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Votes at a glance: key measures from the Assembly Utilities & Energy Committee hearing
Summary
A roundup of bills the committee moved out of policy with their immediate next steps. Many measures were passed as amended to appropriations; several require further stakeholder negotiation in Appropriations before reaching the floor.
The Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee advanced a package of measures on a daylong agenda. Below are short summaries and the committee’s immediate actions for each bill discussed at the hearing.
AB 706 — Forest biomass/biomass fund (Aguiar‑Curry) - Summary: Creates a fund to support projects that sustainably use forest biomass waste from wildfire mitigation and forest restoration work; does not mandate treatments or technologies; projects must meet existing environmental permitting. - Committee action: Motion to hear later; no final vote due to lack of quorum on the first attempt. Author asked for continued consideration when quorum is available.
AB 39 — Local electrification and charging planning (author) - Summary: Requires cities/counties with populations of 75,000 or more to create plans to meet electrification goals, with attention to disadvantaged and low‑income communities. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations (roll called; clerk left roll open for absent members).
AB 1167 — Utility spending accountability (Berman) - Summary: Limits use of ratepayer funds for utilities’ political influence, promotional advertising and certain trade association lobbying; increases transparency and would require shareholder treatment of disallowed costs after a grace period. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations; supporters argued for accountability, utilities expressed concerns about scope and accounting complexity.
AB 1417 — Offshore wind transparency and community capacity building (author) - Summary: Requires offshore wind developers to report funding provided directly to local and tribal communities for capacity building; allows voluntary donations to the existing program to fund capacity building. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations after industry and community groups reached a consensus and opposition withdrew.
AB 367 — Water district backup generation (Bennett) - Summary: County pilot requiring backup generation and hardened facilities in high‑risk fire areas (Ventura County); authors accept committee amendments. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations; ACWA maintains oppose‑unless‑amended. Author will continue negotiations on funding and operational exceptions.
AB 745 — Securitization for undergrounding projects (Erwin) - Summary: Allows investor‑owned utilities to seek financing orders from the CPUC to securitize undergrounding costs and disallows return on equity for undergrounding projects in the bill’s current form; opposition warned of unintended consequences. - Committee action: Passed to Appropriations (committee recorded a roll call and left the roll open); stakeholders flagged potential credit rating and portfolio impacts; further discussions expected.
AB 1423 — EV charger reliability (author) - Summary: Requires state‑grant funded chargers installed before 2024 to meet forthcoming CEC reliability standards and provides for enforcement; industry requested exemptions for chargers deployed under legal settlements. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations; negotiations with CEC and Electrify America anticipated.
AB 388 — Green hydrogen (Rogers) - Summary: Narrows the “over‑the‑fence” rule to allow private power lines linking wind/solar to electrolytic hydrogen production, with labor and safety rules; proponents said the change is needed to scale green hydrogen. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations; investor‑owned utilities raised planning, customer protection and system‑integration concerns.
AB 825 — Public financing for transmission (author) - Summary: Establishes a public transmission fund seeded with Prop 4 funds and authorizes public‑private partnerships to leverage low‑cost public financing for transmission development to reduce ratepayer cost. - Committee action: Passed as amended to Appropriations; proponents cited potential long‑term savings; comments requested refinements.
AB 932, AB 1532 and a set of consent calendar items - Summary: The committee disposed of multiple consent items and an omnibus CNC bill extending existing surcharge authorities and reporting rules; AB 1532 (committee omnibus) contains public‑utilities reporting and continuity items and was passed as amended. - Committee action: Multiple consent items passed to Appropriations; omnibus passed as amended.
How the committee handled votes Most measures on the agenda were passed as amended and referred to the Appropriations Committee, where fiscal analyses and further stakeholder negotiations will take place. Where the committee recorded roll calls, clerks sometimes left the roll open for absent members to add their votes.
What to watch next Appropriations hearings will analyze fiscal impacts and funding pathways. Several authors committed to continuing stakeholder negotiations to resolve operational concerns, legal conflicts and funding questions before the bills reach the floor.
Ending note Committee members emphasized continued work with stakeholders to refine language on liability, funding and implementation for bills that touch complex regulatory or contractual frameworks.
