20080929min.doc

IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

MINUTES OF DECISION MEETING

September 29, 2008 – 1:30 P.M.

In attendance were Commissioners Mack Redford, Marsha Smith and Jim Kempton.

Commissioner Redford called the meeting to order. The first order of business was approval of MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING on September 15, 2008. The minutes were approved by vote.

The second order of business was approval of the CONSENT AGENDA, items 2 – 7. There was no discussion. Commissioner Kempton made a motion to concur with items 2 - 7. A vote was taken on the motion and it was approved unanimously.

The next order of business was MATTERS IN PROGRESS:

8. Carolee Hall’s September 22, 2008 Decision Memorandum re: Commission Approval for Staff to Join the Regional Oversight Committee (ROC) Multi-State Review Process for Qwest’s Performance Assurance Plan (QPAP) and Its Performance Indicator Definitions (PIDS).

Commissioner Redford stated that Mary Hobson, General Counsel for Qwest Communications, was present and had asked to make a statement regarding this item.

Ms. Hobson expressed Qwest’s concerns about the ROC’s proposed project and how it potentially impacts the open SGAT/PAP docket that Qwest has before the Commission in Case No. QWE-T-08-04. She said there is a disconnect between the ROC project and that docket. She stated that by her estimation, Liberty Consulting won’t have the 29-week project completed until mid-April at the earliest, which would be several months after the Commission intends to reach a decision in the Qwest case. She said that if the Commission agrees with Qwest’s position in the Qwest case, then participation in the ROC project would be unnecessary, and if the Commission does not agree with Qwest’s position, then because of the many flaws in how the proposed ROC project is designed, it may or may not provide any relevance for the Commission. She said for these reasons, Qwest asks the Commission to deny Staff’s participation in the ill-conceived project and to reject the creation of a redundant docket to look at PAP and PIDS in this state.

Commissioner Redford asked if Qwest retained Liberty Consulting. Ms. Hobson replied that Qwest had not retained Liberty for this purpose. She said Qwest and the Commission have a history with Liberty in that Liberty acted as an arbitrator in the early CLEC arbitrations. She said Qwest supported using Liberty in the multi-state collaborative in the 271 dockets. She said it is not that Qwest believes Liberty is a particularly flawed entity, it just doesn’t have the guidance it needs for the kind of analysis that the scoping document sets out.

Commissioner Smith said she noticed that the ROC’s proposal was sent to Qwest and Qwest had responded in August. She asked if there is ongoing discussion between ROC representatives and Qwest over the proposal and perhaps modifications that would make it something the company would be more comfortable with. Ms. Hobson replied that she didn’t know but one of her concerns was that she had not seen this particular scoping document until Friday. She said she had sent it off to the company that morning and had received remarks back from lower-level staff people but she didn’t know if it had been given to Wendy Mosier or Steve Davis. She stated that to the extent there are ongoing discussions, they have not been about this document per se or she would be aware of it.

Carolee Hall replied that the response from the ROC executive committee, the same committee that sent the letter to Mr. Davis, has been sent out, along with this same document, asking if it would be beneficial for Qwest to participate so that we can get the PIDS eliminated to a certain extent and move the process forward.

Commissioner Smith noted that the ROC meeting is going to be held in about two weeks and she is planning to attend. She asked both Ms. Hobson and Ms. Hall if there would be any problem if this matter were to come back on the agenda after October 15th, after having the benefit of the next ROC meeting.

Ms. Hall stated that the steering committee is hopeful that Qwest will be meeting with them at the upcoming ROC meeting, and that perhaps they could work through a lot of this and expedite it. She didn’t see where it would be a problem.

Ms. Hobson agreed that it sounded like a good idea if further discussions are taking place at that level.

Commissioner Redford said he didn’t see any harm in approving staff’s continued participation, which does not prejudice Qwest, especially if the next meeting is for the purpose of working out the various issues that Qwest has complained about. He said that without ruling on any substantive matters, where arguments will come up later on, the Commission could simply appoint Ms. Hall to continue to participate. He said that it seemed Ms. Hobson’s arguments don’t really address the issue before the Commission.

Ms. Hobson said Qwest is concerned that Staff had made several recommendations, one of which was that a separate docket be opened to review the PIDS and PAP, and because Qwest already has an open docket, Qwest doesn’t feel that is necessary or helpful. She said the disconnect she is having is that there may be ongoing discussions at a high level with Qwest about its participation. She said as things currently stand, Qwest will not be participating in that process and it will not be completed until well after this Commission has its docket completed, so Qwest sees it as a waste of Tier 2 money.

Commissioner Redford said that if Qwest does not plan to participate and it objects to all the things that are going to go on in this meeting, then it seems the company won’t be participating at its own peril. He said he sees nothing that prejudices Qwest, but as far as the appointment of Ms. Hall, the Commission ought to grant that. He made a motion to grant Staff’s participation in the multi-state review process for the Qwest Performance Assurance Plan. Commissioner Kempton seconded the motion. Commissioner Smith asked if the motion included all the other recommendations made by Staff in the Decision Memo. Commissioner Redford clarified that the motion did not include the other Staff recommendations and specifically was just to approve Staff’s participation in the multi-state process. A vote was taken on the revised motion and it carried unanimously. Commissioner Smith requested that Staff bring the matter back before the Commission after the upcoming ROC meeting and provide the Commission with a status report regarding what happened at the meeting. She said Staff can then re-ask the other questions about opening a docket and approving the disbursement from Tier 2 funds.

The next order of business was RULEMAKING:

9. Don Howell’s September 26, 2008 Decision Memorandum re: Updating the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Transportation of Hazardous Material by Rail, IDAPA 31-7103-0801 (Case No. RUL-R-08-01.)

Mr. Howell reviewed his Decision Memo. There was no discussion. Commissioner Kempton made a motion to adopt and submit the proposed rule to the Legislature as a pending rule. A vote was taken on the motion and it carried unanimously.

The remaining items on the agenda, items 10 – 17, were under the category of FULLY SUBMITTED MATTERS and Commissioner Redford stated they would be deliberated privately.

There were no other matters before the Commission and Commissioner Redford adjourned the meeting.

DATED this ______ day of September, 2008.

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COMMISSION SECRETARY

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