20080211Vol II Chubbuck.pdf

,ORIGfNAL
WI
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
,
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR
AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES
AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC SERVICE
TO ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS IN THE
STATE OF IDAHO
)
) CASE NO. IPC-E-07-08
)
)
)
)
)
in
BEFORE e
COMMISSIONER MARSHA SMITH (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER JIM KEMPTON
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PLACE:Chubbuck City Council Chambers
5160 Yellowstone Avenue
Chubbuck, Idaho
DATE:January 29, 2008
VOLUME II - Pages 30 - 48
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CSB REPORTING
Constance S. Bucy, CSR No. 187
23876 Applewod Way * Wilder, Idaho 83676
[phone] * [phone]
Email csb(fheritagewifi.com
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1 APPEARANCES
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3 For the Staff:Neil Price, Esq.
Deputy Attorney General
472 West Washington
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
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For Idaho Power Company:Lisa D. Nordstrom, Esq.
Idaho Power Company
Post Office Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707-0070
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CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
APPEARANCES
.1 I N D E X
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3 WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
4 Donald Fredericksen Statement 32
(Public)
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Jerad Davies Statement 34
6 (Public)Commissioner Smith 37
7 Marilyn Casey Statement 38
( Public)Commissioner Smith 39
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Patrick Becvar Statement 40
9 (Public)Commissioner Smith 42
10 Crystal Seaman Statement 43
(Public)
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Dennis Hobbs Statement 45
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CSB REPORTING INDEX
Wilder,ID 83676
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1 CHUBBUCK, IDAHO, TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2008, 7:00 P. M.
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4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Good evening, ladies
5 and gentlemen. This is the time and place set for a
6 public hearing before the Idaho Public Utilities
7 Commission on Case No. IPC-E-07-08, further identified as
8 in the matter of the application of Idaho Power Company
9 for authority to increase its rates and charges for
10 electric service to electric customers in the State of
11 Idaho.
12 My name is Marsha Smith. I'm one of the
13 three Commissioners that make up the State Public
14 Utili ties Commission. To my left is Commissioner Jim
15 Kempton and we need to excuse Commissioner Mack Redford,
16 the President of the Commission. He was not able to
17 attend tonight. The three of us make up the Commission
18 and we're here to take comments from the public on the
19 application of Idaho Power.
20 We'll take appearances of the parties.
21 For the Company?
22 MS. NORDSTROM: Lisa Nordstrom on behalf
23 of Idaho Power Company.
24 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And for the Staff.
25 MR. PRICE: Neil Price, counsel for the
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
30 COLLOQUY
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1 Staff.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And there are other
3 parties in the case, but I don't see any of them present
4 tonight. Our procedure for tonight is that if you wish
5 to make a statement, you signed up and I have your name
6 on the list and I will call your name and you can come
7 forward and Commissioner Kempton will ask you to raise
8 your right hand and swear you in and then Mr. Price will
9 ask you a couple of questions to get you started which
10 will consist of your name and your mailing address, and
11 after you've been identified for the record, then you are
12 free to make your statement to the Commission. When
13 you're finished, if the Commissioners or the parties have
14 questions, then they may ask you a question or two just
15 to clarify your statement.
16 If you don't wish to make a public
17 statement tonight orally, you may always use the form in
18 the back of the room to submit a written comment or you
19 may do that on line if you so choose, but if you do, we'd
20 ask that you have that in before February 7th which is
21 the last day of proceedings in this matter and after that
22 date the record will be closed and the Commission will
23 deliberate and make a decision on this filing, so with
24 that, we'll begin with our first person, Donald
25 Fredericksen.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
31 COLLOQUY
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1 DONALD FREDERICKSEN,
2 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
3 sworn, testified as follows:
4
5 EXAMINATION
6
7 BY MR. PRICE:
8 Q Sir, could you please state your name and
9 your mailing address?
