Operator: In here is
Southern California Edison Company,
General Rates Case Application on this date
Tuesday, June 30th, 2020.
The assigned judges will now make their announcements.
-: Thank you operator.
We will now be on the record.
The Commission will please come to order.
Good evening.
This is a time and place set
for the Public Participation Hearing
in the General Rate Case Application
of Southern California Edison Company,
Application 19-08-013.
My name is Ehren Seybert
and I'm one of the assigned Administrative Law Judges
to this proceeding.
I'm co-signed with Judge Sophia Park.
who's listening in to today's hearing.
We are also joined by Genevieve Shiroma,
who is the assigned Commissioner for this case.
Commissioner, would you like to make any opening remarks?
-: Yes. Thank you.
Thank you, Judge Seybert and Judge Park.
Good evening everyone, My name is Genevieve Shiroma.
I'm the assigned Commissioner
on the Southern California Edison General Rate Case.
I'd like to take a moment
to first thank our court reporters,
Adores Wyman and Jason Stacey,
who are chronicling our meeting tonight
and making sure that all of your comments are recorded.
I would like to thank our public advisor's office,
Alison Brown and Justin Levine,
our operator and our information technology
and audio visual team,
Robert Stanford and Joe Haga.
Presenting up our first ever
online public participation hearings.
We had one earlier today.
A little background about myself.
I was appointed by Governor Newsom
to the California Public Utilities Commission
in January of 2019.
Prior to my appointment,
I worked for the California Air Resources Board
for 20 years from 1978 to 1999,
working on air quality regulations.
And then I was appointed
to the Agricultural Labor Relations Board
and served there from 1999 to 2019.
And it is the one worker collective bargaining board.
About the same time
I served for 20 years as an elected director
on the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, SMUD.
The electric religious feed provider
for Sephora County from 1999 to 2018.
So it is with all of this path experience,
but in particular, my time at SMUD and at the CPUC
that I will be scrutinizing
Southern California Edison's requested revenue requirements
and making sure that what has been proposed
will lead to just and reasonable rates,
which is required by the statute.
With the economic crisis and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
it is even more important than ever
that we are conscious of increasing rates,
making sure the right capital of projects are being approved
to ensure reliability and wildfire safety.
As people practice physical distancing, teleworking,
and distance learning at home and making sure that programs
are in place to support customers.
I'll look forward to continue my work with our judges,
Judge Park and Judge Seybert
as we build a record in this proceeding
and hearing from you.
The Southern California Edison customers
today, this evening.
Thank you very much.
Judge Seybert: Thank you Commissioner.
I wanna start by acknowledging the pain, grief and hardships
that COVID-19 has imposed throughout
our state, communities and in our daily lives.
Our currently state
and locals shelter at home orders in place
to protect the health and wellbeing of our communities.
Therefore, we are holding these hearings
online and by phone.
While we look forward to the time
when it will be safe to resume public gatherings,
I wanna emphasize that the public engagement
remains more important to the Commission now than ever,
and that we will be paying careful attention
to the feedback provided today.
The basic purpose of today's hearing is to hear directly
from Southern California Edison customers
and members of the public
about this particular application.
I will start by providing some brief background
on the Commission and the General Rate Case
and introduce Ms. Alison Brown
from the Commissions public advisor's office.
We will then hear brief statements
from Southern California Edison
and some of the other parties in this proceeding.
Finally, and most importantly, we will hear from all of you.
For participants that wish to provide public comment today,
I ask that you press star one on your phone now
to alert the operator who will start to queue in
public speakers one at a time.
The Public Utilities Commission is a state agency
that decides how much money
Southern California Edison may earn,
and the actual rates that may be included on your bills
for electric service.
The Public Utilities Commission has five Commissioners
who are appointed by the Governor
and confirmed by the state's Senate.
While Judge Park and I manage
the day-to-day activities of the case,
the five Commissioners are ultimately the ones
who will decide and vote on whether or not
to approve Southern California Edison's request
or some other amounts.
Our job as the judges,
will be to highlight all the evidence in the proceeding
and write a proposed decision
for the five Commissioners to consider.
The five Commissioners will decide
whether to adopt the proposed decision from the judges
or adopt their own alternative decision,
based on the evidence in the proceeding.
It is estimated that the Commission will vote
on the decision towards the beginning of next year.
I will now briefly summarize
Southern California Edison's application.
Last August, Southern California Edison
submitted it's General Rate Case
with asking the Commission for approval
for expected costs for owning and operating the company
for the following years in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Earlier this year, the Commission adopted a decision
which changed the General Rate Case cycle
from a three-year cycle to a four-year cycle.
Therefore, this proceeding will now also consider
Southern California Edison's expected costs
for the year 2024.
A Commission decision on these costs
is anticipated toward the end of 2023.
The expenses included
in Southern California Edison's rate case application
generally cover the poles, wires, meters, employees,
and all the activities needed to deliver electricity
to your home or business.
It also includes proposed expenses
and capital infrastructure
to address wildfire risks related to Edison's equipment.
It is important to note that the costs we are talking about
in this application are just one part
of Southern California Edison's annual operating expenses
that impact customer rates.
Separate from this proceeding,
the Commission authorizes recovery of the cost
that Edison actually incurs
to purchase electricity on the open market.
These costs are directly passed on to consumers
and Edison is not allowed to earn a profit on them.
There was also another proceeding
that was determined how approved costs are distributed
among Southern California Edison's customers.
And this specific rate will be included on customer bills.
This is generally referred to as
the Rate Design Proceeding,
and that application should be filed
in the fall of this year.
Right now though,
we are here to receive comments from the public
regarding Southern California Edison's requests
to increase rates and revenue
by 1.2 billion in January, 2021
and additional increases of 486 million in 2022
and 503 million in 2023.
If approved Southern California Edison's
total revenue requirement
will be approximately 7.55 billion in 2021
or an 18.1% increase over what is currently authorized.
If the request is approved,
the impact on residential customers
will be a monthly increase
of approximately $12 and 71 cents in 2021.
In 2022, the additional monthly increase
will be approximately $5.
And in 2023, the additional monthly increase
will be approximately $6.
We wanna hear what you think about
Southern California Edison's requests.
Comments from the public
can help the Public Utilities Commission
reach an informed decision.
The Commissioners, Judge Park and I
will pay close attention to the opinions expressed
during today's public hearing.
We have a court reporter transcribing today's hearing
who will be taking down
everything that is said on the telephone line.
If you do speak,
we ask that you speak slowly and clearly
so that the reporter is able
to capture everything that is said.
The written transcript of today's hearing
will be available to Judge Park and myself,
the Commissioners,
and posted publicly on the docket card for this proceeding.
In addition to submitting oral comments today,
written comments regarding Edison's application
may also be submitted on a docket card
for this proceeding by going to
www.cpuc.ca.gov\sce2021grcpubliccomments.
As of today, we have received
over 3,200 written public comments.
I would now like to invite Ms. Allison Brown
from the Commissions public advisor office
to provide brief remarks regarding participation
in this proceeding.
Ms. Brown, please proceed.
Alison: Thank you, judge.
Welcome everyone.
My name is Alison Brown
and I'm the public advisor for the Commission.
First, I wanna thank you all for participating today.
As the judge and Commissioner stated,
public participation and input are essential
to the Commissioner's decision making process.
This is your opportunity to be heard,
to share your thoughts on the application
with the Administrative Law Judges and the Commissioner.
If you have questions about the application or your service,
instead of a comment,
please reach out to the public advisor's office at
public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov
or visit the California Public Utilities Commission website
or the Southern California Edison website
for more information.
Second, if you or anyone else
is not able to make a comment today,
or if after hearing comments from others,
you think of something you wanna share with us.
There are several ways to become involved.
If you wish to find more information on becoming a party
subscribe into this proceeding so that you receive emails
of any documents that are filed
or submitting comments by email,
the phone or the docket card, as the judge just described.
Please go to our website,
cpuc.ca.gov or email the public advisor.
Again, that email is public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
All of the contact information is also available
on the notice that you received
for this public participation hearing.
Thank you and we look forward to your comments today.
-: Thank you, Ms. Brown.
We will now hear from some of the parties
in this proceeding, starting with a representative
from Southern California Edison
and followed by the Public Advocate's Office
and the Utility Reform Network.
I ask that each of the party representatives
start by spelling your name for the record.
Mr. Snow, you may proceed.
Snow: Thank you. And good evening.
