AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 28, 2026

AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 25, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

97

Introduced by Senator Reyes

February 20, 2026

An act to amend Sections 12500.5 12209.7, 12500.5, and 12509.5 of, and to amend and repeal Section 12209.7 of, add Section 12209.8 to, the Business and Professions Code, and to add Section 25231.6 to the Public Resources Code, relating to transportation electrification.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law vests the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission with various responsibilities for developing and implementing the state’s energy policies.

This bill would require the commission to adopt regulations, no later than July 1, 2027, to protect consumers from inaccurate electric vehicle supply equipment, as provided.

Existing law governs weights and measures in this state, and authorizes the Secretary of Food and Agriculture and each sealer acting under the supervision and direction of the secretary to enforce those provisions, as specified. Existing law requires the secretary to provide by rules and regulations for the submission for approval of types or designs of weights, measures, or weighing, measuring, or counting instruments or devices, used for commercial purposes, and to issue certificates of approval of those types or designs as the secretary finds meet the requirements of state law, as specified.

This bill would, beginning on the date that the commission adopts the above-described regulations, provide that the provisions described above do not apply to the types or designs of weights, measures, or weighing, measuring, or counting instruments or devices, associated with electric vehicle supply equipment, as defined.

Existing law authorizes a county sealer to test and verify as correct any electric vehicle charger, as defined, operated by a public agency that is located in the county in which the sealer has jurisdiction, as provided. Existing law, until January 1, 2028, provides that an electric vehicle supply equipment that has previously been placed in service by a service agency or sealer is not required to be retested or placed in service in certain situations, as provided.

This bill would make any regulations adopted by the secretary for purposes of the former provision inoperative on the date that the commission adopts the above-described regulations and would repeal that provision of January 1 of the following year. regulations. This bill would make the latter provision inoperative on January 1, 2028, or on the date that the commission adopts the above-described regulations, whichever is sooner, and would repeal that provision on January 1 of the following year.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 12209.7 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

12209.7.

(a) For purposes of this section, all of the following definitions apply:

(1) “Correct” has the same meaning as defined in Section 12500.

(2) “Electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency” means an electric vehicle charger that is available for commercial use by the public and that is either owned by a public agency or for which the public agency has entered into an agreement to have the electric vehicle charger installed, maintained, or serviced, to have the revenues from the electric vehicle charger collected, or to otherwise have electric vehicle charging services performed on behalf of the public agency.

(3) “Incorrect” has the same meaning as defined in Section 12500.

(4) “Local publicly owned electric utility” has the same meaning as defined in Section 224.3 of the Public Utilities Code.

(5) “Public agency” means any city, county, city and county, district, or other local authority or public body of, or within, this state.

(b) Except as provided in subdivision (g), a county sealer may test and verify as correct any electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency that is located in the county in which the sealer has jurisdiction.

(c) Except as provided in subdivision (g), a county sealer, upon testing and finding that an electric vehicle charger operated by a public agency is incorrect, shall cause it to be marked with a tag or other suitable device with the words “out of order” and require the charger to be repaired or corrected within 30 days, subject to retesting and verification by the county sealer.

(d) Except as provided in subdivision (g), a county sealer may levy a civil penalty, pursuant to Section 12015.3, against a public agency, or a vendor or entity contracted by a public agency to provide and maintain electric vehicle charger services on behalf of a public agency, that removes or obliterates any tag or device placed, or caused to be placed, by a sealer on an electric vehicle charger operated by the public agency. For purposes of levying a civil penalty under this subdivision, a person described in Section 12015.3 includes a public agency and any contracted vendor or entity.

(e) Pursuant to Section 12240, a county board of supervisors may, by ordinance, charge an annual registration fee for the cost of inspecting and testing an electric vehicle charger, as authorized by this section.

(f) If a public agency owns an electric vehicle charger and leases the electric vehicle charger to another entity that operates the electric vehicle charger commercially, the entity that operates the electric vehicle charger commercially shall be the entity responsible for compliance with this section regarding that electric vehicle charger.

(g) (1) Subdivisions (b), (c), and (d) do not apply to an electric vehicle charger operated by a local publicly owned electric utility if the local publicly owned electric utility does all of the following:

(A) Is responsible for conducting field testing to validate the compliance with specification and user requirements and measurement and transactional accuracy of its commercial electric vehicle chargers that are available for public use.

(B) Uses field inspection and testing practices equivalent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Handbook 44 “Specifications, Tolerances, and Other Technical Requirements for Weighing and Measuring Devices” inspection and test procedures for electric vehicle fueling systems and uses testing standards and equipment that are traceable to standards approved and maintained by the NIST or, in the absence of a standard approved and maintained by the NIST, a calibration laboratory accredited under the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 standard.

(C) Tests and conducts a field inspection for each electric vehicle charger at least once every six months in accordance with subparagraph (B).

