20090417Vol I Prehearing Conference.pdf

ORIGINAL.BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWER
COMPANY'S APPLICATION FOR A
CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE
AND NECESSITY FOR THE LANGLEY
GULCH POWER PLANT
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) CASE NO. IPC-E-09-03
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)
) PREHEARING CONFERENCE
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BEFORE
COMMISSIONER JIM KEMPTON (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER MARSHA SMITH
COMMISSIONER MACK REDFORD
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PLACE:Commission Hearing Room
472 West Washington Street
Boise, Idaho
DATE:April 14, 2009
VOLUME I - Pages 1 - 12
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CSB REPORTING
Constance S. Bucy, CSR No. 187
23876 Applewood Way * Wilder, Idaho 83676
[phone] * [phone]
Email csb~heritagewifi.com
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1 APPEARANCES
2 For the Staff:
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5 For Idaho Power Company:
Scott Woodbury, Esq.
Deputy Attorney General
472 West Washington
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Barton L. Kline, Esq.
Idaho Power Company
Post Office Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707-0070
RICHARDSON & 0' LEARY
by Peter J. Richardson, Esq.
Post Office Box 7218
Boise, Idaho 83702
RACINE, OLSON, NYE, BUDGE
& BAILEY
by Eric L. Olsen, Esq.
Post Office Box 1391
Pocatello, Idaho 83204-1391
McDEVITT & MILLER
by Dean J. Miller, Esq.
Post Office Box 2564
Boise, Idaho 83701-2564
Mr. Ken Miller
5400 West Franklin
Boise, Idaho 83705
Ms. Betsy Bridge
Idaho Conservation League
Post Office Box 844
Boise, Idaho 83701
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For Industrial Customers
of Idaho Power:
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For Idaho Irrigation
Pumpers Association:
For Invenergy Thermal
Development LLC:
For Snake River Alliance:
For Idaho Conservation
League:
CSB REPORTING
[phone]
APPEARANCES
1 BOISE, IDAHO, TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 2009, 10:00 A. M..2
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4 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Let i s go on the
5 record. Good morning. It i s 10: 00 0 i clock at the PUC
6 Hearing Room on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, the date, time
7 and place for the prehearing conference specified in
8 Order No. 30751; more specifically, in the matter of
9 Idaho Power Company i s application for a certificate of
10 public convenience and necessity for the Langley Gulch
11 power plant. The purpose of the prehearing conference is
12 to identify the intervening parties, discuss the
13 processing of the application and to determine the scope.14 of the proceedings. The prehearing proceedings will be
15 conducted pursuant to Commission Rules of Procedure,
16 Idaho Administrative Procedures Act 31.01.01. In the
17 matter of appearances, we i II start with Idaho Power
18 Company.
19 MR. KLINE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My
20 name is Bart Kline. I'm an attorney representing Idaho
21 Power.
22 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Staff?
23 MR. WOOBURY: Scott Woodbury, Deputy
24 Attorney General, for Commission Staff..25 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Industrial
CSB REPORTING
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1 Customers of Idaho Power?
2 MR. RICHARDSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
3 Peter Richardson of the firm Richardson & 0' Leary here on
4 behalf of the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power.
5 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Invenergy Thermal
6 Development LLC?
7 MR. MILLER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
8 Dean J. Miller with the firm McDevitt & Miller appearing
9 on behalf of Invenergy. I would also like to introduce
10 Mr. Brett Oakleaf who is the director of business
11 development in Invenergy's Denver office who has traveled
12 up here today to participate in the prehearing.
13 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: The name is Brett
14 Olsen?
15 MR. MILLER: Oakleaf.
16 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Oakley?
17 MR. MILLER: Oakleaf.
19 that, please, for the recorder?
COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Would you spell
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21 got it right.
MR. MILLER: I'LL try. O-a-k-l-e-a-f. I
22 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: And the Idaho
23 Irrigation Pumpers Association.
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MR. OLSEN: Yes, Mr. Chairman, Eric Olsen
with the firm Racine, Olson, Nye, Budge & Bailey for the
CSB REPORTING
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2 COLLOQUY
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1 Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association.
2 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: And who was the
3 second introduction? I think you had a second
4 introduction there, but I'm not sure.
5 MR. OLSEN: No.
6 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Okay, you will be
7 alone, then? Will Mr. Yankel be here?
8 MR. OLSEN: He will as the case
9 progresses.
10 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Snake River
11 Alliance.
12 MR. MILLER: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Ken
13 Miller for the Snake River Alliance.
14 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: And Idaho
15 Conservation League.
16 MS. BRIDGE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'm
17 Betsy Bridge representing the Idaho Conservation
18 League.
19 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Okay, thank you,
20 and, Betsy, will you be functioning as an attorney at
21 this point in time?
