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Senators advance bill to shield ratepayers from costs tied to large data‑center grid upgrades
Summary
SB 57 would direct the Public Utilities Commission to establish tariffs and conditions to ensure that transmission and interconnection costs for large, high‑draw customers (including data centers) do not shift to nonparticipating ratepayers and could allow the CPUC to set clean‑energy procurement expectations for such customers.
Senator Padilla introduced SB 57, the Ratepayer and Technological Innovation Protection Act, aimed at ensuring large, high‑demand customers such as data centers pay their share of grid interconnection and upgrade costs and do not produce stranded investments that shift costs to other ratepayers.
Padilla described data centers and other heavy loads as unique customers: "large data centers are transmission level customers with loads that can range from 10 megawatts to up to 800 megawatts with close to a % load factor operating 24 hours a day," he said, and warned that if a data center closes or uses less than forecast the ratepayers could be left with the cost of interconnection or generation investments.
TURN testified in support, urging protections including a prohibition on cost‑shifting for interconnection costs and shortfalls relative to initial load projections. TURN also supported authorizing the CPUC to require a portion of on‑site generation come from energy storage and to require that transmission‑connected customers pay a fair share for programs and wildfire risk costs otherwise borne in distribution rates.
Data center industry representatives told the committee they support paying their full cost of service and that the CPUC’s public, evidence‑based proceedings are the appropriate forum to determine cost allocation; the Data Center Coalition said it was in respectful opposition to the bill in print but supported the intent and committee amendments.
The committee’s amendments narrowed the scope to transmission and distribution cost allocation, broadened the definition of eligible customers beyond just data centers to include any transmission‑level customer with 15 MW or more demand, and made the CPUC’s authority to set zero‑carbon procurement goals for such customers discretionary rather than mandatory. The committee advanced the bill as amended; committee record shows the bill advanced with the committee vote indicated in the hearing transcript.
