WEBVTT 00:00:05.279 --> 00:00:09.452 I'm calling the California Public Utilities 00:00:09.464 --> 00:00:12.929 Commission Business meeting January 16, 2020, Public 00:00:12.929 --> 00:00:17.216 Agenda Number 34 54 to order. Everyone, 00:00:17.228 --> 00:00:21.968 please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance. 00:00:21.993 --> 00:00:27.039 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United 00:00:27.064 --> 00:00:32.469 States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, 00:00:32.481 --> 00:00:37.628 one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all. 00:00:41.149 --> 00:00:43.080 Thank you all. Robert, 00:00:43.092 --> 00:00:45.215 would you please play the safety announcement? 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:46.570 As you are aware, 00:00:46.570 --> 00:00:49.008 remember, one priority is safety. As such, 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:51.469 we will address certain safety concerns in 00:00:51.469 --> 00:00:54.705 this venue. In the event of an emergency, 00:00:54.717 --> 00:00:58.430 please calmly proceed toward the exits. We have 00:00:58.430 --> 00:01:01.457 four exits, two in the rear and one on either side 00:01:01.469 --> 00:01:04.210 of the dais. In the event we need to evacuate 00:01:04.210 --> 00:01:06.423 the building, our assembly point is in the 00:01:06.435 --> 00:01:08.659 Garden Plaza area between the War Memorial 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:11.679 Herbs Theater and the War Memorial Opera House 00:01:11.691 --> 00:01:14.530 on Van Ness. When going out the rear exits, 00:01:14.530 --> 00:01:16.566 head through the courtyard and down the front 00:01:16.578 --> 00:01:18.670 steps, then head south on Van Ness by crossing 00:01:18.670 --> 00:01:21.041 McAllister street. You'll find the Garden 00:01:21.053 --> 00:01:23.550 Plaza area on your right, immediately after 00:01:23.550 --> 00:01:26.620 walking past the Herbs Theater. When going out 00:01:26.632 --> 00:01:29.780 the side exits, after heading out either exits, 00:01:29.780 --> 00:01:32.490 you'll find yourself on Golden Gate Avenue. 00:01:32.502 --> 00:01:34.729 From there, proceed east, turn south 00:01:34.729 --> 00:01:37.694 on Van Ness, and walk towards McAllister Street. 00:01:37.706 --> 00:01:40.380 After crossing McAllister, the Garden Plaza 00:01:40.380 --> 00:01:42.870 area will be on your right after passing the 00:01:42.882 --> 00:01:45.329 War Memorial Herbs Theater. In the event of 00:01:45.329 --> 00:01:48.279 an emergency, Executive Director Alice Stebbins 00:01:48.291 --> 00:01:51.130 will call 911, and our public advisor, Alison 00:01:51.130 --> 00:01:55.565 Brown, is certified in CPR and First Aid. Thank you for your attention. 00:01:55.564 --> 00:02:01.157 Thank you, Robert. We will now turn to the next item 00:02:01.169 --> 00:02:06.390 on our agenda, which is the Public Comment. The Commission provides 00:02:06.390 --> 00:02:10.784 two minutes to each speaker. There will be a 00:02:10.796 --> 00:02:14.909 sign held up in the front of you to alert 00:02:14.909 --> 00:02:17.806 you of the one minute time remaining in your 00:02:17.818 --> 00:02:20.791 remarks. If you have written comments, please 00:02:20.791 --> 00:02:23.958 hand them to Executive Director Alice Stebbins. 00:02:23.970 --> 00:02:26.620 And Alice is right here. The Commission 00:02:26.620 --> 00:02:29.889 rules do not allow for parties in proceedings 00:02:29.901 --> 00:02:33.040 to speak about open proceedings. The public 00:02:33.040 --> 00:02:36.333 can make comments addressing items on the 00:02:36.345 --> 00:02:39.650 consent and regular agendas and including 00:02:39.650 --> 00:02:43.613 items not on the agenda. Please note that 00:02:43.625 --> 00:02:47.790 there will not be a public comment on items 00:02:47.790 --> 00:02:53.736 13, 18, 49 and any items on the Closed Session 00:02:53.748 --> 00:02:59.580 agenda. With that guidance in mind, I welcome 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:02.814 today's speakers. Please come to the podium 00:03:02.826 --> 00:03:06.220 when your name is called, and I will call the 00:03:06.220 --> 00:03:09.991 first speaker and then the speaker next. So you 00:03:10.003 --> 00:03:13.549 could queue appropriately. Our first speaker 00:03:13.549 --> 00:03:18.103 today is Roger Linn, and he will be followed 00:03:18.115 --> 00:03:22.680 by Cynthia Papersmaster. Mr. Lin? Is Mr. Lin 00:03:22.680 --> 00:03:27.999 here? Okay. Do not see him. Cynthia, are you 00:03:28.011 --> 00:03:33.579 here? Okay. Please, you, and then Cynthia will 00:03:33.579 --> 00:03:38.757 be followed by Nancy Schimmel. 00:03:42.782 --> 00:03:45.698 Good morning. I 00:03:45.710 --> 00:03:48.939 understand. I have two minutes. Okay. I'm 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:52.299 very pleased to be here today, and I have two 00:03:52.311 --> 00:03:55.610 members of BARC with me. That's the Facebook 00:03:55.610 --> 00:04:00.181 group called Barker's Agitating for Reactor 00:04:00.193 --> 00:04:04.880 Closures. And these two animals and probably 00:04:04.880 --> 00:04:07.395 the majority of people of the state of California 00:04:07.407 --> 00:04:09.580 would like the Public Utilities Commission 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:12.530 to consider shutting Diablo Canyon nuclear 00:04:12.542 --> 00:04:15.780 plant in 2020. We know it's scheduled to close 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:20.116 in 2024, 2025. Two reactors closing, one in 2024, 00:04:20.128 --> 00:04:24.650 one in 2025. But there's some factors that we would 00:04:24.650 --> 00:04:28.294 like you to consider that are urgent. Number 00:04:28.306 --> 00:04:31.880 one, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave 00:04:31.880 --> 00:04:35.922 PG&E a waiver in 2012 not to test the welds 00:04:35.934 --> 00:04:39.620 in Reactor Core One. They were supposed 00:04:39.620 --> 00:04:45.479 to test them every 10 year, according to the NRC's regulations. But the NRC gave 00:04:45.479 --> 00:04:52.919 them a waiver. So the wells have not been tested since 2003. And 00:04:52.919 --> 00:04:56.058 so that's an urgent situation. In the event 00:04:56.070 --> 00:04:59.220 of an earthquake, which could easily happen 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:02.774 in San Luis Obispo, since they're fracking in San 00:05:02.786 --> 00:05:06.139 Luis Obispo, that plant could have a meltdown. 00:05:06.139 --> 00:05:08.467 The chief inspector of the plant, the Nuclear 00:05:08.479 --> 00:05:10.819 Regulatory Commission's own engineer, nuclear 00:05:10.819 --> 00:05:14.137 engineer, Dr Michael Peck, recommended shutting 00:05:14.149 --> 00:05:17.270 the plant in 2018. He gave them a report and 00:05:17.270 --> 00:05:19.634 he said, shut this plant, it's too dangerous 00:05:19.646 --> 00:05:21.970 to keep going, you should at least test the 00:05:21.970 --> 00:05:24.528 wells, you should at least make sure the plant 00:05:24.540 --> 00:05:27.110 is safe. And they ignored, pretty much ignored 00:05:27.110 --> 00:05:30.154 the report and sent him to a different nuclear 00:05:30.166 --> 00:05:32.831 plant to be the inspector. So that's one 00:05:32.831 --> 00:05:35.617 reason. The other reason is the electricity 00:05:35.629 --> 00:05:38.300 generated from that plant is outrageously 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:41.103 expensive and way more expensive than any 00:05:41.115 --> 00:05:43.930 other source of electricity that we could 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:46.580 be getting on the grid. It only provides 00:05:46.592 --> 00:05:49.319 about 7% of the energy on the grid in any 00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:52.506 given day. That's Daisy, and she really 00:05:52.518 --> 00:05:56.210 doesn't like nukes, and neither does Lucky, 00:05:56.210 --> 00:05:59.183 neither of them like nukes. I haven't met a dog who likes 00:05:59.195 --> 00:06:01.820 nukes. But please consider our request. Thank you. 00:06:01.844 --> 00:06:24.748 (inaudible) 00:06:24.773 --> 00:06:28.300 Looking at counsel. And 00:06:28.312 --> 00:06:31.530 I'm, Anne, can you address that, please? 00:06:31.530 --> 00:06:34.918 With a mic? 00:06:34.943 --> 00:06:38.946 The Commission's rules are two minutes per person who has signed up. 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:45.080 (inaudible) 00:06:45.080 --> 00:06:48.076 My name is Nancy Schimmel. I'm 84 00:06:48.088 --> 00:06:51.270 years old, and I've been protesting the use of nuclear 00:06:51.270 --> 00:06:57.029 weapons and nuclear power since 1960. My mother 00:06:57.041 --> 00:07:02.811 wrote this song in 1977, which was before Three 00:07:02.811 --> 00:07:07.105 Mile Island, before any of the subsequent accidents. 00:07:07.117 --> 00:07:10.610 Because we're human and we have accidents. 00:07:10.610 --> 00:07:17.345 So Margaret Hurlbert is going to sing the song that Malvina Reynolds wrote. 00:07:17.370 --> 00:07:19.590 You could 00:07:19.590 --> 00:07:25.982 make steam in a boiler or from the light of the 00:07:25.994 --> 00:07:31.730 sun, but making steam in a nuclear is like 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:36.851 shooting a fly with a gun, shooting a fly with 00:07:36.863 --> 00:07:41.449 a gun and the gun costs a billion or two. 00:07:41.449 --> 00:07:46.830 If the gun gets hot, the shooter gets shot 00:07:46.842 --> 00:07:52.360 full world down the flu. You can make steam 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:56.342 in a boiler so the generator will run, but making 00:07:56.354 --> 00:07:59.789 steam in the nuclear plant is like killing 00:07:59.789 --> 00:08:04.668 a flea with a gun, killing a flea with a gun. 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:09.570 And the gun shoots more ways than one. If the 00:08:09.570 --> 00:08:13.439 gun gives up, the shooter gets shot. The whole 00:08:13.451 --> 00:08:16.919 damn world is done. You can make steam in 00:08:16.919 --> 00:08:21.804 a boiler. Or on the stove in your home. But 00:08:21.816 --> 00:08:27.159 making steam in a nuclear plant is like killing 00:08:27.159 --> 00:08:31.243 a nut with a bomb, killing a nut with a bomb, 00:08:31.255 --> 00:08:35.350 and the bomb costs a million to shoot. If the 00:08:35.350 --> 00:08:42.021 bomb gets a crack, you can't send it back. 00:08:42.033 --> 00:08:47.628 There will be nobody left to do it. 00:08:47.653 --> 00:08:51.721 Okay, The following, 00:08:51.720 --> 00:08:54.711 the next speaker will be Will Abrams, and 00:08:54.723 --> 00:08:57.870 Will will be followed by Margaret Hurlbert. 00:08:59.920 --> 00:09:02.547 Thank you, Commissioners. My name is 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.400 Will Abrams. I'm here to comment on Consent Item Number 00:09:05.400 --> 00:09:13.600 24. I applaud the Commission's decision. to advance General Order 95. I did want 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:16.826 to point out that in that proceeding, that 00:09:16.838 --> 00:09:19.700 there was a pre-hearing conference in 00:09:19.700 --> 00:09:23.013 May, followed by an invite for additional 00:09:23.025 --> 00:09:26.270 party comments in September. And I think 00:09:26.270 --> 00:09:28.478 that's important, because I think that shows 00:09:28.490 --> 00:09:30.710 the value of holding pre-hearing conferences 00:09:30.710 --> 00:09:34.649 and public engagement on these proceedings. I 00:09:34.661 --> 00:09:38.440 was in Sacramento yesterday, on a different 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:42.260 issue, but visited the Senate Energy Committee 00:09:42.272 --> 00:09:45.860 and saw being proposed Senate Bill 65, that 00:09:45.860 --> 00:09:48.678 looks to take away those pre-hearing 00:09:48.690 --> 00:09:52.070 conferences in a very substantial way and 00:09:52.070 --> 00:09:55.364 also inserts quiet periods and take away a lot 00:09:55.376 --> 00:09:58.330 of opportunities for public participation 00:09:58.330 --> 00:10:00.757 and a lot of smaller interveners like myself 00:10:00.769 --> 00:10:03.100 to participate in these proceedings. And I 00:10:03.100 --> 00:10:05.663 would argue that there are, what will expedite 00:10:05.675 --> 00:10:08.250 and will streamline a lot of these proceedings 00:10:08.250 --> 00:10:10.888 is more engagement at the right points and not 00:10:10.900 --> 00:10:13.720 less. Certainly there's a lot on the Commission's 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.159 plate, and I appreciate that. But I would 00:10:17.171 --> 00:10:20.950 just caution that these types of streamlining 00:10:20.950 --> 00:10:24.472 take away put public engagement and should 00:10:24.484 --> 00:10:28.100 be looked at. Across the proceedings having 00:10:28.100 --> 00:10:31.180 more public participation hearings not less, 00:10:31.192 --> 00:10:34.010 and particularly when, you know, we have 00:10:34.010 --> 00:10:36.720 utilities asking for expedited process and 00:10:36.732 --> 00:10:39.391 hurry up and let's get through this. That 00:10:39.391 --> 00:10:42.737 should really give the Commission more of a 00:10:42.749 --> 00:10:46.030 pause to say, hey, why are these utilities 00:10:46.030 --> 00:10:49.096 pushing past these gates? Maybe that means 00:10:49.108 --> 00:10:51.900 we should take a little more time. And 00:10:51.900 --> 00:10:55.546 I would just advise and appreciate that. Thank you. 00:10:55.571 --> 00:10:58.350 Thank you, Mr Abrams. Margaret Hurlbert, 00:10:58.350 --> 00:11:01.321 followed by Annie Howit. 00:11:01.346 --> 00:11:09.121 Hi, everyone. I wanted to say that that song I just sang 00:11:09.121 --> 00:11:13.868 was sung by Malvina Reynolds at a demonstration 00:11:13.880 --> 00:11:18.540 in 1978 that I attended. And it was a blockade 00:11:18.540 --> 00:11:22.549 of nuclear, you know, Diablo Canyon. And it 00:11:22.561 --> 00:11:26.400 had about 400 people arrested, I believe. 00:11:26.400 --> 00:11:29.776 Anyway, I wanted to say that being the 00:11:29.788 --> 00:11:33.710 daughter of a chemist who knew a lot about 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:36.508 the danger of nuclear power helped me decide 00:11:36.520 --> 00:11:39.330 that it was not safe. And I think if he were 00:11:39.330 --> 00:11:42.635 alive today, he would say that global warming 00:11:42.647 --> 00:11:45.820 should not be solved by something they call 00:11:45.820 --> 00:11:48.465 clean energy, which is the most dangerous 00:11:48.477 --> 00:11:51.261 thing that we can do to the planet. Because 00:11:51.261 --> 00:11:54.519 the half life of plutonium which is produced 00:11:54.531 --> 00:11:57.800 by these power plants, is, I believe, 50,000 00:11:57.800 --> 00:12:02.184 years. That is way longer. I mean, it's unimaginable. 00:12:02.196 --> 00:12:05.940 So closing all the plants down in the country 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:09.577 is what I would like. Thank you. 00:12:09.602 --> 00:12:15.038 Thank you. Annie Howit, followed by Michael Calvin. 00:12:15.063 --> 00:12:16.850 Hi, everyone. 