20191218Telephonic Hearing Transcript Vol I.pdf

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CSB REPORTING
Ce rl iJied Short han d Reporte rs
Post Oflce llox 9774
Boise. tdaho 83707
csbrcnortin!.1 yahoo.com Reporter:
Constance Bucy,
CSR
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
rN THE MATTER OE THE PETITION OF
IDAHO POWER COMPANY TO STUDY THE
COSTS, BENEE]TS, AND COMPENSATION
OF NET EXCESS ENERGY SUPPLIED BY
CUSTOMER ON-SITE GENERAT]ON
CASE NO. ] PC-E- 18 - 15
BEFORE
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e,'ci m
C)@rn?#0
COMM]SSIONER PAUL KJELLANDER (PTeSi
COMMISSIONER KRISTINE RAPER
COMMISSIONER ERIC ANDERSON
oZ
PLACE :Commission Conference Room
11331 West Chinden BIvd.Building 8, Suite 2 01-ABoise, Idaho
DATE:Decem.ber 2, 2OL9
VOLUME I Pages 1 246
o ORIGINAL
Ph:208-890-5198 Fax: l-888-623-6899
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
APPEARANCES
Edward Jerell , Esq.
Deputy Attorney Generalii331 !i. Chinden Blvd.Building 8, Suite 2 01-ABoise, Idaho 83714
For Idaho Power Company:Lisa D. NordataoDIdaho Power Company
L22L W. Idaho Street
PO Box 70
Boise. Idaho 83707-0070
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AP PEARANCES
For the Staff:
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CSB REPORT]NG(208) 890-5198
lNDEX
WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
AIlen Merri tt
(Public )
Statement 5
Robert Kunz(Pubfic)Statement
Jeff Fereday(Public)Sr:atement 11
Robert Conant
(PubIic)
Statement 13
Roger Turcotte(PubIic)
St-at-ement L6
Cathy Pr iest
(PubIic)
Statement t-B
TyIer Grange
( Publ ic )
Statement
Ms. Nordstrom (Cross)
21.
24
Janet Buchert
( Publ ic )
St at- ement 25
Robert Parker
( Pubfic )
Sta t ement 27
Donald Shaff
( Publ ic )
Statement 33
Kevin Hunkovic
(Publ ic )
Statement 35
Kay Hummel(PubIic)Statement 39
TJ Boyer(PubIic)Statement 43
Barry Cl ot
(Pubfic)
46Statement
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INDEX
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1.2
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CSB REPORTING
(208 ) 890-s198
INDEX (ConLinued)
WlTNESS EXAMINAT]ON BY rAUL
Douglas Namba(Public )
Statement 48
Emory Goin
(Publ ic)
S L at-ement 52
Wayne Szalay
(Public)Statement 56
Andres La zarte(Public)Statement 59
Myrna Keyes
( Public )
Stat eme n t 63
Ed Robertson
(PubIic)
S t- a tement 65
Jesse Simpson
(Public)
Statement 69
f,awrence Vedder
(Public)Statement 13
Scott Moore
(PuLrlic)
Statement 16
Brian Pe r kins(PubIic)St. atement 84
Scot Mccavin(Public)
Statement B1
Paul Alfen
(PubIic)
Statement 93
Roger Lewi s(Public)Statement 96
Sierra Scott(Public)9BStatement
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]NDEX
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CSB REPORTING(208) 890-s198
INDEX (Continued)
WITNESS EXAMINAT]ON BY PAGE
Mitchell Eorrest
(Public)
St a t ement 101
David Davi,es
(Pubfic)
Statement 103
Evelyn Hitchcok
(Pub-lic)
Statement 106
Steven Graves
(Public)
Statement 109
Mi-chel1e Bfank
( Publ ic)Statement i13
Ryan Eisher
( Pubfic )
St at eme nt 116
Marvin Schroeder
(Publ ic )
Statement t27
Thomas Arnold
(Pub]1c )
Statement 126
Joshua Seth Hi 11
(Pubfic )
Statement 128
Kris Milfer(Public)
Statement 747
Trudy Mccavin
(Publ-1c)
Statement 746
Pat Hoffer
( Publ ic )
Statement 151
Brian Shie Ids(Public )
Statement 154
Larry Moore
(Public )
155Statement
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lNDEX
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CSB REPORT ING(208) 890-s198
INDEX (Continued)
WITNESS EXAM]NATlON BY PAGE
Robert Loken(PubIic)Statement 159
Paul Robb
(Publ ic )
Statement 161
Linda Prlberg
( Publ ic )
Statement 764
Mervin Erigerg
( PubIic )
Statement 166
Nick Davls
(Publ ic )
Statement 168
Robert Rus se 1I
(Pubfic)
Statement 170
Joseph Schuefer
(Public)
Statement t12
Gregory Earmer
( Publlc )
Statement 181
Austin Thompson
(Public )
Statement
Kirk Ebert z(Public)Statement 186
Michae.I Eelton
( PubIic )
Statement lBB
David Burica(PubIlc )
Statement 190
Elizabeth,Jeffrey
(Publi.c)
Statement 192
Timothy E. Riha
( Publ- i c )
19sStatement
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]NDEX
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CSB REPORT]NG(208) 890-5198
INDEX(Continued)
W]TNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Rick Aman
(Publ ic )
Statement 199
Jonathan Cont rucci
(PubI ic )
Statement 20L
Johannah Thompson
205 (PubIlc )
Statement
Susan Giannettino
( Public )
S t at-ement 208
Roy Cossai rt
(Public )
Statement 277
Lauresta
(Public )
Welty Statement 215
Robert Marcinko
(Publ ic )
Statement 218
Lindsay Meloy
(Public )
Statement 220
Car.I Simmons(Public)Statement
Justin Welty
(Publj-c)
Statement 229
Jenette Morgan(Pubfic)Statement 232
Shari Dorsey
( Publ ic )
Statement 234
Laura Raynes
( Public )
Statement 236
Nic Hunter(Public)Statement 238
Thomas E(Public)Nevifle 24LSLatemenLa
INDEX
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
1
BOISE, IDAEO, MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2OL9, 1O:OO A. M
COMMISS IOTIER KJELLANDER :WeI1, good
a telephonicformorning. This is the time and place
hearing in Case No. IPC-E-18-15, also
Power Company's petition to initiate
energy supplied by
is Pauf Kjellander.
matter of the appLication of Idaho Power Company to study
the costs, benefits, and compensation of net excess
known as ldaho
a docket in the
customer on-site generation. My name
I'm a Commiss.ioner of the Public
Utilities Cornrnlssion and I'11 be Chairing today's
Commissioner Ericproceedings.
Anderson and
I am also joined by
Commissioner Kri st ine Rape r .
like to
out that this is
we are conducting
Pubfic Utilities
Lhe very first telephonic
in our new facilities at
This morning 1 would just point
hearing that
the ldaho
Campus and so
glitches a long
Commi ssion East State
there could possibly be a few technical
the way, so I appreciate everybody's patience and
we move forward with the proceedings
One thing that I do need to mention
that apparently, the access code
indulgence as today.
for
the record is
.information that was published in severaf
least one perhaps, was incorrect and the
newspapers/ at
number and IDo25
COLLOQUY
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890. s198
2
code that is on our website is, of course, correct, but
there is no way for us to
print-ed, so we apologi ze
have already created for
and any potential ca I Iers
Hopefully,
change
for any
some of
what ' s already been
inconvenience that may
the caffers thi s
throughout the rest of
to be
begl n
with
mornang
the day.
exact
a part
with the
those individuals who cannot
get through will check our website and notice the
correct codes that they need to enter into
of today's tefeconference, so why don't we
appearances of the parties and letrs
Deputy Attorney Generaf representing
begin
Staf f .
the
MR. JEWELLT Thank you, Commissioner.
cood afternoon -- good morning. My name is Edward
JeweII, J-e-w-e-f-I, and Irm an attorney for the
Commission Staff.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
also then representing Idaho Power Company.
MS. NORDSTROM: My name is Lisa Nordstrom
and I'm Iead counsel for Idaho Power Company and my l-ast
name is spelled N-o-r-d-s-t-r-o-m,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you ve ry
t oday
wilLbeing
for
much. We appreciate the
to the case. There
officially reference
presence of those
no other parties
pa r:t 1e s
that I
the record that are present in
the room today, we wil-l- go ahead and b'egin with the25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
3
instructions in today's proceedings. We have guite a few
cal-fers who are in Lhe queue and the way that we wil-l-
work this is please know the l-ast four digits of your
telephone number, because the way that we will get you at
feast started in your testimony process will be to
reference the next calfer and give out those fast four
digits so that you wil-f know that it is you, so
hopefully, in today's age of technology, you sti1I know
the fast four digits of your phone number.
I only say that because I'm not so certaj-n
that I know that myself on my own phone, but again, the
last four dj-qits will be your recognition that it's your
turn to provide public testimony, so how this wi}l work
today is once I reference your last four digits, you wiJ-1
be unmuted and we'fI first try to make sure that you're
there, and then I wj-l-l- ask you just a
to get you officially on the record.
name and have you spef l- your name for
have an officiaf court reporter here
few brief questions
Irll ask you
the record.
you r
We do
a ful-1
and
who is taking
a recordtranscription of the record or to create
once f get your
recognize that
swear you in as
a customer of
and what else
Idaho Power, we will
do we need to do?
need to take your
for the intervenlng
name and your address and also to
testimony. There is an
you are
we l.I ,
Then at that point we
opportunityt25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.s198
4
for the Commissioners to ask follow-up questions, and so
parties who were earlier
ask follow-up questions
recognized in thi s
and there ' s also an
possibly
you thank
the next
proceeding to
opportunity
occur, so please
you for your
cal1er.
I apologize for
of you, of
do know the
a part of
our fi rst
we wif l- just allow for that to
stay on the l-ine until- we tefl
testimony today and move on to
So as we go th rough
have had,
that was
this,
the newspapers was inaccurate and that the one on the
any confusion that we
recognizing that the
may
code
in the queue.
and digits to
also again
published in one of
webs i- te is, of
whc are
numbe r s
course. correct. Eor those
course,
correct
you obvious Iy
put j-n to be
ready now fortoday's conference,
ca]-]er and the Last
so caller, are you
(No
5663?
so we are
wifl move on, then, to a cafler whose last four digits of
their phone number end in 5663. That is unmuted, so
four digits of that ca-Ller are 3352,
there? 3352. 3352?
response. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: 4]I right, we
fHE CALLER: Good morn j-ng.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good morning.
have you. Coul-d I get you to
why don'L I gel you sworn in.
Great, it's good to
first and foremost,25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890. s198
AL],EN MERR] TT ,
appearing as a pub.Iic witness,
sworn, testified as fol lows :
having been first duly
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
if we coufd for t.he record please get your name, first
and 1ast, and the.spelling.
THE WITNESS:My name is Affen Merritt,
M-e-r-r-i-t-t.A-l--l-e-n; Iast name Merritt.
COMM] SSlONER
AIIen, and you're speaking
weII, and could you for the
address ?
KJELLAN DER :
very clearJ-y.
record, then.
Thank you,
We hear vou
glve us your
THE WITNESS: It's 607 Ridge Circle,
KimberIy, Idaho, 83341.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
are you a customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: Yesr I am
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
good morning, and we're now ready for your public
co[unent.
THE W]TNESS:
a letter and I've read many
WeII, I've already
other Ietters that
submitted
their concern about what's being
invested thousands and thousands
done to people
express
vrho have
of dol-fars into a solar
5 MERR] TT
PubI ic
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(:MERR I TT
Publ i- c
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
system on their: residential property, and I woul-d say and
urge that the Conrmission needs to take that j-nto
consideration, We did that in good faith. You know,
we're spending our -- we spent our future, a Iot of
money, to hopefull-y make ourselves self-sufficient, and
it appears that the effort is being made to ki.I.I solar in
Idaho and just allow Idaho Power to create a monopoly or
sustain their monopoly.
I guess one point that wasn't included in
my fetter that's already been submitted that I did
request that Idaho Power provide me records of my hourly
use, which afte.r reviewing, I guess they're going to
hourly meterj-ng, but the records they provj-ded me show
that I was using negative kilowatts in certaj-n hours,
even though I didn't even have a solar system at the
time, so I guess I'm kind of confused how they can
measure ki.Iowatts hourly during the night and have me
generating power, so if that's the kind of meters they --
granted, they swapped out to a net meter, but the old
meters, it didn't seem like it's acceptable to be selllng
something on an hourly basis when it doesn't seem to be
accurate,
Anyway, I guess I hope the Commission wil-l-
take afl the hundreds of comments that solar people have
provided and I urge them to ej.ther grandfather in or
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890. s198
MERR]TT
Publ ic
change the rate schedu.Ie or reconsider it, because, you
know, it just doesn't seem fair. You generate power in
the day and turn around at night and eventualLy you get
about 40 percent back if you're doing credit, so anys,ay,
that's about a]l I have. I'11 stand for questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you very
much. l,et's see if there are any questions from the
parties to the case.
see none.
corunents as well your oral
there any quest i otrs
certainly appreciate
morning, Thank yot:
(The
There are no questions there.
from members of the Commission?
411en, thank
Any
I
you
very
being the
much.
you both
testimony
for your written
today and we
there?
first calfer this
wicness Ieft the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to the next calfer whose last four digj-ts of their phone
number end ln 1492, Caller, are
THE CALLER: YeS,
you
I'm here. Thank you.
COMMISSlONER KJELLANDER: Great, than k
you. Let's beqin first by getting you sworn in,
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
I KUN Z
Publ ic
appearing as a public
ROBERT KUNZ,
witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as folLows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if we could for the
your name and spelL
THE WITNESS: It is Roberl Kunz, common
first speIling, and fast name K-u-n-2.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you,
Robert, and your address, please.
THE WITNESS: Is 11367 West Hickory HilI
Court and that's in Boise, 8371-3.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Mr.
Kunz, are you currently a customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great, thank you
ve.ry much, and i f you wou.Id, pl-ease, provide us with your
comment.
THE WITNESS:Certainfy. I did send in
form at the PUC to do that,
wri-tten comments here that
one to the webslte using the
but I've formulated di f ferent
I'11 read for you into the record.Thank you very much
to deaf with thefor the opportunity to address how
record, coufd we get you to state
it for the record?
existing on-sjt-e generation customers in Case IPC-E-18-15I25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
in general. I own an 8. 1 ki.l-owatt DC photovoltaic a r ray.
of 2015. At that time
excess generation I
It was installed on my roof
Schedule 84
in May
and anyI was placed on
produced would
consumption.
count as a ki.l-owatt-hour credit against my
My system was planned and priced based on
thj-s assumption to yield an adequate payback period for
my investment in clean energy. Schedule 6, of course,
was created and Schedule 84 people were moved to it in
2018. Now, Idaho Power wishes to change the schedule to
better reflect how it needs to recoup expenses, claimj.ng
that Schedule 6 customers are being subsidized by
Schedul-e 1 customers.
In reality, Idaho Power needs to address
exactly how to coll-ect fixed and variable costs across
all their cusLomers, and this work has begun with a fixed
cost evaluation in response to IPC-E-18-16. In the
meantime, Idaho Power wishes to separate one smal,f cl-ass
of around one-quarter of one percent of customers and
create a discriminatory schedule to penalize these
on-site generation customers under the pretense that
reducing the credit provided for energy returned to the
grid will sofve the perceived inequity between Schedufe 1
and 6 customers,
Surprisingly, the intervention parties alI
()KUNZ
Pubf i c
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
KUNZ
Public
agreed to
method to
settlement
addit i on,
this. It
co rrect Iy
is simply not based on any sound
aLlocate frxed and variable costs
among customers. I ask this Commission to deny the
agreemenL and prohibit
Idaho Power leaves the
on my side
be worth
its implementation. In
disposition of existing
customers as an open question. Clearly, those customers
of whom I am a member should remain on the current
Schedu.l-e 6 where a kilowatt-hour consumed is worth the
same as an excess ki Iowatt-hour generated. In fact, if
of the meter are worth
the same, they should
side meter as wel-I.
Moving
system
those kilowatt -hours
address this issue.
existing customers to the new
export credit model violates norms in the industry.
Changing the ru.Ies after customers have made their
investments is unethical and unfair. I ask the
Commission -- I ask even if the Commission accepts this
settlement agreement, it shoul-d estabfish that existing
customers remain on the current Schedul-e 6. ldaho
Power's position to expire this g randfathe ring- in at 10
years should be denied and existing customers shoul-d be
the same on the Company
changes.
t-he opportunity to
aflowed to remain on the current Schedule 6 until their
is retired or ownership
Thanks again for
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. 5198
E EREDAY
Pub 1i c
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, Mr.
Kunz. We appreciate your comments this morning. Letrs
see if there are any questlons from either members of the
Commission or from the parties. There are no questions
from the parties and no questions from members of the
Commiss j-on, so Mr. Kunz, thank you very much for your
testimony this morning.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
(The witness ],ef t the line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to a calJ-er whose last f our digits end i-n 0256 , 0256 . I s
the ca l.Ler there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, Iet's
f irst get you swor:n j,n.
JEEE FEREDAY,
appearing as a public witness,
sworn, testified as folfows:
having been first duly
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you could for the record, please state your name and
spell it.
THE WITNESS: Jeff Fereday, F-e-r-e-d-a-y.
I l-ive al 420 East Crestline Drive in Boise, f'm ano25
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CSB REPORTING
208 . 890.5198
ldaho Power cust-onLe-r.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS:. 420 East Crestl-ine Drive,
Boise, 837 02 .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
we're ready, then, for your public comment.
THE WITNESS: I actually intend to appear
tomorrow night and I do have some rrrritten test.imony and
primariJ-y, Irm monitoring this today so I can bette.r
prepare, but I will say briefly that I support the
testimony of the previous two calIers and respectfu1ly
request that the Commission not adopt or approve that
settlement agreement or the new tariff arrangement and
hold the matter in abeyance pending further study.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you for --
THE WITNESS: So I intend to provide
testimony tomorrow.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you,
and we'Il- look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Let's see
if there are any follow-up questions from parties to the
case or from the Commission. Seeing none, I want to
thank you again for your testimony thi-s morning.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
(The witness left the line.)
EEREDAY
PubIic
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CSB REPORTING
208. 890. 5198
CONANT
Pub l ic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
calfer whose last four digits in their
in 0009, 0009. Ca1ler, are you there?
THE CALLER: I am and as
cal1er, I'm just basically J,istening in
planning on attending in person tomorrow.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
testify this morning or should we move on
cal- f er ?
THE CALLER:
interested in listening. I
but I'fl be there in person
COMMl SSIONER
Moving now Lo a
phone number end
with the previous
today and
Did you want Lo
to the next
We can move on. Irm more
do echo what they had said,
tomorrow as weII.
KJELLANDER: I,{e11,
we wi.l,.l, move on now to a caller
thank you
whose I astvery much, and
four dlgits are
appearing as
was examined
5119, 5119. Caller, are you there?
THE CALLI.R: I am here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great. Why
don't we begin by swearing you in.
ROBERT CONANT,
a public wi-tness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as fol-Iows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And if you could
state for the record your name and spell it for us.o 25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.s198
CONANT
Public
THtl WITNESS: Sure. Robert Conant, conmon
spelling on Robert, C-o-n-a-n-t.
clean energy, also the comrnunity
It's been great to see. My brief
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And vour
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 4960 North Farrow Street,
E-a-r-r-o-w, Boise, 83713, and I am an ldaho Power
cus tome r .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you very
much, and we're ready, then, for your corunent.
