Findings of Fact
1. In response to the directive of the ALJ at the first PHC, four subcommittees were formed to accomplish the work involved in the Phase II workshops. Subcommittee I was responsible for equipment matters; Subcommittee II was responsible for access matters; Subcommittee III was responsible for public awareness matters; and Subcommittee IV was responsible for matters relating to Rule 35 of GO 95.
2. The workshop participants formally issued their report of the workshop proceedings in April 1996.
3. The workshop report sets forth a summary of each respondent's tree-trimming program and activities from 1989 through 1994, as furnished in its compliance filing; the task of each of the workshop subcommittees; the projects undertaken by each subcommittee; and the recommendations of each subcommittee to the Commission.
4. As reported in the workshop report, at least 10 reported tree pruning accidents during the study period involved the use of conductive handled tools.
5. As reported in the workshop report, the major California electric utilities prune trees along their lines on a cycle which generally varies from 14.3 months to 3.5 years. Municipal utilities prune trees along their lines on a cycle which varies from one to three years.
6. Established trees with mature, woody trunks, and mature trees with directionally pruned major limbs may pose a minimal risk of contact with overhead conductors. Removal of such trees would be prohibitively expensive in relation to the risk of contact that they present, the risk to employee safety which would attend their removal, and the aesthetic and environmental harm which would occur if they were removed.
7. Public awareness and education are the most reasonable means of preventing persons of any age from risking contact with overhead lines, including contact which occurs as the result of climbing trees in the vicinity of overhead electric lines.
8. There is no change in circumstances since the issuance of D. 97-01-044 which would justify any extension of the deadline for full compliance with the clearance requirements mandated by that order.
9. Appropriate labeling of conductive tools with handles greater than six feet in length could prevent accidents such as that which caused us to initiate this proceeding.
10. Utility vegetation reference manuals of the type described in the workshop report would be a valuable tool for governmental agencies and local governmental entities to use in formulating policies on matters which relate to tree trimming, and could assist in lessening potential conflicts between those entities and utilities carrying out their tree trimming responsibilities.
11. Some utilities' Electric Rule 16 (Service Extensions) may be inconsistent with Rule 35 of GO 95.
12. If agricultural orchard owners, their tenants, and their contractors were required to provide appropriate warning and instruction to workers concerning the hazards of working in proximity to utility power lines, accidents of the type which caused us to institute this proceeding might be prevented.
13. The record in this proceeding does not support the adoption of a mandatory conductive handle exchange program by the utilities we regulate.