00:12:16.850 --> 00:12:20.141 I'm delighted to be and and with all of you. 00:12:20.153 --> 00:12:23.310 We are the people. And I feel like the one 00:12:23.310 --> 00:12:26.144 voice we haven't been listening to is the 00:12:26.156 --> 00:12:29.070 Earth. We are part of nature. We live in a 00:12:29.070 --> 00:12:33.727 web of life. Yet all we can think about is people's 00:12:33.739 --> 00:12:37.960 money and how to solve problems with something 00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:44.940 that's part of nature. We've We've just lost a billion animals in Australia. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:48.883 We've, everyone knows the problems. Fukushima is 00:12:48.895 --> 00:12:52.770 still contaminating our ocean, daily, minutely. 00:12:52.770 --> 00:12:56.403 It's coming to our shore, debris from the 00:12:56.415 --> 00:13:00.320 blast is still coming to our shore. No one's 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:03.864 checking. No one's measuring what's out there 00:13:03.876 --> 00:13:07.200 on our coast. We go and play in the water. 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:10.468 It's a catastrophe that we have allowed the 00:13:10.480 --> 00:13:13.910 necessity to boil water to be handled by this 00:13:13.910 --> 00:13:18.038 nuclear force. Everyone wants to solve this 00:13:18.050 --> 00:13:21.720 problem. As the inhabitants of nature, 00:13:21.720 --> 00:13:25.750 I have one minute. I would like you to support 00:13:25.762 --> 00:13:29.460 what we need to survive. You represent the 00:13:29.460 --> 00:13:35.179 public, you are our voice. We need to use wind, 00:13:35.191 --> 00:13:41.160 sun, and common sense to solve the problem. If we 00:13:41.160 --> 00:13:43.974 can't figure out the power problem, power 00:13:43.986 --> 00:13:46.880 has to go. They did fine 100 years ago. My 00:13:46.880 --> 00:13:50.996 parents were very happy, you know, without all 00:13:51.008 --> 00:13:54.960 of this fossil fuel need and this incredible 00:13:54.960 --> 00:14:01.980 force to control nature, not work with nature and make it better. Thank you. 00:14:02.005 --> 00:14:04.320 Thank you. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:09.368 Michael Colvin, followed by Elaine Levy. 00:14:09.393 --> 00:14:15.400 Good morning. Commissioner's. My name is Michael 00:14:15.400 --> 00:14:17.132 Colvin from Environmental Defense Fund and 00:14:17.144 --> 00:14:18.970 I'm here today in the support of Item Number 00:14:18.970 --> 00:14:21.939 44 which initiates a new rule making on 00:14:21.951 --> 00:14:25.390 long-term gas system planning. The need for 00:14:25.390 --> 00:14:27.903 this rulemaking is clear. As California reduces 00:14:27.915 --> 00:14:30.440 his gas use in buildings, the pool of customers 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:32.261 who are gonna be footing the bill for the 00:14:32.273 --> 00:14:34.150 gas system is going to shrink, which could 00:14:34.150 --> 00:14:37.428 raise costs and unduly burdened low income 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.270 and other vulnerable communities. We 00:14:40.270 --> 00:14:42.846 need to reconsider the cost allocation of the 00:14:42.858 --> 00:14:45.390 gas system. Presently, residential customers 00:14:45.390 --> 00:14:47.843 pay for the bulk of the system costs. But 00:14:47.855 --> 00:14:50.320 as residential customers rely less on gas 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:52.603 in their homes and buildings, the customer 00:14:52.615 --> 00:14:54.910 base who pays for this gas system is going 00:14:54.910 --> 00:14:57.472 to need to change. Proactively managing this 00:14:57.484 --> 00:15:00.230 transition will be a win for both the customers 00:15:00.230 --> 00:15:03.093 and for the environment. The rulemaking seeks 00:15:03.105 --> 00:15:05.980 to establish new rules for gas pipelines that 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:08.329 supply natural gas-fired power plants. As 00:15:08.341 --> 00:15:11.040 California moves towards a carbon-free electric 00:15:11.040 --> 00:15:13.304 grid, we will need to rely upon our existing 00:15:13.316 --> 00:15:15.390 natural gas-fire generation in different 00:15:15.390 --> 00:15:18.647 ways to supply our electricity. Our existing 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:22.000 gas generation fleet will be used less often, 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:24.901 but will continue to provide critical reliability 00:15:24.913 --> 00:15:27.360 support. As a result, the reliability and 00:15:27.360 --> 00:15:31.790 market rules for gas pipelines feeding these natural gas fired generators 00:15:31.790 --> 00:15:34.894 are going to need to be updated. And last, 00:15:34.906 --> 00:15:37.950 this rulemaking will be a model for other 00:15:37.950 --> 00:15:40.779 states. I was talking with some of my EDF 00:15:40.791 --> 00:15:43.970 counterparts in other territories, and they've 00:15:43.970 --> 00:15:46.413 all mentioned how directly transferrable this 00:15:46.425 --> 00:15:48.720 work will be because the challenge of long 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.508 term gas planning is not unique to California. 00:15:51.520 --> 00:15:54.260 This OIR is asking the right set of questions 00:15:54.260 --> 00:15:57.178 and they will be transferrable. So I encourage 00:15:57.190 --> 00:16:00.120 you all to adopt the item. And we look forward 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:03.247 to participating. Thank you for your time. 00:16:03.272 --> 00:16:07.320 Thank you very much. Next, we will have Elaine Levy, 00:16:07.320 --> 00:16:09.989 followed by Diana Bowen. 00:16:10.014 --> 00:16:17.530 First of all, thank you for public comments. This 00:16:17.530 --> 00:16:26.860 is my first time ever speaking before a Commission. I'm here to say, probably 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:31.593 most of which you already know, but which is 00:16:31.605 --> 00:16:36.350 just so important. One is that Diablo Canyon 00:16:36.350 --> 00:16:42.515 Nuclear Reactor is on 13 faults and is on the 00:16:42.527 --> 00:16:48.570 water. So we're talking, I mean, if you live 00:16:48.570 --> 00:16:52.964 in this area, you know how many times we get 00:16:52.976 --> 00:16:57.480 minor earthquakes. I live in Berkeley and the 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:01.415 4.5 that we had not a few months ago, like shook 00:17:01.427 --> 00:17:04.810 the whole house, so we know how dangerous 00:17:04.810 --> 00:17:10.413 being on faults are, and we know much more. I 00:17:10.425 --> 00:17:16.040 mean, we don't need another Fukushima, right? 00:17:16.040 --> 00:17:18.681 And we certainly don't want a Fukushima. 00:17:18.693 --> 00:17:21.410 We don't want a Fukushima anywhere in the 00:17:21.410 --> 00:17:28.033 world. So we just know, also for the ocean, to save 00:17:28.045 --> 00:17:34.170 the wildlife in the ocean as someone mentioned. 00:17:34.170 --> 00:17:39.545 We're part of nature and all that comes out of 00:17:39.557 --> 00:17:44.600 the canyon, of Diablo Canyon, kills all the 00:17:44.600 --> 00:17:51.971 wildlife in the ocean near it. It's unsustainable, it's 00:17:51.983 --> 00:17:58.970 a time bomb. Right? Nuclear bombs. It's a time bomb. 00:17:58.970 --> 00:18:02.640 And rather than waiting for five years to 00:18:02.652 --> 00:18:06.510 see if really, will it, will it blow before 00:18:06.510 --> 00:18:10.452 four or five years? It makes no sense whatsoever. 00:18:10.464 --> 00:18:14.180 We need to close Diablo Canyon now. Thank you. 00:18:14.180 --> 00:18:18.136 Thank you very much. Diana Bowen. 00:18:18.961 --> 00:18:25.450 Hello. I would like to amplify all the things that or just 00:18:25.450 --> 00:18:28.518 agree with all that has been said before 00:18:28.530 --> 00:18:31.910 regarding Diablo Canyon. But also, there was 00:18:31.910 --> 00:18:34.975 a plan, I thought, to close it sooner and to 00:18:34.987 --> 00:18:38.270 train the workers there, so then, so they could 00:18:38.270 --> 00:18:41.116 have jobs in sustainable energy. So it just 00:18:41.128 --> 00:18:44.180 seems like it needs to be decommissioned right 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:47.885 away and shut down. And the workers trained. 00:18:47.897 --> 00:18:50.870 And the hot water stop being dumped 00:18:50.870 --> 00:18:54.549 in the ocean where it ruins the wildlife and get 00:18:54.561 --> 00:18:57.951 it, get it over with. Right away. Thank you. 00:18:57.951 --> 00:19:01.192 Thank you very much. And I would 00:19:01.204 --> 00:19:04.150 really like to thank the speakers for coming on 00:19:04.150 --> 00:19:06.834 this very rainy day. I appreciate that. And 00:19:06.846 --> 00:19:09.480 for sharing your comments. Is there anyone 00:19:09.480 --> 00:19:13.524 else in the audience who would like to address 00:19:13.536 --> 00:19:17.420 the Commission today? Yes. Please come. Sir, 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:20.615 please state your name for the record. Thank you. 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:22.980 Hi. My name is Damon Franz. I'm with 00:19:22.980 --> 00:19:31.330 Tesla. Good morning to you, President Batjer and the Commissioners. As a party 00:19:31.330 --> 00:19:32.794 to many proceedings, I don't normally address 00:19:32.806 --> 00:19:34.250 the Commission during public comment period, 00:19:34.250 --> 00:19:37.896 but I rushed down here in the rain after reviewing 00:19:37.908 --> 00:19:40.920 some changes that were made to a proposed 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:43.783 decision late yesterday that could significantly 00:19:43.795 --> 00:19:46.260 increase the costs of meeting the state's 00:19:46.260 --> 00:19:48.905 renewable and climate goals, and potentially, 00:19:48.917 --> 00:19:51.400 cost the state millions of dollars in lost 00:19:51.400 --> 00:19:57.550 federal money. So I wanted to ask you to put a hold on Item 8. The proposed 00:19:57.550 --> 00:19:59.930 decision that changes the resource adequacy 00:19:59.942 --> 00:20:02.280 counting rules for combined renewable plus 00:20:02.280 --> 00:20:05.596 storage systems. In a nutshell, the changes 00:20:05.608 --> 00:20:08.860 that the proposed decision states that for 00:20:08.860 --> 00:20:11.023 combined renewable and storage systems take 00:20:11.035 --> 00:20:13.210 the federal investment tax credit, only one 00:20:13.210 --> 00:20:16.631 element of the combined system can get resource 00:20:16.643 --> 00:20:19.790 adequacy credit. So that means that for the 00:20:19.790 --> 00:20:21.803 many gigawatts of combined renewable in storage 00:20:21.815 --> 00:20:23.630 systems the state's gonna need to meet its 00:20:23.630 --> 00:20:26.660 climate goals. Either many of those systems are 00:20:26.672 --> 00:20:29.460 gonna have to give up federal money. That's 00:20:29.460 --> 00:20:31.505 the state willingly giving up millions of 00:20:31.517 --> 00:20:33.720 dollars the federal government could provide 00:20:33.720 --> 00:20:36.366 us to meet our goals, or we severely undercount 00:20:36.378 --> 00:20:38.760 the resource adequacy from those projects, 00:20:38.760 --> 00:20:41.920 which means we have to really over-procure 00:20:41.932 --> 00:20:44.661 resources to meet those goals. And I 00:20:44.661 --> 00:20:47.452 should note that the designation was made 00:20:47.464 --> 00:20:50.600 arbitrarily. There was no analysis that showed 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:52.789 what the actual resource adequacy value of 00:20:52.801 --> 00:20:54.950 these projects was. It was made simply to 00:20:54.950 --> 00:20:57.451 be conservative. And while the agenda review 00:20:57.463 --> 00:20:59.640 states there's no cost, there's pretty 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:02.836 clearly a pretty high cost. We're either giving 00:21:02.848 --> 00:21:05.990 up federal tax money, which increases the cost 00:21:05.990 --> 00:21:09.543 of these projects to ratepayers or we're over-procuring 00:21:09.555 --> 00:21:12.420 these resources which likewise raises costs. 00:21:12.420 --> 00:21:15.722 And the decision was, I think, pretty bad 00:21:15.734 --> 00:21:18.970 initiall, but the changes made yesterday 00:21:18.970 --> 00:21:22.139 vastly increased the scope of projects that 00:21:22.151 --> 00:21:24.970 it would apply to. And I'll admit that 00:21:24.970 --> 00:21:27.365 I haven't had a chance to fully analyze the 00:21:27.377 --> 00:21:29.620 impacts. That's why I would just ask you 00:21:29.620 --> 00:21:35.673 to hold it for one meeting to to take this into account. Thank you. 00:21:35.698 --> 00:21:37.691 Thank you very much. 00:21:37.690 --> 00:21:40.499 Is there anyone else in the public who would 00:21:40.511 --> 00:21:43.270 like to address the Commission today? Okay. 00:21:43.270 --> 00:21:47.653 Seeing none. Thank you again for your participation 00:21:47.665 --> 00:21:51.300 with us. I will move on to the next agenda 00:21:51.300 --> 00:22:02.240 item. These are the following changes to today's agenda. Item number two will 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:06.692 be held until to 2-6-20. Item 13 will be held 00:22:06.704 --> 00:22:11.460 until 2-6-20. Item 17 will be held until 2-6-20. 00:22:11.460 --> 00:22:16.591 Item 40 will be held until 2-6-20. 40A will 00:22:16.603 --> 00:22:21.630 be held until 2-6-20. Item 42 will be held 00:22:21.630 --> 00:22:27.318 until 2-6-20. We will now take up the consent 00:22:27.330 --> 00:22:33.650 items. Is there a motion? Yes, we have a question? 00:22:33.650 --> 00:22:37.046 Let me ask for clarification. 00:22:37.058 --> 00:22:40.340 We just heard public comment about holding an item. 00:22:40.365 --> 00:22:42.570 Item number eight. 00:22:42.570 --> 00:22:43.830 Because of changes that were-- 00:22:43.855 --> 00:22:44.655 That were made yesterday. 00:22:44.679 --> 00:22:46.016 Made yesterday. 00:22:46.041 --> 00:22:49.939 To be clear, Item 8 sets interim rules 00:22:49.940 --> 00:22:52.769 for hybrid counting rules. And then this 00:22:52.781 --> 00:22:55.760 is scoped into the RA proceeding that will 00:22:55.760 --> 00:22:59.026 and will be part of the June RA decision that 00:22:59.038 --> 00:23:02.031 we do every year. So these rules, there's 00:23:02.031 --> 00:23:04.416 gonna be plenty of opportunity to continue 00:23:04.428 --> 00:23:06.770 to litigate these rules. But we got a lot 00:23:06.770 --> 00:23:09.826 of interest from parties who said, you know, we 00:23:09.838 --> 00:23:12.970 need to put something in place, in the meantime, 00:23:12.970 --> 00:23:21.570 before we do the detailed work. And so those proposals were made by parties. 00:23:21.570 --> 00:23:24.515 And then, of course, we did a proposed decision, 00:23:24.527 --> 00:23:26.880 went through the full comment process. 00:23:26.880 --> 00:23:30.786 So these are interim rules pending the June decision. 00:23:30.811 --> 00:23:33.100 Okay, so that's what I thought, 00:23:33.100 --> 00:23:38.590 The OIR provides for a framework and opportunity for parties to weigh in. 00:23:38.615 --> 00:23:40.420 So there will be plenty of opportunity to-- 00:23:40.420 --> 00:23:41.944 Right. Thank you. 00:23:41.969 --> 00:23:45.890 --the gentleman from Tesla talked about. 00:23:45.890 --> 00:23:48.349 Move adoption of Consent Agenda. 