CHAPTER 6. Wildfire Mitigation [8385. - 8389.]

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC 6.

in effect

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8385. Section 8385.

(a) For purposes of this chapter, all of the following definitions apply: (1) “Deenergization event” means the proactive interruption of electrical service for the purpose of mitigating or avoiding the risk of causing a wildfire. (2) “Electrical cooperative” has the same meaning as defined in Section 2776. (3) “Electrical corporation” has the same meaning as defined in Section 218. (4) “Large electrical corporation” has the same meaning as defined in Section 3280. (5) “Local publicly owned electric utility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 224.3. (6) “Office” means the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, within the Natural Resources Agency. (b) Beginning July 1, 2021, the office shall supervise an electrical corporation’s compliance with the requirements of this chapter pursuant to the Public Utilities Act (Part 1 (commencing with Section 201) of Division 1). This chapter does not affect the commission’s authority or jurisdiction over an electrical corporation, electrical cooperative, or local publicly owned electric utility.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386. Section 8386.

(a) Each electrical corporation shall construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment, taking into account both the time required to implement the proposed mitigation and the amount of risk reduced for the cost and risk remaining. (b) Each electrical corporation shall submit a wildfire mitigation plan to the office for review at least once every four years. The office shall establish a schedule for the submission of subsequent comprehensive wildfire mitigation plans, which may allow for the staggering of evaluation and performance periods for each electrical corporation. (c) (1) Beginning January 1, 2027, each electrical corporation shall submit a preliminary wildfire mitigation plan to the office at the earliest date of one year before the filing of its general rate case application or concurrent with the filing of its Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase application with the commission. The wildfire mitigation plan shall cover the same period as the general rate case period. (2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to independent transmission owners. (d) The wildfire mitigation plan shall include all of the following: (1) An accounting of the responsibilities of persons responsible for executing the plan. (2) The objectives of the plan. (3) A description of the preventive strategies and programs to be adopted by the electrical corporation to minimize the risk of its electrical lines and equipment causing catastrophic wildfires, including consideration of dynamic climate change risks. (4) A description of the metrics the electrical corporation plans to use to measure and track the implementation of the plan and the assumptions that underlie the use of those metrics. (5) A discussion of how the application of previously identified metrics to previous plan performances has informed the plan. (6) A description of the electrical corporation’s protocols for disabling reclosers and deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the associated impacts on public safety. As part of these protocols, each electrical corporation shall include protocols related to mitigating the public safety impacts of disabling reclosers and deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the impacts on all of the following: (A) Critical first responders. (B) Health and communication infrastructure. (C) Customers who receive medical baseline allowances pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739. The electrical corporation may deploy backup electrical resources or provide financial assistance for backup electrical resources to a customer receiving a medical baseline allowance for a customer who meets all of the following requirements: (i) The customer relies on life-support equipment that operates on electricity to sustain life. (ii) The customer demonstrates financial need, including through enrollment in the California Alternate Rates for Energy program continued pursuant to Section 739.1. (iii) The customer is not eligible for backup electrical resources provided through medical services, medical insurance, or community resources. (D) Subparagraph (C) does not prevent an electrical corporation from deploying backup electrical resources or providing financial assistance for backup electrical resources under any other authority. (7) A description of the electrical corporation’s appropriate and feasible procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines, including procedures for those customers receiving medical baseline allowances as described in paragraph (6). The procedures shall direct notification to all public safety offices, critical first responders, health care facilities, and operators of telecommunications infrastructure with premises within the footprint of potential deenergization for a given event. The procedures shall comply with any orders of the commission regarding notifications of deenergization events. (8) Identification of circuits that have frequently been deenergized pursuant to a deenergization event to mitigate the risk of wildfire and the measures taken, or planned to be taken, by the electrical corporation to reduce the need for, and impact of, future deenergization of those circuits, including, but not limited to, the estimated annual decline in circuit deenergization and deenergization impact on customers, and replacing, hardening, or undergrounding any portion of the circuit or of upstream transmission or distribution lines. (9) Plans for vegetation management. (10) Plans for inspections of the electrical corporation’s electrical