQA a project to underground powerlines. April 2 set for second hearing canceled at the request of
author.
SB 282 Wiener Residential heat pump
systems: water
heaters and HVAC:
installations
Heat Pumps This bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2027, to establish a statewide certification program for licensed contractors of residential heat pump water heaters and heat pump heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems to obtain a heat pump installation certification, and would require the commission to create a state training program, as described, on residential heat pump water heaters and heat pump HVAC systems for purposes of the certification program, as specified.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
Failed Deadline
SB 285 Becker Net zero greenhouse
gas emissions goal:
carbon dioxide
removal: regulations
GHG Emissions This bill would, for the purpose of meeting, or tracking progress against, any state requirement to achieve net zero emissions of greenhouse gases,authorize only qualified carbon dioxide removal, as defined, to be used to counterbalance the state’s or an entity’s greenhouse gas emissions and would require qualified carbon dioxide removal used for those purposes to meet certain requirements, as specified.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 314 Padilla Weights and
measures: electric
vehicle supply
equipment
EVSE This bill would authorize an EVSE that has been audited or tested by the manufacturer or supplier to be used commercially without further testing during the remainder of the inspection period adopted by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, but not until it has been sealed by a sealer. The bill would, among other things, require the county sealer to ensure that certain EVSE installed before January 1, 2026, are initially placed in service and tested by a sealer on or before January 1, 2027, at no additional cost other than the registration fees paid by the EVSE owner or operator.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 327 McNerney Fusion energy data
centers
Fusion energy This bill would require the commission to initiate an agreement with the United States Department of Energy for the establishment of a fusion energy data center, as specified.
April 29 set for first hearing
canceled at the request of
author.
SB 348 Hurtado State Air Resources
Board: Low-Carbon
Fuel Standard
LCFS This bill would require the state board, beginning no later than January 31, 2026, to reconsider and revise the Low Carbon Fuel Standard to reduce the program’s financial burden on drivers in the state, including by taking specified actions.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 377 Grayson Biomethane
procurement targets
Biomethane This bill would instead require that biomethane delivered to California through a common carrier pipeline meet either of the specified requirements, rather than both. The bill would also additionally add the displacement of conventional natural gas that results in a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions as one of the specified environmental benefits.
April 7 set for first hearing
canceled at the request of
author.
SB 559 Stern Electricity:
deenergization events:
communications
Deenergization events This bill would require, at the start of a deenergization event, an electrical corporation to immediately notify local emergency management organizations and local utility districts about the impacts of the deenergization, as specified. The bill would require detailed status information on restoration efforts to be made available to emergency management organizations, public safety officials, customers, and the public in real-time, with regular progress updates issued at intervals of no more than 12 hours, for all impacted circuits, as specified.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
Failed Deadline
SB 620 Stern Energy utility data. Data This bill would require the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to create the Data Access Governance Committee, with specified membership, and would require the committee, on or before January 1, 2027, to provide initial recommendations on prescribed topics to the Energy Commission and the PUC, as specified. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to work with certain gas corporations, electrical corporations, and local publicly owned utilities that provide gas or electrical service to enact cost-effective energy utility data programs, as specified. The bill would create, and would require the PUC and the Energy Commission to administer and enforce, the Customer Energy Utility Data Bill of Rights, with specified protections and customer rights.
April 29 set for first hearing
canceled at the request of
author.
SB 636 Menjivar Electrical or gas
corporations:
deferment of
payments: hardship
Disconnections This bill would prohibit an electrical or gas corporation from disconnecting service of a customer who meets certain criteria, including making a hardship request based on certain circumstances, as provided. The bill would require the corporation to grant that customer a 6-month deferment for any and all payments due from the date that the deferment is granted. Upon the expiration of the deferment period, the bill would require the corporation to enroll the customer into its arrearage management program for any and all debts on the customer’s account.
The bill would authorize the commission to adopt rules to implement these provisions.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 684 Menjivar Polluters Pay Climate
Superfund Act of 2025.
Climate This bill would enact the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Act of 2025 and would establish the Polluters Pay Climate Superfund Program to be administered by the California Environmental Protection Agency to require fossil fuel polluters to pay their fair share of the damage caused by greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere during the covered period, which the bill would define as the time period between the 1990 and 2024 calendar years, inclusive, resulting from the extraction, production, refining, sale, or combustion of fossil fuels or petroleum products, to relieve a portion of the burden to address cost borne by current and future California taxpayers. The bill would require the agency, within 90 days of the effective date of the act, to determine and publish a list of responsible parties, which the bill would define as an entity with a majority ownership interest in a business engaged in extracting or refining fossil fuels that, during the covered period, did business in the state or otherwise had sufficient contact with the state, and is determined by the agency to be responsible for more than 1,000,000,000 metric tons of covered fossil fuel emissions, as defined, in aggregate globally, during the covered period.