TtlE WITNESS: creat, thank you so much for
taking my corunent. I appreciate all the diligent work
that a1l the parties are doing for the consumers, for
for engaging in this.
comments would be that
clean energy
discouraged,
that has the
encourage t.he
the math adds
is something
and clear1y,
ahrility to do
biIled
that, and T would
a dec.ision
just
that and how
that shoufd be encouraged, not
this 1s a move or
Commission to further consider
the fixed cost report that was provided, I was
up to do that, and as I reviewed thoroughly
Itlaho Power was thorough, but I did not
encouraged .
see anything rega rding
and how they woulci be
fixed cosLs for other consumers
the math worked out for net
or, afso, I did not see how
hourly bi1ling, and I say neta25
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hourly billing very specifically, I think that it's been
misleading how the consumer has treen kind of sol-d this
proposal as a measuring -- that theyrre merely measuring
different.Iy. I think they need to cfearly say that we're
going to be bj-11ing you differentfy and caff it the right
thing, so those are my. I guess -- so in conclusion, I
would realJ-y like to see a more accurate fixed cost
report for everyone and hear Idaho Power say how everyone
will be bl]]ed correctly for fixed costs/ not just target
the solar customers with mis.Ieading terminology.10
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Thank you for hearing my
COMMlSS IONER KJELLANDER :
comment .
Thank you, and
o fet's see if there
see no questions.
of the Commission?
you very much for
CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
are any questions from the parties. I
Are there any questions from members
I see no questions. Robert, thank
your tes t imony.
l1 (The witness left the line.)
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to a caller whose fast four digits end in 6241 , 6241 . Is
the caller there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great, thank
you, and why dorr't we get you sworn in.
a
CONANT
PubIic
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 PubIic
appeari-ng as
was examined
ROGER ?URCOTTE,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as folfows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And if vou could
T-u-r-c-o-t-t-e, Sr. , Roger
state your name and spell it
THE I,i]TNESS:
for the official record.
Roger, R-o-g-e-r,
Turcotte, Sr. , residing at
colrunent.
921 North 10th Street, Boise, Idaho, 83102. I am an
I daho Power cllsr omer .
we're ready for your public
THE WITNESS:
opportunity and
of the previous
points and I'11
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
I can't say I disagree with
callers said. I agree with
keep it brief, but I think
Okay. I thank you for the
anything any
al-L the
the net
think we shoul-d
certainly does
are in the
metering, it should be -- since we are using renewable
and that's the way the worfd
encourage it, not discourage
not. Not grandfathering the
system now, which in the big
and in Idaho Power's worJ-d, I
huge .
of things in Boise
think it is very
is going. I
it, and thi s
people
s cheme
don't
that
If they want. to change the rules, you
know, subsequent to that because itrs causing issues, youo25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
TU RCOTTE
Public
know, that's
programs, to
some people
I think that
cha n qe
would
they
say, I
shoufd
you
bets
solve the
their rlght to do that, but under most
forces in midstream as, you know,
that was made about,
residence, then aff
don't think that is correct and
grandfather us in, and the point
know, if you sefl your
are off. People are under the
just takes care of the currentnew rules, et cetera. It
owner and a lot of us like myself, I'm in my 60's, I'm
not going to be
that ' s going to
here for who know.s how many years, but
time with them
don't see where
is breaking the
anyway if you
that ' s going
covenant that
even with what
;ob of tel I ing
contributed to
grandfather
to break the
problem over
people, so I
bank. but it
t hey
And
we
you
the
have, I
made with the existing residents.
the fast point under net metering,
don't think it does a very
bif -L each month how much I
go od
mean, it's kinci of
on your
grid and
a black
how much I took out of it, I
hole and you end up with just
I have no credits feft. You know by your bil1,
obviously, that your consumption, espec.ially in the
wintertime, goes up significantly, which is
understandable, but it's not a very cfear -- regardless
of what they end up doing, it's not a very clear process
I don't think. You know, iL would be simple if your bill
just showed I produced this much and I consumed this mucho25
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CSB REPORT lNG
208.890.5198
PR I EST
PubI ic
and they ce rta infy
my last comment.
from your meter, and thatrs
for your time.
KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
questi-ons from the parties or
know that
I thank you
COMMl SSlONER
fet's see if there are any
from the Commission. I see
for your testimony today.
(The witness
COMMISSIONER
the next caller whose fast
number end in 7083, 7083.
THE CALLER:
COMMISS]ONER
letrs get you sworn in,
none. We thank you very much
feft the line. )
KJELLANDER:
four digits
Ca11er, are
Yes, f am.
KJELLANDER:Thank you, and
CATHY PR]EST,
appearing as a publlc wj-tness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as fol-Iows:
COMMISSlONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if we coufd get you to state your name and speIl it for
the record.
T'HE WITNESS: Cathy Priest, C-a-t-h-y
P-r-i-e-s-t.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And Cathy, your
address, please.
Moving now to
of their phone
you the re ?
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Publ ic
THE WITNESS: (Inaudibfe) South Seminofe
PIace, Boise,83709.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And Cathy, could
we get you
garbfed on
could j ust
to repeat
the phone
you r
Iine,
address again? It was a fittle
repeat it for us
THE WITNESS:
Not you.r problem, but if you
again s J-owly.
5096 South Seminole, like
the Indian, Place, Boise,83709.
COMMISSIONER KJE,LLANDER: Thank you, and
are you a customer of Idaho Power?
]'llli l^ ITNESS: T ,lm -
COMMISSIONER K.IELLANDER: Could you please
provide your tesLimony, then?
THE WITNESS: I can't disagree
I just have
with any of
the previous cal lers
bit more to add. We
on anything.a litt1e
were sofd a biII of goods, you know,
when we purchased the solar panels
would be the way it is and we stood
that, you know. thi s
by that and invested
a lot of money thinking about not only clean energy, but
our future. Especially when we go on
1ot. beinq
that was
to a fixed income,
you know,this woul-d help a
to Idaho Power, so
able to }ower our
pa yme nt s
factors
one of the deci-ding
still working
the future.
I can go
on investirrq in it now while we're
and being able to take
And we
advarrtage of that in
do get a reading thato25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
PR] EST
Publ-ic
online and get on our proCuction and ki.Iowatt-hours and I
can fook in October and our Lowest productj-on, and it
goes daily, .Iowest production in
the 28th and that was 14.1, and
was on the 23rd and that was
that shows for the month of
that ' s a significant amount
kilowat-t-hours was orl
our highest productj-on
28, and
Octobe-r,
of power
so for
mv Tdaho Power bill
my usage was
that fdaho Power is
them to want to
ao SO
get t ing
decrease
and I plan on bei ng
we 1.I , so it sounds
the parties
questions.
from our investment.
that over time I think is unconscionab.Le and
it's just not right for them to be wanting to do that and
I hope you guys can see that and understand that and
realize that we invested in this, you know, solar for
several reasons, one of which was to benefit us, not
Idaho Power.
They take care of themselves pretty well,
I think, so I also submitted a statement and my husband
there tomorrow at the meeting AS
to get
that I s
everybody -- you're going
from a lot of peopl-e anda fot of same statements
pretty much all I have to add.
your comment. Let me see if we
1i ke
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you for
to the case or from
Thank you again for
(The witness l-eft
have any questions from
the Commission. I see no
your testimony today.
the line. )25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
GRANGE
Public
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
cal1er whose last four digits end in 8459, 8459. CaIler,
are you there? Last four digits of your phone number
845 --
THE CALLER: Yeah, I'm here, sorry about
that.
COMMISSIONER KJELI.,ANDER: Oh, sood. Good
morning. Let's get you sworn in.
TYLER GRANGE,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: 1f we could get
you to state your
THE
name and spell it for the record.
WTTNESS:Yeah, my name is Tyler
G-r-a-n-g-e.
KJELLANDER: Thank you,
Grange, T-y-l--e-r, Grange,
COMMI SS IONER
Ty1er, and your address, please.
THE WITNESS: 866 North World Cup Lane,
Eag1e, Idaho, 83616.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
are you a customer of Idaho Power?
irHF, WITNESS: I am
COMMISSIONER KJELI,ANDER: GIeat. Could25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198
GRANGE
Public
you please provj-de us your statement?
THE WITNESS: Yes, so we got installed
solar a little bit ago. I actually work j-n the solar
industry, so this is going to be testimony coming from
the side of the solar installers, so it will be kind of
.interest j-ng, and
sol-ar industry --
companies in the
severa] f ami-I ies
what we have seen .is and how we feef the
we talked to a couple other sol-ar
area, we've all sold and install-ed
and homecwners in the previous years
wi.th the notion that Idaho Power was going
in place.
to keep thi s
net metering policy
You
ln check and
are still pending
know, we've
installation
had several customers that
and we just kind of feel
1ike, you know, this Idaho Power throwing the who.Ie net
metering out tlre window and chang.ing it in the middle of
the game
all the
you know,
behind the
need to be done is a little
the reasoning
-- why the changes
because rdaho
j-s saying they
customers cost the
unset t.I ing,
we've hea rd,
is unfair to everybody .involved, you know, with
previous custome.rs who we have had choose to go,
solar. With that being saicl,
net metering seems a littIe
Power, you know, from what
need to change the costs because solar
grid money,
Like the previous testimony that has been
stated, you know, a .l-ot of Lhese customers are puttingI25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
23 GBANGE
PubI ic
aff their extra energy onto the grid and it doesn't cost
Idaho Power a sj.ngle penny for them to get energy and to
sell- it to t.heir neighbors at full retail rate, so the
cost of -- to acquire solar customers doesn't rea11y cost
Idaho Power anythj,ng, the reason being if there are
any if
know, because they're saying we cost
coufdn't be farther from the truth.
testimony.
sent us, the homeowners or the
both of us, a quote and they've
upgrade their grid, so we've had
we've had to pay to upgrade to
them money, it
so that ' s my
Idaho Power's infrastructure in order for them to go to
so1ar, and so to see Idaho Power change the rates, you
order to fit the solar
Idaho Power has always
instaflation compan i es,
actually charged us to
several- customers that
necessary,
few thoughts
to add is we
capacity that's
there have been any utility
.Iike transformers that need
or grid upgrades
to be upgraded in
being installed,
if
I'ff be at the meeting tomorrow to add a
there, but that's just the main thing f want
been receiving invo j-ces
their infrastructure and
you know,
change it
from Idaho
if it stayed
we have to
because they ' re
adding more costs or costlng
true, because we're paying
Power to upgrade
one-to-one, that
upgrade, but if
saying that they
them more money,
have
makes sense.
they want to
need to be
that I s notI25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
GRANGE (X)
Public
for their infrastructure upgrades, so thatrs it. Thatrs
what I have.
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: Ihank you. Let
me see if there are any questions from the parties. We
counsel-do we have a question coming
representing ldaho Powe r .
from the lega I
MS. NORDSTROM: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you please
get closer to your microphone so he can hear: you more
clearf y ?
MS. NORDSTROM: Sure, thank you.
CROSS_EXAMINATION
BY MS. NORDSTROM:
0 Could yr:u please telf me what company you
work for ?
A Yes, it's Idahome Solar.
o I 'rn sorry, which solar?
A Idahome Solar.
MS. NORDSTROM: Oh, Idahome Solar. Thank
you. No f urther: questions.
TIIE !v ITNESS : Yeah.
COMMISSIONER KJELI,ANDER: ATe theTe any
questions from members of the Cornnission? There areo25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.s198
BUCH E RT
Publ ic
none. Thank you very much
believe you ment j-oned that
(The witness
COMM]SSlONER
t,he next caller whose last
Ca11er, are you there?
THE CALLER:
for your
we will
testimony and I
see you tomorrow.
Ieft the line. )
KJELLANDER: Moving now to
four digits end in 6878, 6878.
I am here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: GIeat. Let me
get you sworn an first.
appearlng as
was examined
JANET BUCHERT,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
coufd we get your name and spelled for the record,
please?
THE WITNESS: Yes, Janet Buchert. Janet,
the usual speIIing, and Buchert, B-u-c-h-e-r-t.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank
your address, please.
THE WITNESS:. 235 West ELoating
Road in Eagle, Idaho.
COIIMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
you, and
Eeather
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208.890.5198
BUCHERT
Pubfic
Please provide
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
us with your comments.
THE WITNESS: So I woul"d
comments given by Robert
I'd add is that I read a
costs, but I don't read
Thank you.
with all of the
The only thing
agreement about
revenuesr so in ei.ght
that Idaho Power could
say that T agreed
Kunz earlier.
lot in the
a lot about
years now, it's completely feasible
be payang us
number and
4.4 cents per
then sefling thatkifowatt-hour or wha Lever
energy out
where the
we've made
of state for substantially more, and we wonder
reward is for us for the beneficial investment
j-n that scenario, so thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELI,ANDER: Thank you. Let
me see if there are any questions from the parties or the
Commission. There are none . Thank you aga.in f or your
t est imony .
(The witness feft the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to
the next ca11er whose last four digits end in 1547, those
digits 1547. CaLLer, are you there?
THE CALLER: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, could we
get you just a }iltf e closer to your mouthpiece on your
phone ?o 25
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890.5198
PARKER
PubIic
THE CALLER: How is that?
COMMISSIONER K,f ELLANDER: A
you to speak a l-ittl-e louder.
THE CALLER: Let me turn off
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER :
THE CALLER: How is that?
-Iittfe better.
We may need
my bluetooth
m sorry ?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: That is perfect.
Why don't we begin by getting you sworn in.
ROBERT PARKER,
appearing as a pub.Iic witness, having been fj-rst duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISS IONER KJELLANDER :Thank you, and
and spell it?
Robert Par ker,
could you for the record state your name
THE !,IITNESS: My name is
P-a-r-k-e-r.
COMMISSIONER
your address, please.
THE WITNESS:
Middleton, 83644.
COMMISSIONER
customer of Idaho Power?
THE W]TNESS:
Like everybody efse, I got
KJELLANDER: And Mr. Par ker,
25518 Kingsbury Road in
KJELLANDER: And are you a
f am, but a comment on that,
my letter dated October 23rdI25
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208.890. s198
PARKER
PubIic
regarding -- from
on that.Ietter, it
other, now w.if e as
our names are on the bill.
on Lwo separate occasj ons,
testimony thr:ough
conments made it
ldaho Pohrer regarding these changes and
came addressed to my slgnificant
cf fast week, E1len Jones, but both of
I'm mentioning this because
website as we.Ll-, so I rm not
whether there ' s two listed
comments were being weeded
officially on the account,
mine,
COMM]SSIONER
that on our end, but there
a conment from being put in
can't find that. Not as an
ITS system here
saying that it
I went onfine to
the web form and neither
with our new
sure what the deaf was there,
people or whether those
out based on whose name was
but that was a conce.rn of
p rovide
of those
to the published pdfrs that are on the
KJELLANDER: We'11 look into
wou-Ld be no reason to exclude
there, so we'11 see if we
excuse, but we do have a new
facilities and f 'm not
was losL due to that, but that will be our
excuse if that's okay with yori today.
sure that you
possible, bul-
if you could,
those, if you
THE I/IITNESS: WelI, I woufd hope to make
would want to get al-l- the comments as
regardless, letrs get into my comments.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ExCeIlent, and
too, why don't you go ahead and re-send
would, and we'11- make sure that those gett25
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208.890. s198
PARKER
Public
into the record, and if you could then provide us with
your statemenl t-his morn ing.
THE WITNESS: Certainly, and do you want
me to resubmit it through the same form or what?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: That would be
planning on com.ing
THE
also bring those
show up tomorrow
record.
Rega rdlng
Iisted out
the letter that
again
cha nge s
Two of
Iabeled
fine or if you wanted to go ahead and
tomorrow?
day that
because
were you
Okay. You could
WITNESS: Depend.ing how the road
conditions are. yeah.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER:
in in printed form if you do decide to
and we coufd also include those in the
THR WITNESS: AIl right. very good.
determination on
but the first onc
we all- got on the 23rd, it
that you're going to make a
those had to do with pricing,
No. 1 was the one that f think
most people. A11 of us
th ree
has been misunderstood by
commenting here
those are based
at a certain time of the day.
Now. because of that.
today have PV systems and obviously,
on sunshine and how much sunshine we qet
only three to six hours per
more power than we use. but
there I s typically
we can generate way
currently there's a25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
PARKER
Publ ic
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net effect where they take all the power that we produce
on a monthfy basis and all the power that we consume on a
monthl-y basis and then do a subtraction at the end of the
month to show either a debit or a credit ba]-ance, it
helps us to balance, you know, h?hen we produce excess
power ve.rsus when we need that power and so we get a lump
sum credit now.
The letter claims that you want to make a
change to make this a net hour.Iy basis. which basically
means that, again, itrs already based on time of year, we
only get three to six hours of time where we can generate
mo.re power than we can use and we're already being dinged
because the other two items are regarding pricesr but
this change on the net hourly basis is probably going to
have a greater effect in terms of allowing us to retain
any sort of reimbursement on the math of tens of
thousands of dollars worth of expenses that we've al-l-
made to get these systems in place.
I suspect that most peopfe don't realJ.y
understand what this change in net hourly means, because
what it basically means j-s that lf you donrt use the
power the same hour you generate it, you're losing it.
Not only do you not get to use it later on in the day or
the week when you need it, it's going to be sold at a
l-ower rate than you ar:e cu.rrently, and your re saying this
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
PARKER
PubIic
is being done to provide a more accurate measurement, but
you're not explaining what the actuaf implications are to
most users, and I was a littl-e surprised to see that and
that ' s basically that's the point I wanted to make.
The last thing I just wanted to
that this enti.re process, I think, is going on
because the State of Idaho itself hasn't come
say is
right now
to create
any
and
standards regarding
reimbursement rate s
solar power production and usage
and I'm thinking naybe they
and these changes areshould, because this fetter
extremely heavy-handed, wif l- absofute.Iy destroy the solar
job market, It wiII destroy any investments, which it's
already long term. We're afready looking at 14-plus-year
reimbursements on the massive expenses we're making, but
these changes would absolutely destroy the job market,
would destroy the desire for anybody to want to go solar,
because there literalJ-y would be no benefits to us.
Those are the extent.s of my com.rnent s, so anyways.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Let
me see lf there are any questi-ons from the parties or
from members of the Commission. No, so thank you very
much, Mr. Parker.
(The witness l-eft the 1ine.)
COMMISSfONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to
the next cal-Ier whose Iast four digits in their numbero25
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end j-n 5337. That's 5337. Caller, are you there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: GTeat. Cou].d I
get you to get a little closer to your phone and if
yourre on mute, please unmute it and speak directly into
the phone.
THE CALLER: (Inaudibfe, )
COMMISSIONER K.]ELLANDER: We cannol hear
you. Excuse me, sir. We can't hear you. Are you on
speaker phone?
THE CALLER: I don't think so.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, yourre
goj-ng to have to get very close and perhaps you're going
to have to speak very slowly --
THE CALLER: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: -- and talk a
l-ittle louder. Why don't we go ahead and geE you --
THE CALLER: A]1 right.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Why don't we get
you sworn in.
CSB REPORT]NG
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208.890.5:-98
SHAFE
Public
DONALD SHAEE,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as foflows:
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: Thank you, and
if we could get you, again, to speak a litt1e louder, if
you could give us name --
THE WITNESS: A11 righty.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: -- and please
spel-l it for the record.
THE WITNESS: Sure, it's Donald,
D-o-n-a*I-d, Shaff, S-h-a-f-f, S-h-a-f-f. I reside at
4552 North Foothill Drive, Boise, Idaho, 83703. I'm an
Idaho Power customer.
and if you
and, again,
we can get
little bit
with
We seem to be having a
comment, I
suppfements
Commi-ssion would set aside the agreement that's
minor single party and the Power Company.
touches al1 the parties .invol,ved.
could please provi.de us
speak as loudly as you
it on the record here.