My name is Doug Snow, D-O-U-G S-N-O-W.
I wanna thank Judge Seybert
and Judge Park and Commissioner Shiroma.
And also thank everyone for taking time
out of your busy schedules and participating
in this very important public participation hearing today.
Again, my name is Doug Snow
and I'm the director of the General Rate Case
for Southern California Edison.
It is a privilege to be here and learn from you
and listen to your input
and any potential concerns you have
regarding our 2021 General Rate Case.
Edison recognizes this proceeding is taking place.
during unprecedented times.
We understand that many of our customers and communities
are facing hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic
and may need help with their electric bill.
But as the SCE already put into place,
important customer protections to address those issues.
If you need more information on these customer protections,
please go to sce.com/billhelp
for information on money saving programs and tools.
In addition on the line today we've also Mr. Jerry Aguilar
from our customer service division.
Turning back to this proceeding,
we are currently in the middle
of what we refer to as the discovery period,
where all parties to the proceeding,
are learning more about our funding proposal.
Most recently, we have heard from the consumer advocates
and they have provided their counterproposals
for reductions to our requests.
Beginning June 6th,
there will be events evidentiary hearing
so that the Commission can continue
to build this official record of our requests.
You know, it's easy to get caught up in process,
but at the end of the day,
the General Rate Case is about
funding projects, programs, and people
to provide you service in a safe and reliable way
and improve that service continuously.
Our request for funding in this case
covers the work that company needs to do
in 2021 through 2024 for SCE workers
to inspect, repair and when appropriate
upgrade poles, transformers, distribution lines,
as well as provide customer service for billing,
service turn on, turn off and other work.
The cost we are requesting...
That we were requesting pay for the salaries
of about 12,000 employees and over 8,000 contractors
who perform all this work, live in your communities
and often SCE customers themselves.
In this General Rate Case,
our requests mostly include funding
for improving three things.
One, safety.
The safety of our customers and communities we serve
as well as the safety of our workers
is the most important thing.
We have undertaken and are proposing
to continue significant efforts
to mitigate the risk of wildfire associated
with our equipment,
considering more extreme environmental conditions
and accelerating customer expansion
into wildfire urban interface.
Making the grid safe for those who live and work near it
and for our employees who work on it.
In addition, keeping the grid safe
from physical or cyber attack
and keeping the public informed
on how to stay safe around our equipment
and electricity in general.
Number two, reliability.
The residents and businesses in our communities
depend on electricity.
We have to replace old equipment, upgrade our system
to avoid outages and prepare
for more clean and distributed energy resources
in the state.
When we can not avoid outages,
we want to be able to bring the power back on quickly
and give you as much information along the way
to minimize the disruption to you.
Number three, customer interaction.
We wanna make it easy for you
to communicate with us and vice versa.
Whether it is about bills, service changes,
new solar panels you want to install,
new programs to save electricity or anything else.
We acknowledge that the increase we are requesting
is larger than what we have thought in the recent past,
but we believe we have struck a proper balance
seeking authorization
for time-sensitive public safety measures
and doing what we can to reprioritize or scale back
other initiatives that we will leave
for future General Rate Cases.
The General Rate Case is planning for the future.
As I mentioned, the 2021 to 2024.
We have to have adequate funding
and make necessary investments
to continue to provide 15 million Californians
with safe, reliable, clean, and affordable electricity.
Those commitments are granted in state law
and something that we take very seriously.
Ultimately, the Commission will decide
the appropriate level of funding
after a thorough and rigorous legal process,
that includes all stakeholders with different viewpoints,
including prominent consumer advocacy groups.
Although our core mission
of providing safe, reliable, clean
and affordable electricity to our customers has not changed
the company submit this GRC request
and an extraordinarily important juncture
for the state and for our customers.
So that brings us to paying for the work, your bill.
We are very mindful of the impact
of these costs on your bills.
And we were working every day to find ways of reducing costs
so that some of this work can be done
without increasing your bill.
Our current forecast for this proceeding
will increase the average residential bill
by about $13 per month
for non-income qualified customers in 21.
The increase would be additional $5 in 2022 and $6 in 2023.
For about a third of our residents or customers
who qualify for the CARE rate
available for lower-income customers,
the increase would be about 30% lower.
I realize for many of you, this is impactful,
but we believe the work we are proposing
strikes a prudent balance
between the essential services we provide to you
and what it costs to provide those services.
We realize any increase in bills can be challenging,
and we have several programs, tips and tools
to help reduce bill impacts that may come in handy.
So please visit sce.com/billhelp
for more information on these resources.
Once again, thank you for attending
and I look forward to hearing your comments and feedback.
-: Thank you.
Mr. Burns are you ready to make a statement
on behalf of public advocate.
Burns: Thank you, your honor.
Truman Burns, T-R-U-M-A-N B-U-R-N-S.
Good evening, your honors,
Commissioner Shiroma and members of the public.
I am Truman Burns, project coordinator
for the Public Advocate's Offices
response to SCE's 2021 General Rate Case.
The Public Advocate's Office
is the Independent Consumer Advocate
at the California Public Utilities Commission.
Public Advocate's Office represents
interest in public utility customers
with the goal of obtaining
the lowest possible rates for service
consistent with safe, reliable service levels
and the state's environmental goals.
Our office spent seven months reviewing and valuating
SCE proposal before preparing our recommendations,
which we presented in written testimony on April 10th, 2020.
Based on our review and our own forecast
of how much revenue SCE should we authorize,
we found it solve SCE's forecast of its costs et cetera.
For 2021, we were recommending
that the Commission reduce SCE's requested increase
of about $1.1 billion by more than half,
which would be a $618 million deduction.
For 2022, we recommend a reduction of $180 million
to Edison's requested increase of 423 million.
And for 2023, we recommend a reduction of $263 million
to SCE's requested increase of 513 million.
In addition, based on the severe impacts
customers are experiencing due to the recent
economic downturn associated with COVID-19 pandemic,
the Public Advocate's Office
proposed a reduction of 125 million
to SCE's 2020 capital expenditure budget.
Thank you. And we look forward to all the comments.
-: Thank you.
Ms. Slider Pierre,
are you ready to make a statement
on behalf of Utility Reform Network?
Constance: I am. And thank you.
Good afternoon, my name is Constance Slider Pierre
C-O-N-S-T-A-N-C-E S-L-I-D-E-R P-I-E-R-R-E.
I am the organizing director for TURN
The Utility Reform Network.
TURN is a consumer advocacy organization
that has been challenging corporate greed
and winning consumer protection for over 40 years.
I would like to first take a moment
to thank Administrative Law Judges, Park and Syebert,
as well as Commissioner Shiroma
for the opportunity to say a few words,
to welcome members of the public.
And to all who've joined the call
to provide comments to bear witness, I thank you.
I do not have to tell any of you
that we are in unprecedented time.
The extreme circumstances of a global pandemic
have skyrocketed unemployment numbers
to over 16% in California.
And according to the USC study published last month,
one in seven California workers have filed for unemployment
and in LA County specifically,
only 45% of residents report holding a job.
Global protest after the murder of George Floyd
usher in a new day,
when all of us are called to examine
and act with deeper awareness
of how our actions and decisions will impact people.
The public outcry is clear and will require all of us
to live out loud and dig deeper
to seek fair, equitable, and just treatment
for all of our people.
TURN stand strong in its belief
that electricity along with food, shelter and water
are basic necessities and a human rights.
We strongly believe
that any approved rate increase at this time
is unacceptable and would further cripple
the resilient and aspiring families
who are struggling now more than ever.
This request is neither balanced or prudent.
Today's hearing serve as an opportunity
to ensure that the lived experiences of our community
are heard and accounted for
when our public servants deliberate
and make decisions that affect our daily lives.
SCE's latest proposal will increase
residential customers bills annually
from 2020 through 2023.
If approved, this increase would be the largest
single-rate increase any utility
to have been granted by the CPUC.
This rate increase would stick SCE customers
with the bill for $600 million in insurance premium
to protect shareholders from fires caused by SCE equipment.
It would raise your monthly bill by $43
or an average of $500 annually.
And results in SCE customers paying 40% more for energy
while shareholders reaping
a whopping 1.5 billion in profits.
Translating these increases to working hours
and in the gig economy,
minimum wage earners would have to work
between six and eight additional hours each month
to pay for the same number of kilowatt hours,
roughly an additional day of shift work.
