Electric Undergrounding Expediting Program – SB 884
Background
Senate Bill No. 884 (SB 884), which became law on Jan. 1, 2023, requires the Commission to establish a program for expediting the undergrounding of a utility’s electric distribution infrastructure. Only those electrical corporations with 250,000 or more customer accounts within the state (i.e., the large electric corporations Pacific Gas and Electric, Southern California Edison, and San Diego Gas and Electric) may participate in the program.
To participate in the program, the large electrical corporation must submit a 10-year distribution infrastructure undergrounding plan (hereafter, “Plan”), including, among other requirements, the undergrounding projects that it will construct as part of the Plan, to the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety). Energy Safety is required to review and approve or deny the Plan within nine months of submission. Before approving the Plan, Energy Safety may require the large electrical corporation to modify the Plan. Energy Safety may only approve the Plan if it finds that the electrical corporation’s Plan will achieve, at the least, both of the following:
- Substantially increase reliability by reducing use of public safety power shutoffs, enhanced powerline safety settings, de-energization events, and other outage programs.
- Substantially reduce wildfire risk.
If Energy Safety approves the large electrical corporation’s Plan, the large electrical corporation must submit to the Commission, within 60 days of Energy Safety’s approval, a copy of the Plan and an application requesting review and conditional approval of the plan’s costs (hereafter, “Application”). The Commission must approve or deny the Application within nine months of submission. The Commission may, however, require the large electrical corporation to modify or modify and resubmit the Application prior to approval.
Public Engagement Efforts
Send an email request to SB884@cpuc.ca.gov to be added to the SB-884 Notification List. SB 884 Notification List (updated on 6/4/25)
Technical Working Groups on Potential Updates to the SB 884 Project List Data Requirements
Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting #3 was held on June 24, 2025, to discuss the Interruption Cost Estimator Calculator 2.0 (ICE 2.0).
Agenda (published June 17, 2025)
Master Slide Presentation (presented June 24, 2025)
TWG # Recording (presented June 24, 2025)
Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings #1 and #2 were held on June 3 and June 10, 2025, to discuss revising the SB 884 Project List Data Requirements.
Agenda (published May 27, 2025)
Master Slide Presentation (presented June 3, 2025)
Master Slide Presentation (presented June 10, 2025)
TWG #1 Recording (presented June 3, 2025)
TWG #2 Recording (presented June 10, 2025)
Staff Report on SB-884 Project List Data Requirements Guideline (published May 20, 2025)
Potential CPUC Guideline Updates Workshop
Following the adoption of Energy Safety’s 10-Year Electrical Undergrounding Plan Guidelines on February 20, 2025, the CPUC hosted public workshop on April 8, 2025, to discuss and solicit input from stakeholders on potential updates to the CPUC Guidelines for the program.
Agenda (published April 1, 2025)
Master Slide Presentation (presented April 8, 2025)
Workshop Recording (presented April 8, 2025)
Post-Workshop Questions (published April 11, 2025)
Informal Responses to Post-Workshop Questions (received April 25, 2025)
Initial Workshop
As a starting point, the two responsible State entities, Energy Safety and the CPUC, jointly sponsored a first public workshop on February 24, 2023.
Workshop #1 - CPUC and Energy Safety Joint SB-884 Pre-Rulemaking Workshop, February 24, 2023
Agenda (published February 9, 2023)
Background and Scoping Issues (published February 9, 2023)
Master Slide Presentation (presented February 24, 2023)
Workshop Recording (presented February 24, 2023)
Informal Comments (received March 10, 2023)
Implementation
SB 884 Project List Data Requirements Guidelines (Published July 24, 2025)
Revised SB 884 Project List Data Template Clean Version (Published July 24, 2025)
Informal Responses to Questions (received November 12, 2024)
Final Resolution SPD-15 (published March 8, 2024)
CPUC Guidelines for SB 884 Program (formerly titled Staff Proposal) (published March 8, 2024)
Reply Comments on Draft Resolution SPD-15 (received January 11, 2024)
Opening Comments on Draft Resolution SPD-15 (received December 28, 2023)
Final Staff Proposal for SB 884 Program (published November 9, 2023)
Draft Resolution SPD-15 (published November 9, 2023)
SPD-15 Comment Letter and Certificate of Service (published November 9, 2023)
Draft Staff Proposal for SB 884 Program (published September 13, 2023)
Informal Comments for Draft Staff Proposal