On March 9, 2026, the California Court of Appeal handed down a decision in favor of the California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC) Net Billing Tariff, which was adopted in 2022 as a successor to the then-current Net Energy Metering (NEM) 2.0 tariff. The Net Billing Tariff reduced compensation for exported energy due to concerns that
CPUC Signals Shift on Cost Recovery for Transmission-Level Interconnections
As data centers and other large load customers seek to connect to California’s power grid, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) is rethinking how—and when—those customers should be refunded for costly transmission infrastructure upgrades.
Historically, distribution-level interconnection customers paid up front and received swift refunds under PG&E’s Base Annual Revenue Calculation (BARC) methodology. But the
California Legislature Approves Pathways Bill Moving Western Regionalization Forward
Update: Governor Newsom signed the Pathways Bill into law on September 19, 2025.
On September 13, 2025, Assembly Bill (AB) 825, titled the Independent System Operator: Independent Regional Organization Act, passed the California state Senate on a 34-0 vote, and a 74-1 approval in the Assembly.[1] The bill now heads to the Governor’s
CPUC Opens Rulemaking to Modernize Rule 21 Interconnection Procedures
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) has launched a new rulemaking to update Electric Tariff Rule 21 (Rule 21). This proceeding was initiated through an Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) adopted at the August 14, 2025 CPUC voting meeting, and seeks to modernize interconnection procedures in response to the rapid evolution of Distributed Energy
The California Supreme Court Addresses Standard of Review Applicable to California Public Utility Commission Decisions
Background
On August 7, 2025, the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Center for Biological Diversity, Inc. v. Public Utilities Commission (Cal., Aug. 7, 2025, No. S283614), 2025 WL 2253765 (Center for Biological Diversity). The case centers around the Net Energy Metering program, updated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in
California Public Utilities Commission Implements New Prevailing Wage Requirements for Large NEM Projects Seeking to Interconnect After December 31, 2023
On November 16, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) voted to adopt a decision resolving the remaining issues in the Net Energy Metering (NEM) proceeding. The decision, issued on November 22 as D.23-11-068, applies the net billing tariff concept adopted in D.22-12-56 to virtual net metering customers (VNEM) and aggregated NEM customers (NEMA), which
CPUC Opens Rulemaking to Streamline Permitting Procedures for Electrical Facilities
During its May 18 voting meeting, the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission) voted to open a new rulemaking proceeding that will consider improvements to its permitting procedures for electric infrastructure projects that fall under its jurisdiction. The Commission’s action is driven by increased legislative and policy interest in reducing barriers to energy infrastructure development to
CPUC Considers Party Proposals on Implementing New Prevailing Wage Requirements for Renewable Energy Projects in California
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) is weighing party comments on implementation of Assembly Bill (AB) 2143. Enacted last year, AB 2143 will take effect on January 1, 2024. This bill extends existing prevailing wage requirements for public works to the construction of any renewable electrical generation facility, and any associated battery storage
Commission Issues Long-Awaited Proposed Decision in Transportation Electrification (TE) Proceeding, Setting a Framework for California TE Policy and Investment
On October 14, 2022, the assigned Commissioner (Rechtschaffen) issued a proposed decision (PD) on Transportation Electrification Policy and Investment in the pending rulemaking (R.) 18-12-006 before the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission). Commission approval of the PD would adopt a new Transportation Electrification Framework (TEF) to guide utility investments in electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure and would authorize $1 billion in ratepayer funding for the first five years of the TE program, known as Funding Cycle 1 (FC1). In recognition of the rapidly evolving EV landscape, the PD proposes to cap spending during first three years of FC1, which is a five-year funding cycle, at $600 million, and access to the remaining $400 million budget is held until the Commission issues a “Mid-Cycle Assessment” decision to determine whether modifications to or termination of the program budget is warranted. Notably, the Commission would prohibit Fortune 1000 companies from receiving any FC1 rebates, regardless of whether they propose to operate in a disadvantaged community. Continue Reading Commission Issues Long-Awaited Proposed Decision in Transportation Electrification (TE) Proceeding, Setting a Framework for California TE Policy and Investment
The California Public Utilities Commission Issues Proposed Decision on New Resource Adequacy Framework
On May 20, 2022, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC or Commission) issued a proposed decision (PD) that would, among other things, adopt Southern California Edison’s (SCE) 24-hour-slice proposal as the new resource adequacy (RA) framework applicable to load-serving entities (LSEs) under the CPUC’s jurisdiction. Generally, the proposal would require each LSE to show that it has enough capacity to meet its specific gross-load profile, including a planning-reserve margin, or PRM, for all 24 hours for the “worst day” of each month. The “worst day” would be defined as the day of the month that has the highest coincident-peak-load forecast. This new RA framework would likely be implemented in 2025, with 2024 serving as a “test year” for the new framework.
The Commission initially began examining potential changes to its RA framework due to significant and ongoing changes in California’s generation-resource mix, with the increasing reliance on variable resources such as solar and wind, and use-limited resources, such as energy storage and demand response, as well as the retirement of older natural gas generation. The Commission solicited proposals for a new RA framework starting in 2020, and in 2021 it tentatively adopted Pacific Gas and Electric’s (PG&E) slice-of-day proposal in decision 21-07-014. The Commission ordered a series of workshops to further develop the proposal, culminating in a workshop report submitted March 1, 2022. During the workshops, two alternate proposals were developed: SCE’s 24-hour-slice proposal, and a two-slice proposal developed by Gridwell Consulting. The parties generally favored one of the two alternate proposals, rather than the PG&E slice-of-day proposal. The selection of SCE’s 24-hour-slice proposal will set the direction for further development of the new RA framework.
Continue Reading The California Public Utilities Commission Issues Proposed Decision on New Resource Adequacy Framework