BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Order Instituting Rulemaking into Implementation of Assembly Bill 1149, Regarding Underground Electric and Communications Facilities.

Rulemaking 00-01-005 (Filed January 6, 2000)

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE'S RULING

REGARDING NOTICE OF INTENT TO CLAIM COMPENSATION

This ruling responds to a notice of intent (NOI) to claim compensation filed by The 19th Street Neighbors seeking compensation for their representative Utility Design, Inc. (UDI) on March 10, 2000. Southern California Edison (Edison), on behalf of itself and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), filed a timely response objecting to the request. This ruling addresses the requirements of the Public Utilities Code, Division 1, Part 1, Chapter 9, Article 5, §1804.¹

Under § 1804(a)(1), "[a] customer who intends to seek an award under this article shall, within 30 days after the prehearing conference is held, file and serve on all parties to the proceeding a notice of intent to claim compensation." The prehearing conference (PHC) in this proceeding was held on February 10, 2000. UDI's NOI is timely filed.

Section 1804(a)(2) sets forth those items that must be addressed in an NOI. Pursuant to Decision (D.) 98-04-059, this ruling must determine whether the intervenor is a customer, as defined in section 1802(b), and identify whether the intervenor is a (1) participant representing consumers; (2) a representative authorized by a customer; or (3) a representative of a group or organization that is authorized by its bylaws or articles of incorporation to represent the interests of residential ratepayers. Once the applicable definition of customer is identified, the correct standard of "significant financial hardship" can be applied.

Customer Status

In the request, UDI indicates that it qualifies under Category 2 as a "representative authorized by a customer." Category 2 customer status implies that there is a formal arrangement between the customers and the representative. In this case, three members of The 19th Street Neighbors (19th Street Neighbors), a small group of PG&E and Pacific Bell customers residing on 19th Street in San Francisco, signed an authorization form consenting to have UDI represent their interests in this proceeding. UDI attached a copy of the signed consent to its NOI as Attachment "A."

UDI is also an engineering, consulting, and contracting firm that designs utility line extensions, as well as other services. UDI is not making any claim that it is a "customer" itself. Edison and PG&E oppose UDI's request for Intervenor Compensation on the grounds that UDI, as a firm that is desirous of doing work for developers, builders, and municipal governments related to the underground conversion, is pursuing its own commercial interest in this proceeding. Edison and PG&E ask the Commission to place significant weight on the fact that UDI made its appearance at the February 10, 2000, PHC on behalf of itself, and not as a representative of any client. It is just recently, by way of its NOI, that UDI is entering the proceeding in a representative capacity.

In a previous NOI filed by UDI for its purported contributions to Decision (D.) 98-09-058, filed in D.96-05-049, the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) directed UDI to provide additional information to the Commission to enable it to determine if it was a "customer" for purposes of the Intervenor Compensation statutes. Specifically, UDI was told it had to provide the identities of the customers who authorized UDI to represent them and their interest in the proceeding, the nature of that authorization, and the scope of the authorization.

In its NOI, UDI identifies the customers UDI is authorized to represent. The customers are Eileen Gold (Gold), Susan Sutton (Sutton), and Robert Sims (Sims), who constitute The 19th Street Neighbors. Gold, Sutton, and Sims' interest in this Rulemaking is to develop a means to underground the overhead electrical, cable, and telephone utilities on city streets such as their own. Gold, Sutton, and Sims signed a written consent authorizing UDI to represent their interests as The 19th Street Neighbors in this proceeding. A copy of the consent is attached to the NOI.

Based on UDI's compliance with the requirements established by the ALJ in D.96-05-049, I will preliminarily find that UDI qualifies as a Category 2 customer for purposes of § 1802(b). As a caveat to UDI, I am aware of UDI's appearance at the PHC in its capacity as an engineering, consulting, and contracting firm that is desirous of having the Commission expand the conversion projects to allow competitive bidding. Thus, UDI does have a commercial interest in this proceeding. I will scrutinize any Request for Compensation submitted by UDI to ensure that UDI does not seek reimbursement for its own participation in the proceeding under the guise of representing The 19th Street Neighbors. It is problematic that UDI is both an appearance on its own behalf and a representative of particular customers, seeking intervenor compensation. At a minimum, UDI must segregate the time and expenses spent advocating its own position and that of The 19^th Street Neighbors.