2. Background

In Decision (D.) 10-10-017, the Commission approved the sale of Sierra Pacific Power Company's (Sierra) electric utility operations and facilities in California to California Pacific Electric Company, LLC (CalPeco). At the time, Sierra had 46,000 retail electric customers in California, mostly in the Lake Tahoe area. The sale was completed on January 1, 2011.

On September 14, 2011, the following parties jointly filed Application (A.) 11-09-012 for authority under California Public Utilities Code Section 854(a)¹ to revise the ownership structure for CalPeco: California Pacific Utility Ventures, LLC, Liberty Energy Utilities Co., Emera Incorporated, Emera US Holdings Inc., Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., and CalPeco (together, the "Joint Applicants"). The Division of Ratepayer Advocates (DRA) filed a protest on October 24, 2011. There were no other protests or responses to the application. The Joint Applicants filed a reply on November 11, 2011.

A prehearing conference (PHC) was held on November 30, 2011. During the PHC, the Joint Applicants were instructed to submit two compliance filings containing specified information about the proposed transaction. The first compliance filing was submitted on December 9, 2011, and the second on December 16, 2011. The assigned Commissioner issued a scoping memo pursuant to Rule 7.3 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rule) on December 23, 2011.

On December 16, 2011, DRA sent an e-mail to the service list in which DRA announced that it had reached a settlement agreement in principle with the Joint Applicants. DRA and the Joint Applicants held a properly noticed settlement conference on January 11, 2012, pursuant to Rule 12.1(b).

On April 5, DRA and the Joint Applicants filed an all-party motion for Commission approval of a settlement agreement pursuant to Rule 12.1(a) (the "Settlement Agreement"). The Settlement Agreement was attached to the motion. The motion explains why the settlement is reasonable in light of the record, consistent with the law, and in the public interest.

¹ The term "Section" hereafter means a statutory provision of the California Public Utilities Code unless otherwise stated.