April 22 set for first hearing
canceled at the request of
author.
Failed Deadline
SB 698 McNerney California Solar
Initiative: distributed
energy resource
equipment lists
DER This bill would authorize the Energy Commission to establish distributed energy resource equipment lists with rating standards for equipment, components, and systems that further state energy and environmental goals, including, but not limited to, for solar energy systems, energy storage systems, bidirectional charging systems, and electric vehicle supply equipment. The bill would define various terms for these purposes. The bill would require the Energy Commission to adopt guidelines for the distributed energy resource equipment lists, as provided.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 708 Alvarado-Gil Public Utilities
Commission: quorum
for the transaction of
business
CPUC Spot Bill Referred to Com. on RLS.
SB 752 Richardson Sales and use taxes:
exemtions: California
Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and
Bus Voucher Incentive
Project: transit buses
Tax on ZE Buses The Sales and Use Tax Law provides various exemptions from those taxes, including, until January 1, 2026, an exemption from those taxes with respect to the sale in this state of, and the storage, use, or other consumption in this state of, specified zero-emission technology transit buses sold to specified public agencies that are eligible for specified incentives from the State Air Resources Board. This bill would extend the exemption for specified zero-emission technology transit buses until January 1, 2028.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 755 Blakespear California Contractor
Climate Transparency
Act
California Contractor Climate Transparency Act This bill would enact the California Contractor Climate Transparency Act, which would require the board, beginning January 1, 2027, to require a large contractor and a significant contractor, as defined, to report annually specified information, including, for large contractors, an annual disclosure of scope 1 emissions, scope 2 emissions, scope 3 emissions, and climate-related financial risk, as specified, and for significant contractors, an annual disclosure of scope 1 emissions and scope 2 emissions, as specified.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
SB 803 Durazo California
Conservation Corps:
Green Collar
Certification Program
California Conservation Corps This bill would require the Director of the California Conservation Corps to establish a Green Collar Certification Program that provides young persons participating in the corps with skills and education relating to reducing carbon emissions in residential and nonresidential buildings, preparing communities for environmental disasters, and developing conservation infrastructure projects that stabilize shorelines and restore ecological habitats, as provided.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
Failed Deadline
SB 810 Dahle Electricity: ratepayer-funded programs:
reports
Reporting Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to administer various programs, such as the Electric Program Investment Charge program, that are funded by a charge on electrical ratepayers. Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to require electrical corporations to implement various programs, such as energy efficiency programs, that are funded by electrical ratepayers. Under its authority, the Governor has issued an executive order directing the Energy Commission and the PUC to examine electrical ratepayer-funded programs under their respective jurisdictions and to identify programs and regulations that may be unduly adding to electricity rates for which the benefits provided may not be justified by the costs imposed on electrical ratepayers. 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 the PUC, by July 1, 2025, to each submit to the Legislature a report containing certain information required by the executive order.
Referred to Com. on E., U & C.
SB 836 Rubio Electricity:
transmission planning
and permitting
Transmission Existing law requires the Energy Commission and PUC, in coordination with the Independent System Operator, every 5 years, to review and update, as necessary, the memorandum of understanding and a related workplan to ensure the memorandum and workplan reflect the coordination that is needed to help meet the state’s energy goals. This bill would require those entities to review and update, as necessary, the memorandum every 3 years, rather than every 5 years.
May 23 hearing: Held in
committee and under
submission.
ORANGE COUNTY POWER AUTHORITY
Staff Report – Item 8.2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Orange County Power Authority Legislative and Regulatory Committee From: Steven Halligan, Regulatory and Legislative Manager Approved By: Joe Mosca, Chief Executive Officer
Subject: REGULATORY UPDATE
Date: June 5, 2025
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED ACTION
Receive and file.
