Committee forwards Linda Serizawa’s Public Advocate nomination after wide discussion on rates, NEM and wildfire costs

Linda Serizawa, nominee to lead the state’s Office of the Public Advocate, won committee approval to proceed to the full Senate after a broad exchange on utility affordability, Net Energy Metering rules and wildfire mitigation costs.

Serizawa told senators the office is sharpening its focus on challenging unjustified utility spending and on protecting lower‑income customers who cannot reduce electric usage for health or climate reasons. "The idea is to pull those fixed costs out of the volumetric rate and everybody pay their fair share of those fixed costs," she said, describing an approach the office has advocated that would replace a usage‑based (volumetric) structure with a separate fixed charge for system costs.

On implementation timing, Serizawa said the Public Advocate expects full utility implementation of a fixed charge by the end of the year or early next year, once utilities complete billing system changes. She said a properly…