infrastructure. (11) A description of the electrical corporation’s protocols for the deenergization of the electrical corporation’s transmission infrastructure, for instances when the deenergization may impact customers who, or entities that, are dependent upon the infrastructure. The protocols shall comply with any order of the commission regarding deenergization events. (12) A list that identifies, describes, and prioritizes all wildfire risks, and drivers for those risks, throughout the electrical corporation’s service territory, including all relevant wildfire risk and risk mitigation information that is required by the commission’s risk-based decisionmaking framework established in commission Application 15-05-002 or Rulemaking 20-07-013, or subsequent safety model assessment proceedings, and the Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase filings. The list shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following: (A) Risks and risk drivers associated with design, construction, operations, and maintenance of the electrical corporation’s equipment and facilities. (B) Particular risks and risk drivers associated with topographic and climatological risk factors throughout the different parts of the electrical corporation’s service territory. (C) Particular risks and risk drivers associated with the speed with which wildfire risk mitigation measures can and will be deployed by an electrical corporation within its service territory. (D) An estimate of cost-per-avoided ignition for each risk, or an explanation on why such a value could not be assigned to a particular risk. (13) A description of how the plan accounts for the wildfire risk identified in the electrical corporation’s Risk Assessment Mitigation Phase filing, if applicable. (14) A description of the actions the electrical corporation will take to ensure its system will achieve the highest level of safety, reliability, and resiliency, taking into account the cost and time required to achieve those benefits, and to ensure that its system is prepared for a major event, including hardening and modernizing its infrastructure with improved engineering, system design, standards, equipment, and facilities, such as undergrounding, insulating of distribution wires, and replacing poles. The electrical corporation shall present the cost-efficiency measures adopted by the commission, calculated consistently with the direction provided by the commission’s most recent risk-based decisionmaking framework proceeding, for at least two reasonable mitigation alternatives for a given identified wildfire risk. (15) A description of where and how the electrical corporation considered undergrounding electrical distribution lines within those areas of its service territory identified to have the highest wildfire risk in a commission fire threat map. (16) A showing that the electrical corporation has an adequately sized and trained workforce to promptly restore service after a major event, taking into account employees of other utilities pursuant to mutual aid agreements and employees of entities that have entered into contracts with the electrical corporation. (17) Identification of any geographic area in the electrical corporation’s service territory that is a higher wildfire threat than is currently identified in a commission fire threat map, and where the commission should consider expanding the high fire threat district based on new information or changes in the environment. (18) A methodology for identifying and presenting enterprisewide safety risk and wildfire-related risk that is consistent with the methodology used by other electrical corporations unless the commission determines otherwise. (19) A description of how the plan is consistent with the electrical corporation’s disaster and emergency preparedness plan prepared pursuant to Section 768.6, including both of the following: (A) Plans to prepare for, and to restore service after, a wildfire, including workforce mobilization and prepositioning equipment and employees. (B) Plans for community outreach and public awareness before, during, and after a wildfire, including language notification in English, Spanish, and the top three primary languages used in the state other than English or Spanish, as determined by the commission based on the United States Census data. (20) A statement of how the electrical corporation will restore service after a wildfire. (21) Protocols for compliance with requirements adopted by the commission regarding activities to support customers during and after a wildfire, outage reporting, support for low-income customers, billing adjustments, deposit waivers, extended payment plans, suspension of disconnection and nonpayment fees, repair processing and timing, access to electrical corporation representatives, and emergency communications. (22) A description of the processes and procedures the electrical corporation will use to do all of the following: (A) Monitor and audit the implementation of the plan. (B) Identify any deficiencies in the plan or the plan’s implementation and correct those deficiencies. (C) Monitor and audit the effectiveness of electrical line and equipment inspections, including inspections performed by contractors, carried out under the plan and other applicable statutes and commission rules. (23) Any other information that the office may require. (e) The office shall post all wildfire mitigation plans submitted pursuant to this section on the office’s internet website beginning July 1, 2021, for no less than two months before the office’s decision regarding approval of the plan. The office shall accept comments on each plan from the public, other local and state agencies, and interested parties, and verify that the plan complies with all applicable rules, regulations, and standards, as appropriate.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.1. Section 8386.1.