BACKGROUND
Orange County Power Authority (OCPA) staff actively participate in several regulatory proceedings at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Independent System Operator (CAISO), and the California Energy Commission (CEC). A summary of high priority, active proceedings is provided below.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) Proceeding – R.25-02-005 Background: On February 11, 2025, the CPUC issued an Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) to initiate a new proceeding related to the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA). The proceeding will consist of two tracks. The first track will be an expedited track focused on potential modifications to the Market Price Benchmark (MPB). Track two may consider several issues including a review of the revisions to the MPB, consideration of ERRA-specific implementation guidance for RA program changes, changes to Bundled Procurement Plan directions, and consideration of improved PCIA and ERRA mechanisms to reduce rate volatility. The CPUC has identified four objectives of the proceeding:
• Consider and identify reasonable improvements to existing ERRA and PCIA rules, mechanisms, and processes to ensure best practices in utility forecasting and other procurement plan activities;
• Identify ways to mitigate and respond to rate volatility, whether resulting from market conditions or ratemaking constructs;
• Best ensure indifference among bundled and departed customers; • Provide policy guidance to ensure that individual utility forecast ratemaking proceedings function as efficiently and consistently as possible.
Update: Staff attended the April 7, 2025, Prehearing Conference and a Track 1 Scoping Ruling was issued on April 8, 2025. Specifically, the Scoping Ruling requests Opening and Reply Briefs on the following:
• Should the CPUC expand the data considered when determining the Resource Adequacy (RA) MPB by extending or eliminating the existing time limits on transaction data considered?
• Should the CPUC combine system, local, and flexible RA into a single RA value when calculating the RA MPB?
• When determining the RA MPB, should the CPUC eliminate data that is duplicative or does not reflect market-based transactions? How should the CPUC determine which transactions to eliminate?
CalCCA filed an Opening Brief on April 21, 2025. In the Opening Brief, CalCCA recommended that the CPUC:
• Apply any modification to the RA MPB only prospectively to the 2026 RA Forecast MPB to avoid unlawful retroactive rulemaking;
• To the extent the CPUC decides to modify the RA MPB in Track One, ensure such modification is narrowly tailored to address only the problem identified through substantial evidence – reduced volumes for the RA MPB calculation;
• In choosing the narrowly tailored “fix,” first apply Staff Proposal 5 to combine the RA MPBs, and if the volumes are sufficiently increased, stop there and move to Track Two for a broad review of the PCIA methodology;
• If the CPUC must also implement Staff Proposal 1 to increase the volumes, limit the expansion of the timeframe to the shortest timeframe to sufficiently increase the volumes; • Establish definitions of affiliate, swap, and sleeve transactions if the CPUC decides to exclude such transactions from the RA MPB; and
• Adopt monthly RA MPB values, as proposed in Staff Proposal 4.
CalCCA filed a Reply Brief on April 30, 2025, and recommended that the CPUC:
• Amend the schedule set forth in the Scoping Ruling to include a deadline for all parties to submit direct and rebuttal testimony to ensure procedural due process, and then subsequently decide if evidentiary hearings are necessary. • Address the contested issues of material fact, including: (1) whether the 2025 RA MPB is an anomaly caused by artificial scarcity on account of a change to the Slice-of-Day (SOD) methodology, and there is no fundamental issue with the benchmark; (2) whether the factors Energy Division identified in the Staff Report have led to an inaccurate 2025 Forecast RA MPB; (3) whether there were insufficient volumes relative to prior years to calculate an accurate 2025 Forecast RA MPB; (4) whether swap and sleeve transactions, and affiliate transactions, inappropriately slanted the 2025 Forecast RA MPB; (5) whether Proposal Five to combine the three different RA MPBs into one RA MPB will address the lack of volume Energy Division asserts exists; (6) whether one, three or five years of data better represents the current market value of a MW of net qualifying capacity; and (7) whether the Staff Proposals, including Proposal One expanding the dataset, will remedy the RA MPB deficiencies the IOUs assert exist, including their inability to hedge. • Reject arguments of the Joint IOUs and TURN in support of Proposal One to expand the timeframe of transactions to incorporate into the RA MPB given section 366.2(g) and D.18- 10-019 require the valuation of retained RA to reflect current market value. To the extent the CPUC decides to expand the timeframe, such expansion should be limited, as is recommended in varying proposals by CUE, Cal Advocates, and DACC/AReM. • Adopt Proposal Five to combine the MPBs as supported by the Joint IOUs, TURN, Cal Advocates, and DACC/AReM, but limit the timeframe of transactions in the combined MPBs to ensure the retained RA reflects current market value. • Reject arguments of the Joint IOUs, TURN, CUE, and Cal Advocates to apply any modification to the RA MPB retroactively since doing so would constitute unlawful retroactive ratemaking
The Track 1 Proposed Decision was released on May 23, 2025. • The current RA MPB methodology examines a three-year dataset to determine the local RA MPB forecast, adding a fourth year to the dataset for the final local RA MPB. Adjusting the methodology to a single RA MPB calculation, utilizing system, flexible, and local RA procurement data from the three- and four- year datasets, allows for the consideration of more transaction data.
