Acterra in Action September 2026

Legislation's Last Chance

Tick, tick, tick.... California’s legislative session is finally over, but one more hurdle remains. September is the month for Governor Newsom to consider hundreds of bills. Luckily, there's a simple way that you can uplift deserving legislation on clean energy and local food systems: Use our ActionButtons! Read on for our latest Actions and a pre-election assignment (Spoiler: check your registration!)

Take Action!

Push for Portable Panels,

Get Off Gas, Combat Food Deserts

& Shed Some Light on the PCIA

Time to Plug In

Do you support affordable, portable solar energy options for community members who rent, rather than own, their homes? Do you support an affordable option to knocking down some of the high cost of energy bills? Do you support Germany, Utah and 28 other states that have either signed measures into law or are working on it? Well, Senator Scott Wiener’s SB 868, the “Plug Into the Sun” bill, a.k.a. "Balcony Solar,” is on the Governor’s desk and needs a signoff. What do you say?

Incentivize Clean Energy, Not Gas

Do you support letting households opt for electrification upgrades instead of automatically paying for the replacement of an aging gas system? Assemblymember Marc Berman’s AB 2313 (Home Energy Choice Act) prevailed in the Senate over utility opposition and has landed on Governor Newsom’s desk. Speak up and request that he sign it.

End Harmful Restrictions After Grocery Stores Close
A bill sponsored by Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry, AB 1857, would end the practice of “restrictive covenants” that take effect when a grocery store closes, oftentimes barring any other grocery store from opening in its place. Big retail chains have been using these covenants to quietly cripple their competition, which ultimately harms consumers by keeping food prices high and leaving some neighborhoods without access to a grocery store. Notably, AB 1857 passed through both houses of the Legislature unanimously. Let’s eliminate this needless restriction.

Improve Energy Bill Transparency

Assemblymember Roger’s AB 1761 shines a light on a mysterious energy bill item: the Power Charge Indifference Adjustment or PCIA. It is a fee you pay every month if you chose cleaner and less expensive local community choice energy rates. How is it calculated? Great question. AB 1761 makes investor-owned utilities show their math.

Click through the buttons below to edit and send the Governor some timely email.

The Latest on Rule 9-6

(Zero-Emission Water Heaters)

After the closure of public comment back on August 13, one might think that things would remain quiet until the November 4 Bay Area Air District Board of Directors meeting — when a full vote on the latest version of Rule 9-6, including flexibility measures, is expected.

Quite the contrary! Here are four ways to get involved and make your voice heard:

1) Join Us for a Rally in support of Rule 9-6 in San Francisco. The rally will be from 11:00 - 11:30 AM at In Chan Kaajal Park.

2) The Stationary Source Committee of the Bay Area Air District will convene on Wednesday, September 9, at 10:00 AM. We’ll monitor the agenda once it’s released and launch a call to action if there’s an opportunity for meaningful public comment in support of heat pumps and cleaner air for the region.

3) Fight misinformation. Consider submitting a local Letter to the Editor, an Op-Ed, or other contribution to the media ecosystem (or refute a misleading letter).

4) On September 10, at 9:00 AM, SPUR, the Air District, and Silicon Valley Clean Energy (SVCE) are co-hosting an in-person forum on heat pumps moderated by KQED's Laura Klivans Spread the word.

Get up to speed on Rule 9-6 with these resources:

Distrito de Aire del Área de la Bahía Hoja informativa on Water Heater Rule Amendments
Myth-debunking website, "Know the Facts"
Canary Media artículo, "Bay Area looks to exempt some households from gas water-heater phaseout"
New Buildings Institute's in-depth report, "Plug-In heat Pump Water Heater Field Study Findings and Market Recommendations" looks at the rise of 120 volt appliances.

State Legislation - Gains and Setbacks

Here is a review of some of the other bills we are supporting still in play:

SB 222 (Wiener), Heat Pump Access Act, streamlines permitting.
SB 905 (Becker) directs the Energy Commission to develop metrics and alternative methods for finance of electrical generation, distribution and transmission projects in order to lower consumer energy costs.
SB 913 (Becker) Focuses on improving the use of distributed energy resources, including home batteries and other virtual power plant technologies, to help meet periods of peak demand.
AB 1738 (Carillo, Wicks) gives homeowners and their contractors the option of remote inspections in one or two family dwellings.

Two bills that we opposed were killed at various points in the legislative process:

AB 2057 (De Maio) would have prevented a city or county from prohibiting the use of natural gas in a residential unit.
AB 2748 (Quirk-Silva) would have weakened EV Ready charging requirements for affordable housing developments.

Unfortunately, one of the bills we opposed was signed into law:

AB 2044 (Petrie-Norris) requires that when a new building rule is proposed, it must provide not only estimates of how much it will cost to comply with the new rules, but extra supporting evidence to back the estimate.

Fix the Fundamentals:

Assaults on Air Quality and Cap & Trade

ActionButton - Vote NO on CRA resolution

Por si te lo perdiste

We have previously called out problems with Cal EPA’s CalEnviroScreen 5.0 draft, a screening tool that determines how billions of dollars of state funding is funneled to frontline communities. Unfortunately, version 5.0 still stands despite doing un mal trabajo identifying Comunidades del Área de la Bahía. Read our latest comments.
Acterra joined several other entities in providing comment at the August 25 California Building Standards Commission (BSC) meeting. The request was for BSC to end the months-long delay to the approval of reach codes already passed by city councils throughout the state (including, in the Bay Area, East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Portola Valley, and San Mateo). We will continue to monitor this unresolved issue.