Utilities: service outages and updates: alerts.

The document was reformatted from a traditional chaptered legislative PDF layout into a web page presentation, adding navigation elements (skip to content, home, FAQ, sitemap, etc.) and removing page numbers and running headers. No changes to the bill's substantive text.

A 'Digest Key' metadata block was added showing Vote: MAJORITY, Appropriation: NO, Fiscal Committee: YES, Local Program: YES. This is informational metadata, not a policy change.

The exception to the customer opt-out right was narrowed in language: previously customers could not opt out of 'required emergency and safety or essential notifications,' now it reads 'required or essential notifications.' This removes 'emergency and safety' as a separately named category, though such notifications would likely still be covered under 'required' notifications.

Drafting error in Section 8550(a) corrected: removed a leftover word 'Each' that appeared before 'Except as provided in subdivision (b).'

Header updated from Senate amendment format to enrolled bill format, adding passage dates (Assembly September 10, 2025; Senate September 9, 2025), removing amendment history, and adding Governor's receipt line.

New subdivision (b) exempts local publicly owned electric utilities without the necessary system from the March 1, 2026 automatic enrollment deadline. Instead, they must develop procedures to maximize enrollment by March 1, 2026, develop a full implementation plan by March 1, 2028, and implement that plan during the next significant planned system upgrade or by March 1, 2030, whichever is sooner, if the governing board finds it cost effective.

The opt-out restriction was expanded from 'except for required emergency and safety notifications' to 'except for required emergency and safety or essential notifications,' meaning customers cannot opt out of a broader category of alerts.

Subdivision (a) now reads 'Except as provided in subdivision (b), each utility shall...' to incorporate the new exception for local publicly owned electric utilities.

The requirement to allow customers to update contact information by telephone is now conditional: 'or, if feasible, by telephone' instead of an unconditional 'or by telephone.'

The definition of 'utility' was simplified from 'a local publicly owned electrical corporation, electric utility, as defined in Section 224.3' to 'a local publicly owned electric utility, as defined in Section 224.3.'

A compliance deadline of March 1, 2026 was added, requiring utilities to have automatic enrollment in outage alerts operational by that date.

References to 'public utility' were changed to 'utility' throughout the operative text, aligning the language with the bill's own definition section which covers electrical corporations, local publicly owned electric utilities, gas corporations, and water corporations.

The phrase 'by email' was removed from the provision allowing customers to update their contact information. Customers can now only update via the utility's website or by telephone, rather than also by email.

The no-reimbursement section (SEC. 2) was consolidated from two separate provisions into one, adding the justification that local agencies have authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the mandated program, in addition to the existing crime-related justification.

A new subsection (d) defines 'utility' to specifically include electrical corporations, local publicly owned electrical corporations, gas corporations, and water corporations. This is the most significant change because it brings local publicly owned electric utilities under the bill's requirements for the first time.

The bill was restructured from adding a single Section 761.6 to creating an entirely new Chapter 15 (Section 8550) in Division 4.1 of the Public Utilities Code, reflecting its broader applicability across multiple utility types.

The legislative digest now explicitly acknowledges that by imposing new duties on local publicly owned electric utilities, the bill imposes a state-mandated local program, which triggers constitutional reimbursement analysis for local governments.

The method for updating contact information was changed from 'by email or by phone' to 'by email on the utility's internet website or by telephone,' specifying that email updates must be available through the utility's own website rather than just any email address.

A second reimbursement justification was added in Section 2, stating that no state reimbursement is required because local agencies have authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the mandated program. This was necessary because the bill now imposes duties on local publicly owned utilities.

Section 761.6(c) was changed from requiring public utilities to 'annually verify a customer's preferred contact method' to only requiring them to 'provide information on a customer's bill on how to update the customer's preferred contact method.' This removes the active annual verification duty and replaces it with a passive obligation to include update instructions on bills.

The phrase 'by phone' was changed to 'by telephone' in Section 761.6(c), a minor wording adjustment with no substantive effect.

The state-mandated local program analysis and vote/appropriation language were repositioned within the document (moved from before to after the operative text), which is a formatting change only.