20250505Formal Complaint.pdf

RECEIVED
MAY 5, 2025
Tyler Hillman IDAHO PUBLIC
697 S. Wheatfield Ln. UTILITIES COMMISSION
Idaho Falls, ID 83406 NEW CASE: PAC-E-25-09
208-716-2872
tybhill114gmail.com
Sunday May 4, 2025
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Attn: Commission Secretary
PO Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074
Dear Commissioners,
I am writing today to file a formal complaint on Rocky Mountain Power
"Rexburg ID office). I Inquired about having power ran to property to 148 Irving
Creek Dubois, ID 83423 In April 2024. 1 was contacted by Brendan Gatherum
who is the project estimator in May 2024 and we met onsite and went over
where we could have power installed as he showed us a printed out GIS map
that he had brought with him. Brendan sent an estimate via email on 5/10/24
and a contract email on 5/14/24 as we wanted to go ahead with having power
installed at the above property and was given a request#7236940. We hired a
contractor to dig up and install transformer box and conduit ect. per Rocky
Mountain Power's specs on the signed contract and work was complete on
5/26/24. After site was prepped and ready I was informed to contact Byron
Borg to schedule inspection and schedule install which was scheduled for the
5/31/25. We were contacted by Brian Egan who insisted that he had stopped
Rocky Mountain Power from hooking up to the underground line that he stated
was his and not Rocky Mountain Power's. I then tried to contact Byron Borg for
the next several days to no avail. I called the emergency phone number for the
power company to inform them that the high voltage line located in the middle
of Irving Creek was exposed and needed someone to call me back and let me
know what was going on. The next day i was contacted by Quinton and he
stated that Byron Borg had started his new position with the company and that
Brenadon Gatherum would be reaching out to me. When Brendan called me
the next day he informed me that they had made a mistake and indeed the
power line was Brian Egans as he had went to the office with proof of
ownership and that they would be refunding the amount of$8,125.00 which
was the contract price. I informed Brenadan that we had hired a contractor and
his bill was $ 11,040.00 and who was going to reimburse us and thats when
Aaron Hancock who is the manager stated that they would not be paying for

that as he stated was a civil matter. The next day I called Brian Egan and
explained to him that we did not want him upset with us that it was Rocky
Mountain Power that had made a mistake and he said that if they could make
some kind of guarantee that if we hooked onto that line he would have
enough power for us and his future buildings that he wants to build. I
contacted Brenadon with this information and Rocky Mountain Power for the
next several months tried to purchase the line from Mr. Egan and made several
statements that they would have never agreed to run power in the way they
did back in 1998 and that they placement of Mr. Egans power meter and
transformer were not in the correct spot as they were located near the home
over 3 miles from where the power line went from aerial to underground.
There were several more months of back and forth with them trying to get line
relinquished. On 10/21/24 i received a text from Brendan indicating that they
had a contract drawn up to buy back the line and they were just finalizing stuff
with the easements and would hopefully have a answer for me soon. On
11/7/24 Brendan had called me and informed me that the Rocky Mountain
Power would no longer negotiate with Mr. Egan and they would be sending
the $ 8,125.00 back. I asked again about the amount that we had paid our
contractor and was told that they would not be reimbursing that money. I was
unhappy of the treatment and was confused on why we had a contract and
they made the mistakes but we were the only party that was out the money for
nothing and thats when i contacted the Idaho Public Utility Commision In
November of 2024. to ask if this was a normal outcome of this kind of
scenario. I was then contacted by Jon Kruck with the IPUC I informed him of
what happened and he agreed to look into it. Over the next several weeks i
was in contact with Jon and he was very helpful i provided him with the bill
from my contractor as the power company had agreed to pay the amount of
the $11, 040.00 as a " Good Faith" but would not pay this unless we signed a
Release for repayment which we signed as it seemed like we would not be
getting power. On 12/16/24 i received a voicemail from Jon Kruck from the
IPUC that he had just talked with his attorney that had been talking with Rocky
Mountain Powers attorney and that they had made some kind of settlement
with Brian Egan and that in fact we would be getting power and to call and
start the process over again from the beginning. I contacted Rocky Mountain
Power in March and received a call from Brendan Gatherum on 3/6/24 asking
me if i had made a agreement with Mr. Egan about his power line and stated
he had no information on them settling with Mr. Egan so called Jon Kruck
again and he looked into it and stated that the IPUC lawyer would contact the
Power companies attorney and this went on for a couple of more months
when in the end of April I spoke with Jon Kruck and he informed me that they
would not be able to anymore for us that I would need to file a formal
complaint as Rocky Mountain Power would not give them any information
whether they had made a settlement with Brian Egan or not and they were no

longer working in good faith and denied the fact they informed the IPUC that
we could get power the underground line that i would have to get power back
at the aboveground power pole over a mile away that Brendan had gave me a
estimate over the phone in the past of the cost of$ 150,000.00. After reading
through some of Rocky Mountain Powers tariffs I found that they have violated
No 12 Line extensions and Extension Exceptions. We would like the Idaho
Public Utility Commissioners to investigate these claims and have Rocky
Mountain Power be held accountable and provide us the power we had a
signed contract for as the company has been maintaining the line and has
stated that they have been doing so from when the line was installed in 1998.
Sincerely, Tyler Hillma