Prepared by ForTre Partners — November 1, 2026 Research and analysis, not legal advice. Every obligation stated here was verified against the chaptered bill text as published by the California Legislature (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov). Where the widely circulated summaries of these laws differ from the text, the text governs, and the differences are listed in §6.
On September 21, 2026, California enacted the most comprehensive data-center law package in the nation: seven bills covering energy reporting, electricity tariffs, water disclosure and reporting, CEQA review, and rate structures. Most obligations begin with the laws' default effective date of January 1, 2027 (no chaptered text states its own general effective date; January 1 is the constitutional default). The CPUC tariff machinery lands a year later, January 1, 2028.
The practical core, in one paragraph: from January 1, 2027, a data-center project in California faces energy and noise estimates at entitlement (≥10 MW), a hard approval gate on water — supply assessment, projected use, efficiency measures, and six-part workforce disclosures, with the applicant paying the full cost of water-system upgrades — perjury-backed water reporting before a business license issues (with no minimum size: facilities under 2 MW are covered), and no CEQA categorical exemption. Transmission-level interconnections signed on or after January 1, 2027 carry full upgrade-cost responsibility, a 10-year termination-fee exposure, and a labor-standards certification incorporated from the Public Resources Code.
Two cautions run through this dossier. First, several provisions in the summaries circulating among law firms and trade press are wrong or overstated — including the direction of the 25 MW threshold in AB 2383 and two "shall" duties in SB 886 that the text writes as "should." Second, the biggest open variable is regulatory: the CPUC will set the generation-tariff size threshold, and the statute only caps it. What the Commission does with that discretion in 2027 decides how much of the industry these tariffs actually reach.
| Bill | Subject | Who is bound | Hard dates in text |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB 1577 (Bauer-Kahan) | Energy & noise reporting | Owners/operators ≥10 MW; CEC | Report on energization + annually; CEC load-trend assessment from the 2029 IEPR |
| AB 2383 (Zbur) | Electricity tariffs & cost responsibility | Electrical corporations; CCAs/ESPs; participating customers | CCA/ESP generation tariffs by Jan 1, 2028; no IOU filing deadline in this bill |
| AB 2469 (Papan) | Water disclosure as an approval gate | Cities/counties (may not approve without filings); applicants | Water scarcity plan added from Jan 1, 2028 |
| AB 2619 (Papan) | Water reporting via business license | Owners/operators of all sizes (Types I–III); water suppliers | No date stated in text |
| SB 886 (Padilla) | Interconnection & tariff framework | CPUC; IOUs; participating customers | CPUC tariffs by Jan 1, 2028; §945.3 applies to new transmission agreements on/after Jan 1, 2027 |
| SB 887 (Padilla) | CEQA / fast-track (ELDP) | Lead agencies; project applicants | Governor certification available until Jan 1, 2032 |
| SB 1168 (McNerney) | Rate-structure assessment | CPUC | None — assessment duty only |
If you are developing or operating a data center: - File best estimates of annual energy use, onsite generation, and property-line noise with your discretionary-permit application (≥10 MW — AB 1577), and calendar the energization + annual CEC reports (PUE, peak capacity, load, fuel by type, storage, refrigerants, demand flexibility). - Before a city or county may approve your project — or any expansion that raises maximum peak water use — deliver a water supply assessment, projected use and efficiency measures, and the six workforce disclosures, and accept responsibility for the full cost of required water-system upgrades (AB 2469). There is no size threshold in this bill. - Before your initial business license or permit: give your water supplier, under penalty of perjury, a good-faith estimate of expected use, source, and maximum-day / maximum-month / average-year volumes — and put the same estimate on the application itself. Renewal requires prior-year total and direct use, cooling type, and volumes by source (AB 2619). Facilities under 2 MW are covered. - Do not plan around a CEQA categorical exemption; none is available (SB 887). The ELDP fast track exists, but it is conditioned (see §5). - Any new transmission-level interconnection agreement signed on or after January 1, 2027 sits under SB 886 §945.3: full upgrade-cost assignment, refunds capped at 75% of annual net transmission revenue, a 10-year termination-fee exposure, and the labor-standards certification.
If you are a city or county: - Your approval gate changed (AB 2469): no discretionary or ministerial approval without the applicant's water package and upgrade-cost assumption. Compliance by the applicant does not compel approval. - Business-license issuance now has a front step (AB 2619): the applicant's perjury-backed water estimate to its supplier, and the same estimate on the application. - Your CEQA practice changed (SB 887): data-center projects cannot ride categorical exemptions.
