VI. Comments on Draft Decision

The draft decision of the ALJ in this matter was mailed to the parties in accordance with Pub. Util. Code § 311(g), Rules 77.2 through 77.5, and Rule 77.7 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure. The parties agreed to a shortened comment period, with opening comments due February 28, 2003 and replies due March 5, 2003. Five parties, CUE, the Joint Utilities, ORA, TURN, and SF Co-op, filed opening comments. Three parties, CCEA, the Joint Utilities, and ORA, parties filed replies. We have considered the parties' views in light of the requirement that comments must focus on factual, legal, or technical errors in the draft decision, and that comments merely rearguing parties positions will be accorded no weight (Rule 77.3 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure).

Consistent with Rule 77.3, and based on the current state of the rulemaking record, we have made various changes to the draft decision designed to strengthen its technical accuracy and thereby improve the odds of successful SPP implementation. These revisions range from the correction for minor typographical errors to more detailed revisions that change outcomes, as listed below and more fully described in Section IV of the decision.

We reject ORA's suggestion that Track C of the SPP be dropped because no effective control group exists, and instead adopt a revision suggested by the Joint Utilities designed to ensure that the Track C pilot produces valid usage change data (Section IV.A.2, supra; Conclusion of Law 5).

We augment our discussion of the nature of the additional SPP information treatments we require, although we decline to augment the budget for same as requested in the comments filed by the Joint Utilities. We also require the respondent IOUs to submit an evaluation plan to assist us in gauging customer reaction to the information presented. (Section IV.A.4; Conclusion of Law 8).

The joint utilities propose several changes to moderate the draft decision's requirement that additional control technologies be made available to participants in the Track A, CPP-V pilot. We make one of the suggested changes, clarifying that load control devices for small commercial customers should focus, at least initially, on HVAC applications only, rather than the broader technology array that will be available to Track A residential participants as part of the SPP approved today; after six months participating small commercial customers who are interested in installing more control equipment will be afforded the opportunity to do so. (Section IV.A.5).

We revise Attachments C and D to address the joint utilities' concerns about the benefits of consistent: 1) CPP durations (CPP-V and CPP-F); 2) seasonal definitions (among the three IOUs); and 3) CPP periods (for both CPP-V and CCP-F).

In their comments, the Joint Utilities request that residential SPP participants now receive a $250 appreciation bonus, paid in installments by the end of Summer 2004; they also request a $300 appreciation bonus for commercial SPP participants. We decline to increase the appreciation bonus for these SPP participants as the Joint Utilities request but instead allow the WG3 participants the latitude to refine their approach based on customer focus group results, and consistent with the CCEA principles detailed in the decision. We decline Utilities' request that we eliminate the one-month adjustment period and the proposed shadow bill that will be available to SPP participants (Section IV.A.7).

Both SF Co-op and PG&E have suggested revisions designed to address our concerns about the robustness of the Track B control group. We adopt their joint recommendation. We also address SF-Co-op's concerns that our decision should be more explicit about SF Co-op's critical role in disseminating information to the Track B participants. We decline, however to adopt a separate CPP rate for Track B, as SF Co-op urges. (Section IV.A.1).

In response to the comments of the Joint Utilities, TURN, and SF Co-op, we clarify our expectations relative to the tariff filing required to implement the "Clean Sheet" tariff design adopted in this decision. (Section IV.D; Conclusion of Law 18 and Ordering Paragraph 15).

In response to comments submitted by TURN and the Joint Utilities, we make revisions designed to ensure that there is adequate cost recovery to permit the respondents to run the SPP for two summers, to collect the necessary data, and to properly evaluate that data. The parties note that their original SPP budget was premised on a one-year pilot, and that our extension of SPP to year-end 2004 will require an augmentation of the adopted cost cap. Thus we provide a mechanism for considering these additional costs. We also make other technical changes, including removing revenue shortfalls from the budget cap, as requested by the Joint Utilities. (Section IV.C; Ordering Paragraphs 9 through 12).

Joint Utilities request revisions to Attachments C and D in connection with their bimonthly reporting obligation designed to protect individual customer data, and we make these changes.

TURN supports the Commission's commitment in Phase 2 of this proceeding to review the contribution A/C cycling programs can make to meeting the interagency demand response goals, but does not believe the goal can be achieved without including in this decision a specific schedule for the review and augmentation of A/C cycling programs for implementation by this summer. We decline to do this, preferring to allow the Assigned Commissioner the latitude to address all Phase 2 issues in a comprehensive manner at the appropriate time.

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