Public utilities: intervenor fees: customers.

Under existing law, the Public Utilities Commission has regulatory authority over public utilities, including electrical, gas, telephone, telegraph, and water corporations, as defined, and can establish its own procedures, subject to statutory limitations or directions and constitutional requirements of due process. Existing law requires the commission to award reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs to customers, as defined, of an electrical, gas, telegraph, telephone, and water corporation who comply with specified procedures, if the customer's presentation makes a substantial contribution, as defined, to the adoption, in whole or in part, of the commission's order or decision and the customer's participation or intervention without an award of fees or costs imposes a significant financial hardship, as defined. A "substantial contribution" is defined as meaning that, in the judgment of the commission, the customer's presentation has substantially assisted the commission in the making of its order or decision because the order or decision has adopted in whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or specific policy or procedural recommendations presented by the customer. This bill would require the commission, by July 1, 2015, to adopt rules establishing standards to verify that a customer representative is authorized by consumers, customers, or subscribers of any electrical, gas, telephone, telegraph, or water corporation to represent their interests. The bill would revise the definition of "substantial contribution" to additionally require that the commission find that the customer's participation promoted a public purpose that directly benefits other customers. The bill would require the commission to award reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs to customers of an electrical, gas, telegraph, telephone, and water corporation who comply with specified procedures, if the customer's presentation makes a substantial contribution to the adoption, in whole or in part, of the commission's order or decision and promotes a public purpose that benefits other customers, and the customer's participation or intervention without an award of fees or costs imposes a significant financial hardship, as defined. The bill would prohibit the total amount the commission annually awards for intervenor compensation from exceeding the mean average of awards for the previous 3 calendar years. Existing law provides that participation by a customer that materially supplements, complements, or contributes to the presentation of another party, including the commission staff, may be fully eligible for compensation if the participation makes a substantial contribution to a commission order or decision, consistent with specified requirements. Existing law establishes a division within the commission, known as the Division of Ratepayer Advocates, to represent the interests of public utility customers and subscribers, with the goal of obtaining the lowest possible rate for service consistent with reliable and safe service levels. This bill would provide that a customer's participation that substantially duplicates the presentation of the commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, or that falls within the scope and purview of the division, is not eligible for compensation, unless the commission determines that it provided a substantial contribution to promote a public purpose that the division did not provide. Existing law requires a customer who intends to seek an award for intervenor fees to timely file and serve on all parties to the proceeding a notice of intent to claim compensation which includes a statement of the nature and extent of the customer's planned participation in the proceeding and an itemized estimate of the compensation that the customer expects to request, given the likely duration of the proceeding as it appears at the time of the filing of the notice. This bill would additionally require that the notice of intent to claim compensation include a verification of the individual customer or group of customers being represented.