New California Laws 2026
Section 25662) of Chapter 7.6 of Division 15 of, the Public Resources Code, relating to energy. AB 1303, Valencia. Communications: lifeline tele- phone service program. This bill would prohibit the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), and associated specified entities, from sharing informa- tion provided by an applicant or subscriber of the California Lifeline (Lifeline) program with other gov- ernment entities without a court-ordered subpoena or valid judicial warrant. An act to amend Section 2891 of, and to add Sec- tion 876.5 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to communications. AB 1410, Garcia. Utilities: service outages and up- dates: alerts. Requires utilities, with specific excep- tions made for publically owned electric utilities, to automatically enroll their customers in alerts related to service outages and related updates by March 1, 2026. An act to add Chapter 15 (commencing with Sec- tion 8550) to Division 4.1 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to utilities. AB 1417, Stefani. Energy: Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Program: community capacity funding activities and grants. Authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to allocate funds from the Voluntary Offshore Wind and Coastal Resources Protection Program (Program) for capacity funding activities and grants within local and tribal communities and includes reporting requirements for the CEC, offshore wind (OSW) entities, and eligible entities receiving dona- tions from OSW entities. An act to amend Sections 25992.5, 25992.10, 25992.21, and 25992.22 of the Public Resources Code, relating to offshore wind energy development, and making an appropriation therefor. AB 1510, Committee on Public Employment and Retirement. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Au- thority: employee relations. Makes a change to the existing Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) employment relations statute relating to an appeal of a final decision or order of the Public Em- ployment Relations Board (PERB) for purposes of equity and parity to various other public employment relations statutes administered by the PERB. An act to add Section 100312 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public employees. AB 1532, Committee on Communications and Conveyance. Public Utilities Commission. This bill extends the requirement for the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to establish and fund the transportation network company (TNC) Access for All (AFA) program until January 1, 2032. The bill also requires the CPUC to collect more granular in- formation about CPUC Commissioner attendance at CPUC hearings. An act to amend Sections 910.1 and 5440.5 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to the Public Utilities Commission, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect imme- diately.
er, nonresidential renewable electrical generating facilities. Specifies that, for the construction of a renewable electrical generation facility and asso- ciated battery storage, the contractor who enters into a contract with the entity, not the entity itself, is the awarding body only for limited purposes; also specifies which public works requirements apply to such construction projects; and authorizes a renew- able electrical generation facility to remain eligible to receive service pursuant to a standard contract or tariff, regardless of a contractor’s willful violation of prevailing wage requirements, if restitution has been made to the affected workers and all associated pen- alties and fines have been paid. An act to amend Section 769.2 of the Public Utili- ties Code, relating to energy. AB 1167, Berman. Electrical corporations and gas corporations: rate recovery: political activities and promotional advertising. Prohibits certain political influence activities and advertising expenses by electrical and gas corporations from being recovered from ratepayers. Authorizes the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to assess penalties for violations related to the bill’s provisions. An act to add Section 748.3 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to public utilities. AB 1207, Irwin. Climate change: market-based compliance mechanism: extension. Extends autho- rization for the Air Resources Board (ARB) cap- and-trade regulation through 2045; requires ARB to ensure that emissions from covered sources de- cline with the 2030 and 2045 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets; maintains existing offsets limits, but requires offsets to be exchanged for allowances under the emissions cap; unfreezes industry assis- tance factors used to determine allocation of free allowances, allowing ARB, beginning in 2031, to set factors to minimize leakage risk; extends regulatory protections for the oil and gas industry; revises use of revenue from allocation of allowances to utilities to increase and target credits on electric utility bills, except for 5% of revenues directed to support public financing of transmission projects. An act to amend Sections 38501, 38562, 38590.1, 38591.1, 38591.2, 38592.5, 38592.6, and 38594 of, and to add and repeal Section 38562.1 of, the Health and Safety Code, and to amend Section 748.5 of, and to add Section 748.5.5 to, the Public Utilities Code, relating to climate change, making an appropriation therefor, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. AB 1280, Garcia. Energy. Qualifies thermal ener- gy storage for multiple financial incentive programs administered by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) and the Cal- ifornia Energy Commission (CEC). The bill restricts funding for certain industrial decarbonization proj- ects in these programs to those that meet certain labor and community benefit standards, as specified. An act to amend Section 63048.93 of the Govern- ment Code, and to amend Sections 25640, 25641, 25642, 25645, 25662, 25662.2, and 25662.4 of, and to amend the heading of Article 2 (commencing with
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