Judge Ferguson: Would the court reporters confirm
that they are ready to begin?
Court Reporter: Yes judge, thank you.
-: Okay, we will go on the record right now it is 6:31 pm
On Wednesday, May 26, 2021,
the Commission will come to order.
This is a remote public participation hearing
on the Golden State Water Companies
general rate case application,
for rates to be charged in years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
The application number is A20-07-012,
and tonight we will be focusing entirely
on region one and the issues related to region one.
And before I go any further
since region one, is the region that includes several towns
and cities in Northern California,
as well as Southern California,
but I'm focused more on the Northern California customers.
Let me express my condolences and the condolences
of the whole Public Utilities Commission
to any of you who are listening
or participating tonight, who have relatives
or friends who were involved
in the tragedy in San Jose earlier this morning.
So let's get down to business for tonight.
What we're gonna do is we're going to focus
on customers in region one,
and region one is comprised
of the following cities and towns, Arden Cordova,
Bay Point,
Clear Lake,
Los Osos,
Santa Maria and Simi Valley.
For those of you who might be listening in
or watching on the internet, if your monthly bill indicates
that you reside in region two,
we held the public participation hearings
for your region yesterday.
But you don't need to be concerned if you miss them,
you can access those public participation hearings,
by going to the following website, adminmonitor.com.
That's spelled A-B-M-I-N M-O-N-I-T-O-R.com.
Once there, click on the link
for California Public Utilities Commission,
and then click on the link for past hearings
and scroll to yesterday's date,
and you'll find a English version recording
of public participation hearings from yesterday.
If your monthly bills indicate
that you are a part of Golden states region three rate area,
the public participation hearings
for your area will be held tomorrow Thursday, May 27th
at the same times as the hearings today, 1:30 pm
and then again at 6:30 pm.
The call in number and password are exactly the same
as today.
800-857-1917
and the password is 7218384.
For both customers in regions, two and three,
you're welcome to listen in tonight,
but bear in mind that tonight, we will be focusing entirely
on issues and rate structures and rates
in region one of Golden State service area.
Now let me introduce myself.
My name is Charles Ferguson,
and I'm the assigned Administrative Law Judge
for this proceeding.
It's my job to collect your comments and suggestions tonight
and be mindful of them as I assemble the evidence,
as to whether not your rates should change
for the three years of this rate cycle.
After I have assembled the record,
I will write my proposed decision
and submit it to the five California Public Utilities
Commission Commissioners, for them to vote on it.
It takes three Commissioners,
for my proposed decision to be accepted.
Any of the Commissioners can prepare their own
alternate decision to my decision,
but the alternate decision must be based
on exactly the same record evidence
that my decision will be based on.
And it must be voted on, voted in favor,
by three of the five Commissioners.
Tonight, our purpose is mainly for us at the Commission,
that's me, the assigned Commissioner who is going
to manage the whole proceeding,
and the other four Commissioners, to hear from you
the customers of Golden State Water about how you feel,
and what you think about its application for an increase
in your rates.
To help you understand exactly
what is being asked for by Golden State,
and what the issues are,
that I and the Commissioners will have to ponder and decide,
we at the Commission have prepared
what we call fact sheets for you,
and Golden State Water has delivered them to you,
either electronically if you're billed electronically,
or by US mail if you get your bills in the mail.
Region one is different
from the other two regions served by Golden State Water,
and it's different in these ways,
it's divided into sub areas, subdivisions.
Each one of the subdivisions has its own rate structure,
and generally they match, these areas match
either the city town or a general vicinity
of a town that you live in.
So for example,
the Clear Lake residents have a different rate structure
than say the Simi Valley residents
and customers of Golden State.
If you have not received your fact sheet,
each of the fact sheets by the way
is tailored exactly to your rate area.
So if you're in Clear Lake, you have one type of fact sheet.
If you're in Simi valley,
you have a completely different fact sheet.
If you've misplaced it or you never received it
you can get a copy on the CPUC website.
Go to the CPUC website, which is www.cpuc.ca.gov,
enter the words public advisor,
that's spelled A-D-V-I-S-O-R.
You'll find a link on that page
of our website that says public participation hearings.
Click on the link and scroll down
to the Golden State Water Company rate proceeding,
and you will find the CPUC fact sheets
for each one of the subdivisions in region one.