10 A My name is Donald E. Fredericksen.
11 Q And your mailing address as well?
12 A Mailing address is 13763 Yellowstone,
13 Pocatello, Idaho, 83202.
14 Q Are you an Idaho Power customer?
15 A I'm an Idaho Power customer.
16 Q Thank you. You may proceed.
17 A Thank you. Well, you know, I got about 30
18 acres out of town and I built a house out there and at
19 the time the gas company, Intermountain Gas, and Idaho
20 Power was having a seesaw as to who furnish the power for
21 my heat and stuff. Well, at that time I put in an
22 electric furnace and since then -- I mean, I paid for
23 everything. I paid for the line going in there. I paid
24 for the power poles. I paid everything that was
25 necessary to pay, and I don't know why that they need
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
32 FREDERICKSEN
Public
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1 this kind of a raise.
2 Now, the raise, as I understand it, asked
3 was 10 percent which would be quite a bill as far as I'm
4 concerned, and first of all, I i d like to thank the
5 Commission for being able to espouse my thoughts on the
6 subj ect and everybody and, of course, Idaho Power, too,
7 because when the weather has been cold, I know that it's
8 necessary to have power. I look out at the pumphouse and
9 see if the power is on all the time, but anyway, I paid
10 for all the poles. I now pay for -- they say well, we
11 want $25.00 to cut your pump off because I sprinkle or I
12 pay $3.05 a month for leaving it on. I mean, this is
13 uncalled for as far as 11m concerned.
14 I paid for everything that goes in there
15 and I consider it mine because I paid for it, but they
16 come out and give us service and stuff like that which is
17 fine.I would go for a 6 percent because we i re bound to
18 get a 6 percent or a 4 percent raise or whatever. The
19 Commission, I think, says 6 percent or something like
20 that.I know we i re going to get a raise either way, but
21 11m just against any kind of a raise like that 6 percent
22 raise. Thank you very much.
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let i s see if there
24 are any questions. Any questions?
25 MR. PRICE: No questions.
cSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
33 FREDERICKSEN
Public
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1 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much.
3 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
4 (The witness left the stand.)
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And there was
6 presented to the Commission last week at a hearing a
7 settlement of the case which is substantially less than
8 what the Company had originally proposed and there i s a
9 summary sheet on the table to explain the terms of the
10 settlement which is what the Commission is considering
11 now which does include a residential increase of 4.7
12 percent.
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14
The next name on my list is Jerad Davies.
15 JERAD DAVIES,
16 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
17 sworn, testified as follows:
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19
20
EXAMINATION
21 BY MR. PRICE:
22 Q Sir, please state your name and your
23 mailing address.
24 A Jerad Davies, 615 North Grant, Pocatello,
25 Idaho, 83204.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
34 DAVIESPublic
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1 Q And are you an Idaho Power customer?
2 A I am.
3 Q Thank you. You may proceed.
4 A Thank you. Basically, to begin with, I
5 think that this rate increase is a little excessive. I
6 understand that there was currently a settlement that was
7 proposed here just recently, although if memory serves me
8 correctly from the information that I was given prior to
9 this, the Staff recommended only a 1.37 percent to
10 residential customers with a total of about 2.8 or
11 17.5 million. This was against the original 63.9 million
12 which was 10.35 percent overall.
13 A lot of this I don't understand. I mean,
14 my electricity bill for this month alone was $140. In my
15 entire time of using electricity through Idaho Power, I
16 have never had a bill this high. I can only attribute it
17 to being a colder month this year and to the fact that
18 unfortunately with a colder month and the fact that my
19 house is all electric heat that this has caused this;
20 however, now we've got Idaho Power coming back and saying
21 they want an additional 4.53 percent. How many people in
22 the state are going to be affected by this? How many
23 people in this state are now going to have to make a
24 choice between putting food on their table or paying
25 their electricity bill? These sort of increases yearly
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
35 DAVIES
Public
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1 it seems like, I don't know, I believe that Idaho Power
2 came back at one point and said to the PUC Staff that
3 they could file as often as yearly on this using
4 forecasted data.
