Source: Del Mar Times
During a July 30 legislative update, staff at the Clean Energy Alliance gave an overview of some of the bills the agency is monitoring in the Legislature that address issues ranging from affordability to future concerns such as the energy that will be required for data centers.
The Legislature has an Aug. 31 deadline to pass bills.
Assembly Bill 1761 aims to bring more transparency to how bills are calculated, particularly when it comes to an exit fee that gets added to customers’ bills by utilities such as San Diego Gas & Electric, known as the power charge indifference adjustment, when they switch to a community choice aggregation program.
“Greater transparency allows CCAs and energy service providers to better advocate for their customers and assess proposals to change the PCIA,” according to a post on the CalCCA website announcing its support of the bill. “It also can inform cost forecasts and shield customers from sudden rate swings. It reduces repeated fights over information, improves regulatory efficiency, and encourages utilities to verify calculations since the underlying data would be open to review. Costs to implement the proposal are miniscule, as most of this information already exists, while the benefits for rate, accuracy, stability, and consumer protection are substantial. This proposal strengthens confidence that customers pay their fair share — and not more.”
The bill, coauthored by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner, D-Encinitas, passed in Assembly in May and is pending in committee in the Senate.
Senate Bill 1138 aims to lower customer bills with a “slice-of-day” resource adequacy framework that would lower demand and prices, as opposed to existing regulations that require CCAs to purchase more than they need to meet a resource adequacy standard that ignores market conditions. The bill passed in the Senate in May and is pending in the Assembly.
Bills related to data centers include AB 2383, which is pending in the Senate.
“As California continues leading the world in innovation and artificial intelligence, we must make sure working families and small businesses are not left footing the bill for the enormous energy demands of large-scale data centers,” Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur said in a statement when the bill passed the Assembly. “AB 2383 ensures these facilities pay their fair share, protects ratepayers from cost shifts, and helps California plan responsibly for the future of our electrical grid.”