Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: CONSIDER SUPPORTING AB 1761 (RODGERS) - IMPROVING
PCIA TRANSPARENCY
Date: August 25, 2026
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council, by motion, authorize the Mayor to sign and send a final version of the attached letter to Governor Newsom, in support of Assembly Bill 1761.
Background
On August 19, 2026, the Chief Executive Officer (Geof Syphers) of Sonoma Clean Power (SCP) sent a request to SCP Board members, asking for their cities and the County of Sonoma to consider supporting AB 1761. The Sonoma County Mayors & Councilmembers Association legislative committee, as well as Cal Cities, have previously taken a position of support on AB 1761.
AB 1761 is authored by local assembly member and former City of Santa Rosa City Councilmember, Chris Rodgers.
Analysis/Discussion
According to the request by Geof Syphers, the following is the summary of the need for AB 1761, what it would do, and related timing considerations.
The statewide association of Community Choice Aggregators (CalCCA), of which SCP is a member, is sponsoring AB 1761 to shed more light on how the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) is calculated. This is a fee that all residents – not just SCP customers – pay to investor-owned utilities (such as PG&E) on their electric bills. PCIA charges can fluctuate wildly year-over-year with significant affordability impacts. Currently, this fee is calculated in secret, and advocates for the public interest have essentially no way of knowing how the final amount was determined or whether it is accurate.
AB 1761 is intended to increase transparency around how the PCIA fee is set. (For more information, please see attached fact sheet.) Unfortunately, the investor-owned utilities are strongly opposing the bill, and there is significant concern that Governor Newsom could veto it.
The bill will be on the Governor’s desk by the end of August, and then he has until the end of September to sign or veto it.
CalCCA is asking all member cities and counties to consider supporting this legislation as part of a broader push to get it signed into law. Specifically, the request is for support from as many individual cities and counties as possible over the next few weeks. A template support letter is attached. Support letters would ideally go in by the end of August or the first few days of September at the latest.
Financial Considerations
Supporting AB 1761 does not have any direct financial impact.
Environmental Issues
Where it can be determined with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA review.
This general rule can be applied to activities which could be subject to the CEQA process, but which logic dictates should not be subject to CEQA review. Therefore, based on the information provided above, the proposed action is exempt from CEQA pursuant to Section 14.03.021 of the CEQA Guidelines in that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant impact on the environment.