The commission may assess penalties on an electrical corporation that fails to comply with its plan. In determining an appropriate amount of the penalty, the commission shall consider all of the following: (a) The nature and severity of any noncompliance, including whether the noncompliance resulted in harm. (b) The extent to which the commission has found that the electrical corporation failed to comply with its plans in prior years. (c) Whether the electrical corporation self-reported the circumstances constituting noncompliance. (d) Whether the electrical corporation implemented corrective actions with respect to the noncompliance. (e) Whether the electrical corporation knew or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known of the circumstances constituting noncompliance. (f) Whether the electrical corporation had previously engaged in conduct of a similar nature that caused significant property damage or injury. (g) Any other factors established by the commission in an order assessing penalties for noncompliance, consistent with this chapter.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.2. Section 8386.2.

(a) The commission shall require a safety culture assessment of each electrical corporation to be conducted by an independent third-party evaluator. The commission shall set the schedule for each assessment, including updates to the assessment at least every five years. The electrical corporation shall not seek reimbursement for the costs of the assessment from ratepayers. (b) The office shall conduct a wildfire-focused safety culture assessment of each electrical corporation at least once every two years.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.3. Section 8386.3.

(a) (1) (A) The office shall approve or deny each wildfire mitigation plan within nine months of its submission. (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), for an electrical corporation that is not an independent transmission owner, the wildfire mitigation plan is subject to approval pursuant to Section 8386.4. (2) The office shall consult with the Office of the State Fire Marshal on the review of each wildfire mitigation plan and update. In rendering its decision, the office shall consider comments submitted pursuant to subdivision(e) of Section 8386. Before approval, the office may require modifications of the plan. (3) The office may extend any deadlines established pursuant to this subdivision. The decision to extend deadlines shall be made in writing and include reasons supporting the determination that the deadline cannot be met. (4) An approval of a plan pursuant to this section is not a project as defined in Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, provided that environmental review otherwise required by Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code occurs before any project approval that would authorize physical changes being made to the environment. (b) Following approval of a wildfire mitigation plan pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section or Section 8386.4, the office shall oversee the implementation of the plan consistent with all of the following: (1) On or before April 1, 2026, and on or before each April 1 thereafter, each electrical corporation shall file with the office a self-evaluation report addressing the electrical corporation’s implementation of its approved plan during the prior calendar year. (2) (A) On or before March 1, 2021, and on or before each March 1 thereafter, the office, in consultation with the Office of the State Fire Marshal, shall make available a list of qualified independent evaluators with experience in assessing the safe operation of electrical infrastructure. (B) (i) Each electrical corporation shall engage an independent evaluator listed pursuant to subparagraph (A) to review and assess the electrical corporation’s implementation of its approved plan. The engaged independent evaluator shall consult with, and operate under the direction of, the office. The independent evaluator shall issue a report on or before July 1 of each year in which a report required by paragraph (1) is filed. (ii) The office shall consider the independent evaluator’s findings, but the independent evaluator’s findings are not binding on the office. (3) The commission shall authorize the electrical corporation to recover in rates the costs of the independent evaluator. (4) The office shall complete its performance review of an electrical corporation’s implementation of its plan within 18 months after the submission of the electrical corporation’s self-evaluation report. (5) (A) Following the end of the performance period, the office may, consistent with its authority pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision(b) of Section 15475 of the Government Code, conduct audits of the vegetation management work performed by, or on behalf of, the electrical corporation. The initial audit shall identify deficiencies in the electrical corporation’s implementation of the vegetation management commitments in the wildfire mitigation plan. The office shall provide the initial audit report to the electrical corporation. The electrical corporation shall have a reasonable time, as determined by the office, to respond to and develop corrective actions for any deficiency specified in the initial audit report. (B) The office may engage its own independent auditor who shall be a certified arborist and shall have any other qualifications determined appropriate by the office, to conduct the audit specified in subparagraph (A). The independent auditor shall consult with, and operate under the direction of, the office. (C) Following the expiration of the time period for an electrical corporation to respond to and develop corrective actions for any deficiency identified in the initial audit, the office or the independent auditor shall issue an updated audit report to the electrical corporation identifying any outstanding deficiency in the electrical corporation’s implementation or planned corrective actions relative to its vegetation management commitments in the electrical corporation’s wildfire mitigation plan. The report shall be made publicly available. The office shall include, if available, the report