AB1372 - Renewable electrical generation facilities: electrified commuter railroads: regenerative braking: net billing.

Amended IN Assembly January 05, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 25, 2025 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 1372 Introduced by Assembly Member Papan February 21, 2025 An act to amend Section 2827 of, and to add Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 1250) to Part 1 of Division 1 of, the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1372, as amended, Papan. Renewable electrical generation facilities: electrified commuter railroads: regenerative braking: net billing. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires every electric utility, except as provided, to develop a standard contract or tariff providing for net energy metering, and to make this standard contract or tariff available to eligible customer-generators using renewable electrical generation facilities, as specified. Pursuant to its authority, the commission issued a decision revising net energy metering tariff and subtariffs, commonly known as the net billing tariff. This bill would include the regenerative braking from electric trains as a renewable electrical generation facility for those purposes, as provided. Existing law authorizes a community choice aggregator to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity consumers within its boundaries and requires the community choice aggregator to, among other things, enter into an operating service agreement with an electrical corporation. This bill would, upon an electrical corporation, electric service provider, or community choice aggregator corporation and an operator of an electrified commuter railroad that produces electricity through the regenerative braking of electric trains, including the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, completing certain technical studies, require the electrical corporation, electric service provider, or community choice aggregator corporation to adopt or modify a net billing contract or tariff that is approved by the commission or the appropriate rate approving entity, as provided. commission. The bill would require that contract or tariff to, among other things, require the supplier or distributor electrical corporation to apply bill credits for the electricity exported to the electrical grid based on its value, as specified. The bill would require the load-serving entity responsible for the delivery of electricity electrical corporation to provide, or install at its cost, if necessary, metering that records and documents electricity imports and exports, as specified. Under existing law, a violation of any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because a violation of a commission action implementing this bill’s requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YES Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. Chapter 6.7 (commencing with Section 1250) is added to Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code, to read: CHAPTER 6.7. Electrified Commuter Railroads 1250. (a) For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions apply: “eligible customer-generator” means a public agency, including a joint powers agency, that is eligible for funding under Section 99312.3 and acts as a transit operator of an electrified commuter railroad that produces electricity through the regenerative braking of electric trains. (a) (1) “Eligible customer-generator” means a public agency, including a joint powers agency, that is eligible for funding under Section 99312.3 and acts as a transit operator of an electrified commuter railroad that produces electricity through the regenerative braking of electric trains. (2) (b) The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board is an eligible customer-generator. (b) “Load-serving entity” has the same meaning as defined in Section 380. 1251. (a) Upon a load-serving entity an electrical corporation and an eligible customer-generator completing any technical studies necessary to protect the electrified commuter railroad and electrical grid and to assess the operational impacts associated with the eligible customer-generator’s operating specifications and train design, the load-serving entity electrical corporation shall adopt or modify a net billing contract or tariff pursuant to commission Decision 22-12-056 (December 15, 2022), “Decision Revising Net Energy Metering Tariff and Subtariffs,” or subsequent updates to that decision, that is approved by the commission or the appropriate rate approving entity that does all of the following: (1) Recognizes that the eligible customer-generator has the ability to generate electricity through regenerative braking in parallel with the load-serving entity’s electrical corporation’s electrical transmission or distribution grid. (2) Requires the load-serving entity electrical corporation responsible for the delivery of electricity to the eligible customer-generator to provide 15-minute interval data for imported and exported energy, including the electricity that flows to the eligible customer-generator from each traction power station and the electricity that flows from the eligible customer-generator to each traction power station. (3) Requires the supplier or distributor electrical corporation to apply bill credits to an eligible customer-generator for the electricity exported to the electrical grid based on its value, as determined by the avoided cost to the load-serving entity electrical corporation of buying clean energy elsewhere. (b) The load-serving entity responsible for the delivery of electricity to the eligible customer-generator electrical corporation shall provide, or install at its cost, if necessary, metering that records and documents the eligible customer-generator’s imports and exports, including the electricity that flows to the eligible customer-generator and the electricity exported to the electrical grid from the eligible customer-generator through regenerative braking. SEC. 2. Section 2827 of the Public Utilities Code is amended to read: 2827. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that a program to provide net energy metering combined with net surplus compensation, co-energy metering, and wind energy co-metering for eligible customer-generators is one way to encourage substantial private investment in renewable energy resources, stimulate in-state economic growth, reduce demand for electricity during peak consumption periods, help stabilize California’s energy supply infrastructure, enhance the continued diversification of California’s energy resource mix, reduce interconnection and administrative costs for electricity suppliers, and encourage conservation and efficiency. (b) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings: (1) “Co-energy metering” means a program that is the same in all other respects as a net energy metering program, except that the local publicly owned electric utility has elected to apply a generation-to-generation energy and time-of-use credit formula as provided in subdivision (i). (2) “Electrical cooperative” means an electrical cooperative as defined in Section 2776. (3) “Electric utility” means an electrical corporation, a local publicly owned electric utility, or an