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Status of Advice Letter 5841E Disposition: Effective Date

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Status of Advice Letter 5841E Disposition: Effective Date STATE OF CALIFORNIA GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco CA 94102-3298 Pacific Gas & Electric Company ELC (Corp ID 39) Status of Advice Letter 5841E As of August 26, 2020 Subject: North Fork Feather River Land Retained - Request for Approval under Decision (D.) 03-12- 035, D.08-11-043, D.10-08-004 and Public Utilities Code Section 851 Division Assigned: Energy Date Filed: 06-08-2020 Date to Calendar: 06-15-2020 Authorizing Documents: D0312035 Authorizing Documents: D0811043 Authorizing Documents: D1008004 Disposition: Accepted Effective Date: 08-05-2020 STATE OF CALIFORNIA GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco CA 94102-3298 Resolution Required: No Resolution Number: None Commission Meeting Date: None CPUC Contact Information: [email protected] AL Certificate Contact Information: Annie Ho 415-973-8794 [email protected] STATE OF CALIFORNIA GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION 505 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco CA 94102-3298 To: Energy Company Filing Advice Letter From: Energy Division PAL Coordinator Subject: Your Advice Letter Filing The Energy Division of the California Public Utilities Commission has processed your recent Advice Letter (AL) filing and is returning an AL status certificate for your records. The AL status certificate indicates: Advice Letter Number Name of Filer CPUC Corporate ID number of Filer Subject of Filing Date Filed Disposition of Filing (Accepted, Rejected, Withdrawn, etc.) Effective Date of Filing Other Miscellaneous Information (e.g., Resolution, if applicable, etc.) The Energy Division has made no changes to your copy of the Advice Letter Filing; please review your Advice Letter Filing with the information contained in the AL status certificate, and update your Advice Letter and tariff records accordingly. All inquiries to the California Public Utilities Commission on the status of your Advice Letter Filing will be answered by Energy Division staff based on the information contained in the Energy Division's PAL database from which the AL status certificate is generated. If you have any questions on this matter please contact the: Energy Division's Tariff Unit by e-mail to [email protected] Erik Jacobson Pacific Gas and Electric Company Director 77 Beale St., Mail Code B13U Regulatory Relations P.O. Box 770000 San Francisco, CA 94177 Fax: 415-973-3582 June 8, 2020 Advice 5841-E (Pacific Gas and Electric Company ID U 39 E) Public Utilities Commission of the State of California Subject: North Fork Feather River Land Retained - Request for Approval under Decision (D.) 03-12-035, D.08-11-043, D.10-08-004 and Public Utilities Code Section 851 Purpose Pursuant to the streamlined procedures adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission (Commission or CPUC) in Decision D.08-11-043 (as modified by D.10- 08-004), Pacific Gas and Electric Company (“PG&E”) requests a disposition letter approving PG&E’s encumbrance with a perpetual Conservation Easement to approximately 5,671 acres of land in Butte and Plumas Counties, commonly known as North Fork Feather River (“Property”). The Northern California Regional Land Trust (“NCRLT”), a California not for profit corporation, will hold the Conservation Easement. PG&E will retain fee title to the Property and the Conservation Easement will be granted subject to certain reserved rights in favor of PG&E for the continued operation of hydroelectric and water delivery facilities. The perpetual encumbrance of the Property is being made in the public interest and will protect and preserve the Beneficial Public Values (“BPVs”) on the Property, including the habitat of fish, wildlife and plants, forest resources on the Property, the scenic viewshed of the Property, outdoor recreation by the general public, agricultural values and identified historic and cultural values by restricting any use of the Property that would significantly impair or interfere with the protection of these values. This transaction is in accordance with the terms and conditions specified in the Settlement Agreement and Stipulation that were approved by the Commission in D.03-12-035 (“Stipulation”). Background Pursuant to the Stipulation, the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (“Stewardship Council”) was established in 2004 to develop a plan to permanently protect, for the benefit of the citizens of California, more than 140,000 acres of watershed lands (“Watershed Lands”) owned by PG&E. This effort is known as PG&E’s Land Conservation Commitment (“LCC”). PG&E is fulfilling its commitment through fee donation of certain Watershed Lands and/or the Advice 5841-E - 2 - June 8, 2020 conveyance of Conservation Easements, (or satisfactory assurance in another form) that each parcel will be managed consistent with the purpose of the LCC. PG&E will not make fee simple donations of lands that contain hydroelectric project features, hydroelectric projects