During your testimony today,
I encourage all of you to use your time
to reflect on your experience as a SCE customer.
Tell the Commission how current energy costs affect you,
what trade-offs you have been forced to make,
what measures you have had to take to reduce costs
and conserve energy.
And what additional trade-offs you may be forced to make,
if you are required to pay
an additional $43 per month for energy.
Finally, if you haven't already signed up to speak,
please consider doing so.
I hope our statement has provided some context
and inspiration to you so that you can lift up your voice
and be heard today.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
We would now like to hear from members of the public.
If you wanna speak and has not already done so,
I invite you to press star one on your phone now,
and the operator will add you to the queue of speakers.
Each speaker will be provided three minutes
to provide comments
and a chime will be sounded when the three minutes is up.
A reminder to all public speakers
to please start by spelling
your first and last name for the record.
And to ensure that we have a clean record,
speak slowly and clearly,
and try to refrain from speaking on a speaker phone.
With that, operator I ask that you please
call on the first speaker in the queue.
Operator: There are no questions in queue at this time.
Again, if you would like to ask a question,
please press star one
along with spelling your first and last name.
-: Judge Park, I'd like to give it a few more moments
to allow the general public to please press star one
if you would like to provide comments.
Operator, double checking.
Has there anybody?
Is there anybody in the queue? Operator: No.
Not at the moment.
-: Okay.
Operator: If you'd like make a comment,
please press star one.
I will give it a couple of minutes, please.
Man: Your honor I'd like to say a few things,
reporter this is off the record,
while we wait for public comment.
-: Yes. Off the record.
Man: Thank you.
-: Operator, just checking in.
Do you have any speakers in queue?
Operator: Yes. We have a comment from Latashin Riles.
-: Okay let's- Operator: Your line's open.
-: Let's go back on the record.
Operator would you please let in the first speaker.
Operator: Latashin Riles your line's open.
Latashin: Okay. Thank you so much.
Thank you everyone for your time
and thank you for the opportunity to be able to speak.
-: I apologize for interrupting,
but will you please spell your name for the record?
Latashin: Sure, absolutely. Thank you.
It's L-A-T-A-S-H-I-N, last name, Riles, R-I-L-E-S as in Sam.
-: Thank you.
Latashin: Again, thank you so very much
for taking the time to hear our comments.
And I was hoping there will be a lot more people on as well,
but I don't speak for everyone,
but a little bit about about me.
I am a single parent and have one person income.
I make about $16 an hour,
not including any overtime or anything like that.
We talked about numbers and my ultimate goal
is to reduce my monthly expenses
so that I can afford things like
for my household, other things except for bills.
And it seems like all we do is work for bills,
especially if you're under a certain annual amount a year.
But these increases are going to be impactful
to my home personally, because again,
especially with this whole COVID-19 thing going on,
I have been fortunate to have my job still,
but business has slowed down for my company in general.
So the overtime that I rely on, I don't have.
And moving forward,
no one can say how long we're gonna be in this pandemic.
So, and any increase is detrimental to my household,
whether it is $5 or $34 a month.
My ultimate goal is to like I said,
get these bills reduced as much as possible
because I'm barely making ends meet.
So, ideally it will impact my family negatively,
whether that be, cutting down on grocery expenses
or the other little amenities,
like my candles that I like to buy
and something so small.
Doesn't seem big, but when you're barely making it work.
As it is every dollar counts.
And I do apologize for me getting a little emotional,
but it's not a good time for families.
And again, I don't speak for everybody
just for my household and I'm a person
who isn't on any type of government assistance.
So it's really sad to know
that you're barely making it as it is.
And you have to find a way to make ends meet
and you need electricity.
And my son's home from school.
So AC it has to be... It's running a little more.
So I have to figure out
and insert that into my expenses now.
So I'm sorry.
(clears throat)
I just really wish that maybe if this is something
that has to happen maybe it come at a more ideal time.
It's just not...
It won't be fair to random everyday people
such as ourselves who need electricity to survive.
But we also need other things
like food and clothes and shoes for your kids.
And we shouldn't have to be in a position
where we have to kinda choose or...
Choose what bill we're gonna have to push back
or not pay in full because of a necessity.
But I guess that's it.
Thank you very much for your time
and allowing me to speak today.
-: Thank you for your comments Ms.Riles.
Operator, will you please
call on the next speaker in the queue.
And also as a general reminder to the speakers,
please spell your first and last name
before you provide comments. Thank you.
Operator: If you would like to ask a question,
please press star one,
along with spelling your first and last name.
Our next comment comes from Dr. Pura Cordero.
Your line is open.
Dr. Pura: Thank you. And can you hear me?
Hello. -: Thank you.
Dr. Pura: Are you able to hear me?
-: Yes. We hear you, thank you.
Dr. Pura: Fabulous, okay. My first name is Pura.
P as in Paul, U-R-A.
Last name is Cordero, C-O-R-D-E-R-O.
And I live in the Central Valley of California.
I'm from a transplant from West Los Angeles
and the director of the legal studies program
here at the university college.
I'm calling on behalf of a community.
Not that they have me as their speaker representative,
but a community that has been grossly underserved
and underrepresented for a very long time.
We have a lot of farm labor.
Agriculture is one of our biggest industries.
And when Mr. Snow was speaking,
I completely respect his points.
We know that it's quite critical
and important to the community to have utilities.
But part of the three-tier discussion that he presented
safety, reliability, and interaction with customers,
that is part of doing business.
When you're looking at that minute amount,
that he considers to be $12 to the households
and that means the people who are not on CARE
are qualified for any of the reductions
that is $12 for, I believe
that SCE has over 15 million customers.
This is a crippling amount of money for families
who have nothing and a huge profit and windfall of SCE.
So I am only again, brief comment about that.
(clears throat)
Excuse me. I, myself am suffering
from a little bit of allergies.
And I just want to state
that this would be a gross injustice at this time
to allow this particular increase to people
who are as the young lady who spoke prior to me
who are living paycheck to paycheck, day to day.
So I'm hoping that you look at this critically,
and realize that even though Mr. Snow is doing his job,
it's not about profiteering at this point.
It's about humanity and taking care
of those who have something.
Thank you for your time.
-: Thank you Dr. Pura.
Operator will you please queue in the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Viky Avakian.
Your line is open.
Viky: Hi, can you hear me
-: Yes.
Viky: Hello, can you hear me?
-: Yes. We hear you.
My name is Viky, V-I-K-Y.
Last name is Avakian, A-V-A-K-I-A-N.
And I do thank everybody for giving us
this opportunity to speak.
I do have some concerns about the amount of money
that SCE is trying to raise the rate
but it is very hard now, during this time.
It seems that everybody's raising their rates
because we're not making, we're not meeting the goals.
Companies are not meeting the goals.
And when there is a potential layoff
that we are trying to stay above,
it makes it very hard for us to meet
SCE recommended rate raises.
I do use... I do my laundry after six o'clock.
I do them over the weekend.
I try to turn off every other electricity,
pull every plug so that my rate doesn't go up too high.
I think my next way of living is gonna be by candlelight.
And it seems that that's where we're going,
because SCE keeps raising rates all the time,
and this is way too much rate for anybody to have.
So that's my comment.
And thank you.
It is gonna be very hard for everybody
to meet that goal for SCE.
And I do appreciate it for SCE customer service,
and I know you wanna pay your employee salaries,
but at the end of the day,
are you gonna be able to help me
pay off my monthly loan on my house?
That's the question for SCE,
are you gonna help us out when we need it?
Thank you again.
-: Thank you, Ms. Avakian.
Operator, will you please call him the next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment comes from James Turner.
Your line is open.
-: Hello. My name is James Turner,
J-A-M-E-S T-U-R-N-E-R.
(clears throat)
Excuse me.
I hope you can hear me because
I am suffering from Parkinson's
and it's affected my vocal chords.
But I'm retired and I have a fixed income.
And if I heard you enough and correctly,
the first bump and raise is gonna
create a 1.2 billion increased high income for SCE,
which is a staggering number.
And I simply suggest that if
you try to roll this out over four to three years
or four years.
Don't try to make it whole in the first year,
especially the time when people have uncertain surroundings,
uncertain incomes.
But instead of such a huge increase,
18% the first time, first year
add only 12% or so,
second, third, and fourth year.
When I was a little more evenly distributed,
especially second guessing what their needs will be
further down the line.