Even if you have your fact sheet,
I'd like it if you would remember
how to reach the same fact sheets on our website,
so that you can communicate that information
to any of your neighbors
or friends in your particular rate area,
who have or unable to attend one
of these public participation hearings.
You can also obtain a fact sheet
for your rate area directly from Golden State Water,
by addressing an email request
to 2022GRC@gswater.com.
Include your billing address in your email,
so that the proper fact sheet can be sent to you.
Finally, if you don't have any internet access
and your are participating, simply
by listening on the phone tonight,
you can still get a copy of a fact sheet
for your specific rate area by calling Golden State Water
at the following number 877-288-8816.
I'm gonna repeat that again for you, 877-288-8816.
The purpose of the fact sheets are to help you calculate
what your rates,
that is your bills would look like
for the years 2022, 2023, and 2024.
In the event, that the Commission
granted everything that Golden State Water is asking for
with respect to your specific rate area.
Now, having said that, I wanna,
I wanna immediately point out that it's not customary
that we grant absolutely everything that a utility
asks us to grant in the way of a rate increase.
But nevertheless, the point of the fact sheet is to
give you the opportunity to see what a worst case scenario
from your perspective would be,
should we agree to grant Golden State's request
or exactly the rate increase they're asking
for in your particular area.
So here's the way you have to do it.
The first thing you have to do is get
out your old bills from 2020,
and they will indicate to you for each month,
how much water you use each month in 2020.
With that information,
you can then start calculating what you might have to pay,
if we granted everything that Golden State is asking
for in your rate area in the month of January, 2022,
when these new rates will go into effect.
You use the same,
you're gonna use the same number of quantity
of water that you used in January of 2020
to calculate what you might have to pay in January of 2022.
First though, you start out with the fixed charge
that doesn't depend on how much water you use.
The fact sheets will show you what your fixed charge will be
in January, 2022,
and each of the years after that.
And it's a fixed charge
no matter how much water you use or don't use.
So if you use no water,
you still have to pay a fixed service charge,
and if you use lots of water
you still pay exactly the same fixed service charge.
It's a one-time charge for each month.
To that number, you wanna use the usage charge
for your particular area.
Some of these usage charges in some
of these rate areas in region one, are tiered rates.
They usually start at a low price or a specific quantity
of water for that area, and then progressed
to a mid level rate for the next quantity of water.
And if you would seed both tiers
and use even more water than in the first two tiers,
then there'll be a third higher rate
which is usually a conservation oriented rate
to encourage you not to use that much water,
but if you do, that's what you'll pay for it.
So you have to calculate using the amount
of water you used in January of 2020.
What exactly your rates would look like if you are in one
of the rate areas in region one that has tiered rates,
a couple of you do not have tiered rates.
You just have a flat rate,
and for you, you just multiply that flat number
that single number, times the amount
of water that you used in the same month in 2020.
The water usage is expressed in what's known as CCF.
One CCF is equal to 748 gallons of water.
And,
there is also,
since we're speaking of quantities of water,
there is also in your fact sheet, a graph
that will show you,
allow you to see what your water use is
like compared to all the other customers in your area.
And you'll see the average customer's monthly use indicated
in those graphs.
You may be above it, you may be right on it
or you may be below it.
If you're below it, Congratulations.
If you're on it, congratulations.
If you're above it, we'd like you to think about whether
or not you can start conserving some water
to bring your usage down somewhat,
particularly as we face droughts this coming year.
There is a,
unique feature tonight in region one
that does not exist in either region two or region three.
And that unique feature involves two
of the subdivisions of region one, Los Osos and Santa Maria.
Golden State Water is proposing that for rate purposes,
both of those towns be combined
and they pay the same.
Their rates will be exactly the same for both of them.
This is a complicated issue.
People will have strong opinions one way or the other.
There will be the two towns are about 40 miles apart
by my reckoning, and there will be no physical connection
of the water systems between these two towns.
They'll just be a great connection between the two towns.
So that basically customers in both towns are
supporting the water systems in both towns.
And that spreads that the idea is,
it's spreads the costs out and camps down
the potential future increases for both of the towns.
We will be, we are at the Commission, very interested
in hearing from the customers in those two towns
as to how they feel about that particular issue.
I mentioned this already, or at least alluded to it.
There is an interest on the part of the Commission
to see you conserve water,
the silver lining in doing that, I know it's hard.
All of us in California have had to do this from at one time
or another,
but the, but by doing it, there is a possibility
that you can actually plan out your water usage so
that the water rate increase in your particular rate
area will have little or no effect.