00:23:48.374 --> 00:23:50.974 Thank you. It has been moved. 00:23:50.986 --> 00:23:53.650 Is there a second? We have a motion and a second-- 00:23:53.650 --> 00:23:54.105 Second. 00:23:54.130 --> 00:23:57.003 --items. All those in favor, please say 00:23:57.015 --> 00:24:00.270 aye. Consent agenda items have been passed 00:24:00.270 --> 00:24:02.867 unanimously. I believe that Commissioner 00:24:02.879 --> 00:24:06.060 Rechtschaffen, you would like to make some remarks 00:24:06.060 --> 00:24:07.780 on Item Number 3. 00:24:07.805 --> 00:24:10.671 Thank you, President 00:24:10.683 --> 00:24:12.940 Batjer. Item 3 changes our general rate 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:16.859 case process for large utilities. It moves 00:24:16.871 --> 00:24:20.710 us from a three-year cycle to a four-year 00:24:20.710 --> 00:24:24.763 cycle. So going forward, energy utilities 00:24:24.775 --> 00:24:28.840 will have a longer timeframe for planning 00:24:28.840 --> 00:24:32.305 for their budgets and infrastructure investment, 00:24:32.317 --> 00:24:35.440 and importantly at the same time, this will 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:40.197 allow us as a Commission to have greater oversight 00:24:40.209 --> 00:24:44.510 of utility performance and spending. Our hope 00:24:44.510 --> 00:24:47.988 and expectation is this will lead to aim or 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.490 efficient scheduling process and one that's 00:24:51.490 --> 00:24:54.082 more predictable and a schedule that we can 00:24:54.094 --> 00:24:56.580 keep to. There's a lot of work to be done 00:24:56.580 --> 00:24:59.651 to implement this decision. We're gonna be 00:24:59.663 --> 00:25:02.890 having workshops throughout 2020 to do that, 00:25:02.890 --> 00:25:06.920 to provide more detail, more efficiency, hopefully, 00:25:06.932 --> 00:25:10.430 and more transparency to the process. I just 00:25:10.430 --> 00:25:14.106 want to take a step back and put this into 00:25:14.118 --> 00:25:17.720 context. General rate cases are the bread 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:21.223 and butter of what we do. They're very complex, 00:25:21.235 --> 00:25:24.530 very time consuming. We always have at least 00:25:24.530 --> 00:25:28.287 one of them open for one of the major utilities 00:25:28.299 --> 00:25:31.440 at any one time. Right now, we have two 00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.296 that are working their way through the system. 00:25:34.308 --> 00:25:36.870 It's very difficult to change the process 00:25:36.870 --> 00:25:40.549 while we're in motion. It's like trying to change 00:25:40.561 --> 00:25:43.809 a tire on a car that's moving. You can't do 00:25:43.809 --> 00:25:47.778 it without having some impact on existing 00:25:47.790 --> 00:25:52.340 processes. I acknowledge that, and as a result, 00:25:52.340 --> 00:25:55.922 today's decision necessarily impacts and implicates 00:25:55.934 --> 00:25:59.320 other decisions that are in motion. For example, 00:25:59.320 --> 00:26:03.811 Edison has a general rate case that's pending. 00:26:03.823 --> 00:26:07.559 They have a risk assessment mitigation 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:11.883 proceeding pending, which feeds into the 00:26:11.895 --> 00:26:16.760 general rate case. Sempra has a prior GRC and 00:26:16.760 --> 00:26:21.671 also in existing RAMP proceeding. Those are 00:26:21.683 --> 00:26:26.830 affected. Both Edison and Sempra will need to 00:26:26.830 --> 00:26:30.383 make sure their existing RAMP proceeding 00:26:30.395 --> 00:26:33.960 filings are handled properly and adjusted 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:38.056 in light of this new rate cycle. And I want 00:26:38.068 --> 00:26:42.270 to just acknowledge my fellow Commissioners. 00:26:42.270 --> 00:26:45.626 I know that this will have an impact on some 00:26:45.638 --> 00:26:49.080 of your existing proceedings. That's unusual. 00:26:49.080 --> 00:26:52.076 We try not to do that. It's inevitable 00:26:52.088 --> 00:26:55.570 here. I have full confidence that you will 00:26:55.570 --> 00:26:58.629 very capably figure out how to implement the 00:26:58.641 --> 00:27:01.780 decision in a way that works for the parties. 00:27:01.780 --> 00:27:05.468 So it's a half apology, half acknowledgement. 00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:09.180 That's just how it is. There was a tremendous 00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:12.040 amount of staff work that went into this, that 00:27:12.052 --> 00:27:15.230 began, actually, even before joined the Commission. 00:27:15.230 --> 00:27:17.678 Two of the people who worked on it are now 00:27:17.690 --> 00:27:20.150 retired. I hope there's no relationship to 00:27:20.150 --> 00:27:22.566 that. But I want a particular acknowledge 00:27:22.578 --> 00:27:25.179 Judge Roscoe, who retired at the end of last 00:27:25.179 --> 00:27:28.732 year. Belinda Gotti, who also retired from 00:27:28.744 --> 00:27:32.309 the Energy Division at the end of 2019. As 00:27:32.309 --> 00:27:35.556 well as Eugene Candineso, Laura Martin. Elaine 00:27:35.568 --> 00:27:38.480 Lao, who's now a judge but worked on this 00:27:38.480 --> 00:27:43.240 proceeding in the Energy Division when she was there prior to joining the ALJ 00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:46.195 Division. Steve Hane and Ed Charkowitz from 00:27:46.207 --> 00:27:49.040 the Safety Division. And my advisor Shawn 00:27:49.040 --> 00:27:53.538 Simon, who did a fantastic job on this. 00:27:53.563 --> 00:27:59.190 Okay. Thank you very much, Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 00:27:59.190 --> 00:28:03.847 Moving on. Item 40 and 40A and 42 on the 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:08.870 January 16th meeting agenda was the subject 00:28:08.870 --> 00:28:12.244 of an RDM, which is a rate setting deliberative 00:28:12.256 --> 00:28:15.290 meeting, and a hold has been requested and 00:28:15.290 --> 00:28:18.544 granted on these items. As a result, this 00:28:18.556 --> 00:28:21.900 item will be subject to a default ex parte 00:28:21.900 --> 00:28:27.210 quiet period pursuant to Public Utilities 00:28:27.222 --> 00:28:32.290 Code Section 1701.3h6. This item may be 00:28:32.290 --> 00:28:35.673 subject to additional quiet time if the Commission 00:28:35.685 --> 00:28:38.480 chooses to extend the default quiet time. 00:28:38.480 --> 00:28:45.640 The quiet time is as follows. No oral or written ex parte communication will be 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:50.224 allowed from February 3, 2020, to the end 00:28:50.236 --> 00:28:55.050 of February 6, 2020, Voting Meeting. If the 00:28:55.050 --> 00:28:58.664 Commission establishes additional quiet time for 00:28:58.676 --> 00:29:02.450 this item, oral or written ex parte communications 00:29:02.450 --> 00:29:06.013 will be restricted during that additional 00:29:06.025 --> 00:29:09.770 quiet time. If this item is held again, the 00:29:09.770 --> 00:29:12.808 Commission will continue to have the ability 00:29:12.820 --> 00:29:15.870 to establish further ex parte quiet periods. 00:29:15.870 --> 00:29:19.738 Excuse me. I would like to note that Items 00:29:19.750 --> 00:29:23.450 40 and 40A are being held to comply with 00:29:23.450 --> 00:29:28.258 Section 1701.3e5. That section requires the 00:29:28.270 --> 00:29:33.090 Commission to delay its vote until February 00:29:33.090 --> 00:29:36.833 6th to give parties a reasonable opportunity 00:29:36.845 --> 00:29:40.600 to respond to an improper communication that 00:29:40.600 --> 00:29:44.616 was emailed during the RDM quiet time that 00:29:44.628 --> 00:29:48.750 started Monday, January 13, and lasts until 00:29:48.750 --> 00:29:53.200 the end of this meeting. Once that quiet period 00:29:53.212 --> 00:29:57.860 is over, parties may appropriately make responses 00:29:57.860 --> 00:30:01.282 to the improper communications as long as 00:30:01.294 --> 00:30:04.809 they do not make communications during the 00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:10.948 quiet time for the February 6th meeting. Okay, 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:16.980 we will now take up the regular agenda items. 00:30:16.980 --> 00:30:20.603 We will begin with Item Number 41. Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 00:30:20.628 --> 00:30:22.271 Thank you, President Batjer. 00:30:22.270 --> 00:30:26.378 This is a decision implementing changes in our 00:30:26.390 --> 00:30:30.160 self-generation program, SGIP, in response 00:30:30.160 --> 00:30:33.844 to Senate Bill 700 and other developments. 00:30:33.856 --> 00:30:37.810 This is our third major decision in SGIP over 00:30:37.810 --> 00:30:40.803 the past year. Last year, we adopted rules 00:30:40.815 --> 00:30:43.890 for implementing the requirement in statute 00:30:43.890 --> 00:30:46.368 that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced. 00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:48.870 And then later in the year, we introduced 00:30:48.870 --> 00:30:52.194 a number of program changes, increased subsidies 00:30:52.206 --> 00:30:55.270 for customers and disadvantaged communities, 00:30:55.270 --> 00:30:58.679 and introduced an equity resilience category 00:30:58.691 --> 00:31:01.960 of projects to deal with resiliency issues 00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:04.172 and the threat of wildfires. So I'm gonna go 00:31:04.184 --> 00:31:06.260 through in some detail what this decision 00:31:06.260 --> 00:31:10.366 does. First, it fully funds SGIP at the 00:31:10.378 --> 00:31:15.130 maximum statutory level of $166 million per 00:31:15.130 --> 00:31:18.816 year for the next five years through 2024. 00:31:18.828 --> 00:31:22.870 It's a total of 830 million in new funding and 00:31:22.870 --> 00:31:26.204 $1.2 billion when added to existing funds 00:31:26.216 --> 00:31:29.880 that will have to be spent over the next five 00:31:29.880 --> 00:31:34.528 years. Broadly, it shifts the focus of SGIP 00:31:34.540 --> 00:31:39.200 towards promoting resiliency. Approximately 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:43.573 90% of funding will be available for projects 00:31:43.585 --> 00:31:47.970 that promote resiliency, providing incentives 00:31:47.970 --> 00:31:51.665 to customers with medical needs and communities 00:31:51.677 --> 00:31:55.230 that are impacted by wildfires and the threat 00:31:55.230 --> 00:31:58.930 of wildfires. And very significantly, the 00:31:58.942 --> 00:32:02.830 decision substantially expands the universe 00:32:02.830 --> 00:32:06.928 of customers who will be eligible for incentives 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:10.630 to include those whose electricity has been 00:32:10.630 --> 00:32:14.387 shut off or is shut off during two or more 00:32:14.399 --> 00:32:18.080 decreed discreet public safety power shut 00:32:18.080 --> 00:32:22.504 offs. PSPS events. There are two main categories 00:32:22.516 --> 00:32:26.500 of projects that are incentivized here. The 00:32:26.500 --> 00:32:31.286 largest category, about half of the $1.2 billion, 00:32:31.298 --> 00:32:36.000 are for projects that we call equity resilience. 00:32:36.000 --> 00:32:38.722 And there, the program will offer the highest 00:32:38.734 --> 00:32:41.350 incentives, which are basically expected to 00:32:41.350 --> 00:32:52.410 cover the full amount of projects, for storage systems, for customers in 00:32:52.410 --> 00:32:55.284 Tier 2 or Tier 3 High Fire Threat Districts 00:32:55.296 --> 00:32:57.460 or those that have been affected 00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:01.945 by at least two PSPS events. So either High 00:33:01.957 --> 00:33:06.250 Fire or subject to the prior PSPS events. 00:33:06.250 --> 00:33:09.198 And if you have, a customer has medical needs 00:33:09.210 --> 00:33:12.170 or is in a disadvantaged community as defined 00:33:12.170 --> 00:33:15.333 by the decisions. So that's for residences. 00:33:15.345 --> 00:33:18.592 For non-residential customers, they are also 00:33:18.592 --> 00:33:21.970 eligible if they're the same universe of High 00:33:21.982 --> 00:33:25.299 Fire Threat Districts or an area affected by 00:33:25.299 --> 00:33:34.830 two prior PSPS events, and they provide critical facilities or infrastructure 00:33:34.830 --> 00:33:37.668 to a disadvantaged community. And the decision 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.530 explains what the universe of those facilities 00:33:40.530 --> 00:33:43.597 are. So that's half of the money. Then there are 00:33:43.609 --> 00:33:46.750 two large, other categories that provide somewhat 00:33:46.750 --> 00:33:50.588 lower but still very generous incentives higher 00:33:50.600 --> 00:33:54.049 than the base level. Those are provided in 00:33:54.049 --> 00:33:57.350 the form of a resiliency adder, a bonus if 00:33:57.362 --> 00:34:00.830 you're a resiliency project. And in this set 00:34:00.830 --> 00:34:04.506 of categories, about 300 million is allocated for 00:34:04.518 --> 00:34:07.910 large scale storage projects, non-residential 00:34:07.910 --> 00:34:11.294 but large scale. Again, for customers in a High 00:34:11.306 --> 00:34:14.419 Fire Threat District or subject to at least 00:34:14.419 --> 00:34:17.072 two shut off events and who provide critical 00:34:17.084 --> 00:34:19.690 facilities or infrastructure. So that's the 00:34:19.690 --> 00:34:23.196 category of large scale storage. And then 00:34:23.208 --> 00:34:26.810 about 105 million for renewable generation 00:34:26.810 --> 00:34:30.817 projects. Again, these are ones who are eligible 00:34:30.829 --> 00:34:34.110 for those equity resiliency incentives, 00:34:34.110 --> 00:34:37.628 or if they're located in a high fire threat 00:34:37.640 --> 00:34:41.010 district or subject to at least two prior 00:34:41.010 --> 00:34:43.824 shut offs and provide critical facilities 00:34:43.836 --> 00:34:46.730 or infrastructure. Little complicated. But 00:34:46.730 --> 00:34:48.898 you get the picture. We're really focusing 00:34:48.910 --> 00:34:51.090 on resiliency projects, the greatest need, 00:34:51.090 --> 00:34:53.713 the most risk, the most subsidies. And then 00:34:53.725 --> 00:34:56.359 lesser but still very significant subsidies 00:34:56.359 --> 00:34:59.197 for projects in a more general budget and an 00:34:59.209 --> 00:35:01.869 incentive and adder if you are devoted to 00:35:01.869 --> 00:35:04.888 serving resiliency needs. For renewable 00:35:04.900 --> 00:35:08.631 generation projects, during the public comment 00:35:08.631 --> 00:35:11.632 period, parties raise substantial questions 00:35:11.644 --> 00:35:14.520 that we need to further examine about the 00:35:14.520 --> 00:35:17.276 relative environmental, and in particular, GHG 00:35:17.288 --> 00:35:19.820 benefits from different sources of bio-gas 00:35:19.820 --> 00:35:23.392 that the renewable projects may use. Some 00:35:23.404 --> 00:35:27.330 sources, like landfills, are already required 00:35:27.330 --> 00:35:30.039 to capture methane for destruction or beneficial use, 00:35:30.051 --> 00:35:32.520 there are already significant regulatory regimes 00:35:32.520 --> 00:35:35.524 in place. While others, such as dairies, vent 00:35:35.536 --> 00:35:38.290 methane uncontrolled into the atmosphere. 