AB 710

AB710:v96#DOCUMENT

Bill Start

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 710

An act to add Section 469 to, and to add Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 8430) to Division 4.1 of, Part 3 (commencing with Section 9530) to Division 4.8 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 710, as amended, Irwin. Electricity: dynamic pricing: Local publicly owned electric utilities: advanced metering infrastructure.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory jurisdiction over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. prohibits a local publicly owned electric utility from sharing, disclosing, or otherwise making accessible to any third party, or selling, data about a customer’s electrical usage that is made available as part of an advanced metering infrastructure, except as specified. Existing law requires a local publicly owned electric utility that utilizes an advanced metering infrastructure that allows a customer to access their data to ensure that the customer has an option to access that data without being required to agree to the sharing of the customer’s personally identifiable information, including that data, with a third party.

This bill would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to require each electrical corporation to offer optional dynamic pricing tariffs, as specified.

This bill would require the commission to require each electrical corporation, and the governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility, on or before January 1, 2028, to analyze the feasibility of deploying advanced metering infrastructure to all customers. Based on that analysis, the bill would require each electrical corporation and the governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility, on or before January 1, 2029, to develop a plan for complete advanced metering infrastructure deployment, where feasible.

Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime.

Because certain provisions of this bill would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

Additionally, by

By imposing new duties on local publicly owned electric 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.

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.

Digest Key

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.Section 469 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read:

469.

On or before January 1, 2028, the commission shall require each electrical corporation to offer optional dynamic pricing tariffs consistent with the Energy Commission’s electric load management standards (Article 5 (commencing with Section 1621) of Chapter 4 of Division 2 of Title 20 of the California Code of Regulations) and the commission’s California Flexible Unified Signal for Energy (CalFUSE) hourly dynamic pricing framework.

SEC. 2.Chapter 10.3 (commencing with Section 8430) is added to Division 4.1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

10.3.Advanced Metering Infrastructure

8430.

SECTION 1.

Part 3 (commencing with Section 9530) is added to Division 4.8 of the Public Utilities Code, to read:

PART 3. Advanced Metering Infrastructure

9530.

For purposes of this chapter, both of the following definitions apply:

(a)“Electrical corporation” has the same meaning as defined in Section 218.

(b)“Local part, “local publicly owned electric utility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 224.3.

8431.

(a)(1)On or before January 1, 2028, the commission shall require each electrical corporation to analyze the feasibility of deploying advanced metering infrastructure to all customers.

(2)Based on the analysis completed pursuant to paragraph (1), on or before January 1, 2029, each electrical corporation shall develop a plan for complete advanced metering infrastructure deployment, where feasible.

(b)(1)

9531.

(a) On or before January 1, 2028, the governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility shall analyze the feasibility of deploying advanced metering infrastructure to all customers.

(2)

(b) Based on the analysis completed pursuant to paragraph (1), subdivision (a) on or before January 1, 2029, the governing board of each local publicly owned electric utility shall develop a plan for complete advanced metering infrastructure deployment, where feasible.

SEC. 3.

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act or because costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution.

SEC. 2. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.