California Utility Affordability & Transparency Act
Your power bill shouldn't be a mystery — and your utility shouldn't profit off your inability to pay.
California's utility rates have outpaced both inflation and wage growth for years. Some households spend more than 10% of their income just on electricity and gas. And the companies charging you have no obligation to explain what they're doing with the money — executive bonuses, shareholder dividends, and infrastructure decisions are all hidden from public view. This act reforms rate structures so lower-income households pay lower fixed charges, forces utilities to publish quarterly reports on how they spend your money, strengthens community choice energy, invests excess utility profits in weatherization and clean energy, and guarantees affordable water. Six reforms. One act. $800 million a year back in California pockets.
Six Reforms to Make Utilities Affordable, Accountable, and Transparent
Right now, a retired couple on Social Security and a tech executive in a mansion pay the same fixed charge on their electric bill. The utility company that raised your rate by 15% last year doesn't have to tell you how much it paid its CEO. If your community wants to buy cleaner, cheaper energy through a community choice program, the utility charges exit fees designed to make it unaffordable to leave. And when a utility earns profits above its guaranteed rate of return — which it does, regularly — that money goes to shareholders, not back into the grid. This act changes all six of those things: income-based fixed charges, mandatory profit transparency, stronger community choice, excess-profit investment in efficiency, time-of-use savings, and affordable water rates. The state invests $25 million a year. Californians save $800 million.
Income-Graduated Fixed Charges
Your fixed charge should reflect your ability to pay — not treat a family on food stamps the same as a hedge fund manager
Fixed charges are the part of your electric bill that stays the same no matter how much energy you use. Right now, everyone pays the same amount — which means low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes subsidize high-usage customers. This act creates income-graduated fixed charges: households at or below 200% of the federal poverty level pay no more than $5 per month. Households between 200% and 400% FPL pay no more than $15 per month. Everyone else pays up to $24 per month. Qualification is automatic if you're already enrolled in CARE, FERA, CalFresh, or Medi-Cal — no extra paperwork. Others can self-certify income, verified by random audit. The structure is revenue-neutral: total fixed charge revenue stays the same, it's just distributed fairly. Privacy protections prohibit sharing income data with immigration enforcement. Estimated savings: $400 million annually for low- and moderate-income households.
Time-of-Use Savings & Extreme Climate Protection
Use power when the sun is shining and the grid has plenty — and pay half as much for it
Time-of-use rates let you save money by shifting energy use to hours when the grid has surplus power. But California's current time-of-use plans don't offer enough savings to make it worth the effort. This act requires utilities to offer plans with at least a 40% price difference between peak and off-peak rates, with off-peak windows of at least 12 hours per day. It also creates a super off-peak rate — at least four hours per day during times of lowest demand or highest renewable production — at rates 50% below peak. For people who can't shift usage due to medical needs or disability, a default rate guarantees no higher bills. Separately, this act increases the baseline energy allocation by 15% for households in extreme climate zones — areas with more than 15 days over 100°F or 30 days below freezing. Because when it's 112 degrees in Redding, air conditioning isn't a luxury. Estimated savings: $150 million annually.
Utility Profit Transparency
You pay the bill every month — you deserve to know exactly where the money goes
When your electric company raises rates by double digits, you get a vague letter about "infrastructure costs." Meanwhile, shareholders collect billions in dividends and CEOs take home eight-figure compensation packages. This act forces every large investor-owned utility to publish quarterly transparency reports covering: executive compensation for the top five officers (salary, bonuses, stock awards) and the CEO-to-median-worker pay ratio; shareholder dividends versus infrastructure spending (and the ratio between them); wildfire mitigation expenditures by category (vegetation, hardening, undergrounding); rate increase justifications with line-item detail; and actual financial performance versus the authorized rate of return. Reports must be in plain language with a two-page summary. The CPUC must build a public dashboard — mobile-accessible, WCAG 2.1 compliant — showing 10-year trends, cross-utility comparisons, and downloadable datasets. Verified by the Commission; penalties for misstatements.
Community Choice Aggregation — Stronger, Fairer, Easier
If your community wants to buy cleaner, cheaper power, the utility monopoly shouldn't be able to punish you for leaving
Community Choice Aggregators let cities and counties buy energy for their residents — often from cleaner sources and at competitive prices. But utilities fight CCAs at every step: slow-walking data, inflating exit fees, and lobbying to block formation. This act levels the field. It creates a single streamlined application with 90-day CPUC action; provides model documents (implementation plans, joint powers agreements, customer notifications); limits exit fees to actual, verifiable stranded costs — no hypothetical charges or inflated projections; phases out exit fees entirely after 10 years of CCA service; requires utilities to provide customer data within 30 days; and establishes a $20 million annual technical assistance program with priority for disadvantaged communities and high fire-threat districts. Financial security deposits capped at 60 days of wholesale costs. Estimated savings: $100 million annually.
Utility Efficiency Investment Fund
When a regulated monopoly earns more than its guaranteed return, that excess should go back to the people who paid it
Investor-owned utilities in California are guaranteed a rate of return on their investments. When they earn above that authorized return — and they frequently do — the excess goes to shareholders. This act redirects 10% of excess shareholder profits into the California Utility Efficiency Investment Fund, estimated at $50 to $150 million annually. The fund is split into three categories: 40% minimum for low-income weatherization (insulation, air sealing, efficient appliances, smart thermostats); 25% minimum for residential battery storage with priority for households in fire zones, those dependent on electric medical equipment, and low-income families; and 25% minimum for heat pump conversion subsidies — up to $5,000 for heat pump HVAC, $2,000 for heat pump water heaters, and up to $7,500 for low-income households. Admin capped at 10%. The utility's authorized rate of return is fully protected — this only touches excess. Not recoverable from ratepayers. Not a taking — it's the cost of operating as a regulated monopoly.
Water Utility Affordability
California law says water is a human right — this act makes that real on your monthly bill
California declared water a human right in 2012, but your water bill doesn't reflect it. This act requires every water provider with more than 3,000 connections to implement a lifeline rate for essential water usage — defined as 50 gallons per person per day for indoor residential use. The lifeline rate can't exceed 75% of the standard first-tier rate — and it's available to all residential customers, no income verification required. Above the lifeline, rates go up in at least three progressive tiers: the second tier at least 25% above lifeline, and higher tiers reflecting the full cost of serving high-usage customers, including conservation programs and supply reliability. The act also funds leak detection and repair programs from upper-tier revenues — free leak audits on request, grants and zero-interest loans for repairs for low-income households, and rebates for water-efficient fixtures. At least 5% of upper-tier revenue is dedicated to leak programs. Fully Proposition 218 compliant.
Every Bill Meets These Standards
Article XII plenary power compliance, Proposition 218 water rate conformity, Takings Clause analysis, revenue-neutral rate design, and complete severability. Legislation from the grid up.