President Batjer: Morning and welcome. I'm calling the
California Public Utilities Commission Business Meeting
of December 5th, 2019. Public agenda Number 3452 to order.
Everyone, please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
President Batjer: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United
States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one
nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. Thank
you. Robert. Would you please play the safety announcement for us?
Safety Announcer: As you're aware, our number one priority is safety.
As such, we will address certain safety concerns in this venue. In the
event of an emergency, please calmly proceed toward the exits. We have
four exits, two in the rear and one on either side of the dais. In the
event we need to evacuate the building, our assembly point is in the Garden
Plaza area between the War Memorial Herbs Theater and the War Memorial
Opera House on Van Ness. When going out the rear exits, head through
the courtyard and down the front steps, then head south on Van Ness by
crossing McAllister Street. You'll find the Garden Plaza area on your
right immediately after walking past the Herbs Theater. When going up the
side exits after heading out either exits, you'll find yourself on Golden
Gate Avenue. From there, proceed East turned south on Van ness and
walk towards McAllister Street. After crossing McAllister, the Garden
Plaza area will be on your right after passing the War Memorial Herbs
Theater. In the event of an emergency, Executive Director Alice Stebbins
will call 911, and our public advisor, Alison Brown, is certified in CPR
Safety Announcer: and first aid. Thank you for your attention.
President Batjer: Okay, Thank you. We will now turn to the public
President Batjer: comment section of our
agenda. The Commission provides three minutes
to each speaker. There will be a sign held up
in front of you to alert you have one minute
remaining. If you have written comments, please
hand them to Deputy Executive Director Edward
Randolph, here in the front. The Commission rules
do not allow for parties in proceedings to
speak about open proceedings. The public can
make comments addressing items on consent and
regular agendas and including items not on the
agenda. Please note that there will be will
not be public comment on any item on the closed
session agenda today. With that guidance in
mind, I welcome today speakers. Please come
up to the podium. When I call your name, I'll
President Batjer: call the first name and then the
person behind that name, so they could be ready to also go
President Batjer: to the podium. First will
be Clinton Oliver, followed by Suzanne Kim.
Clint Olivier: Good Morning, Commissioners, and thank you
for the opportunity to comment. My name is Clint Olivier and
I represent Biz Fed Central Valley, a grassroots alliance
of more than 50 businesses and organizations, representing
20,000 employers and over 300,000 employees in the Central
Valley of California. Biz Fed Central Valley brings together
associations and employers large and small to share
information, expertise, connections and research. We believe a
thriving economy will help solve many of the Central Valley's
entrance, entrench, entrenched challenges like high concentrated
poverty, where tens of thousands of families are forced
to choose between buying gasoline or groceries each week.
Many of our member businesses currently rely on high
efficiency natural gas equipment to cost-effectively run their
operations and to comply with stringent air quality and emissions
regulations. Moving toward electrification would cause
businesses to shoulder thousands of dollars in new equipment
costs. Presently, many businesses struggle to pay their
electric bills in individual households as well. High electricity
costs are part of the problem. When state decision-makers
speak about electrification, they often emphasize how,
over time, it would lead to lower energy bills. But what's
often overlooked are the staggering up-front costs of
converting existing homes to all-electric end uses so residents
can, at some later date, see lower energy bills. A recent CBIA
study suggests that it would cost about $7000 per household
to replace existing natural gas appliances and make
necessary electrical upgrades to accommodate increased load
and ensure public safety. The costs for businesses is even higher.
Our concern is that in advancing building electrification,
you may saddle those already struggling financially with
additional expenses they just can't afford. We cannot
Clint Olivier: afford a one size fits all solution. California's
want and need energy choice. Thank you, Commissioners.
President Batjer: Thank you, Mr. Olivier.
Next, Suzanne Kim, followed by Michael Picker.
Suzanne Kim: Hi, Commissioners. Thank
Suzanne Kim: you so much for this opportunity.
My name is Suzanne Kim, and I come as a
mother impacted by the recent public safety power
shutdowns. And I had come as a professional
who actually works in EJ issues and trying
to bring solar and discounted solar to low
income communities of color. We did everything
right. You know, our house, we've got solar,
we got, you know, most of the appliances are
electric. We have electric vehicles. In terms
of emergency, we have, you know, the 50 gallon
drums. We have a go kit. We have several
go kits. We have tons of, you know, emergency
equipment readily available and in locations
throughout the house in case something happens.
