970214.docx

SCOTT D. WOODBURY
Deputy Attorney General
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO Box 83720
Boise, ID  83720-0074
Tele:  [phone]
FAX: [phone]
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W Washington
Boise, ID  83702-5983
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE INVESTIGATION OF UNITED WATER IDAHO INC.  AND ITS ABILITY TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE SERVICE AND WATER QUALITY.
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CASE NO. UWI-W-96-6
MOTION FOR
EXTENSION OF TIME
COMES NOW the Commission Staff, by and through its attorney of record, Scott D. Woodbury, Deputy Attorney General, and pursuant to Rules 56 and 256.02 of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure requests a 90-day extension of time for filing a final investigative report in Case No. UWI-W-96-6.  Additional time is need to conduct further investigation and explore various solutions with United Water.  Staff requests expedited treatment of its Motion as the scheduled file date for Staff’s report is less than 14 days.  The Company has been notified of Staff’s Motion.  There are no other parties of record.
The investigation in Case No. UWI-W-96-6 was initiated by the Commission in response to numerous water quality complaints expressed by customers during hearings in United Water’s last rate case, UWI-W-96-3, as well as the complaint records kept by the Commission’s Consumer Staff and the Company.  On November 7, 1997, the Commission issued Order No. 26673 initiating the present case.  That Order allowed a 75-day discovery period and an additional 30 days (to Feb. 20) in which the Staff was to file a report detailing the nature and extent of the Company’s water quality (iron and manganese) problem, the Company’s efforts to address the problem (technical and customer relations), and alternatives for mitigating or eliminating the problem (including estimated costs).
Accompanying this Motion is a status report detailing Staff’s preliminary analyses of water quality problems, alternative solutions, costs incurred, customer complaints and complaint processessing.
DATED at Boise, Idaho this day of February 1997.

Scott D. Woodbury
Deputy Attorney General
VLD/N:UWI-W-96-6.SW