Report 2012-118 Recommendations
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor's assessment of auditee's response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations in Report 2012-118: California Public Utilities Commission: Despite Administrative Weaknesses, It Has Generally Awarded Compensation to Intervenors in Accordance With State Law (Release Date: July 2013)
| Recommendations to Public Utilities Commission | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Recommendation | Status |
| 1 | To prevent intervenors from expending resources in proceedings where they are ineligible to receive compensation, the commission should comply with state law by issuing within 30 days preliminary rulings concerning an intervenor's eligibility, when required to do so. |
Fully Implemented |
| 2 | The commission should determine the cause of its lack of compliance with state law requiring it to issue award decisions within 75 days of the date an intervenor submits a compensation claim, and it should determine what actions to take to rectify the problem. The commission should ensure that it has sufficient information, such as detailed tracking information regarding claims, to identify where in the process delays are occurring. If the commission determines that the current 75-day statutory period is unreasonable, it should seek a change in state law. |
Pending |
| 3 | To ensure that utilities and commission staff pay the correct amount of interest to intervenors, the commission should complete its effort to develop and distribute a methodology for calculating reasonable interest on compensation decisions issued after the 75-day deadline. The commission should follow the new procedure to ensure that it calculates interest payments appropriately. To the extent reasonable, the commission should recoup the interest overpaid to intervenors. |
Fully Implemented |
| 4 | To ensure that it has reliable information concerning its compensation decisions for internal and external reporting, the commission should implement procedures to ensure the accuracy of its award database. |
Fully Implemented |
| 5 | To comply fully with state law, the commission should conduct a comprehensive market rate study and update it periodically. |
Pending |
| 6 | Commission staff should complete their effort to develop formal procedures to verify and document the qualifications of intervenors' attorneys and experts. The commission should implement the new procedures to ensure that it awards intervenors an appropriate hourly rate based on verified qualifications. |
Fully Implemented |
| 7 | To ensure that the commission complies with state law and does not inappropriately compensate intervenors, it should complete its effort to develop procedures for staff to routinely check whether an intervenor that represents the interests of small commercial customers who receive bundled electric service from an electrical corporation may have a conflict of interest arising from prior representation before the commission. |
Fully Implemented |
| 8 | The commission should work with intervenors through workshops or other means to clarify any confusion related to how it determines that work intervenors perform is reasonable. |
Fully Implemented |