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Senate committee advances SB 500 to allow utilities to supply aggregated building energy data
Summary
Sen. Henry Stern’s SB 500, advanced by the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications, would let utilities deliver aggregated energy-usage data to building owners and state‑approved tools instead of relying solely on the federal Energy Star Portfolio Manager.
The Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications advanced SB 500, authored by Sen. Henry Stern, to the Senate floor after a subcommittee presentation and later roll calls that recorded passage.
The bill would authorize utilities to satisfy California’s building benchmarking program requirement by delivering aggregated energy‑usage data directly to a building owner’s account and to “any alternative system or tool approved by the CEC,” rather than relying only on the federal Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which the author described as facing “federal uncertainty” and as effectively “an unfunded and unstaffed program.”
“...this bill would authorize utilities to satisfy the requirement of the building benchmarking program to provide energy usage data by delivering or otherwise providing aggregated energy usage data to the building’s owner account and any alternative system or tool approved by the CEC instead of solely relying on the federal Energy Star Portfolio Manager,” Sen. Henry Stern said during his presentation.
Supporters and the author framed SB 500 as a pragmatic fix to keep building benchmarking working while the federal program is described as degraded. No witnesses spoke in opposition during the brief subcommittee presentation recorded in the transcript.
The committee later recorded a motion that the assembly amendments be concurred in; the motion passed. The official roll calls recorded the bill as passing the committee and moving to the Senate floor. The final committee announcement recorded the bill as passing with 12 votes in favor and none recorded in opposition.
The bill text and the committee discussion emphasize that the change is to permit alternate, state‑approved data tools and aggregated delivery methods; the committee did not adopt other policy changes to the benchmarking program during the hearing. The committee did not produce additional conditions or a schedule for adoption in the hearing record.
Next steps: SB 500 was reported to the Senate floor for further consideration and any additional amendments or hearings there.
