Operator: Welcome to the California Public Utilities
Commission public voting meeting
on Thursday, August 19th 2021.
Today's call is being recorded.
If you have any objections, you may disconnect at this time.
President Batjer, you may proceed.
-: Thank you very much, operator.
Good morning, everyone.
We need to establish a quorum.
Will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck?
-: Here.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma?
-: Present.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: I'm here.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Here.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Here.
We have established a quorum. Thank you.
Welcome to the California Public Utilities Commission.
I am calling this meeting of August 19th, 2021,
Public Agenda item number...
Excuse me, Public Agenda number 3491, to order.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic,
and the Shelter-in-Place Order,
we're conducting today's business meeting online
and by remote participation.
The meeting is live streamed on the CPUC website.
You can view the meeting at www.adminmonitor.com/ca/cpuc.
Adminmonitor is all one word.
Closed captioning is available in English and Spanish
through the webcast.
You can click on the green button
to select your language of choice.
We also have Spanish interpretation available
during the public comment portion of today's meeting.
Dial 800-857-1917, passcode 3799627,
and follow the instructions
to be connected to the Spanish line.
I ask that my colleagues and today's speakers remain mindful
and speak clearly and slowly.
I will also occasionally pause myself for translation.
Claudia?
(Claudia speaking in foreign language)
Thank you.
Public engagement is critical to the CPUC process.
If you wish to make a public comment,
dial into 800-857-1917 and enter passcode 9899501
and press star one.
You will be placed into a queue
and the operator will take your name
and information if appropriate.
You will be called upon to speak
when we get to the public comment period in today's agenda.
If you encounter difficulty calling
into the public telephone line, please email,
votingmeetinghelp@cpuc.ca.gov.
Votingmeetinghelp is all one word.
We will now turn to public comments.
If you wish to make a public comment
and you have already dialed
into the public comment telephone line,
please press star one to get into the public comment queue.
CPUC rules do not allow for parties in proceedings
to speak about open proceedings.
The public can make comments addressing items
on the consent and regular agenda,
as well as items not on today's agenda.
Please note that there will not be public comment
on item 33, and all items on the closed session agenda.
You will have one minute to speak.
You will hear a bell sound when your time is up.
Let me repeat that.
You will have one minute to speak.
You will hear a bell sound when your time is up.
Please be mindful of other speakers in the queue
and keep to your allotted time.
As a reminder, again, please speak clearly and slowly
to accommodate the Spanish interpreters
who are available during the public comment portion
of today's meeting.
With that guidance, I welcome today's speakers.
And I will now turn to the operator
to open the public comment telephone line.
Operator?
Operator: Thank you.
The public comment telephone line is now open.
If you wish to speak during the public comment period,
please press star one, unmute your phone
and clearly record your name and organization when prompted.
Our first caller is Joan Taylor.
You may go ahead.
Joan: Good morning. Thank you.
I am an individual and a voter and just want to speak again
in favor of rooftop solar with energy storage.
PV is a transformational technology like the cell phone
and it does not have to be tethered to wires.
Please don't buy into the utilities numbers.
There's not a $3 billion cost shift.
According to your own studies, it is more like 500 million,
which is less than 2% of the required income
for the utilities.
Thank you very much.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller please.
Operator: Our next caller is David McCord.
You may go ahead.
David: Hi, this is David McCord.
I'm a rate payer in El Cerrito.
And then, this Commission is working in several proceedings
that deal with the local rooftop solar and storage,
that those need to be accelerated.
And indeed that the incentivized local solar and storage
will create more jobs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Check at the analysis,
that by vibrant clean energy,
they've done a really in depth study of this and thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. McCord.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Our next caller is Kathy Betts with BCEBC.
You may go ahead.
Kathy: Hello. Yes, my name is Kathy Betts.
I'm with Vermont Boston Economic Development Corporation.
We have received a grant from CPUC,
so thank you very much for that.
It has helped us with our digital learning.
We teach youth and individuals in South LA area
in software engineering, web development
and digital marketing, and we then hire them
through a company called Marty
in which they are able to build websites
and digital marketing for the small businesses.
I've come here actually to ask for support
in regards to helping to close the digital divide
with adoption to broadband, access and infrastructure.
Though we did receive the grant
and we are supposed to be helping our community
to get access, we don't really have any support
in how to do so, in any links, any digital literacy.
I mean, any literature on how to do so.
So that would really be helpful for us.
Again, Kathy Betts with Vermont Boston
Economic Development Corporation.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller please.
Operator: Our next caller is Scott Moore.
You may go ahead.
Scott: Hi, good morning.
This is in regards to a notice from Liberty Utilities
that was sent over to the CPUC.
Liberty is requesting a rate increase of over 40%
to our little community starting January 21st.
Well, I lost my home in the Mountain View Fires
that the reason is still under investigation,
but it is looking like
it's a downed power line from Liberty.
And the reason for the request of rate increase from Liberty
is to perform wildfire mitigation work.
And I feel like this should have been done prior
to us losing and a lot of our members of community
losing our home.
So I would respectfully ask you
to consider this rate increase consideration
of our community when making the decision.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Our next caller is Laurie Buckles.
You may go ahead.
Laurie: Hello, my name is Laurie Buckles.
We lost our home in the Mountain View Fire
in November of 2020 also.
We will now have two mortgages
to simply just to replace what we had.
We're not trying to build anything spectacular.
Our homeowners insurance has gone up from 900 a year
to 3000 a year now.
Because they state now that we're in a fire zone.
We are on a fixed income, my husband is on disability
and I cannot go to my employer
and request a 40% pay increase to cover this 40%
that Liberty feels we should pay.
And bottom line is we are anticipating
our monthly expenses to go up by seven to $1,000 a month.
I don't know where they think
that we're gonna get that from.
Every month due to this Mountain View Fire...
Anyway, in addition to...
I will stop now. Thank you for your time.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: And our next caller is Liz Campos.
You may go ahead.
Liz: Good morning.
I'm Liz Campos from Westside Community Council
in Ventura, California.
And I'm here to remind you that the city,
the Westside of the city of Ventura
that is constantly threatened
by SoCalGas' proposed compressor station expansion
is not expendable.
And we really want to demand
that the CPUC order an environmental impact report
before allowing this process of SoCalGas to proceed.
My condolences to everyone who lost their homes
in the Mountain View Fire.
Thank you for hearing me today.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, next caller, please.
Operator: Our next caller is Huang Wei.
Your line's open.
Huang: Good morning.
My name is Huang Wei, and I'm an attorney
at the National Center for Youth Law.
I'm asking you to pass the proposed decision
for interim relief.
The proposed decision is a start
to ensure our families stay connected,
that the rate for communication
between youths who are incarcerated and their families
should ultimately be zero.
Research in adolescent development best practices
and the demands of justice support eliminating
these costs of communication.
Being incarcerated can be an incredibly stressful time
for youth, but family contact during incarceration
has been shown to provide a buffer against the stress
and have a significant impact on youths' mental health.
Decades of research has shown that family contact
during incarceration reduces the likelihood
of recidivism after release.
Further, youth and juvenile detention
are disproportionately youth of color,
and the vast majority come from low income families
who are least able to pay these fees.
For many of these youth, telephone calls
may be the primary method of maintaining contact
with their families and other community support.
Please vote yes to the proposed decision for interim relief.
-: Thank you.
Operator, next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller is Carole Urie.
Your line is open.
Carole: Good morning. Carole Urie.
I'm CEO of Returning Home Foundation.
I'm expressing comment on item 31.
I start with expressing my appreciation for the CPUC
and for the interim rate you have proposed.
At the onset, you stated we may review
the definition of incarcerated persons calling services
adopted for the purpose of this decision later
in the proceeding.
The present decision does not include those options
and I'm hoping you continue to evaluate the definition
to include all telecommunications, video calls,
templates, text, not just phone calls
for your final decision.
Research supports the fact that communication
between those incarcerated or detained
to families and to those in the community
is one of the most important evidence-based
rehabilitation programs we can offer,
that determine successful reentry into the communities
and reduce recidivism.
I've read the responses by the sheriffs
specifically regarding their concerns
about the impact of the inmate welfare funds.
Their concerns are real.
And it's unfortunate that funds for programs
must be earned by phone calls and commissary purchases.
several counties in California have changed
the sources of those funds.
To the future, I encourage evaluation
by the counties in the state of the value
of providing telecommunications
as a very cost effective evidence-based
rehabilitation program.
These results could be self liquidating.
Successful reentry translates to decreased-
-: I'm sorry, Ms. Urie.
Your time is up.
-: Thank you. -: We have one minute to speak.
Thank you so much for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you. Our next caller is Rhea Kubota.
Your line is open.
Rhea: Hi, thank you.
My name is Rhea Kubota.
I'm calling as an individual with a fixed income
and already raising rates by 18% over the next three years
makes me feel a little sick.
Fixed income means that whenever rates go up,
my quality of life goes down.
It has to come from some place
and my heart goes out to the people who've lost their homes.
So I really support preventing wildfires,
but I really don't support an additional $2 billion
out of customers' pockets,
which will essentially go into shareholders' pockets.
I never imagined that we'd come to the point
where monopoly that's needed would be able
to pretty much take whatever it wanted
from the poor and middle class
to give to the wealthier people.
So I want the original plan to prevent wildfires.
I would ask you to vote for that
and definitely to vote against $2 billion more.
-: Thank you.
Operator, next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller is Will Abrams.
Your line is open.
Will: Thank you.
Good morning, President Batjer and Commissioners.
I just wanted to take this opportunity today
to remind you of the circumstances
of victims from past utility wildfires,
and a real need to ensure that the circumstances
that past utility wildfire victims have gone through
does not set precedent for the new
and growing number of victims that we see surrounding us.
Many victims are living hand to mouth,
are awaiting settlements out of the Fire Victim Trust,
living in trailers, waiting to build their homes,
waiting to continue their lives.
This should not be precedent
for how future victims are treated.
Attorneys are out there like carnival barkers
and advertising and scooping up victims
to use them as bargaining chips
to secure lines of credit in litigation financing
and advance their interests.
The trust has been set up and is unfortunately
in an awkward position where they're feigning surprise
that they actually had to pay taxes on the sale of stock,
and are not engaged in these proceedings
before the Commission.
I just wanna make sure that the Commission is aware
of the plight of many victims,
and that we are doing everything we can to make sure
that in the future, victims are treated respectfully,
and with fairness.
Thank you.
-: Thank you, Mr. Abrams.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller
comes from Pete Wyotie.
Your line is open.
Pete: Good morning, Commissioners.
My name is Pete Wyotie.
I'm with the Reclaim Our Power Utility Justice Campaign.
And I just wanna echo, and the first 10 callers
this morning, we've heard time and time again,
people whose homes have been burned down,
people whose lives have been torn asunder
and at the very heart of each of them is a corporate utility
relying on the compliance of this body
and not holding them accountable.
But I wanna point back to as you heard two weeks ago,
dozens of people calling out to you.
The Dixie Fire has grown since then, caused by PG&E.
Now over 1000 buildings.
That should trigger your action to move them up the steps
of the accountability processing and oversight process.
You know you can do it.
You set yourselves up last year saying
that you wanted this power to hold them accountable,
now you have it.
So we're encouraging you, as the fires,
please, please, please hold PG&E accountable.
Also just throwing in supporting incarcerated folks
having less dollars taken from them
as they try and keep the payments together.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you. Our Next caller is Yara Quintero.
Your line is open.
Yara: Good morning, Commissioners.
My name is Yara Quintero.
I am a member of Jesse's Place
and also a voice for my husband, Moises Mendoza,
who's at the moment incarcerated.
I am calling in respectively,
calling in regards to asking
for April in order to approve
the seven cents per minute phone calls
that are gonna be talked about today.
Coming from a single mother and a prison wife,
I am in a budget, and I can speak for a lot of the women
that we are all in a budget.
We also have to try and save to be able to provide
for our loved ones, incarcerated packages,
even traveling, gas, and also when we're at visit.
So I would really appreciate if we can get an aye vote
for this to be able to be approved
and get our phone rates down to seven cents per minute.
Thank you very much and have a great day.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you. Our next caller is John Schilling.
Your line is open.
John: Good morning, Commissioner.
I was here. I live in Walker, California.
I watched the power go out three times
during 100 mile an hour windstorm.
And at that time, they did not implement the PSPS.
This is in regards to Liberty Utilities.
I then drove up the highway
and watched the power line come down,
immediately stopped and tried to help.
This rate increase by Liberty Utilities is outrageous,
and we lost 90 homes plus one life.
If you allow that, then you're allowing murder.
Thank you for your time.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you.
Our next caller is Randy Bucholz, I'm sorry.
Your line's open.
Randy: Thank you.
Yeah, I was also one of the victims
in the Mountain View Fire.
And again, with a 40% increase in Liberty Utilities,
I just don't see where the people in this small community
are gonna come up with that kind of money to pay for that.
Most everybody in here is on a fixed income,
and there's not a lot of money in this small town.
A lot of people's lives were ruined that day.
A lot of people are taking on more
than they can afford right now,
with putting their places back to how they had 'em.
Not better, just what we had before.
But now it's two mortgages, upgraded insurance
because we're in a fire zone,
even though we have nothing left to burn,
'cause everything burned in the fire.
So for Liberty to think that we can afford to do this
after a major fire catastrophe like we had, is just absurd.
People's stress levels are out of the world right now.
We don't know what we're doing day to day.
We can't think straight anymore,
and that's just a lot on people's plate.
And I think it needs to stop and not go through.
So thank you for your time.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller
comes from Mr. Hutchinson.
Your line is open.
Mr. Hutchinson: I'm opposed
to Liberty Utilities' increase.
There's a pending federal infrastructure bill
that may provided billions of dollars
to upgrade utility systems, and this should be attempted
as a source prior to imposing such a high increase.
The other thing is, you're asking for an increase
and you're allowing this utility to actually shut down
at certain times and with no financial penalty for doing so.
As far as I know anyway, which can cause food spoilage
and other personal losses.
This is not right.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller is Deidre Isles.
Your line is open.
Deidre: Hello. Good morning, Commissioners.
And I was just calling because incarcerated individuals,
they spend a lot of money on phone calls
that are excessive and overpriced.
And as incarcerated individuals, they are human beings.
We're, as society, as a member of society,
we are relying on them to rehabilitate
and punish them for the crimes that they have committed.
But how are we expected to have them rehabilitate themselves
and not be offenders when they enter society,
if they're unable to call people and loved ones
because of overpriced phone calls?
It's just ridiculous and outrageous.
And so I'm asking you guys
on behalf of incarcerated individuals
to lower those prices, to make it fair
and equal to all individuals,
so that they can rehabilitate,
so that we can decrease the overcrowding
in our prisons in California.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller is Larry Yi.
Your line is open.
Larry: Hey, thank you very much, Commissioner.
My name is Larry Yi.
I'm from the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association
in San Francisco Chinatown.
My concerns are the digital divide
as we enter into the 21st century,
where in our community, the internet service providers
do not come out and provide equal access.
We still do not have lines that are to the 21st century.
We're back in the 20th century
and maybe in the 19th century,
where we have cables that are wrapped in paper.
And it's a disservice to these providers
that do not provide us equal access to high speed internet.
I am asking this Commission to look into this
and to reach out to these providers
and making sure that we are served equally.
So we are, in our area, red lined
from equal access to internet service.
So again, my name is Larry Yi.
Thank you very much.
-: Thank you, Mr. Yi.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller
is Mr. David Rattray.
Your line is open.
David: Thank you very much.
Thank you, Commissioners.
My name is David Rattray.
I'm the President and CEO of UNITE-LA.
And on behalf of myself and Bill Allen,
the CEO of LA Economic Development Corporation,
we are the co-conveners of the LA Deal.
And we just wanna thank the Commission staff
for recommending grant funding
from the Consortia account for the LA Deal.
And it's on today's Consent Calendar, item number eight.
We're very humbled by the staff evaluation
that our application was the only one from our region
that was deemed to meet the CASF Consortia Grant
program rules, and we're ready to deliver
on all these objectives for this program,
if the Commission grants us our approval, grants approval.
So thank you so much.
And we're proud that over 75 letters were written
by community stakeholders in support of this application,
because it is putting equity first.
Thank you so much.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you.
And our next caller is Colleen Cloud.
Your line is open.
Colleen: Yeah, I'm a new resident in Walker, California.
And I was just calling in
about the Liberty Utilities rate increase of 40%.
Our power bill is already over $650 a month.
I could not imagine my family surviving in this community
if our utilities are increased by 40%.
That just seems completely ridiculous and unfair,
that because a wildfire came through
that was at fault of the utility company,
now our rates are being increased, I assume,
so that they can reline their pocket.
And I feel like it's unfair to use
the residents of this community in order to do that.
-: Thank you, caller.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller
is Rebecca Martin.
Your line is open.
Rebecca: Hello, my name is Rebecca Martin.
I'm the director of visitation and independent monitoring
for Freedom for Immigrants based in Oakland, California,
a network of hundreds of members across the state
visiting people in ICE detention in six facilities
across the state, in Imperial, San Diego, San Bernardino,
Yuba and Kern counties, asking you to today,
please pass the proposed decision
for interim relief on phone rates
for people who are incarcerated and detained.
Most people in ICE detention struggle
to stay in contact with their loved ones
due to the high phone call costs.
These are folks in deportation proceedings
facing possible permanent family separation,
torture and/or death.
Because this is civil detention, they are not guaranteed
even one free phone call or a bond hearing.
They're also not provided legal representation,
which is why 86% of them do not have an attorney.
So phone calls with family to strategize
how to obtain an attorney are critical.
I also wanna add that many people facing deportation
served as firefighters, including Fountain, Cal and Sea.