It seems to me, you're trying to,
at one point to increase initially,
and you're trying to create a pedal
that will give you a good night's sleep.
Because what happens in the future.
And I recognize you
can't go back to the Commission every year,
but over prudence on your part would be helpful to everybody
at this time.
Thank you for your time
and your consideration for my remarks.
I hope I spoke loud enough for everybody to hear.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. Turner.
Operator, when you please call on the next speaker,
and also just as a general reminder,
please start by spelling your first and last name.
And if you wouldn't mind giving your city location
for our record, that would also be helpful.
Thank you.
Operator: If you like to make a comment,
please press star one,
along with spelling your first and last name,
along with your city and location.
Our next question comes from Berah Taylor.
Your line is open.
Berah: Good afternoon,
and thank you for taking public comment.
I wish to thank everybody involved.
My name is Berah Taylor.
That's B-E-R-A-H, Taylor, T-A-Y-L-O-R.
And I live in Lake Forest, California.
My house rate is far from this rate increase
this several times, the rate of inflation.
And I doubt I'm going to be commensurate
increase in my salary
is that we're gonna have to reduce the electricity usage.
And common sense would tell me that most people do this.
And SCE is not gonna realize
an income increase from it.
They're just gonna realize the deduction
and the sale of their product.
The second fact I have is that electricity
really is the basic need in our society.
And if SCE is going to require rate increases
of this magnitude and especially in times like this,
then maybe the public would be better served
if SCE was made instead of a private company
that maybe it was publicized
and taken over by the government
and run by the people and for the people.
And we could take the shareholders
and then the profit demands that they're plaintiff owners
out of the equation.
And then maybe we could help people
with supplying the space they need.
Again, thank you for listening to me
and I appreciate the time.
-: Thank you, Mr. Taylor.
Operator, will you please call on the next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment comes from Jerry Miller,
Orange County, California.
Your line is open.
Jerry: My name is Jerry Miller,
J-E-R-R-Y, M-I-L-L-E-R.
I live in Orange, California.
I just got off of three-months layoff
and to go back to work, I had to take a 25% cut in pay.
And already monitoring my electricity,
Get your flyers (indistinct)
more efficient and most efficient.
Court Reporter: Excuse me Judge,
This is the court reporter,
I need to off the record.
-: Let's go off the record.
Court Reporter: I'm having trouble
understanding this speaker.
I'm not sure what is happening,
but the voice is going in and out.
So I can't hear everything.
-: Okay. Sorry, Mr. Miller,
can I ask you to try and speak directly
into the voice piece of the phone?
Jerry: Yes, you can.
Thank you.
-: Okay. Sorry I know the remote hearing
to begin with is a little challenging,
so I appreciate your patience.
Let's go back on the record.
Jerry: Okay.
Well, I live in Orange, California,
and I just got off the three-month layoff.
And to go back to work,
I had to take a 22.5% cut in pay.
The COVID-19 really hurt the company and for survival,
you need to now cut needs
and this rating condition is going to hurt me.
And I'm already almost in the top.
Especially when you got your bills.
I'm 30% more efficient than most efficient neighbors.
And so to cut more electricity to say,
it's going to be difficult.
And the rate increase is really going to hurt.
I'm already hurt me with the pay cut
and gas prices are going to go up.
And this is gonna be really hard for the people here.
I just that's it, I guess.
Thank you for your time.
-: Thank you Mr. Miller.
Operator, please call our next speaker
and just a general reminder for all the speakers.
Please spell your first and last name and provide your city.
Thank you.
Operator: If you would like to make a comment,
please press star one,
along with spelling your first and last name,
as well as your city and location.
Our next question comes from Josephine Williams.
Your line is open.
Josephine: Josephine Williams,
J-O-S-E-P-H-I-N-E,
W-I-L-L-I-A-M-S,
Rancho Cucamonga.
I'm simply appalled that SCE would dare ask
for such more large increases in times such as these.
I just always wonder, besides just asking for increases,
does SCE ever look outside the box?
And come up with different ways to increase their income.
People are suffering severely especially in these times,
and it is incredible that they would ask
for such a large increase.
It's just not possible.
And I hope that Edison will look outside
the box for other ways,
rather than having people to struggle even more.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Ms. Williams.
Operator, please call on the next speaker.
Operator: Next comment comes from James Jackson.
Your line is open.
James: Yes, this is James Jackson,
That J-A-M-E-S, Jackson, J-A-C-K-S-O-N.
Palmdale, California.
My concern I have on your increases rate is
we're listening to a lot of people
that barely are making ends meet,
but what I looked at the executive salaries of SCE.
I see all of them raise around about a million dollars each.
I don't think they're feeling the pinch
that a lot of us do when it comes to this.
Also, when you compare our prices to that other states,
we are we're the sixth most expensive state
in the whole United States the cost of electricity.
There's definitely a problem there.
I think that someone needs to really look into the reasoning
why we have to charge so much more as a state
for our electricity as compared to other states
throughout the country.
There's a lot of reasons here as to why we're saying,
why do we need another rate increase?
When it seems to me there's plenty of money
being made out there right now.
And there's a lot of money that SCE...
that Edison is making right now.
So I think this is not...
And with all of the issues that are going on right now,
I think that the people you're hearing from
think it's very important to consider the fact that,
well, why do we really need this much extra money?
And why should we have to be the ones
carrying such a high burden,
even compared to the rest of the nation too?
It's kind of concerning, very concerning there on that.
I think in a lot of ways,
you should looked at ways that we can do better
at our electric costs.
I mean, if other states can do it for half our cost,
what's the issue there?
Why can't we find out why you can't do better
and even reduce our rates.
So those are my concerns and my comments
based upon what I see Edison...
The approach to the way they're doing things.
It just doesn't make a lot of sense,
especially at a time right now
when everybody's going through so much struggle and trouble.
So, I mean that's my comment.
Thank you for hearing me, bye.
-: Thank you Mr. Jackson.
Operator, please call in the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Gavin ward.
Your line is open.
Gavin: Good evening.
If someone could just reply to let me know that I'm heard.
-: You're coming through. Thank you.
Gavin: Great. Thank you.
I'm Gavin Ward, G-A-V-I-N, W-A-R-D, Temple City.
I Just want to acknowledge that folks have invested.
And So Cal Edison, their investors who put down their money
to build this great service of electricity.
And I wanna acknowledge, I appreciate that
and understand as a part of taking on that risk
of spending your own money to build the company,
there has to be a return on investment.
And I acknowledge that I respect it.
And as a rate payer myself,
I'm okay with Southern California Edison making a profit
because people have taken on risk to build this company.
My concern is more on the solar side.
I just installed solar on my home.
And based on previous rate models,
I was looking at saving significant money.
Unfortunately, So Cal Edison in the revenue shortage,
as more people turn to solar and generate or use
So Cal Edison electricity less.
In a way to generate additional revenue
there are signs of mandatory fees
on folks who may use net zero electricity.
And I understand you need
to find additional revenue streams.
My ask to the State of California is that
that is made very clear on our bills
as to the why behind mandatory fees,
including one city in California,
that I read has a $65 minimum charges
in the rural part of California.
I don't know if that's true or not,
but that's my ask to the state
is that they make our bills very clear
and including us, solar customers
who have invested in a product
that may not yield to savings in future rate models.
So that's my request to the state and to the judges
that whatever deal you guys come up with,
you make the bills very clear
and perhaps on the electric version of the bill,
a clickable option to really understand
what each line item is our bills.
Thank you guys for listening.
Thank you for the service that So Cal Edison provides.
-: Thank you, Mr. Ward.
A general reminder that I will continue to repeat
speakers, please spell your first and last name
when joining in indicate the city you calling from.
Operator, please call on the next question.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Sheila Goldberg
our next comment comes from Sheila Goldberg.
Your line is open.
-: Ms. Goldberg, are you there?
Operator: Our next comment comes from Jeanelle Harris.
Your line is open.
Jeanelle: Yes. Hi, this is Jeanelle Harris.
My name is spelled Jeanelle,
J-E-A-N-E-L-L, Harris, H-A-R-R-I-S.
I hope then that I am being heard.
I will move on assuming that.
I speak on behalf of unfortunately the retired,
I won't say unfortunate, but the retired
and in many cases, some of us are on fixed incomes
and this epidemic has affected us and many others
in an enormous way.
I am totally in agreement with Mrs. Riles
and as well as Mr. Williams and many others,
who've spoken before.
