Issues in Dispute

The scoping memo identified the second of three disputed issues central to this case as "[w]hether Hillsboro has improperly included in its rent increase petitions any expenses for maintenance, repair or upgrade of the Los Robles submeter system". Hambly and Hillsboro later narrowed this aspect of the dispute by stipulating that the tenants' challenge was limited to the inclusion of costs associated with trenching to lay conduit for park street lighting and costs attributable to work on electric pedestals (the structures that hold the submeters for each mobilehome site). Hambly agreed that other expenses, undisputedly related to maintenance and operation of the submeter system, either had not been included in Hillsboro's petitions or had been removed from them by the rent control hearing officer. Thus, the issues before the Commission were reduced to two:

1. Whether operation of the NOI formula in Novato's rent control ordinance results in higher gas and electricity charges for submetered mobilehome tenants than the rates applicable to mobilehome customers directly served by PG&E.

2. Whether the following expenses are included within the master-meter discount: (a) the trenching and conduit required for overhead street lighting; and (b) installation, maintenance and repair of electric pedestals.