in its performance review prepared pursuant to paragraph (4). (6) Each electrical corporation shall reimburse the office for the office’s costs to implement this section with respect to that electrical corporation. (c) (1) An electrical corporation shall not divert revenues authorized by the commission to implement the approved wildfire mitigation plan to any programs or activities outside of the plan approved pursuant to Section 8386.4. An electrical corporation shall notify the commission by advice letter of both of the following: (A) The date when the electrical corporation projects that it will have spent, or incurred obligations to spend, its entire annual revenue requirement for vegetation management in its wildfire mitigation plan not less than 30 days before that date. (B) A detailed summary of the electrical corporation’s workforce development efforts completed in compliance with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, including, but not limited to, all of the following: (i) A description of and data on the extent to which the electrical corporation advertises job openings to members of California Conservation Corps crews and members of community conservation corps, as defined in Section 14507.5 of the Public Resources Code. (ii) A description of and data on the extent to which the electrical corporation, in seeking to develop potential members of its workforce, has links to or otherwise works with community-based or other organizations that work with current members of California Conservation Corps crews and current members of community conservation corps, as defined in Section 14507.5 of the Public Resources Code, and formerly incarcerated conservation crew members. (iii) A description of the extent to which the electrical corporation supports skill-development efforts that would assist current and former members of California Conservation Corps crews, members of community conservation corps, as defined in Section 14507.5 of the Public Resources Code, formerly incarcerated conservation crew members, and others with similar skillsets in acquiring skills needed to complete work on or near electrical facilities. This clause does not alter the requirements imposed on an employer pursuant to Section 12952 of the Government Code. (2) An electrical corporation shall provide to the office a copy of the advice letter pursuant to paragraph (1) at the same time the advice letter is submitted to the commission. (d) This section does not impose any liability on the office regarding the performance of its duties. (e) The commission shall not allow a large electrical corporation to include in its equity rate base its share, as determined pursuant to the Wildfire Fund allocation metric specified in Section 3280, of the first five billion dollars ($5,000,000,000) expended in aggregate by large electrical corporations on fire risk mitigation capital expenditures included in the electrical corporations’ approved wildfire mitigation plans. An electrical corporation’s share of the fire risk mitigation capital expenditures and the debt financing costs of these fire risk mitigation capital expenditures may be financed through a financing order pursuant to Section 850.1 subject to the requirements of that financing order.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.4. Section 8386.4.

(a) (1) The commission shall consider the cost of implementing each electrical corporation’s plan in its general rate case proceeding and shall approve the costs for wildfire risk mitigation programs and activities it determines are just and reasonable. (2) In the commission’s discretion, each electrical corporation may establish a memorandum account to track costs incurred for wildfire risk mitigation that are unforeseen and incremental to the wildfire risk mitigation programs and activities authorized in the electrical corporation’s revenue requirements. The commission shall review the costs in the memorandum accounts and disallow recovery of those costs the commission deems unreasonable. (3) The chief executive officer of an electrical corporation shall certify in each general rate case application that the electrical corporation has not received authorization from the commission to recover the costs in a previous proceeding, including wildfire cost recovery applications. (b) For a general rate case application filed after January 1, 2027, all of the following apply: (1) The electrical corporation shall file its preliminary wildfire mitigation plan approved pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8386.3, or, if no plan has been approved by the office, the wildfire mitigation plan filed pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 8386, and any applicable decision from the office, with the general rate case application and shall include testimony establishing the forecast of costs necessary to implement the programs and activities in the plan. (2) The commission shall consult with the office regarding the programs and activities in the plan in rendering its decision pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). The commission’s decision shall constitute approval of the revenue requirement necessary to implement the electrical corporation’s wildfire mitigation plan. (3) Within 45 days of the commission’s decision rendered pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) or any commission order modifying that decision, the electrical corporation shall submit a revised wildfire mitigation plan to the office that conforms to the commission’s revenue authorization. The office shall review and either approve or request modifications to the revised wildfire mitigation plan submitted in accordance with the revenue authorized pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a). The office shall approve the revised wildfire mitigation plan within two months of submission. After approval by the office, the electrical corporation shall file the approved revised wildfire mitigation plan as an information-only submittal with the commission. (c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as a restriction or limitation on Article 1 (commencing with Section 451) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.5. Section 8386.5.

