California bars utilities from cutting power over unpaid bills when temperatures hit 90

State regulators have expanded heat-related shutoff protections in California: when temperatures hit 90 degrees, utilities can no longer disconnect residential electric service over unpaid bills.

What happened?

For residential accounts facing disconnection because of unpaid bills, the cutoff ban now starts at 90 degrees instead of 100 after a 4-0 vote by the California Public Utilities Commission, according to GVWire.

Utilities failed to meet a May 1 deadline for revised protections, and regulators said the plan they submitted "does not offer sufficient health protections for ratepayers." That finding came after the commission concluded the companies had not done enough to improve the earlier rules.

The companies favored using CalHeatScore, a ZIP-code heat-risk tool, while keeping a higher trigger for shutoff protections and preserving 100 degrees as the backup standard. Consumer advocates opposed that narrower approach and called for wider coverage.

Instead, the commission backed the advocates' position and told utilities to produce a more protective regional standard within six months.

Why does it matter?

During a heat wave, a shutoff can create immediate health and safety problems. Some rural households may lose water service, while urban residents can be left without air conditioning, fans, or refrigeration during prolonged high temperatures.

Advocates have long said one statewide 100-degree rule does not fit California's widely varied climates. Heat around 90 degrees may be ordinary in Bakersfield or Fresno, but in cooler coastal and mountain areas it can pose greater risks because air conditioning is less common and residents may be less acclimated.

Regulators pointed out that 41 of California's 58 counties already set their extreme-heat mark below 100 degrees. In San Francisco, for example, it begins above 85 degrees, and in Del Norte County at 76.8 degrees.

The Utility Reform Network also warned that "heat kills more people directly than any other weather-related hazard."

What's being done?

Rather than wait for utilities to finish designing a new system, regulators imposed stronger rules themselves during another spell of dangerous heat and made 90 degrees the immediate statewide baseline.

The utilities say they will follow the new requirement.

Edison said it was ready to update its disconnection policies, SDG&E said it backed the added safeguards, and PG&E spokesperson Adrienne Moore said, "Disconnection is a last resort at PG&E, only after multiple attempts to contact customers and offer payment plans and assistance programs."

The policy is limited to disconnections over unpaid bills and does not extend to outages from equipment failures, wildfire-prevention shutoffs, or other emergencies.

Until a region-specific system is in place, the new standard gives more Californians extra protection on the hottest days.

Public Advocates Office Director Linda Serizawa said the vote provides consumers with "protection that takes effect when they need it most."

Jason Zeller, an attorney with the Utility Consumers' Action Network, said, "If tenants don't have electric service, they can be subject to eviction; if they have children, they can lose child custody."

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