Our movement is growing: ROP’s impact in 2025

It’s been quite an eventful year for the Reclaim Our Power: Utility Justice Campaign! With your support, we are laying the groundwork for a future where clean and affordable energy is a human right and no family has to choose between making rent or paying their electricity bill.

We’re excited to share some 2025 highlights:

We’ve grown our membership, bridging political divides, holding consistent monthly coalition meetings, and creating and facilitating working teams meetings.

• Expanding and reengaging our organizational membership and broadening our geographic representation to include the San Diego Gas and Electric and Southern California Edison regions. 
• Increasing action opportunities for individuals by organizing events- 6 public comment mobilizations, 6 rallies and press conferences, and a Day of Action for utility justice which included over 100 participants.  
• Engaging in solidarity organizing by showing up for partner calls-to-action and being present for community members in times of crisis and connection.

We’ve developed a multilingual popular education curriculum to break down the root causes of utility injustice, unpack the investor Owned Utility Model, and discuss a suite of potential solutions for a future not-for-profit and justice-centered utility.

We’ve also engaged in policy on both the state and local levels:

• Held  8 popular education workshops, virtually and in-person, and engaged over 100 people.
• Backed SB 332 —  the Investor-Owned Utilities Accountability Act — which passed the Senate and made it to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. While we wish it had progressed further, we’re thrilled it has been fuel for the broader narrative and organizing work we’re doing around deprivatizing the energy system. 
• Supported AB 1167, which restricts corporate utility political activities and promotional advertising. Its passage reflects shifting political will.
• Supported the City of Berkeley in passage of a utility justice resolution, calling on the State to transform our energy utilities.

We’ve been connecting with new audiences, sharing ROP’s vision and values, dispelling false ideas of how the energy system works, demonstrating the intersections of utility justice across issues and communities, growing our following on multiple platforms, and shifting the cultural understanding about why Californians deserve a community-centered energy system that replaces corporate utility monopolies.

Examples of shifting narrative and expanded reach include:

• Hiring an incredible new team member to support our communications and digital organizing
• Growing our Instagram following from 700 to nearly 4900 in a year and a half by telling stories that resonate — driven largely by a viral video of a legislative ally grilling the president of the utilities commission for allowing PG&E to repeatedly raise our rates, which attracted more than 400,000 views and 40k interactions ( 26K likes, 11K shares, 2k saves and 1.8k comments.)
• Participating in a podcast, various radio shows, and 6 panels in 2025
• Garnering press coverage, including
  • A staff-authored Op-Ed, Fresno Community Alliance, “Utilities Bills Going Higher” – Dec 3, 2025
  • Several pieces about the bill we sponsored, the Investor-Owned Utilities Accountability Act:
    • Los Angeles Times: “Column: Time for California to get serious about cheaper, cleaner energy” – Feb 27, 2025
    • Patch: “Silicon Valley Senator Proposes Crackdown On Investor-Owned Utilities” – Feb 18, 2025 (ROP quoted)
    • Contra Costa News: “Wahab: Bill Would Limit Rate Increases for Investor-Owned Utilities” – Feb 14, 2025 (ROP quoted)
  • Local coverage of a resolution we introduced in Oakland:
    • Oaklandside, “PG&E killed support in Oakland for utility accountability law, councilmember says” – Jul 24, 2025 (ROP quoted)
    • Grist, “The national fight for public power comes to Oakland” – Jul 24, 2025

We’ve been learning about strategies throughout the country, working with energy researchers to develop solutions to apply in California, and sharing our ideas for utility transformation.

• Building our knowledge base by working with public policy, energy regulation and design students to research topics including Justice-Centered Utility Design Features and the geographic spread of various harms caused by PG&E. 
• Initiating research on worker rights including wages, pension, union representation, right-to-strike and other benefits. 
• Building and maintaining connections with technical experts who helped inform the necessary components to implement a transition to a not-for-profit utility — sharing insights on the legal, regulatory, governance, infrastructure, financial, and labor implications of various not-for-profit utility models.