California Industry Assistance Credit for Industrial Businesses
Open Enrollment Period: September 1 - 30, 2024. Please revisit us during this time.
What is the CA Industry Assistance Credit?
The CA Industry Assistance Credit is part of the State of California’s Cap-and-Trade Program, developed because of landmark legislation called the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (AB 32). The program aims to address climate change by limiting the total amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by the largest sources.
The State of California provides CA Industry Assistance to protect against emissions leakage. Emissions leakage is when emissions decrease within California but increase outside of California. AB 32 requires the State to minimize leakage to the extent feasible. This credit protects eligible industrial sectors against emissions leakage by compensating them for a portion of the GHG emission costs associated with the electricity they buy.
The amount of the credit is determined for each facility using emissions-efficiency benchmarks that reward businesses and help provide an incentive to make products in California in the most energy-efficient way possible.
SCE distributes the credit on behalf of the State of California every year in April. To start a new claim, you must submit your claim on or before September 30, 2024, to receive a payout of the CA Industry Assistance Credit in April 2025.
Who is eligible for the CA Industry Assistance Credit?
The CA Industry Assistance Credit is open to all industrial utility customers in eligible industries, including those who get electricity from community choice aggregators and other electric service providers.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) determines eligibility for the CA Industry Assistance Credit at the facility level. A facility is a physical property or structure located on one or more contiguous properties, such as a campus, factory, or company headquarters.
If your company owns multiple facilities throughout the state, each facility may or may not be eligible. It all depends on the type of product or service produced by each individual facility.
A facility is eligible for the CA Industry Assistance Credit if it derives most of its revenue from a product, activity or service that has an eligible, three-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code. Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover requires the full six-digit NAICS Code 111419 to be eligible for the credit.
- Apparel Manufacturing
- Beverage and Tobacco Product Manufacturing
- Chemical Manufacturing
- Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing
- Food Manufacturing
- Machinery Manufacturing
- Mining (except Oil and Gas)
- Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing
- Oil and Gas Extraction
- Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover
- Paper Manufacturing
- Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing
- Primary Metal Manufacturing
- Support Activities for Transportation
- Textile Mills
- Transportation Equipment Manufacturing
Three-digit NAICS codes that qualify for the CA Industry Assistance Credit Your facility is eligible for the CA Industry Assistance Credit if it derives most of its revenue from a product, activity, or service with one of the following first three-digits in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.
If you are unsure which NAICS code applies to your facility, review your company's federal income tax return, such as IRS Form 1120, or visit https://www.census.gov/naics/.
| NAICS Code | NAICS Code Description |
|---|---|
| 111419 | Other Food Crops Grown Under Cover |
| 211 | Oil and Gas Extraction |
| 212 | Mining (except Oil and Gas) |
| 311 | Food Manufacturing |
| 312 | Beverage and Tobacco Production Manufacturing |
| 313 | Textile Mills |
| 315 | Apparel Manufacturing |
| 322 | Paper Manufacturing |
| 324 | Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing |
| 325 | Chemical Manufacturing |
| 327 | Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing |
| 331 | Primary Metal Manufacturing |
| 332 | Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing |
| 333 | Machinery Manufacturing |
| 336 | Transportation Equipment Manufacturing |
| 488 | Support Activities for Transportation |
How can I get the CA Industry Assistance Credit?
There are two types of eligible facilities: (1) those that must submit an eligibility claim, known by the CPUC as an Attestation, and (2) those that qualify for the CA Industry Assistance Credit by reporting to the Air Resources Board under its Mandatory Reporting Regulation. Most California businesses fall into the first category.
Its direct emissions are less than 10,000 MTCO2e – metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent gas – per year. Your facility falls into this category if it is NOT required to report to the California Air Resource Board under the Mandatory Reporting Regulation.
