This weekly newsletter highlights the latest from the California Energy Journal along with links to articles and analysis on key developments in California energy policy.
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Top Stories from the California Energy Journal
CEJ Alert: CPUC Proposes Stricter Cost Controls for Utility Wildfire Undergrounding (October 19, 2026) – The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued a proposed decision that would add five project-level cost-recovery conditions to California’s SB 884 expedited undergrounding program. The proposal would require utilities to compare undergrounding projects with alternative wildfire-mitigation measures and set limits on how much actual project costs and benefits could differ from fully scoped forecasts. Read more.
California News and Analysis
Offshore oil
Lawmakers challenge federal use of defense powers to support the Sable pipeline restart. Democratic senators and representatives filed a Ninth Circuit brief arguing that the Trump administration lacked a legitimate national-defense basis for invoking the Defense Production Act to aid the restart of Sable Offshore’s California pipeline. Office of Representative Brad Sherman, October 15, 2026.
California approves new marine protected areas off the Central Coast. The Fish and Game Commission approved the Mishopshno State Marine Conservation Area off Carpinteria and a 9.18-square-mile conservation area at Point Sal, prohibiting activities including drilling and trawling while expanding the state’s protected-waters network. Santa Barbara Independent, October 16, 2026.
Gasoline and fuels
West Coast gasoline imports reach their highest level in at least five years. Gasoline imports totaled 19.07 million barrels during the available 2026 reporting period, up 54.5 percent from 2025, as the market adjusted to the closures of California’s Wilmington and Benicia refineries. S&P Global, October 16, 2026.
EVs
California projects a need for 478,000 public and limited-access EV charging ports by 2030. The Energy Commission’s latest assessment estimates that the infrastructure will be needed to support 6.8 million light-duty electric vehicles, along with more than 54,000 ports for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. California Energy Commission, October 16, 2026.
Electricity regulation
CPUC proposes additional rules for expedited utility undergrounding plans. A proposed decision would establish further requirements for the Senate Bill 884 program, under which large electric utilities may seek approval of 10-year distribution-grid undergrounding plans in high-fire-risk areas. California Public Utilities Commission, October 16, 2026.
CPUC proposes an equity framework for avoided-cost calculations. A proposed decision would adopt guiding principles for California’s Avoided Cost Calculator and establish a distributional-equity analysis process for evaluating distributed-energy-resource programs. California Public Utilities Commission, October 14, 2026.
California adopts the final 2026 Avoided Cost Calculator. CPUC Resolution E-5476 approved updated data, assumptions, and modeling used to estimate the utility costs avoided by energy efficiency, demand response, distributed generation, storage, and other customer-side resources. Stoel Rives, October 14, 2026.
Commentary and analysis
Ric O’Connell and Michael O’Boyle, “Solving California’s energy affordability crisis can help the whole nation,” Utility Dive, October 13, 2026.
Electricity grid
Residential batteries deliver a record 745 MW to California’s grid. Tesla and Sunrun aggregated home batteries supplied 745 MW during an October 6 heat-wave dispatch, with more than 85,000 Powerwall owners contributing over 600 MW. Electrek, October 14, 2026.
PG&E warns that a San Francisco grid takeover could cost more than $20 billion. PG&E’s estimate, which includes assets and separation costs, is substantially higher than the city’s approximately $3.4 billion valuation of the electric-distribution equipment it seeks to acquire for a public-power system. San Francisco Chronicle, October 14, 2026.
California grid meets highest electricity demand since 2022 without emergency measures. California’s electricity grid met peak demand of 50,335 MW during the September 9 heat wave, approximately 3% below the state’s 2022 record, without emergency measures or additional conservation requests. Governor of California, October 13, 2026.
Nuclear
CPUC approves Diablo Canyon extended-operations cost reconciliation. Resolution E-5483 approved PG&E’s reconciliation of approximately $1.22 billion in recorded costs associated with extending Diablo Canyon operations through the end of 2025, finding that the total remained below the statutory threshold for an additional reasonableness review. Stoel Rives, October 14, 2026.
Data centers and large-load growth
Proposed Imperial County AI data center faces renewed environmental review. A judge ruled that the nearly one-million-square-foot, 330-MW project cannot move forward without a full environmental review, following community concerns about electricity demand, water consumption, air pollution, noise, and wildlife impacts. The Guardian, October 17, 2026.
San Francisco’s shuttered downtown mall is considered as a possible AI data center. A development firm has discussed converting the 350,000-square-foot former Bloomingdale’s portion of the San Francisco Centre into a data center, although no formal application has been filed and the city has imposed a temporary moratorium on new projects. San Francisco Chronicle, October 19, 2026.
Beyond California
Oil
IEA cuts its oil-demand forecast as high prices and supply disruptions reduce consumption. The agency expects global demand to fall by an average of 2.6 million barrels per day in 2026, with diesel accounting for roughly one-quarter of the decline amid the Iran conflict, tight supplies, and weaker economic conditions. Associated Press, October 14, 2026.
U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve inventories fall to their lowest level since 1982. Energy Department data showed crude stocks in the reserve declining to 282.7 million barrels as the United States continued emergency releases intended to address tight supplies and elevated fuel prices. Reuters, October 19, 2026.
Renewable energy
ITC finds that solar imports from India, Indonesia, and Laos injured U.S. manufacturers. The ruling clears the way for the Commerce Department to finalize antidumping and countervailing-duty orders on crystalline-silicon photovoltaic cells from the three countries, adding potential cost and supply uncertainty for U.S. solar developers. Utility Dive, October 15, 2026.
USDA rules sharply restrict rural renewable-energy grants. New Rural Energy for America Program rules exclude solar and wind projects on cropland if any component comes from a designated foreign adversary, a standard that could disqualify most farm solar projects because of their reliance on Chinese-made equipment. Grist, October 16, 2026.
Offshore wind
Trump administration seeks another review of the Revolution Wind permit. The Justice Department asked a federal court to allow the Interior Department to reconsider a key permit for Ørsted and Skyborn Renewables’ 704-MW Rhode Island project, renewing uncertainty around the nearly completed offshore wind farm. Bloomberg, October 13, 2026.
LNG
FERC proposes faster approvals for LNG-terminal expansions and gas pipelines. The commission proposed a tiered blanket-authorization program that could allow some LNG projects to proceed without individual approval orders and moved to eliminate air-dispersion modeling from gas-project environmental reviews. The Hill, October 16, 2026.
Nuclear
United States pursues restarts of three shuttered nuclear plants. Federal loans of up to $4.4 billion are supporting efforts to reopen the Palisades plant in Michigan, the Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania, and the Duane Arnold plant in Iowa, restoring a combined 2.25 GW amid rising demand from data centers and other large loads. Associated Press, October 16, 2026.
Data centers
Utilities increase scrutiny of speculative data-center electricity requests. Utilities are introducing stricter financial commitments, collateral requirements, and other screening measures to distinguish viable data-center projects from speculative electricity-service requests. Wall Street Journal, October 13, 2026.