California Code, Public Resources Code - PRC § 25524

(a) “Qualified applicant” for purposes of this section means an applicant for certification of an eligible renewable energy resource, as defined in the California Renewables Portfolio Standard Program (Article 16 (commencing with Section 399.11) of Chapter 2.3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Public Utilities Code).

(b) The commission shall establish a process to allow a qualified applicant to elect to pay additional fees to be used by the commission to contract with a third party, or more than one third party, to assist commission staff in performing the analysis otherwise performed by commission staff in determining whether or not to issue a certification.  The commission shall retain discretion as to when this option will be offered to a qualified applicant.

(c) The amount of the fees charged by the commission pursuant to this section shall be conditioned upon the qualified applicant agreeing to that amount and electing to proceed with the retention of the third party or parties pursuant to subdivision (b).

(d) All fees paid by a qualified applicant shall be used exclusively for analysis of that applicant's application for certification.