WEBVTT 00:00:00.220 --> 00:00:02.328 Good morning, everyone. And welcome 00:00:02.340 --> 00:00:04.460 to the California Public Utilities Commission Committee 00:00:04.460 --> 00:00:10.923 meeting of January 15, 2020. Everyone, please 00:00:10.935 --> 00:00:17.269 rise. For the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge 00:00:17.269 --> 00:00:20.833 allegiance to the flag of the United States 00:00:20.845 --> 00:00:24.259 of America, and to the Republic for which 00:00:24.259 --> 00:00:29.701 it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, 00:00:29.713 --> 00:00:35.050 with liberty and justice for all. Sorry, it's 00:00:35.050 --> 00:00:42.230 so awkward. We're hearing this horrible echo. Robert, would you please 00:00:42.230 --> 00:00:45.692 play the safety announcement? 00:00:45.717 --> 00:00:48.198 Yes, Commissioner. 00:00:48.223 --> 00:00:54.539 As you are aware, our number one priority is 00:00:54.540 --> 00:00:57.877 safety. As such, we will address certain safety 00:00:57.889 --> 00:01:00.890 concerns in this venue. In the event of an 00:01:00.890 --> 00:01:04.293 emergency-- 00:01:04.318 --> 00:01:10.123 We just lost contact with San Francisco. 00:01:10.147 --> 00:01:14.500 point is in the Garden Plaza area between 00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.088 the War Memorial Herbs Theater and the War 00:01:17.100 --> 00:01:19.820 Memorial Opera House on Van Ness. When going 00:01:19.820 --> 00:01:22.074 out the rear exits, head through the courtyard 00:01:22.086 --> 00:01:24.110 and down the front steps, then head south 00:01:24.110 --> 00:01:26.952 on Van Ness by crossing McAllister Street. You'll 00:01:26.964 --> 00:01:29.990 find the Garden Plaza area on your right immediately 00:01:29.990 --> 00:01:32.975 after walking past the Herbs Theater. When going 00:01:32.987 --> 00:01:35.740 out the side exits, after heading out either 00:01:35.740 --> 00:01:38.552 exits, you'll find yourself on Golden Gate 00:01:38.564 --> 00:01:41.060 Avenue. From there proceed east, turn 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:43.823 south on Van Ness and walk towards McAllister 00:01:43.835 --> 00:01:46.610 Street. After crossing McAllister, the Garden 00:01:46.610 --> 00:01:49.285 Plaza area will be on your right after passing 00:01:49.297 --> 00:01:51.869 the War Memorial Herbs Theater. In the event 00:01:51.869 --> 00:01:54.527 of an emergency, Executive Director Alice 00:01:54.539 --> 00:01:57.590 Stebbins will call 911, and our public advisor, 00:01:57.590 --> 00:02:05.068 Alison Brown, is certified in CPR and first Aid. Thank you for your attention. 00:02:05.093 --> 00:02:07.561 Okay. Thank 00:02:07.561 --> 00:02:11.104 you, Robert. Appreciate that. The committee's 00:02:11.116 --> 00:02:14.670 rotate turns on which committee starts first. 00:02:14.670 --> 00:02:17.927 So for this meeting, the Policy and Governance 00:02:17.939 --> 00:02:21.000 Committee will go first. So I will now turn 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:26.779 over to Commissioners Rechtschaffen and Randolph. 00:02:26.804 --> 00:02:31.980 Thank you, President Batjer. We're going to spend 00:02:31.980 --> 00:02:35.403 a short amount of time just providing an update 00:02:35.415 --> 00:02:38.420 from the Policy and Governance Committee. 00:02:38.420 --> 00:02:48.459 And our work to improve our practice and procedures and the overall accessibility 00:02:48.459 --> 00:02:51.238 of our proceedings and interaction with the 00:02:51.250 --> 00:02:54.040 public. We've been proceeding on two tracks 00:02:54.040 --> 00:02:58.021 over the past a couple of years, just to recall, 00:02:58.033 --> 00:03:01.700 we've had three public workshops, one in San 00:03:01.700 --> 00:03:05.232 Francisco in 2018, one in Fresno. Then we had 00:03:05.244 --> 00:03:08.480 one last month here in San Francisco that 00:03:08.480 --> 00:03:10.471 Commissioner Shiroma attended along with Commissioner 00:03:10.483 --> 00:03:12.040 Randolph and me, and we've had about five 00:03:12.040 --> 00:03:15.087 or six updates before Commissioner meetings, 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.430 talking about these issues, and now, we're ready 00:03:18.430 --> 00:03:21.933 to move forward this year with implementing 00:03:21.945 --> 00:03:25.300 actual rules changes. We proceeded in two 00:03:25.300 --> 00:03:28.228 tracks. Some of the work we've done, and a 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:31.180 big focus of the next immediate step, will 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:34.331 be to implement specific changes in our rules 00:03:34.343 --> 00:03:37.230 of practice and procedure. The formal set 00:03:37.230 --> 00:03:41.615 of rules that guide proceedings here at at the 00:03:41.627 --> 00:03:45.650 PUC. Separately, and in parallel with this 00:03:45.650 --> 00:03:48.688 process, we have already implemented and will 00:03:48.700 --> 00:03:51.750 continue to implement lots of recommendations 00:03:51.750 --> 00:03:54.986 that do not require rules changes, but that make 00:03:54.998 --> 00:03:57.980 our processes more transparent and hopefully 00:03:57.980 --> 00:04:01.112 more accessible to the public, encourage participation 00:04:01.124 --> 00:04:03.640 by a much broader set of stakeholders. Some 00:04:03.640 --> 00:04:06.948 of these are technology changes, such as providing 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:10.019 more remote access meetings at different times 00:04:10.019 --> 00:04:12.827 and places that more members of the public 00:04:12.839 --> 00:04:15.790 can access them and more boots on the ground 00:04:15.790 --> 00:04:20.434 outreach by our media and use an outreach and 00:04:20.446 --> 00:04:24.900 other other staff. In terms of the specific 00:04:24.900 --> 00:04:28.920 rules changes, we've posted on our website 00:04:28.932 --> 00:04:32.870 and this is the second page of a 10 or 12 00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:35.643 page document that we won't go through here. 00:04:35.655 --> 00:04:38.440 The status of the recommendations that we've 00:04:38.440 --> 00:04:41.992 heard over the course of these workshops, and 00:04:42.004 --> 00:04:45.180 what we've listed is what we're planning 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:48.728 to go forward with. And if you go through the 00:04:48.740 --> 00:04:52.300 materials, you'll see that of the suggestions 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:54.622 that we discussed and presented to the public 00:04:54.634 --> 00:04:57.070 in December, we are proceeding with essentially 00:04:57.070 --> 00:05:00.941 all of them. There's one exception, which is 00:05:00.953 --> 00:05:04.750 that, for some of the parties had suggested 00:05:04.750 --> 00:05:07.458 using the scoping memo to set out an approach 00:05:07.470 --> 00:05:10.250 to evidentiary hearings in a proceeding. After 00:05:10.250 --> 00:05:12.166 hearing from the public and others, we decided 00:05:12.178 --> 00:05:13.900 that that didn't make sense to go forward 00:05:13.900 --> 00:05:17.563 with. So we're not going forward with that one. 00:05:17.575 --> 00:05:21.250 Some of the other recommendations, particularly 00:05:21.250 --> 00:05:25.011 the last one number, or one of the last ones, 00:05:25.023 --> 00:05:28.960 number 24 relating to how we improve our public 00:05:28.960 --> 00:05:31.737 participation hearings in a way to make them 00:05:31.749 --> 00:05:34.600 more effective and more useful to the public. 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:36.901 We're still trying to figure out the best 00:05:36.913 --> 00:05:39.281 way to do that, so we don't have any. It's 00:05:39.281 --> 00:05:42.016 not likely that we will have concrete proposals 00:05:42.028 --> 00:05:44.889 related to that any time soon. But for the rest-- 00:05:44.889 --> 00:05:48.783 Can I, may I ask a question? 00:05:48.795 --> 00:05:52.780 Commissioner Rechtschaffen, when you spoke about 00:05:52.780 --> 00:05:57.196 earlier the scoping memo, will you continue 00:05:57.208 --> 00:06:00.830 any further reports on that or that 00:06:00.830 --> 00:06:02.998 sort of done? 00:06:03.023 --> 00:06:06.311 I don't know if we have 00:06:06.323 --> 00:06:09.501 anything else specific related to the scoping memo. 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:13.671 We do, by statute, there is a separate schedule 00:06:13.683 --> 00:06:17.430 for catastrophic wildfire proceedings that 00:06:17.430 --> 00:06:21.398 requires a timeframe for scoping memos. That's 00:06:21.410 --> 00:06:25.389 in this rules package. There's also a proposal 00:06:25.389 --> 00:06:29.492 to provide for a template for other expedited 00:06:29.504 --> 00:06:33.350 proceedings that refers to obligations for 00:06:33.350 --> 00:06:36.468 the scoping memo. I don't know if we are doing 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:40.009 anything else. I'm looking at Commissioner Randolph. 00:06:40.009 --> 00:06:43.004 Yeah, I think you've caught 00:06:43.016 --> 00:06:45.910 it all. I don't think we are anticipating changing 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:49.248 the, you know, what's in the scoping memo 00:06:49.260 --> 00:06:52.610 or anything like that? We're just looking 00:06:52.610 --> 00:06:56.354 at timing as it relates to expedited proceedings, 00:06:56.366 --> 00:06:59.671 that are expedited, either by statute, like 00:06:59.671 --> 00:07:03.834 the wildfire, the catastrophic wildfire proceedings, 00:07:03.846 --> 00:07:07.470 or ones that we choose to create an expedited 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:11.453 process for, and some of these proposals, 00:07:11.465 --> 00:07:15.270 kind of teeing off of what Commissioner 00:07:15.270 --> 00:07:17.474 Rechtschaffen was saying, some of these 00:07:17.486 --> 00:07:20.270 proposals are going to need more, there's going 00:07:20.270 --> 00:07:23.369 to need to be some drafting. So that's what 00:07:23.381 --> 00:07:26.139 we're working on right now is drafting 00:07:26.139 --> 00:07:30.360 up actual proposed language. And it may 00:07:30.372 --> 00:07:35.039 be that some issues become, you know, too 00:07:35.039 --> 00:07:37.324 difficult and complex, and they may fall out 00:07:37.336 --> 00:07:39.479 of this package and proceed on a separate 00:07:39.479 --> 00:07:44.894 track. But our goal is to have a a draft resolution 00:07:44.906 --> 00:07:50.020 that includes as many of these ideas as possible 00:07:50.020 --> 00:07:53.069 with language written up that will then go 00:07:53.081 --> 00:07:56.000 through the public process where we will 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:03.169 get public comment and we will hold a public meeting to discuss these 00:08:03.169 --> 00:08:07.775 proposals following the Office of Administrative 00:08:07.787 --> 00:08:12.310 Law and the administrative process for adopting 00:08:12.310 --> 00:08:14.513 formal rules changes. 