Results of October 30, 2025 CPUC Voting Meeting

Below is a review of the CPUC's Thursday, October 30 business meeting. Note that the decisions and resolutions summarized here reflect final, redlined language changes that the Commission distributed earlier this week. Wherever applicable, we incorporated those changes into our final summaries. (See our meeting preview here to compare.)

STACK Infrastructure Transmission Service Request

Resolution E-5420 approves (with modifications) PG&E’s request to construct and energize new transmission facilities (including a 115-kilovolt Ringwood substation) to serve STACK Infrastructure’s 90-megawatt data center in San Jose, at an estimated cost of $85.9 million. STACK Infrastructure is a major data-center developer supporting cloud computing, AI, and enterprise data storage.

To protect ratepayers from stranded-cost risk, the resolution modifies PG&E’s refund process, capping annual refunds to 75% of actual net revenues from the customer (defined as the transmission component of the bill and per-meter charge) and adjusting for the Income Tax Component of Contribution. The refund eligibility period is extended from 10 to 15 years. This approach slows (but does not reduce) the total refund, which is expected to be fully repaid in approximately six years.

The resolution also finds reasonable the use of actual cost payments, the removal of a 50% discount option, and other contract terms. Cal Advocates (a.k.a. the Public Advocates Office at the Commission) supported the modifications as necessary ratepayer protections, while a group of Community Choice Aggregators raised broader transparency issues that the Commission deferred to the Rule 30 proceeding.

INSTANT ANALYSIS: This resolution illustrates how California’s accelerating data-center buildout is reshaping grid-planning norms. By lengthening refund timelines and tightening revenue-assurance requirements, the CPUC is saying that large-load customers must now share greater long-term risk before ratepayers assume costs.