20241101Customer Hearing Transcript Volume I.pdf

RECEIVED
Monday, November 4, 2024
IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF CAPITOL WATER )
CORPORATION' S APPLICATION TO ) CASE NO. CAP-W-24-01
INCREASE ITS RATES AND CHARGES )
FOR WATER SERVICE IN THE STATE )
OF IDAHO )
BEFORE
COMMISSIONER ERIC ANDERSON (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER JOHN HAMMOND
COMMISSIONER EDWARD LODGE
PLACE: Commission Hearing Room
11331 West Chinden Blvd.
Building 8, Suite 201-A
Boise, Idaho
DATE: November 1, 2024
VOLUME I - Pages 1 - 12

A P P E A R A N C E S
For the Staff: Adam Triplett
Deputy Attorney General
IPUC
11331 W. Chinden Blvd. ,
Bldg. No . 8, Suite 201-A
PO Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074

I N D E X
WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Ken Howell Statement 6
(Public)

BOISE, IDAHO, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2024, 5 : 00 P. M.
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Good afternoon. This is
the time and place for a customer hearing in Case
No . CAP-W-24-01, also referred to as in the matter of
Capitol Water Corporation' s application to increase its
rates and charges for water service in the State of
Idaho .
The purpose of this hearing is to take testimony
from members of the public in reference to Capitol Water
Corporation' s request that was filed with the Commission
on March 1st, 2024 .
My name is Eric Anderson. I am the Chair of
today' s proceedings . To my left is Commissioner Hammond
and to my right is Commissioner Lodge .
Today we will take public testimony and the
transcript will be added to the underlying record in this
case . The Commissioners will review facts and evidence
in the record and make its final decision in this case .
As an initial matter, let ' s document for the
purpose of the record the parties present and their
counsel . We can begin today with Staff' s representation.
MR. TRIPLETT : Deputy Attorney General Adam
Triplett representing Commission Staff.
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Welcome, Mr. Triplett .

And for Capitol Water Corporation? Seeing none .
Intervenors in the case, City of Boise? Not
here .
Any counsel I missed? No counsel I missed. Let
me remind everybody that the bathrooms are out that door
and down the hall and the doors will be open so you can
get back in, and in case of an emergency, please do not
use the elevators . There ' s a stairway down at this
corner of the building right down here . You go out and
down to the end of the hall and the staircases are there .
Today' s proceedings and parameters for today' s
hearing, when we call your name, we will allow you to
testify. You will be sworn in as you would in any
official court proceeding. I will ask you to identify
yourself for the record, which will include your name,
spelling your last name, your address, and whether you' re
a customer of Capitol Water.
When you' re completed, when you've completed
your statement, the attorneys for the parties, which
today will only be Staff because they' re the only ones
present, have an opportunity to ask you a question. This
prospect should not discourage anybody from testifying.
The attorneys rarely ask questions and if they do, it ' s
usually just to clarify a point .
We do use a court reporter for these hearings .

Today we have Connie Bucy from CSB Reporting creating an
official transcript to our record. Welcome, Connie .
Unless my colleagues have found that I 've missed
any issues, let me know. If not, I am ready to call the
first witness . I do not have a witness list here, so if
there ' s anybody that wishes to testify today, please come
up and identify yourself at the podium.
Was there a list provided, Maria, by any chance?
KEN HOWELL,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows :
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Welcome, and I believe
your name is Kevin Howell; is that correct?
THE WITNESS : Ken Howell, yes .
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Okay, thank you, Ken .
EXAMINATION
BY MR. TRIPLETT :
Thank you. Mr. Howell, can you please state
your name and spell your last name for the record?
A. My name is Ken Howell . My last name is spelled
H-o-w-e-1-1 .