00:08:14.538 --> 00:08:17.779 So we will go through 00:08:17.791 --> 00:08:21.121 the 90 day posting or 45 day, if we have a 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:24.971 lot of comments. We'l l be under the APA rules. 00:08:24.996 --> 00:08:27.940 That's correct. To be more 00:08:27.940 --> 00:08:31.662 responsive to your question, however, if there 00:08:31.674 --> 00:08:35.329 are other ideas for changing the scoping memo 00:08:35.329 --> 00:08:38.194 or any of these other proposals that you or 00:08:38.206 --> 00:08:41.149 other Commissioners have, we could certainly 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:42.937 incorporate them. We would probably want to 00:08:42.949 --> 00:08:44.790 vet them at another committee meeting or get 00:08:44.790 --> 00:08:48.390 public input prior to putting him in the resolution 00:08:48.402 --> 00:08:51.389 in the OEL package. This is not the entire 00:08:51.389 --> 00:08:56.034 universe by any means. It's just a set of recommendations 00:08:56.046 --> 00:08:59.579 that we developed, we culled from our prior 00:08:59.579 --> 00:09:02.322 workshops that we think makes sense to go 00:09:02.334 --> 00:09:05.220 forward with. Its many others that we could 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:07.824 certainly entertain, so please feel free to 00:09:07.836 --> 00:09:10.809 suggest them. In fact, that's one of the purposes 00:09:10.809 --> 00:09:13.962 of reporting back to the other Commissioners 00:09:13.974 --> 00:09:17.069 to elicit suggestions. Commissioner Shiroma 00:09:17.069 --> 00:09:20.115 had suggested that we incorporate a meet and 00:09:20.127 --> 00:09:23.050 confer obligation, and we did discuss that 00:09:23.050 --> 00:09:25.238 with with the parties, there were different 00:09:25.250 --> 00:09:27.499 comments about what the most propitious time 00:09:27.499 --> 00:09:31.067 for doing that is, and that will, we will have 00:09:31.079 --> 00:09:34.279 a proposal on that in this rules package. 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:38.357 Just to finish up on what Commission Randolph 00:09:38.369 --> 00:09:42.459 was saying. You'll see, and in the cover, the 00:09:42.459 --> 00:09:45.543 cover sheet, we specifically have a legend 00:09:45.555 --> 00:09:48.939 about the types of rules changes we're having. 00:09:48.939 --> 00:09:51.536 Some fall into the category of statutorily 00:09:51.548 --> 00:09:54.339 driven changes. Others are clarifications. So 00:09:54.339 --> 00:09:57.105 it's a fairly, numerically, there's quite a number 00:09:57.117 --> 00:09:59.569 of those which are mostly non controversial. 00:09:59.569 --> 00:10:02.309 And then there's a bucket about expediting 00:10:02.321 --> 00:10:05.009 our proceedings and the last bucket about 00:10:05.009 --> 00:10:07.882 improving the accessibility of our proceedings. 00:10:07.894 --> 00:10:10.899 As I mentioned, some of those won't be or they're 00:10:10.899 --> 00:10:14.520 not finished, and some of those may not translate 00:10:14.532 --> 00:10:17.439 into rules changes. Others we're going 00:10:17.439 --> 00:10:21.007 forward with, for example, how to, what legal 00:10:21.019 --> 00:10:24.209 weight or dignity a process to institute 00:10:24.209 --> 00:10:26.622 to make sure that public comments are considered 00:10:26.634 --> 00:10:28.910 in our decisions, and how to communicate that 00:10:28.910 --> 00:10:31.858 to the public through any proposed decision. 00:10:31.870 --> 00:10:34.829 Some of those are going forward, but not all 00:10:34.829 --> 00:10:39.873 of them are ready to finally go forward with. So that's the status-- 00:10:39.898 --> 00:10:43.089 Have you all discussed having, sort of, the 00:10:43.089 --> 00:10:46.922 time frame of when you would want to put the package 00:10:46.934 --> 00:10:50.199 forward to the Office of Administrative Law? 00:10:50.199 --> 00:10:53.719 We're pretty close 00:10:53.731 --> 00:10:57.119 to drafting, finish drafting, the ALJ Division 00:10:57.119 --> 00:10:59.885 has taken the lead on a number, and our 00:10:59.897 --> 00:11:02.959 staff has taken the lead on a number. I'm 00:11:02.959 --> 00:11:07.547 looking at the talented people in the back 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:11.839 who work for Commissioner Randolph, who 00:11:11.839 --> 00:11:19.339 are working on some of it. Judge Yacken has finished, is pretty far 00:11:19.339 --> 00:11:22.448 along with a set of proposed rules changes 00:11:22.460 --> 00:11:25.509 that the ALJ division was taking the lead 00:11:25.509 --> 00:11:28.428 on. Am I right? So I think, we're in pretty good shape there. 00:11:28.453 --> 00:11:30.499 Yes, that's correct. We'll have a work plan 00:11:30.499 --> 00:11:32.803 to follow soon. We're coordinating with ALJ 00:11:32.815 --> 00:11:34.920 Division and report back in the next P&G 00:11:34.920 --> 00:11:37.860 committee or via email. Whatever is preferred. 00:11:37.885 --> 00:11:40.800 Yeah, I think our goal is to have a work plan, 00:11:40.800 --> 00:11:43.498 coming at the next P&G committee that 00:11:43.510 --> 00:11:46.660 will lay out a schedule. And that'll give 00:11:46.660 --> 00:11:49.453 you an idea of what sort of the last point 00:11:49.465 --> 00:11:52.269 at which you should stop proposing changes 00:11:52.269 --> 00:11:57.089 for this package, which is not to say that, you know, we couldn't pursue 00:11:57.089 --> 00:12:01.086 other changes, but there are a lot of basic 00:12:01.098 --> 00:12:05.199 clarifications and work that we really wanna 00:12:05.199 --> 00:12:08.398 get going on that we've kind of waited to 00:12:08.410 --> 00:12:11.850 have some of these more substantive changes. 00:12:11.850 --> 00:12:14.299 And so at some point, we will want to say, 00:12:14.311 --> 00:12:16.829 OK, this is the package, so that we can get 00:12:16.829 --> 00:12:21.569 those smaller clarification and changes that we need to do that. 00:12:21.594 --> 00:12:23.830 But you are, to Commissioner 00:12:23.830 --> 00:12:30.009 Rechtschaffen's point earlier, you are still open for new suggestions? 00:12:30.034 --> 00:12:32.069 Yes. Yes. Yeah. 00:12:32.069 --> 00:12:35.168 So between now and when we present the work 00:12:35.180 --> 00:12:38.079 plan, feel free to send any suggestions, 00:12:38.079 --> 00:12:40.834 and then the work plan will give us a more 00:12:40.846 --> 00:12:43.420 specific time, at which point we really 00:12:43.420 --> 00:12:44.990 want to have the package done. So that'll 00:12:45.002 --> 00:12:46.660 really be the like, okay, you've got, like, 00:12:46.660 --> 00:12:48.502 three more weeks or whatever. 00:12:48.527 --> 00:12:50.499 And this is a 00:12:50.511 --> 00:12:52.449 rolling process. There's no, we don't have 00:12:52.449 --> 00:12:55.054 to put everything into a single package that 00:12:55.066 --> 00:12:57.509 goes back to the Office of Administrative 00:12:57.509 --> 00:13:00.493 Law. Of course, it's for more efficient and 00:13:00.505 --> 00:13:03.569 less work if we can do that, but if in three 00:13:03.569 --> 00:13:07.217 months or four months time, we decide we need 00:13:07.229 --> 00:13:11.049 something new, we can start a separate process. 00:13:11.049 --> 00:13:14.212 I think it's always better. It's 00:13:14.224 --> 00:13:17.639 because it's a lengthy process. It pretty much is a year 00:13:17.639 --> 00:13:21.716 long process to get through the APA procedures 00:13:21.728 --> 00:13:25.730 and make sure that you have the proper public 00:13:25.730 --> 00:13:30.638 input along the way, obviously, following 00:13:30.650 --> 00:13:35.569 those rules. So I think my experience has 00:13:35.569 --> 00:13:37.777 always been, even though, sometimes you'll put 00:13:37.789 --> 00:13:40.009 a rate package before Office of Administrative 00:13:40.009 --> 00:13:43.958 Law. It might be a little mighty big, but it's 00:13:43.970 --> 00:13:47.509 worth the time to get as much as possible 00:13:47.509 --> 00:13:55.749 because you're really talking about another year with a new package. But 00:13:55.749 --> 00:13:58.519 that's just my own experience. 00:13:58.544 --> 00:14:01.135 We would be 00:14:01.147 --> 00:14:04.059 interested in hearing any substantive comments 00:14:04.059 --> 00:14:09.132 any of the Commissioners have on what's been proposed so far. 00:14:09.157 --> 00:14:11.259 Excellent. May I ask, are 00:14:11.259 --> 00:14:14.237 there some things, and I should know this, 00:14:14.249 --> 00:14:17.170 but I'm gonna ask somewhat lame question. 00:14:17.170 --> 00:14:20.458 Are there things contained in the package that 00:14:20.470 --> 00:14:23.490 you all worked on last year, when you were 00:14:23.490 --> 00:14:27.234 working on 1054 with the Legislature? 00:14:27.259 --> 00:14:31.989 I don't think they're too many that fall into 00:14:31.989 --> 00:14:37.009 that category. These focus on changes that 00:14:37.021 --> 00:14:41.819 are in our existing regulatory authority 00:14:41.819 --> 00:14:43.262 or that might-- 00:14:43.287 --> 00:14:45.539 I thought you mentioned there 00:14:45.551 --> 00:14:47.590 were a few that might need statutory review. 00:14:47.589 --> 00:14:50.610 From the larger list of ideas we 00:14:50.622 --> 00:14:53.759 have, there are something that will need statutory changes. 00:14:53.759 --> 00:15:00.819 But, on this package, with the document that we posted on the website, these are 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:11.728 just the rule changes, and so they're more limited in scope. 