(audio cuts out)
Man: You may leave comment.
-: Okay, okay.
Man: That's consistent with what I'm hearing
Judge Ferguson.
-: Okay,
Robert: Call your honor, this is Robert, Robert again
I just want to let you know that we restored the audio
to the webcast so you can go ahead and restart.
-: Okay, alright.
So let's go back on the record please.
Okay, we've been off the record here for a few moments
because we understand that the audio portion
of this broadcast dropped off,
and we now have restored it.
Our assessment is that we did not drop very much off,
so I'm just going to back up a little bit
and then we actually are going to,
I'm to allow the Public Advisors to address everyone.
So basically I was trying to tell people,
when we lost contact,
that if they are not going
to make a statement here on the record orally tonight,
they still have the opportunity
at any point in time, before the hearing closes,
the evidentiary hearing closes, that is the record closes
which will won't be until later in the summer.
But they can put a written comment into the docket sheet
for this particular proceeding,
by going to www.CPUC.ca.gov/pph.
Then look for the Golden State Water general rate case
and click on that
and that will take you directly to the docket sheet,
and there will be a tab that says public comment,
and you can click on that and leave a public comment.
I think now is a good time for me to pass the button
or microphone as the case may be to Ms Hill
from the Public Advisor's Office of the CPUC,
and she'll tell everyone other ways that they
can participate in this proceeding and perhaps go
over the same tab on the docket sheet as well
just to make sure that everybody has heard that process.
So Ms Hill, you wanna take over at this point?
-: Thank you, Judge Ferguson.
Hello everyone.
Hello there everyone.
And welcome to this public participation hearing.
My name is Juanita Hill
and I am the supervisor in the CPUC Public Advisor's Office.
The Public Advisor Office assists and advises the public
with participation in Commission proceedings.
First, I wanna thank you all
for participating this evening.
As the judge stated,
public participation and input are essential
to the Commission's decision making process.
This is your opportunity to be heard
and share your thoughts on the application
with the Administrative Law Judge
in the assigned Commissioner.
If you have specific questions
about the application or your service,
please reach out to the Public Advisors Office,
@public.advisor.
And I'll spell that A like apple, D like David, I sorry
A like apple, D like David, V like Victor
I-S-O-R@CPUC.ca.G-O-V,
or you can call us at 1-866-849-8390
or visit the CPUC or a Golden State Water Company's websites
for more information.
Second, if you or anyone, you know
is not able to make a comment today,
as the judge said,
there are several ways to become involved.
If you wish to find more information
on becoming a party subscribing to this proceeding,
or submitting comments via email
the phone or the docket card, please go
to our website, www.cpuc.ca.gov,
or email the public advisor
at public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov.
All of this information is also on the notice
that you received for this public participation hearing.
Thank you,
and we look forward to your comments today.
Thank you judge.
-: Thank you, Ms Hill.
I wanna reiterate what she said, she is
and her office is,
excuse me.
Are we still, are we still connected?
Robert, can you let's go off the record please?
Robert: Yes your honor.
We, we are still connected -: Okay
Robert: I think we've done a cross talk
from the Spanish line
-: Okay, all right.
Okay, let's go back on the record then.
All right, I was saying that Ms.Hill is
from the Public Advisor's Office
and they are the go-to place for you to learn how
to put information into the docket sheet.
And we have already had customers
of Golden State contact her this week
and they have put some considerable information
into the docket sheet as we are encouraging everyone to do.
So keep her contact information at hand
and that's the place to go
if you don't wanna make a comment here tonight.
Now, the next item on the agenda is to actually hear
from the two parties to this proceeding,
Golden State Water and the Public Advocates Office.
The Public Advocate's Office is different
from the Public Advisor's Office as you'll find out shortly.
But these are the two parties who will try
to present evidence and argument to me
as to whether your rates should go up
or down or somewhere in between.
So let's begin first with Golden State Water
and Mr Switzer, are you ready to speak?
-: I am your honor.
Thank you. -: You can proceed
-: Good evening.
My name is Keith Switzer.
I worked for Golden State Water.
I am the vice-President of the company responsible
for managing the regulatory affairs department.
My department is responsible
for filing the general rate case application
which is the subject of this public participation hearing.
I want to welcome you to this virtual hearing,
and thank all of our customers who have taken the time
to join us this evening.
We look forward to hearing from you.
