20040928Vol III Eagle.pdf

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ORIGINAL
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Office of the SecretaryRECEIVED
IDAHO POWER COMPANY
) ,
Complainant,
SEP 2" 7 2004
Boise, Idaho
vs.C~SE NO. 'IPC-E- 04-
CITY, OF EAGLE, IDAHO,
Re sponden t .
BEFORE
COMMISSIONER PAUL KJELLANDER (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER MARSHA H. SMITH
COMMISSIONER DENNIS HANSEN
PLACE:Eagle Public Library
100 North Stierman Way
Eagle, Idaho
DATE:September 9, 2004
VOLUMES III - Pages 410 - 517
CSB, REpORTING
Constance S. Bucy, CSR No. 187
17688 Allendale Road * Wilder, Idaho 83676
[phone] * .[phone]
Email csb~spro.net
.. - -... -.,..
For the Staff:Donald Howell, Esq.
Deputy At torney General
472 West WashingtonBoise, Idaho 83720 - 0074
For Idaho Power:Monica B. Moen, Esq.
and Barton L. Kline, Esq.
Idaho Power Company
Post Office Box Boise, Idaho 83707 - 0070
For Ci ty of Eagle:MOORE SMITH BUXTON & TURCKE
by Bruce M. Smith, Esq.
and Susan E. Buxton, Esq.
255 North 9th Street
Suite 420
Boise, Idaho 83702
For Eagle River , LLC:HOLLAND & HART LLP
by B. Newal Squyres, Esq.
Post Office Box 2527Boise, Idaho 83701
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
AP PEARANCE S
83676
WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Mike Ondracek
(Publ ic)
Statement
Mr. Howell (Cross)
Commissioner Smith
413
416
417
Jeff Kline
(Public)Sta tement
Commissioner Hansen
Commissioner Smith
Commissioner Kj ellander
419
423
424
424
Kristen Jensen
(Publ ic)
Statement
Ms. Moen (Cross)Mr. Howell (Cross)
425
427
427
Brian Glennon
(Publ ic)
StatementMr. Howell (Cross)
Commissioner Hansen
428
430
432
Lynne Sedlacek
(publ ic)
StatementMs. Buxton (Cross)
Commissioner Hansen
Commissioner Smith
434
440
441
443
Susan Thomas
(Publ ic)
Statement 446
Dennis Stegenga
(publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Smith 449
451
John Sayer
(Publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
Commlssioner Kj ellander
452
454
454
Jerry Hayes
(Publ ic)
Mary Shaner
(Public)
David Callister
(Publ ic)
Statement 456
Statement 470
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
474
479
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
INDEX83676
WITNESS
Deone Crofff
(Public)
Teresa Peery
(Publ ic)
Markus Fipps
(Publ ic)
Kim Hilliard
(Publ ic)
Stan Bastian
(Public)
John Wood
(Public)
I N D E X (Continued)
EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
Commissioner Smith
483
486
487
Statement 488
StatementMr. Howell (Cross)
493
499
Statement
Commissioner Smith 500
503
Statement
Mr. Howell (Cross)
Commissioner Smith
505
509
511
Statement 513
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
INDEX
83676
EAGLE, IDAHO , THURSDAY , SEPTEMBER 9 , 2004, 7:00 P. M.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Good evening,
ladies and gentlemen.This is the time and place for a
public hearing in Case IPC-E-04-This is also known as
Idaho Power Company, Complainant, versus the Ci ty of
Eagle, Respondent.
My name is Paul Kj ellander.I m Chairman
of tonight I s proceedings.To my right is Commissioner
Dennis Hansen and to my left is Commissioner Marsha
Smi th.We I 11 begin first wi th the appearances, the
formal appearances , of the parties in this specific case
and we will start with Idaho Power.
MS. MOEN:m Monica Moen , an attorney at
Idaho Power Company, appearing on behal f of Idaho
Power.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Let I S move now
to the City of Eagle.
MS. BUXTON:I m Susan Buxton , the Ci
attorney for the City of Eagle and appearing on behalf of
the Ci ty of Eagle.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:And for the
attorney representing the Staff of the Idaho Public
Utilities Commission.
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Wilder , Idaho
410 COLLOQUY83676
MR . HOWELL:Good evening.My name is Don
Howell.I m a Deputy Attorney General representing the
Commission Staff.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:We al so have
another intervenor in the case who I believe is sitting
in the back of the room telling us that he doesn I t intend
to do any cross-examination.
MR. SQUYRES:You I ve got that right.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Formally, could
we just have your name?
MR. SQUYRES:Newal Squyres represent ing
Eagle River.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Just as
background , today we held a big chunk of our technical
hearings in this case and we will pick those up agaln
tomorrow and hope to have those concluded by noon.The
purpose of this evening I s testimony is to take public
testimony.It I S an opportunity for the Commission to
hear from members of the communi ty 1 ike you to get your
comments officially on the record.The way it will work
is that we will call your name if you signed up on the
list , and by the way, if you intend to testify tonight
and you haven t signed up yet, there I s a sign-up sheet
out on the table just outside the door.We I 11 also make
an opportuni ty available at least once or twice after
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho
411 COLLOQUY
83676
we I ve exhausted our list to ask if there are others who
would like testify.
The procedure when we call your name,
we I 11 have you come forward and sit this chair here
front of the microphone and Commissioner Hansen will
swear you in , and then at that point the attorney
representing the Staff of the Public Utilities Commission
will just ask a couple of quick questions to get your
name officially into the record, and we do have a court
reporter who is taking a complete transcript of this
because this testimony becomes a part of our deliberative
process and we review those along wi th the other
testimony as we deliberate towards some final outcome of
this specific case.
Just as far as some ground rules, when we
do call your name , again it I S your opportuni ty to make a
statement to us.This isn t an opportunity to start
asking all the different parties different questions
about the case and about different options.Instead,
it I S a chance for you to tell us what you think in
relationship to the case, but once you ve completed your
statement, there is an opportunity for cross-examination.
Now , that sounds a little more hostile than it really is.
In reality, what it may be is that one of the parties in
the case may have a clarifying question that they may
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
412 COLLOQUY83676
want to ask , so please don I t be intimidated at all by
that specific piece of the process, and the Commissioners
will also have an opportunity to ask you questions, too,
if they need some additional clarification, so with that
I believe we re ready to call our first witness and that
is Mike
MR . ONDRACEK:Ondracek.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you, Mike,
I appreciate that.Throughout the evening I III
missing a lot of names , so please help me out.
MIKE ONDRACEK
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you please state your name and spell
your last name for the record?
Sure.First name is Mike, last name
Ondracek.It I S O-n-I work at Saint
Alphonsus Hospi tal.
And are you a resident of the Ci ty of
Eagle?
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413 ONDRACEK
Public83676
I am not.I m representing Saint
Alphonsus because we acquired land in Eagle River
Development in the fall of 2001.
And do you have a statement you I d like to
present to the Commission?
I do.
Please go ahead.
Thank you, Mr. Cha i rman .I appreciate the
opportunity to speak this evening and would also like to
acknowledge Idaho Power and even though we are opposed to
the proposed electrical grid, we do appreciate the fact
that you do service the State of Idaho with electrical
needs and we do appreciate that very, very much.
As I indicated , Saint Alphonsus in 2001
purchased a plot of land in Eagle River Development.
There was significant due diligence at Saint Alphonsus
that time to ensure recognizing what we wanted to be from
an outpatient facility, if we could meet the needs for
the Eagle residents and surrounding community in a warm
healing environment.During that due diligence process
we also understood that the Ci ty of Eagle had certain
ordinances along wi th Eagle River Development.
recognizing that, there were certain restrictions Saint
Alphonsus could do at that site and recognizing that , we
went into it wi th full understanding of what we could and
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414 ONDRACEK
Public83676
coul d not do.
I f we wanted to go through a process to
challenge those ordinances, we I d have go through a
condi tional use process.We recognized specifically that
there I S a height limitation of 35 feet.Certainly Saint
Alphonsus in its design of building this new medical
office facility, we had to conform to those height
limitations, which going into it, we appreciated that,
but it certainly did impact what exactly we could do
given the height limitation of two stories high.
We believe that the integrity of that
process needs to be upheld and it I S my understanding that
Idaho Power has gone through a process whereby to get
approval to put a utility grid that represents up to
feet high and the City of Eagle has denied that.Saint
Alphonsus believes that if an owner goes into a
development and somehow an entity could come into that
area and not be held accountable to the same process as
other individuals, then it can greatly impact, I believe,
the integri ty of the process.
I believe Idaho Power or anybody for that
matter should have to be held to those.It I S also my
understanding that there are other less intrusive means
whereby Idaho Power could run their power source through
one of which being burying the power lines.Certainly
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415 ONDRACEK
Public83676
being a part of the medical society, we recognize that
telephone poles certainly do get in the way when cars
come through and certainly burying those ines would be
much more desirable from a medical standpoint than having
these large poles going along a very busy intersection
so I appreciate your consideration this evening and be
open to any questions if you have them.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.Why
don t we see if we have any questions of this specific
wi tness
MS. MOEN:None from Idaho Power.Thank
you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Sir , would your client , I guess Saint
Alphonsus as a ratepayer now and soon to be in the City
of Eagle , would you be willing to pay a higher fee for
the burial of those ines?
That I S a good question.When Saint
Alphonsus negotiated the actual purchase price with Eagle
Ri ver Development , certainly we appreciated the
infrastructure that Mr. Carlise and others had already
CSB REPORTING
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416 ONDRACEK (X)
Public83676
buil t into the purchase of that land.Certainly the
premlum that we paid for Eagle River Development is far
greater than what we paid for our other off-site
locations , so recognizing that we feel we've already paid
that for the improvements, certainly Eagle River
Development buried power lines along Eagle River and
those costs were passed on to Saint Alphonsus in that
square foot allocation.
MR . HOWELL:No further questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Buxton.
MS. BUXTON:No questions.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from the Commission?Commissioner Smi th.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:I just had one.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
So your concern mainly, then , is with the
Bypass route?I guess we're calling it the Bypass route.
It's two-fold , Ms. Smith.Certainly, the
Bypass route is concerning because of what we felt that
we purchased in Eagle River Development secondly, the
integri ty of the process wi th the CUP and the fact that
Idaho Power appears to be able to bypass that and go well
CSB REPORTING
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417 ONDRACEK (Com)
Public83676
beyond the Ci ty ordinance of 35 feet.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Okay, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Mr. Ondracek , appreciate your testimony.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:We're ready to
call Shari Sharp.
MS. SHARP:No, thank you.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Okay, thank you.
At this point what I'd like to also say is that if you
would like to submit written comments as opposed to
making an actual oral presentation , we do have some forms
out on the table as well , so if you would like to submit
those written comments, that opportunity is available.
would also like to say, though , that if you do decide to
take the written approach , it might be best if you could
fill those out and leave them with some of the Staff
that's at the table so that we can get those back to us
ln a timely fashion in the event that the decision may
move quicker than even we may anticipate this evening, so
I just wanted to let you know that that opportunity
available, but we'd advise you to plan on a quick
turnaround on those comments.
Let's move down to Jeff Kline.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
418 ONDRACEK (Com)
Public83676
JEFF KLINE
appearlng as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
BY MR. HOWELL:
EXAMINATION
Mr. Kline, could you state your full name
and spell your last for the record, please?
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
Jeff Kline , K-l- i -
And do you reside in Eagle?
I do.
Could you give us an address?
569 North Cove Colony Way.
And do you represent yoursel f or anyone
Myself at this point.
All right , do you have a statement?