But there was, I think, some unintended
consequences that happened as a result of the
shutdown. And I come here with three concrete
suggestions as to what could be done. First, I
live in Tiburon, California, and I recognize
it's a relatively affluent area. However, in
the past couple of years, AT&T has removed
landline access to my community. In addition,
I do not have cell phone reception. So in
this particular case, I had no opportunity,
no way, no means of communicating. Now, my
option is, you know, right now, buy a satellite
telephone, that's not really a viable option
for me. So I had no way of communicating or
figuring out what was going on. Even if I had,
even if I had a power back up, there was no
way to call anybody because I don't have, you
know, you know, even with a VoIP phone call,
you can't, you can't use that if the Comcast
goes down. So first there should be a regulation
saying that if you want to be a telecom
provider, you cannot, you know, redline or even
greenline communities, no matter what, like
you have to have access to landlines and-or a
cell phone access, cell phone tower in that
area. If you want to provide energy and
communications to a certain area. That was one issue.
I've been calling the CPUC. I have been calling
everyone I know for the past couple years
trying to get a landline. I can't get one.
Second, restrooms. I live in a place with hill,
so we could not, it requires a sewage ejection
unit every time I go to the bathroom or
use water. I had access to none of that during
the, during that. And the facilities nearby
also did not provide that. They provided cell
phone charging stations, but no bathrooms.
No showers. Nothing like that. The third, is
that everyone, because it's cheaper, used gas
powered generators. We should require PG&E
if they want to do these shutdowns to offset
those emissions. Because those were significant
during that shutdown. And those are the three
comments, I guess I have for right now. The
fourth is you know, I should have batteries,
but let me tell you the cost. I've been quoted
25 to $30,000 just to have my sewage, my
refrigerator. That is prohibitively expensive.
So I'm just telling you that batteries are
Suzanne Kim: still not really a viable option. Thank you.
President Batjer: Thank you, Miss Kim. Mr. Picker.
Michael Picker: Thank you. I'm Michael Picker. I am here
for a very brief but difficult purpose, which is to tell you
all how deeply saddened I am by the passing of Edgar Hansen.
And Edgar and Robert and the rest of the AV crew have worked
very hard to try to make our task as Commissioners easier to
explain to our colleagues and to the public what our votes are
and why. And I deeply appreciated their many kindnesses, their
efforts to try to deal with my soft voice and mumbling.
And so it was both shocking and difficult to accept that he
passed, he passed, actually, here on the job, serving the
state of California and the people. So I just wanted to share
that with all of you. And since, I mean, we're all here, I
just want to thank everybody else who's also worked hard and
performed their jobs under difficult circumstances. On behalf
of the people, the state of California, I continue to cherish
the opportunity to work with all of you. So thank you.
President Batjer: Thank you, President Picker.
President Batjer: Thank you very much, President Picker. We so
appreciate you sharing your feelings today. We're struggling daily with
President Batjer: the loss of Edgar. And we thank
you very much for your comments and your continued
support. Thank you. Again, I'd like to thank the
speakers who have come today and shared their
President Batjer: concerns with us. Is there anyone
else in the, yes, sir? Would you like to come forward?
President Batjer: And please state your name.
Art Bagget: Good morning,
Commissioners. And thank you for allowing
Art Bagget: me to speak today. I'm Art
Bagget, President of the board of directors
of the Civic Forest Watershed Lands and
Stewardship Council. I've been on the board
since its inception, set in 2004. First
is the chair of the State Waterboard. And
then, since 2013, I've been honored to be
one of the three public members that the
Commission appoints. I'm here to speak
regarding the proposed tribal land policy, and
we went to acknowledge and applaud the
Commission's efforts to finally advance of
meaningful policy, which, with connections
and outcomes, would be beneficial for the
California tribal communities. And we look
forward to working with the Commission
and with the, to help develop the guidance
and promulgate regulations that, you know,
will be necessary to implement the policy.
We're created, just a quick background,
we were created to implement the PG&E
Lands Conservation. According to the 2003
bankruptcy of PG&E settlement, and the CPUC
approved the settlement agreement that
requires conservation easements be placed
on PG&E watershed lands to protect the
beneficial public values. Due to these land
conservation commitments, a portion of
PG&E lands are also donated to qualified
public and nonprofit entities. We have gone
to great lengths to ensure that tribe,
tribal communities, that local governments,
state and federal land agencies have had meaningful opportunities to receive the
benefits of these lands and ensure that all
cultural resources are protected by the
easements placed upon the PG&E watershed lands.
We're in the final stages of implementing
this long and lengthy process. We have 13 qualified entities holding easements
over the 140,000 acres of PGE Land. We have
14 entities that are holding easements
over the 40,000 lands, which have been up for fee title donation. The CPUC has
approved 59 advice letters that PG&E has
filed to implement the recommendations, and
there's still 39 advice letters remaining.
We have developed a schedule which will
call for us to be basically finished by the
end of the 2020. The board will be have
acted upon all of the transactions. It
will probably take another nine months for
the staff and PG&E to get the advice letters
to the Commission. So by the end of,
in less than two years, we will be out of
business. We have the budget to do that,
but not to do much, but we have the sufficient
funds to complete our work on these
remaining fee title donations and easements.
