Transportation electrification: electrical distribution grid upgrades.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities, as defined, are under the direction of their governing boards. Existing law, enacted as part of the Clean Energy and Pollution Reduction Act of 2015, requires the PUC, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) and the State Air Resources Board, to direct electrical corporations to file applications for programs and investments to accelerate widespread transportation electrification to reduce dependence on petroleum, meet air quality standards, achieve the goals set forth in the Charge Ahead California Initiative, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. Existing law requires the Energy Commission, working with the state board and the PUC, to prepare, at least once every 2 years, a statewide assessment of the electrical vehicle charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of electric vehicle adoption required for the state to meet certain goals. This bill would require the Energy Commission, in collaboration with the State Air Resources Board, the PUC, and other relevant stakeholders, to annually gather from state agencies, as provided, specified entities' fleet data for on-road and off-road vehicles in the medium- and heavy-duty sectors and share that data with electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to help inform electrical grid planning efforts, as specified. The bill would prohibit electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities from disclosing that data to third parties. The bill would require electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities, as part of their distribution planning processes, to consider the fleet data produced by the Energy Commission pursuant to this bill, and other available data, to facilitate the readiness of their distribution systems to support the state's anticipated level of electric vehicle charging, as specified. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. 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 a part of the act and because a violation of an order or decision of the PUC implementing the bill's requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime. 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 a specified reason.