So. Cal. Edison v. PUC CA2/3

INTRODUCTION

At issue in this consolidated original proceeding is whether the Public Utilities Commission (the PUC) has the authority to implement the Electric Program Investment Charge (EPIC). EPIC requires electric utility corporations serving California to collect a surcharge on their ratepayers’ electricity bills to fund renewable energy research, development, and demonstration projects with the aim of making electricity service cheaper, safer, and more reliable for the corporations’ own ratepayers. Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), one of the three large investor-owned utilities required to collect the surcharge, petitioned for writ of review to challenge the PUC’s two decisions creating EPIC. We hold that the PUC possesses the constitutional and statutory authority to implement EPIC; EPIC is not an unlawful delegation of the PUC’s authority; and the surcharge is not a tax requiring legislative enactment, but a valid regulatory fee. Accordingly, we deny the writ petitions.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. Background As part of its deregulation of California’s electricity industry in 1996 (Pub. Util. Code, § 330 et seq.),1 the Legislature included in the Electric…