22 MS. BRIDGE: I actually just found out I
23 passed the bar exam, thank you, so I am sworn in May 7th,
24 so after that point in time I will be functioning as an.25 attorney.
CSB REPORTING
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3 COLLOQUY
1.COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Well,
2 congratulations.
3 MS. BRIDGE: Thank you.
4 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Are there any
5 preliminary matters before we go forward?
6 MR. KLINE: No.
7 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: I have a few
8 comments I'd like to make. First of all, I'd like to do
9 a quick overview on the application. The application
10 that has been filed is requesting issuance of a
11 certificate of public convenience and necessity in
12 conjunction with ratemaking treatment under provisions.13 of, first in priority, Idaho Code 61-502 (a) which is
14 essentially the construction work in progress section of
15 Idaho Code, and then Senate Bill 1123 which is section
16 61-541 which is preapproved ratemaking treatment and that
17 has been passed in both the House and the Senate, but I
18 don't believe it's been signed by the Governor yet. I
19 could be wrong.
20 Whatever it is, it's in progress and would
21 be effective the 1st of July after the legislative
22 session, so both of those ratemaking treatments have been
23 requested to be implemented in conjunction with the
24 issuance of a certificate of public convenience and.25 necessi ty. The application also requested modified
CSB REPORTING
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4 COLLOQUY
.1 procedure and in the case of Senate Bill 1123, that
2 particular piece of legislation specifies that a hearing
3 is required. The Chair would note that the conditional
4 language of 61-502 (a) which is the CWIP, construction
5 work in progress, language suggests a higher standard of
6 review than modified procedure, but the Commission at
7 this point in time has not made a decision specifically
8 on that issue and the Commission will wait until we see
9 what happens in the prehearing conference today to make a
10 final issuance of an Order on that question.
11 The application requested expedited review
12 and Staff has made a proposal of dates that you should.13 have in an e-mail that came out from the Commission on
14 Tuesday, April 7th, 2009, the date on that, and the time
15 was 1:37 p.m., so you should have that.If you don't,
16 I'm sure that Staff will provide that during the
17 prehearing conference. It will be a matter of discussion
18 to try and expedite as much as possible we can the
19 request of Idaho Power to keep moving on this.
20 In an overview of the prehearing process,
21 the Commission's intent is not to be present during the
22 time that you're actually having the prehearing
23 conference as far as the issues related to discovery or
24 exchange of information or proposed evidence. During.25 that time the Commission will go into recess and allow
CSB REPORTING
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5 COLLOQUY
.1 Staff and intervenors to move forward on finding a
2 sui table schedule and to bring issues forward to the
3 Commission after we come back.
4 The point that we'll come back is after
5 Staff notifies us that the issues have been discussed and
6 resol ved to the extent they can be resolved and that the
7 intervenors and Staff are ready to report back to the
8 Commission. At that time we'll go back on the record.
9 During the time that you're in the actual working
10 environment of the prehearing conference, you will not be
11 on the record. When we come back and I call the
12 prehearing conference back to order, then we will also go.13 on the record.
14 At the time the Staff reports back, there
15 will be ample opportunity for any intervenor or the
16 applicant to make additional comments or to make any
17 motions that they feel are necessary. Are there any
18 questions, then, on where we are in this process? At
19 this point, then, since it is time to get on with it, I
20 would declare the Commission in recess and, Connie, if
21 you'll go off the record.22 (Recess. )
23 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: We'll go back on
24 the record and the prehearing conference will come back.25 to order and I will say that was really quick. I can
CSB REPORTING
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6 COLLOQUY
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1 tell that Idaho Power is serious about this expedited
2 process, so Mr. Woodbury.
3 MR. WOOBURY: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
4 This prehearing conference was noticed up to identify the
5 parties and in that regard, there was a notice of parties
6 that issued from the Commission on April 9th and the
7 Commission has taken attendance of the parties for this
8 hearing. With respect to maybe potential other parties,
9 I would indicate that there is another case pending
10 before the Commission and it's Generic E-08-3 and that's
11 a petition to open an investigative docket.
12 I've had some conversations with Pete
Richardson in that case and he has a meeting with his
client group tomorrow and the parties have agreed that
15 should Northwest Intermountain Power Producers Coalition
16 desire to intervene in this case, the parties would have
17 no obj ection to a petition for late intervention.
18 There was an e-mail that was circulated to
19 the parties by Staff setting forth general categories of
20 issues that Staff determined to be flowing from the
21 Company's application and that was discussed and parties
22 believe that the issues are framed in such a way that
23 they're broad enough to truly identify, I guess, the
24 issues presented. Those include the integrated resource
25 plan of the Company, the need for the resource, load
CSB REPORTING
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7 COLLOQUY
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1 forecast and timing, the request for proposal that was
2 issued, sufficiency of that RFP, the resource
3 identification and benchmark resource selection, the
4 selection process for the third-party consultant.
