REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 09/06/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: City Manager's Office
SUBJECT:
Title
REVIEW OF THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION'S PROCEEDING REGARDING IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INCOME-GRADUATED FIXED CHARGE FOR RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMERS
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report provides the City Council information about the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC) proceeding on implementing an Income-Graduated Fixed Charge (IGFC) for residential customers of all investor-owned electric utilities. If desired, the City Council may choose to either submit a public comment to the proceeding on behalf of the City and/or become a party in the proceeding.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council discuss the CPUC's proceeding on the implementation of an IGFC and use discretion with regards to staff direction.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
On June 30, 2022, Assembly Bill 205 ("AB 205") was signed into law by Governor Newsom. AB 205 contains a variety of energy measures that provide debt relief for utility customers (California Arrearage Payment Program), allocations for long-duration energy storage projects, new certification process for clean energy generation and storage facilities, initial investment intended to support California's energy supply and avoid outages (Strategic Reliability Reserve), among other investments and requirements.
A major component of AB 205 tasks the CPUC to use fixed charges for residential customers on an income-graduated basis with progressively higher charges for customers with higher incomes. The intention is to distribute electricity costs in a way that is more equitable, increases bill affordability, and encourages residential customers to adopt electrification measures. This requirement must take effect by July 1, 2024.
After AB 205 was signed into law, the CPUC opened a proceeding to do this work, called an Order Instituting Rulemakin...
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