USA – CALIFORNIA LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Nora Sheriff, Gwenneth O’Hara, Robert Dato, Efrat Cogan, Samir Hafez and Antonio Carrejo, Buchalter
9.2 Exhausting Internal Appeals Administrative remedies must be exhausted before a challenge to a CPUC decision can be made in the courts. For the CPUC, the Petition for Modification and the Application for Rehear - ing are the two primary, distinct procedural tools for challenging a CPUC Decision or Resolution, each serving a different purpose and affecting A Petition for Modification seeks changes to a CPUC Decision or Resolution based on new or changed facts or circumstances. Notably, filing a Petition for Modification does not preserve a party’s right to judicial review. Application for Rehearing An Application for Rehearing requests that the CPUC reconsider a Decision or Resolution, and is necessary to preserve appellate rights. appellate rights differently. Petition for Modification A party must exhaust the CPUC’s Application for Rehearing process before filing a petition for writ of review of a CPUC Decision or Resolution. The purpose of an Application for Rehearing is to let the CPUC know there is an error in fact or an error in law in a Decision or Resolution. Filing an Application for Rehearing does not excuse compliance with a CPUC Decision or Resolution. However, if the application is filed at least ten days before the order’s effective date, and the CPUC does not act on it before that date, the order is suspended for up to 60 days after the application is filed. Extra Step Required to Challenge an Advice Letter Disposition A party challenging a CPUC Industry Division’s disposition of a utility advice letter must request Commission review within ten days of the dis -
position’s issuance. The request must be served on the utility, all persons submitting protests or responses, and any third party whose name and interest appear on the advice letter. The request must also explain the requester’s entitlement to seek review, and the specific grounds for alleg - ing the disposition is unlawful or erroneous. After the CPUC adopts a formal Resolution addressing the request, a party may challenge that Resolution by filing an Application for Rehearing with the CPUC’s Docket Office. Exception for Challenges Under the Public Records Act The Court of Appeal has ruled that the exhaus - tion requirement does not apply to challenges of a CPUC decision denying a Public Records Act request. 9.3 Time Limits Different time limits apply to the two types of challenges to CPUC decisions at the CPUC or administrative level. Petition for Modification A Petition for Modification is timely if filed within one year of the subject Decision’s or Resolu - tion’s effective date. If over one year has passed since the effective date, the petition must explain why it could not have been submitted within the one-year timeframe, and the Commission may deny the petition as untimely. Application for Rehearing An Application for Rehearing must generally be filed within 30 days of the issuance of a CPUC Decision or Resolution. However, for certain Decisions and Resolutions, the deadline is short - ened to ten days, including those issued under:
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