COMMI SS IONER KJELLANDER :Okay, thank you,
your co(unents
and s1ow1y so thatcan
of difficulty with the line you're on.
THE WITNESS! Very good. The first
did submit written comments, so this
my written comnents. I wish that the
That
made by
ha rdl y
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CSB REPORTII'lG
208.890. s198
S HAEE
Pubfic
Secondly, Idaho
1oad. Solar customers reduce
new residents coming to Idaho
their load. This balances out
Power is concerned about
the foad for the future of
that wiIl only increase
by having smal.L so.Ia r
I was a former subscriber
project t hat
interested
they could
an mov rng
the
systems on the grid
to ldaho Power's own
capitalize and
that direct ion,
instal-fation of
long term.
small solar
that ' s why they're
but they want to pull back on
small solars.
My last point
the net metering program must
cost-benefit study performed
inform the Corunission of the
sol-ar interconnection and to
thank you. Let
parties to the
There are none,
willingness to
you.
for a change to
bya
third party to
as a
be
bya
true
request
preceded
neutraf
costs and benefits of
promote the growth of the
on-site power generation.
I Lhink that sums up my supplementa]
comments for today. I hope I've tafked loud enough,
clear enough to go on the record.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: You have and
me see if there are any questions from
case or from members of the Commission.
so we appreciate your patience and
help rrs develop the record today.
(The witness Ieft the line. )
your
Thank
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
HUNKOV I C
Publ-ic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller whose .Iast four digits in their number ends in
423L, 4231 - CaI1er, are you there?
THE CALLER: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
let's get you sworn in,
appearrng as
was examined
KEVIN HUNKOVIC,
a public witness, having been duly swo.rn,
and testified as follows:
COMM] SS IONER KJELLANDER :
you could state yoLlr name and spell it
THE WITNESS:
is spelled H-u-n- k-o-v-i-c.
COMMISS]ONER
your address, pJ-ease.
THE WITNESS:
Meridian, Idaho, 83646.
COMMISSIONER
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS:
COMMISSIONER
we're ready for your public
THE WITNESS:
Thank you and if
for the record.
Kevin Hunkovic. Last name
KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
4238 West Campfire Court,
KJELLANDER: And are you a
I am.
KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
cornment.
I'11 keep this short. I ama25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
a recent solar customer and I'11 have to say that I was
on the fence, like many people are, because it's such a
long-term investment and any -- anything that was
negative, anything like this, if I had known, this was
not known to me at the time, but anything like this would
have no effect other than to discourage people from going
sofar in the future.
I agree with every comment that's been
made so far and specifically with those people who are
pointinq out that the effect of what is going on here is
going to have -- it really seems like it has no other
purpose than to keep people from going solar in the
future. It's just awfully heavy-handed. If we are such
a small percent of the customers, why come at us like
this? The effect of this seems just to keep people from
making this decision in the future, and again, I just
want to reiterate that I agree and echo everything that
everyone has said so far, and I just want to make a point
that a guy 1j-ke me who was on the fence, if things like
this had come up when I was making the decision, it could
have kept me from going solar and I believe that wiLl
happen .
There ' s a
rea11y need to
the long-term
fot of people who don't
be tal-ked into this and
you
know, who
explained benefits of this and I rea1ly25
36 HUNKOVIC
Publ ic
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890. s198
HUN KOVI C
Public
whole-heartedly believe thaL this move
nothing. It wi 11
environment or do
not do anything good
anything good for the
benefit from this wi I.l-
is going to do
for the
wor1d. The only
be Idaho Power,
me from making the
have to say.
Thank you. Let
parties or members
people that
because it
decision to
will
to a calfer whose Iast
wi 1I discourage people Iike
go so]ar, and that's all I
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER :
me see if there are questions from the
of the Commission. There being none, we want to thank
you again for your testimony today.
(The tritness Ieft the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to a
caffer whose last four digits end in 7693, 1693. Caller,
are you there? 7 693.
(No response , )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We'11 move on,
t hen,
3068.
here.
1311,
SO
1311.
into j ust
four digits end
a little bit of
in 3058,
difficulty
for ca l.Ler
m running
we've lost cafler 3068. Let's fook
(No response . )
COMM] SSIONER KJELLANDER :And what
apparently has
estabfished the
people who have
happened is
queue and
that as we've initiall-y
t-he nunLbers, we've had some
gone <;ff the quelie. and so thatrs whatI
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CSB REPORT ING
208 - 890.5198
werre weeding through at this polnt,
continue to
so again, thank you
findfor your patience as
the next calfer. We
move through
caffer whose
to
wiII Iook for a last
four diqits end in 8798, 8798. Caller, are you there?
Tt{E CALLER: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
your voice is a fittle weak on
you would talk a little louder
woufd be appreciated, so let's
the speaker here, so if
into your phone, that
begin by getting you sworn
ln.
THEI CALLER: Actually. I just wanted to
.I i sten in.
we'fl do,
thank you
whose last
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
then, is we'll move on to the
for call j,ng in today. Let's
Okay, then what
next caller and
l"ook to a cafler
four digits end in 1950, 1950.
(No response. )
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER :
7950?
they have dropped
next, which would
from the queue.
be 1104, 7104.
CALLER: YES,
We'f -[
And apparentfy,
move to the
THE
Caller, are you there?
I 'm here .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
you're coming in very clearly. Why don't we get you
sworn ln.t 25
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208.890.5198
HUMMEL
Public
appearing as
was exam.ined
KAY HUMMEL,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fo.l-]-ows:
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
if you could state for the record and spe11 it, please,
your name.
THE WITNESS: Kay HuruneL, K-a-y
H-u-m-m-e-1.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, if you
could give us your address.
THE WITNESS z 420 East Crestl-ine Drive,
Boise, 837 02.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And aTe you A
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I certainly am.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
if you coul-d please give us you.r public co(unent.
THE WITNESS: Thank you. f have been a
distributed generator of solar power to the benefit of
myself and the Company, Idaho Power, for nearly three
years. My family has invested over $25,000 in our system
with a clear expectatj-on that it would be good for the
environment, good f or t-he Company, and that we wou.l-d have
a realistic .return, which is now not possible if this25
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208. 890.5198
HUMMEL
Public
proposed settlement is adopted.
I strongly urge the Commission to
t rue
re j ect
study ofthis proposed seLtlement and to conduct the
costs and benef i.ts that was ordered in June
would Iike to underscore that the study has not heen
done. There was a colfaboration to talk about some of
of 2018. I
for the record, Ithe issues, wh j.ch I'm
have from a re I at ive
not privy to, and
who is a-lso a sma]l
his question aboutgenerator a reply to
study and Ms. Jol-ene
investlgator for the
Tuesday, November 26,
study created, "
Bossard, a ut ilities
Idaho PUC, answered
r:ooftop sofa r
where is the
comp.l, i ance
him that -- on
by email that "Therc was no actual
would inc.I ude
So given that fact,
settlement/ sirould not go forwa.rd.
you should undertake in a true and
this proposal,
Among the things that
transparent study
such as the relat ive
years ago the higher
non-sofar ratepayers
firmness and
as compared
can purchase
at a minimum thinqs
interrupt ib i I ity of
costs that are supposedly borne by
as a resu]"t of my and other solar
for the Company under this current
our solar-produced power
to the other generating sources Idaho Power
on either the retail or solar market.
I would fike to see and understand the
thing that kicked this off over two
people producing power
net meter j-nga
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890.5198
4l
arrangement.
I aLso bel.ieve that the Company accrues
benefits from us who produce more power and thatmany
they
t hese
other
If this proposal goes
study of the accounting of how
to the Company's sharehofders or to
be clearly analyzed and produced.
forward reducing the net metering
rese11 and a f ul.l-
benefits accrue
ratepayers must
credit by about 50 percent, there needs to be an
explanation of
would gain by
1ess, whether
payj ng I and other
those revenues wi 1I
distributed generators
benefit to other
shareholder and in what
the fixed cost question
whether these revenues that the company
ratepayers or just to the Company
amounts, and at a minimum, since
has been brought up many times, the actuaf transmission
and fixed costs incurred by the Company that arises from
hooking me up, whi"ch I and my so-Iar installer paid the
hookup fees, I need to understand what other fixed costs
the Company or its ratepayers are bearing as a resulL of
this relatively simple hookup.
My understanding is that my excess power
when I have it goes to the nearest needed ratepayer,
probabfy my neighbors across the street and next to me,
and lastly, it goes without saying and mentioned by other
testimony that there is a huge economic and cornmerci-al
impact, because if this proposal is adopted, there wi.l-.1-
HUMMEL
Publ- i- c
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CSB RE PORT INC
208.890.5198
HUMMEL
Pub,l ic
be greatly diminished solar equipment sales in Idaho
Power ' s serv.i<:e area and the economic impact of this, the
and tax benefits should beI oss of jobs, commerce,
cfearly understood and described, so I again urge the
an open andCommission
transparent
to study t irese things
and thorough way that
I'm rea11y in the
1rl
has not occurred.
dark. This is not- farr
to the current generators of distributed soIar, nor to
future purchasers of systems, and lastly, I would like to
mention, again, that I was not a party to the
stakehofders who did meet with Idaho Power to develop
this proposed settlement. They did not represent my
interests and I will stand for any questions.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Let
me see j-f we have any questions from the parties or from
members of the Commission. We do not, so we thank you
again for your testimony today.
(The witness left the 1ine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to
the next calfer whose fast four digits end in 0235, 0235,
Ca l- ler, are you there?
THE CALLER: f am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
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208.890.s198
BOYER
Publ ic
appearing as
was examined
TJ BOYER.
a pub).ic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as fol lows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you couJ-d state for the record your name and please
spell- it for the record.
THE WITNESS: TJ Boyer, B-o-y-e-r.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 249 North 400 West,
Blackfoot, Idaho, 8322L.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Please provide you-r testimony for
THE WITNESS: FiTSt
much for having this
input even though we
f would first of all
fence of about going with
investment. We -- it's a
always worry am I having
the wi-nter. This is new
us today.
of alJ-,
where we
thank you very
open hearing can have our
're on the other side of the state.
Iike to say that we were on the
solar. It is a huge
very confusing process and you
enough panels to get me through
to us. We have only beenI25
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208.890.5198
BOYER
PubIic
installed
know, gel
big huge
and we're
a couple of
through the
gamble with
looking to
Thi s
months and we're hoping to,
winter with what we have, so
you
it's a
thousands of dollars for families,
our f Llture,
for retirement and that we can
through. We afso befieved in
when they announcecl Lhey want
movement now, and now we find ollt thal
change our exchange rate and we donrt
us setting up our house
see our retirement
ldaho Power this summer
to be the first state to go
they ' re going to
know if we have to
is part of
green. That was huge in our decision. If theyrre going
green and t-he state believes in everybody going so.Lar,
then we should do it, too. We should be part of that
get more panels installed, what that will do to our loan
right now. Lj-ke this is causing a panic within our
househol-d.
Is this going to change when we can
retire? Is this going to change our billing from month
to month to month? We're not rich people. We are middle
class and we sought out a company here to install our
solar that werve come to know the people that work there.
Werve come to know the owners where they befieve in their
emp.Loyees. that they give back to our community for vets,
They give back to disabled chil-dren in our community.
You would take that company out and it's hard-working25
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BOYER
Public
people, people
table, peopl,e
pfan for thei r
I think it- was,
us and steal our
that- are trying to put food on their
to pfan for the future,
for the world, and we
that are trying
children, plan
believed 1n what ldaho Power was saying: Let's go solar,
by 2026 and now you're
power when we be} ieved
going to turn on
in your vision?
and that ' s justUSI,ie believed in whal you
unbefievable to me. I
You have
were tel .L ing
can't believe
to at leas t
iL.
grandfather in
pray
lf you
thatare going Lo do this, which I real.Iy hope and
you don't, because it will kill future peopfe
so1ar, which is what Idaho Power stands for,
they're going fo.r. That's their future. We
that future, too, so please don't do this to
going
That I s what
befieve in
us, please.
That ' s my testimony.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
l-et's see if there are any questions from parties to the
case or members of the Commj-ssion. There are none, so
thank you for your testimony thj-s morni-ng.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to a
calfer whose last four digi-ts end in 0605, 0605. Ca11er,
are you there? 0605.
(No response, )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, the nexto25
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208.890.5198
CLOT
Pubf i c
caf]er last fout: digi]-s arc
THE CALLER: YeS. I am.
l1 60, 71 60. Caller, are you
the re ?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Let's beginning by getting you sworn in.
appearing as
was examined
BARRY CLOT,
a public witness, havlng been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
you could state your name and spell it
CJOMMISS IONE]R KJELLANDER :
record .
THE WITNESS:
name C-l-o-t.
COMMISSIONER
address, please.
THE WITNESS:
Nampa, 83687.
COMM] SSIONER
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS:
COMMI S S IONER
offer up your public corunent
THE WITNESS:
Thank you. lf
for the of f icial-
Barry Cf ol-, B-a-r-r-y; fast
K.TF,I,I,AN DF]R : And VOUT
5 013 Joe, J-o-e, Lane,
KJELLANDER: And are you a
V-c T .m
KJELLANDER: We1I, please
for us.
Okay, I just wanted too25
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Pubfic
mainly listen today, but I do want to go on the record
and say that I agree with just about every caffer so far.
I'm obviously worried about my investment and
to recoup that on a personal level, but more
I think the fact that we need more renewable
my abil ity
import ant 1y,
energy. If
willing tothis goes t.hrough, then
put in solar to help out
forward, especialJ y with
nobody is going
the much-needed
to be
energy goang
growi no communities.
I
put
dry
with
mean, I'm good friends with the solar
company that in our solar system and their job market
is going to up as wel1, so I just wanted to basically
there I s asay f
bigger
you' re
point
say'
agree most everything on there and
picture with going to more renewabfe energy and
basir::aIly cL.rl-ting that off at the knees at this
if th j.s goes through, so that's al1 I have to
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let me see if
there are any
members of the
quesLions from parties to the case or from
Commission. I see none, so t.hank you for
your testimony.
(The witness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving on to the
next caller whose last four digits in their phone number
there ?end in 2333, 2333. Cafler, are you
IHE CALLER: I'rrL here.o
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NAMBA
Pub] ic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good morning.
appearing as
was examined
DOUGLAS NAMBA,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fol-l-ows:
COMMISS1ONER KJELLANDER: Could you state
and spell for the record your name?
THE WITNESS: Yeah, my name is Douglas
Namba. That fast name is spelled N-a-m-b-a.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And vour
address, please.
THE WITNESS: My address is 3414 Vista
Park Drive in Caldwell, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: Yes, I am a customer of
Idaho Power.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good morning,
and please offer us your public comment.
THE WITNESS: Good morning, I realIy
appreciate the opportunity to speak out in public. I've
been waiting for this opportunity. I currently work for
a sofar company. In doing so, f 've had the opportunity
to work with severaf different homeowners. With Idahot
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208.890.5198 NAMBA
Publ- i c
Powerrs ability to accomnodat.e certain homeowners for
solar, we've received
homeowner Lo use thei r
few requests for the
funding in order to fund
the residential
have shown many of
thousands of dol-lars,
with the Company of
Sefl and he has
qurte a
private
the upgrade of transformers in
transactions, and my observat ions
these transactions in the tens of
so werve worked with an employee
fdaho Power by the name of ,Jared
presented many bids to us in and a round
Wit-h these transactions,
s10-12,000.
these homeowners
are paying Eheir pri-vate dol,l-ars to purchase these
transformers. In the event these homeowners were to sell-
or vacate their premises, those
to Idaho Power. They don't move
transformers stiII belong
with the homeowner, and
I belj-eve that this is a significant investment that
homeowners are making and theyrre making investments in
Idaho Power's infr:a s tructure r so under this current model
that's being present-ed to monetize the value of on-site
generation, I don't believe that ldaho Power has
submitted sufficient data in order to consider these
homeowners who are utilizing their private money
investing in private property -- we1I, in the property of
Idaho Por",er.
f feel like with the current petition
thatrs been submitted, this isn't real_l-y the proper timea
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208.890.5198
NAMBA
Publ ic
and there hasn'L bcen enough consideration that's been
made by the Comprany with t.his currenL
structure that would reduce the value
proposal to go to a
of on-site
generation, because these transformers are not considered
to be the private property of these homeowners who are
funding the upgrade of these devices. I wou.Id like the
Public Utifities Commission to consider this -- the
on-site generation be private property of the homeowners.
Because these transformers don't befong to the
homeowne r s ,
Commission
producing
f would request the Idaho Pubfic Utilities
j ust
to be
consider the electricity these homes are
the private property of these homeowners,
because these homeowners are investing in Idaho Power and
in return, I would expect Idaho Power to produce an equal
investment towa.rds these homeowners, because they're
making this movement and these investments into Idaho
Power and I believe that Idaho Power owes it to these
homeowners to give t.hem an opportunity to have that data
presented pr.ior to any ability for them to be able to
change the way that they're compensating these homeowners
producing electricity on-site.
I produce electricity on-site and I'm
happy with the way that the current model is operating
and I'm very passionate about sofar. I'm open for
conunent or any suggestions or questions that might beo25
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208.890.5198
avaifable,
COMMISS -IONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Let
or the
you for
me see if there are any questions from parties
Commissioners. There are none. so again, thank
your testimony this m.ornj-ng.
(The wit-ness left the .line. )
COMIIISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to a
caller whose last four digits end in 8798, 8798. Ca11er,
are you the re ?
T,HE CALI,ER : He L Lo .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: HeI1o. Are you
the re ?
'lHE CAI,LER: I 'm here.
COMMISSiJONER KJELLANDER: We wiII need you
to get cfoser to your phone or to speak more loudly into
your receiver.
TI1E (IALLER: I defer to tomorrow night to
have t he pub J i <: L cs: i.mony.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, ca11er, if
you intend Lo be here tomorrow, because we can't hear you
very weI1, we
caller and we
If I have cut
re gorng qo
look forward
ahead and move to the next
to hearing from you tomorrow.
you of f i nappropri ate.l-y, my apologies. We
can't hear you.
submit written
You a 1so will have
cofiunen L s and again,
an opportunity to
I apologize for ourt25
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208. 890.5198
GOIN
Publ ic
digits end in 0158, 0158. Ca11er, are you there?
THE CALLER: Yes, s ir.
inability to hear you at this time.
much. Let me first get you sworn in.
We'II move now t-o a caller whose last- four
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you very
appear.ing as
was examined
EMORY GOIN,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
could you state and spel1 your name for the official
record?
THE WITNESS: Llmory Goin, Last name is
G-o-i-n.
COMMISS IONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, pl ease.
THFI WITNIISS: 566 West 1800 South, Oakley,
Idaho,83346.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER; And are you a
customer of ldaho Power?
I'HI Wl -l,ESS: Yes, s i r .
CjOMMT SS i ONER KJEI,LANDER: Great. Could
you please provicle us your comment?a 25
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THE WITNESS: First of all-, the.re has not
been a study like you recommended, There has been no
private party costs and benefits program. I am a solar
customer, I built it two years ago. Just at about the
time 1 turned mine on is when a1f this stuff started
happening. If I had known then, I wouldnrt have put it
in. I invested over $32,000. Irve got -- currently
r.ight now it's only made me about $3,400, so I've got a
l-ittle ways yet to go before it's done,
Idaho Power encouraged years ago, they
went to you guys and said oh, we need permission for more
customers. You guys granted that. You know, they were
Iooking at the benefit going wow, we're goi-ng to need
more installers. You know, I honestl-y think that they
decided well, hefl, we can capitalize on this and thatrs
what theyrre doing. They're not losing any money in any
way. They -- I Iive out here -- I'm out here way, way,
lvay out.the boonies
power, I am he lpi ng
am helping t-he grid,
the amperage on the
boosting station out
pretty much. When I'm producing
take the .load off of the grid. I
you know, I'm helping generation and
Iines and all that by being a
here in the niddle of nowhere.
ln
()
They're not taking Lhat into
consideration. I sper)t my money.
grid, help my retir:emenL, help the
I tried to help the
environment, and Idaho
GO]N
Pubf i c
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CSB REPORT 1NG
208.890. s198
Power is. wel1, all I'm not qoing to knock ldaho
Power, but all pr.:wer companics
go to a different company, so
are a monopoly. I can't
Irm stuck with Idaho Power.
talklng about riqht now.
until a study
to make money.