00:35:38.290 --> 00:35:42.778 No controls. Our SGIP statute requires that 00:35:42.790 --> 00:35:47.700 projects reduce GHG factors, GHG emissions. The 00:35:47.700 --> 00:35:51.370 decision pauses, a temporary pause, on applications 00:35:51.382 --> 00:35:54.640 for projects using bio-gas from a source that 00:35:54.640 --> 00:35:57.351 already captures methane. Again, the idea is to 00:35:57.363 --> 00:36:00.200 make sure that these projects provide incremental 00:36:00.200 --> 00:36:03.863 GHG benefits beyond what's already required by law 00:36:03.875 --> 00:36:07.190 or regulation to give us a chance to evaluate 00:36:07.190 --> 00:36:10.430 these issues further. And we also note that 00:36:10.442 --> 00:36:13.620 new generation projects may be subjects to 00:36:13.620 --> 00:36:16.788 additional rules to promote adequate tracking 00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:19.980 of renewable gas and ensure there's no double 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:23.096 counting of the environmental attributes of 00:36:23.108 --> 00:36:26.450 renewable gas. This is just prudent management 00:36:26.450 --> 00:36:29.365 of our public funds. We use similar tracking 00:36:29.377 --> 00:36:32.369 measures in the renewable portfolio standard, 00:36:32.369 --> 00:36:34.441 the low carbon fuel standard, in order to make 00:36:34.453 --> 00:36:36.360 sure that we're really getting the benefit 00:36:36.360 --> 00:36:40.400 of our environmental bargain. The other major 00:36:40.412 --> 00:36:44.200 thing the decision does is it allocates 5% 00:36:44.200 --> 00:36:48.248 of new funds, for a total of $44 million, for 00:36:48.260 --> 00:36:52.231 incentives for heat pump water heaters. This 00:36:52.231 --> 00:36:55.333 is a very efficient of emerging technology that 00:36:55.345 --> 00:36:58.200 could greatly assist in reducing greenhouse 00:36:58.200 --> 00:37:02.176 gas benefits and help with our electrification 00:37:02.188 --> 00:37:06.260 efforts. Heat pumps can also help with managing 00:37:06.260 --> 00:37:09.778 peak load. Water could be preheated using excess 00:37:09.790 --> 00:37:12.960 renewable energy and deployed later on when 00:37:12.960 --> 00:37:15.543 it's the greatest benefit for the system. 00:37:15.555 --> 00:37:18.150 We're gonna need hundreds of millions, if 00:37:18.150 --> 00:37:21.487 not billions, of dollars over the next decades 00:37:21.499 --> 00:37:24.420 to deal with this issue to replace water 00:37:24.420 --> 00:37:26.753 heaters. It's important to start transforming 00:37:26.765 --> 00:37:29.160 the market as soon as possible. There're gonna 00:37:29.160 --> 00:37:32.000 be workshops to implement rules and measures 00:37:32.012 --> 00:37:34.800 for this program. We don't have that detail 00:37:34.800 --> 00:37:38.120 in the decision. Quickly, I want to highlight 00:37:38.132 --> 00:37:41.320 a few other aspects that are notable of the 00:37:41.320 --> 00:37:44.942 decision. The universe of customers who are 00:37:44.954 --> 00:37:49.000 elevated for the the generous equity resilience, 00:37:49.000 --> 00:37:52.111 resiliency incentives is expanded from our prior 00:37:52.123 --> 00:37:54.800 decision to include people who are really 00:37:54.800 --> 00:37:57.765 impacted by shut offs. People, customers relying 00:37:57.777 --> 00:38:00.450 on wells with electric pumps, small grocery 00:38:00.450 --> 00:38:03.002 stores or markets and markets, food banks and 00:38:03.014 --> 00:38:05.300 independent living centers. All of these 00:38:05.300 --> 00:38:08.570 could play a very critical role in dealing with 00:38:08.582 --> 00:38:11.590 shut offs. We increase funding for projects 00:38:11.590 --> 00:38:14.565 that focus on disadvantaged communities. As I 00:38:14.577 --> 00:38:17.370 mentioned in a prior decision earlier last 00:38:17.370 --> 00:38:20.387 year, we raised the incentive level for the 00:38:20.399 --> 00:38:23.360 for these projects. This decision approves 00:38:23.360 --> 00:38:26.372 31 million for residential customers and 52 00:38:26.384 --> 00:38:29.340 million for non-residential customers. And 00:38:29.340 --> 00:38:32.952 in the latter category, non-residential customers, 00:38:32.964 --> 00:38:36.090 that includes tribes and local governments. 00:38:36.090 --> 00:38:39.760 Approximately $60 million is authorized for 00:38:39.772 --> 00:38:43.370 residential projects without any limits or 00:38:43.370 --> 00:38:45.805 restrictions, however, again, reflecting the 00:38:45.817 --> 00:38:48.210 overall priority of this to be a resiliency 00:38:48.210 --> 00:38:51.247 focused program, there's a soft target that 00:38:51.259 --> 00:38:54.170 half of the funding for these residential 00:38:54.170 --> 00:38:57.247 projects will go to projects in High Fire 00:38:57.259 --> 00:39:00.200 Threat Districts or those that have had 00:39:00.200 --> 00:39:04.005 shut offs. And once that 50% target has been 00:39:04.017 --> 00:39:07.750 reached, there will be a pause in accepting 00:39:07.750 --> 00:39:11.054 any more non-resiliency applications. In other 00:39:11.066 --> 00:39:14.100 words, we want to make sure that we really 00:39:14.100 --> 00:39:16.832 do get to this target. Once this pause is 00:39:16.844 --> 00:39:19.850 reached, they'll start accepting applications 00:39:19.850 --> 00:39:23.257 again, there'll be a proposal with opportunity 00:39:23.269 --> 00:39:26.470 for comment and a decision. We modified the 00:39:26.470 --> 00:39:30.087 incentive structure to support longer duration 00:39:30.099 --> 00:39:33.650 battery projects as well as the sizing limits 00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:36.226 to ensure that projects can be sized to meet 00:39:36.238 --> 00:39:38.710 a customer's peak load during a power shut 00:39:38.710 --> 00:39:42.030 off. We moved up the start date to March of 00:39:42.042 --> 00:39:45.450 this year for the previously approved Equity 00:39:45.450 --> 00:39:48.246 Resiliency Residential Incentive. The 00:39:48.258 --> 00:39:51.750 decision implements Assemblywoman Friedman's 00:39:51.750 --> 00:39:54.633 bill from last year requiring that some portion 00:39:54.645 --> 00:39:57.540 of our funds go to customers operating critical 00:39:57.540 --> 00:40:01.356 facilities serving High Fire Threat Areas. 00:40:01.368 --> 00:40:04.840 And finally, I would just say we did a 00:40:04.840 --> 00:40:08.153 lot here that's new. We recognize that. We 00:40:08.165 --> 00:40:11.180 have some humility about how it's gonna 00:40:11.180 --> 00:40:15.006 work. We're not sure how all the budget categories 00:40:15.018 --> 00:40:18.630 will play out, which will have the most demand. 00:40:18.630 --> 00:40:21.472 So we moved up the date, made it, made the 00:40:21.484 --> 00:40:24.470 date earlier by which program administrators 00:40:24.470 --> 00:40:27.586 can request budget transfers between any budget 00:40:27.598 --> 00:40:30.660 category, so that now that can happen starting 00:40:30.660 --> 00:40:33.762 at the end of 2022. Of course, the Commission 00:40:33.774 --> 00:40:36.820 staff or Commissioners on our own can decide 00:40:36.820 --> 00:40:40.624 to propose new rules if we think that the 00:40:40.636 --> 00:40:44.180 budget categories need change. I would 00:40:44.180 --> 00:40:47.210 like to thank everyone who worked on on this 00:40:47.222 --> 00:40:50.400 decision. Judge Kathy Fogel for tireless work, 00:40:50.400 --> 00:40:57.030 being incredibly conscientious. Nora Hawkins, Shannon O'Rourke, who now is 00:40:57.030 --> 00:41:00.295 President Batjer's Chief of Staff but performed 00:41:00.307 --> 00:41:03.720 extremely ably while she was the Energy division. 00:41:03.720 --> 00:41:06.830 Asalas Fahani. Josh Hunnicutt, Josh Hunnicutt 00:41:06.842 --> 00:41:09.760 also worked on this and is now working for 00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:12.691 President Batjer. Brandon Gerstal in Legal, 00:41:12.703 --> 00:41:15.580 and my adviser, Sandy Goldberg, all worked 00:41:15.580 --> 00:41:18.960 very, very hard and very collaboratively on 00:41:18.972 --> 00:41:22.210 this. So with that, I'll stop to take any 00:41:22.210 --> 00:41:24.399 questions. I ask for your support. 00:41:24.424 --> 00:41:26.305 Do you questions? Are 00:41:26.317 --> 00:41:28.390 there questions? I have a comment to make. Go 00:41:28.390 --> 00:41:30.208 ahead, Commissioner Shiroma. 00:41:30.233 --> 00:41:32.776 Okay, Thank you. Many thanks, 00:41:32.788 --> 00:41:35.011 Commissioner Rechtschaffen and Judge Fogel and 00:41:35.011 --> 00:41:39.999 the SGIP team on this, on this pretty massive 00:41:40.011 --> 00:41:44.250 effort. I support the PDs, the PD, and 00:41:44.250 --> 00:41:47.867 appreciate the focus on providing no or low 00:41:47.879 --> 00:41:51.590 cost storage systems to vulnerable customers 00:41:51.590 --> 00:41:55.546 with resiliency needs, and in our microgrids proceeding, 00:41:55.558 --> 00:41:58.830 we are also considering how do we best provide 00:41:58.830 --> 00:42:02.686 for those resiliency needs at the customer level. 00:42:02.698 --> 00:42:06.180 And I think there'll be some good synergies, 00:42:06.180 --> 00:42:10.886 opportunities. And we look forward to working with 00:42:10.898 --> 00:42:15.430 the SGIP team to eExplore how the implementation 00:42:15.430 --> 00:42:18.353 of this proposed a decision will dovetail 00:42:18.365 --> 00:42:21.160 with that microgrid work. So thank you. 00:42:21.160 --> 00:42:25.648 Oh, I'll make a comment. 00:42:25.660 --> 00:42:29.800 I am supportive of the decision. I appreciate 00:42:29.800 --> 00:42:33.484 Commissioner Rechtschaffen's fresh look at 00:42:33.496 --> 00:42:37.450 this program and the opportunities to fulfill 00:42:37.450 --> 00:42:40.630 other state goals. A program like SGIP is 00:42:40.642 --> 00:42:43.910 really challenging because it's, you know, 00:42:43.910 --> 00:42:46.893 it's meant to incent innovation and and bring 00:42:46.905 --> 00:42:49.900 new products onto the market. But at the same 00:42:49.900 --> 00:42:52.729 time, you don't want it to turn into a program 00:42:52.741 --> 00:42:55.340 that simply takes ratepayer funds and puts 00:42:55.340 --> 00:42:59.225 them in the pocket of very profitable companies 00:42:59.237 --> 00:43:02.810 whose business model is built on subsidies. 00:43:02.810 --> 00:43:05.558 So what you've done is taken this program and 00:43:05.570 --> 00:43:08.150 said, Okay, what are the other state goals 00:43:08.150 --> 00:43:12.179 that we have and the other needs that we have? 00:43:12.191 --> 00:43:15.630 And we can use that program to take the 00:43:15.630 --> 00:43:19.846 innovation and put it where it's most 00:43:19.858 --> 00:43:25.000 needed, to put it where you have tribes and 00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:27.593 public agencies that need assistance and 00:43:27.605 --> 00:43:30.210 resilience assistance. You have customers 00:43:30.210 --> 00:43:34.354 who would not be able to access this without 00:43:34.366 --> 00:43:38.430 the additional assistance from the program, 00:43:38.430 --> 00:43:42.370 and focusing on those customers and ensuring 00:43:42.382 --> 00:43:46.070 that the program meets those other goals, 00:43:46.070 --> 00:43:54.810 I think takes it a step beyond and is very much appreciated. So 00:43:54.810 --> 00:43:58.165 thank you for your work, and I'll support the decision. 00:43:58.190 --> 00:44:01.700 Thank you. Commission Commissioner Guzman Aceves? 00:44:01.700 --> 00:44:07.931 Thank you, Commissioner Randolph. Now to Commissioner Guzman Aceves. 00:44:07.931 --> 00:44:11.779 Thank you. I would reiterate everything 00:44:11.791 --> 00:44:15.320 that Commissioner Randolph just said. I think this program, for 00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:19.503 far too long, has been a massive subsidy focused on 00:44:19.515 --> 00:44:23.630 different types of so-called market transformation 00:44:23.630 --> 00:44:28.384 and the need to just subsidize something for 00:44:28.396 --> 00:44:32.950 the sake of the technology. This PD really 00:44:32.950 --> 00:44:36.819 focuses on the state needs and adapts really 00:44:36.831 --> 00:44:40.540 quickly to the needs that we saw this last 00:44:40.540 --> 00:44:45.143 fall in tremendously hard hit areas of state. 00:44:45.155 --> 00:44:49.369 I'm not very excited about the ability to 00:44:49.369 --> 00:44:52.124 shift the budget that ensures this type of 00:44:52.136 --> 00:44:55.160 equity. The worst case scenario that I fear is 00:44:55.160 --> 00:44:57.689 that in two years there's no investment in 00:44:57.701 --> 00:45:00.420 places like Lake County that really need this 00:45:00.420 --> 00:45:04.318 type of storage infrastructure. And so, I 00:45:04.330 --> 00:45:08.240 hope that we don't have any money left in 00:45:08.240 --> 00:45:11.856 two years to be shifted to the what I'll call 00:45:11.868 --> 00:45:15.180 the general bucket. As you know, I've had 00:45:15.180 --> 00:45:17.636 discussions with some of these developers, 00:45:17.648 --> 00:45:20.230 and they don't see, they don't quite see the 00:45:20.230 --> 00:45:24.555 need to go out to these communities of need 00:45:24.567 --> 00:45:28.510 to do the work to get the project's done 00:45:28.510 --> 00:45:32.350 there. So we do have a rule, ourselves as an 00:45:32.362 --> 00:45:36.470 agency, to go out to these communities, to help 00:45:36.470 --> 00:45:39.952 bridge those connections to make sure these 00:45:39.964 --> 00:45:43.300 investments take place there. So I really 00:45:43.300 --> 00:45:45.939 want to thank you Commissioner Rechtschaffen 00:45:45.951 --> 00:45:48.660 and all the team. Judge Fogel for making sure 00:45:48.660 --> 00:45:52.713 that we put as much focus and prioritization 00:45:52.725 --> 00:45:56.610 where we see it the most across the state. 00:45:56.610 --> 00:45:57.916 Thank you. 00:45:57.941 --> 00:45:58.960 Just respond 00:45:58.985 --> 00:46:06.010 The decision doesn't require changing or shifting funds. If 00:46:06.010 --> 00:46:08.892 the funds are not spent, it just gives us the 00:46:08.904 --> 00:46:11.609 discretion to do that or gives the program 00:46:11.609 --> 00:46:15.948 administrators the ability to request a change. 00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.130 We don't have to do that. And to your second 00:46:20.130 --> 00:46:23.911 point, which I agree with completely. 00:46:23.923 --> 00:46:28.740 President Batjer, if the decision is adopted, 00:46:28.740 --> 00:46:31.653 I would like to talk about how we coordinate 00:46:31.665 --> 00:46:34.460 with the Office of Emergency Service's and 00:46:34.460 --> 00:46:36.652 the Governor's Office and the Strategic 00:46:36.664 --> 00:46:39.150 Growth Council, which may be administering 00:46:39.150 --> 00:46:41.953 some resiliency funds under the Governor's 00:46:41.965 --> 00:46:44.780 climate resiliency bond proposal and other 00:46:44.780 --> 00:46:47.723 agencies to really do what Commissioners Guzman 00:46:47.735 --> 00:46:50.690 Aceves is talking about. Publicize the program. 