ALJ/CAB/tcg Date of Issuance 2/23/2009
Decision 09-02-028 February 20, 2009
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking to Promote Policy and Program Coordination and Integration in Electric Utility Resource Planning. |
Rulemaking 04-04-003 (Filed April 1, 2004) |
Order Instituting Rulemaking to Promote Consistency in Methodology and Input Assumptions in Commission Applications of Short-run and Long-run Avoided Costs, including Pricing for Qualifying Facilities. |
Rulemaking 04-04-025 (Filed April 22, 2004) |
DECISION GRANTING INTERVENOR COMPENSATION
TO UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS FOR
SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION TO DECISION 06-02-032
This decision awards Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) $19,776.37 in compensation for its substantial contributions to Decision 06-02-032. This represents a decrease of $47.48 from the amount requested due to the removal of one unjustified expense. Today's award payment will be made by Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), and Southern California Edison Company (SCE).
1. Background
The California Public Utilities Commission ("Commission") committed itself to minimizing the energy sector's impact on climate change in the 2003 Energy Action Plan. To explore a cap-and trade procurement framework in furtherance of that commitment, the Commission opened Rulemaking (R.) R.04-04-003. An en banc Commission meeting on reducing greenhouse gases (GHG) took place on February 23, 2005, and a three-day workshop was held March 7-9, 2005, for which pre-workshop comments and alternate frameworks were invited. The Commission staff released a report on the workshop on March 29, 2005, after which various parties in this proceeding filed comments and reply comments as directed by the assigned ALJ.
Against the foregoing backdrop, Governor Schwarzenegger set out statewide GHG reduction targets on June 1, 2005, in Executive Order S-3-05, and in September and October of 2005 the Commission and the California Energy Commission (CEC) adopted Energy Action Plan II. On October 6, 2005, a Policy Statement on Greenhouse Gas Performance Standards (GHG Policy Statement) was adopted by the Commission, expressing in part an intention to explore the integration of its GHG emissions standards and its procurement policies.
The instant rulemaking (R.04-04-003) resulted in the Procurement Incentives Framework Decision (Decision) D.06-02-032, on February 16, 2006. The proceeding was closed by D.07-09-040.
