3. Procedural History

By Resolution ALJ 176-3121 (October 16, 2003), the Commission preliminarily designated this application as a ratesetting proceeding and determined that hearings likely would be necessary. ORA filed a protest to the application on November 11, 2003. On November 24, the assigned administrative law judge (ALJ) held a prehearing conference, which both ORA and SCWC attended. Thereafter, on December 3, Assigned Commissioner Carl Wood issued a scoping ruling, as required by Pub. Util. Code § 1701.1(b).² Among other things, the scoping ruling set hearings for March 1, 2004.

SCWC's Advice Letter 1141-W, filed on February 9, 2004, became effective on February 14, 2004, permitting implementation of interim rates for the 2004 test year under the authority of § 455.2. That statute permits an inflation adjustment to rates prior to issuance of a final decision in a GRC proceeding when the proceeding is not resolved by the beginning of the first test year (here, January 2004) and the utility is not responsible for the delay.

By ruling on March 3, 2004, the ALJ revised the schedule at the parties' request. Hearings commenced on April 14 pursuant to the revised schedule. However, when the parties announced that they had reached agreements that would result in the resolution of all issues, hearings were continued until April 22 to permit them to memorialize these agreements in writing. On April 19, SCWC and ORA filed a motion requesting adoption of the resulting document, entitled "Stipulation and Settlement" (Settlement). The ALJ held a hearing on the Settlement on April 22. Late-filed Exhibit (Ex.) 7 was filed on May 10, and this proceeding was submitted for decision on May 14, 2004.

² Unless otherwise indicated, all subsequent citations to sections refer to the Public Utilities Code and all subsequent citations to rules refer to the Rules of Practice and Procedure, which are codified at Chapter 1, Division 1 of Title 20 of the California Code of Regulations.