And we just look forward to working
with the Commission, working with your
staff and our staff to help any way we can
develop guidance and regulations to implement
the policy. If you have any questions,
Michael Picker: we're always available to help answer this.
President Batjer: Okay, Thank you very much. Appreciate that.
President Batjer: Is there anyone else? Yes.
Please come forward. Please. State your name.
Christina Snyder: Good morning. I'm
Christina Snyder, I'm the tribal adviser for
Governor Gavin Newsom. Good morning, President.
Thank you for having me. Good morning,
Commissioners. Thank you for having me. Last
time I came before you was to support the
tribal lands transfer policy, and I'm here
again to support and applaud the efforts
of the Commission to adopt this policy. I,
last time I was here, I mentioned that, if
you adopted this, it would be in line with
some things that were coming down the road.
And I think about two weeks later was when
the Governor rolled out Executive Order
N1519 apologizing for the genocide that
happened at the creation and the early times
of this state. What this land transfer policy
does is completely in line with the direction
that Governor Newsom wants to see the state
going in acknowledging and hopefully
repairing some of the damage that was done
early on. In order to restore the relationship
between tribes and state leadership so
that we can move forward in a progressive
partnership based on honesty and mutual
respect. So I just wanted to applaud your
efforts. I think this is amazing step and so
that you know, I am advising agency-wide to
start adopting things that are modeled off of this policy. So you are actually
trailblazing in this space, and it's really
exciting to see. So thank you for having me.
President Batjer: Thank you
President Batjer: for being here today, Cristina. Is there anyone
else in the audience who would like to address the Commission today?
Okay. Seeing none, the public comment period is now closed. We will
move on in the agenda to those items. These, and I will call them
out, these are the following changes to today's agenda. Item two will
be held until 12-19-19. Item three will be held until 1-16-20. Item
five will be held until 12-19-19. Item 13 will be held until 12-19-19.
Item 23 will be held until 12-19-19. Item 26 will be held until
12-19-19. Item 27 will be held until 12-19-19. Item 31 will be held
until 12-19-19. Item 37 will be held until 12-19-19. Item 39 will be
held until 12-19-19. Item 47 will be held until 1-16-20. Item 47A
will be held until 1-16-20. Item 48, take up with the Consent Agenda.
Item 49 will also be taken up with the Consent Agenda. Item 50 has
been withdrawn. Item 50A has been withdrawn. Item 51 will be taken up
with the consent agenda. And item 61 will be taken up with the consent
agenda. We will take up the consent items now. Is there a motion?
Commissioner Randolph: So moved.
President Batjer: It has been moved and seconded. All
in favor of the Consent Agenda. Say aye. Thank you. The
consent items have been passed unanimously. Are there
any comments on any of the items on the consent agenda?
Commissioner Randolph: Yes, I'd like to comment on Item 48.
That is a decision that set out frameworks for two important
topics in energy efficiency. It addresses regional energy networks
and a new market transformation initiative. Regional energy
networks were authorized by a previous Commission decision and
are set up by local governments to bring energy efficiency
measures to hard to reach customers, ensure code compliance, and
deliver energy efficiency to municipal buildings. This is a
unique role and was intended to fill a gap that we saw in Utility
and CCA portfolios. RENs have now moved from the original
pilot status and there are now a permanent part of the EE
marketplace. RENs do have some challenges and some successes, which
are partly a consequence of the fact that energy efficiency
itself is in a period of transition. But in the framework we just
adopted, we reaffirmed that RENs should continue and grow and
that new ones may form, but under additional guidance. This
guidance will require ongoing filing and review of their business
plans and seek to minimize overlap with utilities and CCA's
energy efficiency programs. The second topic we address in the
decision is a market transformation initiative. As we discussed
this past August, when we voted on the energy efficiency potential
and goal study. Right now, we're going through a period
where were benefiting from California's energy efficiency success,
which means we're also having to take stock and figure out
how to bring the next wave of success. The initiative we just
approved is one way of finding that next wave. We set up a five
year, $250 million program and guidance for an administrator
that will solicit, evaluate, and fund market transformation
ideas. While it will be some time before we start to see those
initial ideas presented and transforming the market in the same
way that passed measures have, I'm very excited about this new
initiative and I thank you for your support in adopting it.
President Batjer: Thank you, Commissioner
Randolph. Any other Commissions to speak
on the consent agenda? Okay, I would like
to make some brief comments regarding Item
49. SDG&E's energy management plan for the
San Diego Port District. This has been a
challenging decision as it is balancing
three competing and opposing requirements.
