Electricity

The law removes obsolete electricity-market entities and preserves state energy-assistance programs for another decade. It also expands accountability reporting for clean-energy spending and maintains bill-discount enrollment oversight.

What the law does ​

• Abolishes the Electricity Oversight Board and the Power Exchange, while retaining the Independent System Operator's five-member Governor-appointed board.
• Removes the requirement that the California Energy Commission's public advisor be an attorney.
• Extends the Energy Conservation Assistance Act and its loan and grant accounts through January 1, 2038.
• Requires annual reporting on Equitable Building Decarbonization Program progress, spending, projects, residents and buildings served, emissions reductions, and where funds are spent.
• Moves annual FERA utility enrollment-report deadlines to May 1 and commission review deadlines to December 1 beginning in 2026.
• Exempts electrical cooperatives from future Public Utilities Act provisions unless those provisions expressly apply to cooperatives.

Who it affects ​

• California Energy Commission clean-energy and energy-efficiency program administrators.
• Households eligible for the Family Electric Rate Assistance program.
• Electrical corporations, electrical cooperatives, transmission owners, and clean-energy program recipients.
• State agencies that use the California Energy Commission's integrated energy policy report in energy-related work.

Context ​

The law largely removes or updates provisions from California's 1990s electricity-restructuring framework.

Breakdown ​

Energy Commission Public Advisor ​

AB 1301 removes the requirement that the Energy Commission’s public advisor be a licensed attorney. The Energy Commission will still nominate the public advisor and the Governor will still appoint that person.

Key takeaways

• The public advisor to the Energy Commission no longer has to be admitted to practice law.
• The bill does not eliminate the public advisor position.
• The Energy Commission continues to nominate the public advisor, and the Governor continues to make the appointment.

Abolition of Electricity Oversight Board ​

This part of the bill eliminates the Electricity Oversight Board. The board had overseen the Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange, and the bill makes related updates to reflect its removal.

Key takeaways

• The bill abolishes the Electricity Oversight Board.
• The abolished board had oversight duties involving the Independent System Operator and the Power Exchange.
• The bill makes conforming changes to remove or update provisions affected by the board's elimination.
• The Independent System Operator remains the entity responsible for efficient and reliable operation of the transmission grid.

Abolishing the Power Exchange ​

This part of AB 1301 abolishes California’s Power Exchange. The bill also makes related changes to other laws to reflect that the Power Exchange no longer exists.

Key takeaways

• The bill eliminates the nonprofit Power Exchange that operated a competitive electricity auction.
• The Power Exchange had been intended to allow electricity suppliers to participate on an open and nondiscriminatory basis.
• The bill makes conforming legal changes needed after the Power Exchange is abolished.

Energy Assistance Act Extension ​

This part keeps the Energy Conservation Assistance Act of 1979 in effect for an additional 10 years, moving its repeal date from January 1, 2028, to January 1, 2038. It also extends the continuously funded accounts used for the act's grants and loans, which support energy savings, energy storage, and electric vehicle charging projects.

Key takeaways

• The bill delays repeal of the Energy Conservation Assistance Act of 1979 from January 1, 2028, to January 1, 2038.
• The extension allows the act's grant and loan programs for local governments and public institutions to continue for 10 more years.
• The programs support projects that save energy, expand energy storage systems, and increase electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
• The bill extends the operation of continuously appropriated accounts that fund the act, resulting in an appropriation.

Building Decarbonization Program Reporting ​

The bill requires the Energy Commission to provide more detail in its annual public and legislative reports on the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program. The added reporting must cover the program's progress, status, budget, and impacts.

Key takeaways

• The Energy Commission must expand its annual reporting on the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program.
• The additional information must describe the program's progress and current status.
• The reports must include information about the program's budget.
• The reports must also address the program's impacts.
• The Energy Commission must continue to publish the information online and report it to relevant legislative committees.

FERA Reporting Deadlines ​

The bill changes the annual schedule for reports on efforts to enroll eligible households in the Family Electric Rate Assistance program. The three largest electric utilities must submit their reports by May 1 instead of March 1, and the Public Utilities Commission must review them by December 1 instead of June 1.

Key takeaways

• The bill moves the utilities' annual FERA enrollment-report deadline from March 1 to May 1.
• The bill moves the Public Utilities Commission's deadline to review those reports from June 1 to December 1.
• The reporting and review requirements continue to apply to California's three largest electric utilities.
• The bill does not change the FERA program's income range or its electric-rate discount.

Electrical Cooperative Exemptions ​

The bill limits how future changes to the Public Utilities Act apply to electrical cooperatives. Starting with provisions that take effect after January 1, 2027, an electrical cooperative is exempt unless the provision specifically says it applies to electrical cooperatives.

Key takeaways

• The bill creates a rule for Public Utilities Act provisions that become effective after January 1, 2027.
• A future provision will not apply to an electrical cooperative unless it expressly states that it does.
• Electrical cooperatives remain subject to provisions that are not covered by this new exemption.

No Reimbursement for New Enforcement Costs ​

The bill makes violations of PUC actions implementing its requirements potentially criminal under the Public Utilities Act. Although this can create new local enforcement duties, the bill says the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for those costs.

Key takeaways

• A violation of a PUC action that implements the bill's requirements can be a crime.
• The bill may require local agencies to incur costs related to enforcing criminal violations.
• The bill states that no state reimbursement is required for those local costs.
• The reimbursement exception applies for the reason specified in the bill.