June 17, 2026

Regulatory Update for June 17, 2026

(Covering June 10, 2026 - June 16, 2026)

Our energy regulatory team has compiled a list of state and federal energy regulatory developments to keep you up to speed on key energy regulatory matters from across the United States. Stoel’s energy regulatory team is always available to answer questions about any of these developments. Click here to meet the energy regulatory team.

Jump to the following jurisdictions:

State Regulatory Agencies

• California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)
• California Energy Commission (CEC)
• Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC)
• Pacific Northwest (OPUC, BPA)
• New York
• Illinois

Federal Regulatory Agencies

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Independent System Operators (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO)

• California Independent System Operator (CAISO)
• Southwest Power Pool (SPP)
• Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)

Click here to download this update as a PDF

State Regulatory Agencies

CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (CPUC or COMMISSION)[1]

Proposed Decisions and Resolutions

Application (A.) 25-10-004 (Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company to increase its authority to finance short-term borrowing needs by $2.0 billion to an aggregate amount not to exceed $10.5 billion).

This decision grants, in part, Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) request to increase its authorized amount of financing for its short-term borrowing needs.  Specifically, this decision authorizes PG&E to increase its authorized amount of financing for its short-term borrowing needs by $1.0 billion, or half of PG&E’s total requested increase, up to an aggregate amount not to exceed $9.5 billion, subject to the conditions specified in the proposed decision.  This decision does not address the associated costs, expenditures, or capital projects that may be financed through the short-term debt authorized by this decision, which will be subject to consideration in future reasonableness review applications.

Application (A.) 24-09-001 (Application of Southwest Gas Corporation (U 905 G) for Authority to Increase Rates and Charges for Gas Service in California, Effective January 1, 2026).  

Decision 26-05-013 adopted a Settlement Agreement between Southwest Gas Corporation (Southwest Gas), the Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission, and Small Business Utility Advocates and determined that the proceeding did not involve any unresolved health and safety issues.  This decision resolves remaining contested issues in this proceeding.  The contested issues that remained include Southwest Gas’s: (1) capital structure; (2) return on common equity; (3) rates of return; and (4) rate increase of 5.17% for the Northern California and South Lake Tahoe jurisdictions and a 22.36% rate increase for the Southern California jurisdiction.

Application (A.) 23-09-001 (Application of PG&E for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Authorizing the Construction of the Northern San Joaquin 230 kV Transmission Project).  

This decision grants PG&E’s request for a certificate of public convenience and necessity authorizing the construction of the Northern San Joaquin 230 kV Transmission Project subject to the mitigation measures identified in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (Attachment A).  This decision finds and certifies that the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Northern San Joaquin 230 kV Transmission Project meets the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Voting Meeting

The CPUC held a voting meeting in Sacramento, California, on Thursday, June 11, 2026, at 11 a.m. PT. The energy-related results are below:

Item 3. Application (A.) 22-05-022 (Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company for Review of the Disadvantaged Communities – Green Tariff, Community Solar Green Tariff and Green Tariff Shared Renewables Programs).  

This decision adopts a process to implement the customer community renewable energy tariff adopted by D.24-05-065. Following the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s August 2025 termination of California’s Solar for All award and the resulting lack of available external funding, this decision supersedes D.24-05-065 regarding a nonparticipating customer-funded adder. 

Item 8. Rulemaking (R.) 12-11-005 (Order Instituting Rulemaking Regarding Policies, Procedures and Rules for the California Solar Initiative, the Self-Generation Incentive Program and Other Distributed Generation Issues).  

This decision dismisses the Joint Petition for Modification (Petition) of D.15-06-002 filed by the Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association and Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition.  The Petition seeks to provide four additional six-month extensions beyond the three presently authorized.  The relief being sought in the Petition was granted in D.25-12-003, which was adopted by the Commission on December 4, 2025, which according to the Commission, makes the Petition moot. 

Item 14. Resolution E-5457.

This Resolution adopts updated contract prices by Product Category for the feed-in tariff program, known as the Renewable Market Adjusting Tariff (ReMAT), using price data from Renewables Portfolio Standard contracts executed between 2020 and 2025.  In addition, the Resolution orders PG&E, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) to amend their ReMAT tariff to reflect the adopted fixed prices by Product Category. 

Item 23. Resolution E-5467.  

This Resolution approves SDG&E’s request for approval of a utility-owned energy storage contract procured to address 2026 and 2027 summer reliability.  The contract is a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with RWE AG subsidiary, RWE Clean Energy Asset Holdings, Inc. for the purchase of Westside Canal 2A, LLC, a 119-megawatt project and an associated 10-year long-term services agreement.  This Resolution approves AL 4736-E.  

Item 26. Resolution E-5459.