I do.I just wanted to make note I'
opposed to the installation of these overhead
transmission lines in so many different ways that I don'
know where to start.Aesthetically, visually, I think
it's a travesty to turn State Street and Highway 44 into
another McMi 11 an Road.You've probably seen that access.
ve attended a number of these hearings related to this
else tonight?
419 KL I NE
Publ ic83676
and I believe Idaho Power has not been forthcoming with
information , with alternatives, with costs and it seems
to be business as usual and do it our way or no way type
of an attitude , and I feel like they've been negligent in
investing in the future of the Ci ty and surrounding area.
m forced to wonder if this wasn't a
monopoly if these people would still be in business,
frankly, because it's not any way to run a business.
You'll hear testimony like this, you probably already
have and you'll probably hear more, so I wanted to focus
my comments elsewhere, if I could, and let me say I'm not
a doctor and I'm not a scientist and admittedly, most of
the technical discussions go right over my head , but
can read and I can do research and I'd ike to quote from
a couple of articles regarding EMF'These articles
were wri t ten by and about research performed by people
who are scientists and doctors and I'll hope you'll
weight this information accordingly.
The first one is from Environmental
Magazine.It references a $7 million study commissioned
by the California Department of Heal th Services and to
quote,"To one degree or another , all three of the DHS
scientists are inclined to believe that EMF's can cause
increased risk of childhood Leukemia, adul t brain cancer
Lou Gehrig's disease and miscarriage.
CSB REPORTING
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420 KLINE
Public83676
Secondly, in a different article citing
the same report, and again I'm quoting, "The DHS report
says it is more than 50 percent possible that EMF's could
cause an increase in lifetime risk of childhood Leukemia
adult brain cancer and Lou Gehrig's disease.The report
says it is 10 to 50 percent possible that EMF's could be
responsible for increased lifetime risk of male breast
cancer , childhood brain cancer , Alzheimer's disease and
sudden cardiac death.The report al so says it is more
than 50 percent possible that EMF's could cause an added
risk of miscarriage.
Granted, it's not certain that any of
these diseases will happen to the people living in the
area, but are we willing to roll the dice and play with
these kinds of odds?Another article referencing a study
by the National Council on Radiation Protection states,
and I quot e ,"The chairman of the study committee , Dr.
Ross Adey, a clinical neurophysiologist and professor of
physiology at Loma Linda School of Medicine in California
says there is significant scientific evidence that
suggests even very low exposure to EMF's has subtle
long-term effects on human health.Adey says the NCRP
report, squashed by industry stakeholders , recommends no
new high voltage power lines should be built near
existing housing developments or schools " and let me
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421 KLINE
Public83676
repeat that.They recommend no new high vol tage power
lines should be built near existing housing developments
or schools.
Finally, Peter Frech who at the time was
the executive director of Citizens Concerned about EMF
states , and I quote
, "
He believes involuntary exposure to
overhead power lines , particularly transmission and
distribution lines, is of greater concern.He says
proximi ty to overhead power lines should be considered
when purchas ing a home.In the case of existing homes
located close to overhead power lines, Frech says
residents should lobby their local government and utility
companies to place ines underground to block higher
level of radiation waves.
That's what the people are here to do
today.For a number of reasons , including exposure to
EMF's, we as citizens of this community are lobbying our
local government and our utili ty company to place these
ines underground.m sure Idaho Power has and will
again present data that refutes the information I'
shared here.They have done so in past meetings that
ve attended.m equally sure that the ranchers with
the dead cows near Twin Falls would love to see whatever
study Idaho Power can come up with.My understanding
Idaho Power lost that lawsuit.
CSB REPORTING
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422 KLINE
Publ ic83676
What I'd like to conclude with is unless
Idaho Power has conclusive, third-party data that'
universally accepted by the industry and by heal
officials, we not only should but are obligated to negate
the danger and place these transmission lines out of
harm's way which in this case appears to be underground.
I would urge the PUC to do the right thing and requlre
that these lines be buried out of harm's way.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if
there are any questions.
Ms. Moen.
MS. MOEN:No questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
MR . HOWELL:No.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Buxton.
MS. BUXTON:, sir.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from members of the Commission?
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
The question I have, would you be willing
to pay the extra cost to have the ines buried rather
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
423 KLINE (Com)
Public83676
than overhead?
I would say yes.Not wi thou t some
reservations and wi thout seeing what that means, but
would say yes.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
I was just curious if you have a microwave
oven.
Yes,do.
And you'
Yes,am.I'd 1 ike one further comment,
aware that that also is
though.I can also choose not to stand in front of that
oven while it's working.
Four feet.
And we do.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:
I just had one question, Mr. Kline.You
mentioned in your testimony that there was a
recommendation that you lobby City government to bury
those lines , is that something that you depending on the
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424 KLINE (Com)
Publ ic83676
outcome of this would be willing to go and do to let City
Council and others in the local government know that that
is something you'd be willing to pay for if it came to
that?
ve al ready done so.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Okay, thank you.
We appreciate your testimony.Thank you.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Kristen Jensen.
KRISTEN JENSEN,
appearing as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
BY MR. HOWELL:
EXAMINATION
Would you please state your name and spell
your last for the record?
Kristen Jensen , J -e-n-
And are you a resident of Eagle?
Actually, I'm not.I represent Eagle
River Hospitality.We are the owner of the Hi ton Garden
Grea t .
Inn in Eagle.
425 JENSENPublic83676
Well , first, thank you very much for the
opportunity to testify this evening and we appreciate
everything that Idaho Power does for us and all of our
guests.I just would like to mention we opened our hotel
in Eagle in September of last year and since January of
this year , we have hosted over 20,000 guests to this
communi ty, most of whom have never been here until the
hotel opened and all of them very much appreciate having
accommodations in Eagle.
Just so everyone is aware , 50 percent of
our guest rooms do have a view of the foothills and of
the Bypass, so 50 percent of our 20 000 guests we've had
to date would actually have a view of these proposed
power poles and we , of course, prefer that they not have
a view of that.We invested heavily in the design of our
hotel to comply with Eagle's strict design standards and
chose the site for its aesthetic views and would very
much would ike to keep it that way.Since there are
al ternati ves to these poles, we would really strongly
support underground utilities and feel that Idaho Power
should do it right the first time as we had to do
right the first time as well.
That's all I have.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions.
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426 JENSENPublic83676
Ms. Moen.
CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MS. MOEN:
Yes, Ms. Jensen , are your comments
regarding undergrounding restricted to the Bypass route
or are your feelings the same way on any al ternate
route?
Actually, I think that we would feel the
same regardless of the route.Eagle is a quaint town and
our guests that visit the hotel visit all aspects of
Eagle , not just the hotel itself.They vi sit the
restaurants , the shops and everything in between , so we
would support the underground utilities on any route.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Any follow-up?
MS. MOEN:No, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
CROS S - EXAMINA T I ON
BY MR. HOWELL:
Given your desire to minimize any poles,
as a ratepayer in Eagle, would you be willing to pay for
the burial of the ines?
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427 JENSEN (X)
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Well , we would certainly support a nominal
increase to our power bills if that answers your
question.
MR . HOWELL:It does.Thank you.Nothing
further.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Buxton.
testimony.
MS. BUXTON:No, sir.Thank you f or your
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Questions from
members of the Commission?We appreciate your
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
testimony.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:We call Brian
Glennon.
BRIAN GLENNON
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
Sir, I need your name and spell your last
BY MR. HOWELL:
for the record.
428 GLENNONPublic83676
It's Brian and the last name is Glennon
l-e-n-n-o-
And are you a resident of Eagle?
I sure am.
And do you represent anyone else other
than your residence?
No , I don't , onl y mys elf.
Do you have a statement?
Yes.This is going to come kind of off
the top of my head.I moved here oh,m new to Eagle.
about five months ago.m a retired L.A. County Deputy
Sheriff and my wife and I like to consider ourselves as
refugees from Los Angeles.We were looking for a bet ter
life-style and a better place.We looked at other
places , Austin , Texas, Phoenix , Arizona , Las Vegas and we
chose this fair city.You really don't know what you
have here.This is the most fantastic environment to
live in.There are no houses wi th bars on the windows,
you don't have gang problems and it's a beautiful place
to live.
Ii ve of f of North payet te and the back
yards face State Street.Already there are poles there
that are probably about 50 feet high.m used to
looking at telephone poles.I can live with what we
have , but in the meeting last night, we were told that
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429 GLENNON
Public83676
some other poles will be put in that might be 25 or
feet higher and carrying a lot more vol tage, not the
, but something like 138 kV which is a lot of voltage.
Now , I'm not a doctor ei ther and I'm not saYlng this
only for aesthetics , but if you want to see what it'
going to look like, just take State Street and go east
towards Boise along State Street, Garden City and look at
the size of those poles as you go by Wal-Mart all the way
down the street and all I'm saying is it has an effect of
industrializing this fair town.
That's all I have to say.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if
there are any questions for you.
Ms. Moen.
MS. MOEN:, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
CROS S - EXAMINA T I ON
BY MR. HOWELL:
Mr. Glennon , how do you feel about
defraying some of the costs for burying lines?
I t depends.In California we lived in an
area where all the lines were buried, there were no lines
aboveground.It I S called Valencia.It was near Magic
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430 GLENNON (X)
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Mountain and that was already done prior to us moving in
and it did a lot for it, but I know there is going to be
some cost and I know there was some question last night
as to people living in other sections of Eagle not
experiencing this ground zero effect we're going to have
in having to pay for it, but then you could also say
have all my children gone , yet I still pay school tax
why, because I'm invest ing in Eagle and I think if
could be spread out , it would be investing in Eagle
also , because I don't think that this building of lines
is going to end here.I think as we get more populated
those ines are going to go a lot of other places and
there are going to be other places up on Beacon Light
that are going to have the same problem we're having,
just not right now.
MR . HOWELL:No further questions.Thank
you , sir.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Buxton.
MS. BUXTON:No, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Before you go
we need to see if any of the Commissioners have any
questions.
THE WITNESS:Oh, sorry.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Are there any
questions from members of the Commission?
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431 GLENNON (X)
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COMMISSIONER HANSEN:I have one just to
clarify.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
Did I understand you correctly that you
really don't have a problem wi th the poles in your back
yard right now , that size?
No.
You'just worried about taller one s ?
knew that when I purchased the property
that they were there and that's a fact of life.You have
to have electric power come in if you're going to have a
microwave oven , so you have to have that, so no, they
don't bother me at all.Last night there was an expert
that the City had retained that mentioned there was a
possibility that the existing lines could be kept instead
of going to something bigger like proposed by Idaho
Power , but I just got that from the meeting last night.
Just a follow-up.Whe re you j us t
purchased a home in the last five months here , was that a
factor?Were you looking for a home where there may not
be a pole in your back yard?
, I was just looking for someplace
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432 GLENNON (Com)
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peaceful and actually everything that Eagle has and the
poles , like I say, don't bother me.It's just the fact
if the poles were put in that were another , what , well,
75 feet long, a city bus is 40 feet long, that's almost
two city buses turned up on end , I'm going to see them
all the time 24/7.If I had a business and I had to look
at them for eight hours a day, it would be bad enough
but we're going to be there 24/7.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you ve
much.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any other
questions from members of the Commission?If not, we
appreciate your testimony and thank you for coming this
evening.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Le t 's move now
to Lynne Sedlacek.
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433 GLENNON ( Com)
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LYNNE SEDLACEK
appearing as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Do you know the drill?
Lynne Sedlacek.m a resident of Eagle.
m a lifelong resident of Eagle.
And I need you to spell your last name.
S -e-
And do you represent anybody tonight?
