2. Requirements for Awards of Compensation

The intervenor compensation program, set forth in Pub. Util. Code §§ 1801-1812,¹ requires California jurisdictional utilities to pay the reasonable costs of an intervenor's participation if that party makes a substantial contribution to the Commission's proceedings. The statute provides that the utility may adjust its rates to collect the amount awarded from its ratepayers.

All of the following procedures and criteria must be satisfied for an intervenor to obtain a compensation award:

1. The intervenor must satisfy certain procedural requirements including the filing of a sufficient notice of intent (NOI) to claim compensation within 30 days of the prehearing conference (PHC), pursuant to Rule 17.1 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules), or at another appropriate time that we specify. (§ 1804(a).)

2. The intervenor must be a customer or a participant representing consumers, customers, or subscribers of a utility subject to our jurisdiction. (§ 1802(b).)

3. The intervenor must file and serve a request for a compensation award within 60 days of our final order or decision in a hearing or proceeding. (§ 1804(c).)

4. The intervenor must demonstrate "significant financial hardship." (§§ 1802(g) and 1804(b)(1).)

5. The intervenor's presentation must have made a "substantial contribution" to the proceeding, through the adoption, in whole or in part, of the intervenor's contention or recommendations by a Commission order or decision or as otherwise found by the Commission. (§§ 1802(i) and 1803(a).)

6. The claimed fees and costs must be reasonable (§ 1801), necessary for and related to the substantial contribution (D.98-04-059), comparable to the market rates paid to others with comparable training and experience (§ 1806), and productive (D.98-04-059).

In the discussion below, the procedural issues in Items 1-4 above are combined and a separate discussion of Items 5-6 follows.

2.1. Preliminary Procedural Issues

Under § 1804(a)(1) and Rule 17.1(a)(1), a customer who intends to seek an award of intervenor compensation must file an NOI before certain dates.

In a proceeding in which a PHC is held, the intervenor must file and serve its NOI between the dates the proceeding was initiated until 30 days after the PHC was held. (Rule 17.1(a)(1).) The PHC in this matter was held on February 29, 2010. The California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce (CHCC) timely filed its NOI on April 30, 2010.

In its NOI, CHCC asserted financial hardship. On April 30, 2010, ALJ Darling ruled that CHCC met the financial hardship condition pursuant to § 1802(g). Section 1802(b)(1) defines a "customer" as: (A) a participant representing consumers, customers or subscribers of a utility; (B) a representative who has been authorized by a customer; or (C) a representative of a group or organization authorized pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of residential or small business customers.

(§ 1802(b)(1)(A) through (C).) The April 30, 2010 ruling, determined that CHCC was a category 3 customer, pursuant to (§ 1802(b)(1)(C).)

Regarding the timeliness of the request for compensation, CHCC filed its request for compensation, pursuant to § 1804 (c) on July 5, 2011, within 60 days of the issuance of D.11.05-019.² No party opposed the request. CHCC has met all of the procedural requirements necessary to make its request for compensation in this proceeding.

2.2. Financial Hardship

An intervenor seeking compensation must show that, without undue hardship, it cannot pay the reasonable costs of effective participation in the proceeding. A participant representing consumers (Paragraph A, above) or a representative authorized by a customer (Paragraph B, above) must disclose its finances to the Commission to make this showing. These showings may be made under an appropriate protective order. In the case of groups or organizations (Paragraph C, above), significant financial hardship is demonstrated by showing that the economic interest of individual members is small compared to the overall costs of effective participation. (§ 1802(g).) Such a finding is normally made in the ALJ's preliminary ruling as to whether the customer will be eligible for compensation. (§ 1804(b).)

To qualify for a finding of significant financial hardship as a group or organization, as described in Paragraph C, above, the customer must demonstrate that effective participation in this proceeding cost well in excess of typical bills for its individual members. In order to make that finding, we need to know the cost of participation and the average bills of the members of the organization they are appearing for, as well as the financial situation of the organization.

CHCC is a nonprofit chamber of commerce that represents over 720,000 Hispanic businesses in the State of California, including a large number of Hispanic woman-owned and disabled veterans' businesses which are affected by GO 156. CHCC states that it has been a long-time advocate for the development and support of Hispanic-owned businesses. In addition, through its individual business members, CHCC represents millions of Hispanic ratepayers.

CHCC provided a copy of its bylaws. Section 4, subdivision 4.1 of CHCC's bylaws provides that the goals and purposes of the CHCC are to "promote, support and encourage the advancement and development of Hispanic and minority owned businesses," and "to represent small, Hispanic and minority-owned business customers, including electric customers, in proceedings before the Commission and other state and local agencies."

Based on the foregoing, CHCC meets the definition of "customer" as defined in § 1802(b)(1)(C).

The comparison test for significant financial hardship, in which the cost of participation is compared to the economic interest of the individual members of the organization, applies to CHCC. The organization has established that it meets the comparison test through its estimated costs of $106,000, for its participation when contrasted with the small economic interest of individual members. CHCC has established that participation without the opportunity to receive compensation would pose a "significant financial hardship".

¹ All subsequent statutory references are to the Public Utilities Code unless otherwise indicated.

² D.11-05-019 was issued on May 6, 2011.