June 24, 2026

Regulatory Update for June 24, 2026

(Covering June 17, 2026 - June 23, 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)
• California Air Resources Board (CARB)
• Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC)
• Pacific Northwest (OPUC, WUTC, BPA)

Federal Regulatory Agencies

• Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

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

• California Independent System Operator (CAISO)
• 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

None to report.

Voting Meeting

The CPUC will hold a voting meeting in Fort Bragg, California, on Thursday, July 2, 2026, at 11 a.m. PT. The energy-related items on the agenda are below:

Item 4. Resolution (Res.) E-5461.

This Resolution approves PacifiCorp’s Advice Letter 771-E, which requests authorization under Public Utilities Code Section 851 and General Order 173 to partially decommission and sell certain assets of the Fall Creek Hydroelectric Development to the City of Yreka.

Item 7. Application (A.) 26-02-007

(In the Matter of the Application of Southwest Gas Corporation) Pursuant to Public Utilities Code Sections 701.5 and 817 and the Commission’s Rules of Practice and Procedure 2.1 and 3.5, this decision grants Southwest Gas Corporation (Southwest Gas) authority to issue up to $1,150,000,000 of new debt. This decision also authorizes Southwest Gas to refinance previously issued short-term debt securities, to refinance previously authorized securities under the Evergreening Authority Guidelines, and to enter into interest rate risk management contracts.

Item 9. Application (A.) 24-08-004 (Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company for a Limited Capital Structure Adjustment).

In this Application, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) requests permission to deviate from its authorized capital rate structure, governed by Affiliate Transaction Rule IX B. Specifically, PG&E seeks to exclude $2.6 billion in expenses related to the Dixie Fire ($277 million at the time of filing), Kincade Fire (approximately 1.2 billion at time of filing), and the Department of Water Resources loan (approximately $1.4 billion) when calculating its debt-to-equity ratio. The decision denies PG&E’s requested relief and finds that (1) the request does not qualify for an Affiliate Transaction Rule waiver, and (2) it would not be in the public interest to grant a deviation from PG&E’s recently adopted capital rate structure.

Item 14. Resolution (Res.) TL-19156.

This Resolution approves the Center for Sustainable Energy’s (CSE) Advice Letter (AL) 1 and 1A submission of the initial Implementation Plan and Handbook for the Drivers Assistance Program (DAP) per the Clean Miles Standard (CMS) Decision (D.) 24-03-001 (CMS Phase 1 Decision). This Resolution establishes the initial CMS incentive amounts, eligibility requirements, driver application process, procedures for tracking and verifying eligibility and disbursing incentives to drivers, program budget and implementation timeline, and reporting requirements and formats for CSE, the Program Administrator of the DAP.

Item 15. Rulemaking (R.) 25-10-003 (Order Instituting Rulemaking to Oversee the Resource Adequacy Program, Consider Program Reforms and Refinements, and Establish Forward Resource Adequacy Procurement Obligations).

This decision adopts Local Capacity Obligations for 2027-2029, Flexible Capacity Obligations for 2027, and program refinements to the Resource Adequacy (RA) program scoped for Track 1. The refinements include adopting an Unforced Capacity framework for implementation in the 2028 RA year, clarifying requirements for bidding and revenue allocation for Reliability Capacity and Imbalance Reserve products in the California Independent System Operator market, clarifying the definition of “load migration” to account for changes to community choice aggregators’ implementation plans, and modifying the RA penalty structure to account for deficiencies in charging sufficiency. The refinements also include various modifications to the qualifying capacity (QC) counting methodologies, including modifications to QC counting rules for storage resources to account for nonlinearity, modifications to the charging sufficiency rules to allow excess energy produced by a co-located energy only resource to count towards charging sufficiency requirements up to the Point of Interconnection limit, charging sufficiency requirements for long-duration energy storage resources, and modifications to QC counting for demand response resources on an interim basis to address misalignment issues.

Item 17. Resolution (Res.) E-5456.

This Resolution approves Southern California Edison Company’s (SCE) request to create an option within its Capacity Bidding Program Elect (CBP-E) tariff to allow any customer, bundled or unbundled, to directly enroll in the CBP-E program. Accordingly, SCE would act as the aggregator for the directly enrolled customers.

Item 18. Resolution (Res.) E-5451.

This Resolution approves, with modifications, PG&E AL 7738-E, regarding modifications to its Base Interruptible Program (BIP). The following proposed changes are approved:

• Allow a streamlined online enrollment process for making updates to customers enrollments in BIP through an aggregator, as an alternative to the current PDF Add/Delete Form.
• Update the BIP Aggregator Agreement Form to remove references to facsimile communications.

The following proposed change is denied:

• Increase summer BIP incentive levels (May through October) by 10%.

Item 19. Resolution (Res.) E-5444.

This Resolution rejects San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E) AL 4569-E. In this AL, SDG&E requested approval to create a Capacity Bidding Program (CBP) for residential customers (CBP Res) and to transfer money between demand response (DR) budget categories to fund the new program.

