Kotz Comment Resolution ALJ-221 Corrections to General Order 96-B

Kotz Comment Resolution ALJ-221 Attachment
Kotz Comment Resolution ALJ-221 Service Lists

STATE OF CALIFORNIA ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

505 VAN NESS AVENUE

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94102-3298

July 21, 2008 Agenda ID #7788

TO PARTIES OF RECORD IN DRAFT RESOLUTION ALJ-221

This draft resolution regarding Non-substantive Corrections to General Order 96-B will be on the agenda at the August 21, 2008 Commission meeting. The Commission may then vote on this draft resolution, or it may postpone a vote.

When the Commission acts on the draft resolution, it may adopt all or part of it as written, amend or modify it, or set it aside and prepare its own order. Only when the Commission acts does the resolution become binding on the parties.

You may serve comments on the draft resolution. Opening comments shall be served no later than August 11, 2008, and reply comments shall be served no later than August 18, 2008. Service is required on all persons on the attached service list. Comments shall be served consistent with the requirements of Pub. Util. Code § 311(g) and Rule 14.5 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure.

Finally, comments must be served separately on Administrative Law Judge Kotz at kot@cpuc.ca.gov, and for that purpose I suggest e-mail, hand-delivery, overnight mail, or other expeditious method of service.

/s/ ANGELA K. MINKIN

Angela K. Minkin, Chief

Administrative Law Judge

ANG:hkr

Attachment

PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Resolution ALJ-221

Administrative Law Judge Division

August 21, 2008

R E S O L U T I O N

RESOLUTION ALJ-221 Corrects Errors in General Order 96-B and Codifies Amendments to Industry Rules Approved in Resolutions E-4111 and W-4664.

SUMMARY

This resolution changes General Order (GO) 96-B in three respects: Correction of faulty cross-references to certain General Rules in those rules and in the Energy and Water Industry Rules; correction to Water Industry Rule 7.3.3(7); and codification of previously adopted amendments to the Energy and Water Industry Rules. The changes are entirely non-substantive.

BACKGROUND

The Commission has completely updated its rules governing advice letter processing, including filing, service, review, and disposition of advice letters. The updates culminated in Decision (D.) 07-01-024 (adopting General Rules and Industry Rules for the energy and water utilities) and D.07-09-019 (adopting Industry Rules for the telecommunications utilities). With adoption of D.07-09-019, the GO 96 rulemaking was closed, and GO 96-A was wholly superseded by GO 96-B.

The Commission recognized, however, that GO 96-B likely would need occasional slight revisions to reflect developments in regulatory law and policy for each utility industry, to correct errors, or simply to improve the adopted rules. For slight revisions, the Commission determined that a full-scale rulemaking would not be necessary. Instead, the Commission provided for amendment by resolution, following notice and an opportunity to comment. (See General Rule 1.4.) Both the Energy and Water Industry Rules have been modified by resolution. (See Resolution (Res.) E-4111 (Sept. 6, 2007) and W-4664 (Nov. 1, 2007).)

DISCUSSION

Today's resolution is intended to correct three problems with the text of GO 96-B as it currently exists.

The first problem is that some of the General Rules, Energy Industry Rules, and Water Industry Rules contain cross-references to General Rule 5.4 or 5.5. Those two General Rules existed in early drafts of GO 96-B, but the adopted GO 96-B eliminated those two General Rules and distributed their subject matter to other General Rules. Unfortunately, through inadvertence, several cross-references to General Rule 5.4 or 5.5 were overlooked prior to adoption. Today's resolution corrects the cross-references to reflect the appropriate General Rules. The correction does not change the substance of any rule.

The second problem is that, in Water Industry Rule 7.3.3(7), the term "offset," as applied to a Memorandum Account, is inexact. A balance in a Memorandum Account may be amortized, as the Commission directs. Thus, Water Industry Rule 7.3.3(7) is corrected to refer to Memorandum Account "amortization." This correction in terminology does not affect the treatment of advice letters requesting Memorandum Account amortization. The review and disposition of these advice letters remain under Tier 3.

The third problem is that the amendments adopted in Res. E-4111 and W-4664 are partly unclear regarding how they are to be codified. For example, Res. E-4111 does not specify which Energy Industry Rule is amended. In addition, Ordering Paragraph 2 in Res. E-4111 refers for certain purposes to "a Commission order issued after today's date," i.e., the date of adoption of Res. E-4111 (September 6, 2007). Today's resolution codifies the amendments adopted in Res. E-4111 and W-4664. The codification makes minor clarifying word changes. These changes include specifying September 6, 2007, in the appropriate Energy Industry Rule; by specifying the date, the Energy Industry Rule will be clear on its face, without the need to consult Res. E-4111 or determine the date when Res. E-4111 was adopted. The codification does not change the substance of Res. E-4111 or W-4664.

COMMENTS

Public Utilities Code section 311(g)(1) requires that a draft resolution be served on all parties, and be subject to a public review and comment period of 30 days or more, prior to a vote of the Commission on the resolution. A draft of today's resolution was distributed for comment to the energy and water utilities and other interested parties.

FINDINGS

1. Cross-references to General Rule 5.4 or 5.5 should be corrected to reflect the adopted version of GO 96-B.

2. The term "offset" in Water Industry Rule 7.3.3(7) is inexact as applied to a Memorandum Account. The proper term is "amortization."

3. Res. E-4111 and W-4664 should be codified in the respective Industry Rules.

4. The corrected cross-references and terminology and the codification of Res. E-4111 and W-4664, set forth in the attachment to today's resolution, make no substantive changes to GO 96-B.

THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED that:

1. General Order (GO) 96-B is revised as set forth in the attachment to today's resolution.

2. GO 96-B, as revised pursuant to Ordering Paragraph 1, shall be published promptly at the Commission's Internet site and shall entirely supersede all prior versions of GO 96-A and GO 96-B.

This resolution is effective today.

I certify that the foregoing resolution was duly introduced, passed, and adopted at a conference of the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California held on _______________, the following Commissioners voting favorably thereon:

PAUL CLANON

Executive Director

INFORMATION REGARDING SERVICE

I have provided notification of the foregoing Draft Resolution ALJ-221 to the electronic mail addresses on the attached service lists, as well as a Notice of Availability by U.S. mail. I have served a hard copy of the foregoing Draft Resolution ALJ-221 by U.S. mail on those persons on the attached service lists that do not have e-mail addresses.