But the sheer amount of spending planned by utilities threatens to overwhelm the ability of their customers to pay for it. SB 905 seeks to tackle utility spending in three key ways:Limit utilities’ return on equity (i.e., their guaranteed rate of profitability) on investments that help them reduce their risks. Curbing utilities’ return on equity California lawmakers have been trying for years to pass utility reforms. A number of states are targeting utilities’ ROE to combat rising rates — and utilities are, not surprisingly, fighting back against the idea. In a nod to the challenging politics, SB 905 proposes assigning a lower ROE only to key categories of utility spending, Freedman said.