52 Pa. Code § 69.401
In the Commission's judgment, the results achieved from a negotiated settlement or stipulation, or both, in which the interested parties have had an opportunity to participate are often preferable to those achieved at the conclusion of a fully litigated proceeding. It is also the Commission's judgment that the public interest will benefit by the adoption of § § 69.402-69.406 and this section which establish guidelines and procedures designed to encourage full and partial settlements as well as stipulations in major section 1308(d) general rate increase cases. A partial settlement is a comprehensive resolution of all issues in which less than all interested parties have joined. A stipulation is a resolution of less than all issues in which all or less than all interested parties have joined.
52 Pa. Code § 69.401