Fountain was hit by a fallen tree
(bell dings) on fire and picked up
by ICE two weeks later.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: Thank you, and our next caller
is Usha Mutschler.
Your line is open.
Usha: Good morning, Commissioners.
Usha Mutschler on behalf of the California
State Sheriffs Association regarding item number 31,
that has to do with inmate rate caps.
We understand the Commission's desire to ensure inmates
and their families pay just and reasonable rates
for inmate communication services.
Further, we acknowledge the importance
of incarcerated persons being able to communicate
with family and friends.
In providing these comments, we mainly urge the Commission
to strongly consider the impact
of actions designed to lower the rates
on the rehabilitative goals of correctional facilities.
Further, adequate time, much more than is currently proposed
must be given to implement any changes
of the scope contemplated by the proposed decision
if it is ultimately adopted.
The California State Sheriffs Association represents
the 58 elected county sheriffs,
and we opine that the proposed decision,
especially the interim rate cap
will likely negatively impact inmates access
to rehab programs and materials.
Actions taken by the Commission
that reduce revenue shared
with local and correctional facilities,
(bell dings) would have devastating impacts
on inmates and their outcomes.
Thank you very much.
-: Thank you for your call.
Operator, the next caller, please.
Operator: President Batjer,
there are no more participants
on the public comment telephone line.
-: All right, operator.
We'll just wait a moment and see if there's anybody else
that wishes to call in or who has not called in
and has tried to get in.
Operator: As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question,
please press star then one,
and remember to unmute your phone
and record your name clearly when prompted.
Thank you.
-: Okay.
Operator, any other callers on the line now?
Operator: We do have a caller in queue.
I did not get their name recorded.
However, your line is open.
-: Your line is open. You can go ahead.
Operator: In hearing no response...
-: Okay.
I don't think that person has been able to get in then.
Okay.
Operator, anybody else?
Operator: So no more participants
on the public comment line.
-: Okay.
With no more callers on the line,
the public comment period is now closed.
Thank you, operator.
Let me continue on our agenda.
The following changes have been made to today's agenda.
Item number three will be held until the Commission meeting
on September 9th, 2021.
Item 17 will be held until the Commission meeting
on September 9th, 2021.
Item 28 has been withdrawn.
Item 30 will be taken up with the Consent Agenda today.
Item 36 will be taken up with the Consent Agenda today.
Item 37 will be held
until the September 9th, 2021 Commission meeting.
We will now take up the consent items.
Is there a motion?
Rechtschaffen: So moved.
-: And a second?
-: Second.
-: Okay. It's been moved and seconded.
Will the agenda clerk please call the roll
on the consent items?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
-: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
The Consent Agenda items have passed unanimously.
Thank you.
We'll now take up the regular agenda items
on today's agenda.
First item number 29 is assigned to Commissioner Shiroma.
Commissioner Shiroma?
-: Ah, yes.
Thank you, President Batjer.
I'm pleased to introduce item 29.
The Southern California Edison general rates case
for test year 2021, and attrition years 2022 and 2023.
This proceeding has four tracks.
Really, the first of its kind for a general rate case,
and determines the cost recovery and revenue requirements
forecasts from 2018 through 2024.
The proposed decision I am presenting today
is the second of the four decisions,
and is the primary decision in this docket
spanning budget forecasts
across the Southern California Edison organizations,
ranging from capital expenditures for wildfire mitigation,
grid modernization, employee benefits,
enterprise-wide technology.
It runs the full gamut of what it takes
to have a utility and run the utility.
For background and procedural history,
the proceeding was not without challenges,
but also opportunities.
Early on, we were nimble with the integration
of the fourth test year midway through the proceeding
after the Commission adopted a new rate case plan.
In addition to that, this proceeding was also
the first proceeding to have evidentiary hearings
two weeks long, held in the remote environment,
in addition to our public participation hearings
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This did create an opportunity for us
to interact with the public in a new way,
bringing in diverse perspectives
through online participation
that brought the public participation hearings
into people's homes.
This allowed us to hear directly
from those who might not have otherwise had access
to a public participation hearing prior,
due to physical constraints, lack of childcare,
just the sheer size of the Southern California Edison area.
Many folks who need to be at work,
especially during a daytime hearing.
We also had evening hearings.
I look forward to the opportunity
to be back in the committee for hearings,
but I think we have learned a lot about making
our public participation hearings more accessible.
This proceeding also did not see a major settlement,
which created the challenge
of extensive evidentiary hearings,
and the extra time to go through the record
with a fine tooth comb.
But it also created the opportunity for us
to make strategic decisions
on the future of Southern California Edison's
capital investments, including grid modernization,
responses to cybersecurity risks,
and safety investments in response to climate change,
and risks like wildfires.
With the hard work of our dedicated staff,
we've made it here.
I've given all that, actually in record time
for a general rate case.
We've added to the stability and opportunity
for Southern California Edison to continue its work
and get a jumpstart on all of these critical investments.
We'll recall that this is the second decision
in this docket.
This past January, we approved the decision
from the team that authorized a settlement,
brought together by many parties
for cost recovery of significant grid hardening,
and wildfire mitigation measures,
covering the years 2018, 2019 and 2020.
And now we look to the future.
But of course, all of these investments
are not without a cost.
This is front and center in my mind,
especially as we continue to fight this pandemic.
We heard folks call in about the Liberty proposals.
I do know that as we've gone through this,
we took a critical eye to all 30 business units
highlighted in this decision
through the extensive gathering of testimony
and legal briefs prepared by the parties.
Southern California Edison came to us
with a rate increase request of over 19%.
And through this careful and deliberative review
of their application and why the record,
what we have before us today is a proposal
to grant a rate increase of 7.63%.
Though, that cut to Southern California Edison's proposal
is extensive, it still constitutes a significant increase
to customer bills on a monthly basis.
The decision targets implementation of these new rates
starting in October, after the summer peak,
to lighten that burden and that transition.
We speak from our uncovered conductors.
The covered conductors are the wires
in our distribution network and transmission networks
that we see as we look upwards.
At the July 26 oral arguments, a discussion centered
on wildfire mitigation and again specifically
on the strategy of covered conductors, capital investments,
where Edison puts much of its focus.
We also heard extensive comments
at the last Commission meeting,
from local governments and fire responders,
calling for Edison's proposed increase
in the amount of covered conductors
that is pre authorized for cost recovery in the decision.
The original proposed decision issued on July 9th,
would have approved over 2750 miles
of covered conductor of the originally proposed 6272 miles
in Southern California Edison's applications.
This 2750 miles presented a buydown of risk
in the high fire risk areas of about 94%,
with the remaining 6% to be mitigated
through a diverse suite of strategies,
and putting fault detection technology
on lines and vegetation management.
That suite is still in this proposed decision.
But after a review of the written comments
received in the parties, the oral arguments,
we have proposed to increase the number from 2750 miles
to 4500 miles of the original 6270 miles to upfront address
98% of the estimated wildfire risk
in Southern California Edison's high fire risk areas,
at a cost that is still $1.5 billion less
than Southern California Edison's request.
Now, we understand that Edison wildfire assessment studies
are continuing to mature, and as they do so,
they can apply those new learnings to inform
their wildfire mitigation strategies going forward.
And that is why in this revised decisions,
we will also be giving Edison the opportunity
for full cost recovery of the additional miles,
over 4500 and up to their full proposals
through the implementation of a balancing account,
and also an expedited reasonableness review
for any of those additional miles that can be supported
by Southern California Edison's future analyses
through their wildfire mitigation plans.
Again, the revised decision authorizes upfront 4500,
and then the opportunity to go beyond that
and garner cost recovery based on the updated analysis.
This authorization will also address the comments
about the continuity
of Southern California Edison's workforce,
which includes highly skilled members of IBEW
and other utility employees.
This authorization gives us the ability to be nimble
rather than walking customers
into a narrow wildfire mitigation strategy
focused on covered conductor.
Southern California Edison will have the ability
to use the latest data modeling
to continue to update its strategy.
Investing further in covered conductors,
should that be identified as the best future strategy
or being able to pivot to newer, more effective strategies
along the way.
This keeps our communities safe and employed,
and also keeps Southern California Edison's
wildfire mitigation strategy goals on track
and allows them to be agile along the way.
I would like to wrap up by saying thank you
to many people who have kept this,
what I would really say, a landmark decision on time.
First, our two Administrative Law Judges, Judge Sophia Park,
and Judge Aaron Seybert, thank you.
And then to our dedicated Energy Division staff,
led by Laura Martin, Jenny Au and Dorothy Judith,
who managed our modeling, and many other divisions,
subject matter experts across the organization.
These analysts lent their expertise and review
of the proposed investments,
again ranging from grid modernization, cybersecurity,
utility-owned generation, customer service and much more.
Again, 30 different business units in Edison.
Thank you to our wildfire safety division staff,
now housed in the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety
at the California Natural Resources Agency.
I would like to give special thanks
to our public advisors office,
to our information technology and support staff
in the administrative laws judge division,
to build our capacity to host evidentiary hearings
and public participation hearings,
and pre hearing conferences
in the COVID safe environment virtually.
And really, when I say overnight,
it was done properly overnight to accomplish this.
It was their ability to pivot during the pandemic
that allowed this proceeding to continue
on a path to timely resolution.
I would also like to thank President Batjer
for being my BK team partner on this effort.
Your advisor, Nora Hawkins
and Chief of Staff Shannon O'Rourke,
for bringing their experience and perspective,
in particular to wildfire mitigation strategy.
And finally, I would like to thank my advisers,
Christina Tan and Andrew Dickinson,
and my Chief of Staff and legal advisor Luwam Tesfai.
And with that, I asked for your aye vote.
Thank you.
-: Thank you so much, Commissioner Shiroma.
First, I want to thank also, the judges,
Commissioner Shiroma, her staff in the Energy Division
for their collaboration on this decision.
GRCs are a marathon, truly.
And their marathon proceedings
and this team has worked so hard to make the tough choices
that resulted in a balanced and well reasoned PD.
Second, I want to emphasize my appreciation
for Commissioner Shiroma's and the judges' focus
on affordability throughout this proceeding,
as you've well outlined.
As we heard at the un-bunk earlier this year,
our electric system is facing escalating costs
that could reduce energy affordability
if not managed carefully.
You've heard that well illustrated to us today
from the folks who are customers of Liberty.
With regard to investments in covered conductor,
and where the revised decision ended up,
overall, I appreciate and support the revisions made
to authorize 4500 miles of covered conductor.
What is most critical is that we are ensuring
that Edison is taking risk off its system
during this rate pace cycle to 2023.
Edison has ramped up its grid-hardening workforce,
and it is important that we are authorizing
a level of covered conductor that can allow this work
to continue through 2023.
Earlier in this meeting, we ratified
the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety's action
on Edison's 2021 fire mitigation plan.
Well, it's a planned update.
I'm grateful to our colleagues at the Energy Safety,
led by the incomparable director Thomas Jacobs,
for their extremely thorough review and analysis
of Edison's plan.
As described in the resolution, in the future,
Edison must do a better job
of explaining why it has chosen to go all in
on covered conductors.
I expect to see more appropriate level of detail
from Edison in its November 1st update document.
It is critical the utilities appropriately justify
the need and value for their proposed mitigation approaches
when the stakes and the costs are so high.
The cost impacts the customers
of installing more covered conductors are not trivial.
However, we know that cost of wildfires are immense,
and that PSPS events can be life threatening.
With that, I will support this decision.
And again, I want to thank Commissioner Shiroma
for all of her very hard work and dedication
to this very difficult proceeding.
Thank you so much.
Are there any other comments on this item?
I think I saw Commissioner Houck's hand go up first.
Commissioner Houck.
-: Thank you.
I apologize. Can you hear me?
-: We can hear you now.
You were a little in and out at first, Commissioner Houck.
-: Sorry. Okay.
So I want to agree with all of the comments
that President Batjer just made,
and I wanna commend Commissioner Shiroma, her team
and the assigned Administrative Law Judges,
Judge Park and Judge Seybert
for all of their outstanding work on this proceeding,
and for balancing the issues of affordability and safety,
both of which are critical to our review process here
with the general rate cases.
As noted by Commissioner Shiroma and President Batjer,
an important question raised by this general rate case
was how much covered conductor is appropriate
for Southern California Edison to install
over the GRC period.
Southern California Edison did not make this easy
for the judges or the assigned office
to come to their conclusions.
As noted by President Batjer,
the resolution we adopted earlier
through our Consent Calendar does require a further analysis
on a segment basis as to Edison's look
at the cost of covered conductor
with other mitigation measures on that segment basis.
SCE has been asked to provide this information previously,
and we do expect to see that information
in their November update.
And this decision, in its final conclusion
on covered conductor is a very reasonable approach
considering some of this lack of data
and the need to prioritize hardening
of our transmission grid.
As was noted, wildfires are extremely expensive
and cost customers and all of us a lot.
And so, I think there's a need to prioritize hardening
of our transmission grid to minimize the potential
for utility ignited wildfires,
and covered conductor is an important tool to help do that.
The approval here of 4500 circuit miles,
permit Edison to move forward
in installing covered conductor
at the accelerated pace it projects is possible,
while the wildfire mitigation plan update requires
the utility to do the analysis necessary
to justify their request for additional miles
of covered conductor beyond the 4500.
If the analysis finds there are more appropriate
and cost effective measures available
while continuing to prioritize safety,
this decision gives us and Edison the flexibility
to implement a course correction,
and this approach also gives the Commission the opportunity
to consider whether ratepayers should pay
for those additional mitigation costs
after considering that information.
I wanna also note that this proceeding highlighted
the importance of the wildfire mitigation plans
to the GRC process, including the RAMP process,
and we need to consider how the RAMP and the GRC proceedings
can support each other while ensuring that the utilities
wildfire mitigation plans and their relevant updates
are providing much needed information
into the record of our GRCs.
In prioritizing safety,
we must also hold the utilities accountable
for spending ratepayer funds on the safety mitigations
that are most effective.
As was noted, and I will not repeat
all the comments noted earlier,
affordability is a top priority.
And I really commend the judges and Commissioner Shiroma
for being mindful about while addressing the safety issues.
And so again, I wanna thank Commissioner Shiroma, her staff,
the assigned judges for all of their work
on this difficult proceeding.
And I wanna thank my Chief of Staff, Krynica Florian
and all of the advisors in my office
for the time and work that went into reviewing
this 700-page plus proposed decision.
And with that, I will be supporting the decision today.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Houck.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Thank you very much.
I'm in agreement with many of the remarks
from my colleagues.
I do wanna give a special shout out
to you, Commissioner Shiroma, for not just your leadership
on this, but your nimbleness is really, really remarkable.
Not just adapting to the change
in the rate case plan schedule
when this proceeding was midway along its way,
but also how creative you were
and how effectively you navigated the onset of COVID.
And really, it did require a shift
in our public participation in evidentiary hearing.
I think, as you noted that it's a positive shift,
we can learn from what we experienced.
But it's a lot to shift on a dime,
and especially in an extremely complex GRC case.
I really appreciate that.
I wanna echo my thanks to Judges Seybert and Park,
and the Energy Division staff
and our colleagues at the Office of Energy,
Infrastructure and Safety.
I wanna highlight just a couple of points.
Commissioner Houck really captured
one thing I wanted to say, which is how important it is
that we continue to make progress,
integrating the risk-based decision making framework
that we've worked very, very hard on in the RAMP process
into the general rate cases.
And also that we make sure we're integrating what we do here
with the wildfire mitigation plan process.
And I think we've done okay in this regard,
in this decision, but it's very, very important
that we continue to do that.
And I think the decision highlights
how important it is to do that.
On the merits of the decision,
I am supporting for the reasons my colleagues have laid out.
It's the right balance, ensuring that Edison can make
the necessary infrastructure investments that it needs,
while minimizing impacts to customers.
We should not sugarcoat that the rate impact,
even after the haircut that Judge Shiroma mentioned,
is still significant.
We heard that repeatedly from Edison's customers
at the public participation hearings.
Also wanna note that we got over 500 comments
from the public that are on our docket card
throughout the proceeding, and many of those raised
the concern about rate impacts.
We also heard, as we discussed for many customers
and public officials about the critical need
for investments to maintain
and improve reliability and resiliency.
And, of course, balancing these very, very difficult
competing interests is at the core
of what we need to do as regulators in our job
in that regard.
It's not getting any easier.
I do wanna underscore that in addition
to providing really an unprecedented amount of funding
for upgrading Edison's electric infrastructure,
that the decision is consistent
with Edison's approved wildfire mitigation plan.
Both that decision and the GRC decision,
direct Edison to provide more analysis
on exactly how the covered conductors fit in.
How are they best utilized, given the range
of all these other mitigation strategies?
The decision is consistent with the framework
that's been approved, and that's important.
So with that, I will be supporting today's decision.
-: Thank you very much, Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
I just wanna also express my gratitude
for Commissioner Shiroma, Judge Seybert and Judge Park
and all of the Energy Division staff
and all the other teams that have worked on this,
including President Batjer, your team in your office.
One of the things I'm particularly appreciative
is the structure that Commissioner Shiroma,
you described in the transparency of a balancing account
will allow us to see how these investments are being made.
During oral argument, Edison made a very strong commitment
of what this type of investment represents
in terms of preventing PSPSs and preventing modifiers.
And so as we track the progress of these investments,
we obviously wanna track those outcomes
and that those commitments be fulfilled.
That was, for me, a major decision,
major aspect of reaching this very hard decision
to ask the Edison ratepayers for such a high increase
in their monthly bills,
is to see the commitment come through
that they will face less catastrophe.
And finally, I just want to call
on all of our legislators federally and state.
I'm very excited about the prospect
of the federal infrastructure package,
that we begin to look at different ways
to finance this infrastructure
in a way to adapt to this changing climate
that is more sustainable.
And certainly, more federal investment,
and state investment in this area is much needed.
Those are not things that are out of the realm.
There is much federal and state infrastructure
and many other utilities sectors such as water.
So I look forward to the possibility, first and foremost,
that our federal government will reach a compromise,
our Congress and our President to make sure
there's more investment coming from the federal government
to these customers.
With that, I look forward to supporting this decision.
-: Thank you so much, Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
I was negligent in not mentioning,
and I wanna thank my fellow Commissioners
for mentioning my staff, that worked hard
once we became a BK partner with Commissioner Shiroma.
Nora Hawkins, as Commissioner Houck said,
this is a mighty big decision.
Over 700 pages.
I wanna thank Nora Hawkins of my staff,
my advisor who worked so hard on this
as well as my incredible Chief of Staff, Shannon O'Rourke.
So thank you. Thank you all again.
So with that, are there any other questions or comments?
Okay, seeing none, will the agenda clerk
please call the roll on item 29?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
-: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Yes.
The item 29 passes unanimously.
Thank you very much.
Moving now to item 31.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves, that is assigned to you.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
This proposed decision is focused on regulating the rates
that incarcerated people and their loved ones
are forced to pay for phone calls.
We heard hundreds of testimonials,
including some that we heard this morning, of course,
from people included
a few incarcerated individuals themselves,
which I just wanna acknowledge as a side note
of the tremendous work of our IT and our ALJs
to make that even possible.
We all spoke of the negative effects
that incarcerated people themselves face.
And making it harder for them to communicate
not just with their loved ones,
but with gaining some of their legal advice, medical advice,
all of the elements of connectivity
that can foster or prevent recidivism,
and make our jails safer and our society safer as well.
We obviously brought forward this entire proceeding
because we have the legal obligation
to ensure that utility rates paid by everyone in the state,
including incarcerated people
and their families and loved ones are just and reasonable.
We also recognize the tremendous impact
that during this pandemic, the communication with loved ones
has become even more critical and even more difficult.
As we sit here with the spread of the Delta variant,
we know that the pandemic is not something
that is going away quite yet.
So it's even more urgent for us to act now,
and while we structure the need for an interim decision
as we look deeper into the issue.
So the proceeding will remain open,
and we'll start to take evidence
so we can develop a permanent rate structure.
Before I summarize the specifics of the decision,
I wanted to recognize the path that it has taken to get here
and further acknowledge the amount of work
that is yet to come.
In 2015, the FCC set permanent caps on rates,
and auxiliary fees for both the interstate
and intrastate calls, to and from jails and prisons.
And phone carriers, food.
And in 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
ruled among other things that the FCC lacked authority
to regulate intrastate rates and fees.
And although that decision ended the FCC's attempt
to regulate intrastate calls for jails and prisons,
I want to acknowledge,
this might be the only time I do this,
the leadership of SEC then chairman Ajit Pai,
for recognizing that these rates and charges
were unconscionably high.
And in July 2020, he wrote a formal letter to NARUC,
the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners
urging us, as regulatory Commissions to act.
And its interesting when we look
at some of the other areas of our jurisdiction
where we are leaders in areas like decarbonization,
electric and other areas of climate change adaptation.
This particular area, we have not led in.
In fact, even though California has the second highest
incarcerated population in the country,
only behind the state of Texas,
our jails and prisons are so overcrowded that as you know,
under our previous Governor, the US Supreme Court stepped in
because they felt he violated incarcerated people's rights
to be free from cruel and unusual punishment.
This step today is a big step,
although other states have gone farther.
For example, in Connecticut, jails and prisons
have free calling.
The average cost of a 15-minute call in Illinois
is 13 cents, as an example.
In New Hampshire, a 15-minute call is 20 cents.
So I have mentioned this not to diminish
the very important action today,
but to recognize that we have so much farther to go.
In fact, much of our public comment
was focused on the need for these calls to be free.
And I do wanna acknowledge the city
and County of San Francisco, the County of San Diego,
for making that a reality for their incarcerated population.
And just recently, I understand
that the county of Los Angeles
is looking at a similar measure for their facilities.
And I sincerely hope and strongly encourage them
to move forward on that.
I also want to acknowledge
the Los Angeles County of Education,
for making educational engagement for incarcerated youth
and communication with loved ones,
free as well for their youth,
in their partnership with the Los Angeles Department
of Youth Development.
Just to say, there's much more to go,
and many, many of our partners are doing so
on their own jurisdiction.
So now, let me just get into the key parts of the decision.
The centerpiece, of course, is a per-minute rate
will be capped at seven cents.
The evidence on record shows that many jurisdictions,
both in California and outside the state
are able to provide calling services to incarcerated people
for well below the seven cents per minute.
I've named a few of those already.
We also saw that earlier this year,
the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation,
CDCR, capped the state rate for California prisons
at 2.5 cents per minute.
That number may not be appropriate in all situations,
and we recognize in particular that for smaller facilities,
there tend to be higher operating costs.
So that seven cent number includes what we think
is a very generous buffer to allow for some variation
in the cost of service.
Therefore, we think this trade balances our obligation
to provide just and reasonable services to all Californians,
with our obligation to allow the regulated utilities
to earn a reasonable return on their investment.
Again, we'll keep looking at this issue as we move forward
in the permanent rules of our proceedings.
As important as the per minute cap is,
perhaps even more important than something we heard
from the public as a major concern,
is the cost related to the auxiliary fees.
These charges for things like receiving a paper bill,
or talking to a live operator or paying by credit card.
We held, as you know, two public meetings
in April of this year.
And although some people complained
about the per minute rate, it was very clear
that these extra fees caused the most confusion,
frustration, and lack of transparency.
Our record does not show any evidence
that these fees are just or reasonable.
I can personally pay my phone bill with a credit card
without incurring any additional charges.
People in California's jails or prisons
should be able to do the same.
We are however allowing two forms of these fees to continue.
We are allowing the past two without a markup
of government mandated taxes and fees,
and we are also allowing the past two
again without a markup of mandatory third party charges.
As an example, when an incarcerated person's family sends
the money to a third party payment processing company,
as an example, like Western Union,
may charge a fee not directly to the incarcerated person
or their family, but to the communication service provider.
And under this interim decision,
the service provider may pass that suit through
to the incarcerated person with a cap.
And the cap is significantly higher.
I wanna know is that it's not as low
as I would have liked to see, but it's at $6.95.
Finally, we're ordering service providers
to implement these changes within 45 days,
and to submit a report demonstrating
their compliance with this order.
And of course, that includes notifying their customers.
In the next phase of this proceeding,
in addition to considering
what the appropriate permanent rate structure should be,
we're also going to be tackling some very tough issues
like the appropriate rates for text-based
and video-based communications,
which are becoming even more important
than the traditional telephone communications
as time goes on.
We do have a lot of work ahead,
but this is a tremendous first step.
And so I want to acknowledge all of the amazing people
that made this possible.
First, I wanna start with the Communications Division team.
Eric van Wombeck, Carol Filet, Amy Lau,
Andrew Aliabadi, for taking on the very diligent task
of fact finding, developing policy recommendations
on every element of these different payment structures,
and really digging deep into their impacts,
including what was mentioned today by the sheriffs
on the impacts to the welfare program.
Thank you so much for the city team.
I wanna thank the legal division Assistant General Counsel,
Helen Mickiewicz, and Kerriann Sheppard,
for always providing a constant guidance.
And most of all, I wanna thank our Administrative Law Judge,
Judge Kathy Fogle, for her immense organization,
her timeliness, her deep engagement,
and all of the dedication that she brought to this decision.
Of course, there's additional leadership involved.
And Assistant Chief ALJ, Catherine MacDonald,
and Judge Anthony Kolbert.
Also wanna recognize that we had an ALJ intern help us
with this effort as well, who has since left,
Bernardo Katrina, and he has provided us
with some invaluable research,
even during the short time that he was here.
I wanna recognize the Environmental
and Social Justice Action Plan
has really focused on a goal related to access
to affordable communication rule number three,
and we see this as really a component
of carrying that goal out.
One of the team members, (indistinct)
ESG Action Plan team, but in particular,
I wanna call out Judith Eclay,
who, on my first week of the job,
over four and a half years ago,
recommended that the Commission take on this issue
and take action.
Although we are a bit late, I do wanna recognize
that this idea is not new,
not even within our own Commission staff
and across divisions.
Finally, not quite finally, but very importantly,
I wanna thank my BK team partner,
Commissioner Shiroma, for her very strong
and steadfast moral compass on this issue.
She and her team of advisors have been basically one team
on this proceeding.
Breanna Grant, Christina Tam, and Luwam Tesfai.
They have been excellent to work with on this.
Along with my advisors, Pilad Mandriquez,
who was really new to working on proceedings
and very engaged on this.
And most importantly, Jonathan Colts,
my chief of staff and legal advisor
who has been really the policy guidance for me
on this whole effort.
And sorry for me being so long-winded,
but I have two final thank yous.
I want to thank our now County Supervisor
of Los Angeles, Holly Mitchell.
She has been a champion for the incarcerated
and their families.
And as a senator, many of you know,
that she passed legislation
that was much more comprehensive,
dealing with all the excessive commissary costs,
phone calls being one of them.
And although this decision only deals
with one of those costs, I certainly encourage
the legislature to continue to work on those other issues.
But I wanna thank Senator Mitchell
and I see that she's continuing
the good work as a supervisor.
And most of all, I wanna thank the family and friends
of the incarcerated people for their tireless advocacy.
I want to thank them in particular,
for educating us in this institution, about our own biases,
in our process and in our language.
From my very initial meeting
with some of the advocacy groups
that taught me the importance
of using more humanizing language
to describe their loved ones.
To calling us out on some of our condescending comments,
and mostly for our biased rule.
And finally, I wanna thank you,
to all the family and friends for reminding us
that restorative justice is based on the belief in people
and that this move, hopefully, this modest,
but significant action today,
will help make that reform more possible.
Thank you.
And with that, I wanna ask my fellow Commissioners
for their support.
-: Thank you for that very detailed explanation
of this incredibly important issue.
I wanna thank you in particular for your leadership,
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
I want to turn now to your BK team partner
on this important decision, Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
And thank you, Commissioner Guzman Aceves
for your leadership on this proposed decision.
And of course, I'm in support of it.
As you outlined, the California Public Utilities Commission
has an obligation pursuant to public utilities
code section 451, to ensure access
to just and reasonable rates for telecommunication services.
That includes rates related to service for Californians
that are incarcerated and their loved ones.
We heard that at the high end of the scale,
one 15-minute call between an incarcerated person
and their family could cost $26.
We heard a range of costs.
If you think about a call once a week, a call each day,
we heard from families saying how important it was
for their loved one to hear their voices each day.
The father of their child, the mother of their child,
their sister, their brother, sons, daughters.
This interim rate of seven cents per minute
will create an immediate relief of $1.05 for 15 minutes
versus that $26.
I appreciate the thoughtful and expedient action taken
in working to reduce the burden imposed
on those who are incarcerated and their families
by implementing rate caps, addressing ancillary fees,
ensuring telephone corporation compliance.
I also note that these actions
as Commissioner Guzman Aceves outlined,
they're fashioned in concert with changes
that are occurring on national level
by the Federal Communications Commission,
supporting the evidence collected in this docket,
that the rates charged to those who are incarcerated
aren't just unreasonable.
The FCC has been working on reducing the rates
for both interstate and intrastate for quite a long time.
And I've been taking note of the high ancillary fees
which all add up, whether in jails or prisons.
We heard from someone who spoke about ICE facilities.
While these interim rates are not as low
as our California Department of Corrections
and Rehabilitation levels, which were lowered
to two and a half cents in March this year,
it does represent a substantial decrease
that get us towards that just and reasonable requirement.
I had the opportunity to hear firsthand
through public participation of hearings,
from those incarcerated as well as their families.
It was pretty compelling.
The financial burden placed on them is high,
not to mention that, in fact, in some cases,
there are offensively innocent individuals sitting in jail
simply because they cannot afford bail,
let alone a phone call.
In my view, adding those high rates
to their financial burdens, significantly affects
those who are already paying their debt to society.
And those financial burdens affect the ability
to care for loved ones at home,
and to prepare for a life once released.
Without that close contact to family to prevent recidivism,
it's a tough burden to bear.
On a personal level, I'm sure I am not alone
in having a family member who was incarcerated,
in my case, decades ago, in prison.
And I look back and think, wow if I had knew then
what I know now, I'm just grateful that ultimately,
our family was there for our family member
towards recovery and redemption
after having paid their debt to society,
after having spiraled down so deeply
that they ended up in prison.
So to close, adopting an interim rate
of seven cents per minute, placing a cap on ancillary fees,
monitoring and prohibiting of these fees,
requiring telephone corporation compliance
are all steps in the right direction,
and they will provide immediate relief
to families and those incarcerated.
I wanna thank Commissioner Guzman Aceves
for allowing me to be her BK team partner.
Your leadership on this issue, your chief of staff
and legal advisor, Jonathan Colts,
as well as Judge Kathleen Fogle and the entire team,
as you outlined, Commissioner Guzman Aceves
that have worked on this matter,
and I appreciate the opportunity
to continue to engage with you
as we continue to work on this very important issue.
Thank you and we support this decision.
President Batjer, you might be muted.
-: Yes, I was. (laughs)
Thank you.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen and then the Commissioner Houck.
Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Thank you.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves, I was smiling when you said
that Judith Eclay came to talk to you
when you first got on the Commission.
She did her homework very well.
She also came to talk to me
within the first three or four months,
and raised the same issue to me.
I'm very glad that you've taken it on
so I can feel less guilty about
not having done it over the past four and a half years.
This really is an important decision
that will have a profound, positive and immediate effect
on the lives of thousands,
if not tens of thousands of people.
And we should take a step back
because we really can't say that about all of our decisions,
but many of our decisions that they will have
this profound and immediate effect
in improving people's lives.
We're acting pursuant to the broad regulatory authority
that we have.
Also, to advance a goal
that Commissioner Guzman Aceves mentioned
that we set for ourselves in our Environmental Justice
and Social Justice Action Plan,
to provide high quality communication services
to all communities, including underserved ones.
As we've heard, the current rates are just egregiously high,
irrational, no transparency, no understanding
about the fees being charged.
A nightmare for inmates and their families.
So really, this decision is a critical step
to ensuring that incarcerated or detained persons
can call their loved ones, their friends,
their legal counsel or others
with whom they need to maintain the thread
as they are behind bars.
I'm very glad we have these decisions,
these protections in place and I look forward
to the development of longer term changes.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
Commissioner Houck.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
So, I wanna thank Commissioner Guzman Aceves,
her BK partner, Commissioner Shiroma,
Administrative Law Judge Fogel,
all of Commissioner Guzman Aceves' staff
and Commissioner Shiroma's staff
as well as the Communications Division
for the work that they put in
on the multiple staff proposals
considered in the proceeding.
And finally, I wanna thank the parties
and the hundreds of members of the public
that provided input either through
our public participation hearings,
or through our public comment portal.
I concur with Commissioner Rechtschaffen's statements
about the immediate effects this decision
is gonna have on so many people.
The proposed decision provides much needed immediate relief
to people who are incarcerated in California
and their families, who are disproportionately low income
and people of color.
In normal times, the calling services addressed
in this proposed decision are important
for connecting people who are incarcerated
with their families, friends and support systems.
Connections that the proposed decision notes
are central for increasing the chances of personal success,
post incarceration, personal exploration
and for reducing recidivism.
Now, when in person visitations are limited
or prohibited in many cases, because of the pandemic,
these connections are more than important.
They're necessary.
The proposed decision's interim rate cap
and limitations on ancillary fees
are a crucial first step to ensuring communications,
service rates are just and reasonable for all Californians.
And I commend everyone that worked on putting
this important decision together.
And I also am looking forward to following
the next phase in the proceeding,
which will be examining permanent rate caps.
And I also look forward to discussions
on the reasonableness of rates
for text and video calling services
for people who are incarcerated
as this proceeding moves forward.
So again, thank you, Commissioner Guzman Aceves
for all of your work on this proceeding
and to her staff and Commissioner Shiroma.
I will be supporting it.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Houck.
I want to again, thank you Commissioner Guzman Aceves
for your incredible steadfast leadership
on this very, very important issue,
and want to extend my gratitude
along with my fellow Commissioners,
to all of those whom you mentioned as well.
In particular, your chief of staff, Jonathan Colts,
and the communication division,
and especially Administrative Law Judge Kathy Fogle
for her incredible dedication and hard work
on this proceeding.
I'm also deeply appreciative or appreciate the efforts
of the many consumer advocates,
the family and friends of those incarcerated
and others who participated
in the public participation hearings
that you all held in this proceeding.
It was vitally important,
and their voices were incredibly impactful.
For too long, unjust rates, as has been mentioned,
have hurt incarcerated persons and their families.
In an era of unlimited talk and text,
it is striking to me that these services are not free.
As mentioned, indeed, many local governments,
and thank you for calling those out,
Commissioner Guzman Aceves, even in other states,
provide these services at no cost.
I'm hopeful that with a landmark broadband package
that was recently enacted, providing these services for free
is something we can enable the state
and local governments to do in the near future.
In the meantime, today's decision will bring vital relief
as we have well outlined today.
To many Californians, I'm very pleased to support this item.
So any other comments or questions?
Seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
Thank you very much.
Item 31 passes unanimously.
Item 32 is assigned to Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Yes, thank you President Batjer.
So item 32 is an extension order
for Suburban Water company, test year 2021,
and for its general rate case, which is A20-03-001.
I ask for your support to extend the deadline
by two months to November 1st, 2021.
We are in the final stages of drafting the decision,
and this short extension will provide time
to circulate the proposed decision for comments
and finalize our deliberations, again before November 1st.
With that, I request your aye vote.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Shiroma.
Are there any questions or comments?
