Southern California Edison Says Disappointed With CPUC Judge's Ruling

(RTTNews) - Southern California Edison or SCE expressed disappointment with today's ruling by a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge regarding ex parte communication issues.

The company noted that the ruling rejected many of the allegations from the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility, which asserted SCE engaged in 72 communications with the commission that should have been reported. The ruling found that the majority of those communications were not subject to reporting under the commission's rules.

The company stated that the ruling nevertheless found that 10 SCE communications should have been reported. The commission will conduct a further process to consider appropriate sanctions, which may include monetary penalties, for SCE's failure to file these reports. SCE will submit its position on the sanctions issue by August 20, as provided in the ruling. SCE will also comply with the order to file notice of the 10 communications.

The Wednesday ruling was issued in relation to communications pertaining to the shutdown of the San Onofre nuclear plant. In April 2014, six parties, representing consumer, environmental and labor interests as well as SCE and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., proposed a settlement of that proceeding. The commission, after an extensive and public proceeding, unanimously approved the settlement.

"Today's ruling does not alter the settlement. SCE continues to believe that the settlement was properly negotiated and approved, and that it should continue to remain in effect," said Pedro Pizarro, president of SCE.