Lhis is
They need to do
them up, so rry,
independent, we
not pay j-ng for
$50.00 a month
the way it is,
contr j-but j-ng to
.Iie. It's just
]i ke Ma BeI-L back in the years and brea k
is done by an
They're
another way to
money. It's not
a large clas s
and everybody
Idaho Power
say, the
but- anyway,
should not
If t-hey want to go -- if they say we're
the grid, Iet's go with this fixed cost,
or whatever, and then leave the metering
even consider what we're
saying that we're not
is a 1ie, ItIs a 100 percent
but them
the grid
anot he r
guaranteed Lo make money
way
and
guarantee theirselves that- they can
right and if this does th::ough, I do
action lawsuit. I don't want to see
just
ma ke
that.
Eve r ybody
that has an applic.rtion
shoul-d be grandfathered
mi.nimum of what Lhe life
that is
in right
in unti-l,
existing
now with
I would
that you installed in, which
the system,
woufd be 25
to grandfather us in
customers that went
solar system,
years, so a
a minimum of 25
on good faith
ot
m1n.1rnum
years to
-- Lhey
protect
need
the
and are trying t.o help the Company to go green and
GOIN
Publ ic
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
GOIN
Public
everything I ike Lhat.
cents and currently. if we use the
You ' re killing jobs.
wanting to pay me 4.7
grid, they want to
You propose t-h I s
It's iust not
I mcan.
right-.
they're
charge me 10.2. 6.7 percent -- 6.1 cents on average is
vrhat they say ttreir grid is. Itrs aff off hopes to make
money, to qua.rantee that they make money, and honestly,
you have got to go back to the drawing board. They
should honor our customers the way they are. That's all-
I have and thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Let's see if there
questions from t-he
none, so thank you
( The
are any questlons. Are there any
p.lrt ies
tor your
witness
or the Commi-ssioners? 1 see
testimony.
Ieft the llne. )
KJELLANDER: Moving now to aCOMMI SSIONER
caller whose last four digits end in 0063, 0063. fs the
caller there? I'm rroL hearing you very clea.rly. Is the
caller there whose last four dig-its are 0063? HelIo?
(No rr:::prtnsc. )
COMMISSIONFIR KJELLANDER: Hello? We wilf
move on to Lhe next cafler whose last four digits end in
't 901 , 7901 .
(No r:esponse. )
COMM TSS]]ONER KJELLANDER: Let ,S moveIo25
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208. 890.5198
SZALAY
Public
then, to a call.er whose l.ast
cafler?
1907. are you there,
TUE CALLER: He]1o?
COI,IMISS IONER KJELLANDER: YeS, good
mo rnfnq .
'IHE CALLER: Yes, helf o.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: YeS, Can you
hear me?
THE CALLER: I think part
going on is the delay, because mine wasn'
you asked me, like, three t.imes.
COMMISSIONER K.]ELLANDER:
you the ca]ler who's Iast f our dig.its are
THE CALLER: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER KJEI,LANDER:
let's get you sworn in and thank you for
of the issue
t unmuted until
Okay, and are
L901?
Great. WeIl,
your patience.
appearing as
was examined
WAYNE SZALAY,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISIjIONER KJELLANDER: CouId you state
your name and spelJ it for
THE WITNESS:
the officiaf record?
Yes, sir. My name is Wayne
Szalay, Caldwell, ldaho, W-a-y-n-e, fast name Szalay,o 25
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S ZALAY
Pub l ic
S-z-a-1-a-y.
COMMISSIONEIT KJELLANDER: And youT
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 11317 Tamsworth Drive,
Caldwe1l, Idaho, 83505.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ATe you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: Yes, sir.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
good morning, and if you could please offer us your
public commenl.
THll WITNI,jSS : My mai n thing is T rm new to
sofar. I recent1y purchased it this spring. If I would
have known
to happen,
because of
lowered my
to make my
for me,
someEhing 1i ke this
I would absolutely
was going on or was golng
have not purchased solar
and it would havethe cost of the investment
return and extended the time it- would take me
return where it wotild not be cost effic.ient
I think it is more of a money grab and
(phone cut out) scafe in another way and it is unfair for
me to make this investment and have no say on how much
they're going to change the return, and I befieve that if
they get this through, they're just going to keep
reducing it and reducjng it until eventually they are notO25
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208. 890. 5198
S ZALAY
Publ ic
paying me for any of my excess power I generate, which
would totally hinder my power bj-11, because I generate
power during the day when I am not using it, because
there's only no one -- there's maybe one person home.
I use power at night. I generate $50.00
worth of power at night. I use $50.00 worth of power,
but with them giving me my credi-t, I woufd actually stifl
owe money and I would stiff have to pay out of pocket or
get an even larqer system until eventually when does it
stop. They start taking now and it just keeps going and
going and when does it stop. Thatrs my testimony for
now.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Letrs see if there are any questions from members of the
Commiss j-on or part-ies to the case. There being none,
thank you for your testimony this morning.
(The witness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to a
caller
pat i ent
numbe r
for just a
is stil-L in
moment, we
the queue.
so 7955.
whosc last tour digits end in 7955, 7955. .lust be
re Iooking to see if that
7955, and we found it, so
it's b,eing unmut ed,
THE CALLER: I'm here. Yeah, it's taking
awh.ile to unmute. I'm coming Lomorrow. lrm just
l-j-steninq .tn.t 25
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LAZ ART E
Pubflc
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: Okay. We]1,
thank you, and we
to a ca.ller whose
sti l- I have yet to
8979.
appearrng as
was examined
will see you tomorrow. Moving,then,
and weIast four digits are 8979, 8979,
unmute that, so please be patient.
(No response . )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And that number
apparently ls not in the queue. Moving now to -- was
that 8979 we were looking for? Okay, the next number
with the last four. digits are 5694, 5694. 5694, we have
unmuted that caller, are you there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
again, thank you for your patience.
ANDRES LAZARTE,
a public witness, having been duJ-y sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you could, please state
for the record.
THII WITNESS:
COMtq I S ll i oN[R
Lazarte. That 's A*n-d-r-e- s
your name and spell your name
Sure. my name is Andres
],-a-z-a-r-t-e.
K,IELLANDER: And if you couldo25
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telf us your .rddress.
Streel, Boisc, I.Jaho.
customer of l claho Power?
Tl-iE WITNE:IS: Sure . 8420 West Limelight
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
THE WTTNESS: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We11, good
morning, and please
THE
offer your pubJ- j-c comment for us.
WITNESS: Yes, thank you. f want to
thank the Corunission for having Lhis public hearing. I
think it's important that everyone gets their voice heard
in this issue. I want to start by saying I think this
settlement is a bad dea.I for the consumer. There's
real-Iy no way to spin this into being something positive
for those who have already bought into solar and those
who are considering soIar, consi.dering that in our
country today, especially here in Idaho, there have been
commitments made by fdaho Power to go green, and all this
is doing is hindering that opportunity for the general
public to go and produce their own energy.
I beLj.eve that most of this has come by
back door and closed door meeti-ngs where a l"ot of regular
consumers and other solar industr:y members were not privy
to. A lot of this has to do with private organizations
such as ldaho Clean Energy Association that kind of
LAZARTE
Pubfic
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208.890.5198
LAZART E
Publ- i c
sprung this on ever:ybody and
being made wi t.hout customer
let us know there's a deal
and e r:o nomi cdone, a fi nanc ia I
is actually going
input.
I believe, a1so, that there has to be a
study
this
study, to see if
this settfement, orto hefp
t-he i r own
ldaho,
individuals producing
go. You cannot penai i ze
f acts. That is in no way
Power needs to perf.orm a
energy is a better way to
to gettj ng Lhepeople prior
logical and
study for at
I think that Idaho
least two to three
years brefore they can come back and say whether or not
something is beneficial or detrimental- to the state and
to the power grid.
Idaho i-s a state of individual freedom and
individual right and
individual right to
make sure that it's
this i s
p rod uce
on 1y
their
hampering
own power.
a person I s
I want to
very cl ear Ehat Idaho Power is not
anti-so1ar. They'::e just anti the individuaf getting
solar. They themselves have many solar plants and many
sola.r paneJ-s and they have the consumer pay for them.
The onfy time that they complain is when they
themsel-ves -- when an indj-vidual happens to get sofar and
then ldaho Power loses a customer, even though they still
get the excess power and they're still able to seI.l- it at
fuIl retail price.
A gr:eat question for the consume.r to aska
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208.890.5198
LAZARTE
Publ ic
is how many Lax breaks has Idaho Power gotten since the
i ncept l on
pe rsona -L
loops that Idaho
trying to strip
I think that Lhe
of their Company? How many times have
taxes gone to benefit certain tax breaks
my
and tax
isPower has extorted? ldaho Power
these rights away
PUC needs to ].ook
from the individual and
at that very closely
and just use the foresight. In the next L0, five, l-0,
1,5, 20 years, is the country, is the world going to be
needing more individuals producing energy or less, and
the clear answer is more and this settfement would onfy
reduce the future of clean energy in ldaho, and I thank
you for allowing me to speak.
COMMISSIONER K.TELLANDER: And thank you
for your comments. Let's see if there are any questions
from parties to the case or from Commissioners. There
being none, thank you for your testimony thj-s morning,
(The witness left the line.)
COIU},I I SS ] ONER K.IELLAN t)ER :Moving now to a
8139. Ca I Ier,are 8739,cal-fer whose Iast four digits
are you there? 83 -- oh, I'm
calfer there'?
(No response . )
sorry, 8739. 8739, 1s the
COMI.4IS]SIONER KJELLANDER: We are unable to
hear the caller. If they are orr
8739. Oh. iust a ntorrrent.. let's
mute, please unmute.
try aqain. 8739. is thet
o
I
1 caffer t here ?
(IJo re:rponse. )
COMIVIl SS IONER KJE],LANDER:
apologize if we lost yoLr. We'11 move on
whose last four cligits are 5120, 5120.
(No response. )
COr4M I SS IONER K JELLAN* DER :
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No. [,le
1-o a caller
caller with the last four digits 4852,
Moving on to a
4852. Is the
l0
caller the re ?
TIIFI CALLER: I.le11o.
COI4MI SS IONER K.iFll,LAI{DER: Yes, good
morning. LeL nre get you sworn in for the record.
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appearing as
was examined
MYRNA KEYES,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as fol lows:
!1
18 COMMISSIONER KJULLANDER: Could you please
19 staLe and spell you:: name for the record?
THLI '{ITNESS: Myrna, M-y-r-n-a, last name
Keyes, K-e-y-e-s.
22
23 address, plea se ?
24I25 Idaho. 83551.
CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
COI"IMISS TONER KJELLANDER: And your
THE WI.TNESS: 2225 Aries Drive, Nampa,
63 KEYES
Publ ic
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CSB RE POR']'I NG
208.890.s198
KEYE S
Publ ic
COMMISSIONETi KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idahc L'owe r ?
THli [J]TI{ES5: Yes.
CiOMMISiS IONER KJELLANDER: Great. Please
provide your statement.
THE WITNESS: I lust wanted
purchased my system under one set of rufes
decision based on Lhat. The new ru.Ie will
to say that I
and made the
affect me
financial ly and I would request
old rule
you .
that existing owners
would be left under Lhe and not forced to change
to the new rule. Thank
COMMISS IONER KJET,LANDER :Thank you. Are
case or from the
for your
there any ques E ions
Commission? There
testimony.
from parlies to the
are none. Thank you
(']'he wrtness Ief t Lhe f ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJEI,LANDER: Let's move now
to a caller: whose last four digits end in 4421 , 4421
Ca11er, are you there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSiONER KJELLANDER: Great, thank
you.
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. 5198
ROBERT SON
Publ- i c
appearlng as
was examined
ED ROBERTSON,
a publlr: witness, having been duly sworn,
and Lestified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
could we have you speak
Cou]d you please st-at e
record?
jusl I ittf e .Iouder f or us ?
your name and spe.Il it for the
THil V{ITNESS: Is thi s 1it Lle betLer?
COI',lIlIIJSIONER KJFiLLA}.IDER: A IitIlE, bUt if
we could get
plus as wef1.
1a-J ust .l little louder, that would be a
'fHE WTTNESS: okay, thank you. This is Ed
Robertson, E-d and then R-o-b-e-r-t-s-o-n.
COMM I:] S IONER KJELLANDER:Okay,
bir
and we
might need you t.c slow down just a little to he 1p us
1ike.since you're rrot- coming in as Ioudl-y as we would
How about your addrcss, please.
'IHE h-ITNllSjS: 4201. West- Quail Ridge Drive,
Bo.i se, 83703.
COMM lliSION!lR KJEI.LANDER: Thank you. and
are you a customcr of lcl.rho Power?
l'HEi Idl T'NtlSS : Yris. we I re a cusl-omer of
ldaho Powe,r.
COMMl SSTI]NER K"TELLAIIDER: ThanK you.o 25
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CSB REPORT I NG
208. 890.5198
Pfease provide yoir r st-aLement.
Last year my
roof and this
We added the
used e.l-ect r i c
THll WITNESS: This will be my statement:
wife and I instafled 24 PV panels on our
year: we added an additionaf three panels.
addiLional panels because we purchased a
smart car this spring and thought that we
additional production to charge the car
tot-al investment for our panels has been
woufd need
each day.
$24,000.
No. 1, we
adding the
house when
exposure for maximum power
paneJ-s wi 11
pr oduction.
er)hance the
We believe that
resale value of our
We made the investment for several, reasons.
believe thaL the increased population growth in
the
Our
PV
Idaho Power's service area that in the future rates wi.If
have to increase. We also be.Iieve that there wil-l- be
more low water years in the
and that again, Idaho Power
rates.
can help to offset- the declining
experiencing in the valJ-ey due to
have a new south-south facing or
and have the abili.ty Lo maximize
fr,iturr: due to cl Lmate change
wi I I need to raise their
The use of efectric cars for Iocal trips
air quality that we are
populat.ion growth. We
southwest facing roof
Ehe benefit of good
the tirne comes for us to relocate.
E.ren with the overal] Iow Idaho Power
rates right now, atlding these panels at this time just
ROBERT SON
Public
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
ROBE RTSON
PubIic
seemed lrke the riqht Lhing do. We made this investment
with the expectat- ion
approximately eight
amount that we would
direct metering credit of
ki-l,owatt-hour would be the
Lirai, the
cents prir
perhaps even a higher rate should Idaho Power need to
raise their rates.
be crediLed within the future and
'Io see the .settlement agreement anticipate
a new estimated rate in 2028 of 4.4 cents per
kilowatt-hour wculd be unfair to customers who have made
this investmenL. As for
cafculations on a monLhfy
credited at the rate of 4,4
a change
basis to one on an hourly
we may be
dS
to net metering from
basis, would this mean that in the future
cent- s per
during the
kilowatt-hour for
day and then bethe production of
charged the going
orr r powe I
rate tha t
customers in our rreighborhood
our electr.icity aL night when
As I mentioned
investment as we believe that
our non-power producing
increase the
wou.Id be charged for use of
our system is shut down?
earfier. we made this
everything else being
equa 1 ,
vafue
future owneIS
the addltion of a solar system would
of our home. Eor this to be treated
same benef i t
a real i t y,
have theof this propert y
cost -wi-se for the
In adcliti on to
would expect to
system that we have today.
the Publlc Utili.ties
Commissicn considerinq rato changes for Idaho Power'so25
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CSB RFJPOR'I N(]
2U8.890. i.,196
ROBERT SON
PubIic
service a.rea, I t-hink t.hat the Commission shoul-d a.l-so be
encouraging the increased use of solar systems as a
mechanism to reduce the use of natura.I gas and coal as we
think about climate change. C-Iimat-e change is not an
issue sometime in t-he future.ltrs impacting our valley
solar systems, you willhomeright now. By encouraging
also be supportinq electric
throughout the va11ey. Air
ruling can impac L .
ca ]:s for: short trips
quality is an issue that your
Not knowing or understanding all the
factors that you wil-l- be considering, I would hope that
you will grandfather in Lhose of us who have made a
significant investment and al-l-ow us to continue with the
p.Ian that we currently have, Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Let's see if there are any questions from the partj-es to
the case or from the Commission, There are none, so
thank you very much for your testimony this morning.
(The witness lef t the l" j-ne. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let's move to a
ca.Iler who's l-ast f our digits end in 54L'7 | 541-7 . Caller,
are you the re ?
(No response, )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Is the caller
whose last four digits are 5417 on the line?I 25
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CSB REPORl'iNG
208.890.5198
SIMPSON
PubIic
'IIIE CALLUR: Yes, I 'm here. Sorry about
that.
appearlng as
was examined
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good. Why don't
we get you sworn in.
JESSE S IMPSON,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and t-esti f ied as follows:
COMMISSIONER
and spell your name for the
THE WITNESS:
Simpson, J-e-s-s-e, S j.mpson,
COMMISS IONER
address, pJ ease.
T'HE W]TNESS:
Boise, Idaho, 83705.
customer of ldaho Powe r ?
KJELLANDER: Cou]-d you state
record ?
Yes, my name i-s Jesse
S-i-m-p-s-o-n.
KJELLANDER: And your
4704 West Grover Street,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
THE WITNESS: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you and if
we could just get you to be a little l-ouder as you
present your testimony today, please provide your
statement.
THE WITNESS: Thank you for the25
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CSB REPORTING
208. 890. 5198
S IM PSON
Pubfic
opportunity to give public comment on this issue. f work
in the solar indust-ry here in ldaho and have since 2013,
so our industry has flourished and created many jobs over
the past decade. ldaho is a great place for sofar.
There's Iots of sunshine and we have -- the company that
I work for hired multiple people year after year and as
this industry grows, we see this settlement agreement
that fdaho Power is trying to pass as clearly trying to
undermine the solar irrdustry to protect their future
profits.
I agree with the others before us that
golng into this case, rate case, the public expected a
fair study be done to evaluate any benefits that solar
has to the grid. It lsn't clear to the public that this
study has been perfcrmed and that any benefits of solar
on the grid have been attributed to rates going forward,
and I personally think the public needs to be invol-ved in
the study, and belore any decisions are made on the
future rates of solar that it's got to be performed and
t ran spa rent .
I personally have sat in front
as they tried
of my
to makeclients for the past sj-x years
their clecisions on whether to invest their lif e
cl.ients have invested in
savrngs
solar tointo solar. Many cf
protect t-he i r fufure
my
ior r:et,lrement ancl also to invest ino
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their kids' f uturr.: as they may prosper in the future and
not consistently be under the hand of the corporate
money. I ask thaL the Commisslon take their time j-n
reviewing ldaho Power's request. That's no need to rush
into a settfement agreement at this time as only one
percent of Idaho Power clients have so.Lar.
Erorn a Brookings Institute study done in
other states, therc have been proven facts that show that
penetration rales of not ]ess than l0 percent or --
excuse me, (j.naudible) penetration rates of 10 percent on
the grid thaL so.Iar penetration actua]ly affects the grid
and we're a long ways from that.