If you are a water supplier: you receive the AB 2619 estimates and renewal reports, determine the upgrade costs the AB 2469 applicant must assume, and — as an urban supplier — your §10632 shortage-contingency "current year unconstrained demand" must now include data centers.
If you are a utility, CCA, or ESP: IOU tariff filings are required in CPUC proceedings on the AB 2383 framework (no deadline in that bill; SB 886 sets the January 1, 2028 tariff deadline). CCAs and ESPs must adopt generation tariffs by January 1, 2028. Interim exceptional-case contracts are available for service sought after January 1, 2027 (SB 886 §945.9).
If you are the CPUC: two dated duties — the SB 886 tariff framework by January 1, 2028 — and one undated one: the SB 1168 assessment of rate structures, which carries no tariff, fee, deadline, or penalty in its text.
AB 1577 (Bauer-Kahan) — reporting. Owners/operators of facilities ≥10 MW: at discretionary-permit application, provide the host city/county best estimates of annual energy use, onsite generation, and property-line noise; on energization and annually thereafter, report to the CEC (identity and address, floor/IT area, peak capacity, PUE, load, fuel by type, storage, refrigerants, demand flexibility). The CEC publishes anonymised, aggregated data annually and folds load trends into the IEPR from 2029. Public-facility exemptions apply. (Verified in enrolled text.)
AB 2383 (Zbur), Ch. 435 — PU Code §§945.1, 945.4, 945.5, 945.6, 945.8. "Data center" is defined at §945.1(a) (a facility housing computing infrastructure for the primary purpose of processing, storing, or distributing electronic data); a "participating customer" is a data center tariffed under the article (§945.1(e)). In a new or existing proceeding, the CPUC must require each electrical corporation to file (i) a transmission/distribution tariff ensuring all participating customers pay a reasonable share of wildfire mitigation and liability, electrification and environmental programs, and other societal costs (§945.4 — no MW threshold in this section), and (ii) a generation tariff (§945.5) with clean-target-compliant procurement (§§399.15, 454.52), a payment mechanism of at least 10 years for incremental generation costs, non-completion and early-termination fees, upfront collateral/prepayment, minimum payments keyed to projected load, and a behind-the-meter zero-emissions offset. The generation-tariff size threshold is set by the CPUC and may not exceed 25 MW (§945.5(c)) — 25 MW is a ceiling, not a trigger. Facility exemptions at §945.5(d) (publicly funded research, public safety, national security, publicly owned, utility/telecom). Each CCA/ESP must adopt a parallel generation tariff by January 1, 2028 (§945.6).
AB 2469 (Papan), Ch. 436 — Gov. Code §65964.7. A city/county shall not approve a discretionary or ministerial permit or entitlement for construction of a data center, or an expansion increasing maximum peak water use, unless the applicant provides: (A) a water supply assessment as described in Water Code Part 2.10 (§10910 et seq.); (B) beginning January 1, 2028, a water scarcity plan across the five U.S. Drought Monitor categories (abnormally dry through exceptional drought), including staged withdrawal reductions, nonessential curtailment, recycling/reuse, thermal load reductions, and temporary load shedding where necessary; (C) projected water use and water efficiency measures; and (D) six workforce disclosures — composition, job classifications, employment duration, wage ranges and benefits, proportion of workers residing in the county, and proportion residing in the state (§65964.7(b)(1)). The applicant assumes the full cost of required water conveyance, treatment or storage, and distribution improvements, as determined by the water supplier ((b)(2)). Compliance does not compel approval ((b)(3)). The bill contains no size threshold, no MW figure, and no definition of "data center."
AB 2619 (Papan), Ch. 437 — Bus. & Prof. Code §§16000.4, 16100.4; Water Code §10632. Facilities are typed by size: Type I — more than 10,000 servers or more than 25 MW; Type II — at least 2 MW and no more than 25 MW; Type III — less than 2 MW. No type is excluded. Before applying for an initial business license, equivalent instrument, or permit, the owner/operator must give its water supplier, under penalty of perjury, a good-faith estimate of expected use, anticipated source, and maximum-day / maximum-month / average-year volumes — and must report the same on the initial application (§§16000.4(b)(1)–(2), 16100.4(b)(1)–(2)). On renewal, it must report the preceding calendar year's total and direct use, cooling system type, and direct-use volumes identified by source (potable, nonpotable, recycled). Urban water suppliers' §10632(a)(2)(B)(i) current-year unconstrained demand must include data centers. The text states no date.
