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Home My WebLink About20210226Motion for Extension of Time 2.pdfJAYME B. SULLTVAN BOISE CITY ATTORNEY MARY R. GRANT (ISB No. 8744) SCOTT B. MUIR (ISB No. 4229) Deputy City Attorney CITY OF BOISE OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY P.O. Box 500 Boise,ID 83701-0500 Telephone: (208) 608-7950 Email: BoiseCityAttorney@cit)rofboise.ore Attorneys for City of Boise IN THE MATTER OF SUEZ WATER IDAHO INC.'S APPLICATION FOR AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES AND CHARGES FOR WATER SERVICE IN IDAHO BEFORE TIIE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION Case No. SUZ-W-20-02 MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME COMES NOW the City of Boise (the "City"), by and through undersigned counsel, and, pursuant to Idaho Code (I.C.) S 6l-622(4) and Rule 256 of the Rules of Procedure (IDAPA 31.01.01.256) of the Idaho Public Utility Commission ("Commission") files this Motion for Extension of Time. The City is joined in this Motion by intervenors Ada County, Suez Water Customer Group, Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Community Action Partnership Association of Idaho (*CAPAI"), Micron technology, Inc. ("Micron"), and Gannon, et. al. (krdividuals), by and through undersigned counsel, respectively. The parties hereto request the Commission extend the period of suspension of rates for good cause shown, extend the pre- MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 1 hearing deadlines and scheduled hearing date, and as grounds for this Petition, the parties state as follows: I. Proceduralllistory Following the CommissionNotice of Parties, dated December 3l,2D2D,Intervenors have been working diligently to pursue discovery and engage in substantive settlement discussions. Following an initial settlement conference on February 11,2021, and as outlined in a Decision Memorandum provided by Staff, dated February 19,2021, staffrecommended the following: 1. Establishing a March 17,2021 deadline for Staff and Intervenors to file prepared testimony; 2. Establishing an April 7, 2021 deadline for the SUEZ Water Idaho, trnc. ("Company") to file rebuttal testimony; 3. Directing Staffto hold a public workshop for March 25,2021;. 4. Scheduling a customer hearing for April 15,2021; and 5. Scheduling a technical hearing for April 20-22,2021. The Commission approved the Decision Memorandum on February 23, 2021, and an Order is expected to be forthcoming. II. Applicable Law The period of suspension of a new rate shall not extend beyond thirty (30) days when such new rate would otherwise go into effect, unless the commission in its discretion extends the period of suspension for an initial period not exceeding five (5) months. I.C. $ 6l-622(4) The commission may further, after a showing of good cause on the record, grant an additional sixty (60) days. Id. Objective circumstances that are substantive, substantial or MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 2 compelling, and meet a standard of reasonable as applied may constitute good cause. See Meyer v. Slcyline Mobile Homes,99 Idaho 754,759 (1979). III. Argument The parties hereto submit that good cause exists to extend the period of suspension of a new rate and to extend deadlines as established. I . Because of the proposed increase of over 22%o, there are a substantial number of intervenors in this rate case, each raising important issues, some of which are independent of others raised. Several of the intervenors are not usual participants to Commission proceedings and, despite exercising diligence in the matter, seek additional time to navigate the procedure, the voluminous documents that have been produced, and substantive aspects of the case, which are heavily technical in nature. Additionally, CAPAI's executive director left unexpectedly without access for several weeks, leaving CAPAI and its counsel without an expert and of which counsel just learned within the last few days. 2. Discovery continues to be ongoing. The parties have engaged in settlement proceedings to date. However, many discovery requests are outstanding, which information would inform and may aid in settlement progress. The parties hereto are confident that an extension of time will provide greater opportunity for substantive settlement discussions, in the hopes of narowing any issues that may go to hearing. 3. The documents already provided and the continuing responses to requests for production of documents have raised additional issues such as: Suez underlying MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 3 assumptions for projects; items not known or measurable at this time; prudency and justification of projects included for the rate change and portions of the revenue requirement; presumptions or deficiencies in underlying cost of service analyses; rates among customer class and whether such is just, fair or reasonable; commitments to ongoing customer relations; whether noticing of the rate case violated civil rights; and whether any rate increase is justified. The issues reinforced and brought forth within discovery necessitate the use of experts and the inordinately short period of time between supplemental production of documents during