• Combining the three MPBs into a single MPB with three years of data for forecast MPBs and an additional year of data for final MPBs appropriately balances data sufficiency with the Commission’s currently established method of valuing RA portfolios based upon short-run market prices. • The RA MPB should be based upon competitive market pricing that reflects supply and demand dynamics.
• Affiliate and swap transactions reflect considerations other than market based supply and demand pricing of the resources involved in the transaction. • Inclusion of affiliate and swap transactions in the RA MPB calculation introduces the potential for manipulation of the RA MPB.
• Transactions between the PG&E CPE and PG&E LSE, as well as transactions between the SCE CPE and SCE LSE are subject to independent verification that ensures transaction values reflect competitive pricing.
• Sleeve transactions involve multiple transactions based involving the same resource and single market-based price. Considering each transaction within a sleeve as a separate transaction in the RA MPB calculation result in the overweighting of a single price determination within the transaction dataset and distorts the RA MPB.
Resource Adequacy (RA) - R.23-10-001
Background: The OIR for R.23-10-011 continues the CPUC’s oversight of the RA program, establishes forward RA procurement obligations applicable to Load-Serving Entities (LSEs) beginning with the 2025 compliance year, and considers structural reforms to the program. This proceeding is the successor to R.21-10-002 and includes the following issues in scope: (1) adoption of local and flexible RA requirements; (2) loss of load expectation (LOLE) study and PRM; (3) 24-hour Slice of Day (SOD) framework; (4) unforced capacity (UCAP); (5) QC counting conventions; (6) RA compliance and penalties; and (7) other refinements to the RA program.
Update: On May 16, 2025, the CAISO provided its Final Flexible Capacity Needs Assessment Report for 2026 to the CPUC. 2026 flexible RA requirements will be adopted in the forthcoming Track 3 decision.
The Track 3 Proposed Decision was released on May 22.
• Adopts local capacity requirements for 2026-2028 and flexible capacity requirements for 2028, and the following availability assessment hours - 5-9 for June-October and 6-10 for November-May.
• Adopts an 18 percent PRM, with an extension of the effective PRM target of 1,260-2,300 MW for June-October (translates to 3-5.5%), for 2026 and 2027. • Authorizes Energy Division, in coordination with CAISO, to further develop a final UCAP framework with targeted implementation of 2028.
• Locks the current exceedance values in for 2025 through 2027. • Authorizes Energy Division to hold a workshop in the Fall of 2025 on LDES issues. • Declines to adopt an LDES minimum procurement requirement in the RA program. • Declines to modify the consecutive 4-hour duration requirement at this time. • Declines to adopt voluntary charging sufficiency groups proposed by CESA. • Formalizes resource counting rules for PCDS and FCDS co-located resources under the SOD framework, in response to CalCCA proposal.
• Finds CalCCA’s proposal to count co-located energy-only resources as RA resources is not adequately developed and would require substantial modifications with the CAISO’s tariff and systems, as the CAISO does not currently support applying a MOO to EO resources.
• Encourages further development of Leap's proposal to allow DR to provide RA value outside the availability assessment hours by addressing the following issues: (1) how to ensure that the availability and load reduction capability of the DR resource during the AAHs is not compromised with expanded offerings outside of the AAHs, (2) the measurement and verification methodology for estimating QC values outside of the AAHs, (3) any updates needed for the application of DR resources’ MCC bucket cap, and (4)implications on the CAISO’s operational requirements and constraints (including the interaction with the CAISO MOO and supply plan showings). • Does not adopt hourly load transactions, instead authorizes Energy Division to prepare a report on whether transactability issues exist in 2nd Quarter (Q2) 2026. • Adopts that if an LSE that cures its deficiency with a new resource coming online before the T-1 deadline should not be assessed penalties.
• Agrees it is reasonable to extend the off-peak import counting rule, as the rule may help with affordability issues with off-peak imports that are lower cost than a 24 x 7 product.
However, as the rule adopted in D.24-06-004 has not yet been utilized for 2025, the Commission deems it reasonable to only extend the import counting rule to Q3 2026, in addition to Q3 2025. After Q3 2025, the Commission will reevaluate the counting rule and determine whether it is necessary and feasible to extend it beyond 2026. • Modifies the load migration update process as follows: an LSE is permitted one load migration update in mid-February to cover June to December load migration. Other than the one load migration update, an LSE’s load forecast is locked in for the January-May timeframe and the June-December timeframe for each RA compliance year. • Declines to reverse the timing procedure for the local RA CPE. • Affirms the Commission is not directing the CPEs to reduce the CPE requirement based on the aggregated data provided by Energy Division as to what local resources have been contracted by LSEs.
