COM/JB2/tcg Date of Issuance 4/20/2009
Decision 09-04-031 April 16, 2009
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
DECISION GRANTING INTERVENOR COMPENSATION
TO THE UTILITY CONSUMERS' ACTION NETWORK
FOR SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO DECISION 07-04-043
This decision awards the Utility Consumers' Action Network $254,324 in compensation for its substantial contributions to Decision 07-04-043 in the second phase of this proceeding, a decrease of $211,967 from the amount originally requested.
1. Background
On March 15, 2005, San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) filed Application (A.) 05-03-015, seeking approval of its Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Project deployment proposal and associated cost recovery and rate design. SDG&E entered into a settlement agreement with other active parties on the scope and funding for AMI pre-deployment activities, which the Commission approved in Decision (D.) 05-08-028. With the permission of Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Cooke, SDG&E served updated testimony on its AMI deployment proposal on March 28, 2006. On July 14, 2006, SDG&E served amendments to its testimony. The Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) and the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN) served testimony on August 14, 2006, and SDG&E served its rebuttal testimony on September 7, 2007. Evidentiary hearings were held September 25, 2006 through October 5, 2006, and the case was submitted on November 15, 2006, upon the filing of reply briefs. With a ruling issued on December 15, 2006, ALJ Gamson reopened the record to obtain further information, including information on the projected costs and benefits of SDG&E's proposal based on a set of assumptions specified in that ruling. SDG&E subsequently filed a motion requesting an extension of time in which to propose a settlement. On February 9, 2007, SDG&E filed a motion for approval of an all-party settlement agreement. Parties supported the settlement with written answers to questions provided in a ruling of ALJ Gamson issued on February 16, 2007, and testimony from evidentiary hearings held on February 27, 2007.
D.07-04-043 adopts the settlement between SDG&E, UCAN, and DRA on implementation and funding of AMI deployment in A.05-03-015, finding it to be reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with law, and in the public interest. The settlement agreement proposes deployment funding of $572 million for AMI implementation, adds functionality to SDG&E's AMI proposal to increase its cost-effectiveness, and establishes an AMI Technology Advisory Panel (TAP) to review SDG&E's AMI deployment and new industry developments related to AMI technologies. The decision finds the all-party settlement to be cost-effective, and approves the funding and other terms of the settlement.