You will need to submit a form for each qualifying facility in which you:
- Provide basic info about the facility,
- Identify which qualifying NAICS code applies to that facility,
- Specify all the utility service accounts that belong to that facility,
- Designate one utility service account to receive the bill credit,
- Confirm your understanding that your facility may be subject to an audit and
- Declare under penalty of perjury that what you're saying is true.
| Deadline | Years for which you'll receive the CA Industry Assistance Credit | When you'll have to resubmit an eligibility claim |
|---|---|---|
| September 30, 2023 | 2024, 2025, and 2026. Facilities will receive the April 2024, 2025, and 2026 credit. | September 30, 2026. ALL Facilities must reclaim eligibility by this date to receive the EITE credit for 2027, 2028, and 2029. |
| September 30, 2024 | 2025. Facilities will receive the April 2025 credit. | September 30, 2025. Facilities that did not claim eligibility in 2023 must claim eligibility by this date to receive the EITE credit for 2026. |
| September 30, 2025 | 2026. Facilities will receive the April 2026 credit. | September 30, 2026. ALL Facilities must reclaim eligibility by this date to receive the EITE credit for 2027, 2028, and 2029. |
Your business may already automatically receive the Small Business Climate Credit, a bi-annual credit, for some of its utility service accounts. If you choose to claim eligibility for the CA Industry Assistance Credit, you will stop receiving the bi-annual Small Business Climate Credit at all service accounts associated with that facility. You will start receiving the annual CA Industry Assistance Credit instead.
Each investor-owned utility hosts its own version of the CA Industry Assistance Credit eligibility form. Contact PG&E, SDG&E, Liberty Utilities or PacifiCorp if you have facilities in their respective service territories.
Click the button below if you have eligible facilities within SCE's service territory.
It has a qualifying North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code and direct emissions of 10,000 MTCO2e per year or greater. Your company already reports to the Air Resource Board under its Mandatory Reporting Regulation.
The CPUC already has everything it needs to calculate your facility's CA Industry Assistance Credit. SCE will contact you to find out which service account to apply the credit to.
How much money can I expect from the CA Industry Assistance Credit?
The amount of the CA Industry Assistance Credit will vary from facility to facility. The amount of the credit is determined by using emissions-efficiency benchmarks that reward businesses that have taken early action to reduce GHG emissions. This approach will also ensure that, in the future, these industries have a strong incentive to produce products in California in the most greenhouse gas-efficient way possible.
Amounts may also vary from utility to utility, based on the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in each energy provider's supply. Amounts even vary from year to year, based on greenhouse gas prices.
For these reasons, we can't accurately predict what your company's actual bill credit amount may be.
Here are some guidelines to give you a general idea of what you might be able to expect.
| If your facility's MONTHLY electricity usage is... | You MIGHT receive an ANNUAL CA Industry Assistance Credit of... |
|---|---|
| 10,000 kWh | $500 to $600 |
| 100,000 kWh | $5,000 to $6,000 |
| 1,000,000 kWh | $50,000 to $60,000 |
The estimated bill credit represents the annual savings a facility could receive. The CA Industry Assistance amount depends on the price of GHG allowances in the prior year and can go up or down as allowance prices change. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) will calculate the actual credit amount based on the rules outlined in Decision D.14-12-037.
Important Notes
- If your facility successfully submits an eligibility claim by September 30, 2024, or your facility automatically qualifies, your CA Industry Assistance Credit will be applied to your April 2025 bill.
- If your company previously received the Small Business California Climate Credit, you would stop receiving the bi-annual California Climate Credit and will start receiving the annual CA Industry Assistance Credit.
- The CPUC calculates your credit amount, not SCE. To protect your privacy, SCE does not have access to all the data that the CPUC uses to determine your credit amount. SCE may not be able to accurately predict your credit amount or answer detailed questions about why you received a specific amount. Facilities can reach out to industry.assistance@cpuc.ca.gov for help estimating the value of future credits.
For complete rules about how the CPUC calculates the CA Industry Assistance Credit, please refer to page 67 in the CPUC Decision.
When can I expect the CA Industry Assistance Credit on my electricity bill?
The credit will appear as a line item on your bill, labeled "CA Industry Assistance."
- If your facility successfully submits an eligibility claim by September 30, 2024, or your facility automatically qualifies, your CA Industry Assistance Credit will appear in April 2025.
- After the credit appears on your bill, you may request a check if the credit amount is greater than your account balance. SCE customers may do so by calling the number that appears on your bill.
If your facility has direct emissions of 25,000 MTCO2e or greater
Facilities that are Cap-and-Trade covered entities, with direct emissions of 25,000 MTCO2e per year or greater, have the option to receive the CA Industry Assistance Credit as a check instead of a bill credit. If you qualify, SCE will email you with instructions on how to request a check.