We need to reduce error emissions from the
berthing ships and the greenhouse gases
they produce. We also need a solution that
addresses the realities of the cruise
industry and the sustainable economic growth for the San Diego region. And we
need to minimize cross subsidies and find
an equitable outcome for ratepayers. I
commend ALJ Elaine Lao for doing such a
masterful job on balancing these important
and opposing goals. Following the guidance
of Assembly Bill 628, ALJ Lao's proposed
decision results in an outcome that I believe
is workable for everyone. I especially
appreciate ALJ Lao's PD revisions. I'm encouraged that the parties show a
willingness to get back to the table, to
work out a long-term maritime rate for the
port and to bring it back to the Commission.
I also want to recognize Assistant Chief
ALJ Gene McKinney, who's strong guidance helped us get to the finish line, and Ed
Randolph, Paul Phillips, and Edgy So Busan
from the Energy Division for their hard
President Batjer: work on this matter. And I ask for
your support and thank you. Any other comments? Okay,
we will then move on to the regular agenda items,
starting with item number 52. Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>Thank you. I want
to start by acknowledging President Picker for
the kind remarks today. And also for forcing me
to present on five extensions is this morning.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>Okay, so the
first one is, I have four in a row here, so
President Batjer: Yes, you do. We'll have
to vote on each one separately. However,
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>This first
extension has to do with a disconnections
investigation. I'm asking for the extension to be
extended to next July 2020. A decision was actually
issued in this proceeding in September which adopted
a settlement that requires PG&E to provide $100
bill credit to 6371 customer accounts impacted by
PGE's violation of its Electric Tariff Rule 8A2. It
also requires PG&E to contribute $637,100 to the Relief
for Energy Assistance Through Community Help, or
the REACH program. PG&E must seek approval from the
bankruptcy court before making any of these payments
agreed upon in the decision. In order for this to
happen, I'm asking for an extension until July 2020.
President Batjer: Thank you. Are there any comments from the other
Commissioners? Okay, seeing none. Will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 52. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Thank you. It's unanimous vote. Okay,
the next item is item 53. Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>This is a proceeding
dealing with the Albert Hill System Project,
a transmission project that Southern California
Edison has proposed. And we are waiting to hear
from Southern California Edison to supplement
the record with additional analysis of the
alternatives that may serve the needs of the Valley
South System. SCE, as I mentioned, has not yet
provided this supplement. And so we are extending
their timeline until December of this year,
December 31st of this year. And so I am asking for
an extension of 12 months to December of next year
to allow time for the parties to review and respond
to SCE's showing after it's submitted, and
it may likely require evidentiary hearings and
briefings, so I will request an additional year.
President Batjer: Okay, Thank you.
President Batjer: Are there any other comments from the Commission?
Okay. Seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll.
Agenda Clerk: For Item 53. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Okay, thank you. Moving on
to item number 54. Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>This item is related
to the disconnections proceeding. The decision,
this proposal extends the deadline for phase
one of this proceeding until July 10th 2020.
It's been a very active proceeding, as you may
know, it opened in July of 2018. It is the
implementation of SB598, by Senator Wessel, which
directed us to develop rules and policies to reduce
the disconnection rate by 2024. We split the
proceeding into a series of phases. Phase one is
addressing the changes to the rules and programs
to reduce disconnections for the large IOUs. Phase
one-a will address the same question for the
smaller IOUs, and Phase two will address more
innovative approaches to reducing disconnections.
The preceding, we did issue an interim decision
under this proceeding last December, and we have
in place interim protections for vulnerable
residential customers. Those remain in place until
we issue a decision in Phase one. I did also
want a report that in the monthly reports that
we are receiving from the IOUs, there has been
a decrease in the disconnection rates. Numerous
rulings have been issued in Phase one of this
proceeding, and six workshops have been held
across the state to solicit party and public
feedback. The final ruling for Phase one was issued
on the 14th of November, and opening comments
are due December 6. And reply comments soon after.
So additional time is needed to evaluate the
comments from this party. And I do hope to get
a decision out in the early part of next year.
President Batjer: Thank you. Are there any comments from the Commissioners?
Okay, seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 54. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Moving on. Thank you. Moving on to item
55. You get one more chance. Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>Okay, this is extension
for the San Joaquin Valley proceeding that addresses
the needs of communities that lack access to natural
gas. The Commission has already adopted three
substantive decisions under this proceeding. And
the pilot projects authorized under Phase two will
be launching in the first quarter of next year. The
initial data from the pilot projects will become
available starting the third quarter of 2021. Phase
three of this proceeding will use data gathered from
the 11 pilot projects approved in one of our first
decisions. And throughout the San Joaquin Valley,
this event, throughout the entirety of the disadvantaged
communities that we approved in the first
decision under this proceeding. Any, so for the
continued work on this proceeding, I'm asking for a
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: statutory extension until December of 2021.