00:46:50.690 --> 00:46:54.823 Make it part of the package of tools that 00:46:54.835 --> 00:46:58.980 customers could take advantage of to deal 00:46:58.980 --> 00:47:01.263 with the threat of wildfires and shut off. So 00:47:01.275 --> 00:47:03.420 that would be something, if the decision's 00:47:03.420 --> 00:47:05.816 approved that I would like to follow up with you about. 00:47:05.841 --> 00:47:07.100 I think, Commissioner Rechtschaffen, 00:47:07.100 --> 00:47:14.540 that's an excellent idea. We need to get the proper funding and innovations 00:47:14.540 --> 00:47:18.433 to the right people, and I add my, and I will 00:47:18.445 --> 00:47:22.010 help you in coordinating that effort with 00:47:22.010 --> 00:47:25.323 the other state agencies. Hopefully, quite 00:47:25.335 --> 00:47:28.970 soon, before we enter into another fire season 00:47:28.970 --> 00:47:32.016 even. Excuse me, I would add my voice to that 00:47:32.028 --> 00:47:35.020 of my fellow Commissioners who were far more 00:47:35.020 --> 00:47:38.088 eloquent than I will be in thanking you and 00:47:38.100 --> 00:47:41.320 Judge Fogel and the team, some of whom I have 00:47:41.320 --> 00:47:44.064 stolen away from the Energy division, that 00:47:44.076 --> 00:47:46.640 you noted. Thank you. It is so critical 00:47:46.640 --> 00:47:49.883 that we prioritizes, as has been well-stated 00:47:49.895 --> 00:47:53.150 here, that we are provided resiliency to the 00:47:53.150 --> 00:47:55.939 residents of California who need that support 00:47:55.951 --> 00:47:58.630 the most and when they need it the most. So 00:47:58.630 --> 00:48:00.935 thank you so much for your hard work. I've 00:48:00.947 --> 00:48:03.210 been with you in some of your discussions 00:48:03.210 --> 00:48:06.569 at the State Legislature. I know how you have 00:48:06.581 --> 00:48:10.099 toiled over your decisions. And as Commissioner 00:48:10.099 --> 00:48:12.882 Randolph said, thank you for taking a fresh 00:48:12.894 --> 00:48:15.880 look at this very important program and making 00:48:15.880 --> 00:48:20.047 it worthy of what it is intended to be. So 00:48:20.059 --> 00:48:24.140 I thank you. And I intend to also support 00:48:24.140 --> 00:48:40.960 this item. So back on the agenda. So we need to vote on item 40... 00:48:40.960 --> 00:48:43.915 41. 00:48:43.940 --> 00:48:48.456 Thank you. And, we have, I don't think we 00:48:48.468 --> 00:48:52.780 have any further comments, so I'll just 00:48:52.780 --> 00:48:55.885 turn to the agenda clerk and ask for the roll to be called. 00:48:55.910 --> 00:48:57.490 For Item 41. Commissioner Shiroma. 00:48:57.490 --> 00:48:59.014 - Aye. - 00:49:00.838 Agenda Clerk>Commissioner Guzman Aceves. 00:49:00.863 --> 00:49:02.250 - Aye. - 00:49:02.262 --> 00:49:03.629 Commissioner Randolph 00:49:03.654 --> 00:49:04.702 - Aye. - Commissioner 00:49:04.714 --> 00:49:05.650 Rechtschaffen. - President Batjer? 00:49:05.650 --> 00:49:10.460 Yes, thank you very much. All right, we're going to move 00:49:10.460 --> 00:49:17.390 on to Item 43A. For the item 43. Let me 00:49:17.402 --> 00:49:25.589 explain this to you all. Okay. So item 43 is 00:49:25.589 --> 00:49:30.258 A1906002, Southern California Edison Company's 00:49:30.270 --> 00:49:34.950 2020 Energy Resource Recovery Account Forecast 00:49:34.950 --> 00:49:38.383 and Greenhouse Gas Costs and Reconciliation 00:49:38.395 --> 00:49:41.840 application A lot of words. There's also an 00:49:41.840 --> 00:49:44.912 alternate item, which is 43A. Commissioner 00:49:44.924 --> 00:49:47.650 Guzman Aceves would like to introduce 00:49:47.650 --> 00:49:51.265 the alternate, which we will take up first. 00:49:51.277 --> 00:49:54.740 So we're going to item 43A on the agenda. 00:49:54.740 --> 00:49:58.225 Thank you. Yes, President Batjer, 00:49:58.237 --> 00:50:01.460 as you mentioned, Item 43A is the 2020 Southern California 00:50:01.460 --> 00:50:04.313 Edison Energy Resource Recovery Account. As 00:50:04.325 --> 00:50:07.320 you know, these ERA proceedings deal with all 00:50:07.320 --> 00:50:10.633 the forecasted procurement that the utilities will 00:50:10.645 --> 00:50:13.840 do on an annual basis. And it also includes many 00:50:13.840 --> 00:50:17.402 other elements, including the greenhouse gas 00:50:17.414 --> 00:50:20.750 forecasts that are incorporated annually. 00:50:20.750 --> 00:50:28.170 One of the things I want to just say is there's a larger issue that I want 00:50:28.170 --> 00:50:31.069 to remind us about with these ERAs, and 00:50:31.081 --> 00:50:34.290 that is the under collection of the PCIA. 00:50:34.290 --> 00:50:36.778 We do anticipate that Southern California 00:50:36.790 --> 00:50:39.410 Edison will be filing a trigger application 00:50:39.410 --> 00:50:42.871 on this issue later this year, so I wanna make 00:50:42.883 --> 00:50:46.060 sure that you have a note that this issue, 00:50:46.060 --> 00:50:49.271 as we're transitioning in the CCA world, growth 00:50:49.283 --> 00:50:52.170 is going to continue, and this is another 00:50:52.170 --> 00:50:55.868 a large year to deal with that transition. 00:50:55.880 --> 00:50:59.589 So I want to highlight that for you. Also, 00:50:59.589 --> 00:51:02.577 I want to highlight that the alternative is 00:51:02.589 --> 00:51:05.520 really in line with the PD on the majority 00:51:05.520 --> 00:51:08.088 of the ERA. And I want to thank the judge, 00:51:08.100 --> 00:51:10.740 Judge Cline, for all of her tremendous work 00:51:10.740 --> 00:51:14.711 on making sure all the accounting that takes 00:51:14.723 --> 00:51:18.440 place, on an annual basis has been really 00:51:18.440 --> 00:51:22.576 great. The one issue we just we differed on, 00:51:22.588 --> 00:51:26.460 relative to the overall amount forecasted 00:51:26.460 --> 00:51:29.246 here, is a smaller issue which has to do 00:51:29.258 --> 00:51:32.260 with a solar program that was established in 00:51:32.260 --> 00:51:36.079 2015 by Assembly Member Eggman. This is the 00:51:36.091 --> 00:51:39.660 Solar on Multi Family Affordable Housing 00:51:39.660 --> 00:51:43.101 Program. It's the, for those of you familiar 00:51:43.113 --> 00:51:46.720 with the MASH, the Multi Family Solar Program, 00:51:46.720 --> 00:51:49.700 this is an addition, this is a program funded 00:51:49.712 --> 00:51:52.770 by the greenhouse gas allowance revenue really 00:51:52.770 --> 00:51:55.821 focused on making sure there is equitable 00:51:55.833 --> 00:51:59.260 growth in solar, in our low income communities 00:51:59.260 --> 00:52:01.968 and our renters and making sure we have that 00:52:01.980 --> 00:52:04.760 dedicated investment. As we just talked about 00:52:04.760 --> 00:52:08.234 with the SGIP program, many times our programs 00:52:08.246 --> 00:52:11.510 are not intentional on the equity lens. So, 00:52:11.510 --> 00:52:14.319 the issue really has to do with some of the 00:52:14.331 --> 00:52:16.960 first years of the program. The program, 00:52:16.960 --> 00:52:20.378 unfortunately due to some ambiguity, so-called 00:52:20.390 --> 00:52:23.820 ambiguity in the statute, was under-collected. 00:52:23.820 --> 00:52:27.192 And like many things in ERA, we are addressing 00:52:27.204 --> 00:52:30.300 that underfunding and adjusting that under 00:52:30.300 --> 00:52:35.348 collection so that this program can really 00:52:35.360 --> 00:52:39.950 be successful. The True Up really has, 00:52:39.950 --> 00:52:43.033 will have a great impact on this program. I 00:52:43.045 --> 00:52:46.070 just wanted to mention a couple of things, 00:52:46.070 --> 00:52:49.433 to highlight the need of the program. The 00:52:49.445 --> 00:52:52.820 first day that Edison opened its program, 00:52:52.820 --> 00:52:56.055 all of the funding was taken up immediately. 00:52:56.067 --> 00:52:59.170 There was a waitlist of 42 projects. As of 00:52:59.170 --> 00:53:02.636 Monday, there are 56 applications waiting. 00:53:02.648 --> 00:53:06.369 There's efforts to do outreach, to enroll low 00:53:06.369 --> 00:53:09.886 income housing projects, and we want to make 00:53:09.898 --> 00:53:13.349 sure there is not a waitlist that takes too 00:53:13.349 --> 00:53:16.368 long. In particular, there's been an issue 00:53:16.380 --> 00:53:19.410 of making sure, even within the low income 00:53:19.410 --> 00:53:22.211 populations of our state, because, you know, 00:53:22.223 --> 00:53:25.160 40% of our state lives in multifamily housing. 00:53:25.160 --> 00:53:27.808 There are some restrictions of this program. 00:53:27.820 --> 00:53:30.599 It is limited to the HUD definition and really 00:53:30.599 --> 00:53:34.275 within the multi-family housing focused on the 00:53:34.287 --> 00:53:37.740 poorest of our residents. And incidentally, 00:53:37.740 --> 00:53:40.383 HUD is looking at some adjustments in their 00:53:40.395 --> 00:53:42.990 definition, which may broaden the eligible 00:53:42.990 --> 00:53:45.236 properties, which is a good thing. And 00:53:45.248 --> 00:53:48.100 finally, when I joined Commissioner Shiroma in 00:53:48.100 --> 00:53:50.933 Hanford in Kings County, California, one of 00:53:50.945 --> 00:53:53.920 her board members of the Low Income Oversight 00:53:53.920 --> 00:53:58.524 Board, actually, Pat Watts, thank you, she 00:53:58.536 --> 00:54:02.830 actually had a personal experience with 00:54:02.830 --> 00:54:05.439 results, she and she represents in is really 00:54:05.451 --> 00:54:08.130 dedicated on working on clean energy projects 00:54:08.130 --> 00:54:11.024 in the Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles County 00:54:11.036 --> 00:54:14.190 area and other projects across the nation. And she 00:54:14.190 --> 00:54:22.610 had a waitlist experience as well. And so the the need is there, and I'm very 00:54:22.610 --> 00:54:24.816 happy to see a proposal here to fully fund 00:54:24.828 --> 00:54:27.150 the program. And finally, I'll just say, for 00:54:27.150 --> 00:54:29.381 any of those concerned with the climate credit 00:54:29.393 --> 00:54:31.589 impact, the climate credit, in this forecast, 00:54:31.589 --> 00:54:34.863 is forecasted to be at $36 which is actually 00:54:34.875 --> 00:54:38.160 higher than the average and larger than what 00:54:38.160 --> 00:54:42.533 was received over a year ago in 2017. Okay, 00:54:42.545 --> 00:54:46.531 and, again, I want to think some of the 00:54:46.531 --> 00:54:50.055 folks have worked on this and mention, we 00:54:50.067 --> 00:54:53.350 did just adopt the SDG&E ERA forecast, 00:54:53.350 --> 00:54:56.550 which was revised by Judge Kelly, Gerald 00:54:56.562 --> 00:55:00.010 Kelly, to also address the under-collection 00:55:00.010 --> 00:55:03.166 and so would be consistent here, in SCE, 00:55:03.178 --> 00:55:06.500 to adopt APD to retain that consistency of 00:55:06.500 --> 00:55:09.268 fully funding this Soma program. So again, 00:55:09.280 --> 00:55:12.060 I want to think Judge Kline for all of her 00:55:12.060 --> 00:55:14.955 work. I want to thank the folks in the Energy 00:55:14.967 --> 00:55:17.810 division. Tori Francisco, Jonathan Wardrobe. 00:55:17.810 --> 00:55:20.873 David Sizemore, and, of course, my advisor, Maria 00:55:20.885 --> 00:55:23.530 Sotero, for all of the long and thoughtful 00:55:23.530 --> 00:55:27.595 conversations that have taken place, and I ask for your support 00:55:27.620 --> 00:55:28.950 Thank you very much, 00:55:28.950 --> 00:55:40.599 Commissioner Guzman Aceves. Are there any comments on the Item Number 43A? 00:55:40.599 --> 00:55:44.530 I'll just say that I am supportive 00:55:44.542 --> 00:55:47.960 of the alternate. I do think it's better to True Up 00:55:47.960 --> 00:55:53.330 the program now rather than wait and spread it, spread it out over a longer 00:55:53.330 --> 00:55:57.866 period, which is more, a little less transparent 00:55:57.878 --> 00:56:01.220 and less effective. So I appreciate 00:56:01.220 --> 00:56:05.341 the Commissioners, you know, policy determination 00:56:05.353 --> 00:56:08.660 that we need to get this program funded 00:56:08.660 --> 00:56:11.762 and going, and we need to be consistent with 00:56:11.774 --> 00:56:14.750 the decision in San Diego Gas and Electric 00:56:14.750 --> 00:56:18.883 ERA as well. So thank you, and I'll be supporting the decision. 00:56:18.908 --> 00:56:20.261 Excellent. Are there 00:56:20.260 --> 00:56:22.294 any other comments on 43A? 00:56:22.319 --> 00:56:24.549 I will just 00:56:24.561 --> 00:56:26.910 say I will also be supporting the alternate 00:56:26.910 --> 00:56:29.332 for the reasons Commissioner Guzman Aceves and 00:56:29.344 --> 00:56:31.520 Commissioner Randolph articulated. It's a 00:56:31.520 --> 00:56:33.765 valuable program. There's a lot of interest in 00:56:33.777 --> 00:56:36.130 it, and it's important we follow the legislative 00:56:36.130 --> 00:56:40.531 direction on the appropriate amount to be allocated to it. 00:56:40.556 --> 00:56:42.470 And similarly, thank you, President 00:56:42.470 --> 00:56:45.480 Batjer. Similarly, I'll be supporting the 00:56:45.492 --> 00:56:48.730 alternative decision. It was very compelling 00:56:48.730 --> 00:56:51.670 to hear about the waitlist and the interests 00:56:51.682 --> 00:56:54.700 and certainly there's a need. This is an area 00:56:54.700 --> 00:56:58.028 that over the years that this program has 00:56:58.040 --> 00:57:01.460 been available, we really wanted to see it 00:57:01.460 --> 00:57:04.248 successful and truly come to fruition. And 00:57:04.260 --> 00:57:07.320 these monies will will be very helpful towards 00:57:07.320 --> 00:57:08.570 that. So thank you. 00:57:08.595 --> 00:57:10.446 Thank you. And I add my 00:57:10.458 --> 00:57:12.320 remarks to my fellow Commissioners thanking 00:57:12.320 --> 00:57:15.593 Commissioner Guzman Aceves for your hard work 00:57:15.605 --> 00:57:18.890 and passion on getting this right. I will add 00:57:18.890 --> 00:57:22.423 my support as well. Are there any other comments 00:57:22.435 --> 00:57:25.980 at this time? Okay. Seeing none, will the Agenda 00:57:25.980 --> 00:57:27.219 Clerk please call the roll? 00:57:27.244 --> 00:57:29.192 - For Item 43A, Commissioner Shiroma. - Aye. 00:57:29.217 --> 00:57:31.184 - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. - Aye. 00:57:31.209 --> 00:57:33.338 - Commissioner Randolph. - Aye. - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 00:57:33.363 --> 00:57:35.250 - Aye. - President Batjer. 00:57:35.250 --> 00:57:39.069 Aye. The vote is unanimous. Thank you 00:57:39.081 --> 00:57:42.780 very much. We will then move on to Item Number 44 which 00:57:42.780 --> 00:57:45.034 is Commissioner Randolph's. 00:57:45.059 --> 00:57:47.685 Okay, this is an 00:57:47.697 --> 00:57:50.210 order instituting rulemaking to perform 00:57:50.210 --> 00:57:53.037 a long-term-gas system planning by establishing 00:57:53.049 --> 00:57:55.770 policies, processes, and rules to ensure safe 00:57:55.770 --> 00:57:58.421 and reliable gas systems in California. As 00:57:58.433 --> 00:58:00.910 we all know, California's energy system 00:58:00.910 --> 00:58:03.882 is undergoing a period of profound change. 