2. Timing of Petition

A petition for modification must be filed within one year of the effective date of the decision proposed to be modified or, absent sufficient justification by petitioner for the delay, the petition is subject to summary denial. (Rule 16.4(d) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.) The effective date of D.09-06-049 is June 22, 2009 (the day it was issued), while the petition was filed on February 11, 2011, nearly 20 months later. SCE's petition is eligible for summary denial, but we decline to do so.

We are convinced by the petitioner that the petition could not reasonably have been filed earlier. The information upon which petitioner relies has been the result of both SPVP implementation and PV market development over time. For example, while our decision was in June 2009, Commission approval of the PPA for the competitive solicitation was in January 2010, and we required SCE to make changes to its PPA. (Resolution E-4299.) SCE filed an advice letter in February 2010 to incorporate those requirements. The request for offers occurred on March 18, 2010, shortly after Commission approval of the February 2010 advice letter. SCE executed contracts with IPPs on July 26, 2010. The utility's cost analysis of the UOG and IPP portions of SPVP, and the striking comparison of those costs with the solar prices in SCE's 2010 Renewable Standard Contract (RSC) solicitation, was conducted as soon thereafter as feasible, according to SCE. We are also persuaded by SCE, Silverado Power, Recurrent Energy and others that dynamic changes in the solar PV market have occurred only somewhat recently. An earlier petition would not have fully reflected those recent changes.

We are persuaded that adequate reasons justify our consideration of the petition on its merits, and we decline to issue a summary denial.