California Public Utilities Code 1701.8 – (a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions …
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) “Covered wildfire” means any wildfire ignited on or after July 12, 2019, for which either of the following is satisfied:
Terms Used In California Public Utilities Code 1701.8
- Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission created by §. See California Public Utilities Code 20
- commissioner: means a member of the commission. See California Public Utilities Code 20
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. Source:
- Indemnification: In general, a collateral contract or assurance under which one person agrees to secure another person against either anticipated financial losses or potential adverse legal consequences. Source: FDIC
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(A) The governmental agency responsible for determining causation or a court of competent jurisdiction determines the wildfire was caused by an electrical corporation.
(B) Asserted to have been caused by an electrical corporation and results in a court-approved dismissal resulting from the settlement of third-party damage claims.
(2) “Wildfire Fund” means the Wildfire Fund created pursuant to Section 3284.
(b) The following procedures and standards apply to a catastrophic wildfire proceeding:
(1) (A) An electrical corporation may file an application pursuant to Section 451 or 451.1, as applicable, at any time after it has paid, or entered into binding commitments to pay, all or, if authorized by the commission for good cause, substantially all third-party damage claims, including payments made pursuant to judgments or settlement agreements related to a covered wildfire. Except as authorized by the commission for good cause, before filing the application, the electrical corporation shall exhaust all rights to indemnification or other claims, contractual or otherwise, against any third parties, including collecting insurance proceeds, related to the covered wildfire.
(B) If an electrical corporation has received payments from the Wildfire Fund for a third-party damage claim for the covered wildfire, the electrical corporation shall file an application to recover the costs pursuant to subparagraph (A) no later than the earlier of the following:
(i) The date when it has resolved all third-party damage claims and exhausted all right to indemnification or other claims, contractual or otherwise, against any third parties, including collecting insurance proceeds, related to the covered wildfire.
(ii) The date that is 45 days after the date the administrator requests the electrical corporation to file the application.
(2) The president of the commission, upon the initiation of a catastrophic wildfire proceeding by the filing of an application pursuant to paragraph (1), shall assign a commissioner to act as the presiding officer in the proceeding and an administrative law judge to assist in conducting the proceeding.
(3) Within 15 days of the filing date of the application, the commission shall notice a prehearing conference, which shall be held within 25 days of the filing date.
(4) (A) Within 30 days of the filing date of the application, the assigned commissioner shall prepare and issue, by order or ruling, a scoping memorandum that states that the scope of the proceeding shall be whether the electrical corporation’s costs and expenses for the covered wildfire are just and reasonable pursuant to Section 451 or 451.1, as applicable.
(B) The scoping memorandum shall establish a schedule for the proceeding, including the date of issuance of a proposed decision that is no later than 12 months after the filing date of the application.
(C) The assigned commissioner may extend the time established in the scoping memorandum for the date of issuance of a proposed decision by up to six months upon a showing of good cause.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 703, Sec. 4. (SB 599) Effective January 1, 2023.)