NY PSC Process in Charter Case Irks Commissioner

in docket 15-M-0388 to confirm 30-day extensions granted Monday by Chairman John Rhodes for the ISP to file a rehearing petition and a transition plan for exiting New York (see 1809110027). "The integrity of the commission is vital and the processes are very important,” said Burman. There must be good cause for extension but having productive talks, as cited in the order, seems like a “low bar,” she said. “The message that I fear we’re sending” is that the PSC is willing to delay a statutory 30-day deadline for rehearing petitions so long as the objecting entity is talking productively with staff: “If we allow that, there is no end in sight on when that good cause for productive discussions can be stopped.” Agency General Counsel John Sipos replied that “it’s important for litigators to be open to the possibility of settlement discussions.” Burman said it's “wrong” and a “slippery slope” to take 3-0 action against Charter without her present at a July special session. The company has been “responsive” in exchanging information and “improving attachment practices in concrete ways that promote safety,” Rhodes said at the meeting. Commissioner James Alesi also supported extension. “Exercising the power that comes with having the time is the best opportunity that we all have at this point to move forward,” he said. Burman missed the July special session because she was on “a planned vacation that the chair was aware of,” the commissioner said afterward in an interview. She said that the explanation for the meeting didn’t justify a special session. The meeting was “not appropriate” and “was potentially legally insufficient to be valid,” she said. Burman didn’t say when she learned about the session. She said she won’t weigh in on substance of the Charter case until it comes before the commission in a public meeting. The PSC didn’t comment on Burman's complaint about the special session.