III. Comments on Draft Decision

The initial draft decision of the ALJ in this matter was mailed on October 14, 2003, to the parties in accordance with Section 311(g)(1) of the Public Utilities Code and Rule 77.7 of the Rules of Practice and Procedure. Comments were filed on November 3, 2003, and reply comments were filed on November 10, 2003. A revised draft decision was mailed on December 9, 2003. Comments on the revised draft were filed on December 30, 2003. A subsequent revised draft decision was mailed on January 21, 2004. Comments were filed on January 28, 2004. In their comments, certain parties proposed that the load growth issues raised in the petitions "should be addressed and discussed by interested parties in a workshop setting where clear guidelines can be established that take the rights and interests of DA customers into account."¹¹

In response to parties' comments, the draft decision was withdrawn from the Commission's agenda to provide an opportunity to convene a workshop, as requested, to address the manner in which DA load growth should be treated consistent with the Commission's DA suspension rules and taking into account the "rights and interests" of DA customers. As discussed above, the principles developed through the workshop process form the basis for resolving the issues raised in the petitions.

A subsequent version of the draft decision was mailed June 8, 2004. We taken the comments filed June 28, 2004, and reply comments filed July 6, 2004 on the draft decision into account in finalizing this order.