5 To me, forecasted data doesn't make sense.
6 They even talk about the fact that they're forecasting
7 this.I would love to go to my manager and say that I
8 think that my increase for the next year, my raise, is
9 based on what I think I would perform, not what I've
10 actually performed. I realize that energy, electricity,
11 the hydroelectric, the fuel to power their vehicles so
12 that they can come out is getting more expensive, I
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understand that, but in this day and age with the cost
efficient and the energy efficient mechanisms that we are
15 seeing come out daily, and I do stress daily, it only
16 serves to wonder why they need an additional 10 percent
17 and why we need to come to our customers for an
18 additional 4.53 percent.
19 I'll be honest, this $140 bill is going to
20 be tough to swallow and this continual increase and these
21 continual -- I mean, I'm using everything in my power to
22 try to make my house more energy efficient and yet, here
23 we are with another 4.5 percent looming over our heads.
24 I think that 1.37 was reasonable and I would encourage
25 you to please listen to the PUC Staff when they made this
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
36 DAVIES
Public
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1 recommendation. Thank you.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see
3 if there are any questions.
4 MR. PRICE: No questions.
5 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
6
7 EXAMINATION
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9 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
Q I was just curious how large of a house
11 you're heating.
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A Actually, it's only a two-bedroom
apartment.
Q And have you made any changes?
15 A No.
16 Q Any new electronic devices?
17 The only thing we can think of is the factA
18 that it has baseboard electric heat which is kind of
19 inefficient to begin with.
20 Yeah, it is, but that's your landlord.Q
21 A Exactly.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much,
23 sir.
24 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: The next is Marilyn
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
DAVIES (Com)
Public
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1 Casey.
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3 MARILYN CASEY,
4 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
5 sworn, testified as follows:
6
7 THE WITNESS: My name is Marilyn Casey. I
8 live at 640 McKinley, Pocatello, Idaho, 83201.
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MR. PRICE:
13 And are you an Idaho Power customer?Q
14 I personally am not, but he is and he'sA
15 hard of hearing, so he pays the bill, so I'm going to get
16 up here and complain that the people haven't had wage
17 increases for 10 years or more. We're low income. I'm
18 definitely set, you know, low income, social security,
19 disabili ty, he's retired, he's set, but prices everywhere
20 are going up and it's too much for us low income people,
21 it really is.Idaho was stated as having quite a few
22 unemployment recently and it's just too much. You know,
23 money worries get me down and make me so depressed that I
24 feel I can't afford to live, you know, and it's just too
25 much, these raises. That's all I've got to say.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
38 CASEY
Public
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there
2 are any questions for you.
3 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
4 MR. PRICE: No questions.
5
6 EXAMINATION
7
8 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
9 Q I guess I just have one. Have you taken
10 advantage of any resources at the community action
11 agencies?
12 A I'm secretary for ICAN, the local
13 community action.
14 Q So you're aware if there are any programs
15 you qualify for you know about?
16 A He doesn't qualify. He's a Veteran and he
17 makes just enough to get by, but his income is not going
18 to raise, my income is not going to raise and there's a
19 lot of other people in my position.
COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you for coming
21 out tonight. I appreciate it.
22
23
(The witness left the stand.)
COMMISSIONER SMITH: Patrick Beaver, did I
24 say that right?
25 MR. BECVAR: No, it's okay. It's
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
39 CASEY (Com)
Public
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1 mispronounced by most people anyway.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Well, please correct
3 me.
4 MR BECVAR: It's Becvar.
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6 PATRICK BECVAR,
7 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
8 sworn, testified as follows:
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MR. PRICE:
13 Q Can you please state your name?
14 My name is Patrick Aaron Becvar. I liveA
15 at 303 North Hayes, Apartment 108.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Is that in Pocatello?