00:15:11.753 --> 00:15:16.199 Onto that. Sorry, President Batjer, I-- 00:15:16.199 --> 00:15:19.448 I think I interrupted you, Cliff. I 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:22.779 think you were going through your review, and I asked my 00:15:22.779 --> 00:15:26.845 scoping question, and we kind went off to the races. 00:15:26.870 --> 00:15:29.450 I think between what-- 00:15:29.475 --> 00:15:30.031 I apologize. 00:15:30.055 --> 00:15:33.302 No, no, of course. That's what the point 00:15:33.314 --> 00:15:36.389 of this discussion is. I don't think I had, looking at my notes, I 00:15:36.389 --> 00:15:39.972 think between what I said and what Commissioner 00:15:39.984 --> 00:15:43.579 Randolph said, we've covered most of the update 00:15:43.579 --> 00:15:49.819 we wanted to provide. We wanted to open it up for discussion. 00:15:49.844 --> 00:15:51.899 Commissioner Shiroma, 00:15:51.899 --> 00:15:54.601 do you have some comments? 00:15:54.626 --> 00:15:56.851 Yes. Thank you, and really, 00:15:56.863 --> 00:15:58.972 it's going to be back to the question of timing. 00:15:58.997 --> 00:16:00.421 It's hard, we can't, 00:16:00.420 --> 00:16:03.277 I'm sorry, We can't hear you. I don't know if your mic's on. 00:16:03.302 --> 00:16:05.799 How's this? Oh, there we go. 00:16:05.824 --> 00:16:06.995 Much better. Thank you. 00:16:07.020 --> 00:16:10.509 Angle it. There we go. All right. Well, first of all, do 00:16:10.509 --> 00:16:13.306 you wanna thank Commissioner Randolph and 00:16:13.318 --> 00:16:16.929 Commissioner Rechtschaffen on this Herculean task and 00:16:16.929 --> 00:16:21.542 the teams in the Administrative Law Judge 00:16:21.554 --> 00:16:25.959 and Legal divisions. And the December 6 00:16:25.959 --> 00:16:30.072 workshop was very insightful in terms of 00:16:30.084 --> 00:16:34.309 going through these 24 potential changes. 00:16:34.309 --> 00:16:38.545 Now, I appreciate that within those potential 00:16:38.557 --> 00:16:41.790 changes, there are some that would 00:16:41.790 --> 00:16:45.736 be a statutory requirement which means a legislative 00:16:45.748 --> 00:16:49.109 change. There are others that are within our 00:16:49.109 --> 00:16:51.296 control for clarification, for expediting 00:16:51.308 --> 00:16:53.559 and accessibility, as you've outlined here 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:57.619 in the color coding, which is very very handy. 00:16:57.631 --> 00:17:01.269 The workshop was very well attended, and I 00:17:01.269 --> 00:17:05.327 found it very interesting and insightful 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:09.509 to hear the practitioners who litigate in 00:17:09.509 --> 00:17:12.817 front of the judges and the Commission, and to 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:16.360 hear their feedback from their working experience 00:17:16.360 --> 00:17:19.937 and through case law, what have you. So I 00:17:19.949 --> 00:17:23.880 felt that the ideas that you proferred up for 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:31.179 workshop were very good, and I think, on the scoping memo, as far 00:17:31.179 --> 00:17:34.396 as pulling back on that, I think is prudent 00:17:34.408 --> 00:17:37.710 because things can change beyond the scoping 00:17:37.710 --> 00:17:40.763 memo for the evidentiary hearings, and within 00:17:40.775 --> 00:17:43.440 the scoping memo rubric there is, it is 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.758 a very powerful tool. There's lot of flexibility 00:17:47.770 --> 00:17:51.659 for the lead Commissioners' offices and the 00:17:51.659 --> 00:17:58.980 judge to structure and frame those to really get at what kinds of questions 00:17:58.980 --> 00:18:01.988 need to be answered by the parties and what 00:18:02.000 --> 00:18:05.019 have you. I really enjoyed the workshop, by 00:18:05.019 --> 00:18:07.733 the way. Now my question is this. It goes 00:18:07.745 --> 00:18:10.470 back to President Batjer's question about 00:18:10.470 --> 00:18:15.083 timing. I wonder if if there is a means or 00:18:15.095 --> 00:18:19.720 you're entertaining prioritizing a bin of, 00:18:19.720 --> 00:18:23.391 a subset of these 24 that could be moved ahead 00:18:23.403 --> 00:18:26.929 more quickly into the regulatory, the Office 00:18:26.929 --> 00:18:30.420 of Administrative Law, framework, or if that's 00:18:30.432 --> 00:18:33.860 something that you might include in your work 00:18:33.860 --> 00:18:38.984 plan. And is the next meeting the second meeting in February? 00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:39.687 Correct. 00:18:39.711 --> 00:18:41.380 Again, It's hard to 00:18:41.380 --> 00:18:43.576 hear you. I'm so sorry, Commissioner Shiroma. 00:18:43.588 --> 00:18:45.700 We're really having difficulty hearing you. 00:18:45.700 --> 00:18:48.739 Okay? How's this? 00:18:48.764 --> 00:18:50.490 That's good. 00:18:50.515 --> 00:18:52.347 Okay, What I was asking-- 00:18:52.372 --> 00:18:54.511 The echo has stopped, so 00:18:54.523 --> 00:18:56.864 that's good too. I'm not echoing back at myself. 00:18:56.889 --> 00:19:00.919 What I was asking is if amongst the 23 ideas, 00:19:00.919 --> 00:19:05.568 23 reforms, if there is a subset that is a 00:19:05.580 --> 00:19:10.350 priority or that can be bundled together to 00:19:10.350 --> 00:19:14.091 go ahead and move forward through the regulatory 00:19:14.103 --> 00:19:17.320 process, the Office of Administrative Law 00:19:17.320 --> 00:19:18.570 process. 00:19:18.595 --> 00:19:20.406 So I think that kind 00:19:20.418 --> 00:19:22.320 of gets back to the point that President Batjer 00:19:22.320 --> 00:19:30.850 was making about, you know, that's a lengthy process, and you want to include 00:19:30.850 --> 00:19:35.519 as much as possible. So our goal is to include all 00:19:35.531 --> 00:19:40.029 of them in that initial package. But recognizing 00:19:40.029 --> 00:19:43.006 that if any one of them becomes so unwieldy 00:19:43.018 --> 00:19:45.940 that it, like, you know, that it bogs down 00:19:45.940 --> 00:19:49.079 the entire package, then, you know, we may 00:19:49.091 --> 00:19:52.389 set that aside. But our goal is that for the 00:19:52.389 --> 00:19:55.721 initial resolution, that would start the OAL 00:19:55.733 --> 00:19:59.299 process, we would like to include all of these. 00:19:59.299 --> 00:20:02.739 I would echo that I hope that could 00:20:02.751 --> 00:20:06.080 be our goal along with that caveat or qualifier. That 00:20:06.080 --> 00:20:09.790 if there's something that needs more work, we could pull it out 00:20:09.802 --> 00:20:13.350 of our package. But I think more, in the case of the reforms 00:20:13.350 --> 00:20:17.971 you all have worked so hard on and so thoroughly 00:20:17.983 --> 00:20:21.860 on along with staff, that getting to the 00:20:21.860 --> 00:20:24.819 Office of Administrative Law so we can get 00:20:24.831 --> 00:20:27.940 to the finish line will be really excellent. 00:20:27.940 --> 00:20:35.652 With as full of packages we can. Any other 00:20:35.664 --> 00:20:42.490 points or questions that anybody has? 00:20:42.490 --> 00:20:44.944 You need to ask if 00:20:44.956 --> 00:20:47.372 there's any members of the public who wish to-- 00:20:47.397 --> 00:20:50.090 Yeah, I was just going to say, is there any member of, 00:20:50.090 --> 00:20:54.226 members of the public there who would 00:20:54.238 --> 00:20:59.059 like to question or comment on the Policy 00:20:59.059 --> 00:21:03.295 and Governance Committee report? I'm not 00:21:03.307 --> 00:21:07.970 seeing anyone or hearing anyone, and there's 00:21:07.970 --> 00:21:12.938 no one here in Sacramento. So I want to thank 00:21:12.950 --> 00:21:17.389 you all very much again. This is, of all 00:21:17.389 --> 00:21:20.866 the things we do, I've got to say this is 00:21:20.878 --> 00:21:24.700 some of the most exciting for me. I know that 00:21:24.700 --> 00:21:28.485 sounds a little silly, perhaps, but making our 00:21:28.497 --> 00:21:31.970 processes more effective for us internally 00:21:31.970 --> 00:21:35.828 as well as for the public we serve is near 00:21:35.840 --> 00:21:39.889 and dear to my heart. So thank you again for 00:21:39.889 --> 00:21:42.896 all this work that you've undertaken well 00:21:42.908 --> 00:21:46.070 before my arrival here. And I appreciate it 00:21:46.070 --> 00:21:48.558 very much. I think we will wait to the end 00:21:48.570 --> 00:21:51.245 before we ask for the substantial compliance? 00:21:51.270 --> 00:21:52.970 Yeah. For this one, yeah. 00:21:52.970 --> 00:21:57.949 So, I'm getting clarification on 00:21:57.961 --> 00:22:02.951 the agenda from from my right hand person, Molly. So 00:22:02.951 --> 00:22:05.644 thank you very much for the presentation. 00:22:05.656 --> 00:22:08.490 And we will move on now to the presentation 00:22:08.490 --> 00:22:11.481 for Emerging Trends. It's been postponed. 00:22:11.493 --> 00:22:14.640 Wait, excuse me, it has been postponed 'til 00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:18.490 later date. Sorry. And we will be instead taking 00:22:18.502 --> 00:22:21.970 up the Finance and Administration Committee 00:22:21.970 --> 00:22:27.190 meeting and information. So today, the presentation 00:22:27.202 --> 00:22:31.830 is on Strategic Directive Number 10. And that 00:22:31.830 --> 00:22:36.433 is decision, excuse me, decision making process. 00:22:36.445 --> 00:22:40.590 Still struggling a little bit with my cold. 00:22:40.590 --> 00:22:44.136 I invite Ericles, our General Counsel and 00:22:44.148 --> 00:22:47.621 Anne, our chief Administrative Law Judge 00:22:47.621 --> 00:22:53.169 to come to the table to present, and I suspect they're there. There. I see you. 00:23:11.669 --> 00:23:15.066 Good morning, Commissioners. This 00:23:15.078 --> 00:23:18.789 morning, Chief ALJ Anne Simon and I are going to 00:23:18.789 --> 00:23:22.371 be presenting on Strategic Directive 10 which 00:23:22.383 --> 00:23:25.820 is on the decision making process, which is 00:23:25.820 --> 00:23:29.837 near and dear to all of our hearts here. And 00:23:29.849 --> 00:23:33.519 we're gonna be highlighting a few aspects 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:39.020 of the decision making process to just kind 00:23:39.032 --> 00:23:43.919 of check in with how we doing. So, the 00:23:43.919 --> 00:23:48.806 first, I guess, yeah, that would be great. 