2. Background - Application,
Protests and Public Participation
Southern California Edison Company (SCE) is an investor-owned public utility operating an interconnected and integrated electric utility system that generates, transmits, and distributes electric energy in portions of Central and Southern California.1 In addition to its California properties, SCE separately or jointly owns facilities in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico that produce power and energy for use in California. SCE filed this Application, which included a Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA), on January 31, 2008 seeking a permit to construct (PTC) for the Devers-Mirage 115 Kilovolt (kV) Subtransmission System Split Project (Proposed Project). The Application was noticed in the Commission's Daily Calendar on February 6, 2008. No party filed a protest to the Application under Rule 2.6 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules). Because no protests were filed, no prehearing conference was held. On July 14, 2009, the assigned Commissioner issued a scoping memo pursuant to Rule 7.3. Consistent with the determination in the assigned Commissioner's scoping memo, no evidentiary hearings were held. SCE filed a motion on May 10, 2010 to offer the Application and the PEA into the evidentiary record of this proceeding. This decision grants this motion and moves into evidence the Draft EIR and the Final EIR2 prepared under the direction of the Commission's Energy Division.
1 SCE's service territory is located in 15 counties in Central and Southern California, consisting of Fresno, Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Madera, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Tuolumne and Ventura Counties, and includes approximately 179 incorporated communities and outlying rural territories. SCE also supplies electricity to certain customers for resale under tariffs filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
2 The Draft EIR and Final EIR are hereafter referred to as the EIR, unless it is otherwise necessary to make a distinction between these documents.