00:58:03.894 --> 00:58:06.740 As we all know, we have committed to the 00:58:06.740 --> 00:58:09.705 goals of 100% clean energy, doubling of energy 00:58:09.717 --> 00:58:13.200 efficiency, widespread transportation electrification, 00:58:13.200 --> 00:58:17.209 and a carbon-neutral economy by 2045. Given 00:58:17.221 --> 00:58:21.060 these adopted objectives and policies, we 00:58:21.060 --> 00:58:24.222 should anticipate and plan for the long-term 00:58:24.234 --> 00:58:27.619 changes in California's gas distribution system 00:58:27.619 --> 00:58:30.765 as well. Additionally, recent operational 00:58:30.777 --> 00:58:34.010 issues and constraints in gas pipeline and 00:58:34.010 --> 00:58:36.599 storage safety related incidents require the 00:58:36.611 --> 00:58:39.500 Commission to reevaluate the policies, processes, 00:58:39.500 --> 00:58:42.549 and rules that govern gas utilities. The goal 00:58:42.561 --> 00:58:45.290 of this rulemaking is to provide a forum 00:58:45.290 --> 00:58:48.471 where the Commission can consider the challenge 00:58:48.483 --> 00:58:51.609 of how do we ensure the safety and reliability 00:58:51.609 --> 00:58:54.248 of natural gas infrastructure in the state 00:58:54.260 --> 00:58:56.850 as we consider this long-term strategy to 00:58:56.850 --> 00:59:02.990 manage the state's transition away from natural gas fuel technologies to 00:59:02.990 --> 00:59:05.937 meet these decarbonization goals. We need to 00:59:05.949 --> 00:59:09.040 manage this transition in a way that minimizes 00:59:09.040 --> 00:59:12.327 stranded costs and unfair burdens and cost 00:59:12.339 --> 00:59:16.099 shifts to ratepayers and maintain a safe system. 00:59:16.099 --> 00:59:18.806 We need to avoid making gas service unaffordable 00:59:18.818 --> 00:59:21.260 or uneconomic for those who continue to use 00:59:21.260 --> 00:59:25.118 it for essential services and ensure that 00:59:25.130 --> 00:59:29.000 customers who move off gas have access to 00:59:29.000 --> 00:59:31.807 reliable alternative energy sources at affordable 00:59:31.819 --> 00:59:34.750 costs. And we need to do all this while maintaining 00:59:34.750 --> 00:59:38.149 a safe system. So this proceeding will be conducted 00:59:38.161 --> 00:59:41.310 in several phases. The first phase will examine 00:59:41.310 --> 00:59:44.324 reliability standards for the gas transmission 00:59:44.336 --> 00:59:47.040 systems to determine, among other things, 00:59:47.040 --> 00:59:49.605 whether design changes are necessary to account 00:59:49.617 --> 00:59:52.140 for a warming climate and the service capacity 00:59:52.140 --> 00:59:55.818 of current and future gas system infrastructure. 00:59:55.830 --> 00:59:59.369 Track 1B will examine proposals for mitigating 00:59:59.369 --> 01:00:02.122 the negative impact that operational issues 01:00:02.134 --> 01:00:05.150 with gas transmission systems have on wholesale 01:00:05.150 --> 01:00:08.375 and local gas market prices and gas system 01:00:08.387 --> 01:00:11.700 and electric grid reliability. Track 2 will 01:00:11.700 --> 01:00:14.307 determine the regulatory solutions and planning 01:00:14.319 --> 01:00:16.829 strategy that the Commission should implement 01:00:16.829 --> 01:00:20.288 to ensure that as the demand for natural gas 01:00:20.300 --> 01:00:23.540 declines, gas utilities maintain safe and 01:00:23.540 --> 01:00:26.732 reliable systems at just and reasonable rates. 01:00:26.744 --> 01:00:29.880 And as I mentioned, we reduce stranded costs. 01:00:29.880 --> 01:00:32.768 As always, we're in close communication and 01:00:32.780 --> 01:00:35.680 coordination with our sister agencies, such 01:00:35.680 --> 01:00:38.942 as Carb and The Energy Commission. In particular, 01:00:38.954 --> 01:00:41.900 we have been working closely with The Energy 01:00:41.900 --> 01:00:44.695 Commission and are establishing a working group 01:00:44.707 --> 01:00:47.280 with them to have a ongoing and coordinated 01:00:47.280 --> 01:00:50.536 dialogue on gas issues. And I look forward 01:00:50.548 --> 01:00:53.740 to working with them over the coming year 01:00:53.740 --> 01:00:57.352 on these important issues where we have overlapping 01:00:57.364 --> 01:01:00.849 roles. Any undertaking of this magnitude involves 01:01:00.849 --> 01:01:03.678 a lot of collaboration. So I would like to 01:01:03.690 --> 01:01:06.730 thank Administrative Law Judge Kristi Powell, 01:01:06.730 --> 01:01:09.375 who did an excellent job putting together 01:01:09.387 --> 01:01:11.980 this OIR. Assistant Chief Administrative 01:01:11.980 --> 01:01:15.158 Law Judge Michelle Cook. From Energy Division 01:01:15.170 --> 01:01:18.290 staff, Jean Spencer, Kristina Lee, Christina 01:01:18.290 --> 01:01:21.709 Abagian. From Legal Division, Jonathan Bronson 01:01:21.721 --> 01:01:25.079 with special thanks for the tremendous amount 01:01:25.079 --> 01:01:27.793 of thought and effort he has put in over the 01:01:27.805 --> 01:01:30.470 years thinking about these issues in a very 01:01:30.470 --> 01:01:33.623 careful and detailed way. And I look forward 01:01:33.635 --> 01:01:36.660 to working with him on them. And my former 01:01:36.660 --> 01:01:38.910 chief of staff, and now acting director of 01:01:38.922 --> 01:01:41.290 Safety Policy Division, Rachel Peterson, who 01:01:41.290 --> 01:01:47.930 put a lot of work into this and my advisor Anin Durasala, who will help us 01:01:47.930 --> 01:01:54.630 get this OIR going and make as much progress on it as possible in the coming 01:01:54.630 --> 01:02:01.819 year. So thank you for everyone's work on this. And I ask for your support of 01:02:01.819 --> 01:02:03.681 the opening of this OIR. 01:02:03.706 --> 01:02:06.060 And thank you very much. 01:02:06.072 --> 01:02:08.490 Commissioner Randolph. Are there any comments 01:02:08.490 --> 01:02:11.846 on item 44? Yes. Commissioner Guzman Aceves? 01:02:11.871 --> 01:02:14.829 Thank you. Thank you, President Batjer. 01:02:14.829 --> 01:02:18.182 And thank you, Commissioner Randolph for putting 01:02:18.194 --> 01:02:21.010 forward this very important rule making, 01:02:21.010 --> 01:02:24.510 perhaps one of the most needed and timely 01:02:24.522 --> 01:02:27.950 ones and perhaps a little late even, and 01:02:27.950 --> 01:02:31.219 the need for us to really look at all of the 01:02:31.231 --> 01:02:34.440 system, both statewide and locally. We face 01:02:34.440 --> 01:02:37.694 really tremendous issues both in terms of safety, 01:02:37.706 --> 01:02:40.710 aging infrastructure and market concentration 01:02:40.710 --> 01:02:46.540 on the generator side. We will have the ability with this proceeding to really 01:02:46.540 --> 01:02:50.405 step back and look at these systems more holistically 01:02:50.417 --> 01:02:53.720 and look at perhaps even old approaches prior 01:02:53.720 --> 01:02:56.722 to us, our reliance on market forces alone 01:02:56.734 --> 01:02:59.819 to get us to solutions. We have really hard 01:02:59.819 --> 01:03:03.439 decisions before us, billion dollar decisions 01:03:03.451 --> 01:03:06.609 before us where we have to consistently 01:03:06.609 --> 01:03:09.692 look at what are our alternatives to retain 01:03:09.704 --> 01:03:12.870 this reliability. And we're just at the cusp 01:03:12.870 --> 01:03:16.111 of knowing which of those answers is right. 01:03:16.123 --> 01:03:19.450 We really do need more solutions during this 01:03:19.450 --> 01:03:22.296 transition, and I just want to underscore the 01:03:22.308 --> 01:03:24.980 importance of looking at non-market driven 01:03:24.980 --> 01:03:27.858 solutions and really some of our bread and 01:03:27.870 --> 01:03:30.760 butter of regulatory controls that have to 01:03:30.760 --> 01:03:34.210 be direct to contain those costs and ensure 01:03:34.222 --> 01:03:37.369 that reliability. I also want to really 01:03:37.369 --> 01:03:40.774 thank you for including the workforce component 01:03:40.786 --> 01:03:43.990 and ensuring this transition has them at the 01:03:43.990 --> 01:03:46.986 core. They ensure our safety every single 01:03:46.998 --> 01:03:50.150 day. They work hard. They're working now in 01:03:50.150 --> 01:03:56.630 the rain, and they're working some parts of the state in the sun. But having just 01:03:56.630 --> 01:04:02.250 come from a discussion yesterday on some of the importance of the time that 01:04:02.250 --> 01:04:05.648 it takes to really transition the skills that 01:04:05.660 --> 01:04:09.070 this gas workforce has and ensuring that they 01:04:09.070 --> 01:04:13.438 have really sustainable living incomes and wages 01:04:13.450 --> 01:04:17.740 and benefits is gonna be another responsibility 01:04:17.740 --> 01:04:24.859 that we have, that we don't leave that aside but let it drive us. So 01:04:24.859 --> 01:04:27.177 thank you very much for including that. I 01:04:27.189 --> 01:04:29.740 look forward to working with you on this very 01:04:29.740 --> 01:04:31.223 important rulemaking. 01:04:31.248 --> 01:04:33.668 Thank you very much. Commissioner, 01:04:33.680 --> 01:04:35.671 Are there any other comments on the item 44? 01:04:35.670 --> 01:04:37.559 Yes, Commissioner Shiroma? 01:04:37.584 --> 01:04:39.810 Thank you, President 01:04:39.822 --> 01:04:42.210 Batjer? Yes. I support the opening of this OIR, 01:04:42.210 --> 01:04:48.920 and thank you, Commissioner Randolph and all of the team that you outlined 01:04:48.920 --> 01:04:53.039 on this effort. I, in getting brief from my 01:04:53.051 --> 01:04:57.089 staff on this, they were pointing out that 01:04:57.089 --> 01:04:59.460 the last time such a rulemaking was opened 01:04:59.472 --> 01:05:01.800 was 16 years ago. And of course, a lot of 01:05:01.800 --> 01:05:05.041 work has ensued since then, but it is definitely 01:05:05.053 --> 01:05:08.040 appropriate and necessary for this important 01:05:08.040 --> 01:05:10.797 refresh. And I look forward to seeing the 01:05:10.809 --> 01:05:13.380 work that comes out of the proceeding. 01:05:13.380 --> 01:05:17.124 And the questions being asked through 01:05:17.136 --> 01:05:21.500 this rulemaking are really good, spot on. 01:05:21.500 --> 01:05:23.013 Thank you. 01:05:23.038 --> 01:05:24.463 Thank you, Commissioner. 01:05:24.488 --> 01:05:26.064 I have very 01:05:26.076 --> 01:05:27.551 little to add just to think Commission 01:05:27.550 --> 01:05:30.031 Randolph for taking on yet another seemingly 01:05:30.043 --> 01:05:32.369 intractable problem and trying to wrestle 01:05:32.369 --> 01:05:35.646 it to the ground. It's very, it's a vital 01:05:35.658 --> 01:05:39.730 proceeding as Commissioner Guzman Aceves says, It's 01:05:39.730 --> 01:05:42.841 timely, it's necessary. We have big, difficult 01:05:42.853 --> 01:05:45.910 questions that we have to tackle, and we need 01:05:45.910 --> 01:05:49.493 to tackle them right away. And I'm glad that 01:05:49.505 --> 01:05:52.940 we're tackling questions of reliability in 01:05:52.940 --> 01:05:56.737 the first phase because we're overdue to 01:05:56.749 --> 01:06:00.650 do that. We don't have specific standards 01:06:00.650 --> 01:06:03.409 or formal standards. We haven't looked at it 01:06:03.421 --> 01:06:06.130 in 15 years or however long. But the market 01:06:06.130 --> 01:06:08.595 and the conditions in our system require us 01:06:08.607 --> 01:06:11.140 to do that. We have had a lot of challenges, 01:06:11.140 --> 01:06:17.630 a lot of constraints, and we need to be very clear about what the standards are, 01:06:17.630 --> 01:06:20.668 what regulatory changes, programmatic changes, 01:06:20.680 --> 01:06:23.730 market or non market we need to take to ensure 01:06:23.730 --> 01:06:26.381 reliability while embarking on this enormous 01:06:26.393 --> 01:06:28.760 challenge of decarbonizing our economy. 01:06:28.760 --> 01:06:33.320 So thank you very much. I will be supporting this OIR. 01:06:33.345 --> 01:06:35.890 Thank you. Are there any other 01:06:35.890 --> 01:06:39.164 comments by the Commission of this time? Okay, 01:06:39.176 --> 01:06:42.253 will the Agenda Clerk please call the roll. 01:06:42.278 --> 01:06:44.786 - For Item 44. Commissioner Shiroma. - Aye. 01:06:44.811 --> 01:06:47.188 - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. - Aye. 01:06:47.213 --> 01:06:49.864 - Commissioner Randolph. - Aye. -Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 01:06:49.889 --> 01:06:52.276 - Aye. - President Batjer. 01:06:52.300 --> 01:06:55.859 Aye. The vote is unanimous. Thank you. We will now 01:06:55.859 --> 01:07:03.201 move on to Item Number 44. And that is Commissioner Guzman Aceves. 01:07:03.226 --> 01:07:06.050 45. Yes. Okay. This is a 01:07:06.050 --> 01:07:08.869 order, or your favorite order, extending 01:07:08.881 --> 01:07:11.920 statutory deadline. This has to do with the 01:07:11.920 --> 01:07:18.400 Semper T-Cap. And interestingly enough, there's never been a fully litigated 01:07:18.400 --> 01:07:21.797 T-cap. The last litigated cost allocation 01:07:21.809 --> 01:07:25.380 proceeding was back when the proceeding was 01:07:25.380 --> 01:07:28.774 called the bi annual cost allocation proceeding, 01:07:28.786 --> 01:07:32.191 the B-cap, so that was in 2000. That gives you a 01:07:32.191 --> 01:07:35.572 sense of how long it's been that these issues 01:07:35.584 --> 01:07:39.050 have been to hearing and so forth. We recently 01:07:39.050 --> 01:07:42.278 did direct the parties to consider a staff 01:07:42.290 --> 01:07:45.680 proposal, and Judge Himes is working hard to 01:07:45.680 --> 01:07:49.319 do this. So we do expect very, very soon to 01:07:49.331 --> 01:07:53.230 have a proposed decision issued, and I ask you 01:07:53.230 --> 01:07:56.967 for a short extension to get that done. Thank you very much. 01:07:56.992 --> 01:07:59.050 Thank you. Are there any comments 01:07:59.050 --> 01:08:05.204 on item 45? Right. Seeing none, will the Agenda Clerk please call the roll. 01:08:05.229 --> 01:08:07.421 - For Item 45 Commissioner Shiroma. - Aye. 01:08:07.446 --> 01:08:09.934 - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. - Aye. 01:08:09.959 --> 01:08:10.846 - Commissioner Randolph. - Aye. 01:08:10.871 --> 01:08:12.418 - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. - Aye. 01:08:12.442 --> 01:08:14.695 President Batjer. 01:08:14.720 --> 01:08:17.466 Aye. Thank you. The vote is unanimous. 01:08:17.478 --> 01:08:19.930 Moving on now to Item 46, Commissioner Shiroma. 01:08:19.930 --> 01:08:23.279 Yes. Thank you, President 01:08:23.291 --> 01:08:26.920 Batjer. Item 46 is an extension order for three grade 01:08:26.920 --> 01:08:30.037 separated crossings for the California High 01:08:30.049 --> 01:08:33.249 Speed Rail in Fresno. I'm asking for a short 01:08:33.249 --> 01:08:37.977 extension from January 18 to May 8th. This 01:08:37.989 --> 01:08:42.619 past fall, the application was reassigned 01:08:42.619 --> 01:08:46.438 from Administrative Law Judge Dan Bertram, who 01:08:46.450 --> 01:08:50.689 retired. I hope he's enjoying retirement. He worked 01:08:50.689 --> 01:08:53.107 on many cases here. We thank, definitely 01:08:53.119 --> 01:08:55.609 appreciate his service. It was reassigned 01:08:55.609 --> 01:08:59.209 to Administrative Law Judge Siebert. And we're 01:08:59.221 --> 01:09:02.679 anticipating that the proposed decision will 01:09:02.679 --> 01:09:06.218 mail shortly. But we do need the extension 01:09:06.230 --> 01:09:10.029 deadline to follow the Commission's protocol. 01:09:10.029 --> 01:09:11.882 So I ask for your support. 