As well as the last gentleman just spoke about
how then can SCE help us help them
in thinking outside the box in other ways, too.
Some companies have gone outside of the box
and thinking of the ways,
how they can save money, be creative.
They come in other ways
that they can find other means to...
I understand they need revenues
in order to continue to work.
But at this particular time,
we all need to think outside of the box.
How then can we get through this epidemic
without causing additional hurt to those people
who are on fixed income?
And as a young man that was spoke, he's lost 21%.
I believe that his income having to go back to work
and he's not alone, there are many peoples.
We're...
this is an extraordinary, difficult time,
never before have we ever experienced such things.
And then to consider raising the cost of our electricity,
which we all need, so vital to everyone.
I just think we need to stop and pause a minute.
We'll dealing with human beings on the end of this need,
who needs this stuff.
This is what we need in order to live.
And they're human beings.
This is it just not numbers they're people,
families on the end of it.
How then can we help?
On a district we need to reconsider that.
And I that's my take on that.
And I was working part time and due to...
And had to do that being retired and on a limited income.
And that part time job was taken away
due to the coronavirus.
It was affected extremely so now it's even more difficult.
And the requirements you have to live on every day,
the food and your electric bill and your water bill
and all those things still come.
But an increase is already difficult to not,
but an increase is totally unmanageable.
So I hope and plead that they will reconsider to do that.
And that's my take on that and I appreciate your time.
Thank you.
-: Thank you Ms.Harris.
Operator, please call on the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Joyce Cathcart.
Your line is open.
Joyce: Hello. My name is Joyce Cathcart
it's spelled J-O-Y-C-E, C-A-T-H-C-A-R-T.
And I am a third-year resident of Newport Beach.
I'm in the real estate industry.
And obviously everyone knows
how that's affecting our income
pretty substantially for a long time.
Totally all this year and part of last year actually.
I don't have any air conditioning,
so I don't use a lot of utilities,
but my bills keep going up.
And I like Mr. Jackson's comment and suggestion
of checking with other states
that are less expensive than we are.
If we're the...
We're the most expensive state
that I know of to live in for many things,
gas prices and taxes and groceries.
For us to be the highest price
or within the sixth highest price of electricity
and then have increases.
It doesn't make any sense to me.
I like his idea of comparing with other states
is to what their success cases.
What are they doing that we're not doing?
And analyze that and for safety.
I think safety is the most important thing
of all the three increments that was mentioned.
But I think that there must be other ways
that we can achieve that and accomplish
that other sources of revenue.
Are we getting any revenue from the federal government?
So I appreciate the opportunity to talk.
I think this increase amount is very high.
It's almost ludicrous and I'm still not clear
as to what exactly is gonna do about...
What this is gonna do for our safety
and in our customer interaction, what does that mean?
It doesn't mean a lot to me,
but it would if it... If you were to say that
it would mean that instead of waiting online for 20 minutes,
or my bills would be clear,
or the calls would be answered quickly.
I just had a tethered outing from four o'clock
till 12 o'clock at night.
And one of the crews came out
and they said, we don't know what it is.
We think it might be the switch.
So I asked her, are you gonna fix it?
And they said, "Well no, because the fix that crew,
we just in here checking out what it is."
So we think they'll come out pretty soon.
Well, they did pretty soon,
but the equipment seems to be fairly new
and they keep replacing things.
So I'm not satisfied
that we're doing the best job we can with what we have now.
I'd like to have more appreciation for that.
And I appreciate all everyone's comments.
I agree with most everyone.
And thank you for letting me speak.
-: Thank you Ms. Cathcart.
Operator, please call on our next speaker.
Operator: Okay. As a reminder,
if you would like to make a comment,
please press star one,
along with spelling your first and last name,
as well as your city and location.
Our next question comment comes from Anna Devera.
Your line is open.
Ana: Yes. Hi, I'm sorry.
This is Ana Ribera, A-N-A, D-E-V-E-R-A.
And I live in Hoopa Valley, California.
And like what most people said,
this is not the best time since the pandemic.
And most of the jobs are getting furloughed
or having minimal minimum time to work.
And in my case, I have already a solar panel,
but it still doesn't help because everything...
I still have a high accumulation of electricity.
Due to the pandemic we have to work from home
and my kids have to do a distance learning.
So I hope you guys take a consideration,
not to do the increase at this time.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Ms.Devera.
Operator, please call him the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Shavanda Christmas.
Your line is open.
Shavanda: Hello, this is Shavanda Christmas.
S-H-A-V. Victor O-N Nancy D, David A.
Last name Christmas, just like the holiday.
C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S.
So thanks for allowing me to speak.
I do agree with many of the other speakers,
but I comes from a different perspective.
I'm fully employed, I have regular bills,
I could afford to pay the fee,
the additional fee that's added.
However, I do think that it is non redundant
to continue to ask those who you serve
to increase the amount and they're paying
for the same level of service.
You mentioned that this might with increase the service,
but it really does not.
We still have long delays on phone calls
and we need response.
We still have wait times that exceed
what is quite and quite normal or necessary
for fixes things that need to be repaired
or things that need to be just assessed
before it gets repaired.
As one of the speakers just noted.
It would be very considerate that you would
at least consider the proportion,
a proportional approach to folks
who can afford to pay more do so.
And those who cannot, to pay less.
I understand that there are plans,
but those plans are not adequate
when you're talking about
increasing it every single year.
And sometimes it seems more than once a year
that notices come indicating
that there are additional increases to your movie,
to your SCE bill.
Please consider people who are really
just making life work,
consider people who are really
not able to continue to escalate their bill payment
because you are not the only utility out there.
There are many other utilities
and everyone is asking for their piece of the pie.
That said, I think it's very important
that we all look at why are we using this much energy?
Why is this the case,
when we're supposed to be meeting
various goals and objectives,
and we should not be using as much as we have in the past.
And yet the total amount on the bill never goes down.
So if we're not using as much energy,
then why is the cost of the energy
still sky rise rocketing and accept
that you are increasing the amount that it costs per unit.
So that's pretty much it.
I really urgently ask you to reconsider
and hear the voices of the people who have spoken
and consider people who haven't spoken,
because they don't necessarily
know to get to a line like this
and to present their opinions.
But please do consider other than yourselves.
And other than those who you've heard,
commend you for doing what has typically been done
and do it differently.
We're looking at systemic racism.
This is a way that you can contribute
to eliminating systemic racism
by contributing to households that have less
instead of taking away from.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Ms. Christmas.
A general reminder to all the speakers.
Please start by spelling your first and last name
and indicate the city you are calling from.
Operator, please call on our next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Kirg Hulley.
Your line is open.
Kirg: So yes, my name is Kirg Hulley.
It's spelled K-I-R-G.
And then last name is Hulley, H-U-L-L-E-Y.
And just like everyone else,
I am a single mom with a child that has special needs
and even listening to the other comments
and everything like that,
I have to charge my cell phone to wait my turn.
So I'm so using electricity that way.
If there is an increase with that,
with my electricity,
it will take away from even like his care
or even his food that he has to eat that special for
(clears throat)
excuse me.
For his visibility also because of the coronavirus as well.
My job has also decreased,
whereas I was getting a nice income before,
and then now it's decreased at least by 15%.
I also commute so even just $12 or $5,
that would cause my gas for me to drive to work,
to not be able to pay for things such as that.
I urge you guys to please at this time of everybody needs
to not increase it.
Maybe just like one other person said,
to go across and do it slowly.
Some of us had to come up with triple the rent by June
which was totally impossible
when you've been laid off for that time being.
I'm a resident of Temecula,
I'm sorry I forgot to say that,
California and I commute all the way to Oceanside.
That's all I have for right now.
And thank you for hearing my comments.
-: Thank you Ms. Hulley.
Operator, please call in our next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Wayne Shishi.
Your line is open.
Wayne: Hi, my name's Wayne Shishido.
It's W-A-Y-N-E last name spelled S-H-I-S-H-I-D-O.
I'm in Westminster, California.
I've been laid off and I'm also taking care of my mom.
It's been pretty rough
and I think cutting back on everything.
And every time I cut back on
whatever utilities on any kind of bill,
it seems like the bills keep on going up.
And I basically cut as much as I can.
And when I saw this, I was just shocked.
It's just such a big increase
and you're planning to do it through three years.
It's expensive enough to live in California
and the increases are just keep on happening from everybody.
I think you really need to look at this,
especially, with what's going on with coronavirus right now,
a lot of people have lost their jobs.