The commission, the office, and the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection shall enter into a memorandum of understanding to cooperatively develop consistent approaches and share data related to fire prevention, safety, vegetation management, and energy distribution systems. The commission, the office, and the department shall share results from various fire prevention activities, including relevant inspections and fire ignition data.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.6. Section 8386.6.

(a) All electrical line clearance tree trimmers performing work to comply with the vegetation management requirements in an electrical corporation’s wildfire mitigation plan shall be qualified line clearance tree trimmers, or trainees under the direct supervision and instruction of qualified line clearance tree trimmers, as provided in the High-Voltage Electrical Safety Orders (Group 2 (commencing with Section 2700) of Subchapter 5 of Chapter 4 of Division 1 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations) of the Department of Industrial Relations. (b) All qualified line clearance tree trimmers shall be paid no less than the prevailing wage rate for a first period apprentice electrical utility lineman as determined by the Director of Industrial Relations.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8386.10. Section 8386.10.

(a) The commission shall not allow a large electrical corporation to include in its equity rate base its share, as determined pursuant to the Wildfire Fund allocation metric specified in Section 3280, of the six billion dollars ($6,000,000,000) that the large electrical corporations collectively first expend on fire risk mitigation capital expenditures approved by the commission on or after January 1, 2026. These amounts are in addition to the amounts the large electrical corporations shall not include in their equity rate base pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 8386.3. An electrical corporation’s share of the fire risk mitigation capital expenditures and the debt financing costs of these fire risk mitigation capital expenditures may be financed through a financing order pursuant to Section 850.1, subject to the requirements of that financing order. (b) Subdivision (a) does not apply to an expenditure made after December 31, 2035.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8387. Section 8387.