I am on my second term as a member of the
Eagle City Council.
Thank you,ma' am.
First all thank you very much for
bringing this hearing to our citizens so we didn'have
to all run downtown.I appreciate that very much.We'
been dealing with this for many, many years now.We'
all disappointed that we could not reach a resolution
prior to coming to this point.m also disappointed
because some of the recent information we received makes
me wonder is this line exactly needed this way, this
transmission line, the 138 kV.
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434 SEDLACEK
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m disappointed that some of the
suggestions thrown out to Idaho Power I was actually
laughed at when I said are you sure you can't make these
poles look like a dead cottonwood tree so that we can run
them down the al ternate route by the river , and I was
just laughed at and I said no , seriously, we're seeing
cell towers do that now , can we not do that with power
poles, and tonight at dinner, a girlfriend that just got
back from the Tahoe area was telling me she saw just
exactly that kind of a pole.
As far as
- -
and this is where I'm not
sure that I'm representing all of my consti tuents, I have
come to the conclusion after many years of discussion
that underground might not be viable because it is going
to be very expensive and one of my liaison positions
with the Eagle Senior Citizens Board of Directors and the
Eagle Senior Citizens and many of them are very concerned
right now because many of them are trying to 1 i ve on
their investments and the interest rates are not just
wha t they need, so I don't know that a lot of my
constituents could afford to pay a surcharge.
With that in mind and assuming that this
line is needed and assuming that Idaho Power dismissing
this new technology with I believe it's the aluminum
lines , I'm just not feeling really like Idaho Power has
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had to look outside the box and it has become very
apparent to me that perhaps the only people that can make
Idaho Power look outside the box is this Commission , the
Public Utilities Commission.Just because this is the
way it's always been done doesn't mean that that's the
best way it can be done and I have a hard time believing
with all the advancements in technology and believe me,
m far from being a power expert, but in all the
advancements in the technology, we're still doing it the
same way we've always done it because we've always done
it that way because that's cheaper , because that'
easiest.
Whether or not the EMF effects are real or
perceived , we know that the impact and these tall power
poles' impact on property values is very real and it will
deval ue the property.Now , it's been said to us that
some of the most expensive property in the valley
along Eagle Road and look at those power lines.Well, do
you see anybody really living in any kind of a quality of
life along Eagle Road along those power lines or the
traffic that's there?I amI disregard that argument.
assuming that we probably are going to have to go
aboveground.I have to assume that what Idaho Power has
told us about the need for this transmission line is real
and so what I would say and what the conclusion I've come
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436 SEDLACEK
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to is that these power lines need to be located in a
commercial area, not over our residential areas, because
I think the general hubbub of a commerc ial area , the
traffic , I think that the lines themselves would be less
noticeable and I think that the safety concerns could be
better addressed by locating these high power lines near
a commercial area where there's only hourly exposure as
opposed to a residential home where there I s 24/7.
I am not willing to put our citizens'
property values at risk.These people have a right to
protect their property values.Eagle has a very low levy
rate.If their property values go down , so do our tax
receipts.We can't afford, the City in general as a
whole cannot afford , to lose property values to go down.
m also a little disappointed in the PUC
Staff report.The Idaho Public Utilities Commission must
also be a representative of the average citizens and
thought the report in some areas specifically were a
little too corporate friendly.You have to represent us
you have to represent the little guy.When I see the
commercial route , I do not see why they have to tap into
the ine at Edgewood and come all the way down that
beautiful Eagle River property.We've been told all
along that we're trying to connect substation to
substation and a substation is already in the middle of
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437 SEDLACEKPublic83676
Eagle.We already have these big, huge lines coming down
halfway through Eagle, why do we have to repeat that on
the al ternate route?Why can't we go from the substation
across our commercial area which includes the Albertson'
parking lot maybe over to the Zamzow's area and end up, I
would say from the substation trying to end up, somewhat
west of the southwest corner of the Bypass and State
Street and then based on our new comprehensive plan , we
have a lot of mixed use areas along State Street , I
really think it might take a zig or a zag there, but I
think for the most part we could stay over commercial
areas and not plop these big poles over some residential
areas.
I also wonder when will this end , this is
wha t we're having now , thi s one ine We know there are
other things.We know there's a substation planned in a
residence area on Beacon Light and Linder which is very
unfair to those people who spent a lot of money to get
into that residential area.Are we going to see these
transmission lines up every corridor we have?You know
wha t protect ion do we have?How do we know where these
things are going to go?I know that Eagle needs to
assume some responsibility for our growth.We all need
power , I understand that, and I do feel like Idaho Power
over the years has been a very good corporate sponsor to
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all of us however , Idaho Power has also profited in this
area , too.
So in summary, I would say it's been a
very tough issue.We've worked wi th it for years and
will say that as a lifelong resident of Eagle, when I got
on the City Council , it was just to represent my hometown
through a part of time that I thought we were growing
very rapidly and I wanted some input.I t was never my
intent to leave any kind of legacy, but I will tell you
as God is my wi tness , these power poles marching right
down through the middle of town and devaluing our
property is something that will just break my heart
that happens under my watch.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if
there are any questions.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Moen.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
MR . HOWELL:No.
MS. BUXTON:I have a question.
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439 SEDLACEK
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CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MS. BUXTON:
Ms. Sedlacek , were you surprised as a City
Council member when you were informed that this line was
actually for temporary service to Star and it was really
to complete the Locust Loop No.
I was only surprised for about two minutes
and then I was so incredibly angry that I had to wonder
what else wasn't I being told.Yes, I was very
surprised.It was a last -minute thing.Why does the
average Joe , the average ci tizen , have to pay good money
to hire an expert witness to dig this stuff out, why were
these things not presented to us early, early on?
have tried to reach a resolution and like I said, every
resolution was rej ected until we came back to pretty much
just exactly what Idaho Power wanted.
MS. BUXTON:No further questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from members of the Commission?
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440 SEDLACEK (X)
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EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
Just a question.You talk about this
proposed reroute going west behind Albertson's, going
across and kind of missing the downtown, did you ever
discuss that with Idaho Power or with other members of
the City Council to make that proposal?
Yes , and I was told that they didn't have
the easements to get there, but they don't have the
- -
mean , the Eagle River people spent a lot of money to make
that beautiful subdivision and if Idaho Power thinks it'
going to be cheaper to go down that right of way, I would
have to say that I would disagree.Albert son's is a very
good corporate citizen, I think there's ways to get
from that substation over to that far corner and not
impact our residential areas and I don't think that those
easements would be that hard to secure , and I don't care
if Idaho Power is under a time line right now.
They should have checked this out before,
but just to kind of dismiss all of our suggestions , I'
still stuck on the power poles looking like a tree and
runnlng them down the alternate route and everybody
laughs , but I can't believe we're using the same
technology now we ve used for years.They're doing
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441 SEDLACEK (Com)Public83676
with cell towers.How do we know a few years from now
they won't be beaming it from treetop to treetop.I know
that's out there a ways, but just to keep doing it the
same way because that's the way we've always done it,
that's never worked in the business world.You have to
be thinking all the time.
So if the easement problem could be
solved , then ln your mind would the Ci ty of Eagle , the
Ci ty Council embrace going that route wi th overhead and
feel good about it?
I would.
How do you feel the rest of the Council
in the discussions you've had, do you think that would be
supported?
I do.
One other quick question I'd like to ask
you concerning the underground, going underground.
Yes.
And you talk about getting support outside
of the City, do you feel that the ratepayers of Idaho
Power in Pocatello should help pay for underground being
run here in Eagle?
If the citizens of Eagle are going to help
pay for the lines in Pocatello going underground , then
certainly I think it's a fair trade-off.
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442 SEDLACEK (Com)Public83676
If it was a policy we were doing, but if
it hadn't been done, do you think first time they should
help pay for that extra cost?
I don't think that's realistic, especially
in today I s economy.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN: That's all I have.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Commissioner
Smi th.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
I just want to be sure , so your proposal
is to take it from the Eagle substation and go kind of in
a southwesterly direction
Correct.
- -
to the corner of Eagle Road and the
Bypass State Highway 44?
Right.
Then take the line west on the Bypass out
to Ballantyne?
Actually, I think that we could stay on
the south side, perhaps past Ballantyne.
I mean , their proposal is the south side
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443 SEDLACEK (Com)Public83676
of State Highway 44 , so okay, I just want to be sure
understand.
Yes , and I would like to kind of address
the cost , too.We don't know for sure how much it'
going to cost.When you say are you willing to pay more
how much more?We don't know.In fact , last night
asked again because I thought this seems odd after three
years that I still don't know what the figure is for
putting it underground and I realize it probably depends
how much you're putting underground and where you'
putting it , but maybe if we had a cost proposal , maybe we
could swing it, but we don't know.
So under your proposal , we would still
have from Eagle substation down just off
- -
just north of
State and then it comes back to State , we have that line
that's there today
Yes.I think people accept that
because --
- -
and then we'd have this additional line
that would come and then be, I guess, noticed at Eagle
Road and the Bypass going west.
I will tell you that I fought very hard to
get that mi tigation land when the State Transportation
Department brought the Bypass , so I don't 1 ike saying
that I'm willing to put those power lines in that area , I
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444 SEDLACEK (Com)
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kind of consider it mine , but I think all things
considered, the residents, the potential heal th effects
and their property values should take precedence.
Just one other question.When you heard
that thi s was temporary servi ce to Star did you
unde r stand this case temporary was years and then
after a 10-year period that capacity of that line would
be needed to serve Eagle?
I never did qui te have a full
understanding.I guess in this job I've learned that
temporary is longer than you think.
Well , today we found out it's 10 years.
Okay.I don't think we knew that last
night.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
appreciate your testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The witness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:We'll now call
Susan Thomas.
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445 SEDLACEK (Com)
Publ ic83676
SUSAN THOMAS,
appearing as a publ ic wi tness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
BY MR. HOWELL:
EXAMINATION
your 1 as t for the record?
Ma' am , would you state your name and spell
just yoursel f?
My name is Susan Thomas , T-h-o-
And do you reside within the City?
I do.I have for 27 years.
And do you represent anybody tonight or
Just myself.
Please give us your statement.
Good evening.I oppose the Idaho Power
request for aboveground 138 kV transmission lines along
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
the 44 Bypass and I oppose a tariff or surcharge upon
City customers if such lines are to be buried.I oppose
the aboveground transmission lines because the Bypass
a scenic corridor and to construct aboveground lines in
that corridor would be visually obscene and by that, I
mean offensive to the senses.
It's often natural in human nature and
446 THOMAS
Public83676
think it's inherent in a monopoly that it will only
change or do something difficult and different when it'
ordered to do so and I think the time has come for Idaho
Power to enter the 21st century and do difficult and
different things, and one of those things is take
aesthetic and complicated economic concerns into
consideration.Buried transmission lines are one of the
realities of this new century and when called for should
not be a luxury only to be considered when a surcharge
can be passed on to a communi ty .They are a reality that
all ratepayers must face , whether it's Eagle, Idaho Falls
or Coeur d' Alene or for a crucial scenic natural area
that must be preserved, and I believe only the PUC can
make the monopoly think differently and stop doing
business as usual.
You can order Idaho Power to think out of
the box , to plan creatively and not face
- -
not force
communi ties that care into bargains.Bury and pay
face horrible blunt, and Commissioner Hansen , in reply,
I'd like to reply to one of your questions, I think there
has to be a first time that Idaho Power is ordered to
bury and when it is ordered to bury, I think I would
support as a ratepayer the same if it happens in Idaho
Falls, if it happens in Coeur d'Alene, if it happens in
Burley.I think that's a reality of our new century and
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447 THOMAS
Publ i c83676
the kinds of communities that we want to live in.
any.