00:23:48.818 --> 00:23:53.830 The first item under Strategic Directive 10 00:23:53.830 --> 00:23:57.404 is, number one, to ensure that Commissioners are 00:23:57.416 --> 00:24:00.710 actively engaged in decision making process. 00:24:00.710 --> 00:24:04.279 And before I get into specific things, that 00:24:04.291 --> 00:24:07.710 was gonna highlight, I wanted to say that 00:24:07.710 --> 00:24:11.505 this is one of the hardest working Commissions 00:24:11.517 --> 00:24:15.000 in the state of California. I'm not trying 00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.541 to say other Commissions don't work hard. I'm 00:24:19.553 --> 00:24:23.909 sure they do. But the amount of substantive 00:24:23.909 --> 00:24:28.477 responsibility on your shoulders and the 00:24:28.489 --> 00:24:33.740 sheer, kind of, deluge of decision making that 00:24:33.740 --> 00:24:37.103 you make on a regular basis, it's really, 00:24:37.115 --> 00:24:40.570 you know, quite overwhelming. And I have a 00:24:40.570 --> 00:24:44.176 front row seat to witness this. And, you 00:24:44.188 --> 00:24:48.159 know, the hours that you put in, tirelessly, 00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:51.306 here and throughout the state, doing the Commission 00:24:51.318 --> 00:24:53.809 business. To me, it's a testament of how 00:24:53.809 --> 00:24:56.879 actively engaged the Commissioners are, 00:24:56.891 --> 00:25:00.289 and, you know, the state of California is 00:25:00.289 --> 00:25:10.740 definitely getting their money's worth. So if you can click on the next. So one 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:15.546 of the kind of key markers to me are rate-setting 00:25:15.558 --> 00:25:19.220 deliberative meetings which allow the 00:25:19.220 --> 00:25:23.639 Commission, on rate setting proceedings, 00:25:23.651 --> 00:25:28.299 to meet in closed session to discuss those 00:25:28.299 --> 00:25:32.110 cases, and in the past, they have not been 00:25:32.122 --> 00:25:35.590 used as much. But I think probably for 00:25:35.590 --> 00:25:39.748 the past five or, five going on six years, 00:25:39.760 --> 00:25:43.929 the Commission has been making use of this 00:25:43.929 --> 00:25:48.585 tool, and, so that, to me, is a very positive 00:25:48.597 --> 00:25:53.670 marker of Commissioner engagement in the decision 00:25:53.670 --> 00:25:57.016 making process and allows the Commission to 00:25:57.028 --> 00:26:00.539 work through challenging issues. And we have, 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:04.564 you know, quite a few challenging issues on 00:26:04.576 --> 00:26:08.980 every agenda. And that improves the Commission, 00:26:08.980 --> 00:26:12.495 the Commission's decision making function, and 00:26:12.507 --> 00:26:15.809 the policies that, you know, the Commission 00:26:15.809 --> 00:26:18.925 does debate in those rate-setting deliberative 00:26:18.937 --> 00:26:21.999 meetings, and at the public meetings, promote 00:26:21.999 --> 00:26:26.635 policies that do benefit California economy 00:26:26.647 --> 00:26:31.190 and protect ratepayers. In 2019, we had 14 00:26:31.190 --> 00:26:42.779 RMs, and at those 14 RDMs, 25 agenda items were discussed. So that's-- 00:26:42.779 --> 00:26:46.211 Please, for the benefit of the public 00:26:46.223 --> 00:26:49.430 that's listening in, you might explain what a RDM is. 00:26:49.430 --> 00:26:54.302 A rate setting deliberative meeting allows 00:26:54.314 --> 00:26:59.379 the Commission to discuss in closed session rate making 00:26:59.379 --> 00:27:03.946 items that are on the current agenda, and that 00:27:03.958 --> 00:27:08.440 usually occurs the Monday before the Thursday 00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:12.465 Commission meeting. And at those meetings, the 00:27:12.477 --> 00:27:16.600 Commission discusses policies that are involved 00:27:16.600 --> 00:27:19.637 in those pending items they work through, you 00:27:19.649 --> 00:27:22.499 know, challenging, some of the challenging 00:27:22.499 --> 00:27:31.649 issues, you know, to help you resolve those issues. And it's a real integral 00:27:31.649 --> 00:27:35.217 part of the decision making process. And it, 00:27:35.229 --> 00:27:38.649 like I said earlier, in the past, it wasn't 00:27:38.649 --> 00:27:41.252 used that frequently, and now, it really has 00:27:41.264 --> 00:27:43.820 been integrated as a regular feature of the 00:27:43.820 --> 00:27:46.389 Commission's decision making process. 00:27:46.414 --> 00:27:47.921 Thank you. 00:27:47.945 --> 00:27:49.929 The other item I wanted to highlight, 00:27:49.929 --> 00:27:53.969 each Commissioner plays a role, as assigned 00:27:53.981 --> 00:27:58.309 Commissioner in proceddings that were assigned 00:27:58.309 --> 00:28:02.242 to them. And they, the Commissioners, have been 00:28:02.254 --> 00:28:05.789 actively engaged in their own proceedings, 00:28:05.789 --> 00:28:09.120 including chairing or participating workshops, 00:28:09.132 --> 00:28:12.190 public participation hearings and Advisory 00:28:12.190 --> 00:28:16.238 Board meetings. And I have listed a few examples. 00:28:16.250 --> 00:28:20.309 Here's, you know, this is not an exhaustive list, 00:28:20.309 --> 00:28:25.465 but I just highlighted ones that were of interest. 00:28:25.477 --> 00:28:30.139 So, for example, in workshops, the Commission 00:28:30.139 --> 00:28:33.732 held workshops in deenergization with a focus 00:28:33.744 --> 00:28:36.800 of first responders, and that was held 00:28:36.800 --> 00:28:40.869 in Calabasas, California. The Commissioner's 00:28:40.881 --> 00:28:44.690 held a Water Wales Forecasting and Rising 00:28:44.690 --> 00:28:48.363 Drought Workshop. And that was in Sacramento, 00:28:48.375 --> 00:28:52.140 California. There was a workshop on TNC access 00:28:52.140 --> 00:28:55.083 for persons with disabilities that was held 00:28:55.095 --> 00:28:58.049 in Los Angeles. There were also some public 00:28:58.049 --> 00:29:02.447 forums. One was a proposed, dealt with a proposed 00:29:02.459 --> 00:29:06.340 Sprint and T-Mobile merger, and those forms 00:29:06.340 --> 00:29:10.157 were held in Fresno, LA, and San Diego. There 00:29:10.169 --> 00:29:13.749 was a communications en banc that was held 00:29:13.749 --> 00:29:24.460 in Sacramento. So, in terms of public participation hearings and 00:29:24.460 --> 00:29:28.061 these are hearings that are held in conjunction 00:29:28.073 --> 00:29:31.309 with general rate cases, there were public 00:29:31.309 --> 00:29:36.480 participation hearings in CalWater GRC, held 00:29:36.492 --> 00:29:41.100 throughout CalWaters Service territory, 00:29:41.100 --> 00:29:45.742 in Dixon, Palmdale, Bakersfield, Kernville, Selma, 00:29:45.754 --> 00:29:49.770 Lucerne, Chico, Willows, Orville, Torrance, 00:29:49.770 --> 00:29:53.037 Montebello, Stockton, and San Carlos. There 00:29:53.049 --> 00:29:56.179 was an Edison Grid Safety and Reliability 00:29:56.179 --> 00:30:00.684 programme in Rialto and Oxnard. San Gabriel 00:30:00.696 --> 00:30:04.289 Valley Water GRC in Fontana, and an 00:30:04.289 --> 00:30:08.307 SDG&E GRC Phase Two in Escondido. The 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:13.220 Commission has to be on point to respond to 00:30:13.220 --> 00:30:18.348 emergencies, and this year, they held an emergency 00:30:18.360 --> 00:30:23.600 meeting on the PSPS, public safety power shutdowns. 00:30:23.600 --> 00:30:27.981 They held a PHC, a pre-hearing conference 00:30:27.993 --> 00:30:32.490 on emergency disaster relief. And they did 00:30:32.490 --> 00:30:43.909 an order to show cause on PSPS related to PG&E's PSPS activity that happened 00:30:43.909 --> 00:30:54.580 this fall. So I think that was all that I was going to cover on mine. And the 00:30:54.580 --> 00:31:00.031 rest is gonna be covered by Chief ALJ Simon. 00:31:00.056 --> 00:31:02.401 Thank you, Ericles. 00:31:02.426 --> 00:31:04.536 You're welcome. 00:31:04.561 --> 00:31:10.322 Thank you. My presentation is going to 00:31:10.334 --> 00:31:16.330 largely cover the infrastructure for the Commission's 00:31:16.330 --> 00:31:26.620 decision making item, sub item two on strategic directive 10 says, asks us to 00:31:26.620 --> 00:31:29.488 look at how well we're doing at implementing 00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:32.509 procedures, practices and rules for Commission 00:31:32.509 --> 00:31:35.979 decision making that are consistent, understandable, 00:31:35.991 --> 00:31:39.210 and accessible to the public, interested persons 00:31:39.210 --> 00:31:41.993 and parties. And before going into the details, 00:31:42.005 --> 00:31:44.450 I thought it would be interesting to take 00:31:44.450 --> 00:31:47.926 a look at the decisions that are actually 00:31:47.938 --> 00:31:51.759 produced. The strategic directive talks about 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:54.802 all sorts of things, but what decisions 00:31:54.814 --> 00:31:58.340 have you been making? So, in 2018 and 2019, 00:31:58.340 --> 00:32:04.908 you made over 400 decisions each year. And 00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:11.500 when we look at them by a proceeding type, 00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:15.795 about 40% of your decisions are on applications. 00:32:15.807 --> 00:32:19.499 And, surprisingly to me, because I mostly 00:32:19.499 --> 00:32:22.222 work on formal proceedings, about 40% of the 00:32:22.234 --> 00:32:25.029 Commission's decisions are actually decisions 00:32:25.029 --> 00:32:27.966 made on draft resolution presented to the 00:32:27.978 --> 00:32:31.559 Commission that are outside of formal proceedings, 00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:35.878 typically from the industry divisions resolving 00:32:35.890 --> 00:32:39.950 advice letter requests, but also resolutions 00:32:39.950 --> 00:32:45.458 from ALJ division, both required assignments and 00:32:45.470 --> 00:32:50.539 also on citation appeals. And your decisions 00:32:50.539 --> 00:33:00.940 are scattered throughout the other types of proceedings. And then if we look next 00:33:00.940 --> 00:33:06.652 at the decisions by industry, you'll see that, 00:33:06.664 --> 00:33:11.779 the plurality, again, about 40% is in the 00:33:11.779 --> 00:33:17.100 electric industry, out of that total of over 00:33:17.112 --> 00:33:21.970 400 communications, next, and, the other 00:33:21.970 --> 00:33:31.869 type trailing behind. So that's what, actually, we're looking at when we're 00:33:31.869 --> 00:33:37.757 looking at your decision making. 