The California Public Utilities Commission voted 5-0 on Sept. 3 to grant PG&E a limited exemption tied to a state loan for Diablo Canyon costs, while denying the utility's request to exclude wildfire-related costs from its capital-structure calculation.
In the meeting transcript, President Reynolds said PG&E had sought relief under affiliate transaction rule 9B for $625 million in long-term debt and $542 million in equity costs tied to the Kincade wildfire, $277 million in long-term debt tied to the Dixie Fire, and up to $1.4 billion in costs related to Diablo Canyon's extension covered by an interest-free loan from the Department of Water Resources. Reynolds said the commission's alternate proposed decision found no basis to grant the wildfire-cost exclusions, but did approve a narrow capital-structure adjustment for the DWR-backed Diablo Canyon costs. Read the meeting transcript.
Reynolds and other commissioners said the DWR loan is unusual because it is interest-free, forgivable and tied to a legislative financing structure for Diablo Canyon. The alternate decision also adds reporting requirements for PG&E's next cost-of-capital application, including a true-up analysis of any surplus equity attributable to the wildfire costs and an update on DWR loan forgiveness.
The commission then voted 5-0 to open a new rulemaking to revise the General Rate Case Plan, the guide for electric and gas utility general rate cases. Reynolds said the plan has not been comprehensively updated since 2007 and that the rulemaking will consider broader changes to standardize filings, streamline the process and implement newer statutory requirements, including provisions tied to affordability, accountability and transparency. The discussion cited AB 2666 and SB 254 among the laws that could be folded into the rewrite. Read the meeting transcript.
The commission's action comes as it continues to wrestle with wildfire costs, utility financing and how much information companies must put in rate cases going forward.
