{"id":403926,"date":"2026-07-18T23:39:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T23:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403926\/"},"modified":"2026-07-18T23:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T23:39:17","slug":"california-strengthens-protections-against-disconnections-during-extreme-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/403926\/","title":{"rendered":"California Strengthens Protections Against Disconnections During Extreme Heat"},"content":{"rendered":"

The California Public Utilities Commission [this week] unanimously agreed<\/a>\u00a0to reduce the temperature that triggers a statewide ban on utility disconnections to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, rejecting corporate utilities\u2019 proposal to keep the threshold at 100 degrees.<\/p>\n

Commissioners also required utilities to use\u00a0CalHeatScore<\/a>\u00a0before disconnecting power to a household. The first-in-the-nation tool forecasts and ranks heat severity in areas across California and identifies groups most susceptible to extreme heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a truly groundbreaking decision that should be a model for other states and will absolutely save lives in California,\u201d said Meya Saenz Zagar, energy justice campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity\u2019s Climate Law Institute. \u201cExtreme heat fueled by human-driven climate change is killing people across our state. Lowering the threshold temperature and requiring utilities to use the CalHeatScore means lifesaving relief to vulnerable people who risk having their power disconnected. People are struggling to pay skyrocketing utility bills as temperatures soar, and they shouldn\u2019t have to decide between food and electricity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In\u00a0June 2025<\/a>, the commission called for greater public health protections from extreme heat. It required utilities to propose temperature thresholds triggering a ban on disconnections that reduced customers\u2019 relative heat exposure and to rely on data-driven tools.<\/p>\n

Environmental, community and ratepayer advocacy groups had\u00a0urged<\/a>\u00a0regulators to lower the temperature threshold to prevent ratepayers from having electricity shut off for nonpayment during the hottest days. Investor-owned utilities proposed keeping the statewide temperature threshold at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n

The commission disagreed, saying in today\u2019s resolution that the investor-owned utilities\u2019 \u201cproposal to retain the current threshold of 100 degrees would violate the Commission\u2019s clear direction\u2026 and would conflict with the input of every non-IOU party.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExtreme heat and utility disconnections are a dangerous combination that can put lives at risk. Today\u2019s decision recognizes that access to electricity is essential for health and safety during increasingly frequent heat events,\u201d said Lee Trotman, communications director at The Utility Reform Network (TURN). \u201cBy requiring utilities to use CalHeatScore and lowering the temperature threshold for disconnection protections, the CPUC has taken an important step to better protect Californians \u2014 especially seniors, families with young children, people with disabilities, and low-income households \u2014 from losing power when they need it most.\u201d<\/p>\n

Populations vulnerable to extreme heat often face a high risk of electricity disconnection. By requiring utility companies to use the CalHeatScore, the commission will close gaps in current disconnection protections to ensure California\u2019s most vulnerable don\u2019t lose power during the hottest weather.<\/p>\n

Those groups include children, older adults, pregnant people, people with chronic health conditions and disabilities, workers, people who lack access to cooling or hydration, unhoused people, and those unaccustomed to the expected level of heat.<\/p>\n

A 2025\u00a0Center analysis<\/a>\u00a0of six investor-owned utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric, found the corporations shut off electricity in some of the country\u2019s poorest communities, including during the hottest summer months.<\/p>\n

In 2024 PG&E shut off power nearly 46,000 times to households unable to pay their bills. In 2025 California\u2019s three major investor-owned utility companies disconnected their customers\u2019 power for non-payment more than 422,000 times, a roughly 33% increase from 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The California Public Utilities Commission [this week] unanimously agreed\u00a0to reduce the temperature that triggers a statewide ban on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403927,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-403926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}