00:33:37.782 --> 00:33:48.429 It appears to me that 18 seemed to have more case 00:33:48.429 --> 00:33:51.626 work, that's looking at the blue on your 00:33:51.638 --> 00:33:55.239 chart, than 19. I could just see that the end 00:33:55.239 --> 00:34:00.323 of 19, we were a very busy Commission. So I can't 00:34:00.335 --> 00:34:05.330 imagine any greater decision making or work load 00:34:05.330 --> 00:34:07.716 than is represented here, but. 00:34:07.741 --> 00:34:12.330 I'd like to make a one side comment about that in that, 00:34:12.330 --> 00:34:15.968 the actual quantitative number of decisions. 00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:19.549 It's just one piece of the story, you know, 00:34:19.549 --> 00:34:24.082 one decision could be something, you know, very 00:34:24.094 --> 00:34:28.260 transactional, and in the scheme of things, 00:34:28.260 --> 00:34:31.993 simple. Or it could be, you know, a general 00:34:32.005 --> 00:34:35.750 rate case that has been going on for a year 00:34:35.750 --> 00:34:39.633 and a half that's a 600 page document. So 00:34:39.645 --> 00:34:43.540 all quantitative decisions are not equal. 00:34:43.540 --> 00:34:46.865 No. Totally, Totally understand. I was 00:34:46.877 --> 00:34:50.271 just looking at the statistics, but that's well said. Thank 00:34:50.271 --> 00:34:54.533 you, Ericles. Sorry, Anne, I interuppted you. 00:34:54.558 --> 00:34:58.609 Thank you. Ericles was more eloquent 00:34:58.609 --> 00:35:02.128 on that point than I would have been. We don't 00:35:02.140 --> 00:35:05.371 really need to discuss the next slide very 00:35:05.371 --> 00:35:09.976 much as the Policy and Governance Committee 00:35:09.988 --> 00:35:14.710 discussion has covered the constant work and 00:35:14.710 --> 00:35:18.703 revision and review of the formal rules of 00:35:18.715 --> 00:35:23.000 practice and procedure. And President Batjer, 00:35:23.000 --> 00:35:25.641 I'm so glad to hear you're really interested in 00:35:25.653 --> 00:35:28.250 them. If you ever get tired of being President 00:35:28.250 --> 00:35:30.925 of the Commission, there's a place in a ALJ 00:35:30.937 --> 00:35:33.440 Divisions for someone who is enthusiastic 00:35:33.440 --> 00:35:36.774 about the rules as you are. But-- 00:35:36.799 --> 00:35:40.327 I'm enthusiastic about 00:35:40.339 --> 00:35:43.549 streamlining and economizing and those 00:35:43.549 --> 00:35:45.915 sorts of things, so I don't know how welcome 00:35:45.927 --> 00:35:48.200 some of my opinions would, actually, Anne. 00:35:48.225 --> 00:35:49.750 Well, we're a 00:35:49.750 --> 00:35:52.718 very opinionated bunch and our opinions span 00:35:52.730 --> 00:35:55.710 the spectrum, so I think you would fit right 00:35:55.710 --> 00:36:02.910 in in that regard. But looking at procedures and practices that are 00:36:02.910 --> 00:36:08.198 not in the formal rules that nevertheless serve 00:36:08.210 --> 00:36:13.069 to promote accessibility and understanding, 00:36:13.069 --> 00:36:16.307 the Commission has the discuss and hold 00:36:16.319 --> 00:36:20.569 methodology for items on its agenda, which is not 00:36:20.569 --> 00:36:26.953 used very often but is available to allow for 00:36:26.965 --> 00:36:33.500 public airing of issues in the infrastructure. 00:36:33.500 --> 00:36:36.532 Again, every proposed decision is sent out 00:36:36.544 --> 00:36:39.730 to of the service list with instructions for 00:36:39.730 --> 00:36:43.983 how and when to comment, as are draft resolutions 00:36:43.995 --> 00:36:48.089 proposed by staff, so that everyone is reminded 00:36:48.089 --> 00:36:51.914 each time about what to do. The third 00:36:51.926 --> 00:36:56.490 sub-element is to enable and encourage the 00:36:56.490 --> 00:36:59.222 parties, the public and governmental entities 00:36:59.234 --> 00:37:01.740 to participate actively in developing the 00:37:01.740 --> 00:37:05.178 record and Commission proceedings. Many of 00:37:05.190 --> 00:37:08.800 the elements of this, I will just note, are, 00:37:08.800 --> 00:37:12.931 take place outsid,e by staff outside ALJ Division, 00:37:12.943 --> 00:37:16.599 the News and Outreach office, in particular, 00:37:16.599 --> 00:37:19.709 has, you know, when you've heard reports from them 00:37:19.721 --> 00:37:22.660 and as you work with them, very large operation 00:37:22.660 --> 00:37:27.084 in trying to ensure broad participation. 00:37:27.096 --> 00:37:31.640 And Commissioners themselves also work on 00:37:31.640 --> 00:37:35.890 that. So I am talking about the much more limited 00:37:35.890 --> 00:37:39.283 area of encouragement, of participation in 00:37:39.295 --> 00:37:42.700 infrastructure for participation in formal 00:37:42.700 --> 00:37:46.764 proceedings that ALJ division sort of has 00:37:46.776 --> 00:37:51.240 it's hands on, and I will note also that much 00:37:51.240 --> 00:37:56.650 of what we've been discussing in this part is 00:37:56.662 --> 00:38:01.849 of strongly tied to the Commission's public 00:38:01.849 --> 00:38:06.652 website, that the vast majority of the ways 00:38:06.664 --> 00:38:11.369 in which we encourage public participation 00:38:11.369 --> 00:38:16.636 and enable people to know how to participate 00:38:16.648 --> 00:38:21.340 are either exclusively web-based or are 00:38:21.340 --> 00:38:24.454 strongly mediated by what is on our website 00:38:24.466 --> 00:38:27.450 as a source of information and navigation 00:38:27.450 --> 00:38:31.214 for people, I'll lead into these two examples, 00:38:31.226 --> 00:38:34.680 the Intervener Compensation program, which 00:38:34.680 --> 00:38:39.673 has an extensive web presence on the Commission's 00:38:39.685 --> 00:38:44.390 web page, and the smaller, but very important, 00:38:44.390 --> 00:38:48.088 Practitioners Page, looking at intervener 00:38:48.100 --> 00:38:52.869 compensation, these are just numbers for the past two 00:38:52.869 --> 00:38:57.381 years. Also subject to the caveat that they're just 00:38:57.393 --> 00:39:01.569 the raw numbers, so that the $10,000 intervener 00:39:01.569 --> 00:39:05.503 compensation request and the $1.8 million 00:39:05.515 --> 00:39:09.460 intervener compensation requests are both 00:39:09.460 --> 00:39:15.056 one request and one decision each. The Commissioners 00:39:15.068 --> 00:39:20.359 have inquired about how many interveners actually 00:39:20.359 --> 00:39:23.653 participate in seeking intervener compensation. 00:39:23.665 --> 00:39:27.109 In both years, it's hovered around 40. There's an 00:39:27.109 --> 00:39:30.378 appendix to the presentation that has the names 00:39:30.390 --> 00:39:33.330 of the unique interveners if you're deeply 00:39:33.330 --> 00:39:38.163 interested in that. I know that the multi-million 00:39:38.175 --> 00:39:42.730 numbers at the bottom of total icons requested 00:39:42.730 --> 00:39:46.894 in Calendar 2018 or 2019 and total I-comp 00:39:46.906 --> 00:39:51.480 awarded in 2018 and 2019. There's a time lag. 00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:55.109 So it isn't that the Commission awarded $10 00:39:55.121 --> 00:39:58.680 million out of the 14 million requested in 00:39:58.680 --> 00:40:02.671 2018. $14 million worth of requests came in, 00:40:02.683 --> 00:40:06.420 and $10 million worth of awards went out. 00:40:06.420 --> 00:40:10.638 But there's, many of those awards from requests 00:40:10.650 --> 00:40:14.440 filed in prior years, but it gives you, at 00:40:14.440 --> 00:40:19.368 least, a sense of the the scope of the program. 00:40:19.393 --> 00:40:23.680 I had, If I may ask just a quick question. 00:40:23.680 --> 00:40:28.137 I've had, since I've been in the Commission, 00:40:28.149 --> 00:40:32.220 a few comments made to me by interveners 00:40:32.220 --> 00:40:36.712 and people who would would like to be interveners. 00:40:36.724 --> 00:40:40.610 One, those who are small organizations that 00:40:40.610 --> 00:40:43.964 don't have perhaps a sophistication that a 00:40:43.976 --> 00:40:47.420 organization like TURN or Sierra Club have, 00:40:47.420 --> 00:40:51.458 they find that it's very difficulty, our 00:40:51.470 --> 00:40:55.619 process to become an intervener is rather 00:40:55.619 --> 00:41:03.200 complicated. I don't know that we've done a review of that in recent 00:41:03.200 --> 00:41:06.472 times. So that's one question. And two, I 00:41:06.484 --> 00:41:10.160 understand that at one point, our compensation 00:41:10.160 --> 00:41:14.049 to the interveners was lagging quite behind 00:41:14.061 --> 00:41:18.140 in terms of a schedule, and I understand that 00:41:18.140 --> 00:41:21.920 that has improved. And I just wanted to hear 00:41:21.932 --> 00:41:25.640 if that is indeed true, if we're keeping up 00:41:25.640 --> 00:41:28.580 on a fairly good schedule that we're 00:41:28.592 --> 00:41:32.609 compensating with in an appropriate time frame. 00:41:32.609 --> 00:41:36.866 Thank you, President Batjer, if I may take 00:41:36.878 --> 00:41:41.300 the first first. Everyone agrees that the process for the 00:41:41.300 --> 00:41:45.750 intervener compensation program is very complicated. 