(1) Existing law vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) with various responsibilities for developing and implementing the state's energy policies.
This bill would require the Energy Commission to select a research institute, as defined, to conduct a comparative analysis of the benefits and challenges of transitioning the electrical corporations to a public entity, nonprofit public benefit corporation, or mutual benefit corporation in order to identify a recommended model, as provided. The bill would require the research institute to complete the analysis on or before January 1, 2029, and, upon completion, to submit the analysis to the Legislature and the Energy Commission. The bill would require the Energy Commission to make a draft of the analysis available to the public for comment before submitting the final draft to the Legislature, and would limit the cost of conducting the analysis to $5,000,000.
This bill would, upon completion of the analysis by the research institute, require the Energy Commission to present the analysis at a publicly noticed business meeting on or before September 30, 2029.
(2) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, while local publicly owned utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or water corporation from terminating a customer's residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account in certain circumstances, including, among other circumstances, unless the corporation first gives notice to the customer of the delinquency and impending termination, during the pendency of an investigation by the corporation of the customer's dispute or complaint, or when the customer has been granted an extension of the period for payment of a bill.
This bill would require a utility, including an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, gas corporation, and local publicly owned gas utility, to quarterly post specified information concerning termination of service due to nonpayment on their respective internet websites, as provided.
(3) Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation from recovering from ratepayers an annual salary, bonus, benefit, or other consideration of any value paid to an officer of the electrical corporation, and requires that compensation to instead be funded solely by shareholders of the electrical corporation.
This bill would require each electrical corporation, on or before April 1, 2026, to submit a proposed executive compensation structure to the PUC that is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety through performance metrics, as provided.
(4) Existing law requires each electrical corporation to construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment.
This bill would require each electrical corporation to triennially contract with an independent and reputable third party to audit all of the electrical corporation's equipment and electrical lines and identify any equipment or electrical lines that have reached their end of life. The bill would require the audit to be completed in alignment with the wildfire mitigation plan cycle, as specified. The bill would require an electrical corporation to replace any equipment or electrical lines identified by the third-party auditor that are located in a high fire-threat district within 5 years, as provided. The bill would require the PUC to assess fines on an electrical corporation that fails to comply with these provisions, as specified.
This bill would require the PUC to develop a best value procurement model for use in the procurement of equipment and materials for electrical corporation infrastructure projects that compares the costs and benefits of potential supplies, as provided.
(5) Existing law requires the PUC to establish an expedited utility distribution infrastructure undergrounding program and provides that only large electrical corporations may participate in the program.
This bill would require, after an emergency or disaster in which an electrical corporation's electrical infrastructure was destroyed, if the electrical corporation rebuilds the destroyed electrical infrastructure, the electrical corporation to use the most cost-effective wildfire mitigation strategies that conform to state and industry safety standards for electrical equipment and that minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire as quickly as possible, including consideration of undergrounding and covered conductor methods, to the extent applicable. The bill would only authorize those costs that the commission finds to be just and reasonable to be recovered from ratepayers.
(6) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because certain provisions of this bill would be part of the act and a violation of a PUC action implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
In addition, to the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local publicly owned utilities, 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 332: 748.5 PUC, 3289 PUC, 3292 PUC, 8388.5 PUC
02/12/25 - Introduced: 748.5 PUC, 3289 PUC, 3292 PUC, 8388.5 PUC
04/07/25 - Amended Senate: 748.5 PUC, 3289 PUC, 3292 PUC, 8388.5 PUC
04/23/25 - Amended Senate: 3289 PUC, 3292 PUC