BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
SB 1165 (Wright) - Public Utilities Commission: intervenor
compensation.
Amended: March 27, 2012 Policy Vote: EU&C 10-1
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: May 7, 2012 Consultant: Marie Liu
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: SB 1165 would expand the intervenor compensation
program at the California Public Utilities Commission to include
school districts, county offices of education, and community
college districts.
Fiscal Impact: On-going costs of $220,000 from the Public
Utilities Commission Utilities Reimbursement Account (special
fund) beginning in 2013 for the review of intervener
compensation claims.
Background: The intervenor compensation program (program) at the
California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is a program
intended to encourage and enable wide customer participation in
PUC proceedings by removing cost as a barrier to participation.
The program started with utility rate cases because of the
complex and lengthy proceedings that involve the PUC acting much
like a court, relying on judges, attorneys, and expert witnesses
before making final decisions. The cases involve public hearings
with written and oral testimony, cross examination, opening and
reply briefs, draft decisions with comments from parties, and
ultimately a final decision.
Under the program, customers who couldn't otherwise afford to
participate without "significant financial hardship" and who
have made a "substantial contribution" to the case, as
determined by the PUC, are eligible to have their reasonable
expenses covered, including attorney fees and expert witness
fees. Awards are paid for by the public utility that is the
subject of the proceeding. For utilities subject to traditional
cost-of-service ratemaking (e.g. the electric utilities), the
expense of the program is recoverable from ratepayers. Where the
utility is subject to price-cap regulation, or where prices
SB 1165 (Wright)
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aren't regulated (e.g. telecommunications utilities) the utility
must manage the cost of the program.
Local governments are explicitly exempt from participating in
the program premised on the fact that local government agencies
are funded with public dollars and have the ability to increase
taxes or fees to fund their activities.
Proposed Law: This bill would make a school district, county
office of education, or community college district eligible to
receive reimbursement in the intervenor compensation program for
costs incurred in participating in PUC proceedings.
Staff Comments: This bill would increase the number of claims
submitted to the program. The PUC anticipates that the increased
claims will require an additional administrative law judge and a
legal analyst to review the accuracy and validity of the claims
for a total on-going cost of $220,000.
By expanding the number of entities eligible to receive
intervenor compensation program awards, this bill increases the
potential for electric customer rate increases as electric
utilities are allowed to recover the full amount of the award in
customer rates within one year of the award. Given that the
state itself is a ratepayer, responsible for approximately 1-2%
of the state's electricity use, expansion of the intervenor
compensation program could result in costs to the state in the
tens of thousands of dollars from the General Fund and special
funds.
Proposed Author Amendments: During the E&UC committee, the
author indicated interest in working with stakeholders to make
sure awards were only given to parties that had a "truly
significant" role in the rulemaking. Amendments have not yet
been received by the committee.