3. Program Year 2001 Planning for CARE and LIEE

Planning for program year (PY) 2001 took place during 2000, along with Phase 1 of our ongoing efforts to standardize installation standards and other policies and procedures for the LIEE program. By D.00-09-036, the Commission directed the continuation of PY2000 low-income assistance programs through 2001, stating that "further review of the utilities'... program plans and budgets is not warranted." (D.00-09-036, mimeo. p. 53.) The Commission required the utilities to file certain information related to their low-income assistance programs, but no further program review was contemplated.

On November 6, 2000, the utilities filed compliance applications, which initiated this proceeding. The applications included the information required by D.00-09-036, as well as a proposal to modify the PY 2000 LIEE shareholder incentive mechanism for PY 2001 and a proposal to modify current fund shifting rules. The Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) and Residential Service Companies' United Effort (RESCUE) filed comments on the utilities' applications.

The assigned Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) held a joint prehearing conference (PHC) in this proceeding and R.98-07-037 on February 15, 2001. At the PHC, and by subsequent Assigned Commissioner's ruling, the focus of this proceeding was shifted to the development of a rapid deployment strategy for low-income assistance programs during 2001.⁷ The impetus for this change was the current energy crisis and the need to reach as many eligible customers as possible with these programs, and as quickly as possible. The utilities and interested parties were directed to consider modifications to outreach and marketing efforts or program enhancements with respect to the services provided, as appropriate. They were also directed to consider the use of carryover funds or additional sources of funding provided by the Governor or Legislature for this purpose.

Energy Division coordinated workshops to address the rapid deployment of programs and services on March 7 and 14. Workshop participants included the utilities, representatives from community-based organizations, private energy service providers, CSD, the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA), Greenlining Institute and Latino Issues Forum (G/LIF), among others. Energy Division issued the draft workshop report for comment on March 21, 2001. Comments on the draft report were filed on April 2, 2001 by Bo Enterprises, G/LIF, PG&E, SDG&E/SoCal, SCE, SESCO, Inc. (SESCO) and Winegard Energy (Winegard). Reply comments were filed on April 9, 2001 by G/LIF, SDG&E/SoCal, SCE, SESCO and ORA. Based on the comments and replies, Energy Division issued a final workshop report on these issues on April 17, 2001.