SB 332: Investor-Owned Utilities Accountability Act.

California · Senate · 2025–2026 Regular Session · last verified August 30, 2025

What SB 332 does, verified August 30, 2025

The bill aims to improve the energy sector in California by requiring a comparative analysis of transitioning electrical corporations to a public entity, nonprofit public benefit corporation, or mutual benefit corporation. A research institute will conduct this analysis, which must be completed by January 1, 2029, and made available to the public for comment. The energy commission will present the analysis at a publicly noticed business meeting. The bill also requires electrical and gas corporations to post information on their websites about terminations of service due to nonpayment, starting March 1, 2026 and annually thereafter. Additionally, the energy infrastructure safety director will require executive incentive compensation structures to ensure ratepayer affordability and public safety. The Public Utilities Commission will develop policies to reduce residential service disconnec…

Bill journey

✓IntroducedComplete

✓In CommitteeComplete

✓First Chamber FloorComplete

4Second ChamberCurrent

5GovernorPending

6ChapteredPending

Last action: August 29 hearing: Held in committee and under submission. (2025-08-29)Alert me

Author and sponsors

Sen. Aisha WahabAuthor · California State Senate

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Coauthors

Robert GarciaMelissa HurtadoLiz Ortega

Recent actions27 total · showing 5

Aug. 29, 2025	August 29 hearing: Held in committee and under submission.
Aug. 20, 2025	August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on APPR. suspense file.
Aug. 20, 2025	August 20 set for first hearing. Placed on suspense file.
Jul. 14, 2025	Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
Jul. 10, 2025	From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 11. Noes 5.) (July 9).

Full action history, 22 earlier actionsConnect Plus

Latest bill textAmended version, July 14, 2025 · 1,168 words

Amended IN Assembly July 14, 2025

Amended IN Assembly June 30, 2025

Amended IN Senate May 28, 2025

Amended IN Senate April 23, 2025

Amended IN Senate April 07, 2025

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill

No. 332

Introduced by Senator Wahab
(Coauthor: Senator Hurtado)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Garcia and Ortega)

February 12, 2025

An act to add Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 25250) to Division 15 of the Public Resources Code, and to amend Sections ~~706~~ 718 and 8389 of, ~~to add Section 8386.8 to, to add Article 4.5 (commencing with Section 570) to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of,~~ and to add Chapter 10 (commencing with Section 8450) to Division 4.1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to energy.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SB 332, as amended, Wahab. Investor-Owned Utilities Accountability Act.

(1) Existing law vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) with various responsibilities for developing and implementing the state’s energy policies.

This bill would require the Energy Commission to select a research institute, as defined, to conduct a comparative analysis of the benefits and challenges of transitioning the electrical corporations to a public entity, nonprofit public benefit corporation, or mutual benefit corporation in order to identify a recommended model, as provided. The bill would require the research institute to complete the analysis on or before January 1, 2029, and, upon completion, to submit the analysis to the Legislature and the Energy Commission. The bill would require the Energy Commission to make a draft of the analysis available to the public for comment before submitting the final draft to the Legislature, and would limit the cost of conducting the analysis to $5,000,000.

This bill would require the research institute to conduct the first phase of the comparative analysis and to submit an interim report, on or before December 31, 2026, to the Energy Commission on threshold legal issues, as provided. The bill would require the Energy Commission to convene a group of state attorneys from the legal departments of state agencies that regulate electrical corporations to advise the research institute on the first phase of the comparative analysis, as specified.

This bill would, upon completion of the analysis by the research institute, require the Energy Commission to present the analysis at a publicly noticed business meeting on or before September 30, 2029.

(2) Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations and gas corporations, while local publicly owned utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation, gas corporation, or water corporation from terminating a customer’s residential service for nonpayment of a delinquent account in certain circumstances, including, among other circumstances, unless the corporation first gives notice to the customer of the delinquency and impending termination, during the pendency of an investigation by the corporation of the customer’s dispute or complaint, or when the customer has been granted an extension of the period for payment of a bill.

This bill would require ~~a utility, including an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, gas corporation, and local publicly owned gas utility, to quarterly~~ each electrical corporation and gas corporation, on or before March 1, 2026, and each local publically owned electric utility, on or before March 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to post specified information concerning ~~termination~~ terminations of service due to nonpayment on their respective internet websites, as provided.

(3)Existing law prohibits an electrical corporation from recovering from ratepayers an annual salary, bonus, benefit, or other consideration of any value paid to an officer of the electrical corporation, and requires that compensation to instead be funded solely by shareholders of the electrical corporation.
This bill would require each electrical corporation, on or before April 1, 2026, to submit a proposed executive compensation structure to the PUC that is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety through performance metrics, as provided.
(4)Existing law requires each electrical corporation to construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment.
This bill would require each electrical corporation to triennially contract with an independent and reputable third party to audit all of the electrical corporation’s equipment and electrical lines and identify any equipment or electrical lines that have reached their end of life. The bill would require the audit to be completed in alignment with the wildfire mitigation plan cycle, as specified. The bill would require the PUC to assess fines on an electrical corporation that fails to comply with these provisions, as specified.
This bill would require the PUC to develop a best value procurement model in a new or existing proceeding for use in the procurement of equipment and materials for electrical corporation infrastructure projects that compares the costs and benefits of potential supplies, as provided.
~~(5)~~
(3)
Existing law requires the Director of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety to issue a safety certification that is valid for 12 months after the date of issuance to an electrical corporation if the electrical corporation provides documentation that it is meeting certain requirements and ~~the office~~ that it has an approved ~~the~~ executive incentive compensation structure ~~of the electrical corporation.~~ that is structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety and utility financial stability with performance metrics, as specified.

This bill would additionally require that the electrical corporation’s executive incentive compensation structure is structured to ensure ratepayer affordability, as provided. The bill would also require, for purposes of the safety certification, that documentation related to compensation include specified dollar amounts.

Existing law requires the PUC to develop policies, rules, or regulations with a goal of reducing the statewide level of gas and electrical service disconnections for nonpayment by residential customers, as specified. Existing law requires the PUC to include in an annual report to the Legislature information on residential and household gas and electrical service disconnections, disaggregated by certain customer categories.
This bill would require the PUC to provide any public nonconfidential data collected pursuant to the above-described provisions to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety for the purpose of reviewing ratepayer affordability when assessing executive compensation under the above-described provisions.
~~(6)~~
(4)
Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the PUC is a crime.

Because certain provisions of this bill would be part of the act and a violation of a PUC action implementing the bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

In addition, to the extent the bill would impose new requirements on local publicly owned utilities, 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 specified reasons.

Text of SB 332 as amended, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions