Terms Used In California Codes > Public Utilities Code > Division 1 > Part 1 > Chapter 9 > Article 5 - Intervenor's Fees and Expenses

• Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
• City: includes city and county and "incorporated town" but does not include "unincorporated town" or "village. See California Public Utilities Code 19
• 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
• Compensation: means payment for all or part, as determined by the commission, of reasonable advocate's fees, reasonable expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs of preparation for and participation in a proceeding, and includes the fees and costs of obtaining an award under this article and of obtaining judicial review, if any. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• 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.
• County: includes city and county. See California Public Utilities Code 18
• Customer: means any of the following:

  California Public Utilities Code 1802

• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Eligible local government entity: means a city, county, or city and county that is not a publicly owned public utility that intervenes or participates in a commission proceeding for the purpose of protecting the health and safety of the residents within the entity's jurisdiction following a catastrophic material loss suffered by its residents either in significant damage to infrastructure or loss of life and property, or both, as a direct result of public utility infrastructure. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Expert witness fees: means recorded or billed costs incurred by a customer for an expert witness. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Germane: On the subject of the pending bill or other business; a strict standard of relevance.
• 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.
• Other reasonable costs: means reasonable out-of-pocket expenses directly incurred by a customer that are directly related to the contentions or recommendations made by the customer that resulted in a substantial contribution. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Party: means any interested party, respondent public utility, or commission staff in a hearing or proceeding. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• Person: means any person, association, organization, partnership, business trust, limited liability company, or corporation. See California Labor Code 18
• Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. ^{Source: OCC}
• Proceeding: means an application, complaint, or investigation, rulemaking, alternative dispute resolution procedures in lieu of formal proceedings as may be sponsored or endorsed by the commission, or other formal proceeding before the commission. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• 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.
• Significant financial hardship: means either that the customer cannot afford, without undue hardship, to pay the costs of effective participation, including advocate's fees, expert witness fees, and other reasonable costs of participation, or that, in the case of a group or organization, the economic interest of the individual members of the group or organization is small in comparison to the costs of effective participation in the proceeding. See California Public Utilities Code 1802
• State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Public Utilities Code 17
• Substantial contribution: means that, in the judgment of the commission, the customer's presentation has substantially assisted the commission in the making of its order or decision because the order or decision has adopted in whole or in part one or more factual contentions, legal contentions, or specific policy or procedural recommendations presented by the customer. See California Public Utilities Code 1802