SB 886 (Padilla, with McNerney), Ch. 438 — PU Code §§945, 945.2, 945.3, 945.7, 945.9 (CA Technology Innovation & Ratepayer Protection Act). By January 1, 2028, the CPUC must establish or update tariffs/rules for interconnection and retail, transmission, distribution, and generation service, preventing stranded costs and cost shifts (§945.2). The transmission-interconnection tariff (§945.3) must require duplicate-application disclosure; assign cost responsibility for all transmission facility upgrades and usage (shared grid network upgrades "should include" — see §6); cap refunds of initial contributions at 75% of annual net transmission revenue from the customer; impose an early-termination fee for departure or inadequate ramp-up within 10 years (text: the fee "should not be less than" the projected-load revenue gap over the minimum 10-year term); require IOU interconnection maps; and require the participating customer to certify compliance with Public Resources Code §§25545.3.3(a)–(b) and 25545.3.5(a)–(e) — the labor standards enter by this cross-reference; the words "prevailing wage" and "skilled and trained" do not appear in SB 886. Section 945.3 applies only to new transmission-level interconnection agreements on or after January 1, 2027 (§945.3(d)). The text contains no "50 kV" figure and no 75 MW threshold (both appear elsewhere — PG&E Rule 30 and the bill's introduced version, respectively). IOUs may seek exceptional-case approval for service sought after January 1, 2027 and before the §945.3 tariff is approved (§945.9). Voluntary demand response is authorized (§945.7).
SB 887 (Padilla) — CEQA / ELDP. Projects "to further a data center" cannot use categorical exemptions (Pub. Resources Code §21084(f); public, research, and higher-education exceptions apply). A new ELDP fast-track category requires lead-agency certification of 11 conditions, including: prepayment of full interconnection costs; no added in-state fossil consumption; zero-carbon storage of at least 4 hours at 100% of peak plus demand response; behind-the-meter zero-carbon generation to the maximum extent feasible; an enforceable full grid-investment commitment with a termination fee; recycled or waterless cooling; 100% zero-carbon hourly electricity within 5 years, 75% newly developed; a community benefits agreement; and the labor standards of §§25545.3/.3.3/.3.5. Governor certification is available until January 1, 2032. (Verified in bill text.)
SB 1168 (McNerney), Ch. 440 — PU Code §901 (Article 10.5). The CPUC must, as part of a new or existing proceeding, assess opportunities for rate structures ensuring data centers pay a reasonable share of transmission and distribution costs (at either interconnection level) and a proportionate share of load increases and procurements consistent with integrated resource planning, and alleviating residential cost pressures (including CARE/FERA). That assessment duty — with no deadline — is the bill's only obligation. Its findings cite CAISO load growth of +2.3 GW by 2030 and PG&E's ~2,300 MW of 2024 applications.
Circulating summaries (law-firm alerts and trade coverage) contained the following errors against the chaptered text. Any compliance work priced or planned off the summaries should be re-based:
The laws arrive in a region that has not decided what it thinks. Posture of the jurisdictions a Central Valley project would touch:
Classification convention: a moratorium is treated as undecided, paused unless the jurisdiction has enacted a ban or stated opposition. The live variable statewide is PG&E's reported 12.7 GW of data-center load requests — a statewide pipeline figure with no project publicly located in Fresno, Madera, Kings, or Tulare counties, and it should not be cited as Central Valley demand.
Chaptered texts via the California Legislature (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov): AB 2383 (Ch. 435), AB 2469 (Ch. 436; chaptered PDF cross-check via CapitolTrack), AB 2619 (Ch. 437; chaptered PDF cross-check), SB 886 (Ch. 438), SB 1168 (Ch. 440); SB 887 and AB 1577 in bill/enrolled text. Jurisdiction postures: San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors press release (Oct 7, 2026); Stockton Record (Sept 14, 2026); City of Modesto statement via The Modesto Focus (Aug 2026); Tulare County Board meeting records (Aug–Sept 2026); Fresno City Council action as reported Sept 3, 2026; Lodi411 jurisdiction survey (2026). Full research files: ForTre research notes, November 1, 2026 (buildout brief; Probes A and B; bill-text verification pass).
ForTre Partners — research built from public documents and sourced materials. Nothing in this dossier is legal advice; parties with projects in scope should confirm obligations with counsel.
ForTre Partners — research built from public documents and sourced materials. This dossier is research and analysis, not legal advice.