HomeMy WebLinkAbout20240724IPC to Staff 8-16.pdf -UIQAW POWER,
RECEIVED
LISA D. NORDSTROM Wednesday, July 24, 2024
Lead Counsel IDAHO PUBLIC
Inordstrom(Wjdahopower.com UTILITIES COMMISSION
July 24, 2024
VIA ELECTRONIC FILING
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg 8,
Suite 201-A (83714)
PO Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Re: Case No. IPC-E-24-07
Application of Idaho Power Company for Authority to Increase Rates for
Electric Service to Recover Costs Associated with Incremental Capital
Investments and Certain Ongoing Operations and Maintenance Expenses
Dear Commission Secretary:
Attached for electronic filing, please find Idaho Power Company's Response to the
Third Production Request of the Commission Staff to Idaho Power Company.
Due to the collectively voluminous confidential and non-confidential information
provided in response to data requests in this case, the Company is posting the
confidential attachments to this request to the secure FTP site to allow parties to view the
requested information remotely unless otherwise noted in the response. Because certain
attachments contain confidential information, the FTP site is divided between confidential
and non-confidential information.
The login information for the non-confidential portion of the FTP site has been
provided to all parties that have intervened to date. The login information for the
confidential portion of the FTP site will be provided to the parties that execute the
Protective Agreement in this matter.
If you have any questions about the attached filing, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Very truly yours,
Lisa D. Nordstrom
LDN:sg
Enclosures
CERTIFICATE OF ATTORNEY
ASSERTION THAT INFORMATION CONTAINED IN AN IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES
COMMISSION FILING IS PROTECTED FROM PUBLIC INSPECTION
Case No. IPC-E-24-07
Idaho Power Company's Application for Authority to Increase Rates for Electric
Service to Recover Costs Associated with Incremental Capital Investments and
Certain Ongoing Operations and Maintenance Expenses
The undersigned attorney, in accordance with Commission Rules of Procedure 67,
believes that all of the attachments in Idaho Power Company's Response to the Third
Production Request of the Commission Staff dated July 24, 2024, contain information that
Idaho Power Company and/or a third party claim are trade secrets, business records of
a private enterprise required by law to be submitted to or inspected by a public agency,
and/or public records exempt from disclosure by state or federal law as described in Idaho
Code § 74-101, et seq., and/or § 48-801, et seq. As such, it is protected from public
disclosure and exempt from public inspection, examination, or copying.
DATED this 24' day of July 2024.
LISA D. NORDSTROM
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
LISA D. NORDSTROM (ISB No. 5733)
DONOVAN E. WALKER (ISB No. 5921)
MEGAN GOICOECHEA ALLEN (ISB No. 7623)
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707
Telephone: (208) 388-5825
Facsimile: (208) 388-6936
Inordstrom(aMdahopower.com
dwalker idahopower.com
mgoicoecheaallen(abidahopower.com
Attorneys for Idaho Power Company
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION )
OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY TO ) CASE NO. IPC-E-24-07
INCREASE RATES FOR ELECTRIC )
SERVICE TO RECOVER COSTS ) IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S
ASSOCIATED WITH INCREMENTAL ) RESPONSE TO THE THIRD
CAPITAL INVESTMENTS AND ) PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
CERTAIN ONGOING OPERATIONS ) COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO
AND MAINTENANCE EXPENSES. ) POWER
COMES NOW, Idaho Power Company ("Idaho Power" or "Company"), and in
response to the Third Production Request of the Commission Staff ("Commission" or
"Staff") to Idaho Power Company dated July 3, 2024, herewith submits the following
information:
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 1
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 8: Regarding the Revenue Allocation
Summary provided as Exhibit No. 4 in Tatum Direct Testimony, please respond to the
following:
a. Please provide a copy of Exhibit 4 in Excel format with all formulas intact and
enabled; and
b. Please explain how the second pass revenue allocation among customer classes
is determined.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 8: Responses regarding
the Revenue Allocation Summary provided as Exhibit No. 4 in Mr. Tatum's Direct
Testimony are included below:
a. Idaho Power's Class Cost-of-Service ("CCOS") Study used in the development of
Mr. Tatum's Exhibit 4 is included in the file labeled "Attachment — Response to
ICIP Request No. 2." The first tab on the left labeled "Exhibit No. 4" is a copy of the
exhibit in electronic format.
