7. Discussion
Section 851 of the Public Utilities Code provides that no public utility "shall...lease...[property] necessary or useful in the performance of its duties to the public...without first having secured from the [C]omission an order authorizing it so to do." The relevant inquiry for the Commission in Section 851 proceedings is whether the proposed transaction is "adverse to the public interest." (See, e.g., Universal Marine Corporation (1984) 14 CPUC2d 644.)
The proposed lease satisfies this test. The public interest is not harmed since the lease will not affect the utility's operation of the transmission lines. The Commission has determined that the public interest is served when utility property is used for other productive purposes without interfering with the utility's operation.2 Because the proposed agreement will increase the level of revenues SCE can obtain from secondary use of the land in question, with no additional ratepayer risk, the application should be approved.
2 In D.93-04-019, p. 3, we observed: "Joint use of utility facilities has obvious economic and environmental benefits. The public interest is served when utility property is used for other productive purposes without interfering with the utility's operation or affecting service to utility customers."
