VI. Preliminary Scoping Memo
A. Designation of Proceeding
We herein designate this proceeding as ratesetting as defined in Rule 5(c) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure because this investigation involves the operations of a single prospective public utility and is neither quasi-legislative nor quasi-judicial in nature. We anticipate that hearings will be required in order to resolve disputed issues of fact.
Any person who objects to the preliminary categorization of this investigation, the need for hearings, or the issues raised in this preliminary scoping memo shall raise such objection(s) in comments to be filed ten days after the issuance of this order and pursuant to Rule 6(c)(2) and 6.4.
B. Proceeding Issues
The issues to be addressed in this proceeding are those jurisdictional, safety and economic issues described Sections IV and V of this order. The Assigned Commissioner and Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) are within their authority to conduct all relevant inquiries and to compel production of documents and responses to them.
C. Application by SES to Construct LNG Facilities at the Port
This order finds that SES' proposed project would give SES the status of a public utility as that term in defined in state law, and that this Commission must approve its project before SES may commence its construction. Accordingly, we direct SES to file an application for a CPC&N, consistent with the California Public Utilities Code.
D. Parties and Service List
This order is served on the parties to R.04-01-025. We make SES a respondent to this order. Within 20 days from the mailing date of this order, any person or representative of an entity interested in monitoring or participating in this proceeding should send a letter to the Commission's Process Office and to the Public Advisor's Office, both of which are located at 505 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California 94102, requesting that the person or representative's name be placed on the service list. The Process Office will thereafter create a new service list and the new service list will be posted on the Commission's web site, www.cpuc.ca.gov soon thereafter. Parties' request for inclusion on the service list should include an e-mail address. Parties who do not contact the Commission for inclusion on the service list will not receive future documents in this proceeding.
Any party interested in participating in this rulemaking who is unfamiliar with the Commission's procedures should contact the Public Advisor's Office in Los Angeles at (213) 576-7056, or in San Francisco at (415) 703-2074, (866) 836-7875 (TTY - toll free) or (415) 703-5282 (TTY).
E. Proceeding Schedule
The schedule in this proceeding will depend in part upon the date SES files its application at this Commission.
The Assigned Commissioner and ALJs are within their authority to set a schedule in this proceeding that would promote the effective and efficient conduct of this investigation.
F. Ex Parte Communications
This proceeding is subject to Rule 7(c) and Rule 7.1, which specify rules for engaging in ex parte communications and the reporting of such communications and attached to this order. Consistent with that rule as it applies to ratesetting proceedings, parties must notify other parties following communications with decision-makers, among other things.
G. Electronic Service Protocols
The Commission will permit and encourage electronic service in this proceeding to mitigate the expense of participation. Parties should use the electronic service protocols attached to this order for all pleadings if they have access to electronic mail.
1. SES has applied with FERC to construct and operate a LNG terminal at the Port of Long Beach which may present safety and environmental hazards, and which may affect the effective and efficient operation of California natural gas markets.
2. SES has challenged this Commission's authority to regulate any aspect of its proposed LNG facility.
3. The State of California has a compelling interest in the siting, construction and operation of the proposed SES LNG facility.
4. Waiting until all jurisdictional disputes are resolved before initiating a review of the LNG facility proposed by SES might create undue delay in the project's progress if it is ultimately to be built and operated.
1. If SES were to construct and operate the LNG terminal it describes in its pending application before FERC, it would become a public utility subject to the jurisdiction of this Commission pursuant to Public Utilities Code Sections 216, 221, 222, 227 and 228.
2. As a public utility, SES requires the authority of this Commission to site, construct or operate the proposed LNG facility, pursuant to Section 1001 et seq.
3. The Commission should open an investigation in to the siting, construction and operation of the LNG facility proposed by SES.
IT IS ORDERED that:
1. The Commission initiates this investigation into the siting, construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas facility proposed by Sound Energy Solutions (SES) at the Port of Long Beach, as set forth herein, to review of the project on behalf of California customers, businesses, and communities, consistent with state law.