It's hard enough to make ends meet as it is.
And just I think it's just wrong to increase,
especially at this time.
And it's rough as it is with the fixed income.
And I appreciate you letting me speak at this time.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. Shishido.
Operator will you please cal the next speaker?
Operator: Yes. As a reminder,
if you would like to make a comment,
please press star one
along with spelling your first and last name,
as well as your city and location.
Our next comment comes from Savan Morales.
Your line is open.
Fabian: Is this Savan or Fabian?
Operator: Fabian, I'm sorry.
Fabian: Okay that's me. That's okay.
Now, I was not going to speak,
but I feel as if I need to,
and more people should take the opportunity to speak
while we have the chance to do so.
Now Ms. Pierre, at the beginning of the meeting,
I believe hit the nail right on the head
when she spoke on the topic of corporate greed.
I lived in Florida and work from home Hemet,
see all day and night,
and my bills never came close
to what I'm being charged here in California.
Rates have gone up regularly
in the past five and a half years
I have been back in California.
And it's obviously continue to do so.
I've been in the automotive aftermarket
for the past 20 years.
And I was released from unemployment
due to the impact of the coronavirus.
I'm going on four months now.
I have not been able to find a job
for the first time in my life.
I mean, I've been working since I was 17.
I've never gone through anything like this.
And the jobs that we have in sales, in the aftermarket,
there were people with 35 years with the company.
I mean, they were just kicked to the curb.
Those jobs will never come back.
So, I've got two kids at home,
they've suffered a lot with everything going on
with the electric rates.
I can't run air conditioning.
I mean, my air conditioner is like $150,
which is a lot of you it's that's probably not a lot.
I mean, there's people probably paying three or $400,
but at the end of the month,
that's really an impact in prices have really gone up.
No matter how much I try to reduce my electricity
it just seems like I'm paying the same amount,
you know, and I mean I've gone as far
as to try to reach out to electric company
and try to figure out who's reading the meter.
I mean, why are my bills remaining the same
when I'm using like a quarter of the electricity
I was using when I first moved back to California.
And, you know people are suffering right now
with the increases and people on a fixed income.
And I probably won't be able to find a job
for another two or three months.
And the job that I do find will probably pay me
less than half of what I made with my company.
So, go use the Florida electric companies model
business model and figure out
how it is that we can do what they're doing.
Because I was paying not even less than a quarter,
what I be out here in California
and I hardly ever use any electricity.
So like I said, I wasn't gonna take a moment to speak today,
but I felt like I had to,
when I see so many people suffering out there
and I just wanted to speak a little bit
and let you know what I've been going through.
But basically that's it for me.
Just people are suffering and these increases,
like I said fixed incomes.
These people are going to suffer more
and it's just corporate greed.
That's all it is.
And that's it for me.
I thank you for the opportunity to speak.
-: Thank you, Mr. Morales.
Would you mind spelling your first and last name
for our court reporters?
It's F-A-B-I-A-N, M-O-R-A-L-E-S.
And I live in Hemet. -: Okay.
Thank you. A general reminder for all the speakers,
please spell your first and last name
and indicates the city you are calling from.
Operator, will you please call on our next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment come from Janet Chu.
Your line is open.
Janet: Oh, hi. Can you hear me?
Hi. Can you hear me?
-: Yes. We hear you.
Janet: Oh, hi.
I'm Janet Chu. J-A-N-E-T, last name C-H-U.
And I would just like to thank you all
for giving us the opportunity to speak
and giving the public are opportunities
to let you know what we thinking about this.
I agree with everybody who has spoken so far,
I think this is just a really bad time
to increase rates for everybody,
especially right now with so many people losing their jobs.
People who have to work from home
and using a lot more electricity than they normally would.
It's just such a big increase for the first year, like $12.
Even though it doesn't sound like a lot per month,
if you add it up for the year, it's a lot.
And I agree with the person who said that the executives,
why not look at why not look at the executives
and see how much money they're making
compared to the money
that SCE is asking all of the customers to pay.
And if they're high salaries,
if they really cared then
why not look at their incomes and decrease a little bit.
Maybe they get paid a little bit less,
but then everybody else doesn't have to pay that much.
So, I just think this is a really bad time
to increase the rates.
I would hope that SCE would think about the people
that they're serving.
Just have some more compassion during this time.
Thank you for letting us speak about this.
-: Thank you, Ms. Chu.
Operator will please call on the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Rob Gib.
Your line is open.
Rob: Hello. Rob R-O-B, last G-I-B.
Mission Viejo
So at first I have a question answered.
If he could, the first speaker the head of utilities
he was a public advocacy organization.
I believe he mentioned the right increase
for the first year.
And I don't... I couldn't understand what he said.
The lady who spoke after him mentioned
that the rate increase would be $43 a month.
Does anybody know what the rate increase was at
that gentlemen spoke?
-: I believe...
This is Judge Seybert.
I believe the average residential rate increase
for 2021 is around $13.
And I will note that all of the parties have submitted,
just submitted testimony and its proceeding.
We're about to go through evidentiary hearings.
And so they will continue to look at the record
here and that number may adjust as we do so.
Rob: Well, I would like to find out,
if there's a comparison,
because that's quite a bit of difference.
One person's saying 43, the other same 13,
they're both high,
but which one would be closer to a realistic number.
But whatever the number is I agree.
All the adjectives that have been mentioned,
nobody has said outrageous.
I think the rate is outrageous and its useless.
Unfortunately, SCE is a monopoly.
So, there's not a lot that can be done to them
other than if somehow the state could approve.
And if somebody could come forward
and build another source of electrical service,
we could have a comparison.
So we could have a choice to see
who we'll to have provided us our electricity.
Every time I opened the bill from SCE almost every month,
I see the terrible leaflet in it.
It says they're asking for a rate increase,
and I don't understand why they are asking
for a rate increase practically every month.
They're either terribly efficient
or they're terribly greedy
that they want these rate increases
going on almost every month.
It's just absolutely unbearable.
And as there are many people they talk to as you said,
and I worked with several people who are on fixed income.
Fixed income, social security
has only gone up about 1% for the year.
That 1% would be totally wiped out multiple times
by just this one increased by the electrical company.
So it just is unbearable.
And it certainly is gonna impact negatively people
on social security and all the thousands,
hundreds of thousands of people that lost their jobs.
Many of those people have spoken already
on this media here.
So we really...
I would hope and pray that there's gonna be
something that looks into this seriously,
and that there's going to be a back off
into this humongous rate increase
that they're asking for. Thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. Gib.
Operator, please call on the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Beverly McCarthy.
Your line is open.
Beverly: Yes. My name is Beverly McCarthy,
B-E-V-E-R-L-Y, M-C-C-A-R-T-H-Y.
I'm in Highland, California.
My question is, it's a question and a comment.
Well, the time of used TOU structure being mandated.
The bill structure from going from tier to time-of-use.
-: This is Judge Seybert.
We're not considering the TOU rates
as part of this application, as a more general matter.
We're taking comments today.
Unfortunately, due to the voluminous violations proceeding,
we won't be able to address all customer questions,
but I do invite you,
If you have questions to reach out to our public advisor,
that's public.advisor@cpUc.ca.gov.
Beverly: Okay. So I'll make a comment then.
I did call in to SCE to request
the standard TOU model because the tiered bill structure,
that I'm able to stay into tier one.
And if I'm switched to time-of-use,
which it sounds like it may be mandated
if that's, so my ability increased by $40 a month
after doing all the calculators that are online.
So if I'm switched to TOU, that's $40.
They're much plus these extra additional $14 or $12
this year.
So that's around $53.
It's $54 increase in a month.
If people have to be switched over
the tiered bill structure
to the time-of-use structure.
So I don't know if everyone's aware of that,
but that will increase in bills as well as the time-of-use.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Ms. McCarthy.
Operator will you please call on the next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment comes from Guy Roubian.
Your line is open.
Guy: Guy Roubian.
G-U-Y, R-O-U-B as in boy I-A-N.
Ontario, California.
I urge the Commission to freeze Edison rates
at least through the 2021 calendar year
because of these unprecedented times
and the unknown seriousness
of this state's current downturn.
Our state budget will experience a serious deficit
for years to come and all state agencies and departments
will be making cuts accordingly.
I don't see why Edison shouldn't be making cuts also.
It is important to remember that schools,
because of the pandemic.