You've just heard Judge Ferguson provide a general overview
of Golden State Waters application
and the purpose of today's meeting
in the Commission's decision making process.
I'm going to take just a few minutes,
to expand on some of Judge Ferguson's comments.
A general rate case is the process that establishes
the company's overall budget,
or what we more commonly refer to as our revenue requirement
to operate the water system,
in a manner that will allow us to provide safe
and reliable water service.
The rate case also establishes the rates that we charge
for this water service.
Rates are set in the rate case at a level
that will generate the budget
or revenue requirement approved by the Commission,
in the case, at the forecast
and levels of water usage by you, our customers.
The general rate case process is intended
to be an open process,
where input from different parties is welcomed
and encouraged.
Your participation here evening,
is an important part of that process.
As customers of Golden State Water, you received notice
that Golden State Water filed its rate case application back
in July of 2020.
That application requested changes
in our revenue requirement and our rates beginning
in January of 2022.
The Commission's final decision
on our application will set our revenue requirement
and the corresponding rates
for a three-year period calendar years, 2022,
2023, and 2024.
A quick word about the timing of our application.
Golden State Water is obligated
by law to file a general rate case applications
once every three years.
The Commission has a preset schedule
that establishes the day that we make our filing.
The Commission's filing schedule enables the Commission to
process a general rate case once every three years
for all nine of the large class, A water utilities
in the state.
It's a tight schedule
to process essentially three different rate cases every year
which is why the timing
of each application filing is mandated
which enables the Commission to manage the workload
of processing these cases.
For Golden State, our last rate case application was filed
in July of 2017 and the Commission's decision
in that proceeding established the rates
for the calendar years, 2017
2018 and 29, I'm sorry, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Excuse me, excuse me there.
The filing of the rate case application
in July of last year, was the first step
in a process that takes about 18 months to complete.
Once we filed the application,
the office of public advocates begins a process.
It takes about eight months to review the application,
conduct discovery and ultimately issue their own report
with their own recommendations
to the Commission regarding our 2022 revenue requirement.
The next steps in the process includes,
settlement negotiations, mediation
evidentiary hearing, and then Judge Ferguson
will issue a proposed decision addressing
and resolving all of the issues in the application.
And then finally that proposed decision will be voted on
by the Commissioners when they issue their final decision.
Tonight's hearing is for customers
in six different rate making areas served by Golden State.
Those six rate making districts are collectively,
collectively referred to as a region one districts.
Each of the six rate making districts
has its own revenue requirement and its own set of rates,
and they are all different from one another.
The rates in each rate making district are based
on the costs that are specific
or unique to that district.
While it would be impractical to address
the specific reasons for changes in the revenue requirement
for each of the six separate rate making districts
in the limited time for my comments,
I can highlight the fact that the primary cause in each
of the six districts for the change in revenue requirement,
is the need to invest in new infrastructure.
Things like new or replacement pipelines,
supply related projects, such as newer replacement wells
and treatment facilities to newer new or replacement
treatment facilities to treat the water.
Overall,
Golden State Water has proposed approximately $50 million
of new infrastructure projects
in the six rate making districts
in region one, over the next three years.
And let me elaborate on that just a bit.
As we make those investments in infrastructure,
we did not recover the full cost
of the investments right away.
We fund the investments
with a combination of investors' money
which is raised through issuing stocks, to investors
and borrowed money, which is raised through issuing bonds.
Once the investments in infrastructure are made,
the cost of those assets are recovered
over an extended period of time,
anywhere from 5 to 40 years, depending on the asset.
As those investments are made,
what gets incorporated into rates is not the full cost
of the investment,
but rather the depreciation of those assets
which is how the investors get repaid
for the investment costs.
And it's over the life of the asset and the carrying costs
for the funds that are used to finance the investments.
In other words, the interest on the debt
and the dividends that are paid to investors.
In addition to infrastructure investments,
some of the other costs increases common in all
of the region one districts include,
significant increases for water treatment,
purchase water costs and purchase power costs.
If you would like to contact Golden State Water directly
with a question about,
during tonight's public participation hearing,
you can do so either by phone or by email.
Golden State Water has set up a special call
in number for customers, who would like to speak
to a company representative about the rate case application.
That number, which is shown on the screen here is,
1-877-288-8816.
Golden State Water employees will be standing by
at that number to respond to your question.