17 THE WITNESS: Pocatello, Idaho, zip code
18 83204 and yes, I do go through Idaho.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay, and could you
20 please spell your last name?
21 THE WITNESS: B-e-c-v-a-r.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you.
23 THE WITNESS: I'm a full-time student. My
24 girlfriend is also a full-time student. Pulling in these
25 $5.85 an hour jobs that are just about the only thing
cSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
40 BECVAR
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1 that Pocatello has is ridiculous. We look at 10.17 an
2 hour for a single person to make their way in the world
3 and live, have a life, have a house and take care of the
4 things that we need to, and we are pulling in half of
5 that and this raise is absolutely ridiculous. I can't
6 afford it, she can't afford it and even working together
7 we can't afford it and this increase is going to be doing
8 that to so many people it's pathetic.
9 I can't stress enough that people in Idaho
10 can't afford this kind of increase, it's too much. We
11 look at 5.85 and we've been earning 5.15 an hour for the
12 past I don't even know how long. Almost every other
13 state in the country is pulling in at least 7.85, at
14 least. Most of your minimum wage jobs are 7.85 in almost
15 every other state but Idaho. We can't afford it.
16 With the hard working people that are
17 doing everything they can to scrimp and save just so they
18 can provide food in their bellies, pay their bills and
19 take care of their children and now they have to find a
20 way, as Ms. Davies says, to make a sacrifice. Do we feed
21 our children or do we pay our power. I mean, there's no
22 appropriate way to make a decision like that. You can't
23 sit here and live off other people, you have to do it on
24 your own at some point and it's too much. That's my
25 opinion.
cSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
41 BECVAR
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let's see if there
2 are any questions for you.
3 MR. PRICE: No questions.
4 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
5
6 EXAMINATION
7
8 BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
9 Q I guess my question would be the same,
10 have you checked out what resources you might qualify
11 for?
12 A Actually, I have. I went in and got
13 energy assistance and it paid my energy for about three
14 months and that was it and we pulled in over $400 from
15 the energy assistance. I'm also a member of ICAN, my
16 girlfriend is vice-chair. We know of the options.
17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you, sir,
18 appreciate you coming.
19 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
20 (The witness left the stand.)
COMMISSIONER SMITH: I think, unless Gene
22 tells me differently, that is the end of the list of
23 people who have signed up to make a statement tonight.
24 At this time if there is anyone present who would wish to
come forward and make a statement, I would invite you to
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
42 BECVAR (Com)
Public
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1 do so at this time.
2 MS. SEAMAN: Actually, can I?
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Yes, you may. Please
4 come forward.
5 MS. SEAMAN: Okay. I'm sorry, I've been
6 sitting here writing it all down, so I'm just going to
7 read it all to you.
8
9 CRYSTAL SEAMAN,
10 appearing as a public witness, having been duly sworn,
11 was examined and testified as follows:
12
13 EXAMINATION
14
15 BY MR. PRICE:
16 Please state your name and your mailingQ
17 address.
18 My name is Crystal Seaman. I live at 303A
19 North Hayes, Apartment 108, Pocatello, Idaho, 83204.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Please spell your
21 last name.
22 THE WITNESS: S-e-a-m-a-n.
23 Q BY MR. PRICE: Are you an Idaho Power
24 customer?
25 A Yes.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
43 SEAMAN
Public
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1 Q Thank you.
2 A Okay, in my opinion I think the raise is
3 extremely high. I am an ISU student working my way
4 through school. It's hard to live paying bills the way
5 it is now. This raise is hard not only on students, but
6 the disabled, elderly and single parents who are paying
7 child care, food expenses, et cetera. I believe that if
8 Idaho Power keeps with the raises, the only people left
9 that can afford to pay this kind of money is going to be
10 the people that's rich, that's living up in the big
11 houses on the hills and stuff.
