AB2493 - Electrical corporations: interconnection: Public Utilities Commission: transmission development monitor.

Enrolled September 04, 2026 Passed IN Senate August 31, 2026 Passed IN Assembly August 31, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 28, 2026 Amended IN Senate August 13, 2026 Amended IN Senate July 02, 2026 Amended IN Assembly April 13, 2026 Amended IN Assembly March 26, 2026 CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2493 Introduced by Assembly Member Petrie-Norris February 20, 2026 An act to add Section 769.4 to the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2493, Petrie-Norris. Electrical corporations: interconnection: Public Utilities Commission: transmission development monitor. Existing law vests the Public Utilities Commission with regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical corporations. Existing law requires the commission, if it determines that the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, or service of a public utility, or the methods of manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply used by the public utility, are unjust, unreasonable, unsafe, improper, inadequate, or insufficient, to determine and fix the rules, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, service, or methods to be observed, furnished, constructed, enforced, or employed. This bill would, within one year following the adoption of a transmission plan by the Independent System Operator through the transmission planning process, or a successor process, or within one year following the execution of a generator interconnection agreement, except as specified, require each large electrical corporation, as defined, or transmission owner, as defined, that is assigned or obligated to construct a project that requires approval by the commission to submit to the below-described transmission development monitor a project-specific schedule for the project, as provided. This bill would require the commission, on or before October 1, 2027, to establish a transmission development monitor within the commission. The bill would require the transmission development monitor to monitor and review certain information regarding transmission- and interconnection-related facilities submitted by the large electrical corporation or transmission owner, the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s progress on completing network upgrades following approval in a generator interconnection agreement or transmission plan approved by the Independent System Operator, the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s compliance with the above-described schedule submitted to the transmission development monitor, and the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s compliance with any remedial actions ordered by the commission, as specified. The bill would require the transmission development monitor, among other things, to prepare and submit an annual report, as provided, and to notify the commission within 15 days of identifying a material deficiency, as defined. The bill would require the commission, within 90 days of receiving an annual report or notification of a material deficiency, to issue a resolution directing the large electrical corporation or transmission owner to take remedial actions to address material deficiencies identified by the transmission development monitor, as specified. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect. Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act or any order, decision, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission is a crime. Because the above-described provisions would be part of the act and a violation of a commission action implementing the above-described provisions would be a crime, this 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. Section 769.4 is added to the Public Utilities Code, to read: 769.4. (a) (1) Within one year following the adoption of a transmission plan by the Independent System Operator through the transmission planning process, or a successor process, each large electrical corporation or transmission owner that is assigned to construct a project that requires approval by the commission, or within one year following the execution of a generator interconnection agreement that obligates a large electrical corporation or transmission owner to construct a project that requires approval by the commission, the large electrical corporation or transmission owner shall submit to the transmission development monitor established pursuant to subdivision (b) a project-specific schedule for the project, including, at a minimum, both of the following: (A) The anticipated date by which the large electrical corporation or transmission owner will file an application or other notice with the commission, as applicable, pursuant to General Order 131-E. (B) The anticipated dates for completion of key interim steps toward the filing in subparagraph (A), including engineering design, environmental studies, and, if applicable, initiation of the prefiling consultation required under General Order 131-E. (2) For a project eligible for competitive solicitation pursuant to the transmission planning process, the one-year period specified in paragraph (1) shall run from the date the Independent System Operator selects a project sponsor for the project, rather than from the date of adoption of the transmission plan. (3) If a large electrical corporation or transmission owner determines that it will not meet a date specified in a schedule submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), the large electrical corporation or transmission owner shall promptly notify the transmission development monitor of the anticipated revision, and shall provide a revised date and a written explanation of the reason for the revision. (4) The transmission development monitor shall track each large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s performance against the schedules the large electrical corporation or transmission owner submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), including the frequency, duration, and stated reasons for any revisions made pursuant to paragraph (3), and shall include this information in the annual report required pursuant to subdivision (b). (5) (A) A pattern of repeated revisions to a schedule submitted pursuant to paragraph (1), or a substantial deviation between the schedule and the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s actual performance, that the transmission development monitor determines is not attributable to factors beyond the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s reasonable control, constitutes a material deficiency. (B) In assessing a pattern of repeated revisions to a schedule or a substantial deviation between a schedule and the large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s actual performance, the transmission development monitor shall consider, as mitigating factors, time reasonably spent by the large electrical corporation or transmission owner awaiting or participating in environmental reviews undertaken pursuant to state or federal law, seeking applicable