If you prefer to ask your question by email,
we have set up a special email address specifically
for questions regarding the rate case application
that email, which is also shown here on the screen
is,2022GRC@gswater.com
Before concluding my comments tonight,
I wanna speak to the extraordinary
and difficult circumstances
that we all find ourselves in right now.
I'm very proud of the fact
that Golden State Water employees have been working hard
throughout the pandemic making sure that you,
our customers have continued to receive uninterrupted safe
and reliable water service during this time.
I also want to share that we recognize
that many of our customers are experiencing financial
and or economic hardships during the pandemic situation.
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic,
our customer service team has remained available 24/7
to help customers answer questions and resolve problems.
Golden State has put in place protections to ensure
that customers continue to receive safe
and reliable water service during this time.
Also included in our rate case application,
is a provision to offer monthly credits on the bills
to income qualifying customers
who meet specific income criteria.
If you go to our website, www.gswater.com,
you will find a link on the homepage
for emergency disaster relief program,
and our low income customer assistance programs.
Those links will, will describe the various protection
and programs that are available.
With that I would like to close my comments tonight.
Again, I want to thank all of you
for taking the time to join the meeting,
and I look forward to hearing your comments.
Thank you, Judge Ferguson for this opportunity.
-: Thank you, Mr Switzer.
I want to add just one piece of clarification
to your comments for those who are listening.
And that is that while in the aggregate
there's roughly $50 million
of new revenue that Golden State is asking
for with respect to all six subdivisions,
we are not just taking the $50 million number
and deciding how divided up
or asking everybody to pay $50 million.
It's, that's the aggregate
of the individual amounts that are specific numbers.
They're far less than 50 million in each instance
for each one of the six subdivisions of, of region one.
So I don't want anyone to think that their particular town
or city is being allocated $50 million,
of new revenue
that they're gonna have to pay for in their rates.
No, it's some small portion of the $50 million
that Mr Switzer was referring to.
Okay, with that clarification-
-: Judge Ferguson, can I just add a clarification
I may have misspoke in my comments,
but the the $50 million number was the amount
of capital investments that we plan to make
in region one in the six districts.
And you're absolutely correct.
It's, it's spread among the six
and we have very specific plans
but that was the capital investment, not the revenue.
-: Okay, alright
-: I'm sorry if I, if I misspoke on that.
-: Okay, thank you for that clarification.
Okay, same thing though, with respect to the total amount
it's divided up into much smaller pieces that are unique
to each one of the six subdivisions of region one.
Okay, now let's move on
and the next speaker is going to be Mr Victor Chan,
who represents the Public Advocate's Office
and the Public Advocate's Office is your spokesperson.
Now those of you who are listening,
at the Commission he is taking, he will tell you
that his office is taking the position
that you would take where you arguing the case
in front of me.
But he is, he is going to explain what his office's view is
as to this proposed rate increase for each one of you.
So, Mr Chan, you wanna take over please?
-: Yes, thank you Judge Ferguson.
And thank you for allowing me the opportunity
to speak in that.
Once again, my name is Victor Chan.
I am the project manager
on behalf of the Public advocate's office.
I, along with my team are responsible
for reviewing Golden State Water Company's
application for in this proceeding.
Tonight, I'm gonna make a statement to provide an overview
of our role in this proceeding as well
as our major recommendation.
The Public Advocate's Office or Call
out Cal advocates is an independent office
within the California Public Utilities Commission
that represents the interests of rate payers.
Our statutory mission is to obtain the lowest possible rate
for service consistent with reliable
and safe service mobile.
Cal advocates has a multi-disciplinary staff
with expertise in engineering, economics, accounting
and finance.
Cal advocates view do not necessarily
reflect those of the Commission.
In February, 2021, Cal advocates service testimony
on Golden State Water Companies
general rate case application number 2007012.
In which Golden State Water Company request rate increase
for each region one, two, and three service areas.
Cal advocates testimony presents analysis and recommendation
on then why range of issues, including capital investments
sales, range design, conservation
operating expenses and taxes.
Compared to Golden State Water Company's request,
11.9% increase for it's entire region one service area.
Cal advocates recommends no more
than the 2.48% increase in revenue and average system rates.
And the following are how some of Cal advocates specific
and significant recommendation,
One, authorized funding
for a more moderate pipeline replacement program,
Two,
reduce Golden State Water Company's proposed salary increase
and the new positions.
Three, decrease expenses
and capital investment from general office.
I'm gonna say water companies, general office.
