III. Procedural History
On March 15, 2001, the Commission instituted a rulemaking (R.01-03-023) concerning whether to alter current service priorities in the event of a natural gas curtailment or diversion.
On March 30, 2001, an Assigned Commissioner and Administrative Law Judge's Joint Ruling (Joint Ruling) noted that gas storage could supplement the ability of a gas transmission system to meet peak demands, thereby reducing the need for curtailments. The Joint Ruling posed a series of questions concerning whether the Commission should alter regulatory policies affecting gas storage at this time to reduce the chance of gas curtailments.
Parties submitted comments1 and reply comments2 on April 6, 2001 and April 27, 2001, respectively. In addition, a prehearing conference took place on April 17, 2001.
On May 17, 2001, Commissioner Bilas issued a ruling affirming that this proceeding was quasi-legislative and deciding that no hearings are needed. This ruling also affirmed that the scope of the proceeding is that set out in R.01-03-023 and the Joint Ruling - to determine whether changes in curtailment priorities and whether changes in regulations affecting gas storage are warranted at this time.
1 In addition to respondents PG&E and SoCalGas, Aquila, Inc. (Aquila), California Generation Coalition (CGC), California Industrial Group and California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CIG/CMTA), California League of Food Processors (CLFP), City of Palo Alto (Palo Alto), Duke Energy North America (DENA), Duke Energy Trading and Marketing (DETM), Energy Users and Producers Coalition, the Indicated Producers and the Cogeneration Association of California (EPUC/IP/CAC), Independent Energy Producers (IEP), Mirant Americas, Inc. (Mirant), Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA), Pan Canadian Energy Services (PCES), Sacramento Utility District (SMUD), Southern California Edison (SCE), The Utility Reform Network (TURN), Ultramar, Inc. (Ultramar), Tractabel Power, Inc. (Tractabel), Western Hub Properties, L.L.C. (WHP), and Wild Goose Storage, Inc. (Wild Goose) filed opening comments. 2 In addition to respondents PG&E and SoCalGas, CGC, CIG/CMTA, CLFP, Calpine Corporation (Calpine), Palo Alto, City of Long Beach (Long Beach), DENA&DETM (filing jointly), ORA, PCES, TURN, WHP, and Wild Goose filed reply comments.
