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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20040415Vol. XII Public Hearing in Boise.pdfORIGINAL BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS INTERIM AND BASE RATES AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC SERVICE. ) CASE NO. IPC-E-O3-13 Idaho PublIc Utllltl" Commission Office of theSeoretary R EO E I V ED APR 1 5 2004 !ffif.:i9.." ~ " 1!~ ~ " Boise, Idaho BEFORE COMMISSIONER MARSHA SMITH (Presiding) COMMISSIONER PAUL KJELLANDER COMMISSIONER DENNIS HANSEN PLACE:Commission Hearing Room 472 West Washington Boise, Idaho :f. :11 ~i "r,: '-.. lil ~;i T~1f oomJiWF~: : ? ~: ;f" ' ,, r"" (; ~:: ': illtli~~ ~ ;~~jRiifl~1LQ~2f lJill~iJlri1r~~~W~1Z\ f~~ t ~U~ M~T;iJ~ilii1~~~~f~i~1i DATE:March 31, 2004 VOLUME XII - Pages 1923 - 2039 CSB REpORTING Constance S. Bucy, CSR No. 187 17688 Allendale Road * Wilder, Idaho 83676 (208) 890-5198 ~ (208) 337-4807 Email csb~spro.net For the Staf f :Lisa Nordstrom, Esq. and Weldon Stutzman, Esq. Deputy Attorney Generals 472 West Washington Boise , Idaho 83720-0074 Barton L. Kline, Esq. and Monica B. Moen, Esq. Idaho Power Company Post Office Box 70 Boise , Idaho 83707-0070 RICHARDSON & 0' LEARY by Peter J. Richardson, Esq. Post Office Box 1849Eagle, Idaho 83616 RACINE, OLSEN , NYE , BUDGE & BAI LEY by Randall C. Budge, Esq. Post Office Box 1391Pocatello, Idaho 83204 -13 91 Lawrence A. Gollomp, Esq. Assistant General Counsel U. S. Department of Energy 1000 Independence Ave., SW Washington , DC 20585 McDEVITT & MILLER by Dean J. Miller, Esq. Post Office Box 2564Boise, Idaho 83701 William M. Eddie Advocates for the West Post Office Box 1612Boise, Idaho 83701 GIVENS PURSLEY LLP by Conley E. Ward, Esq. Post Office Box 2720 Boise , Idaho 83701-2720 For Idaho Power Company: APPEARANCES :~,:~,:::~': ,:::::::~:~~::~~~:;::~~~, i':;:::::::i::, :::::::;:::: :" : yO':,;'i;, .. :U'T:: ' , ;::::::,,",:~:'c?~::' ;::';:;:::::::::i':Ci: ::',;:::;:,:::;::,:::~::: ::::;;, ::::,::;;in::" ::' ::;:;;i;:;;:::;;::;:::;:c:;':::n:::::::r For Industrial Customers of Idaho Power: For Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association: For The United States Department of Energy: For United Water Idaho,Inc: For NW Energy Coalition: For Micron Technology, Inc. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 83676 ....-~~-..--....-~..-..__.., A P P A RAN C E S (Continued) For Community ActionPartnership Association 0 f I daho and AARP: Brad M. Purdy, Esq. Attorney at Law 2019 North 17th Street Boise , Idaho 83702 For Kroger Company: (Of Record) BOEHM, KURSZ & LOWRY by Kurt J. Boehm, Esq. 36 E. Seventh Street Suite 2110Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho APPEARANCES83676 WITNESS EXAMINATION PAGE Terry Ketterling (Publ ic) Statement Ms. Nordstrom (Cross) Commissioner Kj ellander Commlssioner Hansen 1925 1930 1931 1932 Raymond Arp (Public)Statement Ms. Nordstrom (Cross) Commissloner Hansen Commissioner Kj ellander Commissioner Smith 1933 1938 1939 1941 1942 Diane Rosti (Public)Statement Commlssioner Hansen 1943 1946 Darrel Rosti (Public)Statement Commlssioner Kj ellander 1948 1950 Ret ta Green(Public)Statement Commlssioner Hansen Commissloner Smith 1952 1955 1956 Ellen Sedlar (Publ ic) Statement 1956 Norman Anderson (Public)Statement Commissloner Hansen Commlssioner Smith 1959 1964 1965 April Steele (publ ic) Statement 1966 Philip W. Gridley (publ ic) Norman Anderson (Public) Karen McWilliams (Public) Emily Jones (Publ ic) Statement Ms. Nordstrom (Cross) 1969 1976 Statement Ms. Moen (Cross) Commissioner Kj ellander 1978 1979 1980 Statement 1981 Statement 1983 CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 83676 INDEX (Continued) WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE Connie Chandnoit Statement 1985(Public)Commissloner Hansen 1988CommlssionerKj ellander 1989CommlssionerSmi th 1990 Robert Brock Statement 1991(Publ ic) Diane Anderson Statement 1993(Publ ic) Richard DeLeonard Statement 1998(Public) Debra Thrall Statement 2000(Public) Mark Duffin Statement 2005(Public) Stephen White Statement 2008(Public) Carolyn Wagnild Statement 2012(Public) Joe Gallegos Statement 2015 (publ ic)Commissloner Hansen 2018 Richard Vick Statement 2019(Public)Commissloner Smith 2022 Mike Bravo Statement 2023(Public) Michelle Kay Statement 2032(Public) Martin Johncox Statement 2035 (Publ ic) CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho INDEX83676 Identified Identified PAGE 2009 2009 NUMBER DESCRIPTION FOR THE PUBLIC: 997. Table 59, Summary Statistics for Natural Gas - Idaho, 1994-1998 998. Table 59, Summary Statistics for Natural Gas - Idaho, 1994 -1998 Continued) CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 83676 EXHIBITS BOISE, IDAHO, WEDNESDAY , MARCH 31 , 2004 , 6:30 P. M. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.This is the time and place set for a public hearing in Idaho Public Utilities Commission Case IPC-03-, further identified as in the matter of the application of Idaho Power Company for authority to increase its interim and base rates and charges for electric service. The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is a three-person body that regulates investor-owned utilities.Idaho Power is one of them.You have the Commission before you tonight.On my left is Commissioner Paul Kj ellander who is also president of the Commission.On my right is Commissioner Dennis Hansen. My name is Marsha Smith and I I m Chairman of tonight I s hearing. While we I ve been engaged this whole week as you can tell by the binders around the room, in the technical part of the hearing, tonight was set aside to hear comments from the public in this area and we welcome your public testimony.It is part of our deliberation process.We have a court reporter who is here to take down what you say. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1923 COLLOQUY83676 The decisions of the Commission must be based upon the evidence that we take and that's why we make a record of it.Our decisions can be appealed to the Idaho Supreme Court if people are unhappy with what we do and that I s why it I S important that we have a complete and accurate record of the information we relied on. For that purpose when I call your name, if you've signed up to testify, Ms. Nordstrom , an attorney for the Commission Staff in this case , will ask you your name and your mailing address so you'll be properly identified in the record.Commissioner Kjellander will ask you to raise your right hand and promises that you I re going to tell the truth and then you'll be able to sit in the little witness box with your microphone so that everyone can hear you. wi th that , we'll go right to the list. you wish to testify, you need to sign up.If you signed up and you find that other people who have testified before you have already made your point, you can just decline to come forward and tell us that you agree with what was said previously so with that , we I 11 start with Terry Ketterling. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1924 COLLOQUY83676 TERRY KETTERING, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening.Please state your name and spell your last name for the record. My name is Terry Ketterling.It' t -t -e-r-l- i -n- And what is your mailing address? 475 East 16th North, Mountain Home, Idaho. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? I I m representing myself and other organizations, which I will state.Does that suffice? That will do.Please proceed with your testimony. I appreciate the time and the opportunity to be here to testify on behalf of myself , thousands of members of Amalgamated Sugar and that's about 1,200. also am a farmer and am also a dairyman.m involved in one canal company and several individual pumping CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1925 KETTERLING Public83676 plants.I raise mainly sugar beets and as I stated, I also dairy. I brought with me just as a visual, this is one year I s bills of Idaho Power I s bills, and I show you this only to let you know that it I S very important to me and it I S also very important to the people that are around me.The dairy is relativelyAs I said , I dairy. It's been operating about six months.new.We employ about 45 plus people that are full time and it's in Mountain Home. I also farm.I farm about 7 600 acres. There are about 10 full-time employees.We also employ seasonal people to move irrigation lines , which is about 35 people, and at times through the year we employ upwards of 100 people to clean and weed beets throughout the summer months. The impact of a rate increase to my operation is huge.I I m a member of South Elmore Irrigation Company which is a 9,200 acre project.I also am partners in one farm that is 4 000 acres and as I stated before, I have a dairy.I also lease some other ground in the neighborhood in Mountain Home, if that's a neighborhood. My total bill last year for all operations paid to Idaho Power was 1,142 000.This stack of bills CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1926 KETTERLING Public83676 that I showed you earlier is about 1.8 million worth of bills.Of that , I pay 1 142 000. The responsibilities I have to my employees is to maintain operations and by doing that, I am very much interested in not having undue increases where I can because their livelihood also depends on it. The people that I do employ all live in Mountain Home , in town, some out on the farm.All of those people's jobs depend on how well the farm and the dairy does. m also , as I stated, a farmer.I am Chairman of Amalgamated Sugar and Snake River Sugar Company.I represent the 1,200 growers that have purchased the plants and are in control of operations of that facility and three of the plants are in Idaho, also, a high electrical power user and employs upwards of more than 2 000 people. The economic impact of the farmers not doing well and the cost of power being so much that we can't raise the beets is very important , not only to the farmers and the employees on the farm , but also Amalgamated Sugar which operates in southern Idaho. just moved our office from Ogden to Boise.We I re new to the area.We plan on being in business , but with extreme costs for raising the crop, one of them being power , it jeopardizes sometimes what possibly could be the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1927 KETTERLING Public83676 potential of that plant , of all three plants. The farmers produce the beets, the beets go to the factories, they make sugar and the sugar is sold all over the U. That is a large economic impact to southern Idaho.Without the farmers in southern Idaho , it would almost be impossible for the economics of some of the small towns along the Snake River Basin to exist and I think it I S very important that the Commission takes a hard look at a rate increase that could drive what the whole economy of southern Idaho is , the trickle-down effect from farmers not farming, and I might point out , also , at this time these bills that I have here representing my farm are not - - is not all what the bill could be. The economics of farming right now have deteriorated in some of the crops that it's not economical for me to pump water and so the bills I showed you are not all of the land that I farm.We are leaving some of the land idle now and it's because of the economy of the crops. I think it isn't a farmer issue , it's a southern Idaho issue and I am very much in favor of businesses doing well and businesses operating as a business, but at no time in the businesses I've been in am I guaranteed a return as is Idaho Power.m very CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1928 KETTERLING Public83676 sensi ti ve to the fact that I have no one to pass on my costs to.I would love to be able to pay my share of things, but if the cost gets too high , I have no choice. m not here to plead poverty or to whine about my situation.I am here to only point out that I' not sure that Idaho Power is ready to do a rate increase that puts the farmers out of business, that threatens the towns and the fall-down of the Snake River Basin' economy.I think a hard look ought to be taken at what the rate increases for agriculture will do.I 1 m here speaking from the heart of not just myself , but also the 200 growers which I represent of Snake River sugar company. It's critical, the timing is important. know that we have had price cost adj ustments anyway, our rates have been high or raised and I plead to the Commission that they please take a hard look and not further our problems. In fact, maybe history could be said and you might want to be an economic driver for the state and even think about reducing the rates.I thank you. there a question? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you, Mr. Ketterling.Yes, if you'll stay seated, that I s one part of the process I didn I t mention up front.There are CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1929 KETTERLING Public83676 a few of the parties in the room and they do have the right to ask you quest ions. Mr. Budge, you I re standing back there , I assume that means you don I t intend to ask questions? MR. BUDGE:No. COMMISSIONER SMITH:For Idaho Power we have Monica Moen , do you have any questions, Ms. Moen? MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:From Staff. CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: just have one question. Yes. Given your affiliation with Amalgamated Sugar, have you worked with the irrigation pumpers that have formally intervened in this case? Myself personally, no. Well , for Amalgamated Sugar. No.I I m not sure that some of the people at Amalgamated at the office have not worked with them but yes. MS. NORDSTROM:Okay, thank you. THE WITNESS:So what was that answer? CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1930 KETTERLING (X) Public MS. NORDSTROM:Well , I took it for what it was intended to be.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you f or your testimony.Oh, I'm sorry, Commissioner Kjellander. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Just a question about the $1 142,000 that you ve been paying for electricity over an annualized basis, I'm wondering how many metered sites that represents? m involved in 67 pumps and I can I t give you an answer on metered sites because some of the pumps are multiple pumps on one meter.The pumping station sizes , the pump motor sizes range from 30 horsepower to 000 and for your information , the dairy approximately uses around $ 7 , 000 worth of power a month and you can residences, places for employees to live, shops, miscellaneous metering was 263,000 of that million , one. The rest , for the most part, minus the 44,000 for the dairy I S operation of approximately fi ve-and-a-half , six months, the rest of that is all power for irrigation. COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.That helps me get a better understanding of the cascading. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1931 KETTERLING (Com)Public83676 appreciate it. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I thank you very much., Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Just one question I'd like to ask you. Would you be in favor of reduced rates by shutting off power at some peak times , like , say, during the summer months in the early afternoon , probably when it I s extremely hot and there I s a high demand for power? you see your company or your pumping operations being able to maybe shut down and have a reduced rate where the Company didn I t have to go out and purchase high cost power at that time? Yes.As a matter of fact, I was called by someone from Idaho Power that asked if we would be interested and a lot of the situations I have can accommodate that program.I don I t know if it's in force yet, but that it proposed for a four-hour shutdown.Some of my situations, though , won I t allow for logistically being able to do that because of turning the pumps off and then it takes too long to fill things back up, so any time I get an opportunity to become more efficient that CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1932 KETTERLING (Com) Publ ic83676 way, I I m very much in favor of any kind of program like that. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you.Tha ti all I have. COMMI S S IONER SMI TH :Thank you very much. Thank you for coming tonight. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Raymond Arp. RAYMOND ARP appearing as a public witness , having been first duly CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. Hi. Please state your name and spell your last for the record. Raymond Arp, A-r- What is your mailing address? 2614 San Marco Way, Nampa. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? 1933 ARPPublic83676 I I m here representing myself and Amalgamated Sugar who is my employee. Thank you.Please proceed. m an electrical engineer employed by Amalgamated Sugar , the industrial arm of the growers that was mentioned.I appreciate this opportunity to address this Commission.I have a few points that I I d like to ask and I recognize I can I t ask, but I want to provide some possible alternate solutions. For Idaho Power to justify a rate increase , they need to have to justify the costs of doing business , and I recognize a lot has been said about the Danskin power plant in Mountain Home , but I understand that Idaho Power was trying to do their best during the energy crisis of late 2000 and early 2001.We all did, we all strived to do what we could to conserve energy, but was it really prudent to build and operate so quickly two 45 megawatt peaking units that never really operated the number of hours that was promised to this Commission that it would operate? Also, the way I tracked this thing, that facility went in after the energy crisis piece had subsided.Idaho Power should have recognized and reeval uated the economic impact, but it now appears that Idaho Power wants the customers , its customers , to pay CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1934 ARPPublic83676 for this white elephant; therefore , the Commission should not let Idaho Power recoup these unreasonable costs via a rate increase.This I grant will be an expense for the Idaho Power shareholders, but not as devastating to the bottom line of Idaho Power I s customers and therefore, the state economy. The overall energy consumption over the past 10 years throughout Idaho Power I s service territory has stayed relatively constant.How could this be with the growth of residential and commercial customers? Idaho Power losing a very large customer , namely FMC in Pocatello, offset this growth.They were an uninterruptible or an interruptible load.Thi s has shifted the load profile within Idaho Power customer classes.The remaining Industrial Customers, and especially the irrigation class , energy consumption has been relatively constant. My next point is I recognize that the conservation funding or rate Schedule 91 is not part of this rate case, but what are we receiving from this body of funding?What does this collection of money really fund and does the PUC really feel that we as ratepayers are getting our money I s worth?Is this funding - - this funding is necessary and beneficial, then let each industrial customer determine the best usage of their CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1935 ARP Public83676 conservation funding and apply these requested funds under strict guidelines to a conservation proj ect that best fits their needs. Addi tionally, Idaho Power has asked that the power factor adjustment go from 85 to 90 percent. The delivery or distribution systems are not at their limits, or are they?Has Idaho Power adequately shown that the delivery system is constrained, thus , making this increase necessary?How about offering a credit for a power factor above 90 percent and maintain a penalty for a power factor below 85 percent?This is a voluntary solution with incentives. The bottom line is the increased costs of doing business for Idaho Power is from their increased residential customer class.Has time of use for residential class been considered?Ric Gale of Idaho Power tells me that I'm the only Idaho Power residential customer that liked the tiered rate schedule.With that being said, why not have a voluntary turn-off of air conditioner units for, say, an hour per day with an incenti ve to a customer's energy costs?A timer could be added to the air conditioner s disconnect.This would reduce the summer peak loads and conserve power and associated costs. This leads to the next point of voluntary CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1936 ARP Public83676 curtailment and mandatory time of use.The Industrial Customers have not caused Idaho Power I s incurred costs associated with summer peak demand's increase.I address this issue because the Industrial Customers are being asked to bear the burden of a mandatory time of use rate schedule.Why not have a voluntary time of use schedule like that being proposed with Schedule 23 for the irrigation class, give the Industrial Customers the same kind of rate incentives if and only if a curtailment works for them?Again , as mentioned above for the residential class, make it voluntary with credit. The PUC has heard testimony of growers making a profit as low as one to two percent.The banks may give as high as three percent.Even Amalgamated Sugar who is owned by those growers is well below the requested rate of return.Why should Idaho Power in this economic climate get 11 percent at the expense of its customers?Idaho Power is a good company and has provided adequate service , but they are the only kid on the block; however , if the rates go up, then does the quality of service go up by that same percentage? Idaho Power loses growers which could lead to the loss of industrial customers, then I ask where would Idaho Power be? The outside regulatory climate or the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1937 ARP Public83676 uncertain economic costs of doing business for a small class of individuals should not be further impacted by high utility costs and thus, making it hard to maintain survivability.The power bill should not drive the livelihood of doing business.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you , Mr. Arp. Let I S see if there are any questions. Ms. Moen. MS. MOEN:No questions from Idaho Power. Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ms. Nordstrom. MS. NORDSTROM:Yes. CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Were you aware that the Commission has approved a pilot program for Idaho Power to curtail the use of air conditioners for - - it I S a pilot program for people who volunteer to allow essentially a switch to be put on their air conditioner units that I s currently being tested, have you heard of that? I have not, but I think that would be very effective. Were you aware that the Commission has also approved installing advanced meters in the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1938 ARP (X) Public83676 Emmett/McCall areas so that time of use rates for residential customers can be tested to see if it would work on a larger scale? I think that that is a very good program to do rate shave peaking and that should be implemented at a quicker pace throughout all of Idaho Power I customers throughout the whole state. MS. NORDSTROM:Thank you.No further questions. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Do we have questions from the Commissioners?Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I believe I heard you correctly say that you preferred that the Industrial Customers would be allowed to choose and spend their money on conservation programs as they see fit? That I S a true statement. Do you think there would have to be some guidelines set up and some verification that where these proj ects were picked and they were completed that they were justified in doing that? Yes, I do.Idaho Power had Partnership in CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1939 ARP (Com) Public83676 Industrial Efficiency and that worked very good and those were strict guidelines that we could apply for , but we pay out more into those programs now than we would ever be able to recoup back.All I'm saying is the same guidelines would be standard for all Industrial Customers, just say that amount of money we put in , which is quite a bit by the way, we put that fee in and then we'd have to be able to show how we I re able to use that, but that fee would come back at us at those conservation measures as opposed to going to some nebulous organization , yes. And just one follow-up, do you have a plan or an idea of who would police that or verify that it was? That would be Idaho Power.I mean, you have to be able to show to Idaho power that you I re able to conserve X number of kilowatts. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Kj ellander. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1940 ARP (Com) Public83676 EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: A follow-up along the same line.Let' say that we get to a self-directed program with industrial users and let I s say that after five, six seven years a company has maxxed out on what it can effectively do at its facility, whereby anything it would do then really wouldn't be cost effective under anybody I standards.What would be the direction that should be taken then for a company that may have reached the wall with regards to the energy efficiency and demand side management efforts that it could install in its own facil i ty? To answer that question, would it be possible that over the years you could - - because some of these to get really energy efficient is going to cost you more dollars that you I re going to recoup, could you put it into a bank and store that money for a couple of years until you I re able to - - you I re talking about the low hanging fruit on the tree and to get to that high hanging frui t, it might take a couple of years of incurring those costs. Let's take a new business that hopefully, as they construct the new facilities as they move to this CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1941 ARP ( Com) Public83676 state because of the super low electric rates that we have, they come to this state and they build a facility that on day one is energy efficient by all standards and all building codes, how do they fit into a program like that that is self-directed and self-guided assuming that in fact they build a facility that meets those standards on day one?How do they fit in or where should their money go? I can't answer for that.I just know most industrial facilities could use quite a bit of money to make them more energy efficient. COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Arp, do you know if you re a Schedule Do you know what schedule you take from, 9?19? 19. And do you have quality of service issues? No. And I'll just let you know that I also thought residential tiered rates were a great thing. We thank you for your testimony. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1942 ARP (Com)Public83676 THE WITNESS:Okay, thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Duane Rosti. DUANE ROSTI appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your last name. It's Duane Rosti , R-o-s-t- And what is your mailing address? 5248 Sky Ranch Road , Nampa, Idaho, 83686. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself and my neighboring farmers. Thank you.Please proceed. Well,I 'owned - - guess should state that I I m a third generation family farmer.We started my grandfather started in Meridian during the Depression. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1943 ROSTIPublic83676 My father farmed in Meridian until I graduated in 1978 and we moved to Dry Lake , which we I 11 call the desert , I guess, and we were trying to get away from the growth the housing back even then and we found a beautiful farm that was out in this area with just two headgates, watered 500 acres and everything was great. Well , the power bill in 178 was about 60 bucks an acre and in 1983 we paid 19 272 for net power costs; 1984 we paid 20 578; 1985 we paid 28,626. 19 - - my father passed away 10 years ago and my brother and I continued to farm the farm for five more years. had some pretty good years and then ABT came in and we took out some bankruptcy on some hay seed and stuff and so decided at that time that we better go into other jobs that was related to agriculture and save the family farm because my mother still owned half of it. Well, we did it and I I m currently managing 400 acres that I s neighboring to me and plus my own family farm.I have rented out - - last year I sold 50 acres to save the farm and to keep it going to another neighbor.I sold 100 acres to the Bureau of Reclamation for the water Snake River deal, Water Resource Board excuse me , because I can I - - I don't have a rotation crop.I can I t grow wheat and beans and stuff like and put this high powered water on my ground any longer and CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1944 ROSTIPublic83676 do rotate a sugar beet crop in about every third year. Last year subtracting the 100 acres we didn't farm and the ground that we sold, our power paid was $52 251.I thinkNow, that to me is an increase. that we've been paying our fair share and I don' understand how they can say - - how they can pick on one industry that has been so true blue to a state. In 1965 they begged us to open up this ground and farm it and now as a third generation family farmer , I can't make a living anymore.m trying to sell my damn ground and everything else to make it survive when all these people are moving in here from California telling me I can't spray, I can't grow my sugar beets, I I ve got too much pollution at the sugar company, what are we supposed to do?Just give up and go to work for M-K or for Micron or HP? Some of us still love ag.Some of us missed college educations because we were working on the farm.Why don I t you people go back and look at what we've gotten paid the last five, ten, fifteen years? It I S a hell of a lot less than 1978 when I was coming out of high school.Now where are we going to go, people? think it's time some people start waking up and realizing what family farms have done for America.We have all these subsidies , we have everything that is going CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1945 ROSTI Public83676 overseas and I guess I've said too much? COMMISSIONER SMITH:No, Mr. Rosti , I just wish the Commission had the power to fix all your problems, but if you I d just direct your comments to your electrici ty concerns, maybe we can help with those. THE WITNESS:Well , that's what I I m saying and I guess you don I t want to hear any more so I I m not going to say any more. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I I d be happy to hear anything you have to say about your concerns for your electrici ty rates, your electricity service. THE WITNESS:Okay, I stated it. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let I S see if there are any questions. Ms. Moen. MS. MOEN:No quest ions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:How about from the Commission?Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I believe I heard you say that someone begged you in 1965 to open up thi s -- CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1946 ROSTI (Com) Public83676 They didn't beg me personally, but they were out trying to get farmers to open up ground so they CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho could sell power because they had lots of power at that Are you referring when you say "they " to Yes. Can you recall what they told you at the It wasn I t me personally.I t was the guy I time. bought the farm off of and his name is Elmer Tiggs and he's since deceased. So you don I t recall what he said they told No, I don I COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you. Idaho Power? time? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Any questions? COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:No, thank you. him? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Darrel Rosti. 1947 ROSTI (Com) Public83676 DARREL ROSTI appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: last. Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your Darrel Rosti , R-o-s- What is your mailing address? 12799 West Stagecoach Road, Nampa. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself and Hap Butte Mutual Canal Thank you.Please proceed. Company. I just would like to give some thoughts on what this might do. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho These high lift projects help do a lot for the State of Idaho.They helped build this Ii t tIe deal out here east of Boise, Micron Technology. That was ag dollars that helped get that started.They provide a lot of income into these small communities 1948 ROSTIPublic83676 ike Terry said. A lot of things are not clear-cut.These farmers have went and back in August of last year, they went forward with not just long-term investment money, but short-term operating costs to operate the next year. I don't think it I S real fair to them to throw something on them in the middle of the year.It could have drastic effects. The dairy industry, which is big industry in Idaho, relies on water for their nutrient management systems.If we lose two or three farms , let I s say we lose two farmers out of Hap Butte Canal Company, which is composed of about 14 farms , the canal company, the rest of the shareholders can I t stand alone.They'd have to work as a group.The dairies have to have the farms there to help bear the burden of the canal company costs. No one entity can do it on its own , so if we lose two or three farms, more than likely that will have hard effects on the rest of the shareholders in the system. I think that I s just what I'd like to impress most is that it's not a real clear-cut deal. It's going to have a huge trickle-down effect.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let's see if there are any questions. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1949 ROSTI Public83676 Ms. Moen. MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Kj ellander. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Something you said when you opened about the ag dollars that got Micron started , could I get you to just elaborate on that a little bit more? Well, the story goes, and you can take it for what it I S worth , but they were building an irrigation system out south of Nampa in Dry Lake and they had a pretty complex arm that would reach out and grab the next riser and let go of the riser behind so this thing could continually move without dragging a hose or anything and they needed somebody for programming. At that time you couldn I t buy the program or design them yourself and they said there's a couple of boys in Boise that are really sharp at this and I think maybe they can help you and they brought them out and they said if we could get some money together , I think we could make this work and this is the story I hear is that CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1950 ROSTI (Com)Public83676 that was ag dollars that was first put into Micron and we all know that Simplot owned a big part of it and that those are definitely ag dollars. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much for your testimony. THE WITNESS:Okay. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Cleo Miller. MR. MILLER:(Inaudible response. THE REPORTER:I can't hear him , I' sorry. COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:He said that you wouldn I t be able to hear him because he has a bad case of laryngitis. COMMISSIONER SMITH:He I 11 be sending his comments in writing. Retta Green. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1951 ROSTI (Com) Public83676 RETTA GREEN appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: last. Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your Retta Green , G-e-e- What is your mailing address? O. Box 572 , Caldwell, Idaho , 83606. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? I 1 m here representing myself and about 000 low income, under-incomed people in poverty with CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho social security, SSI disabilities. Thank you.Please proceed. I myself can I t believe that Idaho Power had the nerve to ask for a 20 percent increase in their power rates.Idaho families are struggling now to pay their rates and pay their bills and now Idaho Power wants us to pay for their perks, their executive perks. 1952 GREEN Public83676 barely pay our bills as it is.Idaho Power cut off power because we couldn't keep the bills paid and now they want to ask us for more money when they don't need it.It' absolutely outrageous. When they first applied for this, they were claiming poverty.Idaho Power's CEO and president, Jan Packwood has a very good income.I would like to be receiving $800,000 a year as income.They must be having problems paying their bills, too.We're lucky here in Idaho that we have the PUC and their committed Staff to keep these utilities in line.Idaho Power asked for 85 million more in revenue every year.The PUC Staff went through all their paperwork and found $70 million worth of fat to cut out of their request.Now , we need the PUC to tell Idaho Power that that kind of greed just don' cut it, not in our Idaho. Idaho Power wants to raise monthly charges from 2.50 to $10.00.That's a 400 percent increase. Maybe rich Idaho Power executives wouldn't notice an extra $7.50 in their power bill every month , but for me and my family it means a meal or it means choosing whether I take and go to the doctor or not or whether pick up a prescription that has to be paid with cash money that isn I t covered through Medicaid and Medicare. As I told you , I'd like to live on CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1953 GREEN Public83676 $800,000 a month or a year.I live on $596 a month on my social security disability, and my monthly bills are incl uded and I will name them for you:My rent is $225, my power is 124, my city water is $28.00 a month, my telephone , at the very cheapest I can get it where live, is $46.00.Because of the water and the pollutants that are in the water of lime and calcium and other things, I have to buy bottled water, it costs me $30.00 a month.The total cost of my immediate bills are $553 a month.I have a $46.00 balance to live on and I get $60.00 in food stamps. Now, Idaho Power don I t think that this increase would hurt families, but I'm telling you it hurts a lot of us.There are 4 500 people on social security disability, SSI , on this limited income that live daily and every month , month to month from hand to mouth and I I m here to represent those people.I I m asking the Commission don I t give them their increase.Let them live on $596 a month and feed themselves.Let I S get the fat off the cow and give it to the poor.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you, Ms. Green. Let I S see if there are questions. MS. MOEN:No questions, Madam Chair. Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1954 GREEN Public83676 COMMI S S IONER SMI TH :Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Ms. Green , I I d just like to ask you, how do you heat your home?Do you heat your home with electrici ty? It I s totally electric and I have baseboard heaters.I had to have a new baseboard heater put in my house in February.I went through the energy assistance and they came out and I have 10 inches of insulation in the ceiling in my house and they said the house was very efficiently weatherized. So the $124 that you said was your monthly bill,that an average? That just this last month I The month be fore was 138 and the month before was $208.90. Do you recall what you set your thermostat at? My house temperature is at 68 degrees. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you very much. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1955 GREEN (Com) Public83676 EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH: I guess I was curious, have you ever investigated going on level pay? It would cost me more on level pay than what my bill costs. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Well, they level it out and then they true it up, so I guess we'll have to think about that.Thank you very much for your testimony. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ellen Sedlar. ELLEN SEDLAR appearing as a public witness , having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening.Please state your name and spell your last. Ellen , Sedlar, S-e-a-r. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1956 SEDLAR Public83676 And what is your mailing address? O. Box 9054 , Nampa, 83652. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself and also many, like Retta, the many seniors and disabled people that are living on fixed incomes. Thank you.Please proceed. We only get on fixed income, we get a one percent a year raise which doesn I t add too much.Now , I am a lucky one because I at one time did have a little bi t of money.I want to put this up to everybody that you say save all your money and live and have a good time when you grow old and travel and have a good time, no, you go to the hospital and they take all of it in one whack and that I s what happened to me to the tune of $250,000, so now I 1 m living on a fixed income.My social security is only 460.I do have a trust that brings it up to 825 a month. Because of some of the possessions that still own - - I did have Idaho Power , by the way, but I had to sell it to live on and my medications cost me over $400 month,my income $825 a month.course,have all the expenses.Now own my home it's paid for,but my taxes come to,what,about 000 year,and what CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1957 SEDLAR Public83676 want you to know is every one of you is going to be on a fixed income someday and there I s no way, I don I t care how much or how hard I want to do it to pay these bills that are increasing on me, I can I t go out and work and make , Il ve got it , that's it and that makes it so hard for the people of my age and older and all of your parents and grandparents, we're all having these same problems. We don't need to have more money charged and to the percentage of what they're charging, especially.Our increase is one percent each year.This increase , no way is our wages going to keep up with it, I mean , our fixed income.I think that I s just about all that I wanted to say, except to let you know that anybody can be in the fix that I am because I've been there, know. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let I S see if there are questions. MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Norman Anderson. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1958 SEDLARPublic83676 NORMAN ANDERSON, appearing as a public witness , having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your last? It's Norman E. Anderson , A-e-r- What is your mailing address? It's 1253 Cow Horse Drive, Kuna , 83634. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Just myself. Thank you.Please proceed. Okay.have several points I'd like make in this Idaho Power rate case.First of all , as has already been indicated and I won I t dwell on it , I think these rate increase requests are absurd and totally unreasonable.Idaho Power in a lot of their paperwork indicates - - they separate the rate increases by customer classes and I wanted to make the point that many of the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1959 ANDERSON Public83676 customers overlap from one class to another.For instance, I I m a residential customer , I I m a member of an irrigation corporation and also work for a large industrial customer of Idaho Power , and so these rate increases are not just one for me , there are several and, of course, as has been indicated by other people, rate increases for the commercial and other industrial people will result in higher prices that again will affect all of us. With respect to the residential base rate increase, I wanted to comment on the fact that the Idaho Power proposal includes a base rate increase, plus then a 25 percent higher rate for the summer months of June through August and I don't see the justification for this, because Idaho Power goes around promoting its level pay plan and I I m sure that they have enough smart bean counters over there that can figure out a level charge rate that we can count on throughout the year and they can adj ust , take into consideration the variability and the cost of producing that power. We have to do that in industrial operations.We can only quote certain hourly rates. don I t adj ust them because it I S June or December or whatever , and this summer rate request particularly bothers me because residential ratepayers in the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1960 ANDERSON Public83676 Commission's Order 29196 issued in February 21st of 2003 denied us the access to residential time of use rates, and I feel that if we cannot be given the opportunity to prudently control the costs of our electrical use , then Idaho Power shouldn I t be able to just put in these variable rates that we have to live with. The next point I I d like to make is that early in this rate case process we were bombarded with TV commercials from Idaho Power trying to make the case that they were suffering financially due to the fact that they had to add 100 000 new customers and I find this very amusing because any other business , their motivation is to increase their customer base and increase market share and gain more customers.Idaho Power didn I t get these customers for free. When I built a new home about nine years ago, I paid Idaho Power $385 for them to come out and connect the electricity to my house and just some simple math , let I s say the average was $300 per family, these 100 000 new customers would have paid Idaho Power $30 million, so other companies don't get to charge to increase their customers , but Idaho Power does, so don I t see that they should be hurting for having picked up so many new customers; and finally, this case seems to me to be one of Idaho Power helping IDACORP deliver CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1961 ANDERSON Public83676 earnings per shares to Wall Street rather than delivering affordable electricity to the customers. Back in the 2000-2001 time period when IDACORP was heavily engaged in energy trading and paying out huge bonuses in excess of $2 million in some cases, we didn't hear Idaho Power claiming that it needed base rate increases; however , as soon as the energy price fell from over $3 000 a megawatt to less than 100, IDACORP started the process in motion to get out of energy trading and Jan Packwood made the statement that they would have to concentrate on Idaho Power and a rate increase to deliver results to the Street. In an article in the Idaho Statesman dated November 9th , 2002, LaMont Keen told Wall Street analysts that Idaho Power would likely ask for a general rate increase from customers in the fall of 2003.In that same article, Jan Packwood stated that IDACORP would reduce its focus on risky and unregulated acti vi ties, like electricity trading, and spend more effort rebuilding Idaho Power I s balance sheet and that a big part of that effort would be a general rate increase. In contrast to that , what they I re telling Wall Street, on December 8th , 2002 , in the Idaho Statesman , Mr. Packwood said , and I quote, "We I re trying to encourage customers that their rates will go down CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1962 ANDERSON Public83676 dramatically before and if they ever go up," so we I telling two different stories and , of course , we know that ten months later , Idaho Power filed its application with the PUC in this case for their average 17.7 percent increase.I find all of these very distasteful. Another thing I'd like to point out is that I know the PUC Staff , there was an article of them finding a lot of fat , allegedly, in the Idaho Power application and what I find interesting, it's very difficult to tell the difference between Idaho Power and IDACORP .I brought , for an example, I have 13 shares, approximately, of Idaho Power I s stock that I had acquired through their dividend reinvestment plan years ago. sold off most of my stock , but kept a limited number of shares just to stay on their mailing list. I received in this letter which came in an Idaho Power envelope, it's a letter from Jan Packwood wi th a stock statement and a prospectus for dividend reinvestment and included with it is a business reply mail envelope with postage to be paid by the addressee who is Idaho Power Company.Now , Idaho Power doesn I t have publicly-traded stock , they have IDACORP , so I question who I s keeping the books straight over there. This is a small thing, stationery and envelopes, but if they do this, what else is amiss over there, and that I s CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1963 ANDERSON Public83676 the extent of my testimony.