federal, state, or local land use permits, acquiring land or access rights, modifying a project to comply with public safety obligations or previously unidentified environmental factors, awaiting delivery of project materials or components affected by supply chain constraints, and other project-specific contingencies. (C) If a large electrical corporation or transmission owner fails to submit a schedule required by paragraph (1), or fails to provide a notice required by paragraph (3), the commission shall take appropriate enforcement action pursuant to Section 701. (b) (1) On or before October 1, 2027, the commission shall establish a transmission development monitor within the commission. The transmission development monitor shall, on a continuous basis, monitor and review each large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s submissions pursuant to commission Resolution E-5252 and subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 399.13, progress on completing network upgrades following approval in a generator interconnection agreement or transmission plan approved by the Independent System Operator, compliance with subdivision (a), and compliance with any remedial actions ordered by the commission pursuant to subdivision (c). (2) The transmission development monitor shall prepare, and submit to the commission, an annual report related to the transmission development monitor’s actions taken pursuant to paragraph (1). The annual report shall be posted on the commission’s internet website and incorporated into the commission’s annual reporting requirements pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 913.4. The transmission development monitor may engage directly with a large electrical corporation or transmission owner between annual reports to obtain current project information, identify emerging or potential delays, and assess compliance. (3) To the extent reasonably ascertainable, an annual report submitted pursuant to paragraph (2) shall determine whether project delays are primarily attributable to a large electrical corporation or transmission owner, a generator interconnection customer, a transmission developer, the Independent System Operator, a permitting agency, or another third party. In making this determination, the transmission development monitor shall consider whether a large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s completion of network upgrades or other prerequisite obligations affected the timing of any milestones attributed to a generator interconnection customer, transmission developer, or other third party. (4) In addition to the annual report required pursuant to paragraph (2), the transmission development monitor shall provide recommendations to the commission on updates to reporting requirements to provide stakeholders with project statuses, milestones, causes of delay, and potential remedial actions, and shall notify the commission within 15 days of identifying a material deficiency. (5) In carrying out its monitoring responsibilities under this subdivision, the transmission development monitor may request information from a generator or developer with an interconnection agreement dependent on a transmission project subject to this section. A request for information pursuant to this paragraph shall not delay or otherwise interfere with an ongoing interconnection or transmission project, and shall not impose reporting obligations on a generator or developer beyond providing the specific information requested by the transmission development monitor for purposes of monitoring and review. The transmission development monitor may enter into, and may require a generator or developer providing information pursuant to this paragraph to enter into, a nondisclosure agreement to protect market-sensitive information, and may report findings based on that information in an anonymized form. (6) (A) On or before April 1, 2027, the commission shall adopt standardized data reporting templates and accounting procedures applicable to all large electrical corporations and transmission owners for submissions reviewed pursuant to this subdivision. In developing the standardized data reporting templates, the commission shall, to the maximum extent feasible, use existing reporting platforms, data submissions, and tracking systems, including the transmission planning process, the Transmission Development Forum, and reports required pursuant to Section 913.4, to avoid imposing duplicative reporting obligations on large electrical corporations or transmission owners. All large electrical corporations and transmission owners shall use the standardized data reporting templates for all submissions made on or after the date of their adoption. The commission shall update the standardized data reporting templates as necessary to reflect changes in the commission’s transmission project review process. (B) The commission shall seek to collaborate with the Energy Commission and the Independent System Operator to develop a common reporting format that, to the extent feasible, results in standardized and comparable data across the three entities, allows a large electrical corporation or transmission owner to satisfy its reporting obligations through a single submission, and improves public and stakeholder access to transmission and interconnection project data. (C) The standardized data reporting templates shall, at a minimum, include information regarding all of the following for each transmission and interconnection project subject to subdivision (a): (i) The original and current permitting and construction timelines for the project, including anticipated dates for completion of key interim steps, including land acquisition, relevant permits, engineering design, environmental studies, and, if applicable, initiation of the prefiling consultation required under General Order 131-E. (ii) Any delay, or risk of delay, and the projected duration in the delay. The templates shall specify methods for notifying the transmission development monitor of potential material impacts on project timing. (iii) A written explanation of the cause of each delay, including whether completion of any network upgrade or other prerequisite obligation of the large electrical corporation or transmission owner affected the timing of any milestone attributed to a generator interconnection customer, transmission developer, or other third party. (iv) The status of preconstruction dependencies, including scoping, land acquisition, permitting, engineering, design, and equipment procurement for the project. (v) The level of staff and capital resources allocated to the project. (vi) Any third-party contracting necessary to complete the project. (vii) The large electrical corporation’s or transmission owner’s criteria or methodology for sequencing and prioritizing the project relative to other transmission and interconnection projects, including how the large electrical corporation or transmission owner allocates limited engineering, procurement, and construction resources among competing projects. (viii) Any decision or financial limitation by the [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]