b. The file labeled "Attachment — Response to ICIP Request No. 2" and the tab
labeled "Exhibit No. 4" includes the calculations for Mr. Tatum's Exhibit 4. Columns
"K" through "M" (titled "Second Pass Revenue Allocation") allocate the First Pass
Shortfall of$1.073 million that remains after applying the cap and floor percentage
increases to each customer class in the First Pass Revenue Allocation (see
columns "H" through "I"). Column "K" determines which customer classes First
Pass Revenue Allocation was not at the cap or floor (shown with a "Y" to indicate
the Second Pass Revenue Allocation applies to a given customer class). For all
customer classes that the Second Pass Revenue Allocation applies, Column "L"
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 2
allocates a percentage of the total Second Pass Revenue Allocation based on their
percentage of 2024 Retail Sales in column "C" to then allocate the First Pass
Shortfall of $1.073 million in column "M" of Exhibit 4.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Timothy E. Tatum, Vice President
of Regulatory Affairs, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 3
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 9: Please provide internal and external audit
reports from 2018-2024 regarding any aspects of employee compensation and benefits,
including: wages, salaries, 401 K matching contributions, incentive payments, etc.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 9: All audit reports related
to employee compensation and benefits for Idaho Power Company for the period 2018
through 2024 are listed in the table below with corresponding page numbers to the
supporting file "Confidential Attachment— Response to Staff Request No. 9." Please note
that the Company has not specifically engaged external auditors to perform a review or
audit on any aspects of employee compensation and benefits, except as part of the
annual integrated audit of the Company's financial statements and internal controls over
financial reporting performed by the Company's principal independent registered public
accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP.
PDF Page Year Audit Type Audit Audit Name
#'s Issued Number
1-3 2018 Operational 201719 IDACORP Incentive Plan
4-6 2018 Operational 201717 HRIS
7-9 2019 Operational 201811 IDACORP Incentive Plan
10-13 2020 Operational 201918 IDACORP Incentive Plan
14-17 2021 Operational 202009 Incentive Plans - IDACORP
18-20 2022 Operational 202115 Executive Perquisites Audit
21-23 2022 Operational 202116 Incentive Plans - IDACORP
24-25 2022 SOX PPPP Payroll Processing
26-28 2023 Operational 202203 Incentive Plans - IDACORP
29-33 2024 Operational 202305 Customer Research: Fuse
34-36 2024 Operational 202303 IDACORP Incentive Plan
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER -4
The Company's internal Audit Services performs audits of internal controls related
to compensation and benefits on a rotational basis as part of complying with Sarbanes-
Oxley ("SOX") requirements. Audit reports and management responses are only issued
for SOX internal control audits in the event of a finding(s). No SOX testing has been
completed in 2024 as of the date of this response. The related SOX processes are Payroll
Processing ("PPPP"), Payroll Recording ("PRPR"), Benefit Plans — Post Retirement
Health ("BPPH"), Benefit Plans — Pension Plans ("BPPP"), Benefit Plans — Security Plan
("BESP"), Benefit Plans — Post Employment ("BEPE"), Blue Shield Idaho Power Controls
("BSIP"), Financial Accounting Deferred Compensation ("FIDC"), Financial Accounting
Incentive Accrual ("FIIA"), Financial Closing Process ("FCCP"), Entity-Wide Control
Environment ("EWCE") and Entity-Wide Internal Controls ("EWIC"). Please note that the
FIDC process was retired in 2019.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 5
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 10: Please provide all relevant information,
including compensation studies and surveys, used to determine employee general wage
increases for 2023-2025.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 10: Please see Confidential
Attachments 1 and 2 — Response to Staff Request No.10 for information related to the
determination of the 2023 and 2024 employee general wage adjustment. The 2025
general wage adjustment review and recommendation will be presented to the Board of
Directors for approval in November 2024 and will become effective December 21, 2024,
the beginning of the first pay period for 2025. While the more in-depth general wage
adjustment review will not be presented until November, a review of current economic
and peer contract data suggests a general wage adjustment of at least 3 percent for 2025
is prudent. The most recent Consumer Price Index ("CPI") publication showed inflation at
3 percent from June 2023-June 2024, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta is reporting
wage growth in the Mountain Region at 5.9 percent as of March 2024, and the northwest
utility peer union increases for 2025 are projected to range from 2.5 to 4 percent.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 6
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 11: Please provide a description of how the
general wage increase is awarded to employees (i.e. across the board increase or
allocated based on performance). Please also provide the most current list of criteria and
