The California Legislature wrapped up its 2026 session as August turned into September, advancing multiple pro-consumer, clean energy initiatives awaiting Gov. Gavin Newsom’s signature.
Several bills looked to restrict data centers, including legislation to ensure that data centers contribute to a reliable, affordable, and clean electricity system.
Three of these bills are SB 2343, which establishes a new tariff framework for data centers seeking transmission‑level retail electric service, ensuring cost transparency and preventing cost‑shifting to other customers; SB 886 creates a distinct tariff structure for data centers to ensure they pay the full costs of their transmission‑level interconnection and do not shift costs onto other ratepayers; and SB 887 makes data‑center projects fully subject to CEQA (with no categorical exemptions) and creates an expedited judicial‑review pathway for “environmental leadership development projects” (ELDPs) that meet strict zero‑carbon, grid‑beneficial, and community‑benefit standards. It also extends ELDP eligibility to certain geothermal powerplant projects.
Other clean energy bills include AB 2313 - Home Energy Choice Act: which will help households transition from gas to electric appliances while reducing long-term utility costs; SB 1213 – Medium- and heavy-duty electric trucks price transparency, which will bring greater transparency to California’s electric truck market; and AB 1448 – The California Coastal Protection Act: which will strengthen protections against new offshore oil and gas drilling while enhancing safeguards for California’s coastline.
Culver City’s municipal change to clean energy in 2019 has seen eight years of greenhouse gases saved by the city adding up to more than 9,300,000,000 (close to a billion) pounds of waste.
As the world’s fifth-largest economy and a longstanding leader in climate and clean energy policy, California’s leadership in these areas is vital. Laws passed in Sacramento have an impact in Culver City, and across the country.
