Public utilities: ratesetting proceedings: local publicly owned electric utilities: California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program.

The metric used to determine which electrical corporations are subject to the consent agenda prohibition and mandatory 30-minute public comment period was changed from 'annual revenues' to 'revenue requirement.'

The dollar threshold for triggering the PUC transparency requirements was doubled from $500,000,000 to $1,000,000,000, meaning fewer utilities will be covered by these procedural protections.

The threshold for the consent calendar prohibition changed from electrical corporations with annual revenues exceeding $500 million to those with revenue requirements exceeding $1 billion, meaning fewer utilities are covered by the requirement that their ratesetting decisions not be placed on the consent agenda.

Section 454 of the Public Utilities Code was removed from the bill entirely. This section had contained provisions requiring public utilities to notify customers of proposed rate changes, rules for rate change hearings, and a separate prohibition on placing electrical corporation ratesetting proceedings on the consent calendar with its own 30-minute public comment requirement.

The mandatory 30-minute public comment period at PUC meetings now only applies when a ratesetting decision increases an electrical corporation's customer rates by more than 5 percent. Previously, the comment period was required for all electrical corporation ratesetting proceedings regardless of the size of the rate change.

The language shifted from referring to 'annual revenues' as the threshold metric to 'revenue requirement,' which is a different financial measure used in utility rate cases to determine what revenue a utility needs to collect to cover its costs.

The document was reformatted from an official enrolled bill layout (with formal headings, signature blocks, and page numbers) to a web page presentation including navigation menus, search tools, bill status timeline, and version history links. No changes to the actual statutory language.

A new Section 1 was added amending Public Utilities Code Section 399.30, which governs renewable energy procurement requirements for local publicly owned electric utilities under the RPS program. This is an entirely new subject matter not present in the Assembly version.

In Section 399.30(k)(2), the large hydroelectric generation exemption (which exempts a utility from procuring additional renewables if it receives more than 40% of retail sales from large hydro) is extended to apply to compliance periods established by the Energy Commission beyond December 31, 2030, not just the fixed statutory periods through 2030.

Section 454(e)(1) changes terminology from 'application from an electrical corporation for a rate increase' to 'electrical corporation general rate case ratesetting proceeding,' broadening the language to cover all general rate case proceedings rather than only rate increases.

Section 454(e)(2) adds the phrase 'before its vote on the ratesetting proceeding' to clarify that the 30-minute public comment period must occur before the commission votes, and changes 'at the hearing considering the application' to 'at the hearing to consider and vote on the general rate case ratesetting proceeding.'

The consent calendar prohibition and public comment requirements are now explicitly limited to 'general rate case proceedings' rather than any 'rate increase' application from an electrical corporation. This narrows the bill's reach to the specific type of proceeding where utilities seek broad, across-the-board rate changes.

The 30-minute public comment period is now required at the hearing where the commission both considers and votes on the general rate case proceeding, rather than at any hearing that considers the application. This ensures public input occurs at the decisional stage of the GRC process.