8. Assignment of Proceeding
Rachelle B. Chong is the assigned Commissioner and Kimberly H. Kim is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.
1. Lamar is a California Limited Liability Company operating an outdoor advertising business in California.
2. The terms of the Master Agreement expressly provide that Lamar's use and activities relating to its signboards must be compatible with and may not interfere with PG&E's future use and operation on its properties.
3. Under the terms of the Master Agreement, PG&E could receive site license fee revenue, estimated at $1.3 million, for the 10-year period plus renewals depending on how many site licenses are entered and how early in the Master Agreement period they can be finalized.
4. Proceeds from license fees associated with PG&E's electric transmission property are subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction.
5. Proceeds from license fees associated with PG&E's electric distribution property will be treated as Electric Other Operating Revenue and will be used to reduce PG&E's revenue requirement consistent with conventional cost-of-service ratemaking.
6. PG&E's request for approval of an expedited review process contains three categories of licenses or transactions.
7. California Public Resources Code Section 21065 defines a "project" as an activity that "may cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment."
8. In evaluating Section 851 applications, the Commission generally considers, among other things, whether the proposed transaction would be adverse to the public interest.
9. Section 851 and Resolution ALJ-202 prescribe the existing expedited review and approval process for advice letters filed in connection with Section 851.
10. Section 853(d) and Resolution ALJ-202 require an application to be field when a proposed transaction will trigger Commission review under CEQA.
11. The ALJ-202 pilot program for expedited review and approval of Section 851 advice letters is still underway.
12. Pursuant to the Master Agreement, the sites will be located on non-depreciable property lands, buildings, and other structures that are used to provide gas and electricity to PG&E customers and are currently included in PG&E's rate base.
1. PG&E's proposed Master Agreement is consistent with Section 851 and would not be adverse to the public interest.
2. The Master Agreement is not a "project" within the meaning of Public Resources Code Section 21065.
3. The proposed expedited process for review and approval of Section 851 advice letters deviates from the process established under Section 851 and Resolution ALJ-202.
4. PG&E's proposed Category 1 filings should follow the advice letter process set forth in Resolution ALJ-202.
5. PG&E's proposed Categories 2 and 3 filings should follow the formal Section 851 application process to seek Commission approval of the transaction and afford the Commission opportunity to conduct its review in compliance with CEQA.
6. PG&E's Motion for Leave to File Confidential Material Under Seal should be granted as set forth in the order below.
7. CEQA review is not required.
8. Accounting treatment for all financial proceeds resulting from the Master Agreement should be distributed as set forth in the Order section of this decision.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. Pacific Gas and Electric Company is authorized to enter into Lamar Signboards Master License Agreement.
2. Pacific Gas and Electric Company's request for approval of an expedited Commission's review process for future specific filings for individual signboards under Section 851 and Lamar Signboards Master License Agreement is denied.
3. Pacific Gas and Electric Company and the Energy Division are directed to work informally to eliminate undue delays in the Section 851 review process. Activities should include:
· Holding pre-filing meetings to define desired showings.
· Expediting responses to subsequent data requests, when feasible.
· Providing Energy Division with quarterly updates and advance notice letters of the sites for which site license agreement negotiations are completed, which sets forth the listing which shows: 1) the proposed site(s); 2) a description of the location; 3) site zoning; 4) the nature of local review (if required); and 5) whether the site is subject to local agency California Environmental Quality Act review to keep Energy Division apprized of sites that will later become Section 851 filings with the Commission, pending completion of local reviews.
4. Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Motion for Leave to File Confidential Material Under Seal is granted as follows:
a. The protected materials in the confidential, unredacted version of the above-referenced application are described in the table attached as Attachment 1 to the Motion for Leave to File Confidential Material Under Seal.
b. The confidential, unredacted version of this information shall remain under seal for one year and shall not be made accessible or disclosed to anyone other than Commission staff, except on the further order or ruling of the Commission, the assigned Commissioner, the assigned Administrative Law Judge or the Administrative Law Judge then designated as Law and Motion Judge.
c. If Pacific Gas and Electric Company believes that further protection of this information is needed, it may file a motion stating justification for further withholding the material from public inspection. This motion shall be filed no later than 30 days before the expiration of this order.
5. Accounting treatment for all financial proceeds resulting from the Master Agreement will be distributed as follows:
a. Proceeds from the license fees received for sites located on Pacific Gas and Electric Company's natural gas transmission and storage property are subject to the Gas Accord, and all costs associated with gas transmission property are subject to Gas Accord ratemaking for gas transmission service in Pacific Gas and Electric Company's gas transmission and storage rate cases.11 Pacific Gas and Electric Company will account for site license fees as Gas Other Operating Revenue will be used to reduce Pacific Gas and Electric Company's revenue requirement consistent with conventional cost-of-service ratemaking.
b. Proceeds from the license fees received for sites located on Pacific Gas and Electric Company's electric transmission property are subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission jurisdiction for ratemaking. All costs for Pacific Gas and Electric Company's electric transmission system are now part of Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ratemaking for transmission service in
Pacific Gas and Electric Company's transmission owner cases. Pacific Gas and Electric Company will account for license fees related to electric transmission property pursuant to applicable Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rules for accounting and ratemaking.
c. Pacific Gas and Electric Company will account for site license fees for sites located on Pacific Gas and Electric Company's electric distribution property as Electric Other Operating Revenue and will be used to reduce Pacific Gas and Electric Company's revenue requirement consistent with conventional cost-of-service ratemaking.
6. Application 08-10-014 is closed.
This order is effective today.
Dated July 30, 2009, at San Francisco, California.
MICHAEL R. PEEVEY
President
DIAN M. GRUENEICH
JOHN A. BOHN
RACHELLE B. CHONG
TIMOTHY ALAN SIMON
Commissioners
11 The term "Gas Accord" generally refers to the original settlement of the issues pertaining to Pacific gas and Electric gas transmission and storage (GT&S) system in the Gas Accord Settlement Agreement that was adopted in D.97-08-055 [73 CPUC2d 754]. The Commission has since twice modified D.97-08-055 and adopted D.03-12-061 (Gas Accord II Settlement Agreement), D.04-12-050, (Gas Accord III Settlement Agreement), and D.07-09-045 (Gas Accord IV Settlement Agreement).