President Batjer: Okay, thank you. Are
there any comments from the Commissioners
on this item? Okay, seeing none, will the agenda quirk, please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 55. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Okay. Thank you. Moving on to item
56. Commissioner Randolph.
Commissioner Randolph: Okay. Thank you. This proposed
decision would extend the statutory deadline in one of the
Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authorities
applications for authority to construct rail crossings.
Most of those Metro Gold Line cases were assigned to Judge
Burcham, who has now retired. And this proceeding has been
reassigned to Judge Goldberg. And as I have mentioned in
past statutory extension deadline cases, the Construction
Authority has created a prioritization list of crossings
that are more construction ready than others. This crossing
at College Avenue in the city of Claremont is not on the
high priority list as created, and so we have accordingly
designated this as somewhat lower priority ourselves.
And so we need to extend the statutory deadline to June
8th 2020 to allow the recently assigned judge time to
process this case. I ask for your support of this item.
President Batjer: Okay. Thank you. Are there any comments
on this item from the Commission? Seeing none,
will the agenda court please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For item 56. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye. Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves?
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye. Commissioner Randolph: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen?
Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Well, if Commissioner Guzman Aceves is debating
about it, maybe I should think about it. I support it. Voting aye.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer. <v President Batjer>Aye. Thank you.
President Batjer: Okay. Moving on to item 57. Commission Rechtschaffen.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen: This is an extension
order in the Locate and Mark investigation for PG&E.
This is a big, important case. It's an investigation
we opened in December of last year to examine their
extensive violations associated with PG&E's Locate and
Mark program. It's been proceeding quite expeditiously,
but as I said, it's a very big and detailed case. The
Safety and Enforcement division and PG&E reached a
settlement in October and filed that for approval. Since
then, we've had a hearing on the settlement, comments
on the settlement, and replies have been filed last
month. The judge and the assigned Commission office
are reviewing those comments. We need a three month
extension to review the comments, prepare a proposed
decision, and allow time for comments. So I ask for
your support for an extension until March of next year.
President Batjer: Okay, are there any comments from the
Commissioners? Seeing None, will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 57. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves? Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Thank you. Moving on to Item 58, and guess
what you really do have one more item, Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>This item is dealing
with the Panamint Valley Limestone complaint
against the Seerless Domestic Water Company.
In December 2018, Panamint filed the complaint
against Seerless for improperly refusing to provide
them with water for a commercial limestone
quarry. The extension is needed until July, due
to the fact that in July, there was an earthquake
earthquake in Ridgecrest which severely damaged
Seerless Domestic Water Company's facilities and made
it difficult for them to retrieve documents and
records needed in this proceeding. The extension
will allow time to hold an evidentiary hearing and
will give the ALJ time to prepare a presiding
officer's decision and serve the parties. I'm
asking for the extension until June of 2020.
President Batjer: Okay, Thank you. Are there
any questions from the Commission on this item. Ok,
seeing none, agenda clerk, please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 58. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves? Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: thank you. Moving on to item 59, Commissioner
Randolph.
Commissioner Randolph: Okay. This is an order extending statutory deadline
for the OIR to improve public access to public records. I was recently
assigned this proceeding last month and look forward to taking the next steps
to move it forward and close it out in June of 2020. This has been a very
important quasi legislative proceeding, looking at ways to improve our
processes regarding public records and creating more transparency, efficiency,
and consistency in how we do things. In January 2019, this Commission adopted
Decision 1901028, implementing a Revision 1 to General Order 66D. That
decision address specific concerns in audit, inspection, investigation and
enforcement matters and included a process
where Commission staff can invoke,
when necessary to expedite regulated entities submission of information to
the Commission. Next, the proceeding will look at developing guidance on the
standard elements that parties must demonstrate when they support, when they
submit documents with a claim of confidentiality. We expect to draft a PD
for the Commission to vote on in early 2020. So this extends the statutory
deadline to June 14th 2020 to accomplish that. And I ask for your support,
President Batjer: Okay. Thank you. Is there
any comment on this item by the Commissioners?
Okay. Seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Agenda Clerk: For Item 59. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves? Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Thank you. Item 60 does not
need to be taken up as it was passed on the consent
agenda. So we will move on in the agenda now to
the management reports. There are no reports
for items 62, which is report and discussion on
recent consumer protection and safety activities.
And there is no report on item 63 which is
management report on administrative activities.
President Batjer: So we will now move on, then to our
Commissioners reports. I believe that Commissioner Guzman
Aceves. You will be present on items 64. I
think before you present, I believe that
there is someone that you would wish to have a comment.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Yes, President Batjer. My understanding is
is that chairwoman from the Pitt River Tribe
is here. And I would like to invite her to
<v Commissioner Guzman Aceves>make public comments
since she was not able to make it in time.
President Batjer: Please come forward.
Agnes Gonzales: Good afternoon, everybody.
