Scope
Statutes of 2026, chapter 440 (SB 1168) adds Public Utilities Code section 901, which requires the Public Utilities Commission, as part of a new or existing proceeding, to assess opportunities for rate structures that ensure data centers pay their reasonable share of transmission and distribution costs whether they interconnect at transmission or distribution level, pay their proportionate share of load increases and procurements needed to serve their loads, and alleviate cost pressures on residential ratepayers. It requires an assessment; it does not itself set a rate.
- Geographic scope
- California
- Jurisdiction
- State
- Authority type
- Legislature
- Issuing authority
- California Legislature
Dates
- Adopted
- 21 September 2026
- Effective
- 1 January 2027
- Scheduled expiration
- See completion condition
- Ended
- Not recorded as ended
- Completion condition
- Not yet in effect on 23 September 2026. The statute states no expiration; dates inside it are implementation deadlines, not end dates.
- Source document
- 21 September 2026
- Last checked
- 1 October 2026 (earlier than tracker date 5 October 2026; not an automatic status change)
Summary
California SB 1168, approved and chaptered on 21 September 2026 as chapter 440, requires the Public Utilities Commission to assess, in a new or existing proceeding, rate structures that make data centers pay a reasonable share of transmission and distribution costs and their proportionate share of load-driven procurement, while easing cost pressure on residential customers, including low-income program customers. It takes effect on 1 January 2027 and sets no deadline or rate by itself.
What this does not establish
- The finding was reviewed against the California Legislature official bulk-data file for 21 September 2026, saved and linked below. The primary link is the human-readable official bill page; that site disallows automated access, so the page itself was not checked automatically.
- 1 January 2027 is not printed in the chaptered text. It is taken from the official 2026 legislative calendar entry that statutes take effect 1 January 2027 under Article IV, section 8(c), and the chaptered text carries no urgency clause.
- The statute requires an assessment, not a specific rate or tariff.
Unresolved questions
None recorded.
Relationships
Supersession means a later instrument replaces the earlier legal effect. Repeal links identify the repeal instrument and the measure it ends. A later implementation or related letter is not treated as a replacement unless the record says so.
- No related action is recorded.
Sources
Primary source · Reviewed alternate official source (23 September 2026)
Link status, checked 23 September 2026: The finding was checked against a saved copy of the California Legislature official 21 September 2026 bulk-data file. The human-readable primary bill page is kept for readers, but its robots.txt disallows automated review.
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1168
- Governor of California release announcing the signed data-center bills official announcement that the Governor signed the bill · 21 September 2026
- 2026 tentative legislative calendar (Senate) basis for the 1 January 2027 effective day of non-urgency 2026 statutes
- California Legislature official daily bulk file reviewed for this record actual official bulk evidence reviewed for this record; saved and checked as unchanged