Southern California Edison Co. v. Lynch

In this appeal, we review the district court’s order entering a stipulated judgment in an action brought by Southern California Edison Co. (“SoCal Edison”), an electric public utility that provides retail electric service in Southern California, against the Commissioners (“Commissioners”) of the California Public Utilities Commission (“the Commission”), which regulates the rates, practices and services of SoCal Edison and other California public utilities. We affirm the judgment of the district court in part and certify questions based on California state law to the Supreme Court of California.

I

The origins of the present controversy began in 1996 with the passage of Assembly Bill 1890 (“AB 1890”), which significantly restructured California’s power industry. Act of September 23, 1996, 1996 Cal. Legis. Serv. 854 , codified in Cal. Pub. Util.Code §§ 330-398.5. The idea animating AB 1890 was that deregulation would foster competition in electrical generation, which would ultimately provide better service and reduce the price of electricity to consumers. See generally Cal. Pub. UtiLCode § 330. 1 Under prior law, the Commission set the retail electricity rates charged by…