My name's Agnes Gonzales. And I'm the Pitt
River tribe, tribal chairwoman. Whoops,
sorry. The Pitt River Tribe and PG&E has had
a long history with one another. The
locations where PG&E control and reap their
benefits from our locations where our ancestors
had established societies. The locations
house village sites, earth lodges, burial
sites and sacred sites. The preservation and
protection of these have been and always
will be important to the tribe. There are
parallel to the destruction of the Pitt River
people, and the thirst for land and natural
resources for the purposes of agricultural
control of land and most and most recent
hydroelectric developments. The Pitt Rivers
were seen to be in the way of progress, so a
large number of Pitt Rivers perished by mean
of state-endorsed genocide, removal, and
forced march to other areas in California.
The tribe, like many others in California,
suffered great loss. Some bands up to 90%
to which we are currently recovering from.
Some disposable giveaway lands lie within and
on our ancestral areas. We have to apply
for our own land, sometimes only being
offered a coop management opportunity. First
right of refusal allows tribes to purchase
back our ancestors properties. The Pitt
River tribe supports the propose tribal land
transfer policy. Thank you for your time.
President Batjer: Thank you. Now moving on further to the presentation
for items 64. The tribal land transfer. Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Thank you, President Batjer. It's a great privilege
for me to be able to present this item today. And first I want to acknowledge
that this policy builds on the existing
statutes and two executive orders. Governor
Brown's Executive Order B1011 and Governor
Newsom's executive order N1519 with
which Christina Snyder, the governor's tribal advisor, mentioned earlier today.
And in particular, I want to acknowledge the most recent work that Commissioner
Randolph and Commissioner Rechtschaffen did
in developing our existing CPUC tribal
consultation policy, which we adopted in
April of 2018. In our tribal consultation
policy, we recognized and gave voice to the
following Commission goals. Recognition
and respect for tribal sovereignty, encouragement and facilitation of tribal
participation in Commission proceedings, meaningful consideration of tribal
interests and issues within the Commission's
jurisdiction, and protection of tribal
cultural resources. As was mentioned this
June in the governor's executive order, he
recognized California's history, fraught
with violence, exploitation, dispossession
and the attempted destruction of tribal communities. This building sits on land
that belongs to the Cetlantic tribe of the Olani People. Our Sacramento office
sits on the lands of the Plains Miwa
people. And our Los Angeles office belongs
to the Tonva people. The governor not
only recognized this history but formally
apologized and established the Truth and
Healing Council. The governor's order directs
us to tell the truth about our history and to strive to heal from it. And that
is the essence of this historic tribal
land policy. I want to thank Dr. Beth Rose
Middleton, the chair of the Department of
Native American Studies at the University
of California Davis, for condensing the
specific history that California's energy,
energy utilities, most notably the history
of the Western Power Company, the
predecessor of PG&E, and the century of taking of lands from California natives,
native peoples. As recently as 1956. Through
the adoption of today's tribal land
policy, we recognize the important tribal
interest in returning the stolen lands and
giving a voice to meaningful consideration
and prioritization of this important
tribal interest. The key provision of this policy is that when a utility tries
to dispose of any interest in land that it owns, this policy states a preference
that the land go to the native tribe to which the land belongs. Therefore, when
proposed transfer comes before us for our
approval under Section 851 of the Public
Utilities Code, this policy establishes a
rebuttable presumption that it transfer
to an interested tribe is in the public interest. I know there have been some
recent questions about the public process
moving forward, and I want to reiterate
what is in the policy, which is to continue
to work with the tribes, utilities, and
other stakeholders, and the public at
large, to develop the guidelines to fully
implement this policy. And speaking of
public process, I want to thank some of the
key stakeholders and individuals who helped
produce the policy before us. First,
I want to thank the tribal nations that hosted the public workshops for this
policy. The Blue Lake Rancheria in Blue Lake, the Tawalamimiwak into Tuwalme and
the Pechanga Band of Louis Sanyo Indians in Temecula. I'd like to thank Christina
Snyder, the governor's travel advisor and
executive secretary of the Native American
Heritage Commission, who provided
invaluable input throughout the process and
also provided additional venues for us to
discuss the policy. I want to take, thank
the utilities, and in particular, PGE for
their thoughtful and thorough comments
that greatly enhanced the policy. Internal
to the Commission, we had tremendous
help, including a few folks who have since
left us. One crucial voice has been
former ALJ Darcy Hauk, who is now at the
California Energy Commission, and she did
a huge amount of work putting together this policy and provided the necessary
trusted environment for many of these
discussions. I want to acknowledge a few other
judges who helped. ALJ Kolbert, Fortune and Mackenzie. I want to thank Lon Mayer
from the Energy Division, who is now at
the Department of Water Resources for his
outstanding outreach and input that he
provided. I'd like to thank Stephanie Gree,
our tribal liaison. Diedre Cyprian in the
Executive director's office. Our public
advisor Alison Brown. And in particular, Hector Garcia, who coordinated much
of the preparation and logistics for the workshops. And of course, I'd like to
thank my fellow Commissioner Genevieve
Shiroma and her advisers, Levantus Fi and
Justin Reiner, and my legal adviser, Jonathan
Colts, for all their work and engagement.