Also, Ird like to point out that with this
settlement, workj-ng in the industry, j-t is very -- j-t's
going to be almost clearly impossible to model this on an
hourly basis and, l--herefore, when we -- when f personally
give quotes to my clients in the future, it is not going
to be an accurate representation, because people Iive
each day differently, and when you look at bj-111n9 on an
hourly basis every day, each day is different and it's
different per househo.Id, so as a solar salesman, I do not
bel-ieve the settlement gives us a clear path for our
industry to even be able to model the settlement rate
reduction, so I t-hink that's aff Ird like to say and just
add that this settle:ment is clearly undermin.ing the sol-ar
CSB REPORT]NC
208.890. 5198
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S]MPSON
PubI ic
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industry.
I'nL worr:ied personal.Iy for my job. I own
a house in Idaho here in Boise. I have a three-year-old
daughter, a family. I'm personally worried for my future
in this state, because if this settfement goes through,
our industry is going to struggle and there's been a Iot
of revenue that our industry has created through
permitting and throuqh other investments of hiring people
for new jobs and it will be a significant hit to the
revenue that our industry creates.
That's all Ird like to say at this time.
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Thank you for the
to please not pass
opportunity and I urge the
Lhis settlement and do a
Commission
study and do
does benefit
aJ-ready
the due diligence of understanding how
the grid and protect the consumers that
purchased so.Iar. Thank you very much.
COIqMI SS IONER KJELLANDER:
there are any questions from parties to
members of the Commission. I see none.
your testlmony today.
sol ar
ha ve
l1 Let's see if
the case or
Thank you for
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(The witness left t-he Iine. )
o
the rrext caller with ttle ]ast four digits 6103, 6703.
CalIer, are you Lherer'
'l'!iE (IALLER: I am.
COMMSSIONER KJELLANDER: Now mov j-ng to
l?.CSB REPORTING
208. 890.5198
S IM PSON
Pubfic
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CSB REPOR ING
208.890.5198
COMMISSIONE1T KJELLANDER: Good morning.
Cou]d vou -Let-'s qet you sworn in f irst.
appear.rng as
was examined
LAWRETT*CE VEDDERT
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and Lestif ied as f 01.l-ows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you pfease
state and spell yc-,ur name for Lhe record?
IHE WITNUSS: Lawrence Vedder,
V-e-d-d-e*r.
COl4l'.'II S S IONER K.IELI,ANDER: And your
address. please.
'IHE WITNEISS: 1339 Ever:gre en Drive, Twin
Ea11s, Idaho, 83301.
COMI'IISSIONEII KJELLANDEIR: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powc r ?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COI,4M]SS1(]NER K.JELLANDER: Weff, good
mor.ning and please oflcr Lrs your stat-ement.
'f ilE WlTl'lESS: I wanted to endorse
v j-rLual1y eve ry
and 31 minules
c:ornment I've heard in the last one hour
t, h.'r i I've been listening, but a new fLavor
agreement has arisen in my mind whichto this sett Icment
I want Lo cornmen t or). My solar installation was approved
VEDDER
PubI ic
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
VE DDER
Publ ic
on Lhe 21st of March this year. The settlement
proposed back
even a thought
be worked out,
to say
severa f
agreement
in October
for a
it would
as I have since learnr:d had been
of 2018. llad I kriowrL i here w.rs
settlement agreement Lo have to
have affected my decision to install it, but that has
the correspondence I have received
my system and from Idaho Power, I
talked about a possible change to
and it was in a .letter from ldaho
the remuneration system
been stated many times
What i
Loday.
do note is
Lhe corol l ary,
you pay to so l-ar:
f ee,I Lhat at a
that going back over all
from the installer of
found one sentence that
Power, to give them
that small amount of credit, but one sentence that Idaho
Power was involved at- every st-age having to approve every
step of the insta.Ilation. (Inaudible)that
callersperhaps fdaho
have menLioned
competition in
that the onl y
Idaho Power,
Power ' s interest was as
:,lld
want to be predatory, eliminate
the so.l.ar instal lation j-ndustry, make sure
solar: installer available for the futu.re is
amount of money
then. cuLLing back the
generation cuslomers.
mini-mum, currentl
customers needed to be grandfathered 1n under the terms
of this settfement so Lhat they a.re reimbursed at retail
raLes. I mo-re ful.iy understand the net metering system
and how that works logical.Iy to ldaho Power's advantage.25
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CSB REPORT ] NCJ
208.890. s198
75
I didn't understand t-hat- unLil some of the more technica.l-
testimony was givcn earlier today.
EurLher, I just think Idaho Power j-s at
risk of taking an enormous pubfic re.Iations hit when the
implications of the way they've done this comes out. I
heard nothing, nothing about a settlement agreement until
after I was approved. The first notice I got that there
was any possibility of a change in Lhe system as was
presented to me at the ti.me of purchase was in a letter
dated October I lth. 2019. and that fetter has been
referred to many times, but I feel Iike this has been a
carefully orchestrated effort by Idaho Power to el-iminate
competition
to increase
grandfather
aside this
you r
f rom
There
in t-hc sol,rr installation industry and then
profit-s at the expense of people who Iargely
Idahocame into the solar generation
Power encouraged tilem to.
busine s s because
I urqe the Commjssion at a minimum to
in exi s r- inq customers and
el)t j rae settfement agr:eement
ideally to set
until al-f of this
scientific and fj nancial- information might clearly be
l-aid on the table for al I part.ies concerned.
L:CIVII{ISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you for
testimony. l,et's see if ttrere
parties to t.tre case or members
being none, we Lhank yor.r for
are any questi-ons
of the Commisslon,
your testimony thi s
VE DDER
Pubfic
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CSB RE PORT I NG
208.890.51S8
MOORE
Pubfic
mornlng.
(Tire witness left Ehe line.)
CONJI"IISSJIONEII KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller whose lasL fcur digits end .in 9655, 9655. Cal.Ler,
are you there?
THT] CALLER: YeS, I am.
(]OI,]MI S.S IONER K.TELLANDER: GOOd.
appearrng as
was examined
SCOTT MOORE,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and t-estified as folfows:
o 25
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COMMISSIONER KJELI,ANDER: Coufd you state
for: the record an<1 s6:e1l your rrame, please?
'fHE WI1'NES3: Yes, Scott Moore, S-c-o-t-t
M-o-o-r-e.
CCMMT:;SIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, pl.ease.
THE i{ITNESS: 1840 East Mary Lane,
Meridian, Idaho, 'd 3t'42.
COMMIS:IIONER KJELLANDER: And ar:e you a
cusLomer of Id;,rlio Power ?
THE i{ITNESS: Yes, i'm a customer of Idaho
Powe.r. I'nr a rr.rt meter:i ng cusjtomer, and I also own a
sma.L1 consultirrrl businerjs, A1 Lcjrnate Power Designs.
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CSB REPOR'I'] NG
208.890.5198
COMI\,IISS IONER KJLILLANDER: Good morning,
and please providc for rrs your statement.
THE WI,TNESS: Okay. Wel1, fike many
and I woul-d
metering
hydro
others saict, I apLJreciate having thls hearing
like first to say that I've been involved in net
since about 2011 with some consulLing with some
proj ects ln
installing a
involvemenL
try to
unfair
solar s ys tem
after s hort l- y
on my own home, and my
getting back involved in
fdaho arid then shorLly after or prior to that
2072 was faced witli ]daho Power coming to the PUC
20LL,
at that
had
to be
time with a case on net metering afte.r the
kind of reached the critical point where it
reviewed, but at the t-ime. Idaho Power came
kind of a hostile .rttitude towards the net
customer, and a ,-:oupIe of those issues were
a monetary
a kilowatt
p rog ram
needed
back with
metering
that they
charge of
be seeing
cha rge .
stuff to
fittle
system of
crediL, because
tried requesting and implementing a
$1.48 a kilowatt, I believe, at the
customer that was electric heat with
may j ust
a $30.00
demand
t. ime, which a
an electric furnace
instantiy compared to another customer
a mor)th service charge for that demand
which is typically rese::ved for businesses and
relieve thcir peak loads which seemed a
and that vras denied, and at, the Eime, fdaho Power
was also requesting Lo qo from
dollar and cenLs t-cr c:redit l-o
MOORE
Publ ic
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CSB REPORTINC
208.890. 5198
MOORE
Publ ic
they were, as I reca l.l-, concerned that if it was j-n a
financial unit, 1t- would get involved in the federal or
FERC regulatory problems, so they went to a
kifowatt-based crediL, but the negative part about that
at the time was Idaho Power was requesting the PUC to
grant them the authoriLy to terminate any outstanding
credit December: 31st that a customer may have,
effectively confiscate the power.
ThaL was also denied, but it did set a
precedent that at the time, Idaho Power seemed to be very
unfair in iLs actions towa.rds the net metering customer,
and in the most recent case, I've not been actively doing
much solar work jn the last year and I was not completely
aware that this case was ongoing at the }evel it was. My
unde r stand.l- ng
had requested
customers and
approx ima te.Iy
that in tu.rn
they would be
comprehensive
and pos i tive
so my first
was a lette r
saying t hat
requrred to
study done
cosl'- effects
do a comprehensive
showing the cost --
of rret metering
the siluation as
understanding
schedule that
or have a
the negative
customers, and
it sits today
the last f was aware was that ldaho Power
a new rate scheclule for solar net metering
was granted that here. I believe,
a ye.rr-and-a-half ago with my
for c;rving them that new rate
awarene-"s of
in the end of Oct-ober from Idaho Power
a sett.lement had been reached, and when Ia25
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890.5198
19
reached out and called Idaho Power to get a
more informatiorr, I was told that this case
basically pursued about the effort of trying
little bit
was being
to be fair
and equitable, that
cost for delivering
paying for and that
cost.
then if one assumes maybe
generate excess power at
.05 percent oI d]-[ their
net metering custome.rs cause an undue
power at night that they're not
other customers have to pick up that
We1I, in the investigation of that, I was
told there was approximately 5,000 existing applications
for net metering customers, which when compared to the
over 500,000 plus Idaho Power customers, that trorks out
to .1 percerrt, wirich dictn'L seem very significant, and
ha 1f of those customers
any s igni ficant
customer base.
leve1, thatrs
That didn't seem
very significant, and at the time I coufdn't get any
information aboul how much financial losses $re were
tafking about correcting here, which seemed kind of odd
for a case that was based upon faj-rness, and so when it
comes down to i,t, I suspect that between the previous
cases, this case and the future cases,we've all spent
consultants thanl it igation
're taI king
more time irr stucties and and
the value of the p.rwer
was a little bit- of my
And then
about here, so that
take on .i1:
the other issue I've had with
MOORE
Pubfic
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this whole situat-ion is ]daho Power currently has at
Ieast two programs that i know of Lhat kind of run
contradictive to this whole approach, which is their
energy efficiency services program, which in prior -- up
untiL recently has been approximately a four percent tax
on all- Idaho Power customersT and the purpose of that
program was to take that revenue co.llected from that and
turn it j-nto programs paying businesses and supporting
other programs to subsidize high efficiency lighting and
motor systems in an effort to reduce peak daytime
demands, and when that program has come back before the
PUC and reviewed in past years, I recall Idaho Power
indicating that their records showed that for every
dol.lar collected from a customer wifl eventually save
$3.00 in excess fol an additional cost to bring in new
generation and new distributjon, so with that program
there, they're saylng that aIf customers contribute a
little bit to reducing peak load is beneficial for the
whole system, whi-ch a homeowner putting solar on their
property offsetting, or even a business putting solar on
offsetting, their peak daytime load, especially during
the summer when air conditionj-ng is at a peak demand,
does effectively Lhe same thing as the energy efficiency
program without any c()ntribution from other customers to
pay f or that so l.a.r system the customer comp.letely paid,
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so that seemecl to lun contradict-ive to what was being
bilringrequested, ancl t h€r rl therers
program v'/here Y.)u can pay a
and a 1owe.r rat-e during the
also the time-of-day
capital. investment to accomplish that
'l'he oLiler issue that I
rate during the day
another program
Idaho Power customers
powe r
have
any upfront
reduct ion .
hi gher
night,
indicating t-hat it's important for
once again, ldaho Power has not had to incur
to shed their peak daytime usage. which is effectively
what a solar customer provides, so in that case there,
that when Idaho PcvJer sent out that letter the end of
October, the re
today and l-here was no ment ion of Lhe publ ic
found that and
here on LS
meet ing.
so 1
was no menLion of this conference calf
After further i nvesLigation, I
thought thaL w.ls al]OLller j ndic.iti on of
not wanting as much public invofvement
Idaho Power really
as has happened in
website onthe past, and when looking at
comments, there ' s an extremely
the letter going out anci then
And one of the
had was that there may be some
inlervenors, particu1arly the
direct correlation between
the
the PUC's
ot, he r
next day the rate of
been a little bitpublic cofiment coming in. so .it's
deceptive, I beJ-reve. j-n not- keeping
customers aware of lhe sitriation as
the net metering
itrs happening.
comments here that I
legitimacy to some of the
i. rrigati-on pumpe.rs might bea25
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CSB REPORT]NC;
208.890.5198
MOORE
Publ ic
a fittl-e bil- unique and different from the homeowners in
the sense that they have systems that bank energy all
year long, yet their demand ls only a few months during
the growing season, which effectively is requesting Idaho
Power to bank ener:gy and then give it back to them at the
same rate,
There may be some inequity there that
pumpers
the res t-
needs to be adclressed, but then again,
discounted rate to starl with, so one
all costs the same amount of money to
pumpers get a
would argue.if it
deliver energy that
the things that
was first started
can carry
a system
t he re wi 1.1-
are already tak.ing advantage of the system and
there are
of us must be making up that difference, and so
some situations that may need to be addressed,
but I don't think the home solar: customer ls an issue
that requ.ires
came out back
was that there was no
metering shoufd take
there are program:i or
any changcs. and one of
in 2012 in the case that
state legislation directing how net
place and for example, in Oregon,
laws in there that do state that
it's a one-to-one r;rediL and that the customer
a 12-monLh credit, which seems fair to prevent
throughout the yearoversized, butfrom being
be peaks in
match up,
12 -mon t-h
qener;t-ion arLd pcaks in demand t-hat may not
buL t-hr-.y a-Llow the system to even out over a
period, so T ttrink Lhat's enough of my corrnentsa25
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for today.
as weII as
1 ' 11 LIy t'- o make it to the neeting tomorrow
provide addi t ional written comments.
COI.IMI SS IONER KJELLANDER:
me see if there are any questions from
members of the Commission. There being
then, to a caller whose IasL four d-igits
IO22 and we don't find that number in the
(No response . )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
Thank you. Let
the parties or
rlone, thank you
move now
10
f or your test-irnorly.
(Tl:e witness left the 1ine.)
COMI{Ii:ISIONER KJLILLANDER: Let's
to a caller whose ia..it four digits end in 5366,
(i,lo r:esporrse. )
COMMITISIONER KJEI-,LANDER: Let's
qf66
move1l-
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are 7022,
olr
7022.
queue.
Again, let's
move to a cafler whcse last four digits are
Cafler, are yolr t-here? 6042, ts the caller
(l o response . )
COMMl SS]ONER KJELI,ANDER :
6042,6042.
there?
6442? We' ll
move on t-o a cal1er whosre Iast four digits end
9705. Caller, arc you t-here? 9705. 1s your
mute by any chance '? 9705, 9705.
( No -r esponse . )
COMT.IiSSIONER KJE],LANDER: WeIII move on to
a caller wh(lse -Lest -[our
in 9705,
phone on
dicli';s
CSB REPORTINC
208.890.5198
MOORE
Publ i c
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are 1547.
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208.890.s198
PERKINS
Publ- ic
(l{o response. )
CCI.IMISSIONF.IR KJELLANDER: V,le'If move on to
caller 6681 , 668'1 . Is the cal-t er there?
THEI CALLER: Yes, 6687, that is me.
C(JMM ISSJ IONER KJELLANDER: Good morning.
THE CAI,LER: Hel Io .
COMMISS IONER
close to good afLernoon, so
you sworn in,
KJELLANDER: Actually, itrs
why don't we begin by getting
BRlAN,PERKINS,
appearing as a public witness, having been duly sworn,
was examined and testified as follows:
C()MMISSIONER K.IELIANDER: And could you
state for the ri.iccrd your name and spe1l it, please?
THEI WIii'NESS: Yes, my name is Brian
Perk-Lns. Eirst narnc is B*.r*i-:r*n. Last name is
P-e-r-k-i-n-s.
CJOI'{MiSSiICNER KJELLANDER: And your
addres s .
,t.HE W1'1'NESS:My address is 3406
Idaho,83605.Manchester Drive, (la lclwe l- l,
CLTN]I'1iS]S IONER KJE]],LANDER: And are you a
customer of Idahc L'o'u/e r ?o
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'tlili WI'L'l'lEsfj: Yes, I am,
(-l(11,4[,lISSTONER K.IELLANDER: Thank you.
Could you pleasr: pt ovi.de lroqa
Ti]Ii WITI''IESS:story is a fittfe
that people have been
startement?
Yes, my
bit different than some of the ones
10
sharing here tc-rcJa1,, and tlrat i--s my wife and
currently solar-gclreraf-ing custonrers, but
have a contract wiLh a solar iltsl-allation
that. We reache(J that .ior)tract- i.rt OcLober
shortly before thc ICahcr Pov,er let-ter came
I are not
we actual l y
company to do
of this year,
out, and so
then, we are11
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with the changes that have happened
now facing a ve.ry dlfficult decision
S]NCC
righL now,
us anrl we
in thaL we can
either back ouL of the contract at significant personal
happened,
month, and
going to
with a power
My fee 1ing
it's going to
signed this
PERKINS
PubI ic
expense,
that the
we have
want to
with the
uncerta i nt- y,
actually make
CSB RE PORTlNG
208 .890.5198
because the instaffaEion has not yet
solar installation will be later this
about 10 days to two weeks to decide on if we
continue with thi.s or not or we could continue
contract that we have,
E'/en though there's obviously great
we have no idea if we're ever
mo,re noney t.han we would have
bill if the ccsjt ]s goi ng to of f set or not.
is thal Lhe way things
be a definite f inancial
are golng
loser for
contract thinkinq bot-h oL envir:onmental reasons and fora25
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CSB REPORTIN(]
208.890. s198
PERKINS
Publ i c
financial reasons for us. because it made sense
monetarily and, ,-ri .,r,:)Lrr:s(:, we did want to do what we
could Lo lrel p l-hc e ler:Lri caI
this unccrta in .r r t--.,i wlrere we
goinq on.
not been fort-ht igirt
been forthright trith
the other associated
system out, so now we're in
don't know exactfy what's
I feei iike my issue is not so much wi.th
the solar inst-allation company. 1 feel
the abso]-lrte bcst: j.nformation that
more that the -i. ssuc i s with Idaho
Iike they gave us
had, but it's
that they have
They have not
thls point,
we can cl-ean
we will be
again, we
they
Powe r ,
wiLh the customers,
tire solar-generating companies and
businesses with that. It seems to
me like the homeowners are paying the cost of the
installation and taking the risk, but ldaho Power is
generating the profit and that's pretty much h,hat I have
to say on that.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Let
me see 1f there are any questions from parties to the
case or members of the Commission. There are none, so we
thank you for your test-imony.
(Thc wil-ness left the 1ine.)
CiOMI,iISSIONER KJELLANDER: At
we wil]- take a qli cr, 10-minute break so that
up the qucue ancl please stay orr the line and
back in 10 minut-es to resume t.estimony/ so,a 25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890. s1?8
MCGAVI N
Publ ic
will go off
can clean up
12:18.
the lecord for a brief 1O-minute period so we
the plrone queue and continue with the calls
in a lO-minute winclc.w, so it is our intent to resume at
(Recess. )
.JOMMI SS IONER KJE]-LANDER: We
to go back on the record and we
are now ready fcr a calfer whose
2L74. Caller, are you there?
are on the
are now ready
record. We
numbers end in 2174.