other requirements employees must meet to receive the Company approved general
wage increase.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 11: Except in limited
circumstances, the general wage adjustment ("GWA") is an across the board increase for
eligible employees, which excludes officers and senior managers. The only time an
employee would not receive a GWA is if they move into a lower-graded position.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 7
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 12: Please provide a list of all job titles and
descriptions. Please include the number of employees who are currently employed for
each job title.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 12: Please see the Excel
file labeled "Confidential Attachment — Response to Staff Request No. 12" for a list of all
job titles, descriptions, and employee count in each. Please note, Idaho Power does not
maintain job descriptions for officer or senior manager jobs.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 8
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 13: Please provide a list of all job openings
in 2023 and 2024. Include the number of qualified candidates who applied for each
position and how long each position was open.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 13: Please see the Excel
file attached labeled "Confidential Attachment — Response to Staff Request No. 13" for a
list of all job openings in 2023 and 2024. The listing includes both internal and external
job postings. The posting duration listed is the total number of days the job was posted
and open for candidate applications, in some cases the job may have been posted
multiple times.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 9
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 14: Please provide a list of employment
positions created or eliminated in 2023 and 2024. Please state the job title of such
positions and justification of why each position was created or removed.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 14: Please see the Excel
file attached labeled "Confidential Attachment — Response to Staff Request No. 14" for a
list of positions created or removed in 2023 and 2024. Of note, once a position is closed
in the Company's HRIS system, reporting information becomes very limited and is
completely removed from the system after a short period of time. The listing of closed
positions may be incomplete.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 10
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 15: Please provide a list of employees, (ID
# of employee acceptable instead of name) who received more than the Company
approved general wage increase. Please provide reasonings for each increase.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 15: Pay increases, outside
of GWA, may be granted based on various factors. Employees who are still progressing
to the top of their pay grade (median of market) are eligible for Merit Salary Increases
("MSI"), which are granted based on performance, every six months until they reach top
of grade. Employees may have an increase due to promotional opportunities, either
through a competitive process or promotion within a job family, or due to a market
evaluation that results in a grade increase. Employees can also experience a reduction
in pay based on movement to a lower paying role, demotion based on performance, or
when a market evaluation results in a grade decrease.
Officer and Senior Manager increases are evaluated annually and determined
based on budget, performance, internal equity, market positioning and placement within
the salary structure.
Please see the Excel file attached labeled "Confidential Attachment — Response
to Staff Request No. 15" for a list of employees by employee ID and reason for increase.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matt Larkin, Revenue Requirement
Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 11
REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 16: Please provide a matrix identifying the
major capital expenditure approval levels that includes the dollar level of authorization by
job title and division. Please explain the dollar level at which the individual capital
expenditures require approval by the Company's Board of Directors.
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 16: Please see the Excel
file attached labeled "Confidential Attachment — Response to Staff Request No. 16" for a
list of approval authority levels. Effective May 16, 2024, any individual project which meets
either of the following criteria must be specifically approved by the Company's Board of
Directors ("Board").
• will cost more than $6 million during the current budget year, or
• has a total cost greater than $20 million including prior periods and will cost more
than $6 million in total during the current and future budget years.
Effective November 19, 2014, through May 15, 2024, any individual project which
meets either of the following criteria must be specifically approved by the Board.
• will cost more than $4 million during the current budget year, or
• has a total cost greater than $15 million including prior periods and will cost more
than $4 million in total during the current and future budget years.
The response to this Request is sponsored by Matthew Larkin, Revenue
Requirement Senior Manager, Idaho Power Company.