Okay, seeing none, will the agenda clerk
please call the roll on item 32?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
Thank you. Item 33 passes unanimously.
I mean, excuse me.
Item 32 passes unanimously.
I got ahead of myself.
Item 33 is assigned to me.
This decision extends the statutory deadline
for the complaint filed by the town of Paradise
against AT&T and Comcast for the continued safety risks
that the remaining utility poles impose on the town.
This proceeding has been open since August of 2020,
when Paradise filed this complaint.
The town has since entered into a joint agreement
with Comcast to dismiss the complaint.
However, the town continues to mediate
their issues with AT&T.
The parties report they continue to engage
in constructive settlement talks,
and believe that a final settlement of the case
is likely by October 1.
The proceeding continues to be suspended
to allow these discussions.
The order before us today extends the statutory deadline
to August 21st, 2022.
I sincerely hope that this lengthy extension
will not be necessary.
However, if an agreement is not reached,
this time is necessary to restart
the litigation schedule for the proceedings.
I ask your support for this extension.
Thank you.
Are there any comments or questions on item 33?
Seeing none, will the agenda clerk please call the roll
on item 33?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
I mean, excuse me.
Item number 33 passes unanimously.
Thank you.
Now, turning to item 34,
which is assigned to Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
This item is an order extending deadline
for energy storage applications.
And this is a procurement application
that is consolidated on the applications from PG&E,
Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric.
We've been considering briefs from parties,
and the ALJ recently issued a ruling
asking for supplemental information.
So we're asking for additional time to resolve those
from September of this year to March of next year.
I ask for your support.
-: Thank you very much, Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
Are there any questions or comments?
Okay, seeing none, will the agenda clerk
please call the roll on item 34?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
Thank you.
Item 34 passes unanimously.
Now turning to item 35, which is also assigned
to Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Thank you.
This is a proceeding for the 2019 era compliance case
for Pacific Gas & Electric.
We recently did resolve the usual phase one issues,
but phase two is now considering a specific issue
that you'll all remember,
which is to address the public safety power shut offs
for 2019, and the appropriate,
not allowing for recovery for some of those costs.
So we're gonna consider those issues
and we hope to resolve them before August of next year.
So I'm asking for a extension.
Well, we hope to resolve them well before then,
but just to be safe, for August of 2022.
Thank you.
-: Thank you.
Are there any questions or comments on item 35?
Okay, seeing none, will the agenda clerk
please call the roll for item 35?
Clerk: Commissioner Houck.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Aye.
Clerk: Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
-: Yes.
Clerk: Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Aye.
Clerk: President Batjer.
-: Aye.
Thank you.
The item 35 passes unanimously.
Thank you all.
We will now move on in our agenda to management reports.
There is no report for item 38,
which is management report and discussion
on recent consumer protection and safety activities.
Item 39 is a management report and discussion
on administrative activities.
And today we have executive director Rachel Peterson,
who will present our second quarter
Employee Recognition Awards.
Rachel.
Rachel: Good morning, President Batjer and Commissioners.
Thank you very much for the chance
to make this presentation.
My name is Rachel Peterson.
I'm the Executive Director and I'm always delighted
to come to you once a quarter
to present our Employee Recognition Awards.
Next slide, please.
As you know, our mission is to empower California
through the access to safe, clean
and affordable utility services and infrastructure.
Next slide, please.
I wanted to reiterate our core values
because they are an important part of this program.
We ask our employees to adhere
to standards of accountability, excellence, integrity,
open communication and stewardship.
Next slide, please.
And I just wanted to go back over the structure
of how this program happens once a quarter.
We ask for nominations from all employees.
Either teams or individuals can be nominated,
of their colleagues who merit recognition.
The categories are in the pink box to the right.
Building morale, customer service, quality improvement,
core values, leadership, innovation
and outstanding achievement.
We also ask for volunteers every quarter,
so there are always new sets of people
who are reading the nominations
and reaching consensus on the awardees.
Next slide, please.
And with that, I will launch into the recognition
for second quarter of 2021.
First for building morale, the Food from the Bar Committee
consisting of Susan Lee, Dan Buch, John Larsen,
Peter Wercinski, Theresa Buckley, Charlyn Hook,
Cindy Philapil and Bob Mason.
This year because of COVID-19,
this Food from the Bar committee pivoted, like we all have,
and held a virtual baking competition show.
People could donate and watch "The Great CPUC Baking Show,"
and all of the donations were given
to the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank.
The individuals who are on the Food from the Bar committee
donated their time amid their busy work schedules
to make this event a success.
It allowed employees to connect in the virtual environment
and also helped a worthy organization.
This is a tradition at the CPUC.
We participate in this broader bar,
legal bar fundraising effort,
and our collective donations this year
reached close to $9,000.
Next slide, please.
The next award is for customer service.
I'm very happy to award this one to Jean Garcia,
who's actually a member of my team.
We keep a main phone number on our public website
just in case people can't find the Consumer Affairs branch
or another division that they're looking to call right away.
Jean answers that phone line.
Members of the public who call it,
often need to find the right person, team or helpline
to contact about a problem they're having
with their utilities service.
Jean is always professional, always courteous,
always patient and she directs people to the right person
or the division inside the Commission.
She remains courteous and professional,
regardless of how upset the caller is.
And she doesn't stop there with her customer service.
She sends an email or calls the person inside the CPUC
to alert them to the caller's question or complaint
so that that employee can properly prepare for
and respond to the inquiry.
For customer service in this regard is enormously helpful,
especially to the managers of the Consumer Affairs branch,
who end up receiving
a lot of those forwarded notes from Jean.
For quality improvement, Vince Houben in our IT department.
Vince is a developer on a quality assurance project
that will improve the data
also being collected in Consumer Affairs branch.
In that branch, we've been making enhancements
to the data we collect.
And the project that Vince has been working on,
is about assuring the accuracy of that data.
It appears in that branch's reports to you
and to the public about the nature of customer complaints,
we received the volume of complaints,
the regulated companies that customers are calling about
and the amount of refunds that our representatives
have obtained for customers.
Vince is one of the team of IT experts
assigned to the project, and has shown his commitment
to quality improvement throughout.
Thank you and congratulations to Vince.
Next slide, please.
Our recognition for collaboration goes to Asia Powell
in News and Outreach Division and Gregory Dixon,
in our Rail Safety Division.
Beginning in December 2020, Asia teamed up with Gregory
to hold a series of meetings
with Los Angeles City Council District 15.
At the meetings, Asia and Gregory listened to
and discussed long running concerns
with Union Pacific Railroad,
and its inaction regarding debris, trespassing and safety
along the El Segundo rail line.
As a result of these meetings,
Gregory took steps to ensure
that track conditions were safe.
He provided risk assessment report to Union Pacific
and met with Union Pacific management.
For her part, Asia coordinated a resource call
where participants brainstormed potential solutions
to address the concerns.
Ultimately, pressed by Gregory and Asia,
Union Pacific hired maintenance and security teams
for the region, made significant improvements
in their service, and is now in constant communication
with District 15.
That district, the city council members
feel heard and served.
Congratulations and very well done to Gregory and Asia.
Our next recognition is for core values.
And it goes to Jenny Au,
who worked on the Southern California Edison
general rate case that you just deliberated on and approved.
She most recently exemplified the CPUC's core values,
particularly of excellence and accountability,
while working on this general rate case proceedings.
Jenny worked tirelessly to ensure staff review and modeling
were completed in a timely manner,
to support the over 700-page proposed,
now approved decision in that proceeding.
She managed the process for modeling billions of dollars
in approved revenue requirements and rates,
and provided timely responses to technical questions
from the assigned judges.
Jenny also regularly kept the judges appraised
of the status of modeling work in the proceedings.
Throughout, she maintained a positive attitude,
tracked meticulous details related to the work.
She was highly organized and was willing to overcome
and learn from any challenges that arose,
all while navigating the unique nature of a GRC proceeding.
Very well done, Jenny.
Our next award for innovation goes to Ankit Jain.
Ankit has done excellent work
on the Commission's affordability rulemaking.
I had the opportunity to work with him
on the affordability metrics report
that the Commission issued a few months ago.
He presented innovative solutions
by developing a complex affordability
calculator tool and metrics.
He's led the research and development of a major white paper
and supported the un-banks that you as Commissioners
participated in earlier this year,
forecasting utility costs and the grid of the future.
Ankit's work will greatly enhance the CPUC's ability
to understand the impact of utility revenue requests
on vulnerable customers
through a more granular geographic lens.
Congratulations.
Next slide, please.
Our recognition for leadership this quarter
goes to Nicole Cropper.
Nicole can be seen wearing a number of hats
across the Commission.
She puts together historical and cultural events.
She leads work on racial equity and diversity,
spearheads efforts related to environmental
and social justice, weighs in on policy,
and thinks through and assists many of us, including myself,
with organizational challenges.
Nicole has made an undeniable impact on the CPUC
by challenging us to do better and be better.
Her hard work is part of the glue
that held many of our important efforts together,
and she is a clear leader.
We're very lucky to have her on the CPUC team.