I'll stand for questions if there are
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:
have any questions.
Let's see if we
Mr. Howell.
Thank you.
Ms. Buxton.
Questions from
We are now to
MS. MOEN:No questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMM IS S lONER KJELLANDER:
MS. BUXTON:No questions.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:
members of the Commission.
Dennis Stegenga.
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Wilder , Idaho
Thank you for your testimony.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:
Not even close, was
MR. STEGENGA:Close.
448
83676
THOMAS
Public
DENNIS STEGENGA
appearing as a publ ic witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
BY MR. HOWELL:
EXAMINATION
Sir , could you please state your name and
spell your last for the record?
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
My name is Dennis Stegenga, spelled
And do you reside within the City of
No, I don't.
Where do you reside?
I reside in the Ci ty of Star.
Can you give us a mailing address?
290 South Star Road, Star, Idaho.
Do you represent anybody tonight?
No, I don't, just myself.
Please give us your statement.
Okay.m not here to testify on routes
or that type of thing.I think that's up to the
community or City of Eagle to decide whether they want to
go on a corridor or river or someplace else.I am here
t-e-g-e-g-a.
Eagle?
449 STEGENGA
Publ ic83676
to say that the transmission lines to the new substation
in Star are needed and I feel they should be buil t at the
lowest practical cost.I am against buried power lines
if that cost would be passed on to all the customers of
Idaho Powe r .I don't feel at this time that the cost of
buried ines through one communi ty should be passed on to
all the customers of the Company.I f the pol icy of the
Company is to bury lines throughout the whole area they
serve , then that would be a different situation , but
don't believe that's their policy yet and I don't believe
that's your policy yet , but that's probably what you'
going to have to decide at the end of this proceedings.
That's all I have to say.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if we have any questions.
MS.MOEN:questions.Thank you.
MR.HOWELL:questions.
MS.BUXTON:questions.
COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:Any questions?
We do have one.
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450 STEGENGAPublic83676
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
I was just curious , are you employed or
retired?
I am employed.I am a civil engineer for
the Amalgamated Sugar Company, and I'm also a former
council member of the City of Star.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any other
questions?If not , thank you for your testimony this
evening.
(The witness left the stand.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Let's move now
to John Sayer.
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451 STEGENGA (Com)
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JOHN SAYER
appearing as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Mr. Sayer , I need you to spell your last
name for the record, please.
Sayer , S-a-
And, sir , where do you reside?
2151 West Forest Hill Court in Eagle.
And do you represent anybody tonight?
Just my wife and myself.
Please give us your statement.
We've heard qui te a bi t of very good
testimony tonight from people, but my wife and
personally believe that the Idaho Power department
negligent in not keeping current with the 21st century
technology.It needs to upgrade its level of information
and education and make the necessary adjustments to
conduct business in a safe and environmentally friendly
manner as any other business finds it necessary to do.
If the ground water is a reason for not
burying the lines, then please consider the possibility
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452 SAYER
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of placing them in berms which would also eliminate the
EMF problem and safeguard the community from other safety
concerns and technology.Since Eagle is not the direct
recipient of this power , why is Eagle the source of
revenue to provide the service requested?There's a
quote that we heard once that failing to plan is planning
to fail and I think that should be considered very
strongly.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you,
Mr. Sayer.Let's see if there are some questions.
Ms. Moen.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
MR . HOWELL:No.
COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:Ms.Buxton.
MS.BUXTON:No questions.Thank you.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Are there any
questions from members of the Commission?
Commissioner Hansen.
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453 SAYERPublic83676
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
I'd just like to ask you, how would you
rate your quality of service from Idaho Power?
I think that's very difficul t for me to
answer.I am a very recent four-month transplant from
California , so I've only lived here for four months since
the first of May, so that's a very difficul t question.
Everything seems to be good.I mean , I turn the switch
on and the lights go on and I turn it off and it goes
off , but I would like to, if I could, say one thing.One
of the previous test i f iers , I think it was our
Councilwoman , in California , artificial trees are very
common , not only for cell phones, but for other things
and you can make a pole aesthetically pleasing to the
Vlew.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Thank you.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
Just a follow-up to that last statement.
I haven't done any investigation on the camouflaging
technique for poles and I wouldn't have expected you to
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454 SAYER (Com)
Publ ic83676
have done anything before you came tonight , but let'
assume it costs more than a traditional pole, who should
bear the cost if the cost is in excess of what a typical
pole might be that would be put up in its place?
My personal feeling as to who should bear
the cost , my feeling is Idaho Power.It is a business
and if I were to do business with somebody, I would give
them a price of what they have to pay.So far I haven'
heard any prices coming out of Idaho Power as to what
it's going to cost to run the six or seven miles to Star
or what it's going to cost the City of Eagle to go
through the Ci ty of Eagle, ei ther aboveground or
unde rground The 21st century is underground , it's not
aboveground.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you ve
much for your testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:We'll call now
Jerry Hayes.
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455 SAYER (Com)Public83676
JERRY HAYES,
appearing as a publ ic wi tness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Sir , could you state your name and spell
your last for the record?
Jerry Hayes, H-a-
And Mr. Hayes, where do you reside?
655 East State in Eagle.
And do you represent anybody tonight?
Just myself and people who may have common
interests in what I have to say.
All right, please give us your statement.
Hi.I'd like to briefly state I have a
background in transportation, highways and planning
construction , operation and public hearings in that
sector and I know how the environmental impact process
works and I've been out here in Idaho fi ve-and-half
years and I'm astounded that this proj ect has been talked
about and gone this long without an Environmental
Protection study, an EPA study based on federal standards
which requires government and public input and
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456 HAYES
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participation to form the study and a final document
which would encompass exactly what we're doing tonight
and what's been done in pieces and fragments over the
years and is done in a very systematic way in which
there's accountabili ty, oversight by government and free
and open and unintimidating meetings which allow people
to have true public input without intimidation.
Personally when I came in tonight, this is
a very intimidating set-up you have here.ve never
seen people have to be sworn in before to give their
opinion when they're citizens of the United States and
living in the jurisdiction where the hearing was held.
I don't think it's morally right and it may not even be
Constitutionally right under the Constitution of the
Uni ted States , but I will say that I want to give you a
few more comments first on a write-up I did.Briefly,
I'll just hit some highlights on shortcomings of the
proposed aerial 138 kV high-tension power line project
from Eagle to Star.
The public has not yet been gl ven an
official environmental impact study document for general
public , business and governmental input, analysis and
approval.For this high impact proj ect in a very
aesthetically beautiful and environmentally sensitive
urban corridor, a full environmental impact study and
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457 HAYESPublic83676
statement either of findings of no significant impact or
a negative declaration , but most likely a full
environmental impact statement is in order and should
required and should become a standard procedure for Idaho
Power and any other power company in Idaho in similar
power line proposals throughout the State of Idaho,
particularly in scenic, populated and developing growth
areas.
The study document should clearly
establish proj ect need , first of all , proj ect need and
detail in depth all currently available alternative
technologies used in the utility industry in urban areas
throughout the Uni ted States today.The document shoul
include all alternative horizontal and vertical alignment
locations that are feasible, all impact analyses of each
individual al ternati ve , including social , economic
technological and environmental impacts.It should
provide accurate comparable cost estimates and link those
costs to the proj ect need.Why?In order to determine
true cost responsibility and accountability to the
citizenry.
The State of Idaho, County of Ada , and the
cities of Eagle and Star all have a public responsibility
on behalf of their constituents to one , request and
require a clear and proper environmental study process
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458 HAYES
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and two, a fully prepared study document to be reviewed,
responded to by agencies and the public and approved at
all levels of local , state and federal government
including the Idaho State environmental agency and the
federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The study document would be the official
public basis for requiring Idaho Power Company to
properly remedy affected citizens' concerns, but it would
properly be a document that would require Idaho Power as
the applicant to remedy the citizens' concerns and at
Idaho Power expense.Since Idaho Power is the applicant,
Idaho Power should rightly pay for the approved study,
the design and the construction.After all , this
proposed proj ect is a maj or capi tal investment by a
privately-owned company.Although it's a monopoly and
it's a regulated monopoly, it's a privately-owned company
with stockholders having exclusive ownership in their own
financial interest.The applicant here will not only
build the proj ect, but will fully own it, maintain it and
operate the completed project in its own financial
interest.
It is granted that Idaho Power has been
glven an exclusive monopoly in this region; however , in
return , it's the responsibility of Idaho Power to
finance , develop and manage its own regional electric
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power system.In this instance, the need for the proj ect
is primarily due to rapid growth in the Ci ty of Star and
the need for a backup emergency electrical supply to the
Joplin power station which serves the Hewlett-Packard
facility along Chinden Boulevard in a location outside
the City of Eagle.
The above needs are obviously of a
regional systemwide nature and not a localized Eagle need
and have little or nothing to do with electric power
supply needs attributable solely to the City of Eagle.
Due to this fact, all construction costs should be borne
by Hewlett-Packard and the City of Star or evenly
distributed to all regional system consumers through rate
increases.
It should also be noted that the proposed
proj ect has already been financed in part by the general
public through the publicly-owned highway right of way to
be utilized by Idaho Power as proposed in the proj ect;
therefore , just as transportation needs are financed on a
statewide budgeting basis, it is entirely rational and
fitting that regional utility systems , such as this one,
including this one would be financed on a regional basis.
ve got about six other areas that I call
addi tional shortcomings of the Idaho Power proj ect from
Eagle to Star.First of all , a summary statement , again
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that an environmental impact statement is needed in order
to enable proper due process, orderly and fully open
public input, governmental oversight, review and
approval.
Second, this dilemma is Idaho Power'
problem to resolve technically, financially and
politically in the public interest because Idaho Power
the applicant.The Ci ty of Eagle is not the reason for
this proposed proj ect and should not have to develop the
proper solution.The responsibility rests on Idaho Power
to do whatever is necessary to meet Ci ty of Eagle
requirements, including existing City of Eagle building
height restrictions.
Failure of Idaho Power to provide accurate
and comprehensive cost accounting estimates is another
shortcoming.They should have those estimates for the
proposal and the other al ternati ves that were discussed.
This is needed to enable good analysis and decision
making by local governments and the general public.
This is a privately-owned capi tal
investment proj ect to serve interests other than those of
the City of Eagle, and particularly Hewlett-Packard, the
City of Star and Idaho Power are the real stakeholders
desiring and benefiting from the proposed proj ect and
should shoulder any financial burdens instead of the City
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of Eagle.
It appears that Idaho Power has not been
willing to work cooperatively and in good faith to arrlve
at mutually acceptable solutions with the City of Eagle
and its constituents.Idaho Power has not been timely
and forthcoming with meaningful and comprehensive data
analysis of al ternati ves and real impacts, detailed
proj ect costing methodology and estimates of al ternati ves
and long-term system planning documents and information
pertinent to establishing proj ect need and cost
responsibility.Again , as was stated by others, it looks
to be business as usual , but in a new and modern urban
environment where open public participation and opinion
is and should be valued more than a bully pulpit.
Negative safety, aesthetic and economic
environmental consequences are sufficient in this case to
prohibit any aerial power lines from being constructed in
the Eagle area or along Highway 44 all the way to Star.