electrical cooperative, or any other entity, except an electric service provider, that offers electrical service. This section shall not apply to a local publicly owned electric utility that serves more than 750,000 customers and that also conveys water to its customers. (4) (A) “Eligible customer-generator” means a residential customer, small commercial customer as defined in subdivision (h) of Section 331, or commercial, industrial, or agricultural customer of an electric utility, who uses a renewable electrical generation facility, or a combination of those facilities, with a total capacity of not more than one megawatt, that is located on the customer’s owned, leased, or rented premises, and is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical grid, and is intended primarily to offset part or all of the customer’s own electrical requirements. (B) (i) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), “eligible customer-generator” includes the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation using a renewable electrical generation technology, or a combination of renewable electrical generation technologies, with a total capacity of not more than eight megawatts, that is located on the department’s owned, leased, or rented premises, and is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical grid, and is intended primarily to offset part or all of the facility’s own electrical requirements. The amount of any wind generation exported to the electrical grid shall not exceed 1.35 megawatt megawatts at any time. (ii) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), an electrical corporation shall be afforded a prudent but necessary time, as determined by the executive director of the commission, to study the impacts of a request for interconnection of a renewable generator with a capacity of greater than one megawatt under this subparagraph. If the study reveals the need for upgrades to the transmission or distribution system arising solely from the interconnection, the electrical corporation shall be afforded the time necessary to complete those upgrades before the interconnection and those costs shall be borne by the customer-generator. Upgrade projects shall comply with applicable state and federal requirements, including requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. (C) (i) For purposes of this subparagraph, a “United States Armed Forces base or facility” is an establishment under the jurisdiction of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, or Coast Guard. (ii) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a United States Armed Forces base or facility is an “eligible customer-generator” if the base or facility uses a renewable electrical generation facility, or a combination of those facilities, the renewable electrical generation facility is located on premises owned, leased, or rented by the United States Armed Forces base or facility, the renewable electrical generation facility is interconnected and operates in parallel with the electrical grid, the renewable electrical generation facility is intended primarily to offset part or all of the base or facility’s own electrical requirements, and the renewable electrical generation facility has a generating capacity that does not exceed the lesser of 12 megawatts or one 1 megawatt greater than the minimum load of the base or facility over the prior 36 months. Unless prohibited by federal law, a renewable electrical generation facility shall not be eligible for net energy metering for privatized military housing pursuant to this subparagraph if the renewable electrical generation facility was procured using a sole source process. A renewable electrical generation facility procured using best value criteria, if otherwise eligible, may be used for net energy metering for privatized military housing pursuant to this subparagraph. For these purposes, “best value criteria” means a value determined by objective criteria and may include, but is not limited to, price, features, functions, and life-cycle costs. (iii) A United States Armed Forces base or facility that is an eligible customer generator customer-generator pursuant to this subparagraph shall not receive compensation for exported generation. (iv) Notwithstanding paragraph (2) of subdivision (e), an electrical corporation shall be afforded a prudent but necessary time, as determined by the executive director of the commission but not less than 60 working days, to study the impacts of a request for interconnection of a renewable electrical generation facility with a capacity of greater than one megawatt pursuant to this subparagraph. If the study reveals the need for upgrades to the transmission or distribution system arising solely from the interconnection, the electrical corporation shall be afforded the time necessary to complete those upgrades before the interconnection and the costs of those upgrades shall be borne by the eligible customer-generator. Upgrade projects shall comply with applicable state and federal requirements, including requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. For any renewable generation facility that interconnects directly to the transmission grid or that requires transmission upgrades, the United States Armed Forces base or facility shall comply with all Federal Energy Regulatory Commission interconnection procedures and requirements. (v) An electrical corporation shall make a tariff, as approved by the commission, available pursuant to this subparagraph by November 1, 2015. (vi) This subparagraph shall not apply to a tariff made available pursuant to Section 2827.1. (5) “Large electrical corporation” means an electrical corporation with more than 100,000 service connections in California. (6) “Net energy metering” means measuring the difference between the electricity supplied through the electrical grid and the electricity generated by an eligible customer-generator and fed back to the electrical grid over a 12-month period as described in subdivisions (c) and (h). (7) “Net surplus customer-generator” means an eligible customer-generator that generates more electricity during a 12-month period than is supplied by the electric utility to the eligible customer-generator during the same 12-month period. (8) “Net surplus electricity” means all electricity generated by an eligible customer-generator measured in kilowatthours over a 12-month period that exceeds the amount of electricity consumed by that eligible customer-generator. (9) “Net surplus electricity compensation” means a per kilowatthour rate offered by the electric utility to the net surplus customer-generator for net surplus electricity that is set by the ratemaking authority pursuant to subdivision (h). (10) “Ratemaking authority” means, for an electrical corporation, the commission, for an electrical cooperative, its ratesetting body selected by its shareholders or members, and for a local publicly owned electric utility, the local elected body responsible for setting the rates of the local publicly owned utility. (11) “Renewable electrical generation facility” means a facility that generates electricity from a renewable source listed in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Se [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]