12 We're going to have everyone who's
13 striving to live and make their life here in Pocatello
14 end up leaving to a place where they can bring in a
15 better amount, better wage, where their electricity and
16 stuff is going to be higher -- not higher, cheaper and
17 the community, the structure that Idaho has built and
18 Pocatello and surrounding cities is just going to crumble
19 because everyone that's here now is just going to pretty
20 much diminish, disappear and I'm done.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see
22 if there are any questions.
23 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
24 MR. PRICE: No questions.
25 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
44 SEAMAN
Public
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1 for your statement.
2 (The witness left the stand.)
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Is there anyone else?
4 Yes, sir.
5
6 DENNIS HOBBS,
7 appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
8 sworn, testified as follows:
9
10 EXAMINATION
11
12 BY MR. PRICE:
13 Q Can you please state your name and your
14 mailing address?
15 A Dennis Hobbs, 330 West Chubbuck Road,
16 Trailer No. 20, Chubbuck, Idaho, 83202.
17 Q And are you an Idaho Power customer?
18 A Yes, I am.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And Mr. Hobbs, I
20 think the court reporter would appreciate it if you would
21 please spell your last name.
22 THE WITNESS: H-o-b-b-s. This is my group
23 here that I've had in the last four years, worked with
24 through ICAN and I'm pretty proud of them for getting up
25 here and doing this because it scares them to death, but
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
45 HOBBS
Public
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1 what is happening with the people that we work with
2 through I CAN , the people are aware of the programs that's
3 out there. In fact, some of them don't even qualify and
4 i t' s just about a few bucks they don't qualify, but what
5 I'm seeing is people having to choose between buying food
6 and paying their rent or house payments or the power
7 payments or buy medicine and they just don't have the
8 funds to do this with all these raises we're getting
9 every year.
10 The power raises every year, their social
11 security doesn't raise. A lot of their jobs they don't
12 get a raise. The people are stretched out to the maximum
13 where they have to choose this stuff and this is what I
14 would like to say is that most of these people that I
15 work with can't afford any more else, they have to cut
16 back on things and we're seeing it more and more all the
17 time down at the food banks and stuff and throughout the
18 country, actually, and this is why I decided I needed to
19 testify tonight and I wasn't going to, but I just want to
20 say there's so many people that just can't afford it
21 right now, and I had to choose to either sell my big
22 house and go into a manufactured home this last year and
23 I chose to go into a manufactured home so I can meet all
24 the obligations that I have medically and everything
25 else. Thank you.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
46 HOBBSPublic
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1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you. Let's see
2 if there are any questions.
3 MS. NORDSTROM: No questions.
4 MR. PRICE: No questions.
5 THE WITNESS: Thank you.
6 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you, sir.
7 (The witness left the stand.)
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: All right, it
9 appearing that no one else wishes to make a statement, I
10 would declare that the hearing is adj ourned for tonight
11 and we will reconvene on Thursday evening in Twin Falls,
12 so with that, we appreciate the attendance of all the
13 people who made the special effort to come out on this
14 cold winter night to help us with our decision and we
15 appreciate your testimony.
16 Thank you, we're adjourned.
17 (The Hearing adjourned at 7:20 p.m.)
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cSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
47 COLLOQUY
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1 AUTHENTICATION
2
3
4 This is to certify that the foregoing
5 proceedings held in the matter of the application of
6 Idaho Power Company for authority to increase its rates
7 and charges for electric service to electric customers in
8 the State of Idaho, commencing at 7:00 p.m., on Tuesday,
9 January 29, 2008, at the Chubbuck City Council Chambers,
10 5160 Yellowstone Avenue, Chubbuck, Idaho, is a true and
11 correct transcript of said proceedings and the original
12 thereof for the file of the Commission.
13
14
15
16
(lJ)~~UL~~~_ __
CONSTANCE S. BUCY
Certified Shorthand Reporter # 87
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CSB REPORTING
Wilder, Idaho 83676
48 COLLOQUY