Southern California Edison has opened its annual application window for the California Industry Assistance Credit. Eligible industrial facilities that do not report directly under California's Mandatory Reporting Regulation must submit a facility-level attestation by September 30 to receive the credit scheduled for April 2027.
The filing is a request for a utility credit, not a new operating mandate or enforcement deadline. A facility that does not apply by September 30 will not face a penalty from this program, but it will miss the April 2027 credit. SCE says a facility that applies by September 30, 2027 may still qualify for the credits scheduled for 2028 and 2029.
The California Public Utilities Commission oversees the program. It returns a share of the proceeds from the state's greenhouse-gas allowance auctions to industrial facilities in emissions-intensive, trade-exposed sectors. The CPUC calculates each credit using facility information and confidential emissions data, so the public program pages do not promise a standard dollar amount.
Which SCE facilities can apply
The program is open to eligible industrial facilities of any size that receive electric distribution service from SCE. Participation is based principally on the facility's revenue from an eligible North American Industry Classification System sector, not on the business's head count.
SCE's current enrollment page lists eligible sectors under NAICS codes 111419, 211, 212, 311, 312, 313, 315, 322, 324, 325, 327, 331, 332, 333, 336, and 488. Those codes cover parts of agriculture, mining, food and beverage manufacturing, textiles, apparel, paper, petroleum and coal products, chemicals, nonmetallic mineral products, primary and fabricated metals, machinery, transportation equipment, and support activities for transportation.
Eligibility is determined at the facility level. A company with multiple facilities must submit a separate attestation for each facility it wants considered. An applicant should confirm the qualifying NAICS code and the revenue test in the official form rather than assume that a broad industry description is enough.
Facilities that report directly to the California Air Resources Board under the Mandatory Reporting Regulation follow a different path. SCE says those facilities do not submit the non-MRR attestation. The utility contacts MRR facilities to identify the service account that should receive the credit.
What the September filing requires
For a non-MRR facility, the attestation asks for the facility's identifying information, qualifying NAICS code, associated SCE service accounts, and the service account designated to receive the credit. The applicant must acknowledge possible audit and record-review requirements and sign the declaration under penalty of perjury.
The program is available to a qualifying facility that buys generation service from a community choice aggregator or another electric service provider, provided the facility remains an SCE distribution customer. The credit is delivered through the utility bill associated with the approved service account.
SCE also flags an important tradeoff for small businesses. A facility receiving the California Small Business Climate Credit may lose that credit on the accounts included in a successful Industry Assistance application. Because the Industry Assistance amount is facility-specific, a business should compare the available information before choosing to apply.
What happens after September 30
The CPUC's published schedule gives utilities until November 30 to verify the attestations. The commission then calculates the facility-specific credits by January 31, and utilities begin issuing them on April 1.
An approved attestation submitted in the 2026 window covers the credits scheduled for 2027, 2028, and 2029. SCE's reapplication guidance says the business does not have to submit the same attestation again during that three-year period unless information changes or the utility requests an update.
Businesses can track the September 30 date on Federal Weekly's compliance calendar and review the corresponding Business Rule Change Tracker record.
The practical takeaway
An industrial business in SCE territory should first identify whether each facility reports under the Mandatory Reporting Regulation. A non-MRR facility should then confirm that it earns the required share of revenue from an eligible NAICS sector and collect every SCE service account tied to the facility.
If the facility qualifies, submit one complete attestation for that facility by September 30 and designate the account that should receive the credit. Keep the eligibility records used for the filing in case the facility is selected for an audit.
A small business already receiving the Small Business Climate Credit should review SCE's warning before applying. A facility that misses this year's deadline can still seek the later credits during the 2027 window, but it cannot recover the April 2027 credit through that later filing.