To prevent unnecessary and hazardous lateral traffic
obstructions, no poles should be installed nearer than
feet from the ul timate build-out edge of pavement of
State Street in Eagle or Highway 44 to Star.The
placement of aerial high-tension power lines in populated
business, recreational and residential areas has long
been known to generate heal th problems and questions
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which have never been proven to be false , and most urban
jurisdictions do not allow such projects to be built
aerially.It is obvious that the visual aesthetic damage
to the valley in this picturesque corridor would be
permanent causing diminished enjoyment by citizens and
tourists, and it is qui te apparent given these and other
negati ve environmental impacts and consequences that
commercial and residential land use values will be
unjustly diminished and the desire of potential
businesses and employers to locate in the Eagle corridor
will be impacted.
The above brief commentary that I've given
pretty clearly explains why I believe Idaho Power has not
managed thi s proj ect proposal in a very open and
coopera t i ve manner.It is also clear that Idaho Power
has not been willing to acknowledge and accept that the
State of Idaho has come to a new crossroads between
higher standards for public infrastructure, meaningful
public input, active local governments wi th responsible
land use planning processes and an old dilapidated way of
doing business as usual at the regional utility level , so
in summary there, I'm saying that we have a problem here
which is going to continue to be a problem detrimental to
the State of Idaho anywhere where you've got urban growth
like this and there comes a time when someone has to take
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a lead, some city and some Utility Commission members and
decision makers need to take a stance of what's best in
the future instead of looking back to see which way to go
tomorrow; in other words, vote no against aerial
solutions to the Idaho Power dilemma , and in saying vote
no to anything aerial , what I heard tonight, I heard a
good suggestion tonight, under than just underground, I
would say we have al ternati ves of underground ei ther wi
water protection or underground above natural water
levels in berms or like most states that I've seen , I'
traveled in every state in this nation , and I have seen
most states take their high-tension power lines off the
roadways and move them to 90 degrees to the roadways
using across country and across woodland-type routes
where easements are much cheaper than buying anywhere
else.
Instead of going east -west, you zigzag up,
you cross , you get into the middle of a one-mile section
you split that section , you go 90 degrees across
east-west from here, say, between McMillan and Ustick.
You stay a quarter to a half mile from any other road and
where a development might be and then those corridor
lines where the power lines and easements are can be
protected and designated for nothing other than parking
or non-residential , non-recreational uses and
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non-business uses.
Idaho, I will say that probably the
biggest bargain this state has for any person that moves
into this state is its electrical power.It's the
biggest bargain that I can think of when you pay your
electric bill, when I come from somewhere where it costs
twice as much , North Carolina, I'm not from California
but the opposite area, where there's more of a
middle-of -the-road cost.Here is probably the lower
levels of any state in the country in terms of the
kilowatt cost; however , I believe after seeing this
proj ect and looking at the system in the whole valley
here and seeing how the practice is being to piggyback
the highway rights of way that that is part of where the
savings has come and obviously, Idaho Power Company knows
that, but I think the day has come where it's not in the
best public interest to be afraid to go for a rate hike
because you need to have a safer and less aesthetically
and environmentally intrusive situation , so I would
suggest that that's the third al ternati ve where the
pol icy needs to be moved away from urban areas, to move
away from urban areas utilizing mid-blocks, mid-mile
sections and go 90 degrees to the roads rather than use
the rights of way.
If you're in a place that's not
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aesthetically important, and that's hard to find in Idaho
because two-thirds of the state is publicly owned and
it's aesthetic in itself , but that's part of the cost of
being in Idaho and so I think that when we're talking
about this particular proj ect, it's a system problem and
it I s Idaho's problem to handle and I think part of the
problem is the fact that the policy is to use
piggybacking on rights of way, not look for al ternati ve
routes, and second, the policy is to use incrementalism
to develop your system rather than coming public with a
full-blown 25- or 30-year plan that is based on social
economic data the way that you build the infrastructure
for the roads here.
When you study the roads, they projected
traffic for the last two or three years for these two
counties.The social and economic data including the
household population , all that went into the model.That
needs to be the approach that's taken here.At the end
you can do a systemwide costing.You can start
developing a rate structure based on systemwide costs
instead of coming in incrementally and then trying to tag
it to the local municipality.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Hayes?
THE WITNESS:That's pretty much the
solutions I see as alternatives.
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Ha ye s , I'
sorry to interrupt.We do have other people signed up to
testify tonight and did I just get a sense that you had
wrapped up?
THE WITNESS:Wha t ?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Are you about
wrapped up?
THE WITNESS:That was my last point.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions.
MS. MOEN:The only comment I have is just
for the record that once Idaho Power has a line or a
route identified for purposes of the transmission line
then all environmental analyses and studies will be
conducted on that particular route.I just wanted you to
be aware of that.
THE WITNESS:I understand that, but
think that's the reverse of the way it should be.That'
why in the highway transportation department, we do a
transportation improvement program, seven-year program,
and you designate a potential corridor.You don'
designate the route, you designate the corridor and then
you go in and do a study which still allows the public
the right to use their al ternati ve means to block the
proj ect in the event they don't agree wi th that proj ect,
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but if you're going to wait until after you have gotten
through the brow-beating of all the public here and then
you're going to have the environmental impact study, it'
nothing but just a document that has no input value, so
that's the reverse of the way the proj ect should work.
MS. MOEN:No further questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
Mr. Howell?
MR . HOWELL:No.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any quest ions
from members of the Commission?
If there are no further questions, we
appreciate your testimony and did you have a written
copy?
THE WITNESS:ye ah I wanted to glve
you a written copy.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMM I S S IONER KJELLANDER:think at this
point what I would like to do is just take about a
ten-minute break and reconvene at 20 minutes after the
hour and we'll try to keep it to 10 minutes.
(Recess.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:I don't want to
set any solid sideboards for a strict time limit, but
do need to apprise you that we only have this building
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until 9: 00 0' clock.My sense is we might be able to stay
a little past that, but we do have other people signed up
to testify and during the break we had two more people
sign up to testify, so I would like to accommodate
everyone that is on the list, so if we could keep our
comments to new information.I f you've heard something
that you agreed wi th before, you can say I agree wi
tha t,agree with that and i f you have something new to
offer,please feel free to provide that i f you have a
different take on it,that'fine as well.
I al so want to recogni ze Mayor Nancy
Merrill who earlier was sitting at that chair right
there.She's now out in the lobby and of course, that'
wha t always happens when you go to introduce somebody,
they're not in the room, but the reason she won't be
testifying tonight if you're curious is because she's a
formal wi tness in the case and she has already provided
formal written testimony and has also been subjected to
cross-examination earlier in the technical hearing, so
that's why she won't be testifying tonight.
Let's move now to the next wi tness and
it's Chris from Cove Colony Way.
ADD I ENCE :I'll pass on taking up time.
Everybody has pretty much said what I was going to say
anyway.
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Please free to
write your comments down.
AUDIENCE:Okay, I just don't want to take
up any of the time that we have left.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:And I apologi ze
for putting on what can only be perceived as a chilling
effect.
Mary Shaner.
MARY SHANER
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
Would you state your name and spell your
last name for the record, please?
My name is Mary Shaner, S-h-a-n-e-r.
And Ms. Shaner, do you reside in Eagle?
Yes , I do.
Could I have a mailing address?
It's 353 North Cove Colony Way.
And do you represent anybody tonight?
Just my husband and myself.
BY MR. HOWELL:
470 SHANER
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Great.
A lot of things have already been said and
for the record, the routes that are under consideration
neither one in a sense affect me because in all cases
from Ballantyne on they're talking about putting the
90 - foot poles all the way to Star and the Colony happens
to be beyond Ballantyne, so sort of ei ther way I'm toast,
no pun intended, so the two routes in that regard don't
personally make a difference to me in terms of my home
my property.I personally would like to see neither of
them.I find both of the routes to be unacceptable,
because in both cases you're going through ei ther a
historic downtown and residential area or you're going
through a scenic byway and a brand new development that
has been put in at great expense to the developers to
have a certain look , in fact even their own expense to
bury the ines in front of the Eagle River Development
and I know that it is unrealistic to expect that one of
those options will not ultimately be the final decision.
The main reason I wanted to speak tonight
is because I think it's a bigger issue than which route
do we take, should Eagle pay, should it be passed on to
Star because they're the ul timate recipients of the
power , and it needs to be looked at as a whole piece,
because as long as it's looked at as oh , it's just
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Eagle's problem and the next time another power line
comes on along, it's just Meridian's problem , it will
never change , and Idaho Power , qui te frankly, is not in
the job to try to worry about those concerns and our
concerns as individual s or a city's concern as an
individual ci ty.
They won't change their larger pol icy
unless that is forced upon them to look at it in a
different way, to try new technologies , to consider
burying power lines , which many cities who are growing as
fast or faster than this region have already long ago
determined that underground was the only way to go to
maintain the quality of life.I f you look at Phoenix , it
had explosive growth , they bury their power lines.
you look at communi ties in Southern and Northern
California, they have explosive growth, they bury their
lines because the very nature of that growth means that
the problems mul tiply, so are we looking at a Treasure
Valley area, not just Eagle, that 15 years down the line
is going to be one continuous grid of power lines?
I work in Nampa, I go into Boise
frequently, I live in Eagle.I drive down Chinden and
see the power lines.I drive down State Street between
Glenwood and Veteran's Park and see all kinds of power
lines that look absolutely hideous.You see them on
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Eag I e road.What they look like on McMillan going west
from Eagle Road is hideous and if we don't look at
collectively at some point, at some point it will be too
late, they will all be there and the cost of redoing an
entire valley and burying them at that point is going to
, I think , unthinkable, so I think , yes, this would be
the first community to stand up and say we need to start
burying the line, but it isn't about Eagle, it's about do
we look at this all over Idaho Power and say what do we
want for the future, and that's basically all I have to
say.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions.
MS.MOEN:questions.Thank you.
MR.HOWELL:questions.
MS.BUXTON:questions.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from the Commission?
Thank you f or your t est i mony .
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Let's move now
to Ceilie Robertson.
MS. ROBERTSON:I'll pass.I agree wi
what Mrs. Shaner just said.
COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:Thank you, and
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we would encourage you to go ahead and fill out some
written comments as well.
MS. ROBERTSON:Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:David Callister.
DAVID CALLI STER
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
BY MR. HOWELL:
EXAMINATION
I need your name and spell your last for
the record, please.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , Idaho
Dave Callister , C-a-t-e-r.
Do you reside in Eagle?
Yes.
Do you represent anybody tonight?
Just myself.
Great , and please give us your statement.
Thank you.Commissioners, thanks for
I know it's probably the best thing you
could be doing tonight.YouI know it's a tough job.
know I know that, but thanks for being here and listening
to these kinds of things.I just have a couple of policy
be i ng here.
474 CALLI STERPublic83676
comments.I don't have any technical expertise in this
area.I do 1 i ve out here and so I have a vested interest
in it, but as you've noticed in the State of Idaho, if
you look at how entities make policy decisions, it'
similar to the one you're looking at now.
Let me share just a couple of examples.
ve done some developing, you're familiar wi
developing.It wasn't that long ago that we made a big
transition in developing that we put everything
underground.It raisedIt wasn't the most economical.
the cost of every lot, but there was a policy decision
and it was generally accepted across the State of Idaho
that by doing that it raised values because aesthetics
matter.If it didn't matter, we wouldn't have done
because we pay, every one of us, I'm assuming you
included if you live in a neighborhood that's been
developed in the last 20 years, we pay for all our
utilities to go underground and it's built into the cost
of your lot.
That's a policy decision that every city
in this state has adopted.It's a policy decision that
every county in the state has adopted on new
construction , so there's a precedent there that's been
there for quite a long time that aesthetics matter and
that it's important enough that you go ahead build it and
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impugn it into a cost in general.I think the State of
Idaho has a similar one when it comes to roads.There'
been a time , there was a time when the State of Idaho
disregarded local entities with their roads.They would
build whatever was cheapest, quickest , fastest.That
year is gone.They don't do that any longer.