licensed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”), or properties whose ownership is otherwise required for utility operations. The Stipulation also includes provisions to ensure the rights necessary to operate and maintain current and future hydroelectric and associated water delivery facilities are reserved, and the existing agreements for economic uses will be honored. A detailed description of this proposed donation, which addresses the requirements set forth in Section 12(a) of the Stipulation, is provided in the attached Land Conservation and Conveyance Plan (Attachment A) prepared by the Stewardship Council and approved by their Board of Directors. Land Conservation and Conveyance Plans will be issued serially for all Watershed Lands and together will comprise the Land Conservation Plan Volume III. Property Specific Considerations In accordance with the streamlined procedure adopted by the Commission in D.08- 11-043 (as modified by Decision 10-08-004), PG&E provides the following information as required by Ordering Paragraph 2: (1) Identity of the Conservation Property The Property comprises approximately 5,671 acres of land, identified as Parcels 618-666 and 669, on the maps included in Attachment A, pages 4-9, and are located in Butte and Plumas Counties, with parcels spanning approximately thirty-three (33) miles up and down the Feather River canyon. The Property is mostly surrounded by private properties, State-owned lands, Bureau of Land Management lands and U.S. Forest Service lands. (2) Type of Property Interest Disposition Per Stewardship Council recommendation, PG&E will convey a Conservation Easement (Attachment B) to NCRLT to permanently protect the BPVs on the Property. PG&E will not receive nor claim any monetary proceeds or tax benefits from this transfer (Attachment C). The value of this transaction is equal to the difference between the fair market value of the property unrestricted by the Conservation Easement and the fair market value of the property immediately after the imposition of the Conservation Easement (i.e., the diminution in taxable value that occurs as a result of the encumbrance of a property by a Conservation Easement). Article XIII, Section 19 of the State Constitution grants the State Board of Equalization (SBE) the authority to annually assess properties owned or Advice 5841-E - 3 - June 8, 2020 used by electric or gas utility companies for the purposes of taxation. The SBE’s Statement of No Tax Benefit (Attachment C) states no changes will be made to the methodology used for assessing property value and that no change in the assessed value is anticipated following the transfer of the Conservation Easement. For this reason, the transaction value related to the conveyance of the Conservation Easement to NCRLT is deemed to be zero dollars ($0). A. Property Encumbrances and Uses There are recorded encumbrances for railroads, highways, grazing rights, road use, the Pacific Coast Trail, right to flood and the right to construct/maintain/cut/fill slopes on the Property to be retained by PG&E. There are unrecorded existing agreements for economic use on the Property that include residential and commercial ground leases, recreation facilities and land use, communication facilities, parking and grazing. The Stipulation includes provisions to ensure the rights necessary to operate and maintain current and future hydroelectric and associated water delivery facilities are reserved, and the existing agreements for economic uses will be honored. Compliance with these requirements is reflected in the Conservation Easement (Attachment B, pages 3, 6, 11, 12 and Exhibit H). B. Public Access The public may access the majority of the Property from Highway 70, Big Bend Road, Dark Canyon Road, Bardees Bar Road, Poe Powerhouse Road, Caribou Road, Howells Road, Pulga Road and various dirt roads. There is no vehicular access to Parcels 629, 635 and 665, as well as portions of Parcels 621, 640 and 642. Consistent with the requirements of its FERC licenses, PG&E provides the public with formal recreational facilities on the Property including day use areas and rest stops. Public access to the Property will not be changed as a result of the donation of the Conservation Easement. Sections 9.2 and 9.3 of the Conservation Easement recognize that informal public uses may occur on the Property, and that public access is or may be inherent in the enjoyment of the informal uses and existing BPVs, and that existing public access will be allowed to continue subject to PG&E’s ability to impose reasonable rules and regulations. C. PG&E’s Assumption of Liability Section 12(f) of the Stipulation requires that PG&E hold the donee and/or conservation organization harmless for hazardous waste or substance liability. Fulfillment of this requirement is reflected in the Conservation Easement (see page 24 of Attachment B). Advice 5841-E - 4 - June 8, 2020 A partial environmental assessment of the Property, consisting of interviews and a review of historical aerial photos and a review of historical and regulatory documents was performed in 2010-2011 to identify potential environmental issues.
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