Panel advances bill to let California join a wider Western electricity market

Assemblymember Petrie Norris presented AB 8 25 on the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications’ floor, asking senators to advance a proposal to enable California utilities to join an expanded Western electricity market.

The bill, co‑authored with the committee chair, would authorize California to participate in a wider day‑ahead market and requires governance safeguards, annual CAISO reporting to the Legislature and an explicit ability for California to exit the market. “Studies by the Brattle Group and Stanford have estimated that an expanded Western electricity market could save California rate payers up to a billion dollars every year,” Assemblymember Petrie Norris said during her remarks, and she cited modeling that she said would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on inefficient gas plants.

Supporters — including labor unions, environmental groups and utilities' coalitions — told the committee the proposal could cut costs and improve reliability. Hunter Stern, representing the Coalition of California Utility Employees and the California State Association of Electrical Workers, said the wider market would better utilize excess solar and other renewables and help the state sustain clean‑energy construction. Michael Holborn of Environmental Defense Fund described the bill’s reporting and pre‑conditions for joining the market as “robust,” saying the package would both reduce customer bills and add checks before California joins.

The bill includes multiple guardrails: it would protect California’s renewable portfolio standard and SB 100 obligations, preserve state authority over procurement and resource adequacy, require that the market not begin before 2028, and mandate that utilities be allowed to exit the market without penalties. The bill also directs the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) to maintain the capability to revert to a California‑only market if the state decides to leave, and requires annual written and verbal reporting to the Legislature so lawmakers can monitor outcomes.

Opponents were limited at the hearing; dissenting witnesses raised concerns that a regional market could shift control to entities less accountable to state policy and might expose California ratepayers to out‑of‑state costs if governance is inadequate. The bill’s authors and many sponsors said the legislative oversight and the stated exit options address those risks.

The committee cast a roll call in which members voted to pass AB 8 25 to the Senate floor. The committee recorded the motion as due and passed to the Senate floor with a unanimous recorded vote at the time of the roll call (12 ayes, 0 noes on the completed roll call). The bill will move to the next Senate floor stage for further consideration.