California Technology Innovation and Ratepayer Protection Act.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law authorizes the commission to fix the rates and charges for every public utility and requires that those rates and charges be just and reasonable. This bill, the California Technology Innovation and Ratepayer Protection Act, would require the commission, on or before January 1, 2028, to establish new tariffs or update existing electric rules for the interconnection of participating customer facilities and the provision of retail electric service, transmission, distribution, and generation services to participating customers, as specified. The bill would require the commission, as part of establishing and updating electric rules, to, at a minimum, evaluate the risks and benefits of the tariffs to nonparticipating customers, ensure that the tariffs prevent the creation of stranded costs for, or cost shifts to, nonparticipating customers, and, for unbundled customers, ensure that charges generally included in the generation component of the unbundled customer's consolidated bill are assessed as a separate line item on their bill. The bill would require, as part of a new or existing proceeding, the commission to establish a tariff for the interconnection of a participating customer seeking to receive retail electric service at the transmission level that meets certain requirements, as specified. The bill would authorize a participating customer to participate in a new demand response program authorized by the commission, as specified. The bill would authorize an electrical corporation to submit an exceptional case filing to approve a contract between the electrical corporation and a data center seeking interconnection at the transmission level for those facilities that seek to obtain retail electric service after January 1, 2027, but before the commission has approved the tariff, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above provisions would be a part of the act, and a violation of a commission action implementing this bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.