The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Tuesday ordered utility Southern California Edison (SCE) to re-confer with interested parties to potentially adjust the $4.7 billion settlement over the premature closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013.
CPUC announced in April that it was reopening the settlement case, which ordered that state ratepayers cover $3.3 billion of the $4.7 billion cost for closing the nuclear power plant, which occurred after “faulty” replacement steam generators failed and proved too expensive to fix.
SCE reached the deal two years after closed-door conversations in Warsaw, Poland, between then-CPUC President Michael Peevey and then-SCE executive Stephen Pickett. CPUC subsequently fined SCE nearly $17 million for the company’s failure to report the ex-parte communications, and state Attorney General Kamala Harris has opened a criminal investigation against Peevey.
To address the impacts of the violations, CPUC in Tuesday’s ruling called on the parties to “carefully consider the modifications to the Settlement Agreement proposed by” the state Office of Ratepayer Advocates (ORA), The Utility Reform Network (TURN), and Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility (A4NR). In addition to SCE and other utilities, CPUC lists several other groups as interested parties, including other consumer advocates, business groups, and environmentalists. The parties have until April 28 to reach a modified settlement agreement; if they don’t strike a deal, they will must file summaries of individual positions to determine the next steps with CPUC.
“The CPUC’s rules require a level playing field by mandating ex parte disclosures for ratesetting proceedings, such as this one,” assigned CPUC Commissioner Catherine J.K. Sandoval said in a statement. “The CPUC must ensure the integrity of its processes and that its decisions serve the public interest.”