And most importantly, I'd like to think all of the tribal representatives who
commented on this policy, either formally
or informally, and as the governor said,
even though we can never fully repay the injustice, we do, however, have the
chance today to do more than just
acknowledge these words. We can take action
toward building a new relationship with
California's tribal communities. Thank you.
President Batjer: And an especially
President Batjer: strong thank you to you, Commissioner
Guzman Aceves, for all of your hard work and
devotion to the policy. Thank you very much.
Would any of the other Commissioners like to
comment on this item? Yes, Commissioner Shiroma?
Commissioner Shiroma: President Batjer. and thank you, Commissioner
Commissioner Shiroma: Guzman Aceves for your leadership on
the, not only the consultation policy, but also now on the
tribal land transfer policy. I'm, of course, in support of
it and I appreciate the efforts made to provide for the
consultation meetings which I was able to attend one, and it
was well attended by many other tribes within the San Diego
Riverside area. I think this is an important step as Christina
Snyder indicated, the governor's tribal advisor. Thank you for
attending today. That this, these are important, almost
incremental, steps when looked at in the landscape of what happened
at the end of the 1800s into the 1900s of the horrific
genocide and treatment of tribal people and tribal lands, and
hopefully, this provides a mitigation of those horrific times.
I think that the policy provides a good framework. I want
to thank all of the parties. I also want to thank Chairwoman
Gonzalez for being here today. And, of course, Art Bagget,
our appointee to the Stewardship Council and
former Administrative Law Judge Darcy Hoke,
who Congratulations on being general counsel
now of the California Energy Commission. Our
sister, if not rival agency.
President Batjer: Not rival. No, no.
President Batjer: We work in concert. We we actually
work in concert. It's good to have you there, so thank
you very much. I know there's more work to be done. This
is an important, important step to take. Thank you.
President Batjer: Thank you, Commissioner Shiroma.
Are there other comments? Yes, Commissioner Rechtschaffen?
Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Thank you. Thank you very
much. Thank you, Commissioner Guzman Aceves for your, all
your work on this, and for your very, very powerful statement
just now. And thank you, Christina Snyder for all your
support on this and the other tribal efforts we've been
working on. It makes a huge difference. And I want especially
thank former AL J Halk for an incredible amount of work and
expertise on this. We miss you already, but we're glad
that you're in your new position. This land disposition policy
is one of the many steps that the state needs to take to
remedy the grievous historic injustices that Governor Newsome
highlighted in his executive order. And it is overdue.
I won't repeat the provision that Commissioners Guzman
Aceves mentioned, but our hope and expectation is that as a
result of this policy, some important lands that utilities
now own and do not need and that hold special cultural,
historic and other significance to tribes will be restored
to the tribes, their rightful owner. And as Christina
Snyder also mentioned, hopefully this could be a, this could
be a a template for other state agencies. That would be a
terrific development. I do have one technical question or
clarification, Commissioner. My understanding is that the
intent of this is to subject real property of the utilities
to transfer, the disposition policy, not equipment or
intellectual property. And if that's the case, I think we
need to slightly amend Footnote three, which says that real
property subject to this policy is defined as, quote, any IOU
property is disposition is subject to approval in accordance
with the PU Code 854 to say that real property subject to
this policy is defined as any IOU real property subject to
851, so that it doesn't apply to equipment or intellectual
property. I trust that that's the intent of the policy.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Yes, I think that would be
considered a cleanup amendment.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Okay. Thank you. That's that's it for me.
<v President Batjer>Commissioner Randolph?
Commissioner Randolph: Yeah. Thank you, Commissioner
Guzman Aceves for spearheading this policy. This policy
acknowledges that each 851 application is different. And
there may be issues and challenges with each one, but
it is a clear, articulated, and now approved policy of
this Commission that this Commission wants to see land
returned to indigenous peoples where possible. And I
look forward to continuing to work with you on sort of
these implementation details and the guidelines that
have been discussed. I really appreciate the level of
outreach that you and Commissioner Shiroma and others did
in terms of working with stakeholders and in terms of
holding consultations on this policy. And I am very supportive
of the policy. I agree with Commissioner Rechtschaffen's
clarifying question. So I think that's an excellent
edit. And I will certainly be supporting the policy.
Unknown: Can I just clarify that the edit is to insert the word real before
the IOU property. Footnote three on page one? Just the insertion of one word?
<v Commissioner Rechtschaffen>That's correct.
Unknown: Okay. Thank you.
President Batjer: Any other comments from the Commission? Okay.
