Bill > AB2031

This bill proposes to amend Section 851 of the Public Utilities Code, which governs how public utilities can sell, lease, or otherwise transfer their essential assets, franchises, or permits. Currently, for transactions valued at $5 million or less, utilities can use an "advice letter" process to get approval from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which is the state agency that regulates utilities. The bill's main change is to reduce the timeframe the PUC has to approve or deny these advice letters from 120 days to 90 days, aiming to speed up these transactions. The bill also clarifies that certain transactions involving easements with a ratepayer financial impact of $100,000 or less are exempt from this approval process if the utility has substantial annual revenues, and it includes provisions for adjusting these monetary thresholds for inflation over time.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2031