Now they go through some very difficul
terrain to accommodate local enti ties and local concerns
and then they do beautification.Because aesthet ics
matter , they do a tremendous amount of expensive sound
barriers, whether it's trees and landscaping which they
bring water to which doesn't economically have water or
you know , decorative walls that could simply be plain
concrete or anything else.They spend a tremendous
amount of money to make them look good for the local
community.That's state money, statewide money, that
every taxpayer in the State of Idaho accommodates and
they do that because they've taken a general policy that
aesthetics matter and that preserving those things in
kind of a good neighbor policy actually qualifies for the
cost; so I'm just suggesting there's two examples of
precedents of the kinds of things that you're seeing here
tonight.
This is not the last time you're going to
see it.What we're hoping is this is the first time
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you're going to adopt a policy that fellow policymakers
all over the State of Idaho have already done and that
aesthetics should be built into the cost of
infrastructure.It is in other areas and it should be
here.
Now , you can say why here?Well, I say
this shouldn't have been the first example , but it should
be the first example at least from now on.Let me tell
you about Eagle.You know about Eagle, but I've lived in
Boise all my life and Eagle was a fun little farming town
when I grew up, but about 20 years ago there, for lack
of a better word, coagulated around this area this idea
that this country field that if invested and cared for
properly would actually attract people to it that they
can't get anywhere else and they've slowly built this
kind of communi ty .
If you look around , you'll notice it'
obvious this is an unusual kind of community where people
not only through policies carefully crafted have built
to be aesthetically pleasing and provide a certain kind
of environment , but they've invested tremendous amounts
of money, not only in their structures and their
subdivisions, but their infrastructure to make a certain
kind of thing occur here, so a lot of enti ties honor that
by saying okay, we understand the policies that you'
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enacted , already invested significantly to back these
policies here,we're going to as good a neighbor as we
can be assist that.
ve heard the question before would you
be willing pay for it.Well,we'paying for it.
think the truth is those in the City of Eagle if that was
the only way that they would pay for it, but let me
suggest something broader than that and that is this good
neighborhood pol icy as the precedent I described earl ier
should be paid for by the ratepayers in general and
shouldn't be a policy particular to Eagle.It should be
a policy particular to any town that has this kind of
significant impact aesthetically or economically and here
it does have a significant economic impact upon the
property values; i. e., property taxes that everybody will
have to deal with , then it should be considered and that
it should be considered statewide on a case-by-case basis
where it has those certain kinds of values.
The State of Idaho does it with the roads.
We do it wi th all our other infrastructure, so those are
the suggestions I'm going to make.These things are your
decisions.I know you'll make good decisions.I don't
expect Idaho Power to suck up the cost, it's not their
business to do that , but the ratepayers it is.The
ratepayers have an interest in the State of Idaho and an
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interest of the aesthetics of the state, the reputation
of the state and that it grows and it is economically
feasible and it's not just the cost of power.It's also
how we act, behave and look and if we do these things
correctly, we'll have a good, promising economic future
and your policies are definitely a contribution to that.
Thanks for letting me take a little
time.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if
there are any questions.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
MS. BUXTON:No questions.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:From the
Commissioners?
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:I guess I just had
one question.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
A few years ago the City of Ketchum wanted
to bury several blocks of cable there rather than
overhead and so they did that and the city paid that
extra cost and that's the only record that I'm aware of
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in the state where a city or a location want to bury the
cable rather than overhead , and in that situation , they
came forward and said they would pay that extra cost to
go unde rground Do you think that that may have already
set pol icy?
Well , precedent sets policy and I can see
where you're coming from, but that certainly is an
example of how things can start , but let me suggest that
that's just the embryo, that that was the precursor to
what you're seeing tonight and that you probably can't
expect that , because then you're saying that only the
rich can have aesthetically pleasing areas and that'
what you're saying and I'm suggesting that that's not
where it should be , that there's an economic impact and
an aesthetic impact and if we want to build aesthetically
good-looking places and , you know, don't forget , these
days all the local entities are requiring significant
aesthetic investments, in every development, homes
commercial entities , they're significant , just like this
one is and they're asking everyone to bear that cost
because we're changing the way we look, feel.You'
heard it from other testifiers, so I would say that while
that was the embryo , it shouldn't be the precedent , that
the precedent has been set by other things I've suggested
and the future is likely for us , for you policy makers,
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480 CALLISTER (Com)
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to look for a little bit softer , more accommodating look
on some of these things.
Do you think if we were to pursue that
that it would be fair to bring in the ratepayers, say, of
Pocatello and Twin Falls and those areas as well as rural
areas and let them participate in determining what they
fel t should be paid for and should be covered by them as
ra tepayers?
Well , Commissioner , let's be straight
about this.You know that we subsidize all those rural
ci ties.You know that the City of Eagle and the City of
Boise and the City of Meridian and the City of Nampa, we
all pay higher rates and we transfer those to those folks
out there that don't pay their way and that's been the
policy of the State of Idaho since Idaho has been around
as far as I know , so it's about time that maybe those in
our areas, we not only
- -
well, since we're paying their
way, maybe it's about time that they share in the
accommodations for us.I think that's a fair trade-off.
But should they be involved in the
decision making?
Tha t 's why we have you here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Commissioner
Smi th.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Not really questions,
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but two thoughts to put into your thought process and
then maybe later we can have the lengthy discussion
that's not possible tonight.First of all , there was
testimony earlier tonight that one of the biggest
benefits that the citizens of this state have are low
power rates and I think that's necessary for economic
development, for business to be at tracted to the area and
even for people to be able to afford their bills , so in
your thought process of having this new policy of
undergrounding, I think we need to carefully recognize
the impact that it might have on our overall rate
structure long term , so that's my first thought that
want you to put in , and my second one is I believe the
legislature may have already set the policy in this area.
There's an entire chapter entitled
called undergrounding of utility facilities that leaves
it to local governments and I'm an advocate of keeping
the decision making at the lowest level possible where
people are impacted, where local governments , cities and
counties , decide whether to create local improvement
districts and thereby raise the cost of undergrounding
facilities for their areas, so just two thoughts to churn
into your process.We don't have time for a huge
discussion , but those two thoughts are in my mind.
THE WITNESS:Those are very val
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thoughts, too.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you for
your testimony this evening.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:We'll call Deone
Croff.
DEONE CROFF
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Ma ', I need you to state your name and
spell your last name for the record.
Deone Croff, C-r-Ii ve at 13 7
North Cove Colony Way.We are right on State Street, the
first house on the street, so we will be impacted greatly
by these power ines I wanted to tell you a little bit
of our history.We lived in Southern California for
years.Part of that was in the San Diego area which
was a gorgeous area, Encinitas , La Costa, Carlsbad.
any of you know it, it's gorgeous , but there's also a big
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power company there.We happened to 1 i ve right in front
of the humungous power ines in La Costa.
When we went to sell our house, we could
not sell it.People would drive by, they would see the
power lines behind us, they would not even get out of the
car and come in and look.I did not know thi s .
finally said what is the problem to our real estate
agent.She said they see the power ines, they won'
look at your house , so okay.Whether it is true or not
people think there is a health problem with power lines.
I don't believe there is , but many people believe that
and they would just as soon stay away from it, whether
it's real or not.We never did sell that house.
Al so , those power ines made a humming
sound all the time.They are noi sy , they devalue your
property and we had that maj or problem in Southern
California.We moved from Southern California to
Ari zona.We had a large piece ofI grew up in Ari zona.
property there, 80 acres, and Sal t River proj ect, it was
in Gilbert which I think is one of the fastest growing
cities in the nation , Salt River Project wanted to come
in and put the big, huge power lines on our property
there which they did.It's hard to fight those
companies , but they did come in.They did compensate us
for that because they knew - - well , they won't admi t
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but they know that it devalues your property.Developers
don't want to purchase that property when it has big
power I ines on it.We did have problems that way.
I also wanted to tell you experiences I'
had wi th power ines They put them along the canals a
lot in Arizona and in Gilbert, we would walk along the
canal where the power ines are.I f you bend over to pet
your dog, you'd get a shock.I f you put your hand on the
metal part of your bicycle, you can get a shock and not
just a little shock , a big shock.You have to keep your
hand on rubbe r .There again, they're always making
nolses.You can feel the electrical force from these
power lines.Now , these are big power ines I don'
know if that's what you're going to put in here , but I do
know that it got to where you would go away
- -
you would
not want to walk around those power lines because of the
feeling that you got when you were there and so people
started avoiding that area, and that's all I have to
say.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
MR . HOWELL:No.
MS. BUXTON:No quest ions.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:We have several.
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EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
Just one quick question and you said you
didn't really believe it had any effect on your health
living there, did you have or your family have any heal th
problems that you're aware of?
Not so far.No, we did have a guy come
out one day from the power company and showed us the
little geiger counter that would go like this and we were
right by the power ines Even across the street , and
that was just a small cul-de-sac , that hardly moved at
all , but with us being right by the power lines, it
really did have a magnetic force or whatever it was, but
we so far have had no problems from it.
m just kind of curious , were you, like
right under it or were you, ike, a couple of hundred
feet from the power line?
Well , our back yard, the power lines were
right over our back yard even though it was a big open
area.
MR. CROFF:Thirty to fifty yards away.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Commissioner
Smi th.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.
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EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
Do you have any - - you said you didn't
know how much vol tage was going through there.These
sound ike huge towers.
They are , they were and they were ike
those four-legged monsters.
Yeah , those are towers.What we'
talking about here are poles, not towers.
One thing I did want to mention is I drove
around today and looked at the lines and I noticed how
aesthetically they do look a lot better when you just see
the 1 ines up high.I think it's those lines down below
that really take away from -- that really make it look
bad and those must be the phone lines or things, the
lower ines on the poles, but driving through Eagle and
that there's a lot of the lower lines that look very
unsightly.I think if they can keep the I ines up it'
not qui te as bad.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.
THE WITNESS:Because I know you have to
do something.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you for
your testimony.
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(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Teresa Peery.
TERESA PEERY
appearlng as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you please state your name and spell
your last for the record?
Yes , Teresa Peery, P-y, 2458 North
Bottle Creek Place , Eagle.
Do you represent anybody tonight?
The future.
Don't we all.
I hope so.I come because I know we have
two things in common with everyone in this room , we all
rely on power , we all need it, we want it.None of us
want to 1 i ve wi thout it and I think we can all agree on
that.The other thing I think everyone can agree on
that power poles are very ugly and I don't think I'
ever met anyone who thought they were beautiful or nice
to look at.Is there anyone in this room that does think
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that?Okay, and I don't think there's any color
texture , shape or height that makes them more attractive,
so I guess what I want to say is we all want power, we
all need it , this area is growing.I know we've got to
get power to the people.
There is a technology to bury.We don'
have to see the poles when we bury.It costs more, but
in the future it's going to make a difference.Wi th thi
area growing so much , I foresee a time when we're going
to need high vol tage on every main street in Eagle to
keep up wi th the growth of thi s Ci ty , to get the power to
people that are building in the foothills and beyond, all
the way out to Star.I mean , communities are springing
up, people are gathering to this area.They're gathering
because this is a safe place to live.They're coming
from the big ci ties.If you come in this room , how many
people have come from California and have researched
on the Internet because they want a safe place for their
families , for their children , for their future and it'
going to continue to grow that way and we've got to
become a progressl ve state that we're attracting
progressive people , people that care about their
families, their communities, their world , their future,
their environment.