Thank you. Can the clerk, please call the roll
on item number 64, the tribal land transfer
President Batjer: policy.
Agenda Clerk: For Item 64. Commissioner Shiroma? Commissioner Shiroma: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves? Commissioner Guzman Aceves: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Randolph? Commissioner Randolph: Aye.
Agenda Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen? Commissioner Rechtschaffen: Yes.
Agenda Clerk: President Batjer? President Batjer: Aye.
President Batjer: Thank you. The item has passed unanimously.
President Batjer: Moving on. Who would like to make a
Commissioner's report?
Yes, Commissioner Shiroma?
Commissioner Shiroma: Thank you. President
Batjer. Yes, I have several things to report. On
November 22nd, Commissioner Guzman Aceves and our
staff attended the launch of the iFoster Phones
for Foster Youth Program. This is a pilot program
that came through the Commission's Lifeline
Pilot Program effort, and Commissioner Guzman
Aceves carried that one across the finish line. I
got to then take the baton. Okay, we shared. We
shared it. And we celebrated recently in South
Gate, where iFoster and Boost Mobile, which had
developed the partnership, provided a kickoff
effort. And at this kickoff effort, which is going
to be for a goal of providing the 33,000 eligible
foster youth and transitioning age youth to
have phone service and a smartphone, this is so
essential for the success of any of us. And if
folks are familiar with the foster youth in our
state, there are many, many challenges. This event
was so wonderful insofar as the transitioning
age youth through the AmeriCorps also provided for
various mentorship tables as far as the youth
who are coming in, the transitioning age youth,
coming in to receive their free phones and to
start up their service, to walk through things
like financial literacy, emotional care, looking
at how do you balance a budget, in terms of, if
you have only so much resources, and the, these
youth who themselves are foster youth, they
developed this entire program for that day. It was
well attended, including Assembly Speaker Anthony
Randon, and representatives of Mayor Garcetti,
the County, the Education Department and it really
was a wonderful kickoff. I do wanna thank the
Communications Division staff who were there Shari
Worster and Caleb Jones. It was a very good
start to get that 33,000 youth signed up for
the program. Then, speaking of Lifeline, we do
have a committee meeting coming up. It's going
to be on December 9th in Vice Eliot, at the Vice
Eliot Convention Center. The Advisory Committee
meets once a quarter. The Advisory Committee is
charged with providing advice and recommendations
to the Commission on the marketing programs to
achieve the overall Lifeline's program goals,
providing that basics service. We heard little bit
today for one of our speakers about how essential
it is to have, whether it's a wireline or a
wireless or a voiceover Internet, it is essential
and it is especially essential for our low income
qualifying households. And then finally, the
next day on December 10th, we will have our Low
Income Oversight Board quarterly meeting in
Hanford, which is just west of Vice Eliot. And the
details of that meeting could be found on our
website and laob.cpuc.ca.gov and I encourage anyone
who's interested in the Commission's low income
programs, we will be hearing from the IOUs, from
PG&E, San Diego Gas and Electric, Southern
California helping Edison and SoCal gas on their
progress in this next phase of the low income
discount programs and the reauthorization programs.
We'll also be hearing about the progress being
made by the water utilities as well. Thank you.
President Batjer: Thank you, Commissioner Shiroma. Are there any
other comments from any of the Commissioners? Commissioner Randolph?
Commissioner Randolph: I'll just mention briefly
that, tomorrow, we will be hosting a workshop on, with
the Commissioner Rechtschaffen, on the rules of
practice and procedure. And we'll be starting at 930
in the courtroom. And there will be an opportunity
for stakeholders and interested parties to discuss
possible changes to our internal rules of practice and
procedure. And we hope you will attend. Thank you.
President Batjer: Great. Thank you. Look forward to it. Any other
comments? I have a quick comment or two. On November 20th, the CPUC held a
prehearing conference on the emergency preparedness proceeding. The hearing
focused on responsiveness of the communications service providers during
the latest wildfires and public safety power shut offs to keep
telecommunications services on. Compliance
to D1908025 and engagement and timely
responsiveness to the requests of the Office of Emergency Services and the
Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection. The information obtained will
be used to inform the scoping memo for Phase two of the proceeding. And
finally, I would like to thank my interim advisor, Elizabeth Podolinsky,
who has accepted a job here at the PUC, I'm glad to say, with the Safety
Enforcement division. When I came on board, she graciously agreed to stay
on and help me with the transition and advise and inform me of many of
the important things in the
telecommunications and water worlds. I enjoy
working with you very much, Liz. And I am pleased that we will be able to
continue working together. So I wish you well, and thank you very much.
(applause)
President Batjer: So that finishes on the Commissioner
reports. Thank you for everyone who has come
today. The public meeting is now adjourned. Please clear
the room for the closed session on legal matters.