Can you hear me?
KJELLANDER: Yes, yes, we
TIIIi CAL],ER:
CC)MM I :] JJ I ON ER
can. Thank you. Let me swear you in.
appearing as
was examined
SCOT MCGAV]N,
a public w.itness I having been duly swo.rn,
and testif ied as f o.l-lows:
COI''IMISSICNElR KJEI,LANDtrR: Thank you, and
could you please sitra.e y()ur name and spell it for the
record?
'lllll WITNESS: Scot McGavin, S-c-o-t
M-c-G-a-v-i-n.
COI\jMiSSIQNER KJEI,LANDER: Thank you, and
your acld ress, f ieas-.
Tllli !,VITNESS: 1605 South PhiIlippi.O 25
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CSB RE PORT ING
208.890. 5198
MCGAV I N
Publ ic
Actual1y, Lhr: adrl.rcrss of our neL nLeter-ing inst.allation is
5479 Wesl li nauriib."c I -
rluMlllllS LONER iiJELLANDER: I'm sorry, if
you could repca L Ihii t .lqa i n .
THE hlITNlll-lS: The insta l lation address of
our net met er-ing sysLem is 5479 llest* Overland Road in
Boise.
CIO[4]']LSS I.ONER KJEI,LANDER: Okay, thank you,
and are you a clrstomer of Idaho Power?
T'HE WITNESS: We are on multiple
systems.
CT]I.IM I SIJ IONEIT KJT.]I,I,ANDER:
could you go ahearl and provi de us your
Thank you, and
statement ?
system. We are net
the system in operat ion
thank you very
Commission for
listening to our
$25,000 into our
THE W1TNESS:
much for yor:
holding the se
Yc:1 . WeII, so first of aI1,
at the Idaho PubIic Utifities
public meetings and for
My fami 1y has invested overu.-)nceIIts.
roo f t- op so-Lar
metering cust ome r s. We've had
for more than a year now, inst-aIled the system for both
the sl-gnificant i-mpr:ovement to our impact on the
environment in ldaho, as wel-f as for the value of the
.return on our investmenl.
We believe strongly that providing green
energy is the best-- thing for Idaho, We have severalI25
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CSB REPORTl NG
208 .890.5198
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Pubfic
buildings that are on Idaho Power in Boise as wefl as
outside of Boise and we have had the intention of
installing one or two addltional rooftop so.Iar systems on
those other sit-es, at leasL up until this proposal. At
this point, though, adclitlonal installations are on hold.
We have purchased an electric car that r^re
use to charge with our system. It's another way that we
a.re able to retluce our air qual-ity impact in Boise. We
are essentially doing everything we can as consumers to
minimize our environmental impact and rooftop so1ar .is
one ma j or action that ourse.l-ves and other Idaho consume.rs
can take, at least that!s been the case up until this
rate proposal decrease.
,l have a strong concern that the value of
our investment that we made wilf be lost if we seIl our
proper:ty. We ur'rder:stand that the current proposal does
not alfow for the rate -- if there's a settlement, any
change in the settlernent, that might be grandfathered in
t.hat the rate increase or the rate decrease rather wonrt
with our system and that from our
signifi.cant portion of our $25,000
necessarily
standpoint
investment.
Power as of
investment
t rans fer
negates a
At the
today,
for this
crr r ren t
cur sofar
r.:te being pa j-d by Idaho
generation, the return on
nearly 20 years f-c) break even, un[ortunately,
25,000 t-hat. we put in will take
so weo
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generate our tr)ower ,iuring the day and we use less power
during t-he d.r y t,hen w€, gener rat e and
irave an elecL.ric
because of that, we
heatbecause we:ha ve
usage
don'L
is heaviLy focused on the evening
have any soiar-. If we're not paid
pump system, our
as well when we
the same amount
for the power [hat
use in the evening,
we generatc dr:r:ing the day as what we
LhaL's an rlnreasonabfe impact,
"ts.econonll c
rat-e s are
impac t , t-o
The p ropos e<1
decrease
rat-r: j.ncrease or, excuse me,
wil l complet.ely negate thethe proposed r al-e
economic benefits
rates would be so
for investing in thi.s system, The new
low as Lo
usable llfe of solar panels.
is about
never break even over the
As I mentioned. our payback
current- rate and if those
or a quarter, the system wll-l
the time we actually finish
the p.roposed rate, there's
20 years under
dropped r-o a
h.rve no valueactually
paying iL
ti h()
h,1l f
by
off; t-hcref ore,
absolutely no economj.c financial incenLive for other
Idaho Power subscribers to even go forward in installing
rooftop solar under the proposed rate changes,
The proposaf would effectj.vefy eliminate
consumer rooftop solar installations in Idaho, There are
numerous solar instal.Iation companies, including the one
we went through. th;rt we used to insta]l our system, it
woufd effectively have their business in Idaho destroyedI
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as a result of Llii:; pr:,.rposal-, .rnd this would eliminate
hundreds of goo,i-pa yi rtg
that what othcr cdl lcrs
in Idaho, so f reiterate
indi-cated as well that the
be a required study for
evaluate the actual
impact of i nstal I ing
be done and I understand
j obs
have
public expecte,,l t-l'ra t Lhere woul.d
the lPUC Case t'Jo. 'f PC-E-17-1.i to
costs, benefrts, arrd tihen true
rooftop solar
that no such
t-ha t tha t- would
st-uciy has bee n done.
.I h.r,;e done a -Lot- of research on green
10 power generatiorr and I don't believe the propaganda that
Idaho Power is stating is based on fact. f befieve that
the value of rooft-op solar has actually much more benefit
for ldaho than any potential downside cited by Idahoo
Power as
pr:opo s ed
Iawsuit
before any sett- Lement
such suit. I don' t:
resuft of that, i' t
settlemenL artd force
CSB REPORT IN(]
208.890.5198
of the settlement proposal. If this
does go through and a class action
would definitely be a participant in
want to see that happen, so as a
askinq you to pfease reject the
the required study to be compl-eted
is accepted.
91
the basis
rate cut-
i s fi le,'ct, I
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Please don't crit the rates being provided
to aI1 rooftop so.l..ir systems past, present, or future.
At the very minirnum. please grandfather existing systems
that tie "r grandt.rthered i:alc structure to the solar
system itself and not lhe Iciahi: Power customer as thiso25
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208.890.5198
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would be the orrLy eciu.l-tab1e
of such syr LCIlLS . I'h,:,i 's m)/
COM} i :l lr I ON ER
way t-o protect the
statement.
KJELLANDER: Thank
inves t.ment
you. Are
there any questions
of the Commissiort?
test imony.
from parties
'1 here being
to the case or members
none, thank you for your
(The r.,iLness lcft the line. )
C.JMMISSIONER KJET,LANDER: We move now to a
caller wlrose Iast lour digits are 5265, 5265. Ca.I.l-er,
are you thc re ?
THE CAL,LER: I am here. This is Pau]
Al fen.
COl.4['lISS]ONER KJELLANDIIR: Mr. A1]en, if
you could state your n.rme again for r-he record and spe1l
it.
'l'HE .jALl,ER: I,au1. P-a-u-f , last name
Allen, A-I-l-c-n.
COMI{IS:J TTJNER KJEI,LANDER: And youT
address, please.
'l'atE CALi,ER: 7961 West Pocatello Creek
Road in PocatclIo, Iciaho. 832.01 .
COMI,IISSJIONLIR K,,IEI,LANDER: AnC] ale you an
Idaho Povie r cu.st-on er::
'Ill I.l CAl,i,tlR: f am.
COMIlI:jaj l ONI]R KJELLANDER: Wel], gooda25
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ALLEN
Publ ic
afternoon ;,rnd pleasc offer us your statement.
'l'liE CAi,l,ER: I lliink i t's true for many of
us thaL we .1 irl ..rl
COMN1IIJSlO}']F]R KJE],I,ANDER: JuSt one moment,
I apol ogi ze. f ncr,:d tr() i.n'.errupt you because I f a.i.Ied to
swear you in and 1,hat's on me.
appearj.ng :rs a Pr-tlrJ ic
PAUL ALLEN,
wltness, having been first duly
sworn, Lest--ifiecl as foLfows:
COMI'IISS IONLIR KJELIANDER: Thank you, and I
apoJ og"Lze for i n|-crruptirig you, if you could please start
over.
THE WII'NESS: All righty. I installed a
solar roof t-op
net meter-ing
solar roof t-op
motivation in
the community
to be a good
this year \^rith the
in i[s current fashion. I
understanding of
did not invest in
an investment.
system
There are rnu ch
generat i.on for purposes
bettrer investments out
of
sclar energy was
there.My
to bene fitl nve-st 1ng in
and the world j-n general. T was choosing
ci.trzen.
I beii eve it is
create policy wh i r:ii et',r:ourages
stewards of eaeh other and fand
the role of government to
its citizenry t.o be good
policy which encouragesI25
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208-890.5198
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us to be good citizens. I beLieve that those of us that
chose to invest in thj,s way to better the environment, to
better our communiLies are being singled out for
punishment. This proposal will be a disincentive for
those who are considering investing in al-ternative energy
and I do not think that fosters good citizenship.
If T am being askecl to pay for the
infrastructure and maintenance of Idaho Power's systems'
I wou.Id ask that Llrat be done on a straight fee which is
understandable to its customers. The proposed system
seems right for abuse. I don't understand whether what
I'm being asked 1-o pay is commensurate with the
infrastructure needs of ldaho Power. I do think that
there is a need to be fair and I do understand that Idaho
Power has expendit.ures which I'm not -- I shoufd be
required to pay f or:.
It seems that Idaho Power anticipates
investing in infraslructure because of increased needs in
the future. It would seem that my personal investment of
severaf tens of thousands of doflars is serving to pay up
front for some of t-hat infrastructure. This is
power- gene rat ing equipment that they will no longer be
required to invest in because I'm generating the power
for them. I'm noL sure why -- that seems like
infrastructure t-hat I am providing for them. I think
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208.890.51 98
ALLEN
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CSB REPORT] NG
208.890.5198
ALLEN
PubIic
that needs to be corrs:rdererl if my calculations are
co.rrect. 1 bel.i.eve t,traL's aIl I have to say and I
appreciate the Comrnj ssion taking these
COMMI SSlONER KJEI,LANDER :
your comments. Let's see j-f there are
calls today.
Thank you for
any questions from
the case. Theremembers of
a re nolle ,
the Comrnission or parties
so tharrk you again for your
lThe witness left the
1-o
testimony.
line. )
.OMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to a
caller whose f ,i:rl {,:ur digi ts ar e 1295, 1295. Is the
cal]er ttlere? 1:'95. 1s the L:aller on mute? L295.
(No respr>nse ) .
ll(-)MM I S sj I ONER KJELLANDER: We'11 move on,
therr, t-o cal.Ir:.r Iast :Lour digiLs 1174, 111 4. Is the
cal l.er there?
'J'll-rl (li\LLIiR: Ycs. I'm here.
(:()UII4ISSIONER K,ltil[,LANDER: Good. I'11
begin by swL;rlril'.r y t- itr.
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208.890.5198
LEWIS
Publ i c
appearing as
was examined
IIOGT]R LEWIS,
a pubf i.r witness, hav.ing been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COIV]MISSIONER K.]IILLAND!]R: ThanK you, and
coulcl you staLe ior t.he record anLl spe]I your name?
T'11ll WITNIlSS: i\4y name is Roger, R-o-g-e-r,
L-e -w- i-s.
COMMISS IOLIER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
j'llE t4 lTllESS : 5444 West Tivoli Lane,
Boise. Idaho, B3 /03.
COMMISISIONER KJEI,LANDER: Could you repeat
again the name of thc lane?
T'HE i4lTi'NESS: Trvol i, T-i -v-o-1-i, Lane.
COMI"IISS]ONER KJELLANDER: Thank you very
much, and are you a customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: f am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank vou.
Please offer your: statement.
TtlE WITNESS: f want to thank the
Commission for taking o[1r tesf-imony and my testimony is a
far. I think
that if we cause
littfe different trom what I've heard so
afl of us need to understand and be fair
Idaho Power extr.r exf)enclitLlires Lo defiver and administert
:i ta
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208.890.519u
LEWIS
PubIic
solar power bacl;.
understand lhat
wi th
Lo 5e,|6. people that they need to
Apparent-Ly,
or is going Lo have
having a problem
b)ack to the PUC
customers of Idaho
Lhi.s cr:sts monelr.
Idaho is
to come
asking f or a rate r n-rrease f or: alI
Power to just.ify the added expense and management,
maintenance of the solar powei: industry, so I'm in favor
Power tc cut the rate ofof this proposal. b\, ldaho
ki.Iowa t t -hollrs LC Lirose customers.
There are some people
majorj.ty of people, that
and a 1ot of people,
either cannotprobably the
afford solar
whatever t hat
power, 1t' s
expenses of
Idaho Power,
questions if
POWCI
it's
or .rre local-ed c:lose to trees or
just not practical to go to sofar
not f air. for them to have
what tl,r: solar power people
to pick up the
have incurred to
so thaL's my statement and I'ff take any
you have any.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from the parties to the case or
members of the Commission? There are none. Thank you
for your testimony toda y.
('Ihe witness left the 1lne.)
C:Ol,lMiSS IONER KJE]LLANDER: We move now to a
caller whose la:it. four ctigits end in 6258, 6258. Ca11er,
are you thc re ?t 25
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208.890.5198
SCOTT
Public
Tilii CALLER: Yes, T 'm here.
(JOT4MISS-LOI.lER KJE]LLANDER: ThanK you. Why
don' t we l:,eg in by swea r: i r.rg lzou i n.
appearing as
was examined
S]ERRA SCOTT,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
anci testified as f oIl-ows:
(JOMM I'.JSIONER
the record pJ.ease state yolrr
.I'H}i W I TNESS:
Scott, S-c-o-t-t.
COMIVI I IJ I] I ON Eit
adcire s s, please.
TIiII l/J I'I'NE.SIJ :
Tetonia, Idaho. 8)45':.
COMM]SSIONER
customer of Idaho P ow€i ra'?
,t,H!t !,lt,rliESS:
COMMl S-i :] ION IP.
afternoon. and pi ease cffer
T'H E W.t -INESS:
start, with sayi nr; it's all. a
KJELLANDER: Could you for
name and spe11 it?
Sierra Scott, S-i-e-r-r-a,
KJEII,L,ANDER: And your
4730 North 8000 West,
KJELLANDER: And are you a
Yes.
KJELLANDER: We11, good
us your
Than k
little
dea 1. ,
testimony.
you. Irve got to
uncfear to me what I s
goang
been
on wlth thi s whc)l e PUC my story is Irve
humanity since I
but
.interested irr t.hc. environment, anda
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was in col-Iege in Austral.ia in the l-990s and I worked in
the industry in development trying to do green
devel-opment through t-he 2000s and then I made personal
commitments, and just in the last three years, I
instafled the largest solar panel system with Eal1 River,
which is a 2L-3 kilowatt .system. It produces all my
power. I have a dude ranch. Itrs 100 percent renewable
and.it's not been very easy L,eing a flrst mover in solar.
Il's been very confusing just how to
monitor the sofar and then this just adds to the
confusion. I don't -- it doesn't seem measurabfe by what
this proposal will actually cost me, which other people
have mentioned as welL. ft doesnrt seem to take into
account the overa.Il environmentaf impact for the good of
the pfanet at- a]-I . IL seems pretty -- it seems a fittle
bit greedy in its nature and it might be the current
government.
You know, I'm just not sure why we canrt
figure out a way to make this beneficial for all, not
just the Power Company, but al-]. the consumers across the
board. There's qot to be a way to make this work, and
those of us who have already invested -- my investment
was $76,000 af t.er some tax credits, so it was sizeable,
l-ike a huge invesLment. Yeah, T forego paying off a big
chunk of my mor:tgage to put in a solar system/ because I
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99 SCOTT
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felt that strcngiY
the comrnun i l- y and,
about:;r:rrding 1,hi s
know, thi.s is
positive message to
just -- it's kind of
m hoping
since I'm
1O rl
a back.lash. It- do,:sn't seem progressive. It seems not
forward-moving.
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forward and t wo :,s L r.lp:; b"'ick
t-ime. There has ,,i- b(j __
hearing iike t-hi.s 'r s qoo,:1.
confused wi.til
hoping that I
so you can hear these
there should be a solut.ion
It- s--ems Iike we're taking one step
five steps back afl the
kriow, having a public
.)1:
you
that isn't just !.azzy, unclear, and doesn't promote
humanjty moving Icrr:wa.rci i.n a pos.Ltive d.irection.
I wi.sh, you know, I could be more
scientif ic because, as I a.l ready sa.id, I'm a little
it al..l . but I just wanted to say that I am
).,ou know,
t,his wi I1
I don't. know what sort of
f i nanc ia I
it's rlot
impact
s i zeab.1
have on me, but I'
i-f any at aIl, especially
already an existing cusr-omer that that wouldn't change my
agreement that I have with my electricity Company with
net metering, so (hank you for hearing me.
COMM.ISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
there being no
Commission, we
CSB REPOR1'ING
208.890.5198
qiic:iti.ori:j f rofil p,rrtr es to the case or the
;rcDr cr- ia L e your commerlts today.
THil $lITllElSS: Than k you.
(The witness left- the line. )
SCOTT
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
I01
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to a
calfer whose lasL four digiLs 5652, 5652. Is the caller
t.here?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
MITCHELL EORREST,
appearing as a public witness, havi,ng been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you state
forth the record your name and spe1l it for us, please?
THI b]ITNESS: I am Mitchel] Forrest,
M-i-t-c-h-e-f-1. Iast name F-o-r-r-e-s-t.
COMMISIJTONER KJELLANDER: And your
addre s s .
THE !{ITNESS: 315 South Cedar Point
Avenue, Namp.l, 43686.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
are you a customer of Idaho Power?
THE I/']ITNESS: ] am, yeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Please offer us
your test-imony.
TilE I/iITNESS: Thank you f or having me. I
am pa.rt ot the solar lndustry here in the Treasure Valley
EORRE ST
PubI ic
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.s198
and I ! ve only l- i.,'ed here for a little over a year. I
have prospered generously in this industry as solar makes
a ton of sense for most people where if you have southern
exposure and have the abj-lity to either finance or pay
for your system, it makes a ton of sense in the ]ong run.'
however, like many other calfers, it seems that Idaho
Power
study
that
tha t
that
is trying to come
that they need to
to a conclusion
do, so that is
without doing the
the biggest thing
those s tudie sdoI urge is
they need
that first, they will
to do and, secondly,I j ust don't thlnk
what they're proposing is fair to anybody as they
already have a service charge and other charges that are
supposed to be for maintaining the grid and delivering
power, and that doesn't seem to be case as !hey're trying
to get more money out of their sol-ar customers than the
existing customers that are afready there.
I do believe that the solar customers that
have made the lnvestment have done the right thing,
takes thatbecause it
peak demand
the hardest
any need for
ki l- owatt -hour
does he lp
off the
t hing
them
our environment out. It
grid, which
for the grid
to change it
is to my understanding
to handle, and I don't see
from the one-to-one
rate structure that they already
at least for
have as
that seems to make the most sense,existing
and needcustomers, and if they do end up doing the studyo25
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208.890. s198
DAVI E S
Publ ic
to change it, i woulC urge at the very least that they
keep the one-t-o-one gr:.rrrdf athered in to existing
customers and only make changes to future cusLomers.
That's all I have to say. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any queslions from parlies to the case or members
of the Commission? There being none, thank you again for
your tes t imony.
(The witness Ieft the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to a
caller with the fast four digits 9371 , 9371 . Is the
caller there ?
