Comments on Draft Decision

The draft decision of the administrative law judge in this matter was mailed 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 _______________, and reply comments were filed on ______________.

Findings of Fact

1. SDG&E filed a petition to modify D.97-10-087 and D.98-02-030 on August 3, 2000.

2. The tariff provisions for direct access were adopted in Appendix A of D.97-10-087.

3. D.98-02-030 granted the petition to modify section P.(1)(b) of Appendix A of D.97-10-087.

4. SDG&E's petition to modify seeks to modify section P.(1)(b) of Appendix A of D.97-10-087, as modified by D.98-02-030, and Ordering Paragraph 2 of D.98-02-030.

5. ARM filed comments in support of SDG&E's petition to modify on September 5, 2000.

6. The proposed change will provide the ESPs with assurance that under UDC consolidated billing, the ESPs will receive a pro rata share of the monies collected in the case of partial payments.

7. SDG&E has justified why it did not file its petition to modify within one year of the effective date of the two decisions.

8. SDG&E's proposed modification makes several specific references to SDG&E.

Conclusions of Law

1. Since Appendix A of D.97-10-087 was intended to apply to all of the UDCs, and not just to SDG&E, the proposed modification should be altered so that the specific references to SDG&E are replaced with UDC.

2. As altered, SDG&E's petition to modify should be granted.

3. Section P.(1)(b) of Appendix A of D.97-10-087 and Ordering Paragraph 2 of D.98-02-030 should be modified to reflect the language described in the discussion portion of this decision.

ORDER MODIFYING DECISION 97-10-087 AND DECISION 98-02-030

1. The petition to modify Decision (D.) 97-10-087 and D.98-02-030 filed by San Diego Gas & Electric Company on August 3, 2000, is granted.

2. Ordering Paragraph 2 of D.98-02-030 and Section P.(1)(b) of Appendix A of D.97-10-087 shall be modified and replaced with the following:

"Partial payments by customers will be allocated on a pro rata basis to the TTA, UDC charges, and ESP charges in the same proportion as the amount of TTA charges, UDC charges, and ESP charges bear to the aggregate amount of charges billed the customer. Should a customer notify the UDC that he or she is withholding payment of ESP charges due to a billing dispute with their ESP, service will not be disconnected if the partial payment will cover the amount of UDC charges for which delinquency may result in disconnection. In the event of such a customer dispute with an ESP, the UDC may

modify the aforementioned allocation methodology and allocate the partial payment to all charges other than the ESP charges."

This order is effective today.

Dated , at San Francisco, California.