CPUC opens legal review after SDG&E seeks to stop running regional energy-efficiency programs

The California Public Utilities Commission on Aug. 8 issued a scoping ruling to examine whether San Diego Gas & Electric may withdraw from administering regional energy-efficiency programs and what would follow if it does. San Diego Community Power, acting as lead administrator for the San Diego Regional Energy Network (SD REN), filed a protest and will participate in legal briefing.

The ruling orders an initial legal phase to determine whether SDG&E is legally permitted to withdraw. If the CPUC finds withdrawal permissible, the proceeding would move to a second phase to analyze the policy and factual consequences — including impacts to program access, cost-effectiveness, and equitable service across the region.

Aisha Cissna, who presented the regulatory update for San Diego Community Power, said the scoping ruling prioritizes the legal question. “The judge said we need to determine whether SDG&E is even legally permitted to withdraw before we consider any other policy or factual issues,” Cissna said. She told the committee the CPUC will require legal briefs addressing that threshold question on Sept. 5 and reply briefs on Sept. 26; a proposed decision on the legal issues is projected for November 2025 with a final decision expected in December 2025.

The SDG&E application seeks to terminate most regional program contracts and retain only its regional codes-and-standards program; SDG&E proposes completing that transition by 2027 if the CPUC grants the request. San Diego Community Power and the city of San Diego joined other parties in a protest that questions whether the utility is legally permitted to withdraw and raised concerns about program continuity for hard-to-reach communities.

If the commission reaches the policy-and-fact phase, the scoping ruling lists core issues to be examined: customer affordability and bill impacts; the suitability of assigning program responsibilities to SD REN (which launched recently); potential programmatic and geographic coverage gaps (for example, SDG&E serves parts of southern Orange County that SD REN does not); the root causes of the portfolio’s reported poor cost-effectiveness; and any additional costs that would arise if reduced efficiency programs increase system procurement needs.

Committee members pressed staff on the possible fiscal and service impacts. One member said the action could “take what, a third of a billion dollars out of the REN,” and urged staff to continue litigating the legal issues. Staff noted that the CPUC’s broader energy-efficiency policy proceeding is also examining cost-effectiveness rules that can disadvantage regional program administrators, and that those policy discussions may inform outcomes for this case.

Next steps established in the scoping ruling: legal briefs due Sept. 5, reply briefs due Sept. 26, a proposed decision on the legal questions anticipated in November 2025 and a final decision in December 2025. If the CPUC concludes SDG&E may withdraw, the commission would open a factual and policy phase to resolve the programmatic questions and to consider assignments of responsibility for regional energy-efficiency administration.