On November 7, 2025, DWGP attorney Lauren Perkins and DWGP law clerk Paige Punzalan attended the 17th Annual Lesley K. McAllister Symposium on Climate and Energy Law, hosted by the University of San Diego School of Law. During this year’s event, themed “Exploring Solutions to California’s High Electricity Costs,” panels identified factors impacting retail customers’ electric bills (e.g., investment in wildfire mitigation measures such as undergrounding lines) and discussed and debated potential solutions to rising costs, ranging from greater regulatory scrutiny over investor-owned utility ratemaking, to alternative financing mechanisms such as public-private partnerships for transmission infrastructure, permitting reform at both state and federal levels, and the emerging day-ahead markets in the Western Interconnection. The discussion noted recent California legislation, including AB 1207’s (2025) reauthorization of the state’s cap-and-trade program (renamed the cap-and-invest program) and creation of the California Climate Mitigation Fund for, among other things, reducing household energy costs; SB 254’s (2025) creation of the California Transmission Accelerator Revolving Fund to finance transmission projects with a focus on those involving public-private partnerships; and AB 825’s (2025) establishment of prerequisites for the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and its participating transmission owners to join energy markets governed by an independent regional organization regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
More information regarding the Symposium is available here on the University of San Diego webpage.