7. Compliance Applications

In D.00-07-020, dated July 6, 2000, we approved the utilities' proposed PY 2000 LIEE program plans and budgets and authorized the utilities to continue to operate those programs through December 31, 2001, "unless and until subsequent program and budget changes are approved by the Commission." (Ordering Paragraph 12, emphasis added.) We identified certain issues related to utility outsourcing that should be further explored during the PY 2002 planning cycle, but did not direct any new activities or implementation changes for PY 2001. The purpose of LIAB's filing and interested parties' comments in this proceeding was to identify any high priority policy and program design modifications that utilities should make to their LIEE programs during PY 2001. As discussed above, we have concluded that none are warranted.

Moreover, as SDG&E/SoCal point out, no program design or changes to measure eligibility have been recommended to the Commission as part of the Standardization Project (Phase 1) or in comments on that report:³⁷

"...the Standardization Team's approved Phase 1 recommendations are not `program and budget changes' as envisioned by D.00-07-020. In fact, these recommendations do not include any LIEE or CARE program design changes at all, but merely clarify `how' and `when' certain measures should be installed for statewide consistency. Moreover, these changes are transparent to participating customers. No measures were added or deleted in the Phase 1 recommendations. Therefore, the Joint Utilities [SDG&E/SoCal] see no merit in submitting full-scale applications on the PY 2001 program plans and budgets." (SDG&E/SoCal Comments On Draft Decision, p. 4. )

Therefore, we conclude that further review of the utilities' PY 2001 program plans and budgets is not warranted. Nonetheless, we do require that the utilities file the following information for our review and consideration:

· A standardized method for calculating CARE penetration rates, presented jointly by the utilities and reflecting any consensus reached by the Working Group.

· A description of current utility procedures (audits, process evaluations, polls, etc.) for monitoring program quality, cost-efficiency and customer satisfaction and recommendations for improving these procedures or instituting alternative ones, along with the associated costs and manpower requirements.

· Recommendations regarding stand-alone attic ventilation based on the results of the Attic Ventilation Pilot, and

· A description of how the utilities will be tracking the results of the Outreach Pilot so that those results can be evaluated during the PY2002 program planning cycle.

In sum, the next step is for the utilities to file compliance applications containing the information requested above within 60 days from the effective date of this decision.³⁸ We have already authorized the continuation of the utilities' PY 2000 programs and funding through December 31, 2001, and, therefore, no further action is necessary to extend the current programs through 2001. Nor is there any need to discuss further our expectations for PY 2001 installation procedures, which have been addressed in the Phase 1 Standardization Report. As discussed in Section 5, the new WIS manual will be used by the utilities in designing and implementing their PY 2001 programs. As discussed under Specific Recommendation 6, we will not authorize modifications to measure eligibility for PY 2001, but will consider proposals for PY 2002 after

the Working Group report has been commented on by interested parties and reviewed by the Commission.