This Resolution approves Orange County Power Authority’s (OCPA), Pioneer Community Energy’s (Pioneer), and Redwood Coast Energy Authority’s (RCEA) forecasted Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff (BioMAT) program costs.  OCPA, Pioneer, and RCEA have not executed contracts with any BioMAT facilities and thus forecast zero costs for 2027 and seek no forecast revenue requirements for 2027. 

Upcoming Events

Energization Workshop.

On June 18, 2026, at 9 a.m., the CPUC’s Energy Division will host an in-person workshop at the CPUC’s San Francisco office focused on the energization timeline data submitted by the large investor-owned utilities in their biannual energization reports.  A workshop agenda will be distributed closer to the date, and a virtual link is available here.

Interconnection Capacity Analysis (ICA) Workshop.  

Pursuant to D.24-10-030, the 2026 Second Quarter ICA Workshop will be held on Thursday, June 25, 2026, from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. PST.  This workshop will be offered both online and in person at the CPUC headquarters at 505 Van Ness Ave in San Francisco, California.  Final invitations with the agenda, room, and workshop access link will be sent on the service list to the Higher Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Future (R.21-06-017) closer to the date of the workshop.

Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) Workshop. 

Program administrators overseeing the SGIP rebate program will host a remote workshop on Friday, June 26, 2026, from 9 a.m.–12 p.m.  The workshop will be held on Teams, available here (Meeting ID: 248 436 317 067 807 // Passcode: FQ23QN7y).

CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION (CEC)

2026 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) Update

The CEC has set the following preliminary schedule for the 2026 IEPR. The schedule is available on the 2026 IEPR Update page.

Task / Event	Date
• Final 2026 IEPR Update Scoping Order released	April 2026
• Adopt order instituting informational proceeding	May 2026
• Public workshops on specific topics	May–December 2026
• Release draft 2026 IEPR Update	October 2026
• Release proposed 2026 IEPR Update	January 2027
• Adopt 2026 IEPR Forecast	January 2027
• Adopt 2026 IEPR Update	February 2027

The CEC’s 2026 IEPR Update workshop schedule (which remains subject to change) is set forth below.  According to the workshop schedule, all workshops will be held via Zoom and will run from May through December 2026, as follows:

May 20, 2026: Staff Workshop on Forms & Instructions, 2 p.m.–4 p.m. PT.  Written comments are now due to the Docket Unit by 5 p.m. PT on June 15, 2026, and should reference Docket No. 26-IEPR-02.  Note that the comment deadline was extended from June 3, 2026, to June 15, 2026, via notice issued on June 5, 2026.

June 19, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Geothermal Energy (Part 1), 10 a.m.–5 p.m. PT.

June 30, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Energy Equity & Environmental Justice, 1 p.m.–5 p.m. PT.

July 9, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Geothermal Energy (Part 2), 10 a.m.–5 p.m. PT.

August 20, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Forecast Inputs and Assumptions, 1 p.m.–5 p.m. PT.

August 31, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Load Modifier Inputs and Assumptions, 9 a.m.–4:30 p.m. PT.

November 12, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Load Modifier Draft Results, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. PT.

December 14, 2026: Commissioner Workshop on Overall Forecast Results, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. PT.

For the two-day Workshop on Geothermal Energy being held on June 19, 2026, and July 9, 2026, written comments are due to Docket No. 26-IEPR-04 by 5 p.m. PT on July 23, 2026.

For the June 30 Commissioner Workshop on Energy Equity & Environmental Justice, written comments are due to the Docket Unit by 5:00 p.m. PT on July 14, 2026.

Distributed Electricity Backup Assets (DEBA) Resource Planning and Reliability

The CEC is seeking public comments on the proposed draft solicitation for the Proposition 4 Distributed Electricity Backup Assets (DEBA) Grant Program docketed today.  The draft solicitation is available at Docket No. 22-RENEW-01.  The proposed solicitation is focused on supporting the deployment of new distributed energy resources that can improve the reliability of California’s electrical grid during extreme events.  The CEC will host a virtual public workshop to discuss the proposed draft solicitation on June 23, 2026, from 1 p.m.–3 p.m.  Access details and other workshop information are available here. Written comments are due on July 15, 2026.

Transportation Fuels Reliability Workshop and Advisory Committee Meeting

The CEC hosted a workshop on June 8, 2026, to discuss the Transportation Fuels Assessment, which was established under Senate Bill (SB) X1-2 (2023), as amended by Assembly Bill (AB) X2-1 and SB 237.  Pursuant to this legislation, the CEC is required to assess transportation fuel prices, supply conditions, and reliability in California. AB X2-1 further requires the CEC to consider the effects of refiners’ inventories of fuel, feedstock, and blending components on transportation fuel prices, and authorizes the CEC to consider ways to minimize the impacts of maintenance-related production losses on fuel prices while protecting the health and safety of workers, local communities, and the public.