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Do we have any questions? MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I I m just kind of interested, did the TV ads bother you because of the cost of running them or was there some other reason that they bothered you? Both.I found it -- I find it offensive every time I see an Idaho Power ad because there I s no point in them advertising, there's no competitors that we have a choice that we would pick them over somebody else, but I also found the commercials misleading and offensive in what they were trying to convey to us. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you.Tha tI all I have. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Do you have questions? COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:No. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1964 ANDERSON (Com) Public83676 EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH: I guess , Mr. Anderson, sometimes the Commission gets on the Company because we feel they don I communicate with their customers and there are things customers should be told.If advertising offends you, what I s the right way, then, you feel that the Company should give messages to its customers?How should they go about it? Well , I guess I I m at a loss to explain that because everything I see that comes out of Idaho Power is, to me, propaganda and trying to convince us that they I re looking out for us and I don I t see that in their actions. Of course , I I m not talking about corporate image advertising or anything of that, which we routinely disallow as a ratemaking expense, but sometimes there are issues that we think the Company should communicate with its customers about. Well, I get the flyers in my monthly bill and to me, that I s fine.That I s got to be the cheapest way to get messages to me and I read those, usually. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for your testimony. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1965 ANDERSON (Com) Public83676 THE WITNESS:Okay, thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:April Steele. APRIL STEELE appearing as a public witness, having been first duly CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your My name is April Steele, S-e-e- What is your mailing address? 2401 South Owyhee Street , Space No. 60, Boise , Idaho, 83705. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? I am here representing myself and everybody out there and every single fighting mother that Thank you.Please proceed. BY MS. NORDSTROM: last. there is. 1966 STEELEPublic83676 I have a small family.I am a single mom and I provide for my two children.One of my children is disabled.My power bill is - - I make $7.15 an hour. the wintertime, it's outrageous.Level pay, I've tried to set up on level pay before.I got inj ured on the job and due to the fact that I could not make that deadline to make sure that they got their $80.00, I got cut off of level pay and I was told I had to wait another six months to a year before I could be put back on level pay again and I', like , okay, that I s fine with me; so in the meantime , I get a power bill of $215 is what it is right now.I get paid once a month through my job and it's not much.I make it spread. I have my disabled son.Thank God his bills are paid through Medicaid , plus my own insurance that I carry through my company that I work for. youngest son also has some medical issues , but he I s not covered through Medicaid.He is not on social security. I don't get benefits for him.My oldest son's dad, yes, he pays child support.No, my youngest son I s dad doesn', but still , when you guys are talking about raising the prices on my power bills and I'm getting stuck paying these, then that's fine.I have no other choice.I can boycott Qwest , but I can't boycott Idaho Power because my house is 100 percent Idaho Power. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1967 STEELE Public83676 I don't have gas and I don I t even have a phone 1 ine in my house because I boycotted Qwest.That' fine.I can't yank my power and tell my children that they're got to freeze in the winter , $215 a month. got a three-bedroom house.I ti s not even a house , it's a mobile home.m proud to haveIt's tiny, it's mine. it.m proud ofm proud to be a single mother. everybody that I s out there that is a single mother that are trying to do what I do , and more power to you if you guys are going to increase my power.m going to say it's going to continue being late , if not even later. you want to shut it off , go ahead.I will find another way.That's all I have to say. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there are any questions. MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for your testimony. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Philip Gridley. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1968 STEELE Public83676 PHILIP W. GRIDLEY, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening, sir. name. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your last Philip W. Gridley, G-r- What is your mailing address? 720 East 9th North , Mountain Home, Are you here tonight representing yourself Idaho. or an organization? CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho Well , I've got testimony that I've given them already, the Utilities Commission , but it also states what I I m here about. Thank you.Please proceed. I m a former mayor of Mountain Home , real estate developer and Elmore County service officer and the reason I made that comment to start off with is so can talk about things.My comments and I do thank the 1969 GRIDLEY Public83676 Utilities Commission for allowing me to be here this evening to testify on behalf of not only veterans and widows , but also myself as a former developer and likewise, know a little bit about politics, so anyway, I want to read my little comments here. It says , The State of Idaho has great watersheds, Alaska has oil and Alaska's citizens receive grants or dividends.The point is that under the Idaho Public Utilities Staff proposal , rates for residents are paying 46 percent of the total projected needs. Projected power consumed of 34.236 percent differential shows $60,880 603 , a whopping subsidization of other users , and I am firmly against any rate increases and I request a 5.4 percent reduction , and I 1 going to explain that later on as far as how this works because there I s a 2.51 percent increase provided for the utility Staff and they did a good job. A report attached on Portland General Electric shows the same problems we are having. compliment the Idaho Public Utilities Commission and Staff for changing the direction of IDACORP, and enclosed are the highlighted reports of Commission Staff members Exhibit No. 127 , 128, D. Schunke, and Exhibit No. 119, K. Hessing, and Philip W. Gridley, power bill report 2/02/04 , account No. 2039103249.I verify most all the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1970 GRIDLEYPublic83676 things I do. One of my questions is, but it I S my understanding I I m not supposed to ask questions , so I guess I better keep my mouth shut, but you have a copy of that there, haven't you , of the jurisdiction and so forth what I was talking about , the Valmy plant and so forth so I'll just let that lie right there, okay, but anyway, the new rate proposal on 127-, we have a $3.00 figure that they re increasing as far as the rate structure for what you pay up-front which is $3.00.I used a 2.93 so it's not too hard to figure , so for 1,000 kilowatts of power , that would be $2., but of the - - we have 141 393,426 kilowatt-hours of power that we use in the rate system for the residential users.That I s 34.236. m only doing this for showing you what happened. The 499 257 000 is the overall rate request that is being requested by the utility Staff based on what they have in information.Tha ti s at 34, so it I S 1 7 0 mi 11 ion.That I s where I come up with that $60 million.m going to base my own rate here and I 1 going to make a comment, it's just going to be a slight one here, I used mine because my wife is deceased as of July 28th last year so, therefore, I'm a single person in a home, but you can see where my rates that I have there the 447 kilowatts, well , I base it on that rate of the CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1971 GRIDLEY Public83676 51 and it comes down to $1.19. The whole thing I'm saying here is that I believe with the things that I propose to you this evening here that the $3.00 rate that's proposed by the utility Staff possibly could be wiped out entirely and we've had all the conditions being stated here for the senior citizens, the people that do not have funds available to take care of their bills and we're talking about the 40 - - well, the Staff reduced it back down to where it would be $3.00 which would be seven , so basically what I'm saying is let's just cut it out entirely and I'll show you how it works. Now , first of all, I would like to make a statement here and going to make just a comment about it.There have been discussions going on here this evening having to do with conditions of Portland General Electric in Portland, Oregon and it has to do with Enron. I 1 m just going to make a statement here."Earlier city-led efforts to negotiate a government purchase of the utility hit resistance from Enron management and the bankrupt corporation I s creditors. This was two weeks ago on the publication of the Portland Oregonian, and down below here, I have this highlighted, too, it says, "Consumer groups have fought PGE' s recent efforts to raise rates to cover extra CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1972 GRIDLEY Public83676 power costs, arguing that customers should not bear the costs of faulty power purchase decisions.Many customers are still smarting from the huge rate increases PGE imposed two-and-a-half years ago - 30 percent for households and as much as 70 percent for some businesses. " Doesn I t that sound sort of familiar with what happened in 2001 and '02 when we had rate increases here?And, you know, basically, this is Mr. Hessing' report which is the overview of all the money that comes in for the Idaho Power jurisdiction and it states 481,824 492 as the overall cash flow in that jurisdiction of Idaho PUC and we base this on the amount of money that we're getting proj ecting out to get the money I was talking about of 113,359,574 and it gives us a deficiency of 10 232 973. Well , I have all these different things that I I ve proved here which goes to the Utility Tax Commission - - not Tax Commission, but the Utility Commission and likewise , with the Staff.This has to do with Idaho Power's request for $85 million and how they've reversed it from their request, the Idaho Power' request, back down to a lower amount , the 14 million , but I say that I s even wrong and I'll give you a reason why. m going to go to the general rates. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1973 GRIDLEY Public83676 Now, this is a decrease from the rate that was 53.04 and this was by the Staff and this is good , but it I S based on 141,393,426 and that brings that back down from the 219 to 209,264 610.Now , I've already made a request for getting rid of the $3.00 rate entirely.This is an additional amount of $10 million decrease, also.So now we come up with the - - in other words, this is another i tern of decrease from their rates and this would have been the number 7 and that's 16,798,000, again that will come out to 16 335,667 , and then I come to the next one which stays the same, it's 97,225,000, it has to do with 36.45. m just going to name these off and get out here so we don't have spend all night with me, and the the same it I s 33.and comes out 11,692,140, and then 15 is 880,704.19 is 30.04 which is an increase.This is theThis is an increase of 59 000. overall total.This 30.04 is not a total increase.It' an increase that is being proposed by myself , 59,443,880 and then the decline is the irrigation and it I S being dropped down that 24 is 40.34 and that comes to 65,388 354.Whether they can farm under that, I have no idea , but I know it I S a problem , and this is the same, 40 is 50.61 and it brings 812,545, and 41 , 93., it brings in 1 666 118 , and on 42 30., that's 284 000 for a CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1974 GRIDLEY Public83676 total of 462 994 077. Now , I've al so got the big rate users in here.They were on a decrease as far as the utility Staff is concerned.This is not me taking issue with the Staff.The Staff itself has done a good job on the overall proj ections and so forth and I complimented them when I started out there, but anyway, No.2 6 which would be the -- let's see , well , it's 26 , it's $16,181,115 , and then 29, that's Simplot's, 4 954,500, and 30 is DOE and 600,000.Anyway, it's 25,806,845 and of the total , you come up with 488,800,562. Now , this is still a rate increase, but it I S not anywhere near where that $85 million that the Idaho Power is after.Anyway, the rate increase versus a three -- I'll just go back to it for a second here.The rate increase was 14 796 880.Well , that was based on 483 961 369 and that would be 3.06.Well , I got 488 800 000 , so it's 2.05 percent.That's the decrease down to there.It's still giving them a rate increase, but it's so minimal you can't even find it, so basically, is there any questions you want to ask of me? COMMISSIONER SMITH:We're just in awe, Mr. Gridley. Are there questions from the parties? MS. MOEN:No, thank you. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1975 GRIDLEY Public83676 MS. NORDSTROM:Actually, Madam Commissioner -- COMMISSIONER SMITH:, don't go there. EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: I just wanted to confirm , you filed written comments in this case , didn't you? Well , yes, they have it in their charge, but I I d like to say one more thing about the Utility Commission.Remember, I've been looking at 2002 , okay, I moved over and the Utility Commission , I want the people of this group to know this here , the Utility Commission and the Staff have been wonderful; in other words, all the documents I I ve received on the year that we I re talking about here had to do with the rate and I was after them persistently from January all the way through now , but I had 2002.I had that volume , too, so I also know that there was -- we've got a debt profile just about the same as Portland, you know , counting all the bonds and stuff that we have and so basically this is Idaho Power; in other words , they've been doing their job as far as going in and refinancing, bringing the rate back down as far as the interest is concerned.This is CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1976 GRIDLEY (X) Public83676 part of the profile and all of this money that we I re talking about here says to them that really, they should not have requested a power rate increase. MS. NORDSTROM:Thank you. THE WITNESS:They should have backed off when they first started making their request , so all I 1 saying is if you had $900 million authorized by the Utilities Commission and they said that was the tops and then they go around and borrow $350 million more, but I do know what it was for , it was to refinance some things so you can I t give the Commission heck for doing that. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Well, we appreciate your efforts and time. THE WITNESS:So anyway, I thank you again for allowing me to be here. COMMISSIONER SMITH:And we thank you very much. THE WITNESS:Okay, all right. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I now notice that we have another Norman Anderson on Owyhee Street in Boise. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1977 GRIDLEY (X) Public83676 NORMAN ANDERSON appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. last. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your Norman Anderson, A-n-e-r-s-o-n. What is your mailing address? 2401 South Owyhee, No. 78. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an -- Yes, ma I am. Thank you.Please proceed. I got 12 operations on my knee and I can just afford so much.Why should CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho I don I t get 20 percent. they get 20 percent?You are here to understand our pI ight and we do have a pI ight 24 percent increase to the dairymen is going to raise our milk cost.The farmers need some help.We need some help.We don I t need for them to run over us like this gentleman just got 1978 ANDERSON Public83676 through saying.There is no need for their increase and that is all I have to say. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there are questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. BY MS. MOEN: CROSS - EXAMINATION Mr. Anderson, are you living in manufactured housing or a mobile home? Yes. So are you heating exclusively by Total electric, yes , ma I am. MS. MOEN:Thank you. THE WITNESS:Idaho Power came and did a survey on our trailer.They told us how we could take and do what we I re doing and we pretty well got it fixed up.Now , our bill is not like most everybody that is out here.The audit they did was really, really nice and it was thorough and the people were really good. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner electrici ty? Kj ellander. 1979 ANDERSON (X) Public83676 EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Do you know on average or a dollar amount how much based on the audit and the improvements that you made the discrepancy or reduction in your bill comparing a month in the year previously to the year later once you completed the improvements? Over a year, it was roughly about $185 over a year. So annualized for an entire year, you saved about $185? Yes, but they re fixing to wipe it away and everything I've done will be gone. COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you. THE WITNESS:The little service charge that they have in there is two dollars and some odd cents and now they're going to go up to $10.00.There was a tree that was growing out in front of our meter, okay? called them and told them , I said , hey, pretty quick it' going to break the meter if the wind blows and it did. Well , it was up to me to take and cut the tree down.I don't see where their service charge is doing me good at all.It's going from 2 to $10.00 and I still got to pay the man $35.00 to come cut the tree CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1980 ANDERSON (Com) Public83676 down , so that didn I t help me at all. COMMISSIONER SMITH:We thank you for your testimony, Mr. Anderson. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Darlene McMaster. MS. McMASTER:Actually, you had said before that if we agreed with some former testimony and that I S true and particularly, Ms. Green and the other lady, will my testimony still be counted? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Sure. MS. McMASTER:Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:All right, thank you, Ms. McMaster. Karen McWilliams. KAREN McWILLIAMS, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. Good evening. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1981 McWILLIAMS Public83676 Please state your name and spell your last. Karen McWilliams , M-l- i-a-m-s. What is your mailing address? 1425 North Liberty, No. 13, Boise, Idaho 83704. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Both.I 1 m with the ICAN - - Thank you. - - and myself and my sister. Please proceed. My sister and live on my disability which is $585 a month.She has no income right now and has many medical bills that I have to try to pay for her. Our monthly power bill was close to $200, but I did get on the level pay which it took it down $30.00 to $171. Now , Idaho Power wants to raise the rate 20 percent. my fixed income going to go up 20 percent to keep up with the pace. I wished I could just announce that I need a 20 percent increase in my disability and get it,but doesn'work that way for me and it shouldn'work that way for Idaho Power.We're asking the PUC to tell Idaho Power no, not to raise the rates. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1982 McWILLIAMS Public83676 questions? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Are there any MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. coming tonight. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Nor I.Thank you for We appreciate it. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Emily Jones. EMILY JONES, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening.Please state your name and spell your last for the record. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho My name is Emily Manning Jones, What is your mailing address? 309 East 47th , Garden City or Boise, it' listed as Boise, Idaho , but it's actually Garden City. Are you here tonight representing yourself o-n-e-s. or an organization? I I m representing myself and ICAN. 1983 JONES Public83676 Thank you.Please proceed. What I'm here to say is the mobile home that I live in in Garden City is on private property. Well , I have to pay for the power pole.I have to pay for the meter.I have to pay for the power I use and even though I had it insulated , I cannot get a low power bill.My power bills run anywhere from $300 to the cheapest one I've ever got so far was this month and was $127.79 and that's with not having any heat.It's a total electric mobile home and I only get, like, $552 a month and out of that, I have to pay 268 of it in rent and , of course , then I have a phone bill and I have other expenses , like my medications and my food and my whatever and I only get $10.00 a month in food stamps for groceries, so I have maj or heart problems and I mean very maj or ones. I have emergency equipment hooked up at my home and so if something would happen to where I would have my power shut off , I would die and if this increase goes through, it may just come to that and that I s about all I have to say. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you f or your testimony.Are there any questions? MS. MOEN:No questions from Idaho Power. Thank you. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1984 JONES Public83676 MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much for coming in tonight. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho THE WITNESS:Thank you for your time. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Connie Chandnoit. CONNIE CHANDNOIT, appearing as a public witness , having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your My name is Connie Chandnoit.My last name BY MS. NORDSTROM: is spelled C-a-n-d-n- What is your mailing address? 215 East 44th Street , Boise, Idaho Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? last. 83714. 1985 CHANDNOIT Public83676 Myself and ICAN members. Thank you.Please proceed. One of the reasons that here today is because , yes, at one time I was a successful person making, earning a good living.Economic situations happen and the floor fell out from beneath me and now I 1 below poverty level.I had a child two-and-a-half years Actually, he's a twin.That child now has severeago. heart conditions. Approximately a year after that my husband who was our sole provider because I I m taking care of my child with a disability fell 30 feet onto a marble floor working on the new section of the airport near Boise. broke up his hip, lacerated his liver , his spleen and fractured his neck. I am living on quite a limited income with two different disabilities in my family.There are nights that when I I m tucking my children into their beds m also unscrewing the light bulbs, giving them the incentive not to turn them on immediately because of my power bills.That is sad as a parent to have to do , to gi ve your child a visual reminder not to turn on the electrici ty. In November when I was explaining to my children why there weren I t very many Christmas presents CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1986 CHANDNO I T Public83676 under the tree , the No.1 problem was the utility bills. That is something no parent needs to tell their child. We try to protect them from it.My daughter is turning 14 and she's not stupid.Yes , do I want level pay? Yeah , but you have to have a current bill to get on level pay for some time.I have just finally gotten my bills caught up. For a year I have had nothing but pink slips and threats of being shut off.During the summer or in the spring and in the fall , my average bill and no, I do not have complete electric, I do have gas heat, but it does take electric to run the fan and for the ignition , okay, during the spring and the fall , my bills average between 75 and $80.00 a month because I 1 constantly shutting everything off. In the winter and in the middle of the summer, my bills will run me anywhere from 180 to $250 a month.If my power is shut off , the heart condition that my son has, if he's not maintained and heal thy and kept the way that he needs to be, he would go into heart failure.His heart has reached beats of 300 beats per minute.That I S instant death to you and I and for him, it's instant death as he grows every year older.We' been lucky to keep him this long. I want to make sure that my power isn I CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1987 CHANDNO I T Public83676 shut off, that I m not put in a situation that's an unhealthy situation for him that lands us back into the hospital.The money that it's going to take to pay that small increase that they're talking about I don't have and so Il m just here basically to push to have this , you know, we don't want this increase, we can't afford this increase and that's why I I m here. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there are any questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Hansen. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: I know probably none of us ever like any kind of an increase and sometimes we can I t prevent it, but I'm kind of curious, how do you feel like if it was a three or four percent increase rather than , like you said , 20 percent increase, is that something in your mind that's liveable with , you could live with? You know , I understand your question , but I need you to understand me when I say I'm pinching pennies.I don't know what I'm going to do with any type CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1988 CHANDNOIT (Com) Public83676 of increase.I count out my bills and I count out my money every month and there I s some months robbing Peter to pay Paul to put it bluntly.I don't know what increase is liveable at this point. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:That's all I have. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Kj ellander. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Ma I am , I think I heard you mention that you've received disconnect notices.Were you able to have a discussion with the utility and use the winter moratorium in order to keep the electricity on? Actually, yes, I have had discussions with them.The problem with the winter moratorium is that if you don I t have that money saved up by the time that it I s over with , you re shut off anyway, plain and simple. When my bills are coming due and I'm getting a disconnect notice , to be quite honest with you, the operators that I have been dealing with are not very pleasant, okay. It's very embarrassing and many of them are very rude to speak with as far as why I cannot pay my bill.I feel even more embarrassed than I already am and CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1989 CHANDNOIT (Com) Public83676 it gets to a point where gee , I I m sorry, ma I am , but you either pay your bill now in five days or we I re going to shut you off , and then I am scraping and scratching and doing everything that I can to come up with every penny need to pay that bill so that my children don mistakenly mention at school that they don I t have any electrici ty and I don I t have social workers at my door ready to take my children away. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH: I guess is your high bill in the summer due to air conditioning? Yes and no.I allow my air conditioner to run once in awhile.I mainly use fans.I put cold towels on the back of the fans to let the cold air come through.Some of these things you don I t 1 ike to talk about because they are embarrassing. Well , I was just thinking, I grew up here and when I was a kid, nobody had air conditioning, it just wasn I t heard of and it I S a pretty new phenomenon. The only time that I've ever really used the air conditioner is when my child with the heart condition has a hard time with it. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1990 CHANDNOIT (Com) Public83676 And that I s what I was asking, does your child I S condition necessitate that you Yes, it does necessitate it. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.We thank you for your attendance tonight. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:That brings us to the end of page 1 and before we begin on page 2 , we're going to take a 10-minute break. (Recess. ) COMMISSIONER SMITH:Robert Kunesh. there a Robert Kunesh on Star Valley? How about a Robert Brock on Sunnybrook in Nampa? ROBERT BROCK appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening.Please state your name and spell your last. Robert Brock, B-r-o-c- CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1991 BROCK Public83676 What is your mailing address? 2312 Sunnybrook , 102, Nampa, Idaho, 83686. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Primarily myself , but also the future of my kids and grandchildren who live in the State of Idaho who is get t ing waxed. Please proceed. Okay, Idaho Power keeps saying well, we I re one of the lowest in the nation , but hold on, why is that?They I re using public water , they use public land to put their right of way on , on the right of way they put the power poles.Hey, we're giving them all kinds of stuff already. You know , I started kind of wondering, found out that they I re not telling all.For instance, they I re running a research of how to put Internet on the power lines.They have a cord going in the north end and one on the bench right now testing it.It I s following the Swedish system in which they can put cable and phone and also reading of the meters which would mean they could lay off more employees. Actually, I would rather big brother watch me than Idaho Power.I had to dig real deep to find out CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1992 BROCKPublic83676 about this and at first, well, this isn I t Idaho Power. This is another corporation.A little deeper I find this corporation is Velocitus, V-e-o-c-u-s.It I s located at 1501 Federal Way and who owns it, a corporation by the name of IDACORP in other words, they I re doing hidden information at our expense to capitalize more from us.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let I S see if there are questions. MS. MOEN:No, no questions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. THE WITNESS:May I make one further comment?It I S amazing that Idaho Power don't want to ask me any further questions.Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Dianne Anderson. DIANNE ANDERSON appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. Good evening. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1993 ANDERSON Public83676 Please state your name and spell your last for the record. My name is Dianne Anderson, d-e-s-o-n, 1253 Cow Horse Drive, Kuna, 83634. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself. Thank you.Please go ahead. Why should the ratepayers of Idaho Power be made to pay for the greed of IDACORP?The president of IDACORP, Jan Packwood , cares nothing about the lives of the people in Idaho.He only cares about his Company I S rating on Wall Street.Stock analysts are watching to see the outcome of this rate case. husband and I began to see Idaho Power's greed when in 2001, eight diesel generators were placed near our home to run 24/7 to produce power to be sold to California for 3 to 400 percent profits.The public was told on TV and in the newspapers that the generators were for shortage of power in Idaho which was a lie. The emissions and noise from these generators caused many health problems in our subdivision which the DEQ documented.I having had tuberculosis had to stay in the house in front of an air cleaner just to breathe.The carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1994 ANDERSON Public83676 hydrocarbons, nitrous oxide and particulate matter are so polluting to the atmosphere that diesel locomotives powered by these same generators traveling down a track not putting - - not in one place constantly have to have emission controls. These generators were put close to the population instead of out in the desert because they had to be refueled at least three times a day.That was the same year Idaho Power paid farmers not to irrigate and paid the phosphorus plant in eastern Idaho hundreds of thousands of dollars to shut down so that the power they normally use could be sold on the open market.Idaho Power had TV ads telling consumers not to use their appliances during peak hours to conserve power.Thi s was so Idaho Power could have the power to sell and they never mentioned to the public that without time use meters they would not save money. There never was a power shortage in California.When the new administration took office, it was payback time to the energy companies for their campaign contributions.As California's electric utilities were deregulated, the cost to them went from $90 a megawatt-hour to over $3,000 a megawatt-hour. There wasn't a shortage of power , just a shortage of money to pay for the power.IDACORP also sold this CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1995 ANDERSON Public83676 expensi ve power to Idaho Power and we the ratepayers were made to pay for it by the PUC. That year the head of Ida-West Energy, a subsidiary of IDACORP, made a bonus of over $2 million along with Jan Packwood's millions in bonuses.Now sadly, they are shutting down Ida-West Energy.Why? Because in 2001 , when Senator Jeffers of Vermont changed parties and Republicans lost control of the Senate , the wholesale price of electricity fell from over $3,000 a megawatt-hour to less than $100 a megawatt-hour. The Middleton power plant got scrapped because it was being built to sell electricity out of state and couldn I t get needed financing because selling power was no longer profitable.Idaho Power had TV ads saying that they had reduced power rates which was a lie. The rates went down last May because the ratepayers no longer had to pay their debts.The PUC did not let Idaho Power float bonds to drag their debt out so that ratepayers would have to pay the interest.Thi s happened because citizens told the PUC that they did not want to pay interest on Idaho Power bonds. How many people in this room know how the PUC is funded?Well , they assess the utilities that they regulate and that pays all the salaries and expenses of the PUC, so Idaho Power , Qwest and the railroads, CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 1996 ANDERSON Public83676 et cetera pay the PUC.How can this be considered a fair way to fund an agency that should be protecting the consumer from monopolies? Wind generation is now cheaper than gas-powered power plants and there is no air pollution so why is Idaho Power building gas-fired power plants instead of using wind generators?Because as the price of gas goes up, so does the price of electricity.John Prescott, the vice president in charge of generation for Idaho Power , should be installing windmills when Idaho Power has the perfect system with hydropower backup. We should not have to pay IDACORP I s Iegal fees when their power selling practices were questioned by the FERC.Why should ratepayers have to pay for all the risks that IDACORP , an unregulated company, chooses to take?They made a profit in the fourth quarter of 2003, so their stock is up and we do not have to bail them out. That I s aIl. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let's see if there are any questions. MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much Mrs. Anderson. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1997 ANDERSON Public83676 (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Richard DeLeonard. RICHARD DeLEONARD appearing as a public witness , having been first duly CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening. last. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your Richard DeLeonard, D-o-n- What is your mailing address? 10863 South Cloverdale, Kuna, Idaho. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Mysel f . Please go ahead with your testimony. I'll try to make this quick.I know we' had seniors up before, senior citizens, and being on a fixed income , I agree with these folks that are much worse off than myself.ve at least got a social security and a PERSI pension and I can see what these 1998 DeLEONARD Publ ic83676 folks are up against.At 75, I'm not able to go out and find work to subsidize these rate increases that are coming. Irrigation , I I m fortunate I have an irrigation system that's going to cost me 25 percent besides my home that they I re asking for.PERS I and social security both give us real big increases every year , as you know , maybe one, maybe one-and-a-half percent.I I d sure like to swap Idaho Power's request for my one to one-and-half percent increases that I 1 getting and I want to make - - now , that monthly service charge, that's ridiculous, $10.00 a month.That shouldn't have even been brought up with what these people are asking for and then ask for a service charge on top of it.m totally against it , and that I s all I have to say. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you , sir. Let's see if there are questions. MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Michelle Kay? Michelle Kay?Debra Thrall. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 1999 DeLEONARD Public83676 DEBRA THRALL appearing as a public witness, having been duly sworn was examined and testified as follows: THE WITNESS:My name is Debra Thrall, My address is 508 North 5th , Parma , Idaho, 83660. EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Please proceed. Thank you.ve lived in Parma now for about three years.Before that, I lived up in Idaho City and while I was living up in Idaho City, you all mentioned about terminating power for a while , try Idaho City, it works wonders.You get your power turned off about , oh , every month from anywhere from a week to two weeks come rain, spring, summer or fall.Winter is especially good because then you get to freeze because you have no heat.90 percent of it up there is power and when you have no power , you have nothing. Well, shortly after I moved out, Idaho Power put generators up there after all the yelling everybody did about freezing to death , so they kind of CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2000 THRALL Publ ic83676 fixed that little problem.Now I live down in Parma, but we still have outages, but we don I t have any generators to fix them when they go out.The outages go out about every other month.You have a hard time getting ahold of a person on the phone to notify them that you have a power outage.You have to tell it to a machine and they don't give you an estimate of time of when it will come back on or if it will come back on. Our power bills out there average - - daughter is paying $135 a month to $210 a month during the winter.She has an all-electric home, it I S three-bedroom , electric heat.She I S on level pay now. They got her at $78.00 a month.They just currently sent her a bill because the moratorium is over with for $450 saying that she I s in the hole.She called and she said how can in the hole m on level pay. They said you don'pay enough because your average bill month about $150 a month,so you need to increase your level pay.She says, well , I work 36 hours a week at a full-time job.She says I work six days a week , she says how would you propose I do this? She says I work at 3: 30 in the morning until about 5: 00 in the afternoon.The woman told her to get a second job , which she explained to her that wasn I t feasible. She needed time to sleep. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2001 THRALLPublic83676 She got a little upset , so then she asked her where did she come from from her job , how did she get her job.She said she was previously unemployed and now she has a job.That was nice , they employed her, but it still didn't fix the problem and it still hasn I She' still $450 in the hole , so now she's got to figure out how to pay that money and come up with it. They want her to pay extra on top of what she's paying on level pay to pay down that amount with two small children in the home.This is not feasible. You ask for an increase.I was going over what they were asking it for and I quote them , they I re asking for money for limo services, liquor and for entertainment costs and they're asking for an incentive program for their CEO. Well, his incentive program is that he has a job, he gets paid.That's his incentive , people. That's what any incentive is anymore.You have a job, you get paid, you get to pay your bills.He doesn I t need an incentive program , he I s got one.If he's not doing his job, give him the boot , get some cheaper guy in there.He will do the job for less.I'll take his job. I'll take it for half of what he I s getting paid and do his job. I know how to do entertainment , that's not a biggie.I used to be a cab driver for years, so I know CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2002 THRALL Public83676 how that works.You take them, you get them 1 iquored up, get them a few girls and they I re happy.That I s just the way it happens.That's what their proposal is and as far as their legal fees are concerned , they should absorb them.K doesn't passIt's part of being who they are. theirs along, Micron doesn I t pass theirs along, Albertston I S doesn't pass theirs along.I don't know why you guys have such a problem with this , it's beyond me. Some of this stuff that you ask for is outrageous, it' ridiculous and you don't even explain it to the fullest extent. What is your interest in American Falls? Do we own it or don I t we?And if we don't own it, how come and why are we paying money on something we don't own or why did you help build this and refinance it at a cheaper rate?I mean , there are cheaper rates out there is what they I re telling everybody, refinance your home, get four-and-half percent interest.If they I re not shopping around for this, then there I s something wrong. Their accountants need to be informed that this is all called entertainment and everything that they I re asking for is on your things that you send in to Uncle Sam saying this is what I do for expenses , this is what it's costing me to run my business and they shouldn I t pass it on to us.We don't pass it on to them. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2003 THRALL Public83676 I don't hand them a bill saying it costs me 50 bucks to go to the movies and out to eat.I can' afford to.There's no room forI live on $570 a month. entertainment there.There's no room to go out to eat. There's just barely room to pay my rent and pay my bills and that's it and that's what I survive on every month. And I was told, also , in here that you want money to join a country club.The racquet clubs are great, they I re cheaper and they give you the best entertainment that you need.If you want to go out there and shoot nine holes , fine, but don't join the thing. mean, it's not like you're going to live there and move in.Go there on occasion and playThey charge too much. or got out to someplace where you just play nine holes or go to a little golf tee place and have fun , but you don I have to go into the extravagance of all this.For what they re asking for , I could take care of a lot of people who are in low income housing and unemployed and everything else.Please don't give them the rate increase. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Does that conclude your statement? THE WITNESS:Yes , mal , it does. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Are there any questions? CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2004 THRALL Public83676 MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMI S S IONER SMI TH :Mark Duffin. MARK DUFFIN, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Good evening.Please state your name and spell your last. Mark Duffin D-u-i-n. What your mailing address? 2893 South Swallowtail Lane,Boise, Idaho. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? An organization.I represent the Idaho Sugar Beet Growers Association. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2005 DUFFIN Public83676 Thank you.Please proceed with your testimony. Okay, thank you.Well , first to start off, I won I t repeat a lot of the testimony that has been gi ven.Mr. Ketterling represents a lot of same growers that I do and he gave very adequate testimony about the concerns that they have both as farmers and as members of the Snake River Sugar Company Growers Cooperative that owns the Amalgamated Sugar Company, but just a couple of other points that I would personally like to make. I picked up Idaho Power's release just to find their requested rate increase when came and just looking that,looked like most the justification they I re glving for the rate increase would be because of the increased numbers that they I re serving, 100 000 increase, and I'd just like to make the point that most of that is not from the irrigation area. There I S actually for the maj ori ty of this period, there' been a moratorium on new wells , so we have hadn I t a lot of increase there. I know a lot of the farmers have done a lot of things to actually decrease their demand for power.In the Magic Valley, a lot of them have gone over to the low pressure irrigation center pivot system so they could decrease their demand for power because CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2006 DUFF IN Public83676 they re doing everything they can to try to cut costs. think we had one of the growers talk about operating on a one to two percent margin and I'd just make the observation that that's the ones that are surviving. They re on a very tight margin. Over the last several years as executive director of the Growers Association , I've seen a lot of our good growers that we've lost that have actually gone out of business because the commodity prices are so tough and the prices are increasing, not only in power, but in their other expenses as well and they're operating on very, very tight margins, and when we looked at Idaho Power requesting a 25 percent rate increase for the irrigators, first of all , that just seems unfair in the overall picture. That's where the largest rate increase would be requested and even with the Staff recommendation of 15 percent, there I s just not those kinds of margins in agricul ture right now.There hasn't been for a long time , so just on behalf of the growers, we'd just like to say we wish that we were making that kind of profit so that we could share that and Idaho Power is an important partner in our operations. We need the power to pump our water and to irrigate our crops, but we're not making that kind of CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2007 DUFFIN Public83676 profits and they re just not there right for -- you know this would really put a lot of growers out of business and I'll just kind of conclude with that unless there are any questions. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you, Mr. Duffin. Do we have any questions? MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much for coming tonight. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Stephen Whi te . STEPHEN WHITE, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: BY MS. NORDSTROM: EXAMINATION Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2008 WHITE Public83676 last. Stephen White, as in the color i-t-e. What is your mailing address? 5446 Collister Drive in Boise. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself. Thank you.Please proceed. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Mr. White, before you begin , I got two of the same pages, is that wrong? (Pause in proceedings. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Mr. White has two exhibits.We I re going to number them No. 997 and 998. (Public Exhibit Nos. 997 & 998 were marked for identification. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Please proceed Mr. White. THE WITNESS:Thank you.I would like to thank the members of the Commission for allowing us this opportunity in a public forum and I I d also like to thank the farmers who have spoken eloquently and passionately. I witnessed a family auction.ve seen a farm go and that I S a life style that I cherish that I no longer have, so I definitely felt a lot of emotion during that CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2009 WHITE Public83676 testimony. I watched our family farm sell because of federal and Oklahoma tax policy.Inflation is a killer to our way of life.It robs our elderly, our children, our farmers, our veterans , our widows, our businesses and as Mr. Ketterling demonstrated here tonight, the impact is huge.That dutyOur government in Idaho has a duty. is to prevent inflation.This Commission as a body is a public servant and that duty is to prevent inflation in a deflated economy. If I were to look at what I made 20 years ago versus what I make here, it is very sad.I don I t have actual statistics, but I know that with inflation it is quite less.Idaho Power is a natural monopoly. should not be allowed to commit larceny against our families, our businesses and our future. Hewlett-Packard , Micron pay less than a family residential customer and our conservative users, our low rate users , will be asked by Idaho Power to pay more through the minimum rate than placing the burden because of their efficiency and I find that incredibly punitive. Idaho Power , the monopoly, would have you believe that the CEO can't make it on a salary of 580 000 a year.The Commission can say no to that.It can say no to the good old boy network of inflation and as Ralph CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2010 WHITEPublic83676 Nader has alluded to a corporate welfare system.The Commission can say no to inflated executive salaries and today I spoke with a regulative affairs staff of Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Mr. Roger Walkingstick.Mr. Walkingstick indicated that 70 percent of coal power in Oklahoma is from Wyoming coal.He told me the efficiency of those plants takes out the volatility that is mentioned in some of the documents proposed by Idaho Power. Idaho needs a better energy policy. our neighbors in Montana , Wyoming, Colorado and Utah can produce natural gas, why can I t we here in Idaho?Natural gas burns clean and it is the duty of this Commission to stop the current waste and to stop the inequity.Idaho Power owns only one peak plant that burns natural gas. If you give me the aggregate inflated salaries of the CEO and other executives of Idaho Power I can assure you that I can take their bonuses and salary equivalents and over the years I can and will funnel those funds to explore, develop and produce natural gas so that the zeros you see in the documents I presented as far as Idaho's natural gas production can be enhanced. Idaho is abundant in natural resources, yet mismanagement has allowed Idaho to be a net energy consumer.If we develop natural gas and other resources Idaho can become a net producer and I I d like to end my CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2011 WHITE Public83676 comments. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. Let I S see if there are questions. Thank you. MS. MOEN:No questions from Idaho Power. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you, Mr. White. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Carolyn Wagnild. CAROLYN WAGNILD, appearing as a public witness , having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Please state your name and spell your last name for the record. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho Carolyn Wagnild, W-a-g-n- What is your mailing address? 625 Cow Horse Drive , Kuna Idaho, 83634. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? 2012 WAGNI LD Public83676 Representing myself. Thank you.Please proceed with your testimony. I am a single mom and substitute schoolteacher and the sole owner and bill payer at our home in a Kuna subdivision which does not have gas as an alternative source of energy.I and my f ami 1 y depend entirely on electricity provided by Idaho Power; that is we are captive to its rates.We have a well pumped by electric power which provides our drinking water and other household uses and water at our barn. The well also provides the water to irrigate our lawn , trees and garden.I belong to an irrigation corporation and presently have to pay $650 per irrigation season for that water.If the proposed 25 percent increase goes through , it will cost $812., a jump of $162.50.This water is used for our horse pasture and hay ground.I am not in business in regard to this land and do not make money on it. With a monthly power bill this past year of an average of about $200 per month for an average-sized home , plus $650 per irrigation season to irrigate about two-and-a-half acres of horse pasture, I 1 already paying $1,850 per year for power and irrigation water.My budget is stretched already.If the 19. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2013 WAGNILD Public83676 percent and 25 percent increases go through , it will be nothing but much worse. I understand that Idaho Power in order to be a regulated agency must make an 11 percent profit. These are tough times.I don't see where Idaho Power is tightening up when the rest of us have to.I bel ieve that, instead, it continues to maximize its profits as much as it can.I object to both the 19.9 percent and the 25 percent increases, not only because they will make it harder for me to pay my bills, but because I think Idaho Power has not made a convincing case that its proposed increases are not related to its focus on making higher and higher profits regardless of the consumer. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there are any questions for you. MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much for coming tonight. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Joe Gallegos. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2014 WAGNILD Public83676 JOE GALLEGOS, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: Please state your name and spell your last. My name is Joe Gallegos, G-l-e-g-o-s. What is your mailing address? 38 East Gentry Way, Suite 100, Meridian. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? An organization. And what is that organization? AARP Idaho. Thank you.Please proceed. Good evening, Commissioners.My name is Joe Gallegos and I am an associate state director for AARP Idaho.AARP Idaho represents the interests of more than 153 000 Idaho residents age 50 and over.I want to thank and commend you today for giving the public this opportunity to comment on Idaho Power I s application to increase rates by $86 million.AARP I S membership has a CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2015 GALLEGOS Public83676 vested interest in ensuring that energy services are readily available for consumption and at prices that are just , reasonable and affordable.For this reason , public participation in this proceeding is extremely important considering the overwhelming impact rising utility rates are having on our daily lives. As you well know, older Americans are particularly susceptible to extremes in temperature. rely on the ability to heat and cool our homes for both our comfort and we 11- be ing .Any degradation in utility services can pose serious health concerns.Likewise, increases in energy rates can be especially devastating for those of us living on fixed and low incomes. Al though older Americans consume approximately the same amount of energy as do younger people, we devote a higher percentage of total spending to residential energy.This may be due to the fact that older Americans spend a greater proportion of income on home heating costs.Low income older families, in fact spend an average of 14 percent of their income on residential energy.Too often , these families are forced to choose between risking their health and comfort by cutting back on energy expenditures and reducing spending for other basic necessities such as health care or property taxes.AARP does not consider that a viable CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2016 GALLEGOS Public83676 option. For this reason , we urge the Public Utilities Commission to be guided by specific principles that ensure that residential consumers pay only their fair share of energy costs.Two principles that AARP deems most critical for residential consumers are reliable, uninterrupted service and affordable rates , so we urge you to take a hard look at the Company's filing. AARP also urges the Commission to ensure that adequate funding is available for bill payment assistance programs for low income homeowners in Idaho. Similarly, the Commission must ensure that consumers are aware of the availability of assistance programs in order to maximize public participation.The need for well- funded assistance programs is paramount.Without adequate funding and awareness, many residents who qualify for assistance will not receive the help they desperately need. Once again , thank you for allowing me to appear before you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let I S see if there are any questions. MS. MOEN:No, thank you. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Hansen. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2017 GALLEGOS Public83676 COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Just a quick question. EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN: Does the AARP work wi th - - have you been working with the legislature to try to secure funding for the low income people? Not specifically, Commissioner , but we have worked with the legislature in other areas. Do you have any plans in the future to go before the legislature with these kinds of concerns? We do.As a matter of fact , we'll look at that and in all likelihood begin some sort of initiative to get into those kinds of discussions, yes. COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you very much. That's all I have. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much for coming this evening. THE WITNESS:Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Richard Vick from the Cloverdale Ridge Water Corporation? CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2018 GALLEGOS ( Com) Public83676 RI CHARD VI CK appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: last. Good evening. Good evening. Please state your name and spell your Richard Vick , V- What is your mailing address? 11457 South Cloverdale Road in Kuna. Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? m here representing the Cloverdale Ridge Water Corporation and myself. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho Thank you.Please proceed. Thank you.The Cloverdale Ridge Water Corporation is a fairly lofty name for a very small group of homeowners who have an irrigation corporation in the Cloverdale Ridge area which is just south of Deer Flat. We have 55 members who are currently irrigating 400 acres out there, from a small pond with two pumps that handle 2019 VICK Public83676 our whole system.We have had - - when we first moved out there , and I was just listening to Ms. Wagnild say the same thing, when we first moved out there, our bill was $528 a year.As the power bills have gone up, we have seen a rise to nearly $700 for our little five-acre place. Now, I want to make a point here.None of us in this area are commercial farmers.We are just a bunch of folks who like to have a couple of horses around and we grow a little hay to take care of our own and this is not a weal thy community.This is a pretty middle class community out there.Our power bill for the 2002 year was $22 000.This year it's projected to be $26,000 even without the power increase.Now , that I s going to translate into a different - - for all the shareholders an increase anyway and there will probably be - - well , of course , a much bigger increase, as Carolyn said, possibly as much as $850 and this is getting to the point where we have no access to the Manhattan canal or any of the canal systems around here.They ve got a six-year waiting list for anybody to get on that system in the first place and those people are paying far , far less than what we pay. As I say, we're not weal thy people. can I t really afford this increase.If it comes down to it where only the executives from Idaho Power Company can CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2020 VICK Public83676 afford to live out there and irrigate their land, I guess 'll all have to move back to town , and this is in a year and I'm a small businessman.m a barber and I have seen in the last two years a drop of 40 percent in my business.I I ve known severalThis is not untypical. people who have gone out of business in this last two years. We all know the economy is bad in the Uni ted States.I say in Boise that it's not only bad, but it's going to take a long time to recover and I don't understand why the Idaho Power Company would ask for an increase when we've got businesses all over the area that are losing money at an incredible rate.We're all just hanging on by our toenails trying to stay in business and we can t ask you for that. II d love to be able to come to you guys and say hey, would you give me 25 percent for my barber shop, please.You can't do that, that I s not what you do, but they can and I believe in the circumstances that we have right now that it's absolutely ludicrous for them to ask for this increase.That's all I have to say. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Are there any questions? MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2021 VICK Public83676 EXAMINATION BY COMMISSIONER SMITH: I want to be sure I understood your testimony.You said, I thought I heard you say that you calculated a $26,000 power bill even before the increase? Even before an increase, proposed increase,yes. How did you do that calculation?Was based on last summer'bills? Exactly. COMMISSIONER SMITH:All right, I get it. Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Mike Bravo.Mike Bravo? MR. BRAVO:Yeah, right here. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2022 VI CK (Com) Public83676 MIKE BRAVO, appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn, testified as follows. THE WITNESS:Thank you very much for having me here, and CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho EXAMINATION Good evening. Good evening to you, too. Please state your name and spell your last My name? Yes. Am I talking to you? Yes, you are. My name is Mike Bravo, B-r-a-v-o. What is your mailing address? 8140 Kingsbury Drive, Middleton, Idaho, Thank you.Please proceed with your BY MS. NORDSTROM: m sorry? for the record. 83644. testimony. 