Don't know we'll be going to school
on a hybrid type program
where they will only be going to school every other day.
So to help them with their learning,
they will be home every other day
and may need air conditioning
and obviously lighting, appropriate lighting to computers.
So families' electrical use is going to increase
significantly for at least this next school-year
because of distance learning.
So I think freezing the rate at least till next year
would be advantageous and helpful
for families with children.
Edison needs to live within their current budget
because the state and its agencies,
and many out-of-work people
are going to be making cuts to their budgets.
I'm only requesting that the Commission freeze their rates
at this particular time.
And remember Edison's top three executives'
total salary are over $3 million.
Edison urge domestic retail,
or energy use so that they could
provide service to everyone.
So people bought efficient air conditioning,
people bought solar.
And now all that work we've done is coming back to haunt us.
And Edison now uses that against us,
to say they need an increase in rates.
I wish Edison had made this choice on their own
and didn't allow their arrogance and their greed
to force the Commission to make a decision.
they shouldn't have to make.
Edison should've seen on their own,
that this pandemic and the downturn in the economy,
that this was not the time
to ask for such a huge increase or any increase at all.
Thank you for your time.
I appreciate the opportunity
to speak to the Commissioners.
-: Thank you, Mr. Ruobian.
A general reminder for callers
that may have just joined, before you speak,
please spell your first and last name
and indicate the city that you were calling from.
Operator, please call on the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Wendy Taylor.
Your line is open.
Wendy: Hi, thank you so much.
My name is Wendy Taylor, W-E-N-D-Y T-A-Y-L-O-R.
So where do I even begin here?
I mean I'm so disappointed in SCE
and I'm in full agreement with
the gentleman that just spoke.
I told my husband I was gonna get on here
and just to bag on corporate greed and all that.
But I think we all know that.
I think that's all very clear here.
So what really, really bothers me the most
is that my family has really done everything
we've been asked to do
just like I've heard other people say too.
We have cut back on everything.
We've gotten the led lights,
we've done all the energy efficient appliances
and all of that.
We put it down on air conditioning to the extent where,
we're all sweaty all the time
and not even using air conditioning.
And it doesn't help.
I mean, where is this light at the end of the tunnel?
We hear people talking to you, Mr. Snow,
and your colleagues telling you
that they go out and get solar panels.
And they're still being way overcharged.
We were talking about that
and we're not even sure that's even gonna help anymore.
Also, I wanted to talk as a caregiver
because I am a caregiver and I have aging parents.
And I went over to my dad's house and I...
They live in Mission Viejo
and I don't think I've ever seen my dad,
his face like that
because his electric bill was almost $400.
And I don't know he's in the SCE area,
but the point I'm trying to make is that the elderly
and people on fixed income,
they can't run their electricity.
They can't run their air conditioning.
They can't use fans even, they don't watch TV.
They do without so much already.
And to raise rates right now in the pandemic still.
It's just, it's so much almost for me.
I'm like holding my head right now.
'Cause it's is so much
to think of how these executives think
that they can do this.
I think you guys need to look inside your own organization
there at SCE and find other ways
because you are not helping us.
I personally would really like to know
what percentage of this billions of dollars of increase
that you're looking at in the next three years
is going in your pocket or to your salaries.
I mean don't get me wrong.
My husband and I live well,
we understand, making a profit,
just like a couple of other people have said, we get that.
But when we do everything you're asking us to do,
and we're still asked to pay more and more and more,
it just is...
It's just unacceptable and it just cannot happen.
And I would urge the judge and everybody else
who's listening here, just you cannot let this happen.
There was one other thing I was gonna say,
I'm a mum.
Man: You are.
Wendy: One, right?
(laughs)
I do appreciate the chance to talk here.
I gotta tell you, I'm at 58 years old,
I've lived in the Saddleback Valley
and Orange County area my whole life,
and I've never done this.
And I decided to do this because this just is unacceptable.
And in time of change,
when everybody's looking at change
and systemic racism change and all of that,
you guys see executives in this company, SCE
you need to look harder for a way to help and make change.
I don't think everyone needs to make two, $300,000 a year.
You can give up maybe some of that
in just the next two years.
Maybe take a cut in just a couple years
and you help us pay for whatever it is you need.
There's just a whole other thing.
I don't understand why this all has to be done anyway.
The amount of money is staggering.
I can't even write it.
It's staggering and and I'm educated.
So anyway, I will...
My last thing is I also used to...
Well, I still do every now and then,
but I volunteer for an outreach
and their business model was
get the homeless each before they go homeless.
We need to help these people before they go homeless
and you know why they were going homeless?
Was because they could barely afford all of their bills
and then they couldn't eat.
So they ended up at the outreach for food.
But if you keep doing this,
even my husband and I will make good money,
but you keep doing this and doing this and doing it.
You're just pushing into their cars.
It's the bottom line here.
What's gonna happen to a lot of people.
I mean they just can't afford these rates.
So I would urge you not to do this in this time
especially wait it out, give it three years,
find a way to make it work for three years
and then revisit it.
Thank you very much.
Court Reporter: Excuse me. This is a court reporter.
Can I get the location of that last speaker please?
Wendy: I am in Lake Forest, California.
-: Thank you.
-: Thank you Ms.Taylor. Wendy: Thank you.
-: Operator, please call in on the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Tony Fryer.
Your line is open.
Tony: Thank you for taking my call, and oh boy!
I liked the last speaker.
She didn't know where to start.
Just a couple of notes (indistinct) prior,
T-O-N-Y F-R-Y-E-R like in chicken.
I'm calling from Mammoth Lakes.
Can I continue?
-: Yes, please.
Tony: Oh, sorry, I apologize. Okay.
I'm on a fixed income.
So security I've been on it now for two years.
It's been brought up before.
The social security went up 1.6%.
So Cal Edison is looking at what?
10%, 13% something, some number.
Which a gentleman earlier had said,
well, I just eats up whatever social security paid.
I get the feeling,
and this is something I've voiced
with regard to bond issues that seem to pop up.
We just want six more dollars a year.
It's like going out to dinner
once in a while with your wife.
$60 is a lot of money today.
And I pleaded with the politician in this case,
please don't bleed us dry.
Not everybody is working in Silicon Valley
and I don't begrudge anybody who is.
But I'm concerned that has it's been voiced earlier,
the rate increases seem to be well,
we're just gonna do it on a rate increase.
And yet where I live in Mammoth Lakes, surrounded by trees,
it looks like the money that these rate increases
have paid in the past,
didn't go to maintaining the infrastructure.
So a gentlemen earlier had said,
postpone the increase for at least a year.
I would mirror that and also say,
and revisit how you're maintaining your equipment
and show us after a year that you're paying clients.
What improvements you've made to your infrastructure
that can save money.
On a side note the disastrous street shopping
that's been done.
I just hope you stop that or hire an arborist.
Spend some money there, do it right.
And then I'm just gonna close with
it's like the cable companies.
They just keep raising the rates.
And why are you raising the rates?
Well, we're improving the infrastructure
and it's been voiced on this call earlier.
We're not seeing these changes
or we're making adjustments to a refrigerator, energy star.
We're putting solar panels up.
We're doing everything that you're telling us to do.
And yet if our bills keep going up,
I wanna know, where's the money being spent.
I don't begrudge any exact executive
for making a lot of money.
Good for them.
But is it greed or is it incompetence, that's going on.
Where the mismanagement of the money that's coming in,
like a gas tax, supposed to repair the roads.
Our roads are terrible.
We've got to increase the gas tax.
I just I'm mirroring what the lady said before.
Just hold off,
give it a year or the gentleman before
don't do the increase, actually show us in a year
what improvements you made to justify perhaps an increase
like along the lines of social security.
2%, but not 10%.
Thank you very much for your patience.
I'm a little nervous.
I'm also a first time I've called.
I'm getting fed up here.
(chuckles)
And please don't bleed us dry.
Thank you again. Goodnight.
-: Thank you, Mr. Fryer.
A general reminder again for those who wish to speak,
please start by spelling your first and last name
and indicate the city that you were calling from.
Operator, please call in the next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Ember Wyman.
Your line is open.
Ember: Hello, my name is Ember Wyman.
That's E-M-B-E-R W-Y-M-A-N.
I'm from Ventura, California, V-E-N-T-U-R-A.
-: Thank you, please proceed.
Ember: I just wanted to call in and reiterate
what all of these callers are saying tonight.