00:41:45.762 --> 00:41:49.550 That is largely the result of the complexity 00:41:49.550 --> 00:41:54.189 of the statutory requirements that had set 00:41:54.201 --> 00:41:58.960 our intervener compensation parameters. And 00:41:58.960 --> 00:42:02.656 of the dedicated staff, both in the intervener 00:42:02.668 --> 00:42:06.060 compensation unit and ALJ Division and the 00:42:06.060 --> 00:42:08.239 people in the public adviser's office who 00:42:08.251 --> 00:42:10.599 tried to work with members of the public, do 00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:15.607 their best to simplify, but there are some just 00:42:15.619 --> 00:42:20.220 bedrock complexities that we can't simplify 00:42:20.220 --> 00:42:23.375 our way out of. We are always open to suggestions 00:42:23.387 --> 00:42:26.110 for trying to make it easier for people to 00:42:26.110 --> 00:42:29.480 find their way into, and then, through the 00:42:29.492 --> 00:42:33.109 system. ALJ Division and the Public Advisor's 00:42:33.109 --> 00:42:36.194 office are always working on improving and 00:42:36.206 --> 00:42:39.520 updating the Public Advisor's office material 00:42:39.520 --> 00:42:42.953 on the intervener compensation system. And when 00:42:42.965 --> 00:42:46.410 Public Advisor folks go to public participation 00:42:46.410 --> 00:42:49.647 hearings and things like that, they're available 00:42:49.659 --> 00:42:52.510 to answer individual questions at the time 00:42:52.510 --> 00:42:56.535 and have information available for people 00:42:56.547 --> 00:43:00.680 who, at public participation hearings, can 00:43:00.680 --> 00:43:02.998 come up to them and say, Oh, I would like to 00:43:03.010 --> 00:43:05.339 intervene in this or I'm trying to intervene 00:43:05.339 --> 00:43:11.242 in this and having problems. But we, it 00:43:11.254 --> 00:43:18.079 would be misleading to say that the process 00:43:18.079 --> 00:43:21.135 is ever going to be as simple as it should 00:43:21.147 --> 00:43:24.000 be for people who are not sophisticated 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:28.252 consumers of governmental processes and-- 00:43:28.277 --> 00:43:32.099 And would that take statutory changes, Anne, 00:43:32.099 --> 00:43:40.410 to streamline or make it take out some of the complications for those smaller 00:43:40.410 --> 00:43:42.243 organizations? 00:43:42.268 --> 00:43:44.496 Yes, it would, President Batjer. 00:43:44.520 --> 00:43:46.250 Okay, okay. Good to know. Thank you. 00:43:46.275 --> 00:43:47.740 I would add, and Commissioner 00:43:47.740 --> 00:43:51.010 Randolph could jump in. We've talked about other 00:43:51.022 --> 00:43:54.170 things we could do to make the process easier. 00:43:54.170 --> 00:43:58.177 Most of the focus, I think, has been on better 00:43:58.189 --> 00:44:02.380 training our staff, News and Outreach and others 00:44:02.380 --> 00:44:05.625 who work with the public to make them better 00:44:05.637 --> 00:44:08.750 able to communicate with smaller groups to 00:44:08.750 --> 00:44:11.430 get them to participate. I don't know if the ALJ 00:44:11.442 --> 00:44:14.299 Division's been involved in those trainings or not. 00:44:14.299 --> 00:44:16.194 Yes, we are. 00:44:16.219 --> 00:44:19.088 That's one effort we've been trying-- 00:44:19.113 --> 00:44:21.880 And that's ongoing, Cliff, because 00:44:21.880 --> 00:44:25.746 I know that there's people come and go out of those units. 00:44:25.771 --> 00:44:27.450 I believe there is. There 00:44:27.450 --> 00:44:30.244 were there were some formal things that were 00:44:30.256 --> 00:44:33.250 done. I don't know if, I don't anyone from News 00:44:33.250 --> 00:44:35.485 and Outreach is here who wants to comment. There 00:44:35.497 --> 00:44:37.790 were some formal things that were done, including 00:44:37.790 --> 00:44:41.833 some training modules and otherwise or short 00:44:41.845 --> 00:44:45.810 videos. I think it's ongoing. I don't think 00:44:45.810 --> 00:44:48.496 we've reached a sweet spot. I think we need 00:44:48.508 --> 00:44:51.329 to keep working on it. There's some statutory 00:44:51.329 --> 00:44:54.237 fixes that we've talked about, and my office 00:44:54.249 --> 00:44:57.040 proposed one, and I don't know where it is 00:44:57.040 --> 00:44:59.666 in the legislative process. We're constrained, 00:44:59.678 --> 00:45:02.260 as Anne said, by statute and court decisions, 00:45:02.260 --> 00:45:06.355 which have interpreted the statutory provisions 00:45:06.367 --> 00:45:09.960 pretty strictly, so there are some things 00:45:09.960 --> 00:45:12.478 we could do. Tackling intervener compensation, 00:45:12.490 --> 00:45:14.750 though, is a bit like opening a Pandora's 00:45:14.750 --> 00:45:17.932 box because there are some serious critics 00:45:17.944 --> 00:45:20.840 of the program, and it would not, it's 00:45:20.840 --> 00:45:24.918 not easy to surgically do things, I think it would 00:45:24.930 --> 00:45:28.619 engender a much broader discussion and debate 00:45:28.619 --> 00:45:32.556 legislatively, but we could certainly continue 00:45:32.568 --> 00:45:36.180 to work on our outreach and communication. 00:45:36.180 --> 00:45:38.623 It is a little bit within the scope of the 00:45:38.635 --> 00:45:41.319 Policy and Governance Committee, but we really 00:45:41.319 --> 00:45:47.050 haven't done a great deal other than to encourage better training and outreach. 00:45:47.075 --> 00:45:48.960 Okay, that's very 00:45:48.960 --> 00:45:52.302 helpful. You can check with with Terry and see 00:45:52.314 --> 00:45:55.740 if that is indeed ongoing and there's any other 00:45:55.740 --> 00:45:59.306 things that we can do to support her 00:45:59.318 --> 00:46:03.690 efforts in upgrading or further changes in 00:46:03.690 --> 00:46:06.611 the curriculum that would be helpful to to 00:46:06.623 --> 00:46:09.760 those who wish to participate in the program. 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:13.519 Thank you. As to your second 00:46:13.531 --> 00:46:18.109 question, the Intervener Compensation program has 00:46:18.109 --> 00:46:22.825 made great strides this calendar year in catching 00:46:22.837 --> 00:46:26.809 up with the backlog, but there still is a 00:46:26.809 --> 00:46:32.893 backlog of requests to process. Intervener 00:46:32.905 --> 00:46:38.860 compensation is, as a program, has a kind 00:46:38.860 --> 00:46:42.513 of 1 to 1 dependency, output to staffing. And 00:46:42.525 --> 00:46:46.430 when we lose fast in the intervener compensation 00:46:46.430 --> 00:46:51.613 unit, then the requests are not of the initial 00:46:51.625 --> 00:46:56.930 analysis of the request and the appropriateness 00:46:56.930 --> 00:47:00.151 of the numbers, and whether everything is 00:47:00.163 --> 00:47:03.549 working out falls behind, and we then can't 00:47:03.549 --> 00:47:08.072 complete the proposed decisions for the Commission's 00:47:08.084 --> 00:47:12.020 consideration on as many requests as we would 00:47:12.020 --> 00:47:16.815 like to. We had a staffing trough in 2017 and 00:47:16.827 --> 00:47:21.529 2018 which was reflected in people's correct 00:47:21.529 --> 00:47:26.448 perception that their requests were not going 00:47:26.460 --> 00:47:31.069 through as quickly as they should. We have 00:47:31.069 --> 00:47:34.951 been working on staffing. We have done better 00:47:34.963 --> 00:47:38.350 about staffing in 2019, but we're still 00:47:38.350 --> 00:47:43.562 incompletely staffed in intervener compensation, 00:47:43.574 --> 00:47:47.839 so we're still not able to turn out the 00:47:47.839 --> 00:47:51.597 compensation proposed decisions for your 00:47:51.609 --> 00:47:55.839 consideration of his quickly as we would like 00:47:55.839 --> 00:47:59.436 to turn them around. Note that in the past two 00:47:59.448 --> 00:48:02.750 years, you've decided about 100 intervener 00:48:02.750 --> 00:48:06.544 compensation request, and it's an indication 00:48:06.556 --> 00:48:10.109 of how many of them there are. As you can 00:48:10.109 --> 00:48:15.011 see, there are, um, about a third more than 00:48:15.023 --> 00:48:20.160 that came in in those years than we were able 00:48:20.160 --> 00:48:23.483 to put out in terms of keeping up, looking 00:48:23.495 --> 00:48:26.830 at the last two years, and that began from 00:48:26.830 --> 00:48:35.650 a deficit. So it is a constant concern to try this keep that unit staffed and 00:48:35.650 --> 00:48:39.958 having the tools to turn the proposed decisions 00:48:39.970 --> 00:48:43.390 out for your consideration as rapidly 00:48:43.390 --> 00:48:46.753 as they should. And it's an area that ALJ 00:48:46.765 --> 00:48:50.140 Division management is constantly looking 00:48:50.140 --> 00:48:57.273 at and trying to help get the resources that it needs-- 00:48:57.298 --> 00:49:00.839 There needs to be some more 00:49:00.839 --> 00:49:04.288 emphasis on that, perhaps, Anne, you and I can, 00:49:04.300 --> 00:49:07.760 and Alice Stebbins can huddle with Chris Rohas, 00:49:07.760 --> 00:49:11.704 our new HR leader, there might be some new ideas 00:49:11.716 --> 00:49:15.350 that we have or ways to do a more widespread 00:49:15.350 --> 00:49:19.505 throwing the net further into recruitment. 00:49:19.530 --> 00:49:23.660 Thank you. I would be happy to participate 00:49:23.660 --> 00:49:31.365 in in that. And would, your offer of help is much appreciated. 00:49:31.390 --> 00:49:33.940 Okay, Thank you. 00:49:33.965 --> 00:49:39.978 Thank you. So the next item in sort of encouraging 00:49:39.990 --> 00:49:44.980 parties, but in this case, the public to participate 00:49:44.980 --> 00:49:48.309 actively is a kind of poaching on a project 00:49:48.321 --> 00:49:51.661 of News and Outreach. But this seems a good 00:49:51.661 --> 00:49:55.642 opportunity to mention it, which is the development 00:49:55.654 --> 00:49:58.880 of an area of the docket card, the online 00:49:58.880 --> 00:50:02.174 docket card, in which people can directly post 00:50:02.186 --> 00:50:05.140 public comments that will appear directly 00:50:05.140 --> 00:50:08.591 on the docket cards. This is in a period 00:50:08.603 --> 00:50:12.151 of soft rollout and testing. ALJ division 00:50:12.151 --> 00:50:15.883 and News and Outreach have been working on it 00:50:15.895 --> 00:50:19.720 for some time to try to get the infrastructure 00:50:19.720 --> 00:50:32.069 right. It was a programming project for IT, so kind of large coalition of staff 00:50:32.069 --> 00:50:39.500 working on it. The News and Outreach did a soft rollout in September 2019 which 00:50:39.500 --> 00:50:43.357 meant the site is fully functional, it's up, 00:50:43.369 --> 00:50:46.980 but News and Outreach has not done a push 00:50:46.980 --> 00:50:50.020 to let people know about it. That pushes launch 00:50:50.032 --> 00:50:52.829 is probably going to be later this month or 00:50:52.829 --> 00:50:55.673 early next month. And in the meantime, ALJ 00:50:55.685 --> 00:50:58.740 division is just kind of checking that things 00:50:58.740 --> 00:51:02.198 actually get posted, that they're accessible, 00:51:02.210 --> 00:51:05.530 that the reports that IT has programmed can 00:51:05.530 --> 00:51:10.505 actually run, that it's possible to review 00:51:10.517 --> 00:51:15.619 comments. And so far everything seems to be 00:51:15.619 --> 00:51:26.030 working internally. And so when News and Outreach has all their work in order to 00:51:26.030 --> 00:51:31.109 do a public splash about it, the site appears to 00:51:31.121 --> 00:51:35.901 be ready to receive whatever comments members 00:51:35.901 --> 00:51:40.200 of the public would like to put on public comment 00:51:40.212 --> 00:51:43.920 on the docket card. President Batjer, were 00:51:43.920 --> 00:51:46.705 you going to say something? 