Electricity: interconnections.

Section 345.5(c)(5)(A): Changed the purpose language from 'in order to maximize the adoption of the federal investment tax credit and the federal production tax credit' to 'opportunities, including to maximize the adoption of the federal investment tax credit and the federal production tax credit.' This broadens the scope of what the Independent System Operator must consider beyond just tax credit maximization.

Section 8421: Added 'if feasible' at the end of the requirement for electrical corporations and local publicly owned electric utilities to use available grid infrastructure through surplus interconnection service. This introduces a feasibility exception to what was previously an unconditional mandate. Also cleaned up redundant language ('surplus interconnection, interconnection service' became 'surplus interconnection service').

Section 8420: Removed the redundant word 'both' from 'both all of the following definitions apply,' a minor drafting cleanup.

The document changed from a formal enrolled legislative document (with chapter heading, clerk signatures, page numbers, and governor approval block) to a web-based rendering that includes site navigation elements, version history, status dates, and bill metadata. The underlying statutory text of all five sections is unchanged.

A formal definition of 'surplus interconnection service' is added in three separate sections (345.5, 454.52, and 8420). It defines the term as any unneeded portion of interconnection service capacity established in a large generator interconnection agreement such that if used, the total interconnection service capacity at the point of interconnection would remain the same.

The term 'surplus interconnection' is replaced with 'surplus interconnection service' throughout the bill, including in the ISO's planning obligations (Section 345.5), integrated resource plan requirements (Section 454.52), and the new Chapter 11 on Interconnection Capacity and Sharing (Sections 8420-8421).

In Section 345.5, the ISO's surplus interconnection obligation is restructured from a single paragraph into subparagraphs (A) and (B), separating the planning and transparency requirement from the new definitional provision.

Senators Archuleta and Stern are added as coauthors of the bill.

The bill now amends Sections 345.5, 380, 454.52, and 9621 of the Public Utilities Code and adds an entirely new Chapter 11 (Sections 8420-8421) on Interconnection Capacity and Sharing, rather than only amending Section 745 on time-of-use rates.

The state-mandated local program designation changes from 'no' to 'yes' because the bill now imposes new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities and violations of commission actions implementing the bill would be a crime.

The Independent System Operator (ISO) is now required to integrate surplus interconnection considerations into its long-term transmission planning and enhance transparency around surplus interconnection opportunities (Section 345.5(c)(5)).

Each load-serving entity must now prioritize available capacity for renewable energy development as part of resource adequacy requirements (Section 380(d)(2)).

Each electrical corporation must require evaluation of surplus interconnection options and consider them in its integrated resource plan (Section 454.52(b)(2)(B)).

A new Chapter 11 (Section 8421) requires each electrical corporation or local publicly owned electric utility to use available grid infrastructure through surplus interconnection, such as adding renewable energy resources or battery storage at or near fossil plants, to use any available interconnection capacity.

Local publicly owned electric utilities with annual demand exceeding 700 gigawatthours must now require evaluation of and consider surplus interconnection options in their integrated resource plans (Section 9621(e)).

The residential customer bill protection period when transitioning to default time-of-use rates is extended from one year to two years.

A new provision states that no reimbursement is required by this act under Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution, because local agencies can levy sufficient service charges or fees to cover mandated costs.

The entire proposed amendment to Section 380 (resource adequacy requirements) was removed from the bill. This eliminated provisions requiring load-serving entities to prioritize available capacity for renewable energy development, resource adequacy program objectives (facilitating new generation, demand response products, equitable cost allocation), enforcement and reporting mechanisms, Diablo Canyon exclusion provisions, and a January 1, 2031 retirement date for nuclear fission resources not constructed in the 21st century.

The bill's stated scope narrowed from amending four sections (345.5, 380, 454.52, and 9621) to amending three sections (345.5, 454.52, and 9621), reflecting the removal of the Section 380 amendment.

Section 345.5(5) was modified to add the phrase 'in order to maximize the adoption of the federal investment tax credit and the federal production tax credit' at the end of the ISO's duty to integrate surplus interconnection considerations into long-term transmission planning and enhance transparency around surplus interconnection opportunities.

The digest language requiring each load-serving entity to prioritize available capacity for renewable energy development was removed, along with related descriptions of existing law regarding resource adequacy requirements established by the commission in consultation with the ISO.

Removed the amendment to Section 745 of the Public Utilities Code, which would have required that residential customers moved to default time-of-use rates receive at least two years of bill protection (instead of one year) during which their total electric bill could not exceed what they would have paid under their previous rate schedule.

The bill's stated purpose changed from 'Electricity: rates. interconnections.' to 'Electricity: interconnections.', reflecting the removal of the consumer rate-protection element.

State-mandated local program designation was corrected from an ambiguous 'no yes' markup to a clear 'yes', confirming the bill imposes state-mandated local programs due to criminal penalties for violating commission actions and new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities.