California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Sept. 27 signed a bill into law that expands the list of professions for which an assault or battery of a person in that profession carries elevated misdemeanor penalties to include utility workers including public power workers.
The bill, SB-1330, which was sponsored by California State Senator Jesse Arreguín, includes utility workers engaged in the performance of their duties in the list of professions against whom an assault or battery conviction carries elevated criminal penalties.
The new law also makes an assault of, or battery against, a utility worker engaged in the performance of their duties, where the perpetrator knows or reasonably should know the victim is such a utility worker engaged in the performance of their duties, punishable by imprisonment of up to one year in county jail, up to a $2,000 fine, or by both.
It defines "utility worker" to mean a person employed by, or who is a contractor to, an investor-owned or publicly owned water corporation, electrical corporation, gas corporation, electric cooperative, local publicly owned electric utility, as defined, or a public water system, as defined, “that performs services for or delivers a commodity to the public or any portion thereof and the service performed by the person is the construction, alteration, demolition, installation, maintenance, or repair of water, electrical, or gas infrastructure,” a summary of the bill notes.
A May 2025 Public Power Current feature story detailed how a number of other states have taken similar action through legislation to protect utility workers.
