IX. Assignment of Proceeding
Carl W. Wood is the Assigned Commissioner and Michael Galvin is the assigned ALJ in this proceeding.
1. CWS entered into a settlement agreement with ORA, CGA, and LVTC for the Antelope Valley District and with ORA for the Kern River Valley District. The settlement agreement resolves every issue between the parties in this proceeding.
2. The settlement agreement commands the sponsorship of all active parties in this proceeding.
3. The active parties with respect to the settlement agreement are fairly reflective of the affected interests in this proceeding.
4. No term of the settlement agreement contravenes statutory provisions or prior Commission decisions.
5. The settlement agreement conveys sufficient information to permit the Commission to discharge its future regulatory obligations with respect to the parties and their interests.
6. There is no opposition to the proposed settlement agreement.
7. All parties stipulated a 10-day review of the proposed decision and stipulated that the Commission may issue a decision on this matter less than 30 days following the service of the proposed decision.
8. The summaries of earnings presented in Appendix A and the quantities and calculations included in Appendix D which support them are reasonable for ratemaking purposes.
9. The participation of CGA and LVTC in this consolidated proceeding has been properly limited to matters relating to the Antelope Valley District.
10. The settlement agreement is an uncontested settlement as defined in Rule 51(f) and all-party settlements under San Diego Gas & Electric.
11. The all-party settlement agreement is reasonable in light of the whole record, consistent with law, and in the public interest.
12. The settlement agreement should be adopted.
13. The revised rates, step increases, and tariff rule revisions set forth in the attached Appendices are justified.
14. CWS should address the appropriate method to calculate synergies in its next GRC.
15. This decision should be made effective immediately to enable CWS to implement the settlement agreement without delay.
IT IS ORDERED that:
16. The all-party settlement agreement (set forth in Attachment C) between California Water Service Company (CWS), the Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA), the Leona Valley Cherry Growers Association (CGA), and the Leona Valley Town Council (LVTC) for the Antelope Valley District of CWS and between CWS and ORA for the Kern River Valley District of CWS is adopted.
17. CWS is authorized to file in accordance with the General Order 96 Series (GO 96-A or its successor), and to make effective on not less than five days' notice and upon approval of the Commission's Water Branch, tariffs containing the test year 2003 changes and the tariff rule revisions shown in Appendix B to Attachments A and B to this order and to concurrently cancel its present schedules for such service. The revised rates and rules shall apply to service rendered on and after the tariffs' effective date.
18. CWS shall file advice letters revising the rates adopted in this order to reflect the Commission's adoption of a revised rate of return (ROR) on rate base and a revised return on equity (ROE) in CWS' pending Application (A.) 03-01-034. Those advice letters shall be filed within 30 days after the effective date of a decision on the A.03-01-034 proceeding and shall go into effect upon the Water Division determination that they conform to this order.
19. On or after November 5, 2003, November 5, 2004, and November 5, 2005, CWS is authorized to file advice letters in conformance with GO 96-A, with appropriate supporting work papers, requesting the step rates authorized in Appendix E of this decision and adjusted to reflect the impact of the subsequent adoption of the ROR and ROE in A.03-01-034 for 2004, 2005, and 2006, respectively. The requested rates shall be reviewed by the Commission's Water Division and shall go into effect after Water Division's determination that they conform to this order. Water Division shall inform the Commission if it finds that the proposed rates do not conform to this order or other Commission decisions. The revised tariff schedules shall be effective no earlier than January 1, 2004, January 1, 2005, and January 1, 2006, respectively, and shall apply to service rendered on or after their effective date.
20. CWS shall provide testimony in its next general rate case proceeding for the Antelope Valley District and Kern River Valley District on what is an appropriate and consistent method for calculating synergies from the merger approved in Decision 00-05-047.
21. The summaries of earnings presented in Appendix A of Attachments A and B to this order, and the quantities and calculations included in Appendix D, to those attachments which underlie them, are adopted.
22. A.02-11-021 and A.02-11-022 are closed.
This order is effective today.
Dated October 2, 2003, at San Francisco, California.
MICHAEL R. PEEVEY
President
CARL W. WOOD
LORETTA M. LYNCH
GEOFFREY F. BROWN
Commissioners
Commissioner Susan P. Kennedy, being necessarily absent, did not participate.