And forth, remove those unfinished projects that are not
providing benefits to the rate payers.
I should also clarify that the 11.9% increase
requested by Golden State Water Company,
and the 2.48% increase recommended
by the Public Advocate's Office are
for the combined region one
six different rate making areas
namely Arden Cordova, Bay Point, Clear Lake
and also Santa Maria and Simi Valley.
For each of these rate making areas,
Golden State request a specific rate increase,
Whereas Cal advocates recommends a reduced amount.
Cal advocates recommendation, but report
for each one that this area can be found
at www.publicadvocates.CPUC.ca.G-O-V.
You can, you can go to that website
and look for the link to Cal advocates report
on GSWC 2020 GRP application.
And with that, that concludes my remarks.
And I look forward to hearing your comments.
-: Thank you, Mr Chan.
I wanna just add one more comment,
and that is ,I want to underscore
that both Mr Switzer and Mr Chan
are speaking in generalities for region one.
Each of you should look carefully at the materials
they have referenced for you,
the submissions to us by Golden State Water
which are available on the Golden State Water website
and the submissions that Mr Chan has provided to us
which are also available on the public advocates section
of the CPUC website for your specific town,
because it's important to look at what the positions
of the parties are with respect to your specific town.
And since I'm speaking in encouraging specifics,
I wanna add one more note
about the proposed consolidation between Santa Maria
and Los Osos
That particular set of fact sheet,
the one for Santa Maria and the one for Los Osos,
includes in it alternatives for each side, each city
if the consolidation goes through,
or if the consolidation is not approved
and does not go through.
So if you are going to try to project
what your billing rates might be, come 2022,
citizens and residents of that particular, or those two
particular cities have got to do a little more arithmetic.
They have to consider the possibility
that consolidation will be ordered.
And there's enough information
in the fact sheets to figure that
out for each of your cities.
And they also have to consider the situation where
no consolidation will be allowed.
And they then have enough information in the fact sheets.
You have enough information in your fact sheets
to calculate what your rates would look like under
those circumstances.
Okay, I don't have any,
I don't wanna add any more comments other than that.
Now is a really important part of the proceeding.
We, the Commission,
and the parties want to hear your comments
about the proposed rate increases
in your particular part of region one.
So here's how you do it.
You simply use your phone, you press star one on your phone.
The operator will then add you to a line up
of callers who want to make comments.
When you are asked to make your comment by the operator,
I would ask you to do a couple of things for us.
One is to state your names and spell your name,
your full name first and last names.
The second thing is to tell us what town
or city you reside in,
so we know which set of rate requests apply to you.
And three, I want you to speak slowly
when you make your comments
because your comments are being taken down
by the court reporters.
And it's better.
If you speak slowly, rather than quickly
I will allow speakers two minutes.
There will be a chime or bell
that you will hear at the end of the two minutes,
and then I will have to have the next person in line speech
If, if it's important and I feel it's essential
then I will allow you a little bit more time.
But generally speaking, I'd like to keep all the comments
to two minutes a piece.
So with that, I'm going to ask the operator
if there is anyone in the queue to speak as of now
Operator: Thank you, sir.
At this time, I'm showing no one have queued up
to make a comment at this time.
-: Okay, so it is 7:23pm.
and what I would like to do is take a seven minute recess
until 7:30pm.
and allow people to queue up, to make their comments.
So we will be in recess and off the record at this point.
And we'll return at 7:30pm.
-: Okay, it is now 7:30pm,
and I think it's time to return.
Let's go back on the record.
We're now back on the record
and would the operator inform me as to whether
or not we have anyone in the queue to speak this evening?
Operator: Thank you, sir.
I'm still showing no one has queued up
to make a comment at this time.
-: Okay, well, I'm going to take that as an invocation
that we're not going to have
any public speakers this evening.
So let's conclude for the evening.
I wanna conclude by encouraging those who are still
on the line and listening or watching on the internet
that if you have a comment that you'd like to submit,
but you're reluctant to do it live,
you can write in and put a comment in the public comment tab
of the docket sheet for this proceeding.
And as I explained before,
you'll get help
from the public advisors group at the CPUC
and you can reach them
by addressing an email to public.advisor,
A-D-V-I-S-O-R@cpuc.ca.gov.
So with that, this closes the evening's public participation
proceedings for region one,
and I thank everybody who helped
and participated in, in the evening.
Thank you very much.
We'll be off the record now.
[Man] Thank you.