SACRAMENTO, CA — Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1167, the California Ratepayer Protection Act, putting an end to the use of ratepayer funds for political lobbying and strengthening enforcement against investor-owned utilities (IOUs) that illegally use ratepayer funds.
Authored by Assemblymember Marc Berman (D-Menlo Park), the new law will establish commonsense guardrails for how IOUs spend customer money, and prevents the use of ratepayer funds for political lobbying, promotional activities and other shareholder-related expenses.
As the Legislature works to address the affordability crisis in the state, AB 1167 responds to Californians’ frustration with skyrocketing utility prices. The new law will go into effect January 1, 2026.
“Every day I hear from constituents who are struggling to pay their skyrocketing utility bills, and today we have finally put an end to the use of ratepayer funds for political and promotional activities that really benefit IOUs and shareholders,” said Assemblymember Marc Berman. “It is unacceptable that IOUs, like SoCalGas and PG&E, would use funds from hardworking Californians for anything other than providing safe and reliable service to their customers. Thanks to Governor Newsom signing my bill into law, we are providing relief for Californians and taking politics out of their utility bills.”
“TURN thanks Governor Newsom for standing up for ratepayers by signing AB 1167. This bill provides the transparency and penalties needed to stop PG&E, SoCal Edison, SDG&E and SoCal Gas from -- misspending customer money on promotional advertising and lobbying against climate goals. California residents are facing an unprecedented affordability crisis, and AB 1167 goes a long way to holding for-profit utility companies accountable to spending ratepayer money to benefit customers, not to fill shareholder pockets. We thank Governor Newsom for his leadership and look forward to continuing to work with him to achieve utility affordability and accountability,” said Mark Toney, executive director of TURN.
“We’re incredibly thankful Governor Newsom stood up for Californians and signed the California Ratepayer Protection Act into law,” said Matt Vespa, senior attorney on Earthjustice’s Right To Zero campaign. “For years, we’ve seen utilities slip millions of dollars in lobbying and promotional advertising costs into customer bills. Now, we’re establishing commonsense guardrails to protect Californians from utilities run amok. We’d like to thank Assemblymember Marc Berman for his vision and persistence to protect Californians in authoring this bill.”
Investigations into monopoly utilities like SoCalGas and PG&E have revealed that these corporations are forcing customers to cover millions of dollars in inappropriate expenses. IOUs have been inflating ratepayer utility bills, and using these funds on political lobbying efforts and promotional advertisement. All the while, Californians continue to struggle with the state’s high cost of living, made worse by the nation’s second-highest utility rates.
California follows in the footsteps of other states like Connecticut, Colorado, and Maine, which saved residents money in their utility bills after passing measures similar to the California Ratepayer Protection Act.
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Contact: BermanPress@asm.ca.gov