2. Background
2.1 Wild Goose and the Existing Facility
Wild Goose, a Delaware corporation, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (AEC), a major Canadian oil and gas producer. D.97-06-091 granted Wild Goose a CPCN to develop, construct and operate an underground natural gas storage facility in Butte County on the site of an abandoned, underground natural gas field located approximately 50 miles north of Sacramento. The CPCN authorizes Wild Goose to provide firm and interruptible storage service at market-based rates. (D.97-06-091, 73 CPUC2d 90.) The storage field and related facilities interconnect with Line 167 of PG&E's Sacramento Valley Local Transmission System, the major gas transmission line serving the Sacramento area. The certificated facility consists of 14 Bcf of working gas with maximum firm daily injection of 80 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) and maximum firm daily withdrawals of 200 MMcf/d.
Though Wild Goose was the first independent storage provider in California, it is no longer the only one. In May 2000 the Commission granted a CPCN to Lodi Gas Storage, LLC (Lodi) to build and operate an underground storage facility in San Joaquin County. (D.00-05-048, 2000 Cal. PUC LEXIS 394.) The Lodi decision reviews the development of independent gas storage in California, tracing some of the underlying policy changes at both federal and state levels that altered the structure of the natural gas industry over the last two decades. Noteworthy developments for independent gas storage in California include the enactment in 1992 of Assembly Bill (AB) 2744 (Stats. 1992, ch. 1337, which is uncodified) in support of independent storage and the Commission's issuance, in 1993, of the Gas Storage Decision (D.93-02-013, 1993 Cal. PUC LEXIS 66) and subsequent decisions.
2.2 Overview of the Proposed Project
Wild Goose proposes to develop two additional reservoirs in Butte County to increase working inventory by 15 Bcf (to 29 Bcf) and thereby increase peak injection capacity to 450 MMcf/d and peak withdrawal capacity to 700 MMcf/d.2 The proposed expansion would continue to utilize the interconnection with PG&E's Line 167 but also would interconnect near Delevan in Colusa County with PG&E's Line 400/401, also known as the Redwood Path. The Redwood Path, which runs from Malin to Panoche, is one of the two main physical paths linking PG&E's intrastate transmission system, the "backbone," to the interstate system. (The other is the Baja Path, known as Line 300, from Topock to Milpitas.) Wild Goose proposes to construct, at its own cost, a 25.5 mile, 36-inch bi-directional pipeline through Butte and Colusa Counties to link its storage fields with Line 400/401.
All components of this proposed project are more thoroughly defined in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). We discuss the project components and the EIR in Section 8 of this decision.
2.3 Procedural Background
Wild Goose filed this application together with its Proponent's Environmental Assessment (PEA) on June 18, 2001. On July 26, by ruling, the assigned Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) set a Prehearing Conference (PHC) for August 8 and required the filing and service of PHC statements beforehand. Various protests and petitions to intervene were addressed at the PHC3 and thereafter, on August 29, the Assigned Commissioner and ALJ4 jointly issued the Scoping Memo required by Rule 6.3 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.5
The Commission held eight days of evidentiary hearing in Phase I (the CPCN issues) on November 13-16, November 19-20 and November 27-28, 2001. The Assigned Commissioner did not attend. Briefs on Phase I were filed on January 11 and February 19, 2002. A quorum of the Commission, heard oral argument on February 5.
Meanwhile, Phase II review of environmental issues, including review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), continued and in March 2002 Commission staff mailed the Draft EIR for public comment. Following the mailing of the Final EIR on June 13, this proceeding was submitted for decision on Phases I and II.
2 This is Wild Goose's project description, and does not refer to PG&E's ability to transport gas to and from Wild Goose. Whether or not PG&E has sufficient backbone capacity to serve the proposed expansion was a point of significant contention at evidentiary hearing and is discussed elsewhere in this decision. 3 The Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA) filed a protest, as did PG&E, though PG&E titled its pleading "Response in Conditional Support of the Application". The ALJ granted motions to intervene filed by the following persons and entities: Calpine Corporation; Roseville Land Development Corporation (Roseville Land); and Patricia I. Towne. 4 This proceeding was initially assigned to ALJ Prestidge and Commissioner Bilas. ALJ Vieth was assigned to the proceeding prior to the commencement of the evidentiary hearings and following Commissioner Bilas' resignation from the Commission, the proceeding was reassigned to President Lynch. 5 Unless otherwise indicated, all subsequent citations to rules refer to the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, which are codified at Chapter 1, Division 1 of Title 20 of the California Code of Regulations and all subsequent citations to sections refer to the Public Utilities Code.