5 Regarding the resource, the selection
6 process, the fairness of the issue, the criteria that
7 were used, price and non-price attributes and
8 transparency of the process. Also, the issues that are
9 raised by the Company's application for a certificate of
10 public convenience and necessity as set out in Commission
11 Rules of Procedure 112, the ratemaking treatment
12 requested by the utility for cost recovery and ratemaking
13 commi tment, the construction work in progress, CWIP,
14 allowance of funds used during construction, AFUDC, a
15 second being the -- which is now I guess Idaho Code
16 61-541 which is binding ratemaking treatment signed by
17 the Governor is my understanding and would become
18 effective July 1, and an added issue regarding ratemaking
19 treatment would be the financial issues in the two
20 proposals, so Staff would -- oh, and then with respect to
21 the new code provision, the Company has requested the
22 opportunity to file supplemental testimony within two
23 weeks and we've devised a schedule to allow for that and
24 it would be regarding that ratemaking treatment which
25 would be part of 61-541 and the criteria that the
CSB REPORTING
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8 COLLOQUY
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1 Commission would have to consider for approving that.
2 Staff proposed the following scheduling
3 and additional scheduling by the parties pursuant to
4 discussion today and that is April 28th, Idaho Power
5 supplemental prefile deadline; June 5, production request
6 deadline; June 19, Staff/intervenor prefile direct
7 testimony deadline; July 2nd, rebuttal prefile; July 14
8 through 16, technical hearing in Boise; and July 31,
9 2009, deadline for posthearing briefings should any
10 parties feel the desire to file one, so I think that you
11 can perhaps solicit the other parties to see whether
12 there are things that I might have forgotten, but that's
13 the understanding that Staff has as to the status of this
14 case at this point.
15 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Thank you,
16 Mr. Woodbury. Mr. Kline.
MR. KLINE: No, I think Mr. Woodbury has
18 summarized our agreements accurately.
19 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: And Mr. Kline, was
20 that a motion to file supplemental testimony, was that
21 the request or was that the issue that has been brought
22 up and is that indeed a motion, then?
23 MR. KLINE: I can formalize that as a
24 motion, yes, we will do that.
25 MR. WOOBURY: Encompassed, I guess, in the
CSB REPORTING
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9 COLLOQUY
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1 scheduling that we have, the Company has agreed that its
2 request for modified procedure would be withdrawn.
3 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: All right; so the
4 motion to file supplemental testimony is granted and
5 there is no other issue that you would like to address.
6 Mr. Richardson?
7 MR. RICHARDSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
8 No, I think Mr. Woodbury did an admirable job of
9 summarizing our efforts this morning.
10 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Okay, Mr. Miller.
11 MR. MILLER: Ditto for us, Mr. Chairman.
12 I think Mr. Woodbury has accurately described what was
13 discussed and we're in agreement.
14 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Mr. Olsen.
15 MR. OLSEN: Same here, Mr. Chairman.
16 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Ms. Bridge?
17 MS. BRIDGE: We are also in agreement.
18 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Is there any other
19 business to bring before the Commission? Commissioner
20 Smith.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I just have a
22 question and the question is on the bidding issue that's
23 in this case which as I heard you describe it is was the
24 request for proposal done correctly for the Langley Gulch.25 proj ect as opposed to being some generic investigation
CSB REPORTING
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10 COLLOQUY
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1 into the whole issue of bidding; is that correct?
2 MR. WOOBURY: It's a separate docket,
3 Generic E-8-03 which was the petition to open a generic
4 investigation.
5 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And that's not this
6 case?
7 MR. WOOBURY: That's not this case.
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you.
9 MR. RICHARDSON: Mr. Chairman?
10 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Mr. Richardson.
11 MR. RICHARDSON: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
12 As the attorney representing the petitioner in the
13 generic docket, I would like to clarify that NIPPC may
14 intervene in this case and may raise, and will likely
15 raise, issues relative to the conduct of the RFP specific
16 to the Langley Gulch project, but may have generic
17 implications just to be clear.
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COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: The transcript will
20 be filed in ten days to two weeks and if there is no
21 other business to bring before the Commission, this
22 prehearing conference is adj ourned.
23 (The prehearing conference adj ourned at
24 11:00 o'clock a.m.)
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CSB REPORTING
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1 AUTHENTICATION
2
3
4 This is to certify that the foregoing
5 prehearing conference held in the matter of Idaho Power
6 Company's application for a certificate of public
7 convenience and necessity for the Langley Gulch power
8 plant, commencing at 10: 00 a .m, on Tuesday, April 14,
9 2009, at the Commission Hearing Room, 472 West Washington
10 Street, Boise, Idaho, is a true and correct transcript of
11 said prehearing conference and the original thereof for
12 the file of the Commission.
13
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CSB REPORTING
[phone]
12 AUTHENTICATION