49. The record supporting this opinion was submitted for Commission decision on December 31, 1996.
50. PU Code § 1708 and the discovery of new evidence provide ample authority and justification for reopening PG&E’s decision to construct Line 401.
51. Approval of the Gas Accord should be granted without precluding in any way the Commission from further considering conflict of interest, affiliate abuse, and unbundling issues in other proceedings.
52. Approval of the Gas Accord does not bind future Commissions or prohibit future Commission orders that might rescind, alter, or amend the terms of settlement.
53. PG&E should be ordered to file quarterly and annual core procurement reports after one year of operations under the Gas Accord.
54. The Commission should adopt a commensurate discount rule that will mitigate PG&E’s conflict between shareholder and noncore customer interests and will allow fair competition between Canadian, Southwest, and California gas supplies.
55. Imposition of a commensurate discount rule as an amendment to the Gas Accord is authorized under Rule 51.7 of our Rules of Practice and Procedure, because the parties to the Gas Accord have accepted this amendment.
56. The Commission should continue its oversight over PG&E’s conflict of interest by including a discount reporting requirement in PG&E’s market assessment report which should be filed and served by March 1, 1999.
57. Approval of the Joint Recommendation should be denied.
58. Amortization of PG&E’s ITCS and backbone credit accounts is subject to reasonableness review.
59. NCPA’s request for municipal utility rate parity should be denied.
60. SoCalGas’ request for transportation service priority for non-utility gas storage providers should be denied.
61. The Rule 1 Settlement should be granted because it is reasonable in light of the whole record, it is consistent with law, and it is in the public interest.
62. Good cause exists to waive the comment periods under Rule 51.4 of our Rules of Practice and Procedure in order to expeditiously rule on the Rule 1 Settlement since private parties, other than the alleged wrongdoers, have no right to participate in the settlement of Rule 1 violations.
63. This order should become effective today, to expedite implementation of the Gas Accord.
Footnotes are bracketed and in blue