3. Procedural Issues
3.1. Admittance of Testimony and Exhibits into Record
Since evidentiary hearings were not held in A.09-08-018, there was no opportunity to enter testimony and exhibits into the record. In order to fairly assess the Settlement Agreement, it is necessary to admit all testimony and exhibits submitted by the Joint Parties into the record of A.09-08-018. On September 17, 2010, pursuant to Rule 13.8(d), the Joint Parties filed their Joint Motion of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates and The Utility Reform Network to Offer Written Testimony into Evidence; Declaration of Susan Norris; Declaration of Jeff Nahagian; Declaration of Sudheer Gokhale; Proposed Ruling. Also on September 17, 2010, the Joint Parties filed their Notice of Availability of Exhibits to Joint Motion of Pacific Gas and Electric Company, the Division of Ratepayer Advocates and The Utility Reform Network to Offer Written Testimony into Evidence requesting that each party's testimony be admitted into the record. We therefore admit into evidence both the public and confidential versions of PG&E's, DRA's, and TURN's testimony and exhibits, as detailed in Attachment A to this decision, that were served on the service list in A.09-08-018. The confidential nature of selected exhibits of the Joint Parties is addressed in Section 3.2 below.
3.2. Motion to Seal the Evidentiary Record
Pursuant to Rule 11.5(b) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Joint Parties filed their Joint Motion of Pacific Gas and Electric Company (U39E), the Division of Ratepayer Advocates and The Utility Reform Network to Seal the Evidentiary Record; Declaration of Michael Alexander; Declaration of Wendy Brummer; Proposed Ruling, regarding PG&E's Exhibits PGE-1C, PGE-2C, DRA's Exhibit DRA-1C, and TURN's Exhibit TURN-1C, the confidential versions of each exhibit.2 This motion states, in part, that confidential information was provided to DRA and TURN, subject to Pub. Util. Code § 5833 and General Order 66-C and subject to a stipulated protective order and non-disclosure agreement with TURN. Exhibits PGE-1C and PGE-2C include confidential prices and contract terms specifically negotiated with a program vendor, and protected by a confidentiality agreement in PG&E's contracts with its vendors. PG&E represents that the information is proprietary and commercially sensitive, and should remain confidential. Exhibit DRA-1C includes reference to a non-public confidential survey provided by PG&E. Exhibit TURN-1C included references to confidential vendor and pricing information, as well as confidential settlement negotiations and discussions of PG&E with its vendors. We have granted similar requests in the past and do so here regarding Exhibits PGE-1C, PGE-2C, DRA-1C, and TURN-1C.
3.3. Motion to Modify Proposed Decision and Motion to Modify Settlement Agreement
The purpose of the Joint Parties' proposed modifications to the Proposed Decision and Settlement Agreement filed on January 14, 2011, are to: 1) to update the timing and manner in which PG&E will return funds to customers, as the opportunity to do so through the advice letter currently referenced in the Settlement Agreement passed prior to issuance of a final decision; 2) to clarify the timing for service of the Annual Report as ordered herein; and 3) clarify language in the Proposed Decision only regarding the discussion surrounding currently and previously-authorized enrollment incentive amounts.
Given that all parties to the Settlement Agreement agree to the requested revisions, and we find the proposed revisions to the Proposed Decision and Revised Settlement Agreement to be reasonable, we have made the requested revisions to the Proposed Decision herein, and adopt the Revised Settlement Agreement in its entirety.
2 Joint Parties identified these exhibits as Exhibits 1C, 2C, 4C, and 5C in their joint motion. To more easily identify the exhibits, we have adopted exhibit names that include each Party's name.
3 All statutory cites are to the Public Utilities Code.