settlement and scheduled deadlines fails to provide sufficient time for expert review by Intervenors. Without additional time, the case becomes a settlement discussion limited to the PUC staff and Suez, and excludes lntervenors who represent parties with a significant interest in the outcome. The settlernent process began on February I1,2021, at which time some or all of the parties hereto indicated a need for additional time to consider the voluminous documentation. The schedule between settlement negotiations has been inadequate to consider the StafPs proposal, the Company's counterproposal, as well as additional technical matters continuing to come into the proceedings. Logistics of the pandemic, remote work environments, as well as the tight schedule have prevented the parties from effectively reviewing and providing feedback on the proposals and to meaningfully participate in MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 4 4. 5 settlement. Additional time before prepared testimony shall be required would enable the parties to schedule an additional settlement conference. For reasons stated above, the City and joining intervenors respectfully request the Commission: l. Consider this Petition for procedural relief on fewer than (1a) days prior notice, pursuant to IDAPA 3 1.01.01.256.03. 2. Grant an extension for its final decision, pursuant to I.C. $ 6l-622(4) for a period of 60 days. 3. Grant relief from the forthcoming order and extend respective deadlines for prepared testimony, rebuttal, testimony, workshop, and hearing for a period of 45 days. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 5 DATED this 25th day of February 2021. Mary R. Grant Deputy City Auorney Joining Intervenors: DATED this _ day of February 2021 Ada County Lorna Jorgenson John Cortabitarte Deputy Prosecuting Attorneys DATED this day of February202l Suez Water Customer Group, Norman Semanko Deputy CountyAttorney DATED this 2 sthay of Febru ary 202t Ken Nagy Dlsblt isd by &n Ury DX: Gh ilry,o=kmqd bw, ou,eiEhgyeh$don..m cush.r 202112.25 l12615{8'@' Intermountain Fair Housing Council, Inc., KenNagy Attorney atLaw DATED this _ day of February 2021 Community Action Partnership, Brad Purdy Attorney at Law DATED this day of February20?l. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 6 Micron Technology, foc., Austin Rueschhoff ThorvaldNelson, Attomeys at Law DATED this _ day of February202l Gannon, et. al (Individuals) Marty Durand Attorney at Law CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I have on this llth day of January 202I, served the foregoing documents on all parties of counsel as follows: JanNoriyuki Commission Secretary Idaho Public Utilities Commission 11331 West Chinden Boulevard Building 8, Suite 201-A PO Box 83720 Boise, lD 83720 i an.noriyuki@ouc. idaho. qov David Njuguna Manager Regulatory Business Suez Water Management & Services 461 From Road, Suite 400 Paramus, NJ 07052 David.nj usuna@ suez. com Michael C. Creamer Preston N. Carter GIVENS PURSLEY LLP Attorneys at Law POBox2720 Boise, D 83702 tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electuonic Means w/ ConsentEl Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal DeliveryO Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: .com prestoncarter(E sivenspursley. com Attorneys for Suez Water ldaho, Inc. MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 7 Maff Hunter Dayn Hardie Deputy Attomeys General Idaho Public Utilities Commission 1 133 1 West Chinden Boulevard Building 8, Suite 201-A PO Box 83720 Boise, ID 83720 matt.hunter@puc. idaho. eov dayn.hardie@puc. idaho. eov Lorna Jorgensen John Cortabitarte Ada County Prosecuting Attorney's Office Civil Division 200 W. Front Street, Room 3191 Boise, lD 83702 civilpafi les@ adaweb.net Attornqts for Ada County Norman M. Semanko PARSONS BEHLE & LATIMER 800 West Main Street Suite 1300 Boise,ID 83702 nsemanko @parsonsbehle. com boisedocket@parsonsbehle.com for the SUEZ Water Customer Group ("swcc") Marty Durand PIOTROWSKI DURAND PLLC 1020 Main Street Suite 440 PO Box 2864 Boise, ID 83701 martv@idunionlaw.com for citizen Intervenors, Gannon, Montero, Graziano, and Philp Brad Purdy Attorney at Law 2019 North 17tr Street Boise, lD 83702 bmpurdy@hotmail.com for Community Action Partnership Association of ldaho ("CAPAI") KenNagy Attorney at Law PO Box 164 Lewiston,ID 83501 knaev(a,lewiston.com tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr FacsimileV Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ Consenttr Other: MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 8 for the Intermountain Fair Housing Council ("IFHC") Austin Rueschhoff Thorvald A. Nelson HOLLAND & HART LLP 555 17tr Street Suite 3200 Denver, CO 80202 darueschho ff@hollandhart. com tnelson@hollandhart. com aclee@hollanhart.com sl sareanoamari@hollandhart. com for Micron Technologt, Inc. Jim Swier Greg Harwood Micron Technology, Inc. 8000 South Federal Way Boise, D 83707 iswier@micron.com ebharwood@micron.com tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr FacsimileV Eleckonic Means w/ Consenttr Other: tr U.S. Mailtr Personal Deliverytr Facsimileg Electronic Means w/ ConsentD Other: Mary R. Grant Deputy City Attomey MOTION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME - 9