Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to establish the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that includes the direct install program and the statewide incentive program for low-carbon building technologies, as provided.
This bill would require the Energy Commission to establish a mechanism to notify applicants to the Equitable Building Decarbonization Program that they may also be eligible for building energy efficiency and decarbonization incentives authorized by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) .
Existing law vests the PUC with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations. Under existing law, the PUC supervises certain rate assistance and energy efficiency programs administered by electrical corporations and gas corporations, or administered by third-party administrators on their behalf. Existing law requires the PUC to ensure that all eligible low-income electricity and gas customers are given the opportunity to participate in low-income energy efficiency programs, including the Energy Savings Assistance Program, that are designed to provide long-term reductions in energy consumption at the dwelling unit, including customers occupying apartments or similar multiunit residential structures, as specified. Existing law requires that these programs be designed to provide long-term reductions in energy consumption at the dwelling unit, as specified.
Existing law establishes an 11-member Low-Income Oversight Board to advise the PUC on low-income electric, gas, and water customer issues, as specified.
This bill would add to the Low-Income Oversight Board a member to be selected by the Executive Director of the Energy Commission. The bill would require the Low-Income Oversight Board, on or before January 1, 2027, to conduct an assessment of state and ratepayer-funded energy-efficiency incentives provided to low-income residents and to low-to-moderate income residents, as defined, which would include, among other things, recommendations for options to address the energy assistance needs of low-to-moderate income California households with household incomes that exceed the thresholds for existing low-income programs, as provided. The bill would require the Low-Income Oversight Board to publish its final assessment on its internet website on or before July 1, 2027.
This bill would require the PUC, in consultation with the Low-Income Oversight Board, to establish standardized statewide performance metrics to evaluate the effectiveness, equity, and accountability of certain programs, as specified. The bill would require the commission to require administrators of those programs to collect and report data related to those metrics in a standardized format.
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or an order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.
Because a program administrator's failure to collect and report that data in violation of a PUC 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 a specified reason.

Statutes affected:
SB 647: 381.5 PUC, 382 PUC
02/20/25 - Introduced: 381.5 PUC, 382 PUC
04/02/25 - Amended Senate: 381.5 PUC, 382 PUC, 382.1 PUC, 382.1 PUC, 2790 PUC, 2790 PUC
05/06/25 - Amended Senate: 381.5 PUC, 382 PUC, 382.1 PUC, 2790 PUC
05/23/25 - Amended Senate: 25665.1 PRC, 25665.1 PRC, 382.1 PUC
06/25/25 - Amended Assembly: 25665.1 PRC, 382.1 PUC