Q. And where do you live?
A. I reside at 7108 W. El Caballo Drive, Boise,
Idaho .
Q. Are you a customer of Capitol Water Company?
A. I have been a customer of Capitol Water for over
30 years, yes, and am presently a customer.
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Well, welcome, and,
please, this is your opportunity to give us your
comments .
THE WITNESS : Thank you, Chairman Anderson,
members of the Commission. As I indicated, I 've been a
customer of Capitol Water for over 30 years . I am one of
Capitol Water' s flat rate customers residing near the
intersection of Cole and Northview.
Ordinarily I would have submitted a written
comment, but I managed to miss the written comment
deadline, so I figured it was important, because I feel
importantly about this, to come out and provide my
testimony to the Commission, and that is I am in favor of
the rate increase that Capitol Water requests in this
proceeding.
Capitol Water has been an outstanding water
company providing exceptional customer service and
providing a product and service, a water service, to our
residences in our neighborhood at frankly a cost that is

not replicated by any other water company that I 'm aware
of in the Boise Valley and certainly in no way related to
the larger water companies which are operating
predominantly in the city.
The rate is, I think, about $16 . 00 a month and
in the summer with the sprinkling surcharge with another
$16 . 00, it ' s about $32 . 00 a month. I reside on a parcel
of land, which is about 1 . 3 acres . It is served by one
of the larger taps that Capitol Water has on its system.
Most, I think, are three-quarters and mine is an
inch-and-a-quarter, I believe .
Capitol Water has provided me personally
outstanding service . When there ' s been an issue with
water delivery, they have gone out of their way in my
view to improve the distribution infrastructure, the
water main at the street . Any time they've had to come
in and make repairs, modifications, or replacements, they
have been very careful in terms of the work that they do
to make sure when they leave everything is placed back in
the condition it was before, including replacing portions
of asphalt driveway that they had to cut through in one
instance .
I 've interacted with the staff of Capitol Water
and they've all been polite, kind, easy to deal with,
just a model company, and because of the outstanding

customer service and the exceptional value that I think
the customers, particularly the flat rate customers, of
Capitol Water receive, I think that it ' s important that
the Commission take into consideration the type of
company that it is and the type of value that it provides
to its customers when evaluating the rate case .
And I 've read and reviewed the Staff comments on
how they parse and slice and dice and compare to other
water companies the rates and reference particular
standards that they apply to small water companies,
Capitol Water company in particular offers such a great
value that any of the minor, relatively minor, increases
in revenue that they are requesting would not increase
the customer rate base enough to make the slightest bit
of difference and in fact, if anything could be said
about Capitol Water Corporation' s flat rate customer rate
is it ' s probably too low.
We probably aren' t paying enough for our water,
and I doubt that many public members come and tell you
that we aren' t paying enough for the utility services,
but it is my view that I would rather pay slightly more
to Capitol Water Corporation and ensure that their rate
of return is such that they desire to stay in business,
that they are motivated to stay in business, and that
they don' t view to maximize their return they should

transfer the Company to one of the other water companies,
because I 'm convinced that any of the other water
companies our rates would be far in excess of what they
are now.
Capitol Water Corporation is an exceptional
Company and provider as far as I 'm concerned and I 'm a
very happy customer and I would urge the Commission to
grant Capitol Water Corporation' s rate increase as
requested.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: Thank you, Mr. Howell .
I quickly would like to tell you that your comments, your
positive comments, are important to us and believe me, we
are thrilled when we hear positive comments about those
utilities that we regulate and we do hear this often, but
not often from a customer hearing like this and that
means something to us, so this does help us in our
determinations of how we move forward, and I want to tell
you from my heart that I do appreciate that very much.
Do we have other questions of the Commission?
Thank you very much for your testimony today. You' re
excused.
THE WITNESS : Thank you, Chairman, members of
the Commission.
(The witness left the stand. )

COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: We don ' t seem to have
anybody else on this list today. Let ' s give it to 5 : 15 .
We ' ll give a little bit of a recess and we ' ll come right
back in and if no one is here, we will adjourn.
(Recess . )
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON: It is 5 : 15 and we ' re
back on the record. I don' t see that we have any new
customers that have arrived to testify, so at this point,
it is appropriate to adjourn, so this customer hearing is
now adjourned.
Thank you very much for your attendance .
(The hearing concluded at 5 : 15 p.m. )

A U T H E N T I C A T I O N
This is to certify that the foregoing
proceedings held in the matter of Capitol Water
Corporation' s application to increase its rates and
charges for water service in the State of Idaho,
commencing at 5 : 00 p.m. , on Friday, November 1, 2024, at
the Commission Hearing Room, 11331 West Chinden Blvd. ,
Building 8, Suite 201-A, Boise, Idaho, is a true and
correct transcript of said proceedings and the original
thereof for the file of the Commission.
CONSTANCE S . BUCY
Certified Shorthand Reporter #187