2. Requirements for Awards of Compensation
The intervenor compensation program, which is set forth in Pub. Util. Code §§ 1801-1812,1 requires California jurisdictional utilities to pay the reasonable costs of an intervenor's participation if that party makes a substantial contribution to the Commission's proceedings. The statute provides that the utility may adjust its rates to collect the amount awarded from its ratepayers.
All of the following procedures and criteria must be satisfied for an intervenor to obtain a compensation award:
1. The intervenor must satisfy certain procedural requirements including the filing of a sufficient notice of intent (NOI) to claim compensation within 30 days of the prehearing conference (PHC), pursuant to Rule 17.1 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (Rules), or at other appropriate time that we specify. (§ 1804(a).)
2. The intervenor must be a customer or a participant representing consumers, customers, or subscribers of a utility subject to our jurisdiction. (§ 1802(b).)
3. The intervenor must file and serve a request for a compensation award within 60 days of our final order or decision in a hearing or proceeding. (§ 1804(c).)
4. The intervenor must demonstrate "significant financial hardship." (§§ 1802(g) and 1804(b)(1).)
5. The intervenor's presentation must have made a "substantial contribution" to the proceeding, through the adoption, in whole or in part, of the intervenor's contention or recommendations by a Commission order or decision or as otherwise found by the Commission. (§§ 1802(i) and 1803(a).)
6. The claimed fees and costs must be reasonable (§ 1801), necessary for and related to the substantial contribution (D.98-04-059), comparable to the market rates paid to others with comparable training and experience (§ 1806), and productive (D.98-04-059).
In the discussion below, the procedural issues in Items 1-4 above are combined and a separate discussion of Items 5-6 follows.
2.1. Preliminary Procedural Issues
Under § 1804(a)(1) and Rule 17.1(a)(1) of the Commission's Rules, a customer who intends to seek an award of intervenor compensation must file an NOI before certain dates. In a proceeding in which a PHC is held, the intervenor must file and serve its NOI no more than 30 days after the PHC is held.
(Rule 17.1(a)(1).) PHCs in this matter were held on February 7, 2006 and
March 23, 2006. TURN timely filed its NOI on April 24, 2006.2
In its NOI, TURN asserted financial hardship. On May 12, 2006, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ruled that TURN satisfied the financial hardship condition pursuant to § 1804(b)(1) through a rebuttable presumption of eligibility because it met this requirement in another proceeding within one year of the commencement of this proceeding (ALJ Ruling dated November 4, 2005, in
A.05-02-027).
Section 1802(b)(1) defines a "customer" as: (A) a participant representing consumers, customers or subscribers of a utility; (B) a representative who has been authorized by a customer; or (C) a representative of a group or organization authorized pursuant to its articles of incorporation or bylaws to represent the interests of residential or small business customers. (§ 1802(b)(1)(A) through (C).) The ALJ's May 12, 2006 ruling found TURN a customer pursuant to
§ 1802(b)(1)(C).
Regarding the timeliness of the request for compensation, TURN filed its request for compensation on September 11, 2007, within 60 days of D.07-07-019 being issued. No party opposed the request. In view of the above, we affirm the ALJ's ruling and find that TURN has satisfied all the procedural requirements necessary to make its request for compensation in this proceeding.
1 All subsequent statutory references are to the Public Utilities Code unless otherwise indicated.
2 The assigned ALJ authorized filing of the NOI 30 days after the second PHC.