I just can't believe the crippling amount to families
this exponential increases of SCE is proposing.
And I hope that you will consider all of these people
that are just pleading with you
to not allow this to happen.
I don't believe that the expenditures
are being utilized in the proper manner
and with everything that's happening right now
in the world with a pandemic.
I just feel like the extra cost to families
is going to be...
It's just gonna cripple people.
COVID-19 has dropped my family's income
and the cost of utilities should not be rising
at this time of financial crisis.
I just thank you for allowing us to all speak
and I hope that you'll take
all of our thoughts into consideration
and our concerns and worries for our families.
The students today who are having
to have their distance learning at home
is going to seriously increase
the amount of electricity use for our families.
And I just don't know how people are gonna make it.
So I appreciate your time and consideration.
Thank you.
-: Thank Ms. Wyman.
Operator, will you please call on the next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment comes from Michael Negrete.
Your line is open.
Michael: All right. Thank you for taking my call.
I just wanted to starting.
So it's Michael it's, M-I-C-H-A-E-L.
Last name is Negrete, N-E-G-R-E-T-E.
Calling you from Gridley, California.
Pretty much just reiterating
as far as what's going on currently.
And I'm wondering just Southern California Edison
is asking us to pay for upgrades
and they are a public utility for the public.
It's more of a question that they're serving us,
but I think they're serving themselves.
For example, if you have your home
and you need to repair your roof or something,
you better start saving some money
or take a loan out to replace those items.
And we buy energy efficient appliances, lights,
we cut back on our electricity use,
but still our rates go up.
And just like the other gentlemen said
instead of hearing that they need to increase their rates.
I don't think we've ever heard
that they've made cost savings at just service.
And with the solar panel issues,
I know we had thought about applying those to our home
as being of a fairly large rooftop.
And I guess you're limited to the amount of solar panels
you can put up and ask the question why,
and I guess if you were to have more solar panels placed,
the additional electricity that you would generate,
you wouldn't be able to really accrue any profit from it.
So you were limited
to the size of solar panels being placed,
and it didn't seem quite right
if you're gonna pay for something to be placed up there
and with your money
why not just add some more
and maybe you can get a refund
like they were promoting from the...
I guess like Edison company.
You would get actually compensated a small amount,
but I don't believe that's happening.
And Southern California Edison is the primary supplier,
of Southern California for electricity.
So therefore they capture pretty much
all the electric rate payers
in this area of Southern California
and due to the primary electric company
that's there fears of underestimating.
They also have of course benefits for the employees.
And from what I understand their own employees get a break.
They get 20 to 25%.
If they're within their service area
on their electric bills.
And they worked for Southern California Edison,
and maybe they should look into ways of saving
by removing that from their employees.
And also just like the other have said is
maybe holder holding those bonuses,
holding rate increases, go lean flatbed, run lane,
maybe even have to lose some positions
like other companies have been doing.
And so that's pretty much,
all I have to say just kinda little different
than what I've heard,
but also the same of what I've heard.
And just it's not the right time.
It's too much to be asking for.
And we'd like to see where the money is actually going
before they asked for more.
And that's what I have to say.
And thank you for your time.
-: Thank you Mr. Negrete.
Operator will you please call on the next speaker?
Operator: Our next comment comes from David Beiger.
Your line is open.
David: Is that David Berger? (indistinct)
Hello, is that David Berger.
-: Yes please.
David: Okay David Berger,
D-A-V-I-D Berger, B-E-R-G-E-R Avrin California.
I just want to reiterate going
from Ms. Pierre down these comments.
I was astounded when I got this letter,
which is why I'm calling in
why I'm listening into this thing today.
I ask what other business
has made these kinds of rate increases any time,
but especially now at this time.
I'm astounded that they're able to do so.
And what a captive audience, from what I can tell,
although I have lived in places where electricity
as a commodity is sold competitively.
That doesn't appear to be the case
here in Southern California.
And maybe that needs to be re-looked at,
because I think if this was a competitive bid,
we wouldn't be seeing this.
I already questioned how they've looked
at cutting their costs
and what they're going to do to be competitive.
But if they're not competitive,
because they'll have to be, then what's the motivation?
I would ask them to review lowering their costs.
I would say in this unprecedented time
they shouldn't be increasing rates at all
and to increase them with the rates that they're proposing,
I'm astounded that
they would even have the balls to propose.
It is usually in my opinion, absolutely ridiculous.
They need to find a way to find a way to make this work.
And as the lady earlier on
whose name I didn't catch quite correctly said,
this is just gonna increase the homeless problem.
And we already have in Southern California.
Thank you for my time.
-: Thank you, Mr. Berger.
Operator, please call on our next speaker.
Operator: Our next comment comes from Viky Avakian.
Your line is open.
Christina: Hi, it's actually Christine Avakian.
So it's C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-E A-V-A-K-I-A-N.
I'm from Los Angeles.
So you can hear me, right?
-: Yes.
CHRISTINE: Okay. Thank you.
So I just wanna start off by saying
like everybody has really great points
and I just wanna thank everybody for speaking.
Like literally I'm just sitting here saying,
yeah, that's a great point,
yeah, that's a great point.
And just reiterating some of the things
that other people have said,
like 14.4%, that's a lot.
I really just...
I don't even understand the reasoning behind that.
And I would like to.
I mean, everyone is at home right now using electricity.
People are working from home.
Someone brought up the fact
that schools are gonna be doing hybrid schedule.
People in college are gonna be doing the same thing.
So I just don't understand why you'd be raising the prices
when people are gonna be using electricity more.
It seems really crooked to be honest,
and like the reasoning behind it
is like better customer service.
Personally I don't care.
I'll wait on hold and not take this increase.
If I would given the choice.
That's fine.
I don't really care about the customer service.
I would rather keep my money
just that I might know some people brought it up already,
but we've done everything you guys have asked,
getting our thermostats super high,
even though it's hot and sweating
like in the California sun.
And using the electricity only
during certain times of the day.
Not watching during the daytime, all this stuff.
And now you wanna just come
with an outright raise of 14.4%.
I mean like you can't do it gradually or less,
or maybe at a different time.
And people are literally struggling to survive.
And all you care about is lining your pockets?
I don't understand it.
Like what about the low income families?
What about people who have been laid off?
Like what are they gonna do?
Literally sit in the dark with no electricity.
You're gonna make people homeless.
And to be honest, like when we're going into a recession,
it doesn't make sense to raise the price of things
that could stay the same,
'cause then people aren't gonna be spending money
on anything aside from bills.
If you understand economics
then you know that would create
a worst situation that we're already in.
And honestly, you should just be ashamed
if all these people have to get on here
and then schools you like your children.
It's embarrassing.
I would be embarrassed if I was you.
And I think that's everything.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Ms. Avakian.
Operator, will you please call on the next speaker?
Operator will you please call the next speaker.
Operator 2: Your honor the next speaker
is Richard Orona.
Operator: Richard Orona.
Richard: Your honor this is Richard Orona.
R-I-C-H-A-R-D, O-R-O-N-A,
in Winchester, California.
Like a few others, this is actually my first time
joining the forums and speaking.
And as others have stated, this is just poor timing.
I am one of the two children
that have had to study from home.
So yes, my electricity has increased but
like others have changed out all my lights leds.
I try to run my air conditioners as little as possible
and the sad thing is that I've used,
smart power strips to reduce my consumption.
Unlike all others, my bill keeps going up.
I've tried to look at solar
and just can't afford it right now.
Right, even though I'd rather have solar now,
these evening rates are higher than even my regular rate.
So I just need this is little time like others.
And I do agree that companies
do have the right to make a profit,
but I just like the company I work for
those profits should be put back
into the company at times not always.
To big bonuses for the exact,
although yes, they and their employees do.
Is there anything I do get bonuses?
So the company I work for
always tries to make things cheaper
if possible for our customers.
So I know it's just a repeat of everything
that's been said but thank you for your time
and have a good evening.
-: Thank you, Mr. Orona.
I believe that includes all of the speakers
who signed up to speak today.
If anyone would like to provide
additional input or comments after this hearing,
you may submit written comments
on the docket card for this proceeding,
which can be found on the Commission's website at
www.cpcu.ca.com\sce2021grcpubliccomments.
If you need assistance with providing additional comments,
please contact the Commission's public advisor office.
That concludes this evening's public participation hearing.
Thank you all for your input and comments.
We will now be off the record.
Thank you everyone.
-: Thank you.