I foresee if we could become an
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underground, have our power underground, we could provide
the power to the people, we will have the rate increases.
If it's got to start wi th increasing in Eagle only, I
think we've got to set a precedent , I ike as has been
said , but I believe it's a statewide problem.I think
all of Idaho needs to shoulder the responsibility for the
future.I f we have high vol tage ines along every maj or
road just for Eagle alone , when I pass this heritage on
to my children and my grandchildren, will they want to
live in this kind of environment with metal poles lining
their streets, high voltage on every intersection?
that the kind of world and communi ty I want to pass on to
my children , my grandchildren?
Okay, I foresee that technology will be
chang ing .In the future, I think power will be given to
the people in unforeseeable ways.We probably can'
foresee how power will be transmitted in the future.
There will be inventions , there will be improvements.
we have these facilities underground, how much easier to
change to new technologies , rather than you imagine to
construct all of these power poles.You look at the
McMillan poles , for example, just the pollution to
produce that metal to make those huge towers and line
them across the State of Idaho or across the City of
Eagle and then when the future comes that those are no
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longer - - those are a technology that now are out of date
and we're no longer going to use those , to dispose of
that, to recycle it , to fill our landfills , I don't know
but to convert to something new , bet ter If we have
these things already underground , we can adapt for the
future and we don't have to leave our children and
grandchildren the mess to clean up in the future, and
lived up in the McMillan and Cloverdale area by HP.
I chose to come down to Eagle in large
part because of the power poles that are lining McMillan
and the aesthetics and I look to Eagle, I can see the
I have an unobstructed view.sunset.I don't have to
look beyond the power poles.I don't have to worry about
my property values.I don't have to worry about any
heal th ri sks I can say that I lived in a neighborhood
wi th mul ti tudes of heal th risks , cancer , MS and it was
springing up at a very rapid rate and I was right by the
high voltage power lines and I cannot conclusively say
it's from the power , but I did see my neighbors wi th very
many health problems, but I just want to close that
moved to Eagle for the future of my children , my
grandchildren and I'd like to keep using the technology
that is available in more progressive states to keep the
high vol tage and the power lines underground.I am
willing to bear the cost as a consumer and I think that
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in the future the costs that we pay now will be a benefit
and we actually will save in the future by planning ahead
for the future.
COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.Let
me see if there are any questions.
MS. BUXTON:No questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from the Commission?
Thank you f or your t est i mony .
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Colleen
Horiuchi.
MS. HORIUCHI:I'll pass at this time.
agree with all my neighbors that have talked before.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:But did I get
your name right?
MS. HORIUCHI:You got it right.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Markus Fipps.
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MARKUS FI PPS ,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your name and spell your
last for the record, please?
Markus Fipps, M-a-u-s.
And , sir, where do you reside?
I reside at 140 --
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Fipps?
THE WITNESS:My last name as well?
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:Yes.
THE WITNESS:p-s, and my address
140 South Cobblestone Way, Eagle.
BY MR. HOWELL:And do you represent
anybody tonight?
Yes , I am here representing myself , both
as a resident of Eagle, a homeowner that would be
affected by either proposal that's been proposed, either
route , and also as a small business owner who developed a
property alongside one of the proposed routes, and also
my wife and I run a child education-type business where
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we have over 1,000 young children that would be directly
affected by this depending on what route you select.
Do you have a statement?
I do.First of all , I would like to thank
you for the opportunity to speak.I know you have a
difficult job balancing the interests of so many
different people.It's always a difficult decision any
time we're talking about public utilities.ve been
following this issue and I am quite upset at the way that
Idaho Power has presented their case.To me, it's been
confusing and misleading and I've been following this
since their first representation to the City of Eagle and
also the second, and I also received a statement from Ada
County Development Services and I submi t ted wri t ten
information to them that I will give to you as well and
I'll just summarize that and give a few other comments
but basically the point I want to make is I don't claim
to be
- -
have the benefit of having all the knowledge
that our City Council people and people that have had
direct contact wi th Idaho Power , but I do have a degree
in economics and I can tell you that where I'm confused
at is I do know that the first proposal that Idaho Power
came up with was delineated by the orange line that we
see on the map and which , you know , was turned down by
the City.
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Then they came back wi th the second
proposal and I'm not sure which one they're proposing as
their first choice now , but that's what confuses me is I
do know that in the presentation they made to Ada County
Development, they're now representing the green route as
their first choice.I could be wrong, but that's the
information I got, so this flip-flopping back and forth
just indicates to me they've done a very poor job of
planning.I think they kind of put the cart before the
horse, apparently.
When they made their presentations to the
Ci ty, they came wi th no numbers, they had no information
with regard to what it would cost per mile going either
route and as a student of economics , their new proposed
route , they indicated that their most
- -
the points they
made were, they said that their top obj ecti ve was to
achieve the most direct route.Well, ladies and
gentlemen , I'm not a genius here , but if we look at the
orange line there and we look at the green line, we can
see that the green line which apparently is what their
latest proposal is is certainly not the most direct
route, will not be the least expensive route, not
initially, and certainly not to be maintained for the
future.
The second obj ecti ve that they said they
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were trying to achieve was to not backtrack.Well , as we
can see that by backtracking almost a mile-and-half in
each direction, almost three miles, we're increasing not
only the cost of again construction, but also the cost of
maintaining the line forever for the future.
The other point I would like to make is
thi s is the one chance to get it right.Once these lines
are up, it's a negative impact, a negative neighborhood
impact forever.That's forever , ladies and gentlemen.
The last obj ecti ve they said they were trying to achieve
was the lowest cost.Well, mostly certainly I can see
that the shortest distance is obviously going to be the
least cost and wi th the proposal they're proposing
tonight going back to the green route they have
delineated certainly is not the most cost effective.
The last obj ecti ve that they said they
were trying to achieve was to try stay away from as
many residents as possible and most certainly I can see
that the green route does,least the port ion the
map that they have represented here , achieves going by
less residences; however, what I'd like to indicate to
you is that our - - we're talking about if they select the
green alternative which they've indicated as their first
priori ty here where there's a child day care center which
is located directly across the street on the new Bypass
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496 FI PPSPublic83676
and also our facility, we have over 1 000 kids comlng
every week and we have no guarantee that - - I'm less
concerned about the health issue, the long-term health
issue, of the lines , but any structure can fall and we
have no guarantee that one of those poles is not going to
be located directly across or adj acent from our building
or the hospi tal or the day care center or any other thing
and I can't see where that would be a viable option for
the safety of our children.
The other thing I'm upset about wi th Idaho
Power's presentation with the City is that they never
they admitted they never ever considered taking
underground.It really wasn't a cost issue for them.
They said initially they did not have the expertise and
they would have to hire subcontractors to perform the
work and they gave us no numbers as to what it would cost
per mile , per foot, per anything and no correlation
between what that would take aboveground.I'd 1 ike to
also indicate as a student of economics, it seems to me
and I don't have any scientific evidence of this, but
it was taken underground, it certainly would be a lot
easier to update and also maintain for the future.
Basically what I've done is just kind of
highlight the letter that I proposed to Ada County
Development Services and I would like to offer what
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believe is somewhat of a viable solution.Lynne Sedlacek
indicated that she thought the best route would be to
come directly essentially south of the Eagle substation
and then proceed in somewhat of a southwest manner to the
corner there.Well , all the estimates that I've seen and
heard people talk about how cost prohibi t i ve it would be
to go underground, what if we went underground straight
south of the substation , there's already a drainage
canal , I'm sure it has an easement there.As you can see
by the map, there's no developed commercial property
straight south of the substation , take it underground at
just that point which would only be about 5 000 feet as
ve measured it out, continue it underground underneath
the Bypass and then some studies could be done to see how
much it would cost to take it how much further west.
That would make the most sense to me , make
it pop up wherever it is.I don't know how far.
sure that the folks that live along the route are
concerned as well , residents, but there are
- -
I can
understand , I'm affected either way, either one of these
routes, whether it's my residence or whether it's my
business, but what I would like to also point out is that
the business interests that have been represented here
are big corporate entities like Hilton and Saint
Alphonsus, but there's also a lot of small business
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owners that it's a lot more cost prohibi ti ve for us to
develop these properties in Eagle and they make us put in
four-inch trees and all kinds of exciting stuff and jazz
up our building to make it aesthetically pleasing and
then to go and put these lines up, it will just be an
atrocity and it just seems like people have indicated a
huge waste of resources that have already been spent.
Thank you very much.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if
there are any quest ions.
Ms. Moen.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
CROS S - EXAMINA T I ON
BY MR. HOWELL:
m just wondering where your day care
facility is located.You said it's on the Bypass?
We actually have a children's dance
educational facility.There's a day care facility which
is located just to the west of Les Schwab, if you know
where that's located, at the corner of Edgewood and our
building is located at 500 South Fitness Place which
essentially adj acent to the Bypass by the Rocky Mountain
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Business Park.
MR.HOWELL:Thank you.
MS.BUXTON:Nothing.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Do we have
Thank you very much for your testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
questions?
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:We call now Kim
Hilliard.
KIM HILLIARD
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
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Wilder , Idaho
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
Sir , I need your name and spell your last
for the record , please.
Kim Hilliard, last name H-i-a-
And , sir , where do you recite?
I currently reside at 1525 West Powder
Court here in Eagle.
Do you represent anybody here tonight?
BY MR. HOWELL:
500 HILLIARD
Public83676
Myself , my wife and my three kids.
Good enough.
I don't know if I have a lot more to add
other than I have been following this for qui te awhile,
for about three years, and the last I'd heard of it , I
thought the problem was kind of decided , that the
Citizens Committee and Idaho Power and everyone had
agreed on a proposed route.I know it's a ve
complicated issue.I know there's no easy solutions.
During the time I thought the problem was resolved and
now I've actually sold my house.m actually moving,
moving out of Eagle and moving to Middleton , but I'
still here to contend that I think this is more of a
policy issue , this is more of a principle issue, what
happens wi th Star , what happens wi th Middleton , what
happens across the whole state.
All along I was hoping with the things
ve heard about the impact to the commercial properties
the impact to the residents, the impact to the Ci ty that
there could be some kind of compromise.I read a $10,000
property value impact to the Eagle River Development,
obviously, the impact to the citizens, the impact to the
communi t Y Someone earlier mentioned they think it's low
power rates that draw a lot of people to Idaho and that
might be true , but I contend it's the communities and
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501 HILLIARD
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it's the aesthetics and the life-styles we offer that
bring people from California and these other states
because they don't have that kind of environment.
It's not necessarily the low power , so
was always hopeful through franchise fees, through Idaho
Power commi t t ing some money and maybe through the
commercial entities some compromise could be developed to
put these underground.Everybody would share part of the
burden and I guess that's what I was here to try to share
is that I think it's an area of principle.How
progressive is Idaho going to be?We look at all these
other examples in other states where their communi ties
have been ruined and they're deal ing wi th these things
more expensively after than before.
I guess I am hoping the PUC can weigh this
heavy issue and all the information you received to try
to put us on a progressive , forward-looking path, not
just for Eagle and not just for the communities and towns
around here but for the entire state.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Let's see if we
have any questions.
MS. MOEN:No, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Howell.
Ms. Buxton?
MS. BUXTON:No, thank you.
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COMM IS S lONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from members of the Commission?
COMMI S S IONER SMI TH :Just one.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
Sorry to prolong this , I know everyone
tired.I guess earlier , I don't know if you were here
when David Callister testified and I mentioned there's a
statute that the legislature has given power to cities
and counties to underground utility facilities and form
local improvement districts to pay for that , so I guess
m wondering from a pol icy point of view , do you think
the Public Utilities Commission as a state ought to just
make some policy regarding undergrounding and apply it or
do you think those decisions ought to rest in the hands
of the local leaders who can decide for their community
depending on the economics of their communi ty whether
it's affordable?
