3. Procedural History

A prehearing conference (PHC) in Phase 2 was held on March 13, 2001, and a follow-up PHC conference call took place on March 27, 2001. On March 29, 2001, the Assigned Commissioner issued a ruling directing PG&E to file a separate application requesting a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) for Path 15 transmission upgrades (e.g., Los Banos-Gates), where there are constraints moving bulk power from Southern to Northern California. On April 3, 2001, the Commission issued D.01-04-007 directing PG&E to conduct studies of biological resources along Path 15 immediately.

The assigned ALJ established the scope of summer hearings in her ruling dated March 29, 2001. She directed SCE and SDG&E (collectively referred to as "the utilities") to file scenario analyses for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of potential transmission upgrades for a Southern California-Southwest link that included 1) alternative scenarios regarding generation growth, including likely sites for future generating facilities, and 2) load growth scenarios, including geographic demand patterns. The utilities were required to clearly set forth their methodology and input assumptions for projecting system benefits in terms of both decreased likelihood of outages and cost savings for purchased power. At the March 27 PHC and subsequent conference call, the ISO indicated that it would work with the utilities to produce the scenario analysis for the summer hearings.

In her March 29, 2001 ruling, the ALJ also discussed coordination with the Valley-Rainbow CPCN application filed on March 23, 2001 (A.01-03-036.) She clarified that processing of the CPCN application would not be delayed by consolidating it with this investigation. The CPCN application would be evaluated on a "stand-alone" basis, i.e., without presupposing any enhanced benefits from this project being augmented by a Southwest power link. However, if the Commission issued a final decision in this proceeding regarding the cost-effectiveness of a new transmission link to the Southwest, those determinations could be considered in the Valley-Rainbow CPCN proceeding.

The utilities, ISO and the CEC, referred to as the "Joint Parties," served joint opening testimony on May 18, 2001. Save Southwest Riverside County (SSRC) and Coral Power L.L.C. (Coral Power) served intervenor testimony on May 29, 2001. The Joint Parties served rebuttal testimony on June 8, 2001. Three days of evidentiary hearings were held, followed by opening briefs and reply briefs, upon which the matter was submitted on July 27, 2001.