The award for outstanding achievement this quarter
goes to Kristina Abadjian in Energy Division.
Kristina is a person who does not draw attention to herself
or her achievements, but works diligently behind the scenes,
assimilating broad swaths of information
and boiling that down to its essence.
She has a knack for understanding
how to create analytical tools
that allow a policy idea to work effectively
in the real world.
She works in our natural gas team,
and the mechanisms she has developed
have worked seamlessly to decrease market uncertainty
and the need for the Commission to take emergency measures
to ensure that there's enough gas in storage for winter.
Kristina has also taken on a leadership role
within the team, recruiting and supervising interns,
who I find to be a very important pipeline
into new employees at the CPUC.
She's expanded the team's capacity
to understand the coming gas transition
and propose effective action.
Kristina is an all around asset to the Commission.
Congratulations, Kristina.
That concludes our presentation of employee recognition
for this quarter.
Commissioners, thank you very much for your attention.
(Commissioners applaud)
-: Congratulations to all the wonderful CPUC employees,
who have contributed so well and so brilliantly
to the Commission.
And these recognition awards
are just always a thrill for me,
and I really do appreciate it.
Thank you so much, Executive Director Rachel Peterson
for presenting and really describing so well
all of the awardees' merits.
So, thank you.
This is just terrific.
Yay!
Okay, with that, again, I thank Executive Director Peterson
for the presentation and we will now move on
to Commissioner reports.
Who would like to go first today?
Commissioner Shiroma.
-: Yes, thank you and congratulations
to all the staff on their excellence.
Makes us all feel very proud.
Especially during these COVID times, all the more.
Thank you President Batjer.
I have three reports today.
Last month on July 20th, I had the opportunity
to speak at the National Association
of Regulatory Utility Commissioners or NARUC,
at the Summer Policy Summit on a keynote panel,
focused on micro grids and how they can be leveraged
to support resilience.
Of interesting note, the event was conducted
in a hybrid conference setting with participants in Denver,
and participants like myself connecting in remotely.
I think it worked out very well.
Other speakers in the panel range from regulators,
utilities and developers from Idaho, Colorado,
Texas, and Wisconsin.
It was a great opportunity for us to share
the challenges in our states,
and how we're responding to extreme weather and wildfire,
our diverse efforts to enhance resiliency,
including through micro grids.
The panel illustrated the great strides that we have made
through our efforts to support resiliency in California,
and the commercialization of micro grids.
I also, in July, July 28, spoke at a virtual,
at an entirely virtual conference
called US Transmission Infrastructure Investments.
It was hosted by the Global Transmission Report Group.
Now, at the conference, I had the pleasure to participate
in a keynote discussion alongside Carrie Zalewski,
chair of the Illinois Commerce Commission.
We discussed policies and regulations
around transmission infrastructure,
a very big topic for one hour.
I shared some of California's experience
in planning transmission for a decarbonized
wildfire prone world.
And I learned about Illinois' plan
for their renewable portfolio,
while having a very different
resource mix than Californians,
as much of Illinois electricity comes
from nuclear power plants.
And finally, I'd like to take a moment
to thank my summer intern.
Summer went by pretty quickly.
Carlos Ciudad Real.
Carlos recently graduated from Stanford
with his master's in Civil and Environmental Engineering.
We're encouraging him, by the way,
to apply for vacancies at the CPUC.
This summer, Carlos worked with us
on our Customer Energy Financing proceedings,
researching gaps in our current financing programs,
future financing tools for the Commission to consider
and helping us get our first financing decision out
in our current rulemaking earlier this summer.
He has been working with us on issues related to the nexus
between transportation network companies
and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Carlos, thank you so much for your contributions.
I hope your experience with us this summer
brings you back to CPUC or other state service.
Stay in the public sector in a permanent role.
Again, thank you, and all the best for the future.
Back to you, President Batjer.
-: Thank you so much, Commissioner Shiroma.
Are there any other Commissioner reports today?
Yes, Commissioner Rechtschaffen
and then Commissioner Houck
and then Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: I wanted to mention that I've been selected
to be on a joint Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
NARUC taskforce on transmission.
Thank you, President Batjer for nominating me
or supporting my application.
This is a taskforce that FERC convened
as part of its efforts to look at reforms
to the transmission siting process.
There's a lot of interesting developments going on
for a position in advance notice of potential rulemaking
that touches on a whole range of innovative ideas
to promote better inter-regional planning,
to better take into account future trends,
including the need to develop projects,
renewable energy projects
that require support from new transmission lines,
ways to reform the process
by which generators connect to the grid
and the queue process to avoid multiple speculative bids
and so forth.
There are two members from the West.
Commissioner Chris Rapier from Idaho and I
are the Western representatives.
We had an initial meeting earlier this week.
There's gonna be a joint meeting of the FERC
and NARUC members in November,
at NARUC's winter policy meeting.
The federal counterparts to this effort
are the four FERC Commissioners.
That's where we are.
I'll be updating folks as the taskforce moves forward,
but it's a really interesting and important opportunity
for states to weigh in on federal transmission reform.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Rechtschaffen.
Commissioner Houck.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
I also want to congratulate and thank
all of the employee excellence awardees
for all of their great work.
We couldn't do our jobs without our amazing staff.
I just wanna make a note that next week
is gonna be a very busy week.
On Tuesday, I'm gonna be attending
the California Energy Commission's
integrated energy policy report workshop
on how energy efficiency relates
to building decarbonization with Commissioner Shiroma,
will also be attending and looking forward
to hearing the presentations and participating
in the discussion on the energy efficiency issues
for the Iper.
On Wednesday, next week, we are gonna be receiving
a safety certification briefing from the IOUs.
And there's also gonna be a workshop
on the avoided cost calculator on that same day.
Energy Division staff have been working really hard
on moving forward with the DER Action Plan 2.0,
and we'll be holding...
The staff-sponsored workshop
is next week on Thursday, August 26th,
from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
So I encourage all stakeholders to join us
to hear staff walk through the pillars of the plan.
I'm looking forward to hearing the presentations
and some stakeholders.
This is a really important process.
A lot of work has gone into this,
and I wanna recognize and thank Keisha Austin
who served as the lead for this project,
as well as Paul Phillips, Simon Baker,
George Morgenstein and their team
as well as my advisor, M.C. Brown,
who has been working very hard on this important document
and assisting and coordinating for the workshop next week.
There's also going to be a tribal consultation
that we're looking at for September 16th.
So any tribal leaders that are interested
in participating in the DER Action Plan,
I encourage you to reach out to Ken Holbrook,
our tribal advisor, or to my office
if you want more information.
And then on Friday next week,
there's a Low Income Oversight Board,
water and climate subcommittee which I plan to attend.
And I thank Commissioner Shiroma for her leadership
with the Low Income Oversight Board.
The next week will be a very busy week as we move into fall.
And with that, I will conclude my report.
-: Thank you, Commissioner Houck.
Commissioner Guzman Aceves.
-: Thank you, President Batjer.
Just wanted to thank the American Association
of Blacks in Energy, for the invitation on Tuesday
to participate in their virtual town hall.
Chair Holden was also a participant
as well as many of the energy industry utilities leadership.
And really interesting conversation
to talk about, where we are in our energy space,
our climate space, and our equity and inclusion space.
So thank you for inviting me to participate in that,
and recognizing a lot more work to do there.
I also wanted to update everyone,
as President Batjer and I participated
in one of the first big steps of the implementation
of the Governor's and the legislature's
packed broadband package of $6 billion.
One large component of that was the Middle Mile.
And just yesterday,
there was the first Middle Mile Advisory Committee meeting,
where we discussed many things around ensuring
that we're all moving in the same direction,
and hearing good feedback from some of our initial work.
And as one of our proceedings
and for the public's knowledge,
the rulemaking is R20-09-011,
the broadband deployment proceeding,
where we're going to be implementing
a few components of the package,
and Commissioner Houck is leading
other key components of the package,
but this broadband deployment proceeding
is implementing our piece of the Middle Mile
and the last mile package, the federal funding package.
And so we do have one ruling out for comment
that I would encourage the public to comment on.
The first comment deadline is August 27th,
and the reply comments are September 7th.
This is on the identification of the priority areas
for the Middle Mile network.
We're gonna have a second ruling coming out.
We'll have a few coming up, and a second one tied
to the Middle Mile to really consider
some of the implementation issues,
such as the uses and services
the Middle Mile network can provide.
So first, starting with this key issue of identification,
and we had some great input from the advisory committee
and the public on that yesterday.
So thank you.
We wanna make sure as much public is aware
and that this is happening,
and we'll obviously be working in very close coordination
with the lead agency on this, the Department of Technology,
and our other sister agency CalTrans.
So thank you very much,
and I hope everyone keeps an eye out for that.
-: Thank you for that great reminder to the public
on an important issue.
Are there any other comments from the Commissioners?
Okay, seeing none, that finishes the Commissioner reports
and the public meeting is now adjourned.
Thank you all.
We will be taking a 30-minute break
before we start the closed session on legal matters.
Thank you all.