New Heat Rules Limit When Utilities Can Cut Off Your Power

As heat waves become more intense and last longer due to climate change, setting rules around when utilities can shut off power for people who don’t pay their utility bills is one of the top concerns for consumer advocates and state regulators, reports CalMatters’ Alejandro Lazo.

On Thursday the California Public Utilities Commission voted to decrease the temperature at which utilities are barred from shutting off power to delinquent customers — from 100 to 90 degrees. The move comes after advocates pushed for a wider safety net, partly, out of concern for residents in rural areas, where losing power could also mean losing water and ways to cool down.

The decision rejects what utilities wanted, which was a higher cutoff threshold involving CalHeatScore — a newly created state tool that scores heat by ZIP code — and keeping the 100-degree default when the index wasn’t available.

Two California laws also underscore the growing concern of sweltering temperatures on students and educators, write CalMatters’ Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Ana B. Ibarra.

Gov. Gavin Newsom earlier this week signed a law requiring the state’s board of education to consider educating students about heat illness and its symptoms. Though the law has no mandates, it “promotes awareness and prevention” and gives students “the knowledge to protect themselves,” said Assemblymember Tom Lackey, a Palmdale Republican and bill author.

Another law, passed in 2024, requires schools to draft rules for outdoor activities when there are heat waves. The law had a key deadline this month, which required schools to have heat-safety plans — such as specifying safe indoor activities as alternatives to outdoor ones — ready by July 1.

But critics of the legislation say neither requires the state to spend money nor do much to make schools safer, like updating HVAC systems and shade structures.

Read more about how extreme heat affects utility shutoffs and classrooms.

CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.