The CEC will host a meeting of the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee (ICFAC) on June 23, 2026.  The purpose of the meeting is to review and discuss the Draft SB 237 Assessment and Draft Transportation Fuels Transition Plan, other petroleum-focused efforts, and solicit initial thoughts from the ICFAC members.  The meeting will be held both in person and remotely, and access details are available on the event page, along with a meeting agenda.  The deadline for comments on the Draft SB 237 Assessment has been extended to July 7, 2026.  (See notice here.)

Distributed Energy Resources Workshop

The CEC will host a workshop on July 15, 2026, from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. to provide an update on activities conducted under the Order Instituting Informational Proceeding on Distributed Energy Resources in California’s Energy Future.  This workshop will primarily focus on CEC’s use of advanced metering infrastructure data for DER planning, including demand flexibility, as well as the opportunities and challenges for front-of-the-meter DERs in California. The workshop will be remote only, and access details are available here.

Land Use and Environmental Information for Energy Planning

CEC staff held a virtual workshop on June 11, 2026, to discuss updates to the CEC’s Land Use Screens for Electric System Planning.  According to the workshop notice, “land-use screens are map-based footprints delineating important environmental and physical characteristics of the land [and] are assembled from an integration of raw data into modeled results at the statewide scale.”  Land-use screens “can show access limitations or competing land-use priorities.”  According to the notice, written comments are due to Docket No. 26-LUEP-01 by 5 p.m. on July 13, 2026. 

Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC)

The CEC will host its annual EPIC Symposium on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, at the California Natural Resources Agency building (715 P Street) in Sacramento, California.  More details will be provided when made available by the CEC.

CEC Business Meetings

The next CEC business meeting is scheduled for June 22, 2026, from 10 a.m.–3 p.m. PT. An agenda and supporting materials are available here. 

CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD (CARB)

Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulations

On June 11, 2026, CARB announced its proposal to readopt emergency emissions regulations for a second additional 90 days under Cal. Gov. Code section 11346.1(h).  The Emergency Vehicle Emission Regulations confirm that, until a court resolves the uncertainty created by the federal government’s actions, certain antecedent regulations (displaced by Advanced Clean Cars II and Omnibus) remain operative (as previously adopted) with the caveat that CARB may enforce Advanced Clean Cars II and Omnibus, to the extent permitted by law, in the event a court of law holds invalid the resolutions purporting to disapprove those waivers.  This readoption would extend the effectiveness of the Emergency Vehicle Emissions Regulations to September 30, 2026.

MINNESOTA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION (MPUC)

At its June 18, 2026 weekly agenda meeting, the MPUC will hold the second of its sessions regarding Northern States Power d/b/a Xcel Energy’s general rate case for 2025 and 2026.  The Commission will continue its consideration of whether it should adopt the recommendations of the Administrative Law Judge Report, and if not, what level of revenue Xcel Energy should appropriately collect during the test year (Docket No. 24-320).

PACIFIC NORTHWEST (OPUC, WUTC, BPA)

Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC)

The OPUC has begun its review process for Portland General Electric’s recent rate filing related to the Commission’s investigation into the treatment of large-load customers and new rate structures for data centers under the POWER Act.  The OPUC will review the filed tariff revisions, expecting to make its final determination at its July 7, 2026 public meeting. The press release is available here.

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)

On June 15, 2026, BPA held workshops regarding its: (1) Grid Access Transformation project, wherein it provided an update about the Proactive Planning and Accelerate Expansion components of its project (meeting materials are accessible here); (2) changes to its Line and Load Interconnection Procedures business practice (more information is available here); and (3) load reinforcement study process to cover its new process that focuses on local capacity to interconnect load and that does not consider long-term firm transmission availability or generator interconnection (the meeting materials are accessible here).

NEW YORK

Proposed Data Center Moratorium

The New York state Senate passed, and sent to Governor Hochul, a bill that would impose a moratorium on data center permits to be issued in the state.  The bill reduces the moratorium that was proposed from February 2026 from three years to one year.  If passed, data center operators would be required to provide at least 30 days’ notice to residents of host communities of any public hearing, during which the data centers must address efforts it would take to reduce negative impacts to the host community and the environment.  The bill would also require the New York Department of Environmental Conservation to issue an environmental impact report on data centers.

ILLINOIS

Utilities File Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Tariffs

On June 1, 2026, Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison Company filed tariff revisions to the Illinois Commerce Commission, to be effective July 16, 2026, that begin to implement Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act’s requirements that utilities operate VPP programs to compensate storage devices for dispatching to the grid during peak periods.  Under the tariff revisions, eligible customers would be compensated annually based on the amount of output provided in certain windows, based on an average of kW hours provided.

