Bill > SB1168

This bill, effective January 1, 2027, would impose new surcharges on natural gas and electricity consumed by data centers, or by entities producing electricity primarily for data centers, in California. These surcharges are intended to help stabilize energy rates for all Californians, particularly low-income customers, as data center energy usage rapidly increases. The bill defines a "data center" as a facility primarily housing electronic equipment for processing, storing, and transmitting digital information. The surcharges would apply to entities meeting specific criteria, including significant increases in energy consumption since 2021 and not primarily using the energy for manufacturing tangible personal property. Utilities would be responsible for collecting these surcharges, with provisions for exemptions under certain conditions. All revenue generated from these surcharges would be deposited into a newly created "Data Center Excess Energy Usage Surcharge Fund" and continuously appropriated to fund low-income rate assistance programs, administered by the Energy Commission for local publicly owned electric utilities and by the Public Utilities Commission for investor-owned utilities. The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration would oversee the collection of these surcharges.

Transportation and Infrastructure

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1168