Statutory Definition of a Customer

The term "customer" is defined in Pub. Util. Code § 1802(b):

(b) "Customer" means any participant representing consumers, customers, or subscribers of any electrical, gas, telephone, telegraph, or water corporation that is subject to the jurisdiction of the commission; any representative who has been authorized by a customer; or any representative of a group or organization authorized pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of residential customers, but does not include any state, federal, or local government agency, any publicly owned public utility, or any entity that, in the commission's opinion, was established or formed by a local government entity for the purpose of participating in a commission proceeding.

There are three distinct concepts within this definition:

(i) a participant representing consumers, or

(ii) a representative specifically authorized by a customer, or

(iii) a representative of a group or organization that is authorized by its bylaws or articles of incorporation to represent the interests of residential ratepayers.

The Commission requires a participant to specifically identify in its Notice how it meets the definition of customer and, if it is a group or an organization, provide a copy of its articles or bylaws, noting where in the document the authorization to represent residential ratepayers can be found. Intervenor Compensation Order at 649. A rebuttable presumption of eligibility does not exist for Local 483 because Local 483 has not previously filed for eligibility for intervenor compensation. Pub. Util. Code § 1804(b)(1)

The Commission has for many years adopted an expansive approach to customer status determinations, utilizing various presumptions and assumptions in favor of associations and organizations that advance the public interest directly but represent narrowly defined ratepayer interests only indirectly. Environmental groups, including groups without voting members, have been found eligible because of an "understanding" that they "represent customers who have a concern for the environment." Intervenor Compensation Order at 688 (footnote 14); Natural Resources Defense Council,(1988), 28 CPUC 2d 101 (D.88-04-066). Similarly, the Commission has consistently awarded compensation to Cal/Neva, "an association of community action agencies and community based organizations representing low income interests," Intervenor Compensation Order at 688, fn. 14 , even though the participation of government agencies might have disqualified it under other circumstances. Compare, Intervenor Compensation Order at 645-46. These decisions represent a recognition that the "interests of

customers" are broad enough to encompass related issues of public health and welfare, environmental quality, and distributive justice.

This expansive approach is fully consistent with the intent of AB 1975 (Moore) (Ch. 942 Stats. 1992) which added § 1801.3(b) to the intervenor compensation article of the Public Utilities Code:

1801.3. It is the intent of the Legislature that:

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(b) The provisions of this article shall be administered in a manner that encourages the effective and efficient participation of all groups that have a stake in the public utility regulation process.

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We next turn to the question of whether a labor organization such as Local 483 is a customer within the meaning of one or more of the three categories identified above, consistent with the Commission's approach to other types of public interest organizations.

The Commission's public interest charge pursuant to Pub. Util. Code § 451 includes a requirement affirmatively to promote the well-being of utility employees and the public through the provision of adequate service and facilities:

451....

Every public utility shall furnish and maintain such adequate, efficient, just, and reasonable service, instrumentalities, equipment, and facilities, including telephone facilities, as defined in Section 54.1 of the Civil Code, as are necessary to promote the

safety, health, comfort, and convenience of its patrons, employees, and the public.

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The Legislature in enacting the Public Utilities Act recognized that in the area of adequacy of service and facilities consumers and employees share common interests. Employees and their union representatives have access to information and points of view that may be invisible to customers, but which are crucial both to customers' well-being and to this Commission's ability to discharge its statutory responsibility to assure adequate service and facilities.³ Unions representing utility employees may therefore be "customers" if they are the proponents of positions and issues that affect adequacy or quality of service, under the established precedents of the Commission, even if they do not advance "traditional" consumer positions regarding control of cost and rate levels. Of course, where they do advance rate and cost-related issues on behalf of their members as consumers or consumers generally, they are eligible as "customers" without more justification.