01:09:11.907 --> 01:09:16.229 Okay. Thank you. Are there any comments on Item 46 from the 01:09:16.229 --> 01:09:20.017 Commission? All right, seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll. 01:09:20.042 --> 01:09:22.219 For Item 46. Commissioner Shiroma. 01:09:22.244 --> 01:09:24.656 - Aye. - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. - Aye. 01:09:24.681 --> 01:09:27.063 - Commissioner Randolph. - Aye. - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 01:09:27.088 --> 01:09:29.270 - Yes. - President Batjer. 01:09:29.295 --> 01:09:31.909 Aye. Thank you very much. The vote is unanimous. 01:09:31.909 --> 01:09:35.377 Moving on now to Item 47, Commissioner Randolph. 01:09:35.402 --> 01:09:38.349 Okay. This proposed decision would extend 01:09:38.349 --> 01:09:40.979 the statutory deadline for a rail crossing 01:09:40.991 --> 01:09:43.449 in the city of Ion. This city in Amador 01:09:43.449 --> 01:09:46.585 County filed an application to convert a closed 01:09:46.597 --> 01:09:49.679 private crossing into an open public crossing. 01:09:49.679 --> 01:09:53.465 Unfortunately, the crossing was constructed 01:09:53.477 --> 01:09:57.189 and opened without authority. In addition, 01:09:57.189 --> 01:09:59.215 there may have been a Rule One violation about 01:09:59.227 --> 01:10:01.309 the status of the crossing when the application 01:10:01.309 --> 01:10:04.248 was filed. And as a former city attorney, 01:10:04.260 --> 01:10:07.210 I'm finding this all very appalling. Some 01:10:07.210 --> 01:10:10.402 of the sequel work will need some more analysis, 01:10:10.414 --> 01:10:13.030 due the passage of time. So what should 01:10:13.030 --> 01:10:15.856 have been a very simple, straightforward application 01:10:15.868 --> 01:10:18.170 is turning out to be much more lengthy and 01:10:18.170 --> 01:10:21.345 complicated. The proceeding has been separated 01:10:21.357 --> 01:10:24.409 into two phases. Phase One will focus on the 01:10:24.409 --> 01:10:27.703 crossing safety. Phase Two will look at potential 01:10:27.715 --> 01:10:30.559 penalties for the apparent building of the 01:10:30.559 --> 01:10:33.245 crossing before authorization and for the 01:10:33.257 --> 01:10:36.340 alleged Rule one violation. A proposed decision 01:10:36.340 --> 01:10:42.159 for Phase One should be issued shortly, but the ALJ will need time to complete 01:10:42.159 --> 01:10:46.505 Phase Two. So an extension of the statutory 01:10:46.517 --> 01:10:50.380 deadline to August 21 is needed. I ask 01:10:50.380 --> 01:10:52.416 for your support of item 47. 01:10:52.441 --> 01:10:55.112 Okay. Thank you. Are there 01:10:55.124 --> 01:10:57.579 any comments on Item 47 by the Commission? 01:10:57.579 --> 01:11:01.291 All right. Seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll. 01:11:01.316 --> 01:11:03.915 - For Item 47. Commissioner Shiroma. - Aye. 01:11:03.940 --> 01:11:06.514 - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. - Aye. 01:11:06.539 --> 01:11:07.561 Commissioner Randolph. 01:11:07.586 --> 01:11:09.372 - Aye. - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. - Yes. 01:11:09.396 --> 01:11:11.711 President Batjer. 01:11:11.737 --> 01:11:14.453 Aye. Thank you. The vote is unanimous. 01:11:14.465 --> 01:11:16.940 Moving on now to Item 48. Commissioner Randolph. 01:11:16.939 --> 01:11:19.283 This proposed decision would 01:11:19.295 --> 01:11:21.650 extend the statutory deadline in one of the Metro Gold 01:11:21.650 --> 01:11:24.533 Line Foot Hill Extension Construction Authority's 01:11:24.545 --> 01:11:27.150 applications for authority to construct rail 01:11:27.150 --> 01:11:33.650 crossings. This is another case that was reassigned from Judge Bertram to Judge 01:11:33.650 --> 01:11:36.598 Judge Glegula on November 15th. So due to 01:11:36.610 --> 01:11:39.570 this reassignment, a very short extension 01:11:39.570 --> 01:11:42.783 of the statutory deadline from February 5th 01:11:42.795 --> 01:11:45.800 to March 13th of this year is needed and 01:11:45.800 --> 01:11:48.498 I ask for your support of Item 48. 01:11:48.523 --> 01:11:50.757 Okay. Thank you. Are 01:11:50.769 --> 01:11:53.179 there any comments on item 48? Seeing none, 01:11:53.179 --> 01:11:56.047 will the Agenda Clerk please call the roll. 01:11:56.072 --> 01:11:58.145 For Item 48. Commissioner Shiroma. 01:11:58.170 --> 01:12:00.464 - Aye. - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. 01:12:00.489 --> 01:12:01.458 - Aye. - Commissioner Randolph. 01:12:01.483 --> 01:12:02.776 - Aye. - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 01:12:02.801 --> 01:12:04.751 - Yes. - President Batjer. 01:12:04.777 --> 01:12:06.220 Aye. Thank you. 01:12:06.219 --> 01:12:11.033 The vote is unanimous. Moving now to Item 49. Commissioner Shiroma. 01:12:11.058 --> 01:12:13.369 Thank you. Present Batjer. This 01:12:13.369 --> 01:12:17.062 will wrap up the extensions. Item 49 is a request 01:12:17.074 --> 01:12:20.260 to extend the statuary deadline for Victor 01:12:20.260 --> 01:12:27.920 Packing Incorporated versus PG&E. We're asking for a four-month extension to 01:12:27.920 --> 01:12:32.258 May 31st. This complaint was suspended for 01:12:32.270 --> 01:12:36.619 four months in mid-2019 as a result of the 01:12:36.619 --> 01:12:40.419 automatic stay imposed by PG&E's bankruptcy. 01:12:40.431 --> 01:12:44.159 In December, the parties reported that they 01:12:44.159 --> 01:12:46.900 were working to finalize a settlement, and 01:12:46.912 --> 01:12:49.729 they expect to file a motion to voluntarily 01:12:49.729 --> 01:12:53.281 dismiss the complaint in early 2020. So in 01:12:53.293 --> 01:12:56.939 view of the unavoidable delay caused by the 01:12:56.939 --> 01:12:59.622 bankruptcy stay and to accommodate the parties 01:12:59.634 --> 01:13:02.329 demonstrated good faith to resolve this matter 01:13:02.329 --> 01:13:04.933 informally, we're asking for the deadline 01:13:04.945 --> 01:13:07.560 to be extended an additional four months. 01:13:07.560 --> 01:13:11.158 Thank you very much. Commissioner 01:13:11.170 --> 01:13:14.980 Shiroma. Are there any comments on Item 49? Seeing none, 01:13:14.980 --> 01:13:17.882 would the Agenda Clerk please call the roll. 01:13:17.907 --> 01:13:21.207 - For Item 49. Commissioner Shiroma. - Aye. - Commissioner Guzman Aceves. 01:13:21.232 --> 01:13:22.947 - Aye. - Commissioner Randolph. 01:13:22.973 --> 01:13:23.820 - Aye. - Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 01:13:23.845 --> 01:13:24.429 - Yes. - President Batjer. 01:13:24.429 --> 01:13:28.972 Aye. The vote is unanimous on Item 01:13:28.984 --> 01:13:33.539 49. I do want a comment that I appreciate greatly when 01:13:33.539 --> 01:13:36.853 we do have extensions that my fellow Commissioners 01:13:36.865 --> 01:13:39.409 are mindful of the length of time that 01:13:39.409 --> 01:13:42.997 we do extend items. So I appreciate that. We're 01:13:43.009 --> 01:13:46.760 now moving on to the next item on our agenda, and 01:13:46.760 --> 01:13:50.008 that's the management reports. There are no 01:13:50.020 --> 01:13:53.280 reports for item number 50. However, I will 01:13:53.280 --> 01:13:57.019 turn to Item 51 and ask Alice Stebbins, our 01:13:57.031 --> 01:14:00.442 Executive Director to speak to Item 51. 01:14:00.467 --> 01:14:04.529 Thank you, President. Thank you, 01:14:04.541 --> 01:14:08.679 President Batjer, Commissioners. I wanted to start off by giving 01:14:08.679 --> 01:14:12.796 a shout out to John Heart. John, are you here? 01:14:20.421 --> 01:14:23.860 So, John, unfortunately, good for him, bad 01:14:23.860 --> 01:14:26.418 for us, is retiring, and I'll just mention, 01:14:26.430 --> 01:14:28.999 we are having a retirement party for him, a 01:14:28.999 --> 01:14:31.516 week from tomorrow, next Friday, January 24, 01:14:31.528 --> 01:14:34.170 where he'll receive his resolution, retirement 01:14:34.170 --> 01:14:37.074 resolution. But I just wanted to acknowledge, 01:14:37.086 --> 01:14:39.749 because this is his last meeting with us, 01:14:39.749 --> 01:14:44.502 and he makes this meeting wonderful. So again, a round of applause. 01:14:50.327 --> 01:14:55.942 Okay. Thank you very much, John. And congratulations. 01:14:55.967 --> 01:14:58.133 Okay, up next. 01:14:58.145 --> 01:15:00.039 This is a little, this is a tougher one 01:15:00.039 --> 01:15:04.526 here because Cynthia Walker, who's been with us 01:15:04.538 --> 01:15:08.850 for 26 years, started out as a transportation 01:15:08.850 --> 01:15:13.983 analyst and is now our Communications director 01:15:13.995 --> 01:15:19.249 is going to spend more time with her grandchild. 01:15:40.449 --> 01:15:45.199 Cynthia didn't want anything. So we're downplaying 01:15:45.211 --> 01:15:48.760 it. Not. I just want to say thank you 01:15:48.760 --> 01:15:51.279 for everything way. We're definitely gonna 01:15:51.291 --> 01:15:53.880 miss you. I want to also remind you that we 01:15:53.880 --> 01:16:00.190 love retired ???? here at PUC, but thank you, thank you, thank you for everything 01:16:00.190 --> 01:16:02.448 you've done for us. 01:16:10.373 --> 01:16:14.721 Thank you for this. I, yeah, I don't like being the center of 01:16:14.820 --> 01:16:20.369 attention for any sorts of things. So, I'll keep this brief. But, I have been 01:16:20.369 --> 01:16:22.731 consulting with the retired annuatants. 01:16:22.743 --> 01:16:25.360 So suggesting projects and all those that 01:16:25.360 --> 01:16:29.798 sort of thing. I just want to say that when 01:16:29.810 --> 01:16:34.260 I started here, late 1986, there were maybe 01:16:34.260 --> 01:16:38.171 a couple of women in management positions. 01:16:38.183 --> 01:16:42.289 And, I look today at the dais and throughout 01:16:42.289 --> 01:16:44.949 the agency and just want to say that it's 01:16:44.961 --> 01:16:47.760 just been a great opportunity to work here. 01:16:47.760 --> 01:16:50.950 I feel like I was very supported. I worked 01:16:50.962 --> 01:16:54.239 hard on, and I got those promotions. I know 01:16:54.239 --> 01:16:56.403 I deserved them. But at the same time, I felt 01:16:56.415 --> 01:16:58.449 like there were a lot of opportunities for 01:16:58.449 --> 01:17:01.447 me that were given, and that are available 01:17:01.459 --> 01:17:04.539 to staff today. So just, I know through the 01:17:04.539 --> 01:17:07.057 years, many of those people that have mentored 01:17:07.069 --> 01:17:09.329 me are no longer here. But it's just been 01:17:09.329 --> 01:17:12.623 a really great place to work. Such interesting 01:17:12.635 --> 01:17:15.449 issues to work on, kind of never a dull 01:17:15.449 --> 01:17:17.951 moment. And I really appreciated the opportunity 01:17:17.963 --> 01:17:20.580 to be a leader in this organization, so thank you. 01:17:50.880 --> 01:17:54.094 Cynthia, I would like to just 01:17:54.106 --> 01:17:57.139 add a few words to that, those which Alice has 01:17:57.139 --> 01:18:00.053 made. I want to thank you very much. My short 01:18:00.065 --> 01:18:02.800 time here at the Commission, you have been 01:18:02.800 --> 01:18:05.718 an invaluable adviser to me. We were shoulder 01:18:05.730 --> 01:18:08.469 to shoulder all hours of the day and night 01:18:08.469 --> 01:18:11.674 during the power shut offs this fall when 01:18:11.686 --> 01:18:14.980 we didn't have such a brilliant showing of 01:18:14.980 --> 01:18:17.814 the telecommunications companies of the state. 01:18:17.826 --> 01:18:20.429 You advised me and helped me through that, 01:18:20.429 --> 01:18:23.572 along with others in the Governor's office 01:18:23.584 --> 01:18:26.739 as well, as Mark Ghilarducci of the Office 01:18:26.739 --> 01:18:29.739 of Emergency Services. And you've been 01:18:29.751 --> 01:18:33.239 such a helpful advisor on to me as we, and 01:18:33.239 --> 01:18:36.387 your staff, as we have moved through some 01:18:36.399 --> 01:18:39.709 of the Telco experiences. I personally will 01:18:39.709 --> 01:18:41.512 miss you very much. And I will be looking 01:18:41.524 --> 01:18:43.469 forward to a retired a new annuatant program 01:18:43.469 --> 01:18:46.721 for you, so thank you very much. 01:18:46.746 --> 01:18:49.857 Okay. I will 01:18:49.869 --> 01:18:52.920 reiterate the gratitude for your service. 01:18:52.920 --> 01:18:58.719 Always problem solving. Unfortunately, I have seen pictures of your grandson, so 01:18:58.719 --> 01:19:01.608 I know the power of that pull. They're 01:19:01.620 --> 01:19:04.980 waiting for very sweet. But I just want to 01:19:04.980 --> 01:19:08.529 thank you for your service. It's been a real 01:19:08.541 --> 01:19:12.340 honor. And it will be a huge loss. So hopefully 01:19:12.340 --> 01:19:15.459 not forever. Thank you, Cynthia. 01:19:15.484 --> 01:19:20.820 Thank you again. Thank you. Is there anything else on 01:19:20.820 --> 01:19:24.283 Item 51? I will mention that we have a new 01:19:24.295 --> 01:19:27.690 member of our management team here today. 01:19:27.690 --> 01:19:32.258 And that's Chris Rohaas, who has joined the team. 01:19:32.270 --> 01:19:36.300 Chris, why don't you stand up. Chris is our 01:19:36.300 --> 01:19:40.783 new H R leader. And Chris comes to the Commission 01:19:40.795 --> 01:19:44.480 with a wealth of experience. A marvelous 01:19:44.480 --> 01:19:47.435 background. Chris is an attorney. She served 01:19:47.447 --> 01:19:50.349 as the chief business administration person 01:19:50.349 --> 01:19:53.651 at CalTrans. Chris and I have worked on projects 01:19:53.663 --> 01:19:56.639 together. She was one of my volunteers when 01:19:56.639 --> 01:19:59.518 we were working on Civil Service Improvement, 01:19:59.530 --> 01:20:02.420 which she wholeheartedly believed in. So good 01:20:02.420 --> 01:20:04.970 on her. But we are very fortunate to have 01:20:04.982 --> 01:20:07.239 your skills, knowledge and abilities 01:20:07.239 --> 01:20:10.410 joining us. Thank you so much, Chris. Thank 01:20:10.422 --> 01:20:13.749 you for being here today. Sorry for my croaky 01:20:13.749 --> 01:20:17.644 voice. We're now moving on to the next agenda 01:20:17.656 --> 01:20:21.139 item in the Commissioner, on the agenda, 01:20:21.139 --> 01:20:23.863 excuse me, and that's the Commissioner's reports. 01:20:23.875 --> 01:20:26.610 So who would like to go first today? Commissioner 01:20:26.610 --> 01:20:29.910 Shiroma? I think you've been volunteered. 