(a) Each local publicly owned electric utility and electrical cooperative shall construct, maintain, and operate its electrical lines and equipment in a manner that will minimize the risk of wildfire posed by those electrical lines and equipment. (b) (1) The local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall, before January 1, 2020, prepare a wildfire mitigation plan. After January 1, 2026, a local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall prepare a wildfire mitigation plan and shall submit the plan to the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board at least once every four years on a schedule determined by the California Wildfire Safety Advisory Board. (2) The wildfire mitigation plan shall consider as necessary, at minimum, all of the following: (A) An accounting of the responsibilities of persons responsible for executing the plan. (B) The objectives of the wildfire mitigation plan. (C) A description of the preventive strategies and programs to be adopted by the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative to minimize the risk of its electrical lines and equipment causing catastrophic wildfires, including consideration of dynamic climate change risks. (D) A description of the metrics the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative plans to use to measure and track the implementation of the plan and the assumptions that underlie the use of those metrics. (E) A discussion of how the application of previously identified metrics to previous wildfire mitigation plan performances has informed the wildfire mitigation plan. (F) Protocols for disabling reclosers and deenergizing portions of the electrical distribution system that consider the associated impacts on public safety, and protocols related to mitigating the public safety impacts of those protocols, including impacts on critical first responders and on health and communication infrastructure. (G) Appropriate and feasible procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines. The procedures shall direct notification to all public safety offices, critical first responders, health care facilities, and operators of telecommunications infrastructure with premises within the footprint of potential deenergization for a given event. (H) Plans for vegetation management. (I) Plans for inspections of the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s electrical infrastructure. (J) A list that identifies, describes, and prioritizes all wildfire risks, and drivers for those risks, throughout the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s service territory. The list shall include, but not be limited to, both of the following: (i) Risks and risk drivers associated with design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s equipment and facilities. (ii) Particular risks and risk drivers associated with topographic and climatological risk factors throughout the different parts of the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s service territory. (K) Identification of any geographic area in the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s service territory that is a higher wildfire threat than is identified in a commission fire threat map, and identification of where the commission should expand a high fire-threat district based on new information or changes to the environment. (L) A methodology for identifying and presenting enterprisewide safety risk and wildfire-related risk. (M) A statement of how the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative will restore service after a wildfire. (N) A description of the processes and procedures the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall use to do all of the following: (i) Monitor and audit the implementation of the wildfire mitigation plan. (ii) Identify any deficiencies in the wildfire mitigation plan or its implementation, and correct those deficiencies. (iii) Monitor and audit the effectiveness of electrical line and equipment inspections, including inspections performed by contractors, that are carried out under the plan, other applicable statutes, or commission rules. (3) In each year it is required to submit a plan, the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall present its wildfire mitigation plan in an appropriately noticed public meeting. The local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall accept comments on its wildfire mitigation plan from the public, other local and state agencies, and interested parties, and shall verify that the wildfire mitigation plan complies with all applicable rules, regulations, and standards, as appropriate. (c) The local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative shall contract with a qualified independent evaluator with experience in assessing the safe operation of electrical infrastructure to review and assess the comprehensiveness of its wildfire mitigation plan. The independent evaluator shall issue a report that shall be made available on the internet website of the local publicly owned electric utility or electrical cooperative, and shall present the report at a public meeting of the local publicly owned electric utility’s or electrical cooperative’s governing board.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8388. Section 8388.

(a) An electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or community choice aggregator with a contract to procure electricity generated from biomass pursuant to Section 399.20.3, commission Resolution E-4770 (March 17, 2016), or commission Resolution E-4805 (October 13, 2016), that expires on or before December 31, 2028, shall seek to amend the contract to include, or seek approval for a new contract that includes, an expiration date at least five years later than the expiration date in the contract that was operative in 2022 if the contract extension follows the feedstock requirement of subdivision (b) of Section 399.20.3. (b) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), subdivision (a) does not apply to a facility located in a federal severe or extreme nonattainment area for particulate matter or ozone. (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), subdivision (a) applies to a facility in an area that voluntarily opts for severe or extreme nonattainment status but the air district has determined that the continued operation of the facility does not impede the air district’s ability to meet its applicable attainment deadline. (3) A contract between an electrical corporation, local publicly owned electric utility, or community choice aggregator and a biomass generator that is located in the Sacramento federal ozone nonattainment area shall not be extended unless the biomass generator first obtains a letter or certificate from the air district with jurisdiction over the biomass generator that states that the Sacramento federal ozone nonattainment area voluntarily opted to be classified in one or more federal standards in a severe or extreme nonattainment zone and that the continued operation of the facility does not impede the air district’s ability to meet its applicable requirements.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8388.5. Section 8388.5.