THE CALLER: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, thank you.
Let me begin by swcarino you :n.
appearlng as
was examined
DAVID DAVIES,
a public witness, having been duJ-y sworn,
and testified as foflows:
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: Could you for
the record please state your name and spell it?
THE WITNESS: David Davies, D-a-v-i--e-s.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Mr. Davies,
could you also give us your address?o 25
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CSB REPORTING
208 . 8 90.5198
NA\/TFC
Public
THE lrlITrrr-ESS | 21349 Hop, H-o-p, Road in
Cafdwe11, Idaho. 83607.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
are you a customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS r I am, yes.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER :
Thank vou and
Tha n k
Could you please provide your statement for us
THE WITNESS; Yes, I would like
my conments, but the comments
are possibly being affected by
you .
today?
to thank
of so many of us today
this settlement
say that at the very l-east, I
existing net mete.r customers
b)acktrack on our current
h,ut more than that, f
conversation with the
You,
onfy
that
Pauf. and also K-ristine and Errc for hearing not
agreement.
hope you do
into thi s
agreement s
rega rding
wanted to
I wouLd like to
grandfather us
aoreement and not
our one- Eo-one rateJ,
say that I |rad a nice
or contracts that we have wlth Idaho Power
Idaho Power employee who installed our net meter a few
months ago and I wanted to get the perspective of Idaho
Power as to why it woufd not be a one-to-one relationship
in terms of buying and selling this power.
His comments to me were, I think, very
interesting and somewhat in fine with the calfer about
six calls
the grid
ago.
and I
Idaho Power has an expense to maintain
need the grid and every solar customer whoa
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208.890.5198
DAV] ES
Publ ic
has spoken and who is about to speak and may be listening
to me now needs that. grid. In order to maintain that
grid, there is an expense,
with maintaining the roads
My comment,
with the rate that's being
if I was to sell power to
cents or so that I woufd
just Iike there is an
that we drive on.
though, primarlly has
proposed of roughly 4
Idaho Power versus the
expense
t-o do
4 cents
purchase 1t for. I 've
eight
read
through the settlement agreement. I've read through many
of the documents that have been posted onfine and I thank
you for post ing
that number: was
take the ldaho
derived,
employee's
to me what the co.r.rect
this study that I s been
that would become more
SO
those. What's not clear to me is how
we need some money Lo
WhaL is
one cent per kilowatt -hour?
Eour cents? Six cents? t
how 4.4 cents was derived. If I
comments at face va1ue, he says
maintain the grid. I accept that,
the right amount of money? Is it
A half a cent? Two cents?
r.rnder: s t and that ldaho Power
started at an offer of something like two cents a
kilowatt-hour and now we're at 4 4 cents, and again, .it I s
number would be.
referred to is
obvious to me and
not clear
Perhaps if
comp.I e t ed,
others and that's my main cornment to you three
today and the parties to the agreement asCommissioners
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208.890.5198
H ] TCHCOCK
Pubfic
Pfease help us, help me understand how 4.4
cents, the differentra] there, is the correct amount to
maintain that grid that
thank you very much for
I need and that others need and I
this opportunity today.
KJELLANDER: Thank you forCOMM I SS IONER
your comments. Are
the case or members
there any quest ions
of the Commiss ion?
from partles to
If not, then
thank you for your testimony.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: lie move now to a
caller whose last four digits arc 1611, 161L. Is the
caIler there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I 'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Let
me get you swo.rn in f irst.
appearang as
was examined
EVELYN HITCHCOCK,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as f oI.Iows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you please
state for the record your name and spe.I] it. please, for
US?
THE WITNESS: This is Evelyn Hitchcock,
E-v-e-I-y-n H-i-t-c-h-c-o-c-k.25
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208.890.s198
i07 H]TCHCOCK
Publ- 1c
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please,
THE WITNESS: L492 Los Altos Way in
Pocate.Lf o.
CjOMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We11, good
afternoon, and coufd you please offer your statement?
THE WITNESS: I would lust like to state
my point of view. I'm a 73-year-o.l-d single woman
fixed 1ow income and I decided to install a so.Iar
ona
in part environment and to assist with
system
g1oba1to help the
but a1so,it's out of mvwarmlng,
hopeful ly
electrlc
system myself
insurance arid
suppl-ying the
deliver onto
savings and it was
independent fromto assist me to become
bills in the future.
My corunent
and agreeing
ma i n tenarce
is that by financing this
and having to pay for
ln
infrastructure
the grid when i
the fuLure, I am essential.Ly
for the electricity that I
generate a little bit
excess, and 1f they're asking me to pay the full amount
of el-ectricity blll that they are -- the full rate that
they charge, they are justifying that because I am
paying -- about two-thirds or three-quarters of myo25
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efectric that I pay for is attributed to infrastructure.
i actual,ly cal.Ied a representatj-ve of the
customer generation team and discussed this issue with
them and there was a woman there that said that only
about onfy 25 percent of the bill that I get charged for
the electricity that I use is actually for the energy.
The rest is for infrastructure, so I guess my point is if
it's fair that I have to pay 100 percent of the energy,
pfus the infrastructure for energy that I consume that
then I shouJ-d be credited with the fu1l amount of the
energy I del-iver onto the grid, including my
infrastructure costs, which is my investment, my
financing, and my maintenance over the years.
And I al-so have a point to make about the
effect of this type of more restrictive net metering on
future investment in sol-ar systems in the future in
Idaho, because it was very exciting to see that in the
Pocateffo area, we greatly exceeded the number of
instaffations this year over what they anticipated they
would get to participate in the program that we had here
calLed Solarize Pocatello, and the enthusiasm -- we got
over three times as many installs as they predicted that
we would get or that they even hoped we would get, and
I'm afraid that this actj-on by the PUC if you approve
this cutback on the net metering rates that we receive,
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a
108 H I TCHCOCK
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GRAVE S
Pubfic
it will definitely put a
here in Pocatello and cn
up to do as I did, which
ciamper cn
the number
the solar i ndu st ry
was to sacrifice some
of people that sign
of thei,r
savings impact on gfobal warming here in
ir.Idaho and I guess that's
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We]1, thank you
for your com,'nent. Let's see -rf we have any f ollow-up
questions from parties to the case or from members of the
Commissron. Seerng none, I want to thank you for your
testimony to.lay.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caffer whose last four dig-Lts are 0169, 0169. Is the
ca.I.I e r there ?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good a fternoon I
and cou.Id we fir-st get you sworn ln?
to alleviate our
appearing as
was examined
STEVEN GRAVES,
a public witness, having been duly swo.rn,
and testified as fol lows:
COMM] SSIONER KJELLANDER :
state your name and spell it for us for
And if you could
the record.
TllE !{lTNESS: Steven Graves, S-t-e-v-e-nI
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G-r-a-v-e-s.
address.
THE WITNESS:
R-e-d- s-p- i -r-e, Way, Star,
COMMISSIONER
customer of Idaho Power ?
THE WITNESS:
COMMISS]ONER
afternoon, and please of f er
THE WITNESS:
.Ot'lTiII SS IONER KJELLANDER : And your
1388 Nort.h Redspire,
1daho,83669.
KJELLANDER: And are you a
Yes, I am.
KJELLANDER: WeII, good
statement.
'm calling in today
Idaho concerning thisbecause I wrote to
subject matter and
information about
the Governor of
he was the
us your
Yes. I
this phone
one that gave
conference and
regarding
factor on
the upcoming
my
this
me the
meet i ng
I ette r
tomorrow in Garden City. When I received
from ldaho Power, there was nothing about:
communication that we would have wi-th the Publi-c
Utilit j-es Commission, nor did I rece.ive anything from the
Pubfic Utilities Commission
basically the communication
failed miserably.
I don't know
this p1an, so
this matter has
that have solar panels on top of
have received this information.
The news media did not take any
-- how many customers
their roofs ]-ike f have
It wasnlt in the papers.
public time to announce
wha t
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208.890.5198
GRAVES
Pubfic
this meeting or did they even trample on this subject.
lvhat we have here, gentlemen, is a situatj-on where Idaho
Power and IDACORP are much like Cable One and the
newspapers and everybody else at these times.
Technology j-s overcoming the analog
processes that have been provided to us for numerous of
years. We're -in the 21st century. We need to figure
this out. Solar panels, I believe, are an excellent
option. I purchased them myself, I spent a fot of money
for them. I maj-ntain them, okay? !,lhen they go down, I
monitor them. When they go downr I have to get them
fixed. I have to get them rep.l-aced. Idaho Power doesn't
run in and do anything for me, okay?
Eurthermore, I want it noted that the CEO
of IDACORP makes a tremendous amount of money annually
and f believe that this is being generated by them,
because it's affecting their bottom fine. They're in the
stone age and they're going to remain in the stone age
unfess they embrace solar energy, wind power, or anything
else that's an alternative source of
For th.i s to
producing energy.
a three-member panel
a1so. There' s far
energy than the
of che IPUC. I t.hink it's
be put on
ludi crous ,
educated onmore peopfe that
IPUC. I believe
are more
I wrote aboul this in the varlous tn
Lhe Idaho Statesmarl, the Idaho 'Irtbune, and I just don'tt
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know what to say. Irm dumbfounded that we are even
discussing this. fdaho Power, you've got to figure it
out, because when they invent a battery that contains the
energy I'm producj-n9r Irl cutting you off, werre
finished, and I wil-l not be on the grid again.
I know that's kind of an isolationist
thinking, but that's the way the world works these days.
The improvements on solar panels are remarkable. I had a
problem with my panels during Lhe summer. They were
producing a vast amount of energy and my solar company
came in and repfaced some of my panels and they -- during
that time, yeah, I had to depend on Idaho Power to
provide energy for my air conditioning, but I believe
that we've straightened out that probl-em and we're moving
on. Anyway, that's alf f 've got to say. Thank you for
your time.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let's see if
there are any questions from parties to the case or
members of the Commission, There being none, thank you
for your comments today.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ble move now to a
calfer whose last four digits end in 3894, 3894. Is the
ca11er there? 3894. Is the caller there?
(No response . )
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BLANK
PubI ic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: MoVe now to a
ca1ler whose la:it. f or,rr: drgits end r^ri th 7501, 7501. Is
the ca.L ] er there?
THE CALLER: I am, yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, good. Let
me starr b1' swc.rring ycu in.
appearing as
was examlned
MICHELLE BLANK,
a public witnessf having been duly sworn,
and testified as folfows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you for
the record please state your name and spelf it for us?
THE WITNESS: Yes, my name is Michelle
BIank, spelled M-i-c-h-e-L-1-e, B1ank, B-1-a-n-k.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS: Do you
address is 144 Deer Forest, Mccaif,
want my -- my street
Idaho, 83638.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS:
COMMISSIONER
Could you please offer your
THE WITNESS:
Okay, thank you.
us today?
husband and I
I arn
K.] I.] I,LAN DE R :
t est imony
Yes. My
tor
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208.890.5198
carefully considered if we cou-Ld afford to
and the
that if
with an
lnvest r-n
net metering
we rea11y
upfront
I hope current
befieve i-t
solar panels by way of tax refunds
schedule. Eventual-l-y we determined
stretched ourse.Ives financlally now
investment, it would be worth it j-n the long run. It
would be a real Iinancial hardship if
Utilities Comrn.r-ssion changes the net
schedule at this point. It is wrong
midway through the game.
Like many others have
the Idaho Public
metering fee
to change the ru.l-es
in. but
said,
I afsoCUSTOMEIS AIC
would be wrong
grandfathered
to change the net metering rules for
future homeowners. As an individual born and raised in
ldaho, I know that Idaho believes in independence and
this incl-udes energy independence. With changes to the
net metering rules, Idaho Power is attempting to undercut
energy independence j-n Idaho. If these rule changes
pass, I be.Iieve there will be political impl-ications such
as what happened in Nevada.
Peop1e wi.I1 also avoid the utiJ-ity
altogether, especially as sol-ar power and battery storage
becomes cheaper. Idaho Power wiJ-l see lts consumer base
dwindling and Iosing an important source of power to
offset the electric shifting demands, such as summer air
conditioning and other peak energy use.
BLANK
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BLANK
Public
Einally, in an attempt to make solar
panels financiaLJy unaffordable for horneowners j-s moralfy
wrong at a time in which climate change is already
change would put Idaho
Public Utilities
impacting our country. This
Power and, if approved, the
Commission on the wrong slde
working on moving as quickfy
sustainable renewab.Ie fuLure
of history. We need to be
as possibfe towards a
and homeowner-owned so]ar
rule
f daho
panels are an important part of
It's disingenuous
a utility that cares
commi-tment to run 100
that future .
for ]daho Po!{er to craft
about the environment,an lmage as
wrth their
by 2045 while undercutting renewabfe energy
proposed change to net metering. Thank you
and consideration of these concerns and an
share them.
percent on clean energy
with thi s
for your time
opportunity to
you. Are
members of
again for
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank
there any quest.ions from parties to
the Commission? Seeing none, then,
your testimony todaY.
(The witness feft the
THE WITNESS: We now
the fast four digits ending in 1547,
there? L54'7.
(No response . )
the case,
thank you
1ine. )
move to a caller with
1547. Is the ca1ler
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208 .890. s198
E] SHER
PubIic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: WerLI move on to
the next caller with the last four digits ending in 1687.
7681 . Is the calter there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begrn by swearing you in.
appearlng as
was examined
RYAN FI SHER,
a publ-ic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as folfows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And couLd
please sEate for the record your name and spe1l it
as welL ?
you
for us
THE !'iITNESS: Yes, Ryan Eishen, R-y-a-n
F-i-s-h-e-r.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: And youT
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 333 [,lest Warren Street,
Boise, Idaho. 83706.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: Yes, f am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Could you pJease offe-r us your comment?a 25
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208.890.5198
E] SHER
Public
you for
ca 1.I in .
addi t i on
sending
THE WITNESS: Yes, thank you, and thank
the time for the Commission this afternoon to
It's vronderful to have these type of forums in
to writing to our e.Iected
written comments into the
legislators and
Commission. I
appreciate the opportunity to voice in
Simil-ar to many others,
customer with the net metering program
and I would urge the Commj-ssion --
COMMI SSIONER KJELLANDER :
person as wef1.
i am a solar power
from Idaho Power
IL appears t hat
everyone from
stifl on the
I'm not tal ki ng
the system, and
interrupt you only
.your presentation,
fortunatefy, you're
callers, so what I
up a fittl-e bit for
own recaff when we
almost at the very
to anyone now as we've lost
in Ll.e evenr thar anyone is
caII, we are having a minor -- actually a significant
technical --
(liause rn proceedings. )
THE WITNESS: Excuse me, what the rate
decreases will be in the years in between those --
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Sir, I need to
because whi.Ie you were in the midst of
we had our system go down and
still on as well as the other
would like to do is ask you to back it
us and I apologize. I cannot on my
lost you, and from what I hear, itrs
beginning, so again, I apologize andI25
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if we could get, you to sort of reboot those cornments,
we'd greatly appreciate it.
THE WITNESS: Oh not at aff. Thank you
for mak.ing those cornments. I have no troub]-e going back,
so just to start from the beginning since f wasnrt sure
where you ]ost me, thank you, as a current net metering
customer of ldaho Power, I urge the Comnission not to
approve the proposal by Idaho Power currently before it
for tomorrow's meeting mainly on two-fold, both from a
financial- perspecti.ve and to help support what I think is
an important renewable energy push for Idaho and this
community on multiple fronts.
On the fj-nancial side, I invested a decent
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amount of money in solar underneath the rules three years
theago per ldaho Power's
proposal ldaho Power
I can honestly say I
net metering
currently has
program, and per
before the Comm.ission,
19
impa c t
least
system that
Idaho Power
I financed, mainly
on its mailer sent
of a negative
I think 1t wiff at
off my solar
-- even though
of this year to
2020 what they
for compensation
the ending rate of
decreases or their
EISHER
Publ ic
this wi lI be to me, even
double my time horizon for
don't know how big
though
paying
because
out 10-23
its net metering customers
want the per ki.Lowa tt-hour
for net metering customers,
CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.s198
est-imated in
r:ate to be
as weII as
o 2028, Lhey dldn't coinment on wilat- the
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Public
amounts would
two po.ints, so
ca.I cuf ate how
have a monthly
into the
biq of a
There's
be in the subsequent years in between those
it's actually impossible for me to
Idaho Power sent out an
financial- impact this would be.
a]-so nothing in the proposal that
their 10-23 mailer to net
metering customers t.hat they wonrt come
customers should participate with, which
back again to the
Commission and again dec::ease rates for net metering
customers. I do understand where Idaho Power is com.ing
from and per infrastructure and I don't think
metering customer of any type would disagree
is a certain infrastructure cost Lhat net
fee regardless of how much
any net
that there
meteri-ng
is why we do
energy we feed
that needs to bebackgrid.
I daho
If that ' s something
revisited by Power, it should be revisited in that
way.
I do encourage the Commission to keep the
one-for-one for all existing net metering customers'
compensat.ion for power generated as of this year. I
would actual]y even encourage going forward that future
customers have that opportunity and, if not, any changes
be applied only to new customers so they can properly vet
the financial lmplications themselves, give solar
installing compani.es a chance to maybe change things up
on their end, as welf to cont.inue the viabifity of solaro25
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208.890.5198
for end customers.
Tht-.re's beerr
by other power commissions
several exampJ-es of just that
throughout the country;
2017 with grandfathering in,
Service Commission of 2019 as
namely, one
and, again,
we.Il. This
by existing
moder:nizing
in Arkansas in
Kentucky PubI i c
would he 1.p respect al1
to date and
fi nancial i nve s tment s
also consideringcustomers
Idaho's power structure. If their
too heavily
powe r
inf .Iuencedstructure the way they have lt is
on per kilowatt-hours and not other factors, that might
be something they need to
stil1 give ldaho Power the
a safe grid for everybody
look at their own system to
resources it needs to maintain
Those are the comments I have and I thank
and a-I so be fair for everybody.
you for your
time this afternoon.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
the.re any questions from parties to the case or from
members of the Commission? Seeing none, I thank you
aga-in for your comment.s today.
(The witness left the 1ine.)
cal-]er whose .last f our digits end in 2046, 2A46. Is the
ca].Ier there? 2046. Is the caf f er there? I think we
may have a cal,l-er, Is Lhe ca1.l-er there? Hel-l-o?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
THE CALLER: Yes, I'm unmuted, but I don't
El SHER
Publ ic
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208.890.s198
understand.
you now and they
actual dlgits of
appearing as
was examined
Is it my passcode?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: No, we can hear
were the last four numbers of your
we're good.your telephone, so I think
Why don't r^re start by swearing you -in.
MARV]N SCHROEDER,
a public witness, hav.ing been duly swo.rn,
and testified as follows:
COMM] SS ]ONER
cou.Id you start, please, by
spelling it for the record?
K\IELLAN DER: Thank you, and
L e 11ing us your fufl name and
THE WITNESS: My full name is Marvin
Schroeder, M-a-r-v-i-n S -c-h- r-o-e-d-e-r .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS: My address is 2980 Mil-l
Road, Cambridge, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER K,JELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: YeS, ] am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
good afternoon and please feel free to offer us your
comment .
S CHROE DE R
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S CHROE DE R
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THE WITNESS: WeI1, thank you very much.
Eirst of all,, I'd like to express my appreciation for
real.Iy do
ma int a in
Idaho Power. T have a very high respect for them. They
in energy conservation and they
You know, I've never had any
mainLenance in getting the power back
great j obs
wiLh
system.
it forproblem
on afl
the
the time and we don't have any of the fires that
they have in Califcrnia, so I have a good
and a fot of respect for Idaho Power, and
this effort for changing the program, the
users has real ly
appreci at.ion
so that ' s why
net metering
taken me byprogram, for solar panel
surprise, and Irve called Idaho Power several t.imes to
try to get the ratlonafe behind it, and 1'11 go through
each kind of the ones that I received when I've calfed.
