Below is a quick briefing on key items the California Public Utilities Commission is scheduled to consider at its October 30, 2025 voting meeting.
STACK Infrastructure Transmission Service Request: Draft Resolution E-5420 approves (with modifications) PG&E’s request to build and energize new transmission infrastructure (including a 155 kilovolt Ringwood substation) to serve STACK Infrastructure’s 90 megawatt data center in San Jose, at an estimated cost of $85.9 million. STACK Infrastructure is a major data-center developer and operator that runs large-scale, high-capacity facilities to support cloud computing, AI, and enterprise data storage.
Energy Efficiency Market Transformation: This Commissioner Matt Baker proposed decision authorizes ratepayer funding for the California Market Transformation Administrator’s (CalMTA) Room Heat Pump Market Transformation Initiative (MTI) but declines funding for an Induction Cooktop MTI.
Undergrounding Distribution Equipment of Large Electrical Corporations: Draft Resolution SPD-37 refines and updates the CPUC’s Senate Bill 884 undergrounding program, a framework designed to expedite the burial of distribution infrastructure in high fire-thread districts to reduce wildfire risk and improve reliability. The draft resolution aligns previously adopted Commission guidelines (via Resolution SPD-15, from last year) with the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety’s 10-Year Undergrounding Plan Guidelines, clarifies cost-recovery procedures, and strengthens oversight.
PG&E Natural Gas Curtailment Procedures: This proposed decision authorizes PG&E’s application to revise its natural gas curtailment procedures, which brings them into alignment with procedures used by other major gas utilities. Previously, PG&E relied solely on localized curtailments to mange pressure on its system of more than 5,600 miles of transmission pipeline. This PD adds systemwide curtailment protocols, which were developed through extensive stakeholder workshops and negotiations with parties including TURN, Cal Advocates, and the Indicated Shippers.
SCE: Diablo Canyon Replacement Bridge Swap Contracts: Draft Resolution E-5419 approves SCE’s request to execute two Diablo Canyon Replacement bridge swap contracts involving bundled Portfolio Content Category 1 (PCC-1) renewable energy credits (and energy). These are short-term energy transactions SCE uses to meet state procurement mandates that were established to replace output from the Diablo Canyon Power Plant when the facility was expected to retire.
Modifications to the Self-Generation Incentive Program: This proposed decision, issued by Commissioner Karen Douglas, initiates the endgame for California’s long-running Self-Generation Incentive Program, which has provided ratepayer-funded financial incentives for installing behind-the-meter clean-energy technologies e.g., battery storage and distributed generation. The CPUC’s SGIP statutory obligations are at their end, and the Commission considers the program to have served its purpose of jumpstarting customer-sited clean tech.
Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff: This proposed decision denies a petition for modification filed by the Bioenergy Association of California to modify a 2020 CPUC decision (D.20-08-043). In their petition, the Bioenergy Association of California sought to extend (or remove) the December 31, 2025 end date of the Commission’s Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff (BioMAT) program.
PG&E Condemnation of Assets: This proposed decision pauses a long-running dispute between PG&E and the South San Joaquin Irrigation District over who should control local power lines in that area. The PD dismisses without prejudice an application filed by PG&E, which sought a determination on whether the South San Joaquin District’s proposed condemnation of PG&E’s electric distribution assets would serve the public interest.
Petition of CCSF for Property Valuation of PG&E: This proposed decision establishes standards and methodologies that the CPUC will use to determine just compensation if the City and County of San Francisco proceeds to condemn portions of PG&E’s electric system that serve San Francisco.
SDG&E Natural Gas Leak Abatement: Draft Resolution G-3606 denies SDG&E’s request to recover approximately $24.9 million in ratemaking forecasts for its 2024 Natural Gas Leak Abatement Compliance Plan. This rejection includes all Best Practice measures and RD&D projects, on the grounds that none of them were cost-effective, while authorizing only $222,000 in recovery for previously under-collected capital costs and allowing $428,000 in program administration costs, which will be tracked for future recovery.
SDG&E Ratemaking Mechanism: This proposed decision authorizes SDG&E to establish a new “Electric Energization Memorandum Account” (EEMA) to track incremental capital costs related to new customer energization projects under Senate Bill 410 (the “Powering Up Californians Act”). The PD authorizes SDG&E to record up to $51.2 million between 2024-2026 (which is an 83% reduction from the company’s original request), which is broken down into $10.6 million (2024); $20.8 million (2025); and $19.8 million (2026). SDG&E may annually transfer eligible recorded costs to the Electric Distribution Fixed Cost Account for customer recovery but must demonstrate cost-reasonableness in its General Rate Case.
More detail and ongoing analysis available at California Regulatory Intelligence
