2. Requirements for Awards of Compensation
The intervenor compensation program, which is set forth in Pub. Util. Code §§ 1801-1812,2 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 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 date the proceeding was initiated until 30 days after the PHC is held. (Rule 17.1(a)(1).) The PHC in this matter was held on May 3, 2006. TURN and Agricultural Energy Consumers Association (AECA) timely filed their NOI on May 26, 2006 and Vote Solar Initiative (VSI) timely filed its NOI on June 2, 2006.
On June 21, 2006, an ALJ Ruling was issued that found TURN and AECA were eligible for compensation because each (i) had timely filed an NOI to claim compensation in this proceeding, (ii) was a customer as defined by § 1802(b)(1)(C), (iii) had fulfilled the requirements of § 1804(a)(2)(A) by providing statements of the nature and extent of its planned participation and an itemized estimate of the compensation it expects to request, and (iv) had shown by a rebuttable presumption of eligibility based upon an earlier finding of significant financial hardship. On June 28, 2006, an ALJ Ruling found that VSI similarly was eligible for compensation, except that it qualified as a customer under §1802(b)(1)(B).
Regarding the timeliness of the request for compensation, AECA filed its request for compensation on November 2, 2007 and TURN and VSI each filed their request for compensation on November 6, 2007, all within 60 days of D.07-09-004 being issued on September 7, 2007. Pursuant to Rule 1.12, TURN sought and received permission from ALJ on November 15, 2007 to file an Amendment to correct an omission and calculation error that added $15,520 in attorney's fees to the request. No party opposed any of the requests.
2 All subsequent statutory references are to the Public Utilities Code unless otherwise indicated.