00:51:46.730 --> 00:51:50.286 No, unfortunately, just 00:51:50.298 --> 00:51:54.029 clearing my throat from my cold. I apologize. 00:51:54.029 --> 00:51:57.977 I should have turned my mic off sooner. 00:51:58.002 --> 00:52:03.039 Thank you. So then, the last sub-element of the 00:52:03.039 --> 00:52:05.750 strategic directive to ensure that decision 00:52:05.762 --> 00:52:08.609 making documents in the administrative record 00:52:08.609 --> 00:52:10.807 are logged and available to the public to the 00:52:10.819 --> 00:52:13.029 extent allowed by law, and that accessibility 00:52:13.029 --> 00:52:16.360 to the record is regularly assessed and enhanced. 00:52:16.372 --> 00:52:19.849 So it's important to note that the this sub-element 00:52:19.849 --> 00:52:25.241 refers to formal proceedings. It is not a 00:52:25.253 --> 00:52:30.529 sub-element that refers generally to all 00:52:30.529 --> 00:52:35.064 possible decision making documents within 00:52:35.076 --> 00:52:39.190 the Commission. So with that in mind, 00:52:39.190 --> 00:52:45.098 look at the docket. The docket card itself, would you mind 00:52:45.110 --> 00:52:50.529 going back one? I'm sorry. Just to refresh everyone's 00:52:50.529 --> 00:52:54.986 recollection, you find the docket card by 00:52:54.998 --> 00:52:59.680 docket number and in roughly chronological, 00:52:59.680 --> 00:53:02.565 reverse chronological order by type of documents 00:53:02.577 --> 00:53:05.119 filed, you can find the documents that you 00:53:05.119 --> 00:53:11.685 are looking for. (inaudible) So in the past years, 00:53:11.697 --> 00:53:17.630 roughly 13,000 documents have been submitted, 00:53:17.630 --> 00:53:20.515 almost all of them through the electronic filing 00:53:20.527 --> 00:53:23.070 system that the Commission maintains. Some 00:53:23.070 --> 00:53:27.199 documents still are submitted on paper, a 00:53:27.211 --> 00:53:31.549 very small number because people don't have 00:53:31.549 --> 00:53:35.532 access to the infrastructure for e-filing, 00:53:35.544 --> 00:53:39.539 typically individual complainants. But the 00:53:39.539 --> 00:53:43.513 largest proportion of paper documents filed 00:53:43.525 --> 00:53:47.330 are documents to be kept confidential. We 00:53:47.330 --> 00:53:50.801 are in process of working with IT to try to 00:53:50.813 --> 00:53:54.059 improve the filing system so that it can 00:53:54.059 --> 00:53:57.047 handle confidential document filing. But it 00:53:57.059 --> 00:53:59.990 doesn't right now. So the vast majority of 00:53:59.990 --> 00:54:05.500 those documents, 13,000 are e-filed. Documents 00:54:05.512 --> 00:54:10.799 are rejected for various reasons. The format 00:54:10.799 --> 00:54:14.446 is not complying. They didn't comply with the 00:54:14.458 --> 00:54:17.720 Administrative Law Judge's instructions, 00:54:17.720 --> 00:54:22.628 or there is some other defect that has to 00:54:22.640 --> 00:54:27.559 be fixed before it can be formally filed. 00:54:27.559 --> 00:54:31.886 These numbers include recycled documents. It's 00:54:31.898 --> 00:54:35.960 been rejected, and then it's fixed and it's 00:54:35.960 --> 00:54:41.495 resubmitted and filed. And the instructions 00:54:41.507 --> 00:54:47.180 for electronic filing again are electronicly 00:54:47.180 --> 00:54:51.276 tethered to the Commission's website. People 00:54:51.288 --> 00:54:54.940 in Docket office also will answer phone 00:54:54.940 --> 00:54:59.479 questions about how to do it from people who 00:54:59.491 --> 00:55:03.839 are having trouble. And it is important to 00:55:03.839 --> 00:55:07.090 remember that Commission's rules for formal 00:55:07.102 --> 00:55:10.290 proceedings provide an opportunity for the 00:55:10.290 --> 00:55:14.811 filer to correct an inadvertent error or formatting 00:55:14.823 --> 00:55:18.920 problem and have the filing accepted as of the 00:55:18.920 --> 00:55:22.437 date it was originally tendered. So as not 00:55:22.449 --> 00:55:26.060 penalized filers who have problems with the 00:55:26.060 --> 00:55:31.164 e-filing system for one reason or another 00:55:31.176 --> 00:55:36.170 Docket Office staff is available to help 00:55:36.170 --> 00:55:41.531 people who call and do, I think, an excellent 00:55:41.543 --> 00:55:46.799 job of that. The work of Docket office staff 00:55:46.799 --> 00:55:50.358 in dealing with callers also helps to alert 00:55:50.370 --> 00:55:53.940 us to of problems with the docketing system 00:55:53.940 --> 00:55:58.425 that we may not have been aware of because 00:55:58.437 --> 00:56:02.829 people inside of the system know how it's 00:56:02.829 --> 00:56:06.218 supposed to work. And they're not always aware 00:56:06.230 --> 00:56:09.559 of the traps for the unwary that may be laid. 00:56:09.559 --> 00:56:12.772 And the comments from people on the phone are 00:56:12.784 --> 00:56:15.869 very helpful to us in identifying problems. 00:56:15.869 --> 00:56:19.646 So going on to pick up one of the things I 00:56:19.658 --> 00:56:24.329 mentioned, we do have new features for accessibility 00:56:24.329 --> 00:56:28.562 online of items related to formal proceedings 00:56:28.574 --> 00:56:32.819 done through the docket cards. I've mentioned 00:56:32.819 --> 00:56:36.800 the public comment portal. Earlier this 00:56:36.812 --> 00:56:41.420 spring, transcripts of public participation 00:56:41.420 --> 00:56:44.325 hearings, pre hearing conferences, evidentiary 00:56:44.337 --> 00:56:47.130 hearings, all the things we have transcripts 00:56:47.130 --> 00:56:51.796 for are now available on the docket card 00:56:51.808 --> 00:56:56.829 without a special request. We're working on 00:56:56.829 --> 00:57:00.588 a couple of things with IT. The confidential 00:57:00.600 --> 00:57:04.119 document e-filing, which I have mentioned 00:57:04.119 --> 00:57:09.316 and also developing a capability to e-file 00:57:09.328 --> 00:57:14.779 and e-accept documents, supporting documents 00:57:14.779 --> 00:57:18.040 in formal proceedings like exhibits and testimony, 00:57:18.052 --> 00:57:21.260 so that they can be made electronically available 00:57:21.260 --> 00:57:24.879 through the docket card. All of those, both of those 00:57:24.891 --> 00:57:28.180 things require both analysis, how they're gonna 00:57:28.180 --> 00:57:32.202 work and programming, and we are working with 00:57:32.214 --> 00:57:35.809 IT and our existing consultant to try to 00:57:35.809 --> 00:57:41.523 make those, get those two new features into 00:57:41.535 --> 00:57:47.130 testable form, and then hopefully, working 00:57:47.130 --> 00:57:50.939 form target before the end of this year. But I 00:57:50.951 --> 00:57:54.609 can't, I don't think I could be more precise 00:57:54.609 --> 00:58:06.890 than that at this moment. One way to deal with finding out about documents 00:58:06.890 --> 00:58:09.333 in a proceeding without getting yourself on the 00:58:09.345 --> 00:58:11.800 service list and being inundated with documents 00:58:11.800 --> 00:58:16.932 is to subscribe to the subscription service, 00:58:16.944 --> 00:58:21.859 which is a link on the website, and at the 00:58:21.859 --> 00:58:25.822 end of every day, links to published documents 00:58:25.834 --> 00:58:29.470 in the proceedings that the subscriber has 00:58:29.470 --> 00:58:33.022 identified are sent to the subscribers' email 00:58:33.034 --> 00:58:36.289 address at no charge. And I have recently 00:58:36.289 --> 00:58:40.490 had occasion to try the Subscription Service 00:58:40.502 --> 00:58:44.060 out myself. As I am pinch hitting for 00:58:44.060 --> 00:58:47.102 Jessica Heckmon in helping out on the large 00:58:47.114 --> 00:58:49.890 number of wildfire related proceedings. 00:58:49.890 --> 00:58:53.033 So I have subscribed to wildfire proceedings 00:58:53.045 --> 00:58:56.270 on the subscription service and I, at the end 00:58:56.270 --> 00:58:59.852 of every day, I get a long list of documents, 00:58:59.864 --> 00:59:03.380 both that have been filed, and in one of the 00:59:03.380 --> 00:59:06.081 upgrades that was made earlier this year, 00:59:06.093 --> 00:59:09.130 submitted for filing. So that the subscription 00:59:09.130 --> 00:59:12.273 service now is much closer, the experience 00:59:12.285 --> 00:59:15.440 being on the subscription service, is much 00:59:15.440 --> 00:59:19.002 closer to the experience of being on the service 00:59:19.014 --> 00:59:22.880 lift itself because the subscription, the subscriber 00:59:22.880 --> 00:59:26.030 can see documents that have been submitted 00:59:26.042 --> 00:59:29.130 for filing as though they had been served 00:59:29.130 --> 00:59:31.506 but not yet filed. But you don't get the mass 00:59:31.518 --> 00:59:33.750 of documents, so you don't have to look at 00:59:33.750 --> 00:59:36.998 them. But you are not just waiting now to 00:59:37.010 --> 00:59:40.269 see the formally filed documents, so that 00:59:40.269 --> 00:59:43.758 improvement has been available, also since this 00:59:43.770 --> 00:59:46.980 spring. And finally, I don't want to forget 00:59:46.980 --> 00:59:50.473 that we maintain a large number of files on 00:59:50.485 --> 00:59:54.070 paper of, in central files, all the official 00:59:54.070 --> 01:00:02.460 documents are on paper. There are staff in central files who keep that stuff 01:00:02.460 --> 01:00:07.264 in order and are also available to provide for 01:00:07.276 --> 01:00:11.990 the identified fee. Copies of paper documents 01:00:11.990 --> 01:00:15.523 on paper to members of the public who requests 01:00:15.535 --> 01:00:18.779 them, either by walking in during business 01:00:18.779 --> 01:00:24.816 hours or by using the email request form that's 01:00:24.828 --> 01:00:30.750 identified on the website. And I personally am 01:00:30.750 --> 01:00:33.154 very happy that Central Files still exists. And 01:00:33.166 --> 01:00:35.380 President Batjer, this is one of the things 01:00:35.380 --> 01:00:37.964 where there are strong differences of opinion 01:00:37.976 --> 01:00:40.460 within the division. Some people would just 01:00:40.460 --> 01:00:43.842 like all the paper to disappear, and the paper 01:00:43.854 --> 01:00:46.960 makes me happy. So I am glad to be able to 01:00:46.960 --> 01:00:50.573 report on the continued existence and operation of Central 01:00:50.585 --> 01:00:53.658 Files. And I think we're available for questions. 