Electricity.

Assembly Member Rogers proposes to modify California's electrical utility regulations by creating new pathways for renewable energy producers to serve industrial customers directly through private transmission lines. The legislation redefines which entities qualify as electrical corporations while establishing oversight mechanisms for private electric infrastructure.

The bill creates a framework for solar and wind facilities exceeding 5 megawatts to transmit power directly to facilities producing hydrogen through electrolysis or using electricity for industrial process heating. These arrangements would operate outside traditional utility structures, provided the electricity serves only new rather than existing load. The California Public Utilities Commission must develop specialized tariffs by July 2027 for qualified self-generation projects over 80,000 kilowatts, with utilities acting as intermediaries between generators and customers.

To maintain safety standards, private transmission lines crossing multiple properties must comply with relevant utility commission orders and file wildfire mitigation plans when located in high-risk fire zones. The legislation specifies that participating customers bear all associated costs, preventing expense shifts to other ratepayers. Load served through these arrangements would be excluded from utilities' procurement requirements for resource adequacy and renewable portfolio standards.

The measure preserves existing exemptions for smaller-scale private generation while adding new categories of excluded entities, particularly focusing on renewable energy facilities serving industrial processes. This creates a parallel regulatory framework for large-scale private renewable energy arrangements while maintaining oversight of transmission infrastructure.