III. Requirements for Award of Compensation
An intervenor who seeks compensation for his or her contributions in Commission proceedings must file a request for compensation pursuant to §§ 1801-1812.3 Section 1804(a) requires an intervenor to file a notice of intent (NOI) to claim compensation within 30 days after the prehearing conference (PHC) or by a date established by the Commission. The NOI must present information regarding the nature and extent of the customer's4 planned participation and an itemized estimate of the compensation the customer expects to request. The NOI may also request a finding of eligibility.
Other code sections address requests for compensation filed after a Commission decision is issued. Section 1804(c) requires an eligible customer to file a request for an award within 60 days of issuance of a final order or decision by the Commission in the proceeding.
Under § 1804(c), an intervenor requesting compensation must provide "a detailed description of services and expenditures and a description of the customer's substantial contribution to the hearing or proceeding." Section 1802(h) states that "substantial contribution" means that,
"in the judgment of the commission, the customer's presentation has substantially assisted the commission in the making of its order or decision because the order or decision
has adopted in whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or specific policy or procedural recommendations presented by the customer. Where the customer's participation has resulted in a substantial contribution, even if the decision adopts that customer's contention or recommendations only in part, the commission may award the customer compensation for all reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert fees, and other reasonable expert fees, and other reasonable cost incurred by the customer in preparing or presenting that contention or recommendation."
Section 1804(e) requires the Commission to issue a decision that determines whether the customer has made a substantial contribution and what amount of compensation to award. The level of compensation must take into account the market rate paid to people with comparable training and experience who offer similar services, consistent with § 1806.
3 All statutory references are to the Public Utilities Code unless otherwise stated. 4 To be eligible for compensation, an intervenor must be a customer as defined by § 1802(b). In D.98-04-059 (footnote 14), we affirmed our previously articulated interpretation that compensation be proffered only to customers whose participation arises directly form their interest as customers. (See D.88-12-034, D.92-04-051, and D.96-09-040.) Today's decision, like the statute, uses "customer" and "intervenor" interchangeably.
