2. Background

2.1. Procedural Background

In October 2007, strong Santa Ana winds swept across Southern California and caused dozens of wildfires. The resulting conflagration burned more than 780 square miles, killed 17 people, and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings. Hundreds of thousands of people were evacuated at the height of the fire siege. Transportation was disrupted over a large area for several days, including many road closures. Portions of the electric power network, public communication systems, and community water sources were destroyed.¹

Several of the worst wildfires were reportedly ignited by power lines. These included the Grass Valley Fire (1,247 acres); the Malibu Canyon Fire (4,521 acres); the Rice Fire (9,472 acres); the Sedgewick Fire (710 acres); and the Witch Fire (197,990 acres).² The total area burned by these five power-line fires was more than 334 square miles.

In response to the widespread devastation, the Commission issued Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR) 08-11-005 on November 6, 2008, to consider and adopt regulations to reduce the fire hazards associated with overhead power-line facilities and aerial communication facilities in close proximity to power lines. On January 6, 2009, the Assigned Commissioner issued a ruling and scoping memo ("Scoping Memo") that split this proceeding into two phases. The focus of Phase 1 was to adopt fire-prevention measures that could be implemented in time for the 2009 autumn fire season in Southern California. Phase 1 concluded with the issuance of Decision (D.) 09-08-029 ("the Phase 1 Decision").

A prehearing conference for Phase 2 was held on October 9, 2009. On November 5, 2009, the Assigned Commissioner issued the Phase 2 Scoping Memo that identified 25 topics as within the scope of Phase 2, including the issue of whether "fire risk" should be added to the list of reasons to permit undergrounding pursuant to electric Tariff Rule 20.

The Phase 1 Decision directed that Phase 2 be conducted through a workshop process.³ To this end, the Phase 2 Scoping Memo established a framework for conducting the Phase 2 workshops, set a workshop schedule, and appointed Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) Angela Minkin and Jean Vieth to serve as neutral facilitators for the workshops. The Phase 2 Scoping Memo also directed the workshop participants to prepare and submit a workshop report containing proposals for reducing fire hazards.

Parties were given an opportunity to request an evidentiary hearing regarding Phase 2 issues using the procedures in the Phase 2 Scoping Memo. There were no requests for an evidentiary hearing and none was held.

2.2. The Phase 2 Workshops

The first workshop for Phase 2 was held on January 15, 2010. In total, 25 days of workshops were held over a period of six months. The workshop sessions were publicly noticed and open to the public. Thirty nine parties actively participated in the workshops, including Commission's staff, investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, telecommunications companies, a labor union, consumer groups, and independent consultants. The parties represented at the workshops are listed below:

The workshop process resulted in many thoughtful proposals for reducing fire hazards. Much of the credit for the success of the workshops belongs to ALJ Minkin and ALJ Vieth. As a result of their leadership, the 39 parties were able to debate dozens of proposals and reach a consensus in important areas. We also thank the workshop participants for their hard work, dedication, and many thoughtful proposals.

2.3. The Phase 2 Workshop Report and Briefs

On August 13, 2010, Sunesys filed and served the Phase 2 Joint Parties' Workshop Report for Workshops Held January - June 2010 ("the Phase 2 Workshop Report") on behalf of itself and the following parties: AT&T, CAISO, CalTel, CCTA, CFBF, CMUA, Comcast, Cox, CPSD, CTIA, Davey Tree, DRA, Frontier, IBEW 1245, LA County, LADWP, MGRA, NextG, Osmose, PG&E, PacifiCorp, SDG&E, Sierra Pacific, the Small LECs,⁴ SureWest, SCE, Sprint, Time Warner, T-Mobile, TURN, tw telecom, and Verizon. Several parties who attended the Phase 2 workshops did not join the Phase 2 Workshop Report.

The Phase 2 Workshop Report presents 36 proposals that were discussed during the workshops. The workshop participants reached a consensus on six of the proposals, which are contained in Appendix A of the Workshop Report. The remaining proposals were contested by one or more parties. The contested proposals are contained in Appendix B of the Phase 2 Workshop Report.

Opening Briefs regarding the Phase 2 Workshop Report were filed on September 30, 2010, by the following parties: Cal Fire, CFBF, CAISO, CMUA, a coalition of communication infrastructure providers (the CIP Coalition),⁵ CPSD, DRA, IBEW 1245, LA County, LADWP, Multi-Jurisdictional Utilities (MJU),⁶ MGRA, PG&E, SDG&E, SCE, the Small LECs, and TURN. Reply briefs were filed on September 17, 2010, by the following parties: CFBF, CMUA, the CIP Coalition, CPSD, DRA, IBEW 1245, LA County, LADWP, MGRA, PacifiCorp, PG&E, SDG&E, SCE, the Small LECs, Sierra Pacific,⁷ and TURN. With the permission of the assigned ALJ, CPSD and MGRA filed a joint sur-reply brief on October 18, 2010, that addressed certain issues raised in PG&E's reply brief. PG&E filed a response to the sur-reply brief on November 11, 2010.

¹ California Fire Siege 2007 - an Overview prepared by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, at page 6. We take official notice of this document on our own motion pursuant to Pub. Util. Code §§ 701 and 1701, and Rule 13.9 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.

² California Fire Siege 2007 - an Overview, at pages 20, 27, and Appendix II.

³ D.09-08-029 at 45 and Conclusion of Law 19.

⁴ The Small LECs are the following carriers: Calaveras Telephone Company, Cal-Ore Telephone Co., Ducor Telephone Company, Foresthill Telephone Co., Happy Valley Telephone Company, Hornitos Telephone Company, Kerman Telephone Co., Pinnacles Telephone Co., The Ponderosa Telephone Co., Sierra Telephone Company, Inc., The Siskiyou Telephone Company, Volcano Telephone Company, and Winterhaven Telephone Company.

⁵ The CIP Coalition is comprised of AT&T, CCTA, CTIA, Comcast, Cox, Frontier, the Small LECs, Sunesys, SureWest Telephone, Sprint, T-Mobile, Time Warner Cable, tw telecom of california, lp, and Verizon.

⁶ The MJUs are PacifiCorp and Sierra Pacific.

⁷ In D.10-10-017, the Commission approved the transfer of Sierra Pacific's public utility facilities and operations in California to California Pacific Electric Company, LLC (CalPeco). Today's decision uses "Sierra Pacific" to refer to both CalPeco and Sierra Pacific, unless otherwise indicated.