Utilities: service outages and updates: alerts.

Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations, gas corporations, and water corporations, while local publicly owned electric utilities are under the direction of their governing boards. If the commission finds after a hearing that the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, or service of any public utility, or the methods of manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply employed by the public utility, are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper, inadequate, or insufficient, the Public Utilities Act requires the commission to determine and, by order or rule, fix the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, service, or methods to be observed, furnished, constructed, enforced, or employed. This bill would require, except as provided, each electrical corporation, gas corporation, water corporation, or local publicly owned electric utility, on or before March 1, 2026, to automatically enroll its customers in alerts for service outages and updates. The bill would require customers to be provided with the opportunity to opt-out of any alerts they do not wish to receive, except as provided. The bill would require each of those utilities to annually provide information on customers' bills on how to update their preferred contact methods and to allow customers to update their contact information on the utility's internet website or, if feasible, by telephone. 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. Additionally, by imposing new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, 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 specified reasons.