V. Comments On Draft Decision

The proposed decision of Commissioner Richard Bilas and ALJ Biren in this matter was mailed to the parties on November 21, 2000 in accordance with Pub. Util. Code § 311(d) and Rule 77.1 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure. Comments to the draft decision, and reply comments, were filed by a number of different parties. Those comments, as well as the comments from the May 22, 2001 full panel hearing, have been taken into consideration. As a result, the revised proposed decision of Commissioner Bilas was generated.

The revised proposed decision of Commissioner Bilas was mailed to the parties on October 11, 2001 for further comment. Thirteen comments were filed in response to the revised proposed decision. We have considered those comments and have made changes to the decision as we deem appropriate.