2. SES is hereby made a respondent to this proceeding.
3. SES shall file an application for a certificate of public convenience and necessity (CPCN), consistent with Public Utilities Code Section 1001 et seq., and must receive a CPCN prior to commencing construction of its project.
4. The Executive Director shall serve this order on SES and all parties to Rulemaking 04-01-025.
This order is effective today.
Dated , at San Francisco, California.
ATTACHMENT A
SERVICE LIST AND ELECTRONIC SERVICE PROTOCOLS
The service list for this proceeding is located at the Commission's website ( www.cpuc.ca.gov). Those who are not already parties, but who wish to participate in this proceeding as full parties may make a written motion to intervene or submit an appearance form at a hearing. Those who wish to be included as parties on the service list may alternatively send their requests in an e-mail note to ALJ Malcolm (kim@cpuc.ca.gov).
To reduce the burden of service in this proceeding, the Commission will use electronic service, to the extent possible using the electronic service protocols provided in this ruling.
All individuals on the service list should provide electronic mail addresses. The Commission and other parties will assume a party consents to electronic service unless the party indicates otherwise.
Notice of Availability
If a document, including attachments, exceeds 75 pages, parties may serve a Notice of Availability in lieu of all or part of the document, in accordance with Rule 2.3(c) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.
Filing of Documents
These electronic service protocols govern service of documents only, and do not change the rules regarding the tendering of documents for filing. Documents for filing must be tendered in paper form, as described in Rule 2, et seq., of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.
Electronic Service Standards
As an aid to review of documents served electronically, appearances should follow these procedures:
1. Merge into a single electronic file the entire document to be served (e.g., title page, table of contents, text, attachments, service list).
2. Attach the document file to an electronic note.
3. In the subject line of the note, identify the proceeding number; the party sending the document; and the abbreviated title of the document.
4. Within the body of the note, identify the word processing program used to create the document if anything other than Microsoft Word. (Commission experience is that most recipients can readily open documents sent in Microsoft Word 6.0/95.)
If the electronic mail is returned to the sender, or the recipient informs the sender of an inability to open the document, the sender shall immediately arrange for alternative service (regular U.S. mail shall be the default, unless another means-such as overnight delivery-is mutually agreed upon).
Parties should exercise good judgment regarding electronic mail service, and moderate the burden of paper management for recipients. For example, if a particularly complex matrix or cost-effectiveness study with complex tables is an attachment within a document mailed electronically, and it can be reasonably foreseen that most parties will have difficulty printing the matrix or tables, the sender should also serve paper copies by U.S. mail, and indicate that in the electronic note.
Obtaining Up-to-Date Electronic Mail Addresses
The current service lists for active proceedings are available on the Commission's web page, www.cpuc.ca.gov. To obtain an up-to-date service list of electronic mail addresses:
· On the "Legal Documents" bar choose "Service Lists."
· Scroll through the "Index of Service Lists" to the number for this proceeding (or click "edit," "find," type in R0010002, and click "find next").
· To view and copy the electronic addresses for a service list, download the comma-delimited file, and copy the column containing the electronic addresses.
The Commission's Process Office periodically updates service lists to correct errors or to make changes at the request of parties and non-parties on the list. Parties should copy the current service list from the web page (or obtain paper copy from the Process Office) before serving a document.
Pagination Discrepancies in Documents Served Electronically
Differences among word-processing software can cause pagination differences between documents served electronically and print outs of the original. (If documents are served electronically in PDF format, these differences do not occur, although PDF files can be especially difficult to print out.) For the purposes of reference and/or citation (e.g., at the Final Oral Argument, if held), parties should use the pagination found in the original document.
