Data centers: rate structures.

The purpose of the Data Center Excess Energy Usage Surcharge Fund changed from establishing Low-Income Rate Assistance Programs (CARE and FERA) at both the Energy Commission and PUC to simply funding wildfire-related costs included in rates. The specific program names and low-income assistance language were removed.

The fiscal classification changed: appropriation went from 'yes' to 'no' and state-mandated local program went from 'yes' to 'no,' suggesting the continuous appropriation mechanism or local program mandate was restructured in the full text.

A new requirement was added to Section 901 mandating that the Public Utilities Commission, in a new or existing proceeding, assess rate structure opportunities to: (a) ensure data centers pay their reasonable share of transmission and distribution costs regardless of interconnection level, (b) identify mechanisms for data centers to pay their proportionate share of load increases and nonemitting resource procurements, and (c) structure rates to alleviate cost pressures on residential ratepayers including CARE and FERA customers.

The legislative finding that the CARE and FERA programs help over 1,400,000 Californians afford electricity bills was removed from Section 1, and the phrase 'particularly for low-income customers' was deleted from the findings about data centers contributing to rate stabilization.

The vote requirement language was clarified from '2/3' to '2/3 majority.' The bill format changed to a partial amendment where only modified sections are shown and all other matter is incorporated by reference from the April 6, 2026 version.

Removed the Data Center Excess Natural Gas Usage Surcharge Law, which would have imposed surcharges on natural gas and electricity consumed by data centers at rates set annually by the Energy Commission starting January 1, 2027.

Removed the creation of the Data Center Excess Energy Usage Surcharge Fund in the State Treasury and the continuous appropriation of surcharge revenues to the PUC and Energy Commission for wildfire-related cost recovery in utility rates.

Removed the addition of Part 19.1 (Section 40220) to the Revenue and Taxation Code, which would have provided the statutory basis for administering the surcharges through the CDTFA under the Fee Collection Procedures Law.

Changed the bill from requiring a two-thirds legislative vote (due to imposing a new tax) to requiring only a simple majority, and changed the appropriation designation from yes to no, reflecting the removal of all surcharge and funding provisions.

Removed the eligibility criteria that defined which persons would be subject to the surcharge (those who purchased natural gas or electricity wholly or partially consumed by a data center during any single month beginning January 1, 2027).

Removed the exemption application process that would have allowed persons to apply to a gas corporation or electric utility for relief from the surcharge.

Strengthened the rate structure mandate in Section 901: subsection (b) changed from 'identify mechanisms to ensure' data centers pay their share to simply 'ensure' they pay, and subsection (c) changed from 'structure rates to alleviate' cost pressures to directly 'alleviate' cost pressures on residential ratepayers.

Added a requirement that the PUC's rate structure actions maintain consistency with applicable integrated resource planning requirements.

Section 901(b) changed from requiring the commission to 'identify mechanisms to ensure' data centers pay their proportionate share of load increases, to directly requiring the commission to 'ensure' they do. This shifts the mandate from an assessment/identification step to a direct obligation.

The phrase 'using nonemitting resources' was removed from Section 901(b), eliminating the explicit requirement that data center load procurements use clean energy sources. The provision still references consistency with integrated resource planning requirements, which may implicitly address this, but the direct clean-energy language is gone.

An empty subsection (d) was removed from the legislative findings in Section 1, and the remaining finding was renumbered from (c) to (c), cleaning up a drafting error.