2023 BRAVO Public83676 Please proceed with your testimony. Okay.Really, there I s not much more I can add to what many of the people here have spoke about and I agree wholeheartedly with everything they I ve had to The only thing that I wonder is why Idaho Powersay. representatives have not asked questions of the people who testified.You know, so silence, I guess , you know, next to silence is a matter of intelligence, I guess, but anyway, I don I t know , I know this gentleman there saw me in here some time ago. I appeared here about two years ago and sort of marched up and down in front of your building here and I guess a lot of people thought I was kind of a gook and I do recall, I had this thing here up and down the front of the building here trying to expose what was going to happen here before Enron was exposed , if you recall that. COMMISSIONER SMITH:We'll take your word for it. THE WITNESS:Anyway, the point I m saying is this is nothing new what I s going on today about the what we I re faced with, this rate increase and what have you, and so I I d like to say a few things about why we I re exposed to this.I wrote a letter to the Statesman here, if I may be allowed to read it, in regard to what's going CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2024 BRAVO Public83676 on here and I have many exhibits here to talk about. This is the letter that I wrote to the Commission here some time ago and I got a response from you people here and what I had to say in this letter , if I may read it , this was some time ago COMMISSIONER SMITH:Well , Mr. Bravo, if we've already received it, then we've read it. THE WITNESS:I know , but the rest of the people here have not read it. COMMISSIONER SMITH:That's true , but they don't get to vote. THE WITNESS:Well , okay.I don I t know, I guess maybe I should display other things if you re not going to allow me to - - what I want to talk about, I'll just make a display here of stuff and write or talk about how Idaho Power - - because the letter that I had written to the Statesman kind of explains what I'm trying to talk about, but No., okay, Idaho Power is asking for this huge 20 percent, 19 percent rate increase, right, and stuff and people have already talked about that, but not only that , but the fact is that Idaho Power sends a voltage to your meter which could be reduced by percent. They feed your meter 120 and 125 volts or 220, 250 volts to your meter which means about 10 percent CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2025 BRAVO Public83676 more voltage than you need , which adds to the amount of Idaho Power getting about $36 million per year from this unwarranted high voltage and yet , when I asked your engineer at Caldwell where you had that town hall meeting about this, do you know what he replied to me?He said well , we can't have a voltage regulator between each home, and going, where is this guy coming from. And then later on when I checked his credentials, background , he's a public works engineer s not an electrical engineer.That I knew when asked him the questions.He said well, we can't put a voltage regulator between each home.I said, my God, you ve got voltage regulators out there now regulating the voltage to this high voltage.So it's a quest of the regulators being adjusted to regulate the voltage between 150 and 220 volts, but there again, in all due respect for him , he's not an electrical engineer, so anyway, these are some of the things that I show you here. It says the twilight reliability, okay, and it goes on and on and the proj ect , now we're told that we need all this electrical power plants and stuff and Idaho Power had the Hermiston proj ect plant.You know , we were led to believe that back in the ' 90s this was all needed and stuff , so what happened to this?They sold it to Calpine.Okay, what happened?We need it, CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2026 BRAVO Public83676 but it's solid. Now we got the Hermiston plant - - not the Hermiston, but the Middleton plant where I live and stuff and now that's down the tube.You know , what's going to happen to that plant?It's all paid for and already done and all this stuff is going.They're going to sell it off to somebody out of state because, all of a sudden , we don't need it, but believe me, it's going to go the way of the Hermiston plant , but here we're led to believe by Idaho Power that all this stuff is needed and stuff , all these power plants and stuff and, all of a sudden , they put up a gas-fired plant in Mountain homes to provide the needs for that April and May, whatever , whatever the need is for that time, so it's just a fraction of what we need and yet, if we built that plant in Middleton, we were going to pay $0.15 per kilowatt. Instead, what happened, you people, responsible , say hey, go to Montana , buy that same power for $0.5 a kilowatt , not 15, which was going to be what we were going to pay from the Middleton plant, and so anyway, I asked to meet with the regulatory person from Idaho Power and we were going to meet at the Sunrise Restaurant in Middleton and, you know , to lay out what my concerns were of what I s going on here and we were supposed to meet and then , all of a sudden , I got a phone CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2027 BRAVO Public83676 call and they said oh - - maybe right, maybe not - - his mother is in the hospital and we III have to postpone this meeting for a later date and I'll call you and I'll meet with you , the regulatory Commissioners, you people, and said he 'd be there , so I waited and waited , and this guy's name is John Ric Gale, here's a letter and we were supposed to meet and stuff , my concerns and stuff of what affects everybody here. You know , he never showed, never called , he didn I Here's the letter and so my point is this, that I 1 m just saying that the Power Company is, you know - - I'm sorry you won't let me read this letter that I wrote , but it kind of exposes this, I don't know how to put it, this legalized extortion is what it amounts to, that's what it is. They took us for almost a half a billion dollars two years ago, a half a billion.I said billion, not million , billion by the PAC, that's what they nailed us for , and why?It all had to do in reality with the Enron scheme to fleece the people.People have testified here already that there was never any power shortage, never , but yet they really shoved it to us for almost a half a billion dollars, and you know what, there's a bill pending in the Senate right now that's a Cheney bill and group that if this bill goes to the Senate, you people CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2028 BRAVO Public83676 are going to be looking for some other board to be commissioners of , because if this bill goes through, next year you're not going to have a job. They're going to do away with the PUC of all the states.ThisThat's what they're working on. has been going on now for over 10 years.It's a deal that they're doing.They've been doing it for over 10 years to do away with the PUC, the only protection we have, and if this goes through, believe me, within a year, they'll bar the door. That I S all I've got to say.m sorry if I got a little frustrated here , but this is a very -- I feel deeply about this.m not somebody coming out of nowhere because I've been in this line of work for over 32 years.I started when I was six or seven years old chipping crystal off of the lumps of coal in the basement where we lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa.Since I was able to read, I started building crystal stuff , radios and stuff and my whole life has always been in electronics and my job with the Department of Water & Power in the City of Los Angeles, you know, but I see what's going on. You can't fool all the people here, they know what I s going on.You people knew what was going on , yet it goes on and on. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Well , Mr. Bravo, we CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2029 BRAVO Public83676 thank you very much for coming tonight. THE WITNESS:Okay, thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I want to assure you that the Commissioners have seen and read your materials that you sent to us and we I re aware of that and we appreciate you taking the time to come tonight. THE WITNESS:Well, I appreciate you having me.Thank you. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:That brings us to the end of people who have signed up to testify. MS. MOEN:Commissioner Smith? COMMISSIONER SMITH:Yes., Ms. Moen. MS. MOEN:I would just like to clarify the record wi th Mr. Bravo. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Now she has a question. MS. MOEN:Mr. Bravo, I I m wi th Idaho Power Company and Mr. Gale is here.Mr. Gale received probably numerous , in the 20 to 30 some, personal requests to meet wi th him, which he all honored.Mr. Gale was unable to meet with you at that time because of the passing of his mother and alternatives were given for THE WITNESS:I didn I t hear a word you said. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2030 BRAVO Public83676 MS. MOEN:m sorry, I wanted you to be aware that Mr. Gale either met or spoke personally with 20 to 30 some Idaho Power customers who requested information specifically from him.At the time you received that letter , Mr. Gale's mother was sick.She subsequently passed away and efforts to attempt to meet wi th you again weren't successful, so I just wanted to explain to you the reason. THE WITNESS:Well, I sympathize with his mother's passing, I understand that, but then he called me and said he was going to meet with me, so Il m sitting here waiting and waiting and so if he didn't, he didn' In all due respect to his sorrow and stuff , work still goes on and stuff. MS. MOEN:I appreciate that and the opportunity still is there and I just wanted to make sure that you knew that we would be very pleased and happy to meet with you and efforts were made to do so. THE WITNESS:Well, what effort?I never got any more responses.All I got was this stuff here. COMMISSIONER SMITH:You two can get together after the hearing and work out a time frame. THE WITNESS:I don't need to talk to him after that.I said my peace and that's it. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2031 BRAVOPublic83676 THE WITNESS:Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Michelle Kay. MICHELLE KAY appearing as a public witness , having been first duly CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho sworn, testified as follows: EXAMINATION Good evening.Please state your name and BY MS. NORDSTROM: spell your last for the record. My name is Michelle Kay.K-a-y is the What is your mailing address? 6140 South Rockrose Way, Boise , Idaho, Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? The Southeast Neighborhood Association. Thank you.Please proceed. last name. 83716. Sorry about that folks , I have a nursing baby at home and had some other things I had to take care COMMISSIONER SMITH:That's fine. of. 2032 KAYPublic83676 THE WITNESS:Obviously, I missed my name being read.ve lived in Boise for a little over three years now.In those three years I have seen increases in rates for general utilities and general expenses wi thout increases in pay to keep up with those expenses. m doing my best to stay at home with the four young children that I have, but with each increase that does become much more difficult.You may think one little dollar doesn't mean a lot, but when you are pinching pennies, it does mean lot. When we looked into moving to Boise from Austin , Texas, we were led to believe that the power rates would be cheaper here than in Texas.That has not been the case.We found that it's much more expensive to live here than it was to live there.My husband wanted to point out the average person I s salary does not include the payment of a club membership and why should I pay for Idaho Power's executive memberships when they should be able to pay their own out of their own paychecks.That was his comment. In the area that we live in in the southeast, there I s about 30,000 homes and I know there is a variety of incomes.There's a variety of people that are on fixed incomes.I 1 m not on a fixed income, but I have four young children.Wi th two of them being CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2033 KAY Public83676 medically fragile, I cannot take the hours off for the air conditioner.I I ve done everything that I can and I 1 volunteering my time to these associations and to come to these meetings because a lot of people think somebody else is going to do this job for me, somebody else is going to realize what I I m saying.You know what I mean. I I m here to say we really don I t want to see this increase, any increase at all in these rates , so please listen to the homeowners and don I t increase our rates.Thank you. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you, Ms. Kay. Are there any questions? MS. MOEN:No questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I think we I re wearing out. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Martin Johncox. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2034 KAY Public83676 MARTIN JOHNCOX appearing as a public witness, having been first duly sworn , testified as follows: EXAMINATION BY MS. NORDSTROM: last. Good evening. Hello. Please state your name and spell your My name is Martin Johncox.The last name is spelled J- CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho What is your mailing address? 83709. 6904 Randolph Drive in Boise.The zip is Are you here tonight representing yourself or an organization? Myself. Thank you.Please go ahead. I I d like to say that my understanding is that most of this rate increase will go to help pay off the cost of financing new power plant construction , other things to help keep up with growth.As such , thi s request from Idaho Power seems to represent a serious 2035 JOHNCOX Public83676 failure of being able to plan for the cost of growth. I understand many kinds of utilities, such as cities that provide sewer and water service, require new homes to pay a hookup fee and this goes exclusively to fund growth-related things, such as new treatment plants and so forth.The City of Boise I I m aware has spent $64 million in the past few years providing increased treatment plant expansion.They have not had to raise anybody I s sewer bill to do this.Thi s has been funded and is being funded completely with hookup fees, and I am aware that Idaho Power does assess some sort of hookup fee, but apparently, it I S not what it needs to be and/ or it's not going where it needs to be if they I having to come to me , the existing customer, to help pay for growth.I think growthI don I t think that I s fair. needs to pay for itself. I am aware of the 1996 Idaho Supreme Court ruling saying in the case of the then Boise Water Corporation that they cannot place the cost of growth-related expansion solely on new customers and would tend to agree with that.We all benefit from growth.I think growth is good.All I I m saying is that growth should do something to pay its own way.Right now the cost of growth , it would appear to me , is being based solely on the existing customers and I don I t think that I s CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2036 JOHNCOX Public83676 fair.I think growth should pay something toward itself for Idaho Power and the current proposal is simply not fair because it asks existing customers to pay for growth. I would ask the Commission that whatever you do in this case, whether you grant all of what Idaho Power is asking or none of it or something in between , I would respectfully suggest that you append some sort of notice to Idaho Power that it really does need to find some way to fund growth and it should do this perhaps working with other stakeholders.That would include the building industry, which I I m aware does not want to see any more fees on new construction, but let's face it, mean , someone is going to have to pay for this and it should be the people who are creating the demand , so I would just suggest that the Commission urge Idaho Power to come up with some fair and effective way that places the cost of growth to some extent on growth.I think it I s possible, it's done with other util i ties.It really does need to be done here.That's all I have to say. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there are questions. MS. NORDSTROM:None from Staff. COMMISSIONER SMITH:And I guess I don I really have a question , just a comment.You I re aware in CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2037 JOHNCOX Public83676 that 1 96 case it was the Southwest Idaho Home Builders who sued the Commission in the Supreme Court and got that. THE WITNESS:Yes, I am aware that actually you the Commission did affirm that. COMMISSIONER SMITH:I mean, it was the Home Builders who went to the court and prevented the Commission from increasing the fees to cover the cost of growth. THE WITNESS:Yes. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you. THE WITNESS:Thank you very much. COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for coming. (The witness left the stand. COMMISSIONER SMITH:We want to thank you all for your attention.That brings us to the end of the folks who signed up to testify.I think we I ve had some very good comments made here tonight and since we've had a long day before we ever got to this hearing, I think you fairly exhausted the Commissioners, so we want to thank you all for your attention. The hearing is adjourned until 9: 00 0' clock in the morning when we will again take up with the technical hearing in this room. Thank you all.Good night. CSB REPORTING Wilder , Idaho 2038 JOHNCOX Public83676 (The Hearing recessed at 9:25 p. CSB REPORTING Wilder, Idaho 2039 83676 COLLOQUY