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 12
DATED at Boise, Idaho, this 24th day of July 2024.
LISA D. NORDSTROM
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
DONOVAN E. WALKER
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
MEGAN GOICOECHEA ALLEN
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 13
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 24th day of July 2024, 1 served a true and correct
copy of Idaho Power Company's Response to the Third Production Request of the
Commission Staff to Idaho Power upon the following named parties by the method
indicated below, and addressed to the following:
Commission Staff Hand Delivered
Chris Burdin U.S. Mail
Deputy Attorney General Overnight Mail
Idaho Public Utilities Commission FAX
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg No. 8 FTP Site
Suite 201-A (83714) X Email Chris.Burdin(c�puc.idaho.gov
PO Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074
Industrial Customers of Idaho Power Hand Delivered
Peter J. Richardson U.S. Mail
Richardson Adams, PLLC Overnight Mail
515 N. 27' Street FAX
Boise, Idaho 83702 FTP Site
X Email peterC@richardsonadams.com
Dr. Don Reading Hand Delivered
280 Silverwood Way U.S. Mail
Eagle, Idaho 83616 Overnight Mail
FAX
FTP Site
X Email dreading(@mindspring.com
Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, Hand Delivered
Inc. U.S. Mail
Eric L. Olsen Overnight Mail
ECHO HAWK & OLSEN, PLLC FAX
505 Pershing Avenue, Suite 100 FTP Site
P.O. Box 6119 X Email elo _echohawk.com
Pocatello, Idaho 83205
Lance Kaufman, Ph.D. Hand Delivered
2623 NW Bluebell Place U.S. Mail
Corvallis, OR 97330 Overnight Mail
FAX
FTP Site
X Email lance aegisinsight.com
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 14
Idaho Conservation League Hand Delivered
Matthew A. Nykiel U.S. Mail
710 N. 6t" Street Overnight Mail
Boise, Idaho 83702 FAX
FTP Site
X Email matthew.nykiel(Dgmail.com
Brad Heusinkveld Hand Delivered
Idaho Conservation League U.S. Mail
710 N. 6t" Street Overnight Mail
Boise, Idaho 83702 FAX
FTP Site
X Email
bheusinkveld(a)idahoconservation.org
Micron Technology, Inc. Hand Delivered
Austin Rueschhoff U.S. Mail
Thorvald A. Nelson Overnight Mail
Austin W. Jensen FAX
Kristine A.K. Roach FTP Site
Holland & Hart LLP X Email
555 17' Street, Suite 3200 darueschhoff(c)_hol land hart.com
Denver, CO 80202 tnelson(a)-hol land hart.com
awjensen _hol land hart.com
karoach(Dhollandhart.com
Jim Swier Hand Delivered
Micron Technology, Inc. U.S. Mail
8000 South Federal Way Overnight Mail
Boise, ID 83707 FAX
FTP Site
X Email
iswier(a)micron.com
City of Boise Hand Delivered
Ed Jewell U.S. Mail
Deputy City Attorney Overnight Mail
Boise City Attorney's Office FAX
150 N. Capitol Blvd. FTP Site
P.O. Box 500 X Email
Boise, Idaho 83701 BoiseCityAttorneyCa�cityofboise.org
ejewell cityofboise.org
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 15
Steven Hubble Hand Delivered
Boise City Dept. of Public Works U.S. Mail
150 N. Capitol Blvd. Overnight Mail
P.O. Box 500 FAX
Boise, Idaho 83701-0500 FTP Site
X Email
sh u bbleCcDcityofboise.org
Federal Executive Agencies Hand Delivered
Peter Meier U.S. Mail
Emily W. Medlyn Overnight Mail
U.S. Department of Energy FAX
1000 Independence Ave., S.W. FTP Site
Washington, DC 20585 X Email
Pete r.meier(o-)hg.doe.gov
emily.medlyn(a-),hg.doe.gov
Stacy Gust
Regulatory Administrative Assistant
IDAHO POWER COMPANY'S RESPONSE TO THE THIRD PRODUCTION REQUEST OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF TO IDAHO POWER - 16