CITY OF GROVER BEACH
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item No. 5
Placement: Consent
Meeting Date: September 14, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council
FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Kristin Eriksson, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT: Support for Gubernatorial Signature of AB 1761
RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Mayor to send a letter supporting the gubernatorial signature of AB 1761 (Electricity:
calculation methodology: non-bypassable charges: data disclosure) as requested by the Central Coast Community Energy Joint Powers Authority.
BACKGROUND
In March 2023, the Council adopted the City’s first Legislative Platform (Platform) which outlines the City’s positions on priority issues that impact City operations. The Platform is updated annually by the Council with the current version shown in Attachment 1. Generally, the Platform is designed to authorize the Mayor or City Manager to take positions on legislation that are consistent with the platform to allow for quick response communications, through opposition or support letters, to legislators when time is of the essence. However, when there is legislation with application to the City that does not fall within the Platform, the Council must provide authorization to take an official position on behalf of the City.
Customers of Community Choice Aggregators (CCAs), such as the City which is a member agency of the Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) Joint Powers Authority as an energy service provider, pay their portion of legacy power costs from investor-owned utilities such as PG&E through a Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) fee. The PCIA fees are set by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the data available on how these PCIA fees are calculated has historically been inconsistent, making it difficult for CCAs to verify the accuracy of the charges that are passed along to customers. AB 1761 proposes amending the Public Utilities Code to require the CPUC and utilities to disclose all data used to calculate PCIA costs including when proposing changes to PCIA fees for greater transparency.
AB 1761 has been approved by the Legislature and is now awaiting signature by the Governor. 3CE has requested member agencies’ support for signature of this legislation which staff is bringing to the Council for approval as this policy issue is outside of the Platform.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no funding impacts to this staff report.
Staff Report: Support for Gubernatorial Signature of AB 1761 Page 2 September 14, 2026
ALTERNATIVES
The Council has the following alternatives to consider:
1. Authorize the Mayor to send a letter supporting the Governor’s singing AB 1761; or
2. Provide alternative direction to staff.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Letter of Support
Multi-Year Goals
☐ Public Safety and Community Services ☐ Economic Development and Housing ☒ Community Infrastructure ☒ Financial and Organization Sustainability Council Priorities
☐ Water & Wastewater Infrastructure ☐ Community Engagement ☐ Street Improvements and Maintenance
City of Grover Beach
Mayor Kassi Dee Mayor Pro Tem Robert Robert
Council Member Vacant, Council Member Jules Tuggle, Council Member Clint Weirick Matthew Bronson
City Manager
154 South Eighth Street Grover Beach, California 93433 www.groverbeach.org (805) 473-4550 September 15, 2026
The Honorable Governor Gavin Newsom
1303 10th Street, Suite 1173
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: Requesting Signature on AB 1761 (Rogers)
Via email to: [email protected]
Dear Governor Newsom,
On behalf of the City of Grover Beach, a member agency of Central Coast Community Energy, I write to support AB 1761 by Assemblymember Chris Rogers (D-Santa Rosa), a measure that supports energy affordability by improving transparency and certainty in how the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA), a charge on nearly all energy bills, is calculated.
Electricity bills in California are on the rise, in part due to challenging market conditions and outdated and inefficient regulatory policies. Families and businesses in our community are feeling the impact.
Affordability is a key priority for the City of Grover Beach, and lawmakers and regulators need practical, consumer-focused solutions that ensure customers do not pay more than their fair share.
One tool to ensure customers receive energy bills that are fair and accurate is increased transparency in how PCIA charges are calculated. The PCIA is a fee designed to ensure customers who leave utility generation service, like customers of a Community Choice Aggregator (CCA) or Energy Service Provider (ESP), pay their portion of legacy power costs. But since the PCIA was implemented, there has been no consistent standard for what data must be made available in any California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) process or proceeding where the PCIA or a related charge is set. Without adequate transparency, CCAs and ESPs are unable to verify the accuracy of the PCIA charges that their customers must pay and cannot confidently forecast rates – both of which are affordability tools needed to protect customers from unexpected rate increases. Additionally, the lack of consistent data creates costly disputes and inefficiencies in CPUC proceedings.
To address these problems, AB 1761 proposes amending the Public Utilities Code to require the CPUC and investor-owned utilities (IOUs) to disclose all data used to calculate PCIA costs, including cost inputs, forecasting assumptions, and methodologies. The bill would also ensure that when parties or the CPUC make proposals in a proceeding to change the PCIA, they provide all the underlying data informing that proposal. Sensitive information would remain protected through Commission-approved nondisclosure agreements, a practice already used to protect sensitive information in other compliance areas.
Greater transparency allows CCAs and ESPs to better advocate for their customers and assess proposals to change the PCIA. It reduces repeated fights over information, improves regulatory efficiency, and encourages utilities to verify calculations since the underlying data would be open to review. It can Attachment 1
also inform cost forecasts and shield customers from sudden rate swings, an important issue for the residents and local businesses we serve.
For these reasons, the City of Grover Beach strongly supports AB 1761, an important energy affordability tool which will strengthen confidence that customers pay their fair share – and not more.
Sincerely,
Kassi Dee, Mayor