1. (a) Pursuant to Section 398.4 of the Public Utilities Code, each retail supplier shall provide to consumers a power content label that discloses the fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of each electricity portfolio that was sold during the previous calendar year, and separately disclose the fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of total California system electricity, using the schedule and format provided in this section. Retail suppliers shall disclose GHG emissions intensity data on power content labels for procurement that occurs on or after January 1, 2020.

   1. (1) Information disclosed on each power content label shall be consistent with the information reported to the Energy Commission on the annual resource report for each electricity portfolio and for total power content.
   2. (2) Any marketing or retail product claim by a retail supplier related to the GHG emissions intensity of an electricity portfolio shall be consistent with the GHG emissions intensity disclosed on the relevant power content label.
   3. (3) The Energy Commission shall provide fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of total California loss-adjusted load for inclusion on the power content label. Beginning January 1, 2026, the Energy Commission shall instead provide the fuel mix and GHG emissions intensity of California's total loss-adjusted load for inclusion on the power content label.

2. (b) Each retail supplier shall disclose the information required in this section to consumers according to the following schedule:

   1. (1) The power content label shall be provided in all product-specific written promotional materials that are distributed to consumers by either printed or electronic means, including the retail supplier's Internet Web site, if one exists, except that advertisements and notices in general circulation media shall not be subject to this requirement.
   2. (2) The power content label shall be provided to the Energy Commission by October 1 of each year. The power content label shall be provided to customers in written promotional materials by the end of the first complete billing cycle for the fourth quarter of the year. Retail suppliers may provide annual disclosures to customers via electronic mail, provided that the customer has consented to receiving electronic mail notice in lieu of service by United States mail. The power content label shall also be displayed on the website of the retail supplier, if it maintains one for purposes of communicating information about electric service, in an easily marked and identifiable location by October 1 of each year.

3. (c) Each retail supplier shall disclose the following information for every electricity portfolio it offers, except for custom electricity portfolios, on a single power content label: Beginning January 1, 2026, each retail supplier shall also include the following information for its total power content.

   1. (1) Fuel mix information of each electricity portfolio, total power content, and of total California loss-adjusted load shall be provided using the fuel type categories:

      1. (A) Biomass and biogas
      2. (B) Geothermal
      3. (C) Eligible hydroelectric
      4. (D) Solar
      5. (E) Wind
      6. (F) Large hydroelectric
      7. (G) Nuclear
      8. (H) Natural gas
      9. (I) Coal and petroleum
      10. (J) Unspecified power
      11. (K) Emerging technologies, if applicable
      12. (L) Other, if applicable

   2. (2) The fuel mix information disclosed above in Section 1393(c)(1) shall also be displayed on the power content label one of the following groups:

      1. (A) Renewables and Zero-Carbon Resources from fuel types identified in Section 1393.1(c)(1)(A) -- (G). RPS-eligible renewables shall be identified as a subcategory of this group. Beginning in 2026, the portion of unspecified power derived from these fuel types shall be included in this group.
      2. (B) Fossil Fuels from fuel types identified in Section 1393.1(c)(1)(H) -- (I). Beginning in 2026, the portion of unspecified power derived from these fuel types shall be included in this group.
      3. (C) Emerging Technologies as identified in Section 1393.1(c)(1)(K). On a case-by-case basis, in accordance with other laws and regulations and based on information provided by impacted retail suppliers, Commission staff will evaluate the specific resource(s) within this category and, for purposes of the power content label, classify those resources as “Emerging Technologies,” or, as appropriate based on the resource type, include those resources in the categories set forth in Section 1393.1(c)(2)(A) or 1393.1(c)(2)(B).
   3. (3) GHG emissions intensity of each electricity portfolio, of total power content, and of total California loss-adjusted load in accordance with the calculation method provided in section 1392(b), expressed in pounds of CO₂e per megawatt hour.
   4. (4) The retail supplier's company name, phone number, and website address, and the name, phone number, and website address of the Energy Commission.
   5. (5) Quantity of unbundled RECs retired in association with each electricity portfolio, expressed as a percentage of retail sales.
   6. (6) The label shall indicate that electricity portfolios represent retail sales, and that total power content and total California loss-adjusted load represent retail sales, other end uses, and losses.
   7. (7) The display of unspecified power on the power content label shall be annotated to identify whether the unspecified power was provided primarily by either “Fossil Fuels” or “Renewables and Zero-Carbon Resources” as those groups are described in 1393.1(c)(2), whichever group was greater for the previous year. Beginning in 2026, the annotation of unspecified power shall include the percentage of unspecified power provided by either “Fossil Fuels” or “Renewables and Zero-Carbon Resources” as those groups are described in 1393.1(c)(2), whichever group was greater for the previous year.

4. (d) GHG emissions exclusions

   1. (1) The calculation of geothermal GHG emissions and biogenic CO₂ reported to the Energy Commission pursuant to section 1393(b) shall not be included in the display of GHG intensities on the power content label.

   2. (2) Retail suppliers with specified purchases of eligible firmed-and-shaped products under a purchase agreement or ownership arrangement executed prior to January 1, 2019 shall report GHG emissions associated with the delivered electricity and shall identify these emissions as excluded from the calculation of emissions intensities on the power content label.

      1. (A) Each retail supplier shall provide to the Energy Commission a purchase agreement or ownership arrangement documentation substantiating that any eligible firmed-and-shaped product for which it is claiming an exclusion was executed prior to January 1,2019.

