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Committee advances AB 1167 to bar utilities from charging ratepayers for lobbying and promotional spending
Summary
AB 1167 would prohibit investor-owned utilities from recovering from ratepayers the costs of lobbying, promotional advertising and certain trade association dues; supporters including TURN and Earthjustice said the bill increases transparency and accountability, while utilities urged more work on definitions and warned of complexity. The subcomm
Assemblymember Phil Ting (author identification from context) presented AB 1167 to establish guardrails and transparency requirements on investor-owned utilities' accounting and rate requests so ratepayers do not fund lobbying, promotional advertising, or shareholder-focused expenses. The author cited recent media reports alleging utilities tried to pass political spending and promotional ads to ratepayers as justification.
Adria Tinnon of The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Matt Vespa of Earthjustice testified in support. TURN described the bill as prohibiting utilities from "abusing ratepayer dollars to pay for lobbying, promotional advertising, and other extravagant expenses that only serve to boost the image and influence of for-profit investor-owned utilities." Earthjustice said the bill would increase transparency and apply penalties after a grace period to correct misbooked costs.
Utility representatives for Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric testified in opposition or concern. PG&E said the distinctions between ratemaking and accounting are complex, that many political-type activities are already prohibited, and that securitization or other remedies are complicated. PG&E and others signaled willingness to negotiate but opposed the bill in its current form.
The committee accepted committee amendments and voted to pass AB 1167 as amended to the Appropriations Committee.
Why it matters: Supporters say the bill protects customers from paying for utilities' political influence and image campaigns; opponents say definitions and interactions with existing ratemaking and accounting rules need refinement.
Votes: Committee passed AB 1167 (amended) and referred it to appropriations.