Federal Agencies

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC)

June 2026 Commission Meeting

FERC issued notice of its June 2026 Commission Meeting, which will take place on June 18, 2026, at 10:00 am ET.  FERC has stated it will discuss matters including interconnection of large loads on the interstate transmission system and PJM’s co-located load docket.  The full agenda for the meeting may be found here.

PJM Governance and Stakeholder Reforms Technical Conference

FERC issued a supplemental notice for its upcoming technical conference on July 23, 2026, from 9:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. ET, which will examine PJM’s governance and stakeholder processes, with a focus on identifying actionable reforms to improve the Regional Transmission Organization’s (RTO’s) ability to address system needs efficiently and in a timely manner.  The conference will be open to the public and will not address specific proceedings but rather focus on identifying reforms to improve PJM’s ability to address system needs in a timely and efficient manner.  The technical conference will be in person at FERC and will be webcast. Advanced registration is not required.  An agenda for the conference may be found here.

Grid-Enhancing Technologies and Load Forecasting Technical Conference

FERC issued a supplemental notice of a technical conference on July 7 and 8, 2026, to discuss grid-enhancing technologies, load forecasting, and opportunities for increasing market and planning efficiency through improved software.  The technical conference will be open to the public. An agenda for the conference may be found here.

Independent System Operators (ISO) and Regional Transmission Organizations (RTO)

CALIFORNIA INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR (CAISO)

Stakeholder Initiatives: Upcoming Meetings and Deadlines

Demand and Distributed Energy Market Integration Revised Straw Proposal.

The CAISO posted the proposal here, which addresses Performance Evaluation Methodology application, double compensation, definition of demand response, deliverability, and the roles of utility distribution companies and scheduling coordinators.  The CAISO is requesting written comments on the revised straw proposal. Comments should be submitted through the CAISO’s commenting tool by the end of the day on July 2, 2026.

2025–2026 Transmission Planning Process: Competitive Solicitation Factors Posted.

The CAISO identified a regional transmission solution that is eligible for competitive solicitation in the Board Approved 2025-2026  Transmission Plan and has posted the key selection factors.

2026 CAISO Stakeholder Symposium.

The 2026 CAISO Stakeholder Symposium will take place on October 6, 2026, at the SAFE Credit Union Convention Center in Sacramento, California.  Registration is now open, and details can be found here.

Extended Day-Ahead Market Congestion Revenue Allocation Phase 2.

CAISO revised the schedule for the upcoming working group meetings for Phase 2 of the Extended Day-Ahead Market Congestion Revenue Allocation initiative.  The working group meetings will take place May 11, June 2, and June 24, 2026.  More details about the meetings can be found here.

Southwest Power Pool (SPP)

Conditional High Impact Large Load Service

On June 5, 2026, FERC accepted, subject to condition, SPP’s proposed revisions to its tariff to add a new type of non-firm transmission service called Conditional High Impact Large Load Service (CHILLS), effective July 1, 2026.  The revisions are designed to facilitate timely interconnection and service for large loads that cannot yet obtain long-term firm service due to insufficient designated resources or needed network upgrades. CHILLS is an as-available service with a minimum term of one year and maximum term of seven years.  The revisions establish eligibility pathways and detailed application, study, and operational requirements.  CHILLS will be treated as having equal curtailment priority to monthly non-firm point-to-point service. Further, the rates for CHILLS are substantially similar to rates for non-firm point-to-point transmission service.  The tariff also provides penalties for using transmission service that exceeds the reserved capacity. FERC directed limited compliance revisions to clarify certain provisions.

Electric Reliablility Council of Texas (ERCOT)

Governor Abbott Orders ERCOT to Protect Consumers

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a letter to both the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and ERCOT about data center development and residential electricity costs. Governor Abbott directed the PUCT to take action to ensure data center interconnections result in reduced residential electricity bills and to ensure data centers pay all of their electric infrastructure costs.  He also directed both the PUCT and ERCOT to review existing authorities to identify necessary actions that will “safeguard Texans, their property, and resources.”

Large Load Rules

ERCOT’s Board of Directors approved ERCOT’s new “Batch Zero” rules for studying up to 100 GW of large load interconnection requests.  The new framework establishes new definitions and eligibility criteria for large loads; creates detailed categorization of loads in the Batch Zero process (including base load, studied load, and load to be studied in a future batch); and introduces procedures for submitting, modifying, and evaluating large load interconnection requests.

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[1] Per the CPUC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure Rule 14.3, comments on proposed decisions are due 20 days after issuance of the proposed decision, and reply comments are due five days thereafter.  Comments on draft resolutions are due 20 days after the draft resolution appears in the CPUC’s daily calendar, per Rule 14.5.