Item 20. Resolution (Res.) E-5450.

This Resolution approves, with modifications, PG&E’s AL 7748-E. In this advice letter, PG&E requested six distinct changes to its Automated Response Technology (ART) Program. Requests to increase capacity incentives and to remove zeroing out of negative performance are denied. Requests to remove the optionality of Day of Adjustments, increase the Performance Evaluation timeline to 30 days, make tariff changes to comply with the tariff of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), and make clarifying and formatting changes to the ART tariff are approved.

Item 21. Resolution (Res.) E-5453.

PG&E and SCE jointly submitted Tier 2 PG&E AL 7742-E et al. (the Joint AL) on October 28, 2025 (PG&E AL 7742-E and SCE AL 5658-E), and Tier 3 PG&E Advice Letter 7742-E-A et al. (Supplemental Joint AL) on March 31, 2026 (PG&E AL 7742-E-A and SCE AL 5658-E-A), proposing modifications to the Automated Demand Response (AutoDR or ADR) Technology Incentive Program. The Supplemental Joint AL replaces the original Joint AL in its entirety.

Item 25. Application (A.) 25-02-012 (Application [of] SDG&E to Recover Costs Recorded in the Transmission Integrity Management Program Balancing Account from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023).

This decision grants the Joint Motion by the Public Advocates Office at the California Public Utilities Commission and SDG&E for adoption of a settlement agreement. The decision grants SDG&E $6,985,215 in recovered costs.

Item 26. Application (A.) 24-11-005 (Application of PG&E for a Permit to Construct the Moraga-Oakland X 115 kV Rebuild Project Pursuant to General Order 131-D).

This decision grants PG&E a permit to construct the Moraga-Oakland X 115 kV Rebuild Project; makes California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Findings and Statements of Overriding Consideration for the project; adopts mitigation measures required to be implemented for the project identified in the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan; and certifies the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) prepared for the project pursuant to CEQA. As the lead agency for environmental review of the Project, the decision finds that the FEIR prepared for this project meets the requirements of CEQA. The total estimated cost of this project is $276.8 million. 

Item 47. Rulemaking (R.) 24-09-012 (Order Instituting Rulemaking to Establish Policies, Processes, and Rules to Ensure Safe and Reliable Gas Systems in California and Perform Long-Term Gas System Planning).

This decision establishes the process for gas corporations to submit applications for neighborhood decarbonization pilot projects to the Commission. Senate Bill (SB) 1221 requires the Commission to establish a voluntary pilot program to facilitate the cost-effective decarbonization of priority decarbonization zones, not to exceed 30 pilot projects across the state. Each pilot project must demonstrate cost effectiveness by showing that the avoided costs of gas infrastructure investment would be greater than the costs of implementing the zero-emission alternative. This decision allocates those 30 projects among PG&E, SDG&E, Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas), Southwest Gas Corporation (Southwest Gas), and the smaller Commission-regulated gas corporations primarily in proportion to their share of gas demand. The decision sets three deadlines (December 15, 2026, December 15, 2027, and June 1, 2028) by which interested gas corporations may submit applications containing their proposals. The decision describes the information and high-level plans an application must contain in order for the application to comply with the requirements and goals set forth by SB 1221. The decision requires applications to put forward a proposal of whether to expense or amortize the costs incurred to conduct behind-the-meter work (e.g., appliance purchase and installation) and sets a framework for a shareholder incentive structure that would incentivize gas corporations to maximize cost savings for ratepayers.

Upcoming Events

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, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. PT.  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 to those on the service list for the Higher Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Future (R.21-06-017) proceeding 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, 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 the remaining workshops through December 2026 will run as follows:

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 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 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 hosted a virtual public workshop to discuss the proposed draft solicitation on June 23, 2026, 1 p.m.–3 p.m.  Workshop information is 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 hosted a meeting of the Independent Consumer Fuels Advisory Committee (ICFAC) on June 23, 2026.  The purpose of the meeting was 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.  A meeting agenda and additional information is available on the event page.  The deadline for comments on the Draft SB 237 Assessment has been extended to July 7, 2026.  (See notice here.)

Distributed Energy Resources (DER) Workshop

The CEC will host a workshop on July 15, 2026, 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 DER 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 July 8, 2026.  An agenda and supporting materials will be available here at least 10 days prior to the meeting.

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, subdivision (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 25, 2026 weekly agenda meeting, the MPUC will consider (1) approval of Minnesota Power’s request to withdraw, without prejudice, its Very Large Customer Class Petition filed February 18, 2026 (Docket No. E015/M-26-126), (2) establishing Minnesota Power’s Reconnect Pilot Program as a permanent offering (Docket No. E015/M-19-766), and (3) implementation of the Proposed Grid Data Sharing Framework and acceptance of the associated report for all Minnesota investor-owned electric utilities (Docket No. E999/CI-20-800).