(a) The commission shall establish an expedited utility distribution infrastructure undergrounding program consistent with this section. (b) Only a large electrical corporation may participate in the program. (c) In order to participate in the program, a large electrical corporation shall submit to the office a distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan that shall address or include, at minimum, all of the following components: (1) A 10-year plan for undergrounding distribution infrastructure. (2) Identification of the undergrounding projects that will be constructed as part of the program, including a means of prioritizing undergrounding projects based on wildfire risk reduction, public safety, cost efficiency, and reliability benefits. Only undergrounding projects located in tier 2 or 3 high fire-threat districts or rebuild areas may be considered and constructed as part of the program. (3) Timelines for the completion of identified and prioritized undergrounding projects, and unit cost targets and mileage completion targets for each year covered by the plan. (4) A comparison of undergrounding versus aboveground hardening of electrical infrastructure and wildfire mitigation for achieving comparable risk reduction, or any other alternative mitigation strategy, such as covered conductor and rapid earth fault current limiter devices, for those prioritized undergrounding projects, evaluating the scope, cost, extent, and risk reduction of each activity, separately and collectively, over the duration of the plan. The comparison shall emphasize risk reduction and include an analysis of the cost of each activity for reducing wildfire risk, separately and collectively, over the duration of the plan. (5) A plan for utility and contractor workforce development. (6) An evaluation of project costs, projected economic benefits over the life of the assets, and any cost containment assumptions, including the economies of scale necessary to reduce wildfire risk and mitigation costs and establish a sustainable supply chain. (d) Upon a large electrical corporation submitting a plan to the office, the office shall do both of the following: (1) Publish the plan for public comment. (2) Within nine months, review and approve or deny the plan. The office may only approve the plan if the large electrical corporation has shown that the plan will substantially increase electrical reliability by reducing the use of public safety power shut off, enhanced powerline safety settings, deenergization events, and any other outage programs, and substantially reduce the risk of wildfire. Before approving the plan, the office may require the large electrical corporation to modify the plan or to modify and resubmit the plan. (e) (1) Upon the office approving a plan pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (d), the large electrical corporation shall, within 60 days, submit to the commission a copy of the plan and an application requesting review and conditional approval of the plan’s costs and including all of the following: (A) Any substantial improvements in safety risk and reduction in costs compared to other hardening and risk mitigation measures over the duration of the plan. (B) The cost targets, at a minimum, that result in feasible and attainable cost reductions as compared to the large electrical corporation’s historical undergrounding costs. (C) How the cost targets are expected to decline over time due to cost efficiencies and economies of scale. (D) A strategy for achieving cost reductions over time. (2) The assigned commissioner may waive the requirements of subdivisions (b), (d), (f), and (i) of Section 1701.3 for an application submitted to the commission pursuant to paragraph (1). (3) In reviewing an application submitted to the commission pursuant to paragraph (1), the commission shall consider not revisiting cost or mileage completion targets approved, or pending approval, in the electrical corporation’s general rate case or a commission-approved balancing account ratemaking mechanism for system hardening. (4) Upon the commission receiving an application pursuant to paragraph (1), the commission shall facilitate a public workshop for presentation of the plan and take public comment for at least 30 days. (5) On or before nine months, the commission shall review and approve or deny the application. Before approving the application, the commission may require the large electrical corporation to modify or modify and resubmit the application. (6) The commission shall consider continuing an existing commission-approved balancing account ratemaking mechanism for system hardening for the duration of a plan, as determined by the commission, and shall authorize recovery of recorded costs that are determined to be just and reasonable. (f) If the plan is approved by the office and commission, the large electrical corporation shall do all of the following: (1) Every six months, file a progress report with the office and the commission. The large electrical corporation and the office shall publish these progress reports on their internet websites. (2) Include ongoing work plans and progress in wildfire mitigation plan filings. (3) Hire an independent monitor, selected by the office, to review and assess the large electrical corporation’s adherence to its plan and submit a report with the office each December 1 over the course of the plan. (g) (1) In reviewing and assessing the large electrical corporation’s adherence to its plan pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (f), the independent monitor shall assess whether the large electrical corporation’s progress on undergrounding work has been consistent with the objectives identified in its plan. The independent monitor’s report shall specify any failure, delays, or shortcomings of the large electrical corporation and provide recommendations for improvements to accomplish the objectives set forth in the plan. (2) The large electrical corporation shall have 180 days to correct and eliminate any deficiency specified in the independent monitor’s report. (3) On or before December 1 of each year the plan is in effect, the independent monitor shall submit the report to the office. (h) The office shall publish reports received pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (g) on its internet website. (i) (1) The office shall consider the independent monitor’s report and whether the large electrical corporation has cured any deficiencies, and may provide an assessment to the commission for consideration. (2) The commission may assess penalties on a large electrical corporation that fails to comply with a commission decision approving its plan. (j) Each large electrical corporation participating in the program shall apply for available federal, state, and other nonratepayer moneys throughout the duration of its approved undergrounding plan, and any moneys received as a result of those applications shall be used to reduce the program’s costs on the large electrical corporation’s ratepayers. (k) An approval of a plan pursuant to this section is not a project as defined in Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code, provided that environmental review otherwise required by Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the Public Resources Code occurs before any project approval that would authorize physical changes being made to the environment.