      2. (B) Retail suppliers with specified purchases of eligible firmed-and-shaped products under a purchase agreement or ownership arrangement that has been amended or extended as provided in sub-paragraphs (i), (ii), or (iii) below on or after January 1, 2019, shall report GHG emissions according to the source of the delivered electricity for inclusion in the GHG emissions intensity calculation of the electricity portfolio provided in Section 1392:

         1. (i) to increase the specified quantity of annual procurement;
         2. (ii) to increase the length of the agreement, including through automatic renewal or an extension as contemplated in the original agreement; or
         3. (iii) to substitute a different eligible renewable resource.

   3. (3) The Energy Commission shall adjust GHG emissions of a local publicly owned electric utility if the utility demonstrates that it generated quantities of electricity on or after January 1, 2017 in excess of its retail and wholesale sales of specified sources in a prior year from specified sources that do not emit any GHG emissions.

      1. (A) When a local publicly owned electric utility reports excess zero-GHG generation in an annual resource report filed pursuant to section 1393(b), the Energy Commission shall assign each megawatt hour of excess zero-GHG generation a negative credit equal to the default emissions factor for unspecified electricity as provided in section 95111(b)(1) of the MRR. When the local publicly owned electric utility wishes to use this excess zero-GHG generation to adjust emissions in a subsequent reporting year, it shall make that election in its annual resource report and the Energy Commission shall confirm that there is sufficient excess zero-GHG generation for the requested adjustment and that it was generated within twenty years of its elected use. If there is insufficient excess zero-GHG generation or it was generated more than twenty years prior, the Energy Commission shall inform the local publicly owned electric utility and the utility shall submit a corrected annual resource report.
      2. (B) The Energy Commission shall adjust the GHG emissions of a local publicly owned electric utility only once for each megawatt hour of excess generation of zero-GHG electricity.
      3. (C) The local publicly owned electric utility shall submit agreements to the Energy Commission substantiating that the relevant generation was generated in excess of its retail and wholesale sales of specified power with each annual resource report that identifies excess zero-GHG generation.
5. (e) Custom electricity portfolios negotiated under private agreement shall not be included in the power content labels provided to the retail supplier's general customers. Instead, such electricity portfolios shall be disclosed to the subscribed customers on a separate power content label via physical or electronic mail consistent with the provisions of subdivision (b)(2). Custom electricity portfolios shall not be subject to the promotional materials disclosure requirement of subdivision (b)(1) or the website disclosure requirement of subdivision (b)(2).
6. (f) If individual customers are served by a mixture of electricity portfolios, the power content label shall include a footnote on the power content label stating that some customers of the retail supplier may be served by more than one electricity portfolio.
7. (g) Any new community choice aggregator formed after January 1, 2016, is not required to report data on GHG intensity associated with retail sales until at least 24 months, but shall report that data no later than 36 months, after serving its first retail customer.

8. (h) All information contained in the power content label shall appear in one place without other intervening material.

   1. (1) If the retail supplier offers promotional materials that consist of more than one page, the power content label or a note telling the customer where the power content label can be found shall appear on the cover page or the first facing page. If a note is used to tell the customer where the power content label can be found, the note shall appear in a type size no smaller than 10 point.
   2. (2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (h)(1) of this section, if the promotional materials pertain to more than one electricity portfolio and contain multiple pages, the power content label for each electricity portfolio may appear on the page discussing that electricity portfolio.
9. (i) The Energy Commission shall generate power content labels on behalf of each retail supplier or provide a power content label template on the Energy Commission website for each retail supplier to generate its power content label. The label or template may display some of the data graphically, including but not limited to information provided under subdivision (c) of this section. The format of the power content label may not be altered by the retail supplier.
10. (j) If a retail supplier elects to include additional information related to the sources of unbundled RECs on any power content label, the retail supplier shall submit the proposed information to the Energy Commission for review by June 1 annually. By July 1 annually, Energy Commission staff shall determine whether the proposed language is limited to information specifically related to the sources of unbundled RECs and does not conflict with the methodology established by the Energy Commission for the calculation of the GHG emissions intensity. If staff determines that the proposed language meets these requirements, staff shall issue a modified Power Content Label template to the retail supplier that includes the proposed language in a footnote.
11. (k) Separate from the power content label, retail suppliers may provide additional information to customers describing other actions relating to GHG that are unrelated to the electricity portfolio.

12. (l) The power content label shall include the following information in footnotes:

    1. (1) This label does not reflect compliance with the Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS), which measures the use of tracking instruments called Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) over the course of multi-year compliance periods. RECs that are purchased separately from the renewable energy (“Unbundled RECs”) can be used for RPS compliance, but they do not factor into the power mixes or GHG emissions intensities above.
    2. (2) “GHG intensity figures exclude biogenic CO₂ and emissions from geothermal sources and grandfathered imports of firmed-and-shaped energy. For detailed information about all GHG emissions from California's retail electricity suppliers, visit the CEC webpage at the link below.”
    3. (3) “Unspecified power is electricity purchased from a genericized pool on the open market.” [This footnote shall also provide the percentage of the secondary resource group, as specified under Section 1393.1(c)(2)(A)-(B), serving unspecified power in the previous year].

Note: Authority cited: Section 25213, Public Resources Code; and Section 398.4, Public Utilities Code. Reference: Sections 25216 and 25216.5, Public Resources Code; and Section 398.4, Public Utilities Code.

History

1. Renumbering of former section 1394.1 to section 1393.1, including amendment of section, filed 6-18-2025; operative 6-18-2025 pursuant to Government Code section 11343.4(b)(3) (Register 2025, No. 25).

2. Editorial revision correcting nonsubstantive errors in previous filing (Register 2025, No. 27).