Existing law requires electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and electrical cooperatives to annually prepare wildfire mitigation plans that include, among other things, descriptions of protocols for disabling reclosers and deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the associated impacts on public safety and protocols related to mitigating public safety impacts of disabling reclosers and deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system. Existing law requires the wildfire mitigation plans of electrical corporations to identify circuits that have frequently been deenergized pursuant to a deenergization event to mitigate the risk of wildfire and the measures taken, or planned to be taken, by the electrical corporation to reduce the need for, and impact of, future deenergization of those circuits.
This bill would require electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and electrical cooperatives to work with persons from the access and functional needs population, as defined, to develop and make publicly available a plan to support that population during deenergization events. The bill would require electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, and electrical cooperatives, after each deenergization event, to prepare a report containing certain information related to the deenergization event, as provided, and would require the report to be provided to the locally elected body and specified individuals of the cities and counties affected by the deenergization event. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission to require an electrical corporation to include in its annual reliability report information on the reliability of service to end-use customers that identifies the frequency and duration of interruptions of service.
This bill would require local publicly owned electric utilities to prepare annual reliability reports that are equivalent to those prepared by an electrical corporation. The bill would require the reliability report prepared by electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to include specified information, including, among other things, system- and division-level reliability and reliability statistics at census tracts or smaller resolutions. By imposing additional duties on local agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
Existing law requires the commission to establish an expedited utility distribution undergrounding program. To participate in the program, existing law requires large electrical corporations to submit to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan meeting certain requirements. Existing law requires the office, upon the submission of the plan, to publish the plan for public comment.
This bill would require the office to publish the plan on its internet website.
Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.
Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for specified reasons.

Statutes affected:
SB 292: 21204 PUC
02/06/25 - Introduced: 21204 PUC
03/26/25 - Amended Senate: 2774.1 PUC, 2774.1 PUC, 8388.5 PUC, 8388.5 PUC, 21204 PUC
04/09/25 - Amended Senate: 2774.1 PUC, 8388.5 PUC