ALJ/RAB/lil Date of Issuance 5/22/2009
Decision 09-05-027 May 21, 2009
BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Investigation on the Commission's Own Motion into the Practices of Southern California Edison Company to Determine the Violations of the Laws, Rules, and Regulations Governing Performance Based Ratemaking, its Monitoring and Reporting to the Commission, Refunds to Customers and Other Relief, and Future Performance Based Ratemaking for this Utility. |
Investigation 06-06-014 (Filed June 15, 2006) |
DECISION ADOPTING THE PERFORMANCE-BASED
RATEMAKING PHASE 2 SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
1. Summary
Southern California Edison Company (SCE), on behalf of itself and the Settling Parties,1 filed a motion which requests that the Commission adopt and find reasonable the Southern California Edison Company, Performance-Based Ratemaking (PBR) Phase 2 Settlement Agreement (PBR Phase 2 Settlement Agreement or Settlement Agreement) which is appended as Attachment A.
This investigation was divided into two phases. Phase 1 covered issues related to customer satisfaction, employee safety, and results sharing; was the subject of hearings in November 2006; and culminated in Decision 08-09-038 Phase 2 covered four other issues:
(1) investigate system reliability and customer satisfaction for call centers, field delivery other than meter reading, and in-person services; (2) whether the Commission should permit SCE to continue PBR and, if so, under what conditions and modifications; (3) investigate the total costs that CPSD and its legal representatives have incurred because of CPSD's investigation and discuss whether the costs are recoverable from SCE; and (4) whether the Commission can reward a whistleblower.
The Settlement Agreement resolves all Phase 2 issues. The primary provisions of the Settlement Agreement are:
(1) SCE shall credit $4.0 million to the distribution subaccount of SCE's existing Base Revenue Requirement Balancing Account (BRRBA). Ratepayers will receive the credit as a reduction to SCE's distribution rates when the BRRBA is amortized in rates; (2) SCE shall forgo its claim for a net system reliability reward of $2 million, which is comprised of a reward of $5 million for Frequency in 2001 and a penalty of $3 million for average customer minutes of interruption in 2003; and (3) SCE agrees that it will not propose any PBR customer satisfaction or employee safety shareholder incentive mechanism before the completion of its 2015 General Rate Case cycle.
1 SCE; the Consumer Protection and Safety Division (CPSD); the Division of Ratepayer Advocates; and the Coalition of California Utility Employees are collectively referred to as the Settling Parties.
