Bill > AB2408

This bill requires energy companies, specifically electrical and gas corporations regulated by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), to provide greater transparency regarding "public purpose program charges," which are fees added to customer bills to fund various state-mandated programs. These companies must now clearly list these charges on bills, itemize each program funded, and provide an annual statement detailing program descriptions, expenditures, and whether they are subject to an opt-out option. The bill also mandates the PUC to create a system allowing customers to opt out of funding "nonessential public purpose programs" – those not statutorily required for essential services like low-income assistance, grid reliability, or public safety – with the ability to change their opt-out status annually. Furthermore, if the average price of electricity or natural gas in California exceeds 10% of the national average for a quarter, the bill mandates a six-month suspension of these public purpose program charges and also requires the State Air Resources Board to suspend the California Cap-and-Invest Program, a market-based mechanism to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, for electrical and gas corporations for the same period. Finally, local publicly owned electric and gas utilities must limit their ability to retroactively adjust customer bills for undercharges to three months for residential and small business customers, and three years for large business customers.

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2408