Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities. Existing law prohibits public utilities, other than certain common carriers, from selling, leasing, assigning, mortgaging, or otherwise disposing of, or encumbering, its assets that are necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public, unless the public utility has secured an order from the commission to do so for a qualified transaction above $5,000,000 or an approval from the commission through the filing of an advice letter for a qualified transaction at or below $5,000,000.
This bill would exempt from that prohibition a qualified conveyance of an easement or the execution of a relocation agreement that has a ratepayer financial impact valued at $100,000 or less if a public utility that is a party to the qualified transaction has gross annual California revenues of $500,000,000 or more. The bill would require, beginning January 1, 2030, and every 5 years thereafter, those threshold values to increase to reflect any increase in inflation, as specified.

Statutes affected:
AB 420: 1701.9 PUC
02/05/25 - Introduced: 1701.9 PUC
04/09/25 - Amended Assembly: 851 PUC, 851 PUC, 1701.9 PUC