MEG/tcg 12/28/2001

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Order Instituting Investigation Into Implementation of Assembly Bill 970 Regarding the Identification of Electric Transmission and Distribution Constraints, Actions to Resolve Those Constraints, and Related Matters Affecting the Reliability of Electric Supply.	Investigation 00-11-001
Conditional Application of PACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC COMPANY (U 39 E) for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity Authorizing the Construction of the Los Banos-Gates 500 kV Transmission Project.	Application 01-04-012

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE'S RULING

REGARDING HEARINGS ON THE PATH 15 EXPANSION PROJECT

By ruling dated November 30, 2001 in Application (A.) 01-04-012, the Assigned Commissioner denied the motion of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) to withdraw its application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for the Los Banos-Gates 500 kilovolt (kV) Transmission Project, also known as the Path 15 expansion project. Since the filing of testimony in A.01-04-012, various public and private entities have executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to participate in a Path 15 expansion project. The Assigned Commissioner consolidated A.01-04-012 with the Commission's generic investigation of transmission constraints, Investigation (I.) 00-11-001, stating that:

"I.00-11-001 provides a logical forum to further explore the issue of project economics and to examine the allocation of benefits among project participants under the MOU development approach or a PG&E stand-alone project.... PG&E is currently a respondent to I.00-11-001 and matters surrounding the economics of transmission projects throughout the state are the subject of the investigation. Parties to A.01-04-012 should be prepared to discuss a schedule for supplemental testimony regarding the allocation of costs and benefits of the federal project at the December 19, 2001 prehearing conference already scheduled in I.00-11-001.... [T]he assigned Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in I.00-11-001 will establish the scope and schedule for further consideration of the Path 15 expansion application, previously served testimony and supplemental testimony. "¹

A further prehearing conference (PHC) was held in this proceeding on December 19, 2001. PHC statements were submitted by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), California Wind Energy Association, City and County of San Francisco, City of Palo Alto, Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), PG&E and Ridgetop LLC (Ridgetop). We discussed several transmission projects at the start of the PHC, and interested parties met informally with Energy Division to explore them further and report on their status after the lunch hour. I established a schedule for evidentiary hearings for Path 15 and addressed procedures for moving ahead with the other transmission projects, as summarized below.

¹ Assigned Commissioner's Ruling in I.00-11-001/A.01-04-012, November 30, 2001, p. 5.