• Adopts CalCCA's proposal to incorporate the CPE data collection process into the year-ahead RA filing. • Removes the zero dollar RUC bidding requirement upon EDAM operation and directs LSEs to make a good faith effort to ensure revenues from Imbalance Reserve, RCU, or RCD products are credited back to the LSE that has procured the RA capacity value of the resource. For future contracts executed after the issuance of this decision, the contracting LSE shall specify in the RA contract that any CAISO revenues for Imbalance Reserve, RCU, or RCD products shall be allocated to the contracting LSE. • Declines to adopt Cal Advocates proposal to order the IOUs to negotiate rate-adder fees with brokers.
Provider of Last Resort (POLR) - R.21-03-011
Background: The CPUC issued a September 1, 2021, Scoping Ruling to set forth the scope in the Provider of Last Resort (POLR) proceeding. This proceeding implements the POLR requirements and framework directed by SB 520. The POLR proceeding is being considered in three phases.
Phase 1, which culminated with D.24-04-009 in April 2024, focused on issues necessary to establish a comprehensive framework for existing IOU POLRs. Phase 2, currently under consideration, will set rules that allow a non-IOU LSE to be designated as the POLR. Phase 3 may be opened to consider any additional issues not covered in Phase 1 or Phase 2.
Update: SCE provided OCPA with the updated seasonal FSR Advice Letter (AL) on May 12, 2025. This AL was the first to use the updated FSR calculation methodologies that were approved in the Phase 1 Decision.
Integrated Resource Planning – R.20-05-003
Background: On April 29, 2025, the CPUC released its long awaited Reliable and Clean Power Procurement Program (RCPPP) Staff Proposal through an ALJ Ruling. The CPUC’s goal in RCPPP is to give LSEs a more predictable regulatory framework to procure their share of the resources needed to meet electric system reliability and GHG emission reduction goals at least cost. The Staff Proposal includes a reliability framework and GHG reduction framework, each with the following key design elements: need determination, need allocation, compliance, and enforcement. The Staff Proposal proposes two options for the reliability framework. The first requires LSEs to demonstrate procurement of new and existing resources. The second requires LSEs to demonstrate procurement of new resources plus adopt a multi-year RA framework for existing resources. The Staff Proposal also proposes a clean energy standard framework for GHG reduction. Finally, the Staff Proposal includes a proposal to allocate CPE procurement via credits to LSEs to show in RCPPP filings. The CPUC hosted a Workshop on May 16, 2025.
Update: Comments on RCPPP were originally due June 5, 2025, and Reply Comments were originally due June 26, 2025. CalCCA requested an extension for Comments (to July 15, 2025) and Reply Comments (to August 5, 2025) jointly with the IOUs and the extension request was granted. In addition, CalCCA and the IOUs requested ED hold an additional workshop before comments are due, and Energy Division is considering the request.
SCE Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA) 2024 Compliance (A.25-03-009) and 2026 Forecast (A.25-05-008)
Background: ERRA Compliance applications are filed annually by the IOUs for review of costs associated with Utility-owned Generation (UOG) operations and fuel procurement, Portfolio Allocation Balancing Account (PABA) entries, economic dispatch of electric resources, and contract administration. IOUs are required to demonstrate compliance with CPUC decisions and the Pub. Util. Code. ERRA Forecast Applications are filed annually by IOUs to forecast energy procurement-related revenue requirements, which includes forecast allocation of costs across PCIA vintages.
Update: On behalf of the Joint SCE CCA’s CalCCA submitted a protest to SCE’s 2024 ERRA Compliance Application on May 12, 2025. Though CalCCA has not yet identified any significant issues in the Application, more time and discovery are needed to confirm whether SCE’s request to increase the $3.9 million increase to its 2024 revenue requirement is reasonable. SCE filed its 2026 ERRA Forecast Application on May 15, 2025. SCE forecasts a residential average bundled rate decrease of 0.5 percent, which translates to approximately 87 cent decrease on residential monthly bills. While SCE forecasts a total generation revenue requirement reduction of $115 million, it forecasts an increase to the distribution revenue requirement of $40 million, indicating a distribution rate increase. Protests are due June 16, 2025.
FISCAL IMPACT
None
ATTACHMENTS
None