01:00:53.683 --> 01:00:55.891 I had something 01:00:55.890 --> 01:01:04.539 just this week that came up that was no longer available online, and we had 01:01:04.539 --> 01:01:09.355 to go to Central File and pull the paper copy, 01:01:09.367 --> 01:01:13.990 which was probably 15, 17 years old, anyway, 01:01:13.990 --> 01:01:18.662 so I had an immediate appreciation, recently, but I think 01:01:18.674 --> 01:01:23.115 it has to do with demographics, our demographics Anne. 01:01:23.140 --> 01:01:29.748 Okay, so we're available for any questions or comments. 01:01:29.773 --> 01:01:31.951 Well, thank 01:01:31.950 --> 01:01:36.182 you both very much. I will ask my fellow 01:01:36.194 --> 01:01:41.680 Commissioners to insert themselves on any questions 01:01:41.680 --> 01:01:47.654 or comments, but I know you're both extraordinarily 01:01:47.666 --> 01:01:52.500 busy and that this additional activity is 01:01:52.500 --> 01:01:56.210 is just that. Additional. And so I'm mindful 01:01:56.222 --> 01:02:00.110 of the time that you both have taken to update 01:02:00.110 --> 01:02:03.417 us on these important aspects of our 01:02:03.429 --> 01:02:07.670 processes. So I appreciate it. And there are 01:02:07.670 --> 01:02:10.365 a couple of things that I've noted here 01:02:10.377 --> 01:02:13.430 that I'm gonna be checking on to see if we 01:02:13.430 --> 01:02:16.208 can help with some of the things that are 01:02:16.220 --> 01:02:19.009 ongoing that you mentioned. Did the other 01:02:19.009 --> 01:02:21.942 Commissioners have any questions or comments on 01:02:21.954 --> 01:02:24.960 the Finance and Administration direct committee? 01:02:24.960 --> 01:02:28.477 I'll just make kind of a brief 01:02:28.489 --> 01:02:31.640 comment that I think we've come a long way, and I 01:02:31.640 --> 01:02:34.504 think we have a long way to go. I think that 01:02:34.516 --> 01:02:37.329 it's nice to see some of these improvements 01:02:37.329 --> 01:02:40.912 we've been talking about for a long time. Like, 01:02:40.924 --> 01:02:44.069 you know, kudos to you, Anne, for getting 01:02:44.069 --> 01:02:48.408 the transcripts available online. I mean, 01:02:48.420 --> 01:02:52.460 that was a heavy, heavy lift. And it's 01:02:52.460 --> 01:02:58.740 very much appreciated. And all of the continued work in IT that goes on to try 01:02:58.740 --> 01:03:02.404 to figure out how to make these processes 01:03:02.416 --> 01:03:05.830 work better. And the continued work to 01:03:05.830 --> 01:03:08.665 try to figure out how to make the docket process 01:03:08.677 --> 01:03:11.640 work better as well. That's incredibly complicated 01:03:11.640 --> 01:03:13.728 and difficult, and I know it can be very 01:03:13.740 --> 01:03:16.300 frustrating for parties and the public when there 01:03:16.300 --> 01:03:21.680 are lags in terms of documents that are available on the docket. And one of 01:03:21.680 --> 01:03:24.818 the things that is very much appreciated is, 01:03:24.830 --> 01:03:27.770 as you mentioned earlier, the ability for 01:03:27.770 --> 01:03:31.067 folks to call up and ask for help and to 01:03:31.079 --> 01:03:34.549 get help. And so I really appreciate that. 01:03:34.549 --> 01:03:43.359 That work. But I do think you know, these are longstanding issues that will 01:03:43.359 --> 01:03:47.045 continue to take time to innovate and iterate. 01:03:47.057 --> 01:03:50.440 And so I still feel like we do have, we do 01:03:50.440 --> 01:03:52.628 have more work to do. 01:03:52.653 --> 01:03:55.972 Thank you. Commissioner Randolph. 01:03:55.984 --> 01:03:59.191 Commissioner Shiroma or Commissioner Rechtschaffen? 01:03:59.191 --> 01:04:02.899 Thank you. Yes, on the metrics, 01:04:02.911 --> 01:04:06.630 first of all, thank you very much for the presentation. 01:04:06.630 --> 01:04:12.512 It is insightful to see the progress and on the 01:04:12.524 --> 01:04:18.540 decision making slide, I think it's slide seven, 01:04:18.540 --> 01:04:32.140 does this also include the litigation for general counsel> 01:04:32.140 --> 01:04:39.801 Are we including decisions on rehearing in that total? 01:04:39.826 --> 01:04:43.970 There are times when the Commission 01:04:43.970 --> 01:04:49.093 also makes decisions on proceeding with litigation 01:04:49.105 --> 01:04:54.240 or policies or what have you or litigation strategy 01:04:54.240 --> 01:04:56.217 in the upper courts, you know. 01:04:56.242 --> 01:05:00.170 No, that is not included. We were looking at this 01:05:00.170 --> 01:05:04.209 from the context of the Commission as a quasi 01:05:04.221 --> 01:05:07.920 judicial body making decisions in its own 01:05:07.920 --> 01:05:12.613 proceedings. Obviously, we also participate in 01:05:12.625 --> 01:05:17.029 other fora like FERC, FCC, and there you're 01:05:17.029 --> 01:05:21.951 not a decision maker, you're party in those, 01:05:21.963 --> 01:05:26.569 you know, fora. It also does not include, 01:05:26.569 --> 01:05:31.916 you know, our participation in federal litigation 01:05:31.928 --> 01:05:37.180 either when were sued or whether we're appealing 01:05:37.180 --> 01:05:40.033 decisions that have been made from other 01:05:40.045 --> 01:05:43.119 agencies where we've intervened as a party. 01:05:43.119 --> 01:05:46.479 That's kind of a whole different topic. If 01:05:46.491 --> 01:05:50.099 that's something you're, you know, interested 01:05:50.099 --> 01:05:53.762 in, briefings on, we will be happy, you know, 01:05:53.774 --> 01:05:56.890 to do that. But a lot of that decision 01:05:56.890 --> 01:05:59.783 making is in closed session. So it's not 01:05:59.795 --> 01:06:02.770 something we can really discuss publicly, 01:06:02.770 --> 01:06:09.198 but we do, obviously, the Commission participates, 01:06:09.210 --> 01:06:14.009 you know, as a party in these federal 01:06:14.009 --> 01:06:17.813 agency, and also, you know, we're have a very 01:06:17.825 --> 01:06:21.890 strong presence in the state and federal courts. 01:06:21.890 --> 01:06:32.569 For rehearings of our own decisions, we often are challenged in court. We have 01:06:32.569 --> 01:06:36.817 a very good, I think, success rate in having 01:06:36.829 --> 01:06:41.089 our decision's upheld. And I can get you the 01:06:41.089 --> 01:06:43.053 statistics if you like. 01:06:43.078 --> 01:06:45.838 Yes, again., not 01:06:45.850 --> 01:06:48.690 to create more work, but if you have them 01:06:48.690 --> 01:06:53.808 available, I think that's another useful metric 01:06:53.820 --> 01:06:58.309 in amplifying the overall workload of the 01:06:58.309 --> 01:07:02.952 Commission, and I would say that the report is 01:07:02.964 --> 01:07:07.519 in compliance and we can give it a thumbs up. 01:07:07.519 --> 01:07:11.252 I was going, you're one 01:07:11.264 --> 01:07:14.839 step ahead of me. I wanted to, thank you, 01:07:14.839 --> 01:07:18.033 Commissioner Shiroma. I wanted to, again, thank 01:07:18.045 --> 01:07:21.050 you for the presentation. And Commissioners, 01:07:21.050 --> 01:07:25.448 do you find that the CPUC is in substantial 01:07:25.460 --> 01:07:29.970 compliance with SD10, compliance with SD10, 01:07:29.970 --> 01:07:33.104 or working towards compliance? I think that 01:07:33.116 --> 01:07:36.690 Commissioner Shiroma says substantial compliance. 01:07:36.690 --> 01:07:40.630 Indeed, I did. Thank you. 01:07:40.655 --> 01:07:41.474 We don't necessarily-- 01:07:41.499 --> 01:07:42.217 I agree. 01:07:42.242 --> 01:07:45.910 I think we're somewhere in 01:07:45.910 --> 01:07:47.900 between substantial compliance and working 01:07:47.912 --> 01:07:49.960 towards compliance because, as I mentioned, 01:07:49.960 --> 01:07:52.611 I feel like we've made a huge amount of progress, 01:07:52.623 --> 01:07:55.019 and as Anne presented, there's a huge amount 01:07:55.019 --> 01:07:57.770 of ongoing work. So given that we're doing 01:07:57.782 --> 01:08:00.480 so much ongoing work, I will go ahead and 01:08:00.480 --> 01:08:05.487 say we're substantially in compliance as long as that keeps going. 01:08:05.512 --> 01:08:07.280 Okay, So we are finding 01:08:07.280 --> 01:08:11.168 that for directive, strategic directive 01:08:11.180 --> 01:08:15.680 number 10, decision making process, that we 01:08:15.680 --> 01:08:19.433 are in substantial compliance. So thank you all 01:08:19.445 --> 01:08:23.210 again. I do know that there's some dependencies 01:08:23.210 --> 01:08:27.151 on becoming, you know, staying in that status, 01:08:27.163 --> 01:08:30.780 in particular IT programming and so forth. 01:08:30.780 --> 01:08:34.116 So we'll all work on those other dependencies, 01:08:34.128 --> 01:08:37.120 like News and Outreach, and IT to help us 01:08:37.120 --> 01:08:41.687 make and continue making substantial progress 01:08:41.699 --> 01:08:45.680 on being substantially compliant. So is 01:08:45.680 --> 01:08:49.488 there is there anybody in the audience who 01:08:49.500 --> 01:08:53.320 would like to make a public comment on the 01:08:53.320 --> 01:08:58.207 presentation? I don't see many people in the 01:08:58.219 --> 01:09:02.900 audience even, let alone someone who would 01:09:02.900 --> 01:09:05.237 like to make a public comment. All right, 01:09:05.249 --> 01:09:07.710 thank you all for attendin. The Finance and 01:09:07.710 --> 01:09:14.459 Administration Committee is now adjourned. 01:09:14.484 --> 01:09:18.680 Thank you, President 01:09:18.692 --> 01:09:22.620 Batjer, does that conclude our committee? 01:09:22.620 --> 01:09:28.580 It does indeed. I'm sorry.