Findings of Fact
1. In R.98-01-011, the Commission set goals for its restructuring of the natural gas industry and compiled a record concerning different initiatives to move towards those goals.
2. In D.99-07-015, the Commission relied upon the testimony in R.98-01-011 in choosing the most promising options for further analysis and potential adoption as part of our restructuring of the natural gas industry.
3. In I.99-07-003, the Commission allowed the parties to use the promising option framework to negotiate for mutually agreeable changes in the natural gas industry.
4. The Comprehensive Gas OII Settlement Agreement, Attachment I to this opinion, addresses most of the issues raised in the testimony in R.98-01-011 regarding PG&E's system and advances the Commission's goals in restructuring the natural gas industry. The issues addressed include:
a. The opportunity for some customers to choose a self-balancing option in lieu of PG&E's bundled balancing.
b. The creation of a system for electronic trading of actual gas imbalances, and for the trading of imbalance rights.
c. The unbundling of core storage allocations and costs for core aggregators, allowing them to obtain different resources to ensure reliable service to their core customers.
d. The creation of an electronic trading system for secondary market pipeline capacity.
e. A survey of interest in new ways for customers or their agents to receive additional real-time usage information.
f. The creation of a pilot program for customer ownership of meters for new noncore installations, and customer ownership of meter add-on devices.
g. The delay of utility consolidated billing for gas service providers, but the provision of billing credits for CTAs that perform consolidated gas billing and thus enable PG&E to avoid costs associated with preparing and sending gas bills.
5. The Settlement Agreement does not address the following issues:
a. The allocation among customer classes of BCA funds.
b. The details of the pilot meter program.
c. The method of dealing with oversubscription of self-balancing.
d. The methodology for determining monthly usage for CPGs (baseline for measuring accumulated daily imbalance), covering both time of determination and timeframe from which to forecast.
e. The reevaluation of core intrastate path capacities (release of Silverado Path capacity).
f. The revision of CPIM winter storage targets if CTAs release storage capacity.
g. The application regarding real-time access methodology, if there is sufficient customer interest.
h. Compliance and enforcement details.
6. The Settlement Agreement is the result of many months of discussion and negotiation, and represents a broad-based consensus on issues of concern to the market, balancing the interests of marketers, gas suppliers, shippers, storage operators, wholesale and retail end-use customers, and regulatory representatives, as well as the Coalition of California Utility Employees and the utility itself. There are benefits for each class of customer and the utility in the Settlement Agreement.
7. After adequate notice, no party to the Gas Accord or to this case requested a hearing on the settlement or alterations to D.97-08-055, the decision approving the Gas Accord. No party opposed the settlement.
8. This settlement will not take effect before January 1, 2000.
9. The costs of implementation of §§ 2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, and 2.8 will be borne by ratepayers in the amount of $700,000. This will be partially offset by trading fees deposited in the BCA.
10. Under AB 1421 and other relevant law brought to our attention, nothing in this Settlement Agreement shall require PG&E to offer consolidated gas billing for CTAs prior to the Billing Availability Date, expected by the end of 2002.