On June 18, 2026, the MPUC issued a verbal decision on the pending general rate increase of Northern States Power Company d/b/a Xcel Energy (NSP) to increase electric rates in Minnesota.  By way of background, NSP filed an electric rate case in November 2024 seeking a return on equity (ROE) of 10.3%, a 52.5% equity ratio and rate base of $13.2 billion in 2025 and $14 billion in 2026. The total rate increase at the time of filing was approximately $491 million.  In December 2024, MPUC approved interim rates of $192 million, effective January 1, 2025. In October 2025, NSP-Minnesota filed rebuttal testimony, updating its total revenue request to $365 million.

Terms of the MPUC’s decision include: (i) estimated rate increase of approximately $211 million over two years (average of 2.9% per year); (ii) ROE of 9.60% (an increase from the current ROE of 9.25%), while maintaining the equity ratio of 52.5%; (iii) continuation of existing true-up mechanisms inclusive of the sales true-up, coupled with authorization of new tracker mechanisms. A final written MPUC order is expected by July 31, 2026.  The SEC filing detailing these points can be found here.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST (OPUC, WUTC, BPA)

Oregon Public Utility Commission (OPUC)

On June 23, 2026, the OPUC held a regular public meeting to consider rulemakings related to (1) revisions to OAR 860-002-0000 et seq. regarding alternative dispute resolution and mediation in Commission proceedings (Docket No. AR 679, the staff memo is available here), and (2) establishing a multi-year rate plan framework per staff’s recommendation (Docket No. AR 676, the staff memo is available here). The full agenda is available here.

Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC)

On June 25, 2026, the WUTC will hold an open meeting to consider, in relevant part, Avista Corporation’s Energy Recovery Mechanism (ERM) annual review filing (requesting approval for cost recovery of a $89.6 million accumulated ERM surcharge balance) (Docket No. UE-260215), and its revisions to Tariff WN U-29, which will introduce new CCA-Funded Natural Gas Pilot Programs (Docket No. UG-260417).

Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)

The Department of Energy announced the selection of Travis Kavulla as the new Bonneville Power Administration Administrator. BPA’s press release is available here.

Federal Agencies

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION (FERC)

June 2026 Commission Meeting

FERC held its June 2026 Commission Meeting on June 18. FERC issued the following orders and actions:

• FERC issued six show cause orders under the Federal Power Act (FPA) section 206 to each of the six RTOs/ISOs. The orders follow the Department of Energy’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking issued earlier this year that requested FERC to expedite the integration of large load onto the grid. Each RTO/ISO must either justify why its tariff is just and reasonable in the absence of large-load provisions or propose updates to their tariffs. The order directs the RTOs/ISOs to (1) address efficient transmission service and study processes, including alternative transmission technologies, (2) prevent cost-shifting, (3) accommodate co-location arrangement and behind-the-meter generation; (4) provide new transmission service for flexible large loads; and (5) develop a process to study generating facilities serving electrically proximate large loads and co-located loads.
• FERC affirmed its prior finding that PJM’s Tariff is unjust and unreasonable due to a lack of clear rules governing co-located load and behind-the-meter generation, while partially granting a request for rehearing to refine the framework and expand its application. The Commission requires PJM to clarify interconnection obligations, assign cost responsibility to interconnection customers, and establish three transmission service categories (NITS/Interim NITS, firm contract demand, and non-firm contract demand) to align charges with transmission system reliance.  FERC also affirmed that existing Behind the Meter Generation (BTMG) netting rules are no longer just and reasonable due to cost-shifting and reliability risks, directing revisions including a 50 MW materiality threshold (applied to load, not generation), a transition period, and limited exemptions (e.g., certain cogeneration Qualifying Facilities (QFs)). 
• FERC accepted with conditions MISO tariff revisions concerning the accreditation and participation of emergency demand-side and fast-response resources. The order allows MISO to split load-modifying resources into those that can deploy within a 30-minute window and those that can reduce demand within six hours when called for capacity accreditation purposes.
• FERC stated that conducting a cumulative effects analysis as a separate part of its environmental analysis exceeds what the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires, noting in its order that NEPA does not require such an analysis and therefore FERC would not be conducting separate cumulative impact analyses in environmental reviews going forward.

PJM Governance and Stakeholder Reforms Technical Conference

FERC issued a supplemental notice for its upcoming technical conference on July 23, 2026, 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) 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

2026-2027 Transmission Planning Process Study Plan Posted.

The CAISO has posted the 2026-2027 Transmission Planning Process Study Plan, which can be found here.

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.

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.     

Electric Reliablility Council of Texas (ERCOT)

Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) Approves ERCOT’s Batch Zero Framework

The PUCT on June 18 approved ERCOT’s Batch Zero process for large-user connection requests to help ensure large-load users, such as data centers, only connect in amounts and locations the Texas grid can reliably support. The new framework groups qualified large projects that are 75 MW and greater into a single study for ERCOT to assess. The framework also establishes 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. The batch framework eliminates the previous project-by-project evaluation ERCOT had used to study projects.

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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.