(D) Documents the results of a test and field inspection described in subparagraph (C) and any action taken to address a failed test or field inspection, retains that documentation for at least two years, and makes that documentation available to any person or entity that submits a request for it pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(E) Conspicuously affixes a clear and legible identification notification on each electric vehicle charger that includes all of the following:

(i) The name and logo of the local publicly owned electric utility.

(ii) A statement that the electric vehicle charger is operated by the local publicly owned electric utility.

(iii) The local publicly owned electric utility’s customer service contact information for consumer comments, complaints, and questions.

(F) Sends a notice to the applicable county sealer indicating the local publicly owned electric utility’s intent to comply with this paragraph.

(2) If the county sealer finds that a local publicly owned electric utility is not in compliance with paragraph (1), the county sealer shall notify the utility director of the local publicly owned electric utility that is not in compliance and describe the areas of noncompliance. Within 30 days of receiving that notice, the local publicly owned electric utility shall respond to the county sealer and explain the actions taken by the local publicly owned electric utility to comply. If the local publicly owned electric utility fails to provide a response, the governing board of the local publicly owned electric utility shall discuss the notice of noncompliance at its next publicly noticed regular meeting.

SEC. 2.

Section 12209.8 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

SEC. 2.SEC. 3.

Section 12500.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

12500.5.

(a) The secretary, by rules and regulations, shall provide for the submission for approval of types or designs of weights, measures, or weighing, measuring, or counting instruments or devices, used for commercial purposes, and shall issue certificates of approval of such types or designs as the secretary shall find to meet the requirements, tolerances, and specifications of this code.

(b) (1) It shall be unlawful to sell or use for commercial purposes any weight or measure, or any weighing, measuring, or counting instrument or device, of a type or design that has not first been so approved by the department.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a weight, measure, instrument, or device in use for commercial purposes before the effective date of the act that originally added this section may be continued in use unless and until condemned under this code.

(c) (1) This division does section and Article 1 (commencing with Section 12100) of Chapter 2 do not apply to the types or designs of weights, measures, or weighing, measuring, or counting instruments or devices associated with electric vehicle supply equipment, as that term is defined in Section 25231.6 of the Public Resources Code.

(2) This subdivision shall become operative on the date that the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission adopts regulations pursuant to Section 25231.6 of the Public Resources Code.

SEC. 3.SEC. 4.

Section 12509.5 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:

12509.5.

(a) For purposes of this section, “EVSE” or “electric vehicle supply equipment” means a device that is used in connection with the sale of electricity as a motor vehicle fuel for controlling the electricity supply from an electric vehicle charging station to a vehicle during a charging session and that includes a measuring instrument.

(b) Notwithstanding Section 12532, if an EVSE has previously been placed in service by a service agency or sealer, the EVSE shall not be required to be retested or placed in service by a service agency or sealer before the EVSE is used after receiving maintenance in a manner that does not affect the EVSE being correct.

(c) This section shall become inoperative on January 1, 2028, or the date that the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission adopts regulations pursuant to Section 25231.6 of the Public Resources Code, whichever is sooner, and, as of January 1 of the following year, is repealed.

SEC. 4.SEC. 5.

Section 25231.6 is added to the Public Resources Code, to read:

25231.6.

(a) For purposes of this section, “electric vehicle supply equipment” means an electric component assembly or cluster of component assemblies used for commercial purposes, as defined in Section 12500 of the Business and Professions Code, that is designed specifically to charge a battery within an electric vehicle by permitting the transfer of electricity to the battery or other storage device in the electric vehicle.

(b) The commission shall adopt regulations, no later than July 1, 2027, to protect consumers from inaccurate electric vehicle supply equipment. These regulations shall include tolerances and specifications for electric vehicle supply equipment and standards for the testing and verification of electric vehicle supply equipment delivery accuracy and mechanisms to ensure compliance with and enforcement of the requirements. The regulations may include, without limitation, all of the following:

(1) A pathway to enable a manufacturer to test its electric vehicle supply equipment before the equipment leaves the manufacturing facility.

(2) A provision for electric vehicle supply equipment that has not been tested before the equipment leaves the manufacturing facility to be tested before it is made available to consumers.

(3) Provisions to ensure electric vehicle supply equipment manufacturers and owners are informed of their responsibilities under the regulations.

(4) A process for confirming compliance with the regulations that uses the commission’s electric vehicle charger inventory data to conduct randomized inspections, such as in-person spot checks that reflect a representative sample of installed electric vehicle chargers and inspections triggered by the receipt of consumer complaints.

(5) An enforcement process process, with an accompanying appeals process, that establishes a tiered set of corrective actions to address violations, including a reasonable time for the violation to be remedied before an administrative civil penalty may be assessed, an administrative civil penalty not to exceed a fine of two one thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ($1,000) assessed for an initial violation, and, for subsequent violations, an administrative civil penalty that shall include a fine not to exceed two one thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) ($1,000) and that may include other penalties, including the electric vehicle supply equipment’s suspension or removal from service.