As part of a full energy agenda last Thursday, the California Public Utilities Commission authorized Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to make adjustments in past and current revenue requirements to avoid any cost-shifting between utility bundled customers and direct-access customers buying their own power supplies. Another decision tied to the PG&E utility’s 2003 general rate case adjusted revenue requirements for both electric and gas utility customers to modify utility pension fund contributions in those rates.

Noting that the direct access rate-related decision was “extremely complicated with lots of nomenclature,” CPUC President Michael Peevey said direct access customers were concerned about having to pay for an increasing amount of the competition transition charges still embedded in PG&E utility rates from the state’s past move into a restructured electricity world, but that clearly “is not the commission’s intent.”

There is a working group under way to define future obligations for the direct-access customers for the so-called “cost-recovery surcharge” (CRS), said Peevey, noting that it was likely to help resolve the situation to assure there is no cost-shifting in the process. Commissioner John Bohn said he supported Peevey’s proposed solution and that the commission’s intent was not to “create a squeeze” on the direct-access customers.

In the other action, Peevey partially overrode an administrative law judge’s recommendation to totally reject a PG&E petition regarding its past pension fund coverage in its rates. Peevey’s approach allowed the utility to file an application separate from its 2007 test year general rate request for a revenue requirement increase of $185 million to fund its pension contribution for 2006 only.

The action authorized PG&E to make the revenue requirement increase effective in its rates effective Jan. 1. There will be a reasonableness review of the utility’s pension fund monies, and the rate change is subject to future refund, according to the CPUC commissioners who voted for the measure unanimously.

©Copyright 2005Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.