(END OF ATTACHMENT A)
ATTACHMENT B RULE 77. (Rule 7) Ex Parte Communications: Applicable Requirements
(c) In any ratesetting proceeding, ex parte communications are permitted only if consistent with the following restrictions, and are subject to the reporting requirements set forth in Rule 7.1:
(1) Oral ex parte communications are permitted at any time with a Commissioner provided that the Commissioner involved (i) invites all parties to attend the meeting or sets up a conference call in which all parties may participate, and (ii) gives notice of this meeting or call as soon as possible, but no less than three days before the meeting or call.
(2) If an ex parte communication meeting or call is granted by a decisionmaker to any party individually, all other parties shall be sent a notice at the time that the request is granted (which shall be no less than three days before the meeting or call), and shall be offered individual meetings of a substantially equal period of time with that decisionmaker. The party requesting the initial individual meeting shall notify the other parties that its request has been granted, at least three days prior to the date when the meeting is to occur. At the meeting, that party shall produce a certificate of service of this notification on all other parties. If the communication is by telephone, that party shall provide the decisionmaker with the certificate of service before the start of the call. The certificate may be provided by facsimile transmission.
(3) Written ex parte communications are permitted at any time provided that the party making the communication serves copies of the communication on all other parties on the same day the communication is sent to a decisionmaker.
(4) Prohibitions on Ex Parte Communications:
(i) Prohibition of Ex Parte Communications When a Ratesetting Deliberative Meeting is Not Scheduled or When a Ratesetting Decision is Held.
In any ratesetting proceeding, the Commission may establish a period during which no oral or written communications on a substantive issue in the proceeding shall be permitted between an interested person and a Commissioner, a Commissioner's personal advisor, the Chief Administrative Law Judge, any Assistant Chief Administrative Law Judge, or the assigned Administrative Law Judge. Such period shall begin not more than 14 days before the Commission meeting date on which the decision in the proceeding is scheduled for Commission action. If the decision is held, the Commission may permit such communications for the first half of the hold period, and may prohibit such communications for the second half of the period, provided that the period of prohibition shall begin not more than 14 days before the Commission meeting date to which the decision is held.
(ii) Prohibition of Ex Parte Communications When a Ratesetting Deliberative Meeting is Scheduled:
In all ratesetting proceedings in which a hearing has been held, a proposed decision has been filed and served, and a Ratesetting Deliberative Meeting has been scheduled, there shall be a prohibition on communications as provided in this subsection.
The first day of the prohibition on communications will be the day of the Ratesetting Deliberative Meeting at which the proposed decision is scheduled to be discussed and will continue through the conclusion of the Business Meeting at which a vote on the proposed decision is scheduled. If a proposed decision is held at the Business Meeting, when the hold is announced, the Commission will also announce whether and when there will be a further prohibition on communications, consistent with the provisions of subparagraph (i).
RULE 7.1
7.1. (Rule 7.1) Reporting Ex Parte Communications
(a) Ex parte communications that are subject to these reporting requirements shall be reported by the interested person, regardless of whether the communication was initiated by the interested person. An original and seven copies of a "Notice of Ex Parte Communication" (Notice) shall be filed with the Commission's San Francisco Docket Office within three working days of the communication. The Notice shall include the following information:
(1) The date, time, and location of the communication, and whether it was oral, written, or a combination;
(2) The identities of each decisionmaker involved, the person initiating the communication, and any persons present during such communication;
(3) A description of the interested person's, but not the decisionmaker's, communication and its content, to which description shall be attached a copy of any written, audiovisual, or other material used for or during the communication.
(b) These reporting requirements apply to ex parte communications in ratesetting proceedings and to ex parte communications concerning categorization. In a ratesetting proceeding, communications with a Commissioner's personal advisor also shall be reported under the procedures specified in subsection (a) of this rule.
Note: Authority cited: Section 1701, Public Utilities Code. Reference: Section 1701.1(c)(4)(C)(i)-(iii), Public Utilities Code
(END OF ATTACHMENT B)