01:20:29.935 --> 01:20:33.210 Thank you. Present Batjer. I have several 01:20:33.209 --> 01:20:36.858 things. First of all, our next Low Income 01:20:36.870 --> 01:20:40.880 Oversight Board meeting will be on March 6th. 01:20:40.880 --> 01:20:44.440 And we will be meeting at a venue in East 01:20:44.452 --> 01:20:47.939 San Jose and details will be posted soon 01:20:47.939 --> 01:20:51.359 on the the Oversight board website. And 01:20:51.371 --> 01:20:55.419 again, those meetings are open. And the LIOB 01:20:55.419 --> 01:20:59.605 advises the Commission on the Low Income 01:20:59.617 --> 01:21:04.019 Discount Programs for Electricity, Gas and 01:21:04.019 --> 01:21:08.587 the Water Districts and also on the weatherization 01:21:08.599 --> 01:21:12.550 programs and also weighs in on the Lifeline 01:21:12.550 --> 01:21:16.227 program, which is the discount program for 01:21:16.239 --> 01:21:20.099 phone service. Then last week, I was invited 01:21:20.099 --> 01:21:23.804 to tour Wavell, which is a self driving technology 01:21:23.816 --> 01:21:27.169 company. It's currently developing autonomous 01:21:27.169 --> 01:21:30.551 vehicles, and it began as the Google Self 01:21:30.563 --> 01:21:34.119 Driving Car Project back in 2009. During my 01:21:34.119 --> 01:21:36.966 visit, we started with a test drive in one 01:21:36.978 --> 01:21:39.969 of their vehicles that is currently included 01:21:39.969 --> 01:21:42.981 in the Commission's autonomous vehicle pilot 01:21:42.993 --> 01:21:46.219 program. The test drive showed us the potential 01:21:46.219 --> 01:21:49.863 of what's called a Level 4 automation, which means 01:21:49.875 --> 01:21:53.459 that there could not be no human driver behind the 01:21:53.459 --> 01:21:58.610 wheel. Now, our test drive had a driver and 01:21:58.622 --> 01:22:04.019 an engineer in the front seat of the vehicle, 01:22:04.019 --> 01:22:07.988 but they were not driving the vehicle. The 01:22:08.000 --> 01:22:11.889 vehicle drove us through various parts of 01:22:11.889 --> 01:22:19.909 near the Waymo campus. It was really, really interesting. And so I was able 01:22:19.909 --> 01:22:23.988 to, and my team were able to, observe the user 01:22:24.000 --> 01:22:27.829 interface and to see the display. Following 01:22:27.829 --> 01:22:31.349 that, right along, we received a tour of 01:22:31.361 --> 01:22:34.979 their research facility in Mountain View. 01:22:34.979 --> 01:22:38.355 And it's an extension off the Google X campus, and 01:22:38.367 --> 01:22:41.489 we were shown their workshop where development 01:22:41.489 --> 01:22:49.229 and fine tuning of the vehicles are taking place. And, you know, I can see 01:22:49.229 --> 01:22:52.363 the the way of the future with these various 01:22:52.375 --> 01:22:55.590 companies that are participating in the pilot 01:22:55.590 --> 01:22:58.862 programs. And then I would like to introduce 01:22:58.874 --> 01:23:01.940 a new interim advisor to my office, Kevin 01:23:01.940 --> 01:23:06.147 Trang. Kevin? Kevin is a utilities engineer 01:23:06.159 --> 01:23:10.090 and has been at the CPUC since 2014 with 01:23:10.090 --> 01:23:13.446 the Water Division. Prior to joining the Commission, 01:23:13.458 --> 01:23:16.190 Kevin worked as a manufacturer engineer in 01:23:16.190 --> 01:23:18.796 the private sector, and along with formal 01:23:18.808 --> 01:23:21.550 proceedings and advice letter filings, he's 01:23:21.550 --> 01:23:25.463 worked on important issues, water issues that 01:23:25.475 --> 01:23:29.229 affect California, including affordability, 01:23:29.229 --> 01:23:32.084 conservation, water quality and consolidation. 01:23:32.096 --> 01:23:34.719 He's been the representative for the Water 01:23:34.719 --> 01:23:37.315 Division at the Low Income Oversight Board and 01:23:37.327 --> 01:23:39.769 also was an interim advisor to Commissioner 01:23:39.769 --> 01:23:46.059 Guzman Aceves. Kevin, graduated from the University of California at San Diego 01:23:46.059 --> 01:23:48.652 with a degree in Structural Engineering and 01:23:48.664 --> 01:23:51.209 was born and raised in Orange County. And, 01:23:51.209 --> 01:23:54.900 as I understand it, roots for all SoCal 01:23:54.912 --> 01:23:59.090 teams. But, you know, wait a second, 49ers 01:23:59.090 --> 01:24:04.829 this weekend. Okay, where I'm wearing my 49er red here. 01:24:04.854 --> 01:24:07.699 You let him on your staff even with that? 01:24:07.699 --> 01:24:10.914 I know. It's bone of contention, 01:24:10.926 --> 01:24:13.869 but Kevin will be covering water and communications 01:24:13.869 --> 01:24:17.937 and transportation matters in my office because 01:24:17.949 --> 01:24:21.349 Terrence Xia is a brand new father. Deck 01:24:21.349 --> 01:24:24.520 Ray John Xia arrived yesterday evening, and 01:24:24.532 --> 01:24:27.570 we're so happy for Terrance and his wife, 01:24:27.570 --> 01:24:31.017 Karen. It's just wonderful. So thank you, 01:24:31.029 --> 01:24:34.570 Kevin, for pinch hitting and thank you for 01:24:34.570 --> 01:24:37.778 serving on my team. 01:24:41.703 --> 01:24:48.462 Thank you very much. Next Commissioner to report? 01:24:48.487 --> 01:24:51.301 I want, the only item 01:24:47.401 --> 01:24:50.714 have is I want to introduce Jessica Jandora. 01:24:50.726 --> 01:24:53.829 Jessica, stand up, who's gonna be working 01:24:53.829 --> 01:24:57.627 this semester for me as a legal intern. Some 01:24:57.639 --> 01:25:01.449 of you may know Jessica. She has worked very 01:25:01.449 --> 01:25:04.171 successfully as an intern with the ALJ Division 01:25:04.183 --> 01:25:06.690 over the past year. She's in her final year 01:25:06.690 --> 01:25:09.233 at Golden Gate Law School where she's earning 01:25:09.245 --> 01:25:12.189 specialties in public interest law and environmental 01:25:12.189 --> 01:25:15.775 law. Also Editor in Chief of the Environmental 01:25:15.787 --> 01:25:19.309 Law Journal. And she also holds a Master's in 01:25:19.309 --> 01:25:21.036 Applied Human Rights, where she specialized in 01:25:21.048 --> 01:25:22.750 community-based adaptation to climate change. 01:25:22.750 --> 01:25:27.366 She's a transplant from Chicago, says she's 01:25:27.378 --> 01:25:31.900 very happy to have traded the snow for the 01:25:31.900 --> 01:25:34.274 sunshine, although I don't know where the 01:25:34.286 --> 01:25:37.070 sunshine is today. But not, this is a bad thing, 01:25:37.070 --> 01:25:41.080 not, she still prefers deep dish pizza to 01:25:41.092 --> 01:25:45.019 avocado toast. So we have to change that. 01:25:45.019 --> 01:25:46.151 So welcome, Jessica. 01:25:46.175 --> 01:25:48.175 Welcome. 01:25:51.176 --> 01:25:52.302 I can go? 01:25:52.327 --> 01:25:55.679 Yes. Of course. Commissioner Guzman Aceves? 01:25:55.703 --> 01:25:57.429 I have a bittersweet 01:25:57.429 --> 01:26:01.065 announcement. Bitter for me. Sweet for Nikkei. 01:26:01.077 --> 01:26:04.570 Tomorrow will be Nikkei Atayaya, my chief of 01:26:04.570 --> 01:26:08.372 staff's last day here at the Commission. 01:26:08.384 --> 01:26:12.850 Nikkei has been with our office for two years, 01:26:12.850 --> 01:26:16.371 and she will be leaving to join a really fantastic 01:26:16.383 --> 01:26:19.709 organization, the Union of Concerned Scientists 01:26:19.709 --> 01:26:23.478 with amazing leadership there. And so I know 01:26:23.490 --> 01:26:27.019 that the state of California, the country 01:26:27.019 --> 01:26:30.393 and the nation will be better off for it. 01:26:30.405 --> 01:26:33.710 But we will, I will greatly miss her. As 01:26:33.710 --> 01:26:36.369 you know, she is incredibly smart. Her and 01:26:36.381 --> 01:26:39.300 Cliff were talking about their Yale days, this 01:26:39.300 --> 01:26:47.939 morning. She's she's very thorough, and she's really the calm to my storm. She 01:26:47.939 --> 01:26:51.174 has the ability to explain RA to common people 01:26:51.186 --> 01:26:54.019 who don't understand why we're extending 01:26:54.019 --> 01:27:01.409 OTCs. And she can ground engineers on the disconnection rates in some of our 01:27:01.409 --> 01:27:10.189 zip code. So she has a really vast sense of reality that sometimes we miss here. 01:27:10.189 --> 01:27:13.361 She did a tremendous amount of work to try 01:27:13.373 --> 01:27:16.409 to get some of our participants. And I'm 01:27:16.409 --> 01:27:18.968 sorry I missed yesterday's conversation on 01:27:18.980 --> 01:27:22.030 intervener conflict, but struggled and did much to 01:27:22.030 --> 01:27:25.554 get their voices heard, particularly of note, the 01:27:25.566 --> 01:27:28.960 communities in the Valley, Stockton and fathers 01:27:28.960 --> 01:27:31.983 and families, and just beginning to scratch 01:27:31.995 --> 01:27:35.030 the surface on how we can really accomplish 01:27:35.030 --> 01:27:37.840 those voices being heard here. So I really 01:27:37.852 --> 01:27:40.739 want to thank you, Nikkei, for your service 01:27:40.739 --> 01:27:43.995 and you will be greatly missed to our office. 01:27:44.020 --> 01:27:46.331 Indeed. Thank you so much, Nikkei. 01:27:51.855 --> 01:27:53.623 And I'll just say Jonathan 01:27:53.623 --> 01:27:56.774 Colts has agreed to be my new chief of staff. 01:27:56.786 --> 01:27:59.949 And I want to thank him as well and thank him 01:27:59.949 --> 01:28:02.961 for his contributions to the office, including 01:28:02.973 --> 01:28:05.740 this morning's ginger and pear scones that 01:28:05.740 --> 01:28:10.438 were fantastic. And he's a great asset all 01:28:10.450 --> 01:28:15.489 around to our office. So thank you, Jonathan. 01:28:15.489 --> 01:28:18.718 I can see he has the chief of 01:28:18.730 --> 01:28:21.917 staff bow tie. I don't know if you are, were you finished? 01:28:21.942 --> 01:28:24.060 Yes. 01:28:24.060 --> 01:28:27.423 I just want to, just want to 01:28:27.435 --> 01:28:30.809 say thank you to Nikkei. We are really gonna miss you. And 01:28:30.809 --> 01:28:33.982 I have a lot of respect for your professionalism, 01:28:33.994 --> 01:28:36.860 your intelligence, your integrity which were 01:28:36.860 --> 01:28:40.215 greatly valued here by us, and the outside 01:28:40.227 --> 01:28:43.829 perspective you brought to us, which is very, 01:28:43.829 --> 01:28:46.132 very needed. And in particular I want to thank 01:28:46.144 --> 01:28:48.409 you for all the tremendous collaborative work 01:28:48.409 --> 01:28:51.914 you did with my office on the areas where 01:28:51.926 --> 01:28:54.940 we were partnered. So we were happy 01:28:54.940 --> 01:28:58.221 to have you here. Very sorry to see you go 01:28:58.233 --> 01:29:01.449 and I wish you the best in your next job. 01:29:01.449 --> 01:29:03.509 Absolutely. Thank you. Are 01:29:03.521 --> 01:29:05.814 there any other reports? Okay, I will give a brief 01:29:05.839 --> 01:29:08.038 report. Last week, my staff and I met with a 01:29:08.050 --> 01:29:10.409 Califronia Independent System Operator, CalIso. 01:29:10.434 --> 01:29:13.641 It was a very productive and very-- 01:29:13.666 --> 01:29:14.710 Your mic. 01:29:14.735 --> 01:29:18.423 Oh, sorry. Okay, last week, my 01:29:18.435 --> 01:29:21.917 staff and I met with the California Independent 01:29:21.929 --> 01:29:25.551 System Operator, CalIso. It was a very productive 01:29:25.563 --> 01:29:28.687 and, I do say, interesting meeting. It was 01:29:28.699 --> 01:29:31.937 one of my, it was my first visit to Cal Iso, 01:29:31.949 --> 01:29:35.343 although I've been over the years invited many 01:29:35.355 --> 01:29:38.960 times to their facility. I look very much forward 01:29:38.972 --> 01:29:42.300 to working, continuing for the Commission and 01:29:42.300 --> 01:29:45.639 And CalIso staff to work very collaboratively 01:29:45.651 --> 01:29:48.139 as I discussed with Steve Burrick, the leader of 01:29:48.139 --> 01:29:55.550 CalIso. We have many things we have to achieve in common. Most importantly, our 01:29:55.550 --> 01:29:59.248 climate goals and insuring a reliable grid. 01:29:59.260 --> 01:30:03.139 The Senate Utility, Energy and Communications 01:30:03.139 --> 01:30:06.550 Committee held a hearing last week titled 01:30:06.562 --> 01:30:10.229 TeleCommunications Service Outages, insuring 01:30:10.229 --> 01:30:14.225 a reliable lifeline for Californians at which 01:30:14.237 --> 01:30:17.809 the CPUC participated. I testified along 01:30:17.809 --> 01:30:21.189 with Commissioner, I started to Randolph, you 01:30:21.201 --> 01:30:24.740 weren't even there. Commissioner Rechtschaffen. 01:30:24.765 --> 01:30:27.050 I was is in Hawaii. Just 01:30:27.050 --> 01:30:29.961 to be clear Which is why I have no Commissioner 01:30:29.973 --> 01:30:32.653 report. Other than that Honulai was lovely. 01:30:32.678 --> 01:30:34.521 Oh my goodness, 01:30:34.520 --> 01:30:37.795 I know we were all so envious. At any rate, the 01:30:37.807 --> 01:30:40.889 communication grid is a network of networks, 01:30:40.889 --> 01:30:43.263 as we all know, and there are many issues 01:30:43.275 --> 01:30:45.889 that must be considered to ensure resiliency. 01:30:45.889 --> 01:30:49.013 Clearly, backup power is key, but we must 01:30:49.025 --> 01:30:52.459 also consider redundant backhaul connections, 01:30:52.459 --> 01:30:54.784 temporary facilities and whether every cell 01:30:54.796 --> 01:30:57.239 tower mess remain operational to keep service 01:30:57.239 --> 01:31:00.671 available. Which both Commission Rechtschaffen 01:31:00.683 --> 01:31:03.760 and I discussed at the hearing. Reviewing 01:31:03.760 --> 01:31:07.214 these complex issues and hearing from our stakeholders 01:31:07.226 --> 01:31:09.999 is also very crucial. We must also consider 01:31:09.999 --> 01:31:13.705 how we do so with respect for the burden that we 01:31:13.717 --> 01:31:17.360 will be placing as we go forward on ratepayers. 01:31:17.360 --> 01:31:20.821 Well before the next wildfire season starts, 01:31:20.833 --> 01:31:24.460 we must together determined how we view access 01:31:24.460 --> 01:31:28.816 to 911 emergency alerts and emergency response 01:31:28.828 --> 01:31:33.010 communications. I met yesterday with Senator 01:31:33.010 --> 01:31:37.350 Hannah Beth Jackson on these very issues as 01:31:37.362 --> 01:31:42.010 well. Lastly, I want to introduce a new member 01:31:42.010 --> 01:31:44.599 of my staff, and that is Balin Diaz-Torres, 01:31:44.611 --> 01:31:47.271 who recently joined my office. Balin, please 01:31:47.271 --> 01:31:50.771 stand up. She will be based in Sacramento, 01:31:50.783 --> 01:31:54.459 and her first day was Monday. She previously 01:31:54.459 --> 01:31:57.745 worked at the former agency, California 01:31:57.757 --> 01:32:02.409 Transportation Agency, and BT&H, as we called it back 01:32:02.409 --> 01:32:05.577 in the day. And she has held several positions 01:32:05.589 --> 01:32:08.430 within BT&H as well as the transportation 01:32:08.430 --> 01:32:12.449 agency. She has been the assistant to the last 01:32:12.461 --> 01:32:16.749 four Secretaries of Transportation. And a varying 01:32:16.749 --> 01:32:19.775 degree of personalities and experience, I 01:32:19.787 --> 01:32:22.969 might say. She started her career the state 01:32:22.969 --> 01:32:26.620 of California in 1994 as an this office assistant 01:32:26.632 --> 01:32:29.929 with a California Highway Patrol. Balin held 01:32:29.929 --> 01:32:32.732 several positions in the private sector before 01:32:32.744 --> 01:32:35.380 joining the state of California. So I am so 01:32:35.380 --> 01:32:39.990 pleased to be working alongside her. And Molly 01:32:40.002 --> 01:32:44.920 will be transitioning into her full roll, Brahima 01:32:44.920 --> 01:32:48.525 Molly, into her full role at at the Office 01:32:48.537 --> 01:32:52.239 of Commission. But she and Balin and I will 01:32:52.239 --> 01:32:55.021 stay close, shoulder to shoulder, in the next 01:32:55.033 --> 01:32:58.070 couple weeks, few weeks as we do this transition. 01:32:58.070 --> 01:33:10.880 So thank you Balin and thank you, Rahim Amali. That finishes the Commissioners 01:33:10.880 --> 01:33:14.398 report. Thank you, everyone for coming. The 01:33:14.410 --> 01:33:17.780 public meeting is now adjourned. You must 01:33:17.780 --> 01:33:21.909 clear the room for the closed session on legal matters.