ALJ/CAB/oma Date of Issuance 3/16/2009
Decision 09-03-021 March 12, 2009
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Order Instituting Rulemaking to integrate procurement policies and consider long-term procurement plans. |
Rulemaking 06-02-013 (Filed February 16, 2006) |
DECISION GRANTING INTERVENOR COMPENSATION
TO GREEN POWER INSTITUTE FOR SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION
TO DECISION 06-07-029 AND DECISION 07-12-052
This decision awards $55,870.50 to the Green Power Institute (GPI) in compensation for its substantial contributions to Decision (D.) 06-07-029 and D.07-12-052. This award is less (6%) than the $59,361 requested by GPI. GPI's original request is reduced because the rate awarded to Gregory Morris is less than requested, the hourly rates awarded to Jon Welner and Michael Sharpless were lower than requested, and the hours spent preparing the compensation request were reduced. This proceeding remains open pending resolution of related issues.
1. Background
In D.06-07-029, we affirmed our commitment to the fundamental principles that have guided electricity market restructuring in California and elsewhere: competition and customer choice. Because our foremost responsibility was and is to assure continued reliable service at reasonable costs, we faced the urgent need to bring new capacity on line as soon as 2009, at least in Southern California. Given the urgent need for new capacity and the lengthy lead-times required both for new construction and to develop and implement new market institutions, we concluded that immediate and affirmative Commission action was required to assure construction of adequate new capacity during the time in which we transitioned to more robust and durable market institutions.
In D.07-12-052, this Commission reviewed, critiqued, and adopted, with modifications, Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E), Southern California Edison Company's (SCE), and San Diego Gas & Electric Company's (SDG&E) Long-Term Procurement Plans (LTPP), for the 10-year period 2007 - 2016, and provided direction to the utilities on preparing their conformed 2006 LTPPs compliance filings.
Our primary focus in reviewing the LTPPs was whether the utilities are procuring preferred resources as set forth in the Energy Action Plan (EAP), in the order of energy efficiency, demand response, renewables, distributed generation, and clean fossil-fuel. In addition, we affirmed California's position as the pioneer in the nation, and in some areas of the world, by emphasizing and implementing policies that promote the reduction of Greenhouse Gases (GHG), especially in the production and delivery of electric resources by the utilities we regulate. Each LTPP prepared different candidate plans that indicated how the utility would meet its renewable portfolio standard targets, demand response as a percentage of resource adequacy requirements, energy efficiency savings from committed and uncommitted programs,1 and then showed how each plan minimized environmental impacts, at what cost to ratepayers, and at what reliability level.
1 See D.06-07-029, fn. 1, for a full discussion of the different usages of the terms "committed" and "uncommitted," and their agency specific meanings.
