ALJ/GEW/avs Mailed 4/28/2006
Decision 06-04-055 April 27, 2006
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Joint Application of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (U 39 E), Southern California Edison Company (U 338 E), and San Diego Gas & Electric Company (U 902 E) to Amend the Reporting Criteria for Incidents Involving or Allegedly Involving Trees or Other Vegetation in the Vicinity of Power Lines. |
Application 06-01-008 (Filed January 10, 2006) |
OPINION
This decision grants the request of three California utilities to modify requirements for reporting incidents involving trees or other vegetation in the vicinity of power lines. The proposal would eliminate the reporting requirement for some relatively minor vegetation incidents that both the utilities and Commission staff deem unnecessary. The application is unopposed. The application is granted. This proceeding is closed.
1. Background and Summary of Request
In Decision (D.) 98-07-097, the Commission adopted final incident reporting rules to ensure that the Commission is able to monitor incidents that affect utility operations or facilities.
Pursuant to Rule 15 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure, three utilities - Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and San Diego Gas and Electric Company (SDG&E) (collectively, the Joint Utilities) - now seek modification of D.98-07-097 to amend reporting requirements to eliminate the category for incidents involving or allegedly involving trees or other vegetation in the vicinity of power lines. The Joint Utilities argue that the current incident reporting is overly inclusive and leads to excessive reporting of relatively minor events. The Joint Utilities suggest that Commission and utility staff time would be better served and Commission oversight of utility accidents more effective if this reporting criterion were eliminated.
The Commission initiated its inquiry into utility accident reporting requirements in D.95-09-043 as part of an effort to develop measurable standards or benchmarks for assessing the reasonableness of electric utility distribution system performance. That inquiry resulted in adoption of the following utility accident reporting requirements in D.96-09-045:
Reportable incidents are those which: (1) result in fatality or personal injury requiring in-patent hospitalization; (2) are the subject of significant public attention or media coverage; and (3) damage to property of the utility or others estimated to exceed $20,000. (D.96-09-045, 68 CPUC2d 80, 94 and 105.)
Later, the Commission issued D.98-03-036, which modified slightly the incident reporting requirements. The Commission noted that in light of experience with accident reporting and recent fires that allegedly resulted from overgrown vegetation around utility power lines, the incident reporting rules should be modified to (1) shorten the time for reporting, (2) improve content of the reports, and (3) "submit reports following accidents involving vegetation foliage around utility power lines." (D.98-03-036, 78 CPUC2d 706, 713.)
Joint Applicants state that, as written, the incident reporting rules went beyond the question of "overgrown vegetation." As set forth in Appendix B to the decision, utilities are required to report incidents "which...involve or allegedly involve trees or other vegetation in the vicinity of power lines and result in fire and/or personal injury whether or not inpatient hospitalization is required." (D.98-03-036, App. B.)
According to Joint Applicants, this criterion goes beyond traditional utility accident reporting requirements in two ways. First, while for other types of incidents Commission reports are required only when the incident resulted in major injuries (in-patient hospitalization) or property damage (exceeding $20,000), for vegetation incidents all fires allegedly attributable to trees and power lines are reportable regardless of how insignificant. Second, under the vegetation criterion, utilities are required to report tree-related fires over which those utilities had no control. For example, trees located outside the utility right-of-way that uproot in a landslide or privately owned trees cut by a property owner which accidentally fall into the wires are reportable. Under this criterion, utilities are even required to report tree-related fires of less than one square foot and fires that involved no personal injury or property damage.
Later, in D.98-07-097, the Commission modified the reporting procedures to provide alternate means by which reporting utilities could submit initial reports to the Commission. That decision restated but did not modify the reporting criteria for utility incident reports as established in D.98-03-036, Appendix B.
