ALJ/KOT/hkr DRAFT H-8

3/6/2002

Decision ______________

BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Rulemaking for purposes of revising General Order 96-A regarding informal filings at the Commission.

Rulemaking 98-07-038 (Filed July 23, 1998)

OPINION REVISING PROPOSED GENERAL ORDER 96-B

AND ADOPTING THAT GENERAL ORDER AS REVISED

(See Appendix E for Appearances.)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

OPINION REVISING PROPOSED GENERAL ORDER 96-B
AND ADOPTING THAT GENERAL ORDER AS REVISED 2

1. Introduction 2

2. Events Since the Start of This Rulemaking 4

3. Tiers of Review 5

3.1 Concepts Underlying Tier 1 9

3.2 Tier 1 in Operation 10

3.3 Advice Letters Deemed Approved 14

4. Timeline for Advice Letter Review and Disposition 15

4.1 Filing, Protest, Reply 15

4.2 Review and Suspension Under Public Utilities Code Section 455 16

4.3 Review of Tier 1 Advice Letters 18

4.4 Review of Tier 2 Advice Letters 20

4.5 Review of Tier 3 Advice Letters 21

4.6 Other Advice Letter Tiers 23

4.7 Disposition of Advice Letters 23

5. Changes to the General Rules 27

5.1 Advice Letter Request to Modify a Resolution 27

5.2 Advice Letter Cover Sheet and Contents 28

5.3 Advice Letter Supplements 28

5.4 Requesting Information 30

5.5 Sanctions 31

5.6 Advice Letters Deemed Approved; Effective Date 31

5.7 Information About Tariffed Services 32

5.8 Publishing Tariffs 34

5.9 Confidential Material in Advice Letters 34

5.10 Numbering Tariff Sheets 35

5.11 Miscellaneous Changes 37

6. Changes to Energy Industry Rules 38

7. Changes to Telecommunications Industry Rules 40

8. Changes to Water Industry Rules 43

9. Comments on Draft Decision 43

Findings of Fact 44

Conclusions of Law 47

ORDER 48

Appendix A General Rules

Appendix B Energy Industry Rules

Appendix C Telecommunications Industry Rules

Appendix D Water Industry Rules

Appendix E Appearances

OPINION REVISING PROPOSED GENERAL ORDER 96-B

AND ADOPTING THAT GENERAL ORDER AS REVISED

1. Introduction

Today, we adopt General Order (GO) 96-B.¹ This GO, like its predecessors, comprehensively governs utility tariffs (including their form, content, and publication), and an informal procedure, termed an "advice letter," that is the general means by which utilities request Commission approval for proposed tariff revisions. The use of advice letters has somewhat expanded in recent years, pursuant to statute or Commission order, to cover a limited range of nontariff matters. This GO governs all advice letter practice.

The new GO replaces GO 96-A for all advice letters submitted after July 1, 2001. Pending advice letters, and those filed after today but before July 1, 2001, will continue to be handled under the provisions of GO 96-A. We provide this transition period to minimize confusion, allow pending advice letters to be reviewed under procedures in effect when they were submitted, and enable everyone concerned with advice letters to become familiar with the new procedures before they take effect.

Following adoption of GO 96-B, staff from the Legal, Administrative Law Judge, and Industry Divisions will coordinate to conduct training programs for all staff and interested persons. During these programs, we encourage open discussion of how GO 96-B and the transition period will work.

Although a transition period is needed, we recognize the difficulty for everyone of having advice letters simultaneously pending under different systems of review. Accordingly, we urge the utilities and the Industry Divisions to take all reasonable steps to minimize the number of advice letters pending as of July 1, 2001. In addition, we make the following prospective disposition of certain of such pending advice letters: Any unprotested advice letter that was filed on or before May 21, 2001, and is still pending as of July 1, 2001, shall be automatically approved as of that date, unless, on or before that date, the reviewing Industry Division has (1) placed on the Commission's agenda a draft resolution disposing of the advice letter, or (2) made a data request to the utility or otherwise notified the utility, in writing, that the advice letter is undergoing active review. This special approval process during the transition period will enable us to dispose of those pending advice letters that are uncontroversial, and to deal in due course with advice letters under active review as of July 1, 2001.

In the sections below, we first describe some of the major events since the start of this rulemaking, in which we have already received several rounds of comments. (Section 2.) We then elaborate on our reasons for creating a tiered structure for advice letter review, with special attention to Tier 1 (advice letters that are effective pending disposition). (Sections 3-3.3.) Next, we describe our overall timeline for advice letter review and disposition, highlighting the elements that are common to all the tiers as well as their distinguishing features. (Sections 4-4.7.) We then summarize the major changes to the General Rules in GO 96-B, as compared to the version of the General Rules set forth in the order instituting this rulemaking. (Sections 5-5.10.) Finally, we summarize the major changes to the respective Industry Rules from our initial proposals. (Sections 6-8.)