IOUs tell Little Hoover Commission higher bills stem from wildfire work, policy decisions; urge state funding shifts and NEM reform

Pedro Nava, chair of the Little Hoover Commission, opened a hearing on California electricity costs with a reminder that the session would focus on what drives rising bills and what utilities propose to do about them. He introduced witnesses from investor‑owned utilities, municipal utilities, and community choice aggregators.

Adam Smith, director of regulatory relations at Southern California Edison, told commissioners that the industry operates under a “regulatory compact” in which utilities have an obligation to serve, submit capital plans to regulators and raise private capital to pay for approved projects. “We have an obligation to serve,” Smith said. He said investor‑owned utilities must attract capital in public markets and that rating agencies closely watch the regulatory and legislative environment; SCE was on “negative watch,” he said, meaning higher borrowing costs could…