I tend to think this is more of a Eagle
communi ty issue.It's not just around the Bypass and
it's not just around State, so I would contend that all
the citizens of Eagle would support a franchise fee to
pay the portion they could bear and I know there'
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restrictions and things about franchisees and so forth.
I guess what I'd like to see is some
progressive step to offer some combined solution that if
a communi ty fel t strongly enough that they would bear
their portion of the burden as much as they can , then
Idaho Power would be expected to bear some portion and
maybe that would be distributed across the state and in
this particular case with the heavy investment in the
commercial areas that they too might step forward.You
know , I've heard there's threaten of litigation if it
goes along Eagle River.
Well , I'm assuming with the delays Idaho
Power has encountered, the expense they've sunk into
temporary measures to get this line put out, you know
litigation by Eagle River and then the property value
impact, there should be some common solution , positive
solution we could all come together to get this
underground that everybody would be happy with.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Mr. Hilliard,
thank you very much for your testimony tonight.
appreciate it.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:And al so
Mr. Hilliard was the last individual that we had on our
signed list.I recogni ze that we have someone el se who
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would like to testify and as you're moving forward , let
me just ask , is there anyone else who wants to testify
this evening?Okay.
STAN BASTIAN
appearlng as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR.HOWELL:
for the record.
Ii ve at 13 6 9
Sir , I need your name and spell your last
My name is Stan Bastian.
East Nest View Court.I m a member of the Eagle Ci
Council, Council president.
THE COURT REPORTER:I didn't get a
spelling, I'm sorry.
THE WITNESS:s-t-i-a-n.I was at the
design review meeting this evening and couldn't be here
earlier.m very interested, of course, in what'
happening.The points I would like to make are that the
transmission lines are necessitated by the power
requirements of citizens outside the City of Eagle.The
request was to take the 138 kilovolt line to Star and we
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believed that that was essential for the further
development of Star.Yes , more power is needed in Star
but probably not the full 138 kilovolts.
It appears that that necessity is in order
to make a loop that would be a redundancy so that
Hewlett-Packard would be able to receive power in case of
failure of other lines.What I'm trying to make in this
point here is that the Ci ty of Eagle doesn't need the
additional power, but we are being required it looks like
to have an unsightly line go through our City.This line
at whatever height you have over 35 feet would be a
violation of the Eagle City code.
Now know that some the 1 ines
already in Eagle are over that height, but we have a
scenic corridor along the Bypass and also State Street is
included in that scenic corridor and again, this would be
a violation of our comprehensive plan and City
ordinance.
I f you come into Eagle from the south
along Eagle Road and come into that center area of Eagle
along the Bypass , one of the things you notice is there
are no power ines there.It's open.That's the way we
intended it to be as a community and it's scenic with the
ri ver in the background and the mountains in the
foreground and power lines would just destroy that scenic
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aesthetic that we are so proud of here in our community.
If we construct the lines , if Idaho Power
is allowed to construct the lines , along the Bypass, it
will destroy that scenic corridor.If, on the other
hand , the lines go down State Street, then there will be
a huge tower there among the residential , along the
residential development, several residential developments
and it will be unsightly and then there will be the lower
layer of lines that will be the distribution lines that
will be added to that changed from the current poles and
that too will be unsightly, and people who move here want
to have a communi ty that looks nice.We pride ourselves
for the kinds of features we have here in Eagle and the
tree-lined streets , the meandering sidewalks, open spaces
and to destroy that with the huge towers and
distributions lines I don't think is fair to our
community.
What's the solution?One possible
solution is that we could bury the transmission lines for
a short distance from the current substation on some
path , short path , that would take it to the -- basically
to Zamzow', the corner of the Bypass and Eagle Road and
if we can somehow even get it underneath the Bypass or at
that point come up and then take it along the south side
of the Bypass and continue out in that direction so that
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we I re away from the corridor that we're trying to
preserve as a scenic place in Eagle , I think that would
be a good solution.It would be a better solution than
ei ther of the other ones would wi th large towering ines
right through the Ci ty of Eagle.
Another possibili ty, of course , would be
to wherever you put it reduce the heights of those towers
down to 61 feet.We know that in preliminary
negotiations with Idaho Power that that can be done as
long as the distribution lines are not part of that power
line, so if all you need is the transmission of power
you can simply get rid of the distribution lines by
putting them underground.I think that that burden of
doing that, though it does help the Ci ty of Eagle,
necessi tated by avoiding the high towers that would go
through the town which we're not requesting and so
think that should be a general expense that should be
paid by the ratepayers of the State of Idaho where Idaho
Power serves.
I would assume that that's not been a part
of your policy in the past, but I think this is an
exception and I think it ought to be a policy that you
would establish now and could live with after this , that
when you have a significant impact upon the property
values and upon the scenic corridors and the aesthetics
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of a communi ty that you force some sort of a burial of
lines, either through the short route I've indicated or
reducing the heights of the poles and only having
transmission lines on it.That would be my advice to
you.
I don't think that it's fair for our
citizens to have to have basically a rate increase of up
to the three percent level that's allowed by law to take
care of other people's problems, people who live outside
our City and we are affected negatively by that
condi t ion.I'd stand for any questions if you have
any.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions?
MS. MOEN:No, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Mr. Howell.
CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
We heard testimony earlier today that in
fact it isn't necessarily just to energize the Star
substation, but eventually that line will serve what will
become the west side of Eagle and I'm wondering if that
fact pattern would change your opinion about who benefits
and who needs the power?
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m not an expert on power distribution
but I think that if we were only talking about the
western side of Eagle that you wouldn't need 138
kilovolts to supply power to that small area.
The other thing we heard today is that
nationally, less than one percent of all transmission
buried and so the practical norm is aerial and I'
wondering, earlier this evening we've had some
discussions about the Local Improvement Act which allows
cities and counties to raise monies to bury existing or
new overhead electric lines underground, has the City
ever considered that?
Yes , the Ci ty knows about the Local
Improvement Act and we could have an LID in place , but
the LID should extend to Star, to Hewlett - Packard and to
areas outside the City which we do not have jurisdiction
over.They're the primary beneficiaries of this
transmission line and so our ability to have an effective
LID that would cause those who benefit from it to pay lS
outside of our ability to do so, but the PUC does have
that authori ty, I would think , that is, through the rates
that other people pay within this area, the larger
Treasure Valley area.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Ms. Buxton.
MS. BUXTON:I have no questions
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COMMI S S lONER KJELLANDER:Quest ions from
the Commissioners?Commissioner Smith.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
Just to clarify, the cost that we'
talking about is not the entire cost of the line , it is
just the difference between what would normally be done
which is overhead and having for aesthetic reasons in
this community the line undergrounded, is that part of
your --
I understand that, yes.
All right, thank you.
But my response to that would be if the
transmission lines weren't run through the City, the 138
kilovolt , then we wouldn't have an issue, but since the
request of Idaho Power is to do that for the benefit of
others , we do have an issue and it doesn't benefit the
City of Eagle.In fact, it's a negative mark , negative
sight, unsightly situation that we're trying to avoid and
that the developers in the area are also trying to avoid.
I think you probably heard testimony
earlier , at least you should have , that in their
opinions, Eagle River would receive a substantial
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decrease in property values and the probability of people
who are going to construct places of business would avoid
the area and would go elsewhere , particularly Saint
Alphonsus testified and at least communicated to us in
the meeting last night, I don't know if you have their
testimony this evening, indicating that had they known
that those kinds of power lines were going to be placed
in that corridor they would not have come to the Eagle
River Development , so it's a negative impact both
economically and aesthetically on our community.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
appreciate your testimony this evening.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
COMMI S S IONER KJELLANDER:And I think
saw one more hand up, so why don't we have you come
forward.
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JOHN WOOD
appearing as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Sir , I need you to state your full name
and spell your last for the record.
John Wood, W-o-o-d, address is 3850 Flint
Dri ve, Eagle, Idaho.
And do you represent anybody?
I represent seven people in my
neighborhood.
All right.
I have property affected.On 3300 West
State I have six poles currently on my properties.
neighbor Pete Centarino (phonetic) has six poles
currently located on his property.We spoke today wi
us and our other neighbors and we would support before
the power lines go up that if Eagle would get a chance to
get an LID together so that the power lines could be put
underground.I think in the long term the Ci ty of Eagle
will benefit from all the lines underground.It's a
beautiful city.The City Council and the Mayor have made
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this City a beautiful place and it would be horrible to
drive down State Street or the State Street Bypass or
anywhere in Eagle and have those power lines.I think
long term it's the best solution.
Short term, I know that people don't want
to pay the money or the rate increase, but I think in the
long term that they will be very proud that they made
that decision, and I believe at least since it is going
to Star that if there was some way that Star could help
pay for the LID or something that could be an agreement,
but I would just hope that before these lines go up that
at least the citizens have a chance to at least offer to
pay the difference between what the lines would have cost
aboveground, which I was just informed was one of my
suggestions that the power lines do go up, give us credit
for the lines that are going to go up and then we pay the
difference of the money and I think that would be fair.
I just
- -
the only thing that bothers me
wi th the meeting that I was at last night , any business
decision is that we get competi ti ve bids and we have bids
that have a cap rate on them wi th no cost overruns.
know that can't be guaranteed, but I think that if we had
competitive bids since they did say it would be an
outside source that would be burying them that we would
have an opportunity the City could look at and choose the
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best contractor.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions.
MS. MOEN:No questions.Thank you.
MR . HOWELL:No.
MS. BUXTON:No questions.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Any questions
from the Commission?I f not --
THE WITNESS:Commi s s ioner?Just one last
thing.If there's no other possible way that the lines
can be buried, we would
- -
Lynne Sedlacek I s idea, we
would support to run it that way and look at an
alternative with the camouflaging of all the lines.
seen it over and over done in Cal i fornia , in Berkeley and
the Bay Area , San Francisco and it's done very nice, so
thank you very much.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:Thank you
Mr. Wood, for your testimony.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMM IS S IONER KJELLANDER:And that brings
us to the end of the people who had signed up to testify
thi s evening.What I'd like to do is just thank everyone
who took the time to come this evening and also encourage
those of you who want to to submit some written comments
and to try to get those to the Commission as quickly as
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515 COLLOQUY83676
possible and also thank those of you who have already
filled out written comments and submitted them to Staff
to take back to us tomorrow.
As far as the proceedings go, we intend to
pick up again tomorrow morning where we left off today
wi th the technical hearing.I believe we have just one
more wi tness and that ought to take at least two hours.
We're very thorough , unless you can tell me it will be
less , but then we'll be probably to a point where we may
look at some possible briefs and we will try our best
once we get a completed record to render a decision as
quickly as possible; so wi th that, at least for this
evening, this portion of the process is adj ourned and
again, we thank you for your attendance this evening.
(Th~ Hearing recessed at 9: 20 p. m. )
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T I C T I O
This is to certify that the foregoing
proceedings held in the matter of Idaho Power Company,
Complainant, versus Ci ty of Eagle, Idaho, Respondent,
commencing at 7: 00 p. m., on Thursday, September 9, 2004,
at the Eagle Public Library, 100 North Stierman Way,
Eagle, Idaho, is a true and correct transcript of said
proceedings and the original thereof for the file of the
Commission.
CONSTANCE S. BUCY
Certified Shorthand Reporter
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CSB REPORTING
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517 AUTHENT I CAT ION
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