USA – CALIFORNIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Nora Sheriff, Gwenneth O’Hara, Robert Dato, Efrat Cogan, Samir Hafez and Antonio Carrejo, Buchalter
6.2 Charities and NGOs Any person may become a party to a proceeding by meeting the CPUC’s requirements for party status. “person” is defined as a natural person or organisation. Accordingly, a charity or NGO may become a party to a proceeding by: • filing an application (other than an application for rehearing pursuant to Rule 16.1), petition, or complaint; • filing (i) a protest or response to an applica - tion (other than an application for rehear - ing pursuant to Rule 16.1) or petition, or (ii) comments in response to an order instituting rulemaking; • making an oral motion to become a party at a prehearing conference or hearing; or • filing a motion to become a party. If making an oral motion or filing a motion for party status, a person must: • fully disclose the persons or entities on whose behalf the filing, appearance, or motion is made, and the interest of such persons or entities in the proceeding; and • state the factual and legal contentions that the person intends to make, and show that the contentions will be reasonably pertinent to the issues already presented. If a charity or NGO has party status in a proceed - ing, it automatically has standing to file a petition for modification. Otherwise, a non-party must establish a basis for standing in the petition for modification by including a specific statement on how it is affected by the decision, and why it did not participate in the proceeding earlier. Similarly, if a charity or NGO has party status in a proceeding, it automatically has standing to apply for a rehearing of the decision. Standing
is also afforded to a stockholder, bondholder, or other party monetarily interested in the public utility affected by the decision.
7. Other Parties 7.1 Joinder
At the administrative level, a party must partici - pate in the hearings and raise objections them - selves to challenge a decision by the Commis - sion, with an application for rehearing alleging error in law or fact. At the appellate level, it is not possible to join a challenge to a CPUC deci - sion, as joinder is not generally recognised. An aggrieved party must appeal on its own. 7.2 Roles of Additional Parties Parties can play various roles in underlying CPUC proceedings. Once granted “party status” in a formal CPUC proceeding, a party can make arguments based in fact and law, and seek the introduction of relevant evidence. The CPUC’s formal discovery rules do not require automatic disclosure of information or documents in a formal proceeding. Instead, any party may obtain discovery on any non-privi - leged matter relevant to the proceeding. Parties may also request that the assigned Administra - tive Law Judge establish a process for distrib - uting discovery requests and non-confidential responses to the proceeding’s service list. Discovery at the CPUC is typically conducted through “data requests” questions or requests for data, information, or documents sent elec - tronically or in writing. There is no formal rule 8. Evidence 8.1 Disclosure/Discovery
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