Cal. Public Utilities Code - PUC § 8389. Section 8389.

(a) The Director of the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety shall issue a certificate to an electrical corporation if the electrical corporation provides documentation of the following: (1) The electrical corporation has an approved wildfire mitigation plan pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 8386.3. (2) The electrical corporation has agreed to implement the recommendations of its most recent safety culture assessments performed pursuant to Section 8386.2, if applicable. (3) The electrical corporation has established a safety committee of its board of directors composed of members with relevant safety experience. (4) The electrical corporation has established an executive incentive compensation structure approved by the office and structured to promote safety as a priority and to ensure public safety and utility financial stability with performance metrics, including incentive compensation based on meeting performance metrics that are measurable and enforceable, for all executive officers, as defined in Section 451.5. This may include tying 100 percent of incentive compensation to safety performance and denying all incentive compensation in the event the electrical corporation causes a catastrophic wildfire that results in one or more fatalities. (5) The electrical corporation has established board-of-director-level reporting to the commission and office on safety issues. (6) (A) The electrical corporation has established a compensation structure for any new or amended contracts, plans, or arrangements, whether written or unwritten, for executive officers, as defined in Section 451.5, that is based on the following principles: (i) (I) Strict limits on guaranteed cash compensation, with the primary portion of the executive officers’ compensation based on achievement of objective performance metrics. (II) No guaranteed monetary incentives in the compensation structure. (ii) It satisfies the compensation principles identified in paragraph (4). (iii) A long-term structure that provides a significant portion of compensation, which may take the form of grants of the electrical corporation’s stock, based on the electrical corporation’s long-term performance and value. This compensation shall be held or deferred for a period of at least three years. (iv) Minimization or elimination of indirect or ancillary compensation that is not aligned with shareholder and taxpayer interest in the electrical corporation. (B) The office shall approve the compensation structure of an electrical corporation if it determines the structure meets the principles set forth in subparagraph (A) and paragraph (4). (C) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this paragraph and paragraph (4), that any approved bankruptcy reorganization plan of an electrical corporation should, in regards to compensation for executive officers of the electrical corporation, comply with the requirements of those paragraphs. (7) The electrical corporation is implementing the mitigation strategies in its approved wildfire mitigation plan. The electrical corporation shall file a notification of implementation of its wildfire mitigation plan with the office and an information-only submittal with the commission on a quarterly basis that details the implementation of both its approved wildfire mitigation plan and recommendations of the most recent safety culture assessments by the commission and office, and a statement of the recommendations of the board of directors safety committee meetings that occurred during the quarter. The notification and information-only submittal shall also summarize the implementation of the safety committee recommendations from the electrical corporation’s previous notification and submission. If the office has reason to doubt the veracity of the statements contained in the notification or information-only submittal, it shall perform an audit of the issue of concern. The electrical corporation shall provide a copy of the information-only submittal to the office. (b) (1) A certificate shall be valid for the 12 consecutive months following the issuance of the certificate. (2) (A) Before the expiration of a certificate, an electrical corporation shall submit to the office a request for a certificate for the following 12 months. The office shall issue a certificate within 90 days of a request if the electrical corporation has provided documentation that it has satisfied the requirements in subdivision (a). (B) The office may, for good cause, in writing, extend the 90-day period. (3) All documents submitted pursuant to this section shall be publicly available on the commission’s and the office’s internet websites. (4) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a certificate shall remain valid until the office acts on the electrical corporation’s pending request for a certificate. (B) The office may extend the expiration date of a certificate if the office or the commission has not yet acted on an element of the certificate request required pursuant to subdivision (a).

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026