The first one I calfed was they were
talking about the people that have commercia.l- power from
solar power has a different rate than we do for solar
panel use and I never reaIIy considered myself as a
producer of solar power. A.l-L I was trying to do was to
provide about ha.If of my average use so that I could
reduce my expenditures in my power, so that kind of
surprised me that they were even considerj-ng me as a
sol-ar power user or producer, and then the next time I
call-ed they said -- and f understand, al-so, severaf
people have mentioned it before is the requirement foro25
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208.890.5198
maintenance and 1 can understand that, because I -- but I
still use about half my power, I still use Idaho Power
and stilL pay for Idaho Power for half that time, so I
didn't that understand that, and then the Iady said, when
I was talking to
reduced rate and
wou.Id be a f ixed
the maintenance
cha rge s ,
and power
adj ustments,
in our value,
Idaho Power said, that besj-des the
at the end of the year there
cost adj ustment j"ncluded for
get a
they ' d
rea1ly
re du ct.i on
also include the maintenance in addition, so I was
and so we'd also not
in the reduced cost.
about it.
thing was that one of
the growth of the sofar
and
j ust
but
them
pane I s
I Ioo k
I j ust was confused
Then the Ia st
kept saying that we're
has been exponent.ial,IS
at that they told me
rea11y considerable,
that it's, Iike, and I 'm not sure
about it, 5,000-6,000 solar panef users for -- of ]daho
Power compared to 560,000, so we're talking about one
percent of the people that are using Idaho Power are
actually solar panel residential power users, so I was
kind of a l-ittle bit surprised that it's such a small
figure that they're talking about, and besides that, as I
understand from 2O2O Lo 2022, the subsidies, the federaf
subsidies. drop off to nothing, so aL 2022, there won't
be any more realfy subsidies and probably no more
justification for increased use of the sofar panefs,
SCHROE DER
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because they woul-dn't be
of the solar paneJ-s, so I
rationale for Idaho Power
pay off the fixed cost
donrt understand the
this.
in their revenue and
able to
I
still
doing
looked
don't
Their
profit j us tl fi cat ion,
with the cost at this
they
end up -- and
Iike, $45.00
but anyway,
point, so f 'm
really
a year
$4s.00
have any
realIy
if they
told me
problem
-- the
that
I
only thing I coulcl come up with is that
Iast cafl I had theyincrease t his
solar pane.Ls
-- my
would the suggestion that
my
they
t hatwant woLrld cost me,
was $45.00 a month,
and -- maybe
and that ' s onlv on
the initial year. and then after that at the end it woufd
probably be more closer to $100, and then when you make
the calcufation, you're talking about if there's
5,000-6,000 people, you're talking about 600,000 for the
year additionaL profit for the Idaho Power, so the only
thing I can think is that theyrre trying to increase
their bottom line before the push -- you know, before
solar panels actually stop, because sofar panels wj.11
probably end in about 2022.
They really will drop off consj-derably
once the federal subsidies go off, and my suggestion is
that this proposal be completely rejected and with al-f
the respect I have for Idaho Power, it rea.lly does
confuse me, because it looks like the only thing that
SCHROEDER
Public
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208 .890.5198
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they're trying Lo do is one, increase therr
we11,
panel
profit
if there's
users, so
margj-ns, and two i.s Lo stop before
any more, but
that ' s all I
rejected and
look at this
prevent any more
have to say.
I rea11y believe
the final mention is that- you really have to
solar
Lhe proposaf should be
is really suggesting is
solar power, users for
a rate increase, so this
residential solar panel
an ldaho Power rat e
Than k
as what Idaho Power
that all the residential power,
ldaho Power are actuaffy getting
is very selective, targeted for
users. They're actually gett ing
increase, and that's all I have.you very much.
Thank you. Are
case or members
COMMI SS IONER KJELLANDER :
there any questions from parties to the
of the Commission? Seeing none, then,
comment s .
thank you for your
(The witness left the fine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
cal-Ler whose fast four digits of their telephone number
are 061 4, 061 4. ]s the call-er there?
THE CALLER: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's start with swearing you in,
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208.890.5198
ARNOLD
Public
appearlng as
was examined
THOMAS ARNOLD,
a public witness, havlng been
and testified as f ol.Iows:
duly sworn,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you could
spell it for
state for the record your name and please
us as weII.
THE WITNESS: Thomas Arnold, T-h-o-m-a-s
A-r-n-o-f-d.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
your address, please.
THE I,iITNESS:
Boise,83709.
117 51 West Thomas Drive,
COMMlSSIONER KJELLANDER: And a.re you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: Yes, for 33 years.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you pJ.ease
offer us your comments?
THE WITNESS: Yeah, two-and-a-ha1f years
ago I had an 11.7 kil,owatt
generated 35 megawatts to
footprint by 57 tons and I
I've been environmenta 11y
with a president who seems
protections and promot ing
sys tem
date and
lnstalled and f 've
e.Iiminated my CO2
think that's significant.
concerned aff
to be gutting
coa.l- and other
my life and today
a.I l of our eco
fossil f ue.I s for
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ARNOL D
Public
power, I find it --
anything to prevent
climate change, but
two-and-a-haIf years
The y
I
where it's feasible.
my
the
hands are almost tied to do
ago }:recause j-t was the right time.
perfected this certainfy to the point
I find it ironic that Idaho Power
I decided *-o invest in
inevitable olobal
that
warming and
this
donated some money
saw in the news the
for panels at a sctioof
kids out playing with
this vear and I
their solar
cars and other toys and I assume
also be reduced by 50 percent orl their
they' re
return
going to
on e lect r ic
grid
usually
to the grid.
infrastructure
share, then
monthly biII
I r:ea]Iy don't understand
need. I think we pay,
I understand
what, $5.00 a month
my cabin, Ifor this. My power bill in Stanfey
contribute $53.00 a month just for maintenance and
at-
pa yl ng
make it
if ir
access, in additlon to what my po\^/er is, which i-s
less than $53.00.
If we are in fact not our fa.ir
a s tat ic
more expensive for ldaho Power to supply me
grid. The only thing I can do if my rates
raise the monthly rate,
and I would accept that is i-n fact
access to the
-- if I start
go off the
don't know
getting power bi11s is to
grid, which I'm cerl-ainIy
what else to do other than
work for me, and it's the
aclcl batr-eries and
willing to do. I
I'm make this system
do. I think
going to
thing torighto25
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208.890. s198
H ILL
Pubfic
everybody shoufd be
with g1oba1 cl-imaEe
Thank you.
extremefy alarmed
change. Anyway,
at what ' s happening
I guess that I s it.
Arnofd. Are the.re any questions from parties
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank
calfer with the final four digits
number being 3757, 3757. fs the
of their tefephone
caller the re ?
you, Mr.
to the case
or members of the Commission? There being none, thank
you for your testimony today.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: l,,Ie now move to a
THE CALLER: Yes. I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, we can hear
you very Ioud and c.l-ear. Why don' t we swear you in
first.
appearing as
was examined
JOSHUA SETH H]LL,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as f o].Iows:
COMMISS.TONER KJULLANDER: Thank you. and
could you please state for the record your f u1] name and
spelf that for us as well?
TIIE WITNESS: Joshua Seth Hiff,
J-o-s-h-u-a S-e-t-h H-i-1-1.o 25
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208.890.519S
H]LL
Publ ic
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS: Current address 1625 South
Latah Street, Bo.ise, Idaho, 83705. I am a customer of
Idaho Power.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
coufd you please cffer up your comment?
THE WITNESS: Yes. Thank you,
Commissioner Kj e1 lander, Conmi ssione.r Raper, and
listening and canAnderson. I hope everyone
hear me okay. Sound stifl
is here and
COMM I SS IONER
good?
KJELLANDER: YeS.
Am I allowed to quote others
or is that discouraged?
KJELLANDER: I think we'11
THE WITNESS:
in my testimony and corrunent
COMM I SS IONER
accept it today.
perhaps
As long as you
new, that would
offer us a few things
a] so be beneficial asthat are
welI.
THE I.]ITNESS : I understand. I be.Iieve I
wifl. Most of my Lestimony is not going
give a brief
reasons, I
settlement
i-o be the
standard, so I want to just overview. The
two reasons, t-he two prima ry
re j ect the
be.Iieve the
Commission shou ld and postpone any
the benefitsdecision on the Case IPC-E-18-15 is because
of solar currently trave a zero value. I confirmed thiso25
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H]LL
Public
with PUC Staff and ldaho Power. They
much trouble to weigh the l:renefits of
costs and the current rate structure
costs as I understand.
decided i-t was too
solar against the
only weighs the
They did confirm Lhere are some
the, as they can see it, bigger numbers
but many of the benefit values are not
benefits.
have aSome of
benefit,
and that
the sofar
graduated
would not be fair to
any sort
the publ j-c to
of decis.ion in
weighted
those
CASC.
grve
thisvalues zero and pass
The 70 percent c.Laim
fixed cost seems to
of kilowatt-hours billed
have many problems, but a
to the public, so in
being a
simple fix
to this rate issue and cost shift of solar customers
would be a Lime-of-use rate structure and this would not
be discriminatory.
So to
profession
from Brown
get into the points, I've worked in
conservative young man from a small independent farm. I
wanted an education, I befieve I got that, graduating in
2OO'7. I've since chosen to work in the solar industry
and become a NABCEP certified professional and I testify
today only as an industry professiona.I hoping to inform
the PUC Commission why the sett.Iement j-s at best
in Idaho for four years. I
University, went there as a
worsl the compf et-e opposite of what's inprematur:e and at
the best int erest a previous hearing25
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related to solar, the Commission, the
Commission, Order No. 34045 in 2018,
existing
I also testified in
through everything, it seemed to
from the Commission.
that case, after read j-ng
result in two key quotes
They assured Idaho Power customers that
discriminatory price would not follow from the outcome
of that case and ordered Idaho Power to comprehens.ivef y
study
Idaho
the f ol low j-ng
solar issue.
settl-ement and
was solved is
customers. as
which I don't
an Idaho Power
Power's system, as well as proper rates and rate
rel-ated issues of
the costs and benefits of on-site generation on
design, transitional rates, and
compensation for net excess energy provided as a resource
to the Company. I'm not trying quote
be redundant, only that I see that as,
issue with this current case 18-15,
that to.you know,
the primaryagafn,
Idaho regulatory Staff informed me they
said many times in these cases, specifically referring to
is not acase, 18 - 16, that
The problem is a
the problem
rate des ign issue. This
case being decided before the rate issue
discriminatory to Schedule 6 and 8
weII as in some way Schedule 1 customers,
be.Iieve has been testified to, so
regulatory agent, when customers
-reas on. thaL creat es
what we're left to do
to quote
re du ce
underrecovery
is colfect that
their usage for
for the utility
any
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from other customers.
Tlie Company's position is that solar isn't
the problem, it I s a rate design problem, and we have
repeatedly stated that in t.hese cases; therefore/ I see
no way that a just and reasonable outcome woufd be to
decide on this case before the rate problem would be
solved for all customers.
Further, in this caser as one customer
already testified, the communication seems to be an issue
from both fdaho Power and the Public Utifities
Commission. Idaho Power did send a fetter to Schedu]e 6
and I customers who already had solar, but as Schedule 6
and 8's are options that home and business owners could
opt into being customers under those schedules if they
were Schedule 1 or 7 currentfy, they should also have
been J,ega11y notified of this case, Case IPC-E-18-15.
ft changes the future returns for
cusEomers in other schedu.Ies who may opt in the future to
become customers of Schedu.Ie 5 and 8. I see this as a
paramount reason t.o notify them
is fair, j ust,
so they can be
and reasonabfe
part of
in thesedetermining
schedules,not simply the ones are cu.rrently ln. I
most of the testimony
wi 11 hear will be
about -- people
wha t
also believe the Order read so
the Public Utilities Conrnission
they
tha t
here
very redundant. It will be talking25
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208.890.5198
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talking about why they should be
hearing only from solar owners,
ol./ners, not the public at large
they were not informed.
Another issue is
or a customer has only had a few
the settlement proposaf and the
grandfathered in, again
on-site qeneration
to welgh j-n on this as
that a solar professionaf
short weeks to discern
intricacies of the case
and then be
injustice to
public to be
the grid in
information
sayrng
favo r
asked to testify. Thr s
the public interes L.
rnformed and weigh in
seems to me to be an
shcu-Ld have
If we truly want the
on their utifity on
sufficientIdaho. they
and time to read that i-nf ormation,
Sorry so long. I'm trying to make this as
short as possibJ-e. Further, many intervenors did not
sign off on the settlement, such as the Idaho
Conservation League and Vote So.Iar. Instead of objecting
to the settlement, t.heir said reason is, and I quote,
"While we not do suppo.rt the sett.Lement, out of respect
for the process and other stakehofders, we will address
our concerns in future proceedings";so what they're
those who argued in
professional opinion,
wanted the settl-ement
is they didn't want to
of t-he sel L Iement-, ancl
upset
in my
on andthe reason others signed off
is they believe
the settlement.
t-heir profit margins may improve after
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To be clear, the leadership of some of the
nonprofit ent.it-ies signing off on the sett.Lement are
owners of so lar: companies.
the settfement will cause
economically feasibl.e
opposite of what ' s in
In my oplnion, they believe
contraction and fal-lout of the
solar industry. I, too, be.lieve that and they believe
that in Idaho this will- resuft in less competition. This
is already happening. I know personally three companies
who have conf ir:med to me they will be leavj-ng Idaho to go
to more stable markets to provide sofar to customers and
grant them energy independence and freedom from paying
the grid, so this less competition will result in worse
pricing to customers in coming yea.rs, so not only will
the compensation structure be reduced significantly, but
the customers choosing to go so.Iar wil-l- be sold more
expensive systems due to reduced competition.
They will also be billed and sold
batteries, which do not have the returns necessary to be
and reasonable is to
at this time,
the public's
so this is completely
best interest. lihat
have a thriving solaris falr, just,
industry in our
solar industry
state. Again, I chose to work in the
and I've had noth-ing but turmoil due to
these cases from Lhe utility company and do not have job
security, I believe, and I bel-reve everyone working in
the industry, the nearly 500 jobs in ldaho giving
HILL
Public
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millions of revenue over the years to the state, are af l-
in lirnbo because of this proceeding.
Eurther, disclosure of savings in net
metering policy to customers, .it's now both an ethicaf
dilemna and an impossible !ask. As someone else has
aLready testified, calculating their savings is nearly
impossible not knowing what the outcomes wil-l- be. No
solar company can know a reasonable estimate of what
monetary savings that their product will provj-de until
the compensation structure i-s given certainty. This has
created a void and an expensive limbo in the industry.
As an ethical provider, 1'm trylng to be
as honest and professional as possible. I'm simpl-y not
comfortab.Ie discussing savings and trying to estimate
savings, potential savings, on solar investments with
customers until this Commission provides and hopefully
wilf fol1ow through on previous orders holding Idaho
Power to completely, comprehens j-ve.l-y study the solar
benefits and costs, and I shoufd hope and suggest that we
order a fufl restructure of rate des.ign. As Idaho Power
has admitted, it is a rate design issue, not a solar
issue, so something simi.lar to time-of-use in other
states .
The Corunission also holds the power to
issue an Order which would give certainty to the industry
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by keeping the current net metering program open to both
existing customers indef:-nitely and setting a date by
which the program and rate compensation structure would
not change before that date. Thatrs the only way the
industry wiII have certainty and the market wil-I
stabilize. Right now every solar company who testifj-es I
hope and workers in the industry should ment.ion how much
Losses theyrve incurred and that they anticipate
incurring over the next -- the previous months and the
next couple of months because of this case.
I did think of a point while I was on
kilowatt for f .ixed costsho1d, the
that Idaho
70 percent cost
Power cl a ims,
per
I've hc:rrd thal number and I've
tafked to try to,
calcufate how they
have -- I have not had time to go through all
their math.
as another customer mentioned try to,
arr.ived at that number. I do not
the
documents and studies to discern ASI
understand from the PUC Staff member Stacey Donohue,
there are two methodologies that could calculate that and
basically one gives a really low number and one gives a
very high number, but back to the 70 percent of costs for
fixed costs in the per kilowatt generation charge, so a
residentiaf customer is bil-l-ed L 9 and maybe 12 cents or
more in the summer for a kilowatt-hour. If 70 percent of
that kilowatt-hour charge is fixed costs, as we are tolda25
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by Idaho Power staff, that's around 6 or'l cents per
kilowatt-hour.
The large
kifowatt -hour
commerc r a l
and you're
rm down to
the settlement. it
rate, the rate is 4.5
talking about us.ing,cents per
buslnesses
Okay, I
st.retch here, f of ks .
The time to understand
using, thousands and thousands of
kilowatt-hours per day, per month and 70 percent of that
number woul-d be 3.1 cents, you know, 3 cents per
kilowatt-hour, so how is the residential fixed rate
doubLe that of commercial? I would love to see the math
justifying 70 percent of both those or perhaps they're
just claiming 70 percent for residential and somehow the
infrastructure costs for Iarge commercial are much, rnuch
less. I woufd fove to see that j ust i fication.
the fast -- the home
Ethical di.Iemma, I've covered that.
there. The benefits of sola.r, again, the
transmission and distribut.ion costs solar
has not been
reduced
provides, the
reduced demand l-oads, especially during peak summer use,
The Idaho Powel staff tol-d me -- I asked directly when
the peak usage is on the grid. They hemmed and hawed
saying it depends, but had to eventually admit our peak
usage is in the summertime when solar is making the most
electricity; therefore. I do not undersLand how we can
charge upwards of 40 and 50 per:cent more per25
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I'ubl i c
kil-owatt-hour in peak summertime to power air
condj-tioners and give solar a value ]-ess than that and
claim that it costs the grj-d in those months.
Distributed generation creates a more
reliable, less susceptible to attacks and terrorist
outages. That's the future of the grid. Solar is the
future and why should Idaho Power be the onfy entity who
is able to provide solar at a cost that is what they
cha r ge
be.I i eve
the customer, meaning the retail .rate. I donrt
this will bc testified to and as an industry
professional, I 've
a solar system is
seen this happen multiple times, when
proposed ancl Lire net meter application
is submitted to ]daho Power, occasionally
require a transformer upgrade.
they wiJ-l
A transformer is a large piece of
equipment that is originally maintained by the utility
company and in these solar upgrade requirements, the
customer purchases the transfor:mer to proceed with thelr
solar j-nstallation that would be required. It would cost
thousands of dolfars and that's a compfete cost to the
customer and the utility beneflts from that cost as we.l-I,
so not only does solar upgrade the distributed
generation, but occasionally will require transformer
upgrades purchased by customers.
Substations, cur.rently there are
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208. B90. s198
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Publ ic
substations on
their capacity
infrastructure
wouldn I t need
Again, this is
cheaper, such
compensation
generated to
a rate issue. Time-of-use rate fixes this
possibl-e. If
is burdensome
the grid that ar:e being turned on and
is near maximum capacity and existing
with more solar on those circuits. you
to upgrade those substations as often.
issue in the most elegant and fair manner
the net hourly proposal of this
to the lndustry, in asklng Idaho
sett lement
Power st.aff how to
expfain net hourly as a solar pr:ofessiona] to a potential
customer, the answer was quote. "Um, that's a toughie. "
This is absurd. We should not be on net
hourly as the privately-owned residential and smafl
commercia.l- solar is a sma}l fraction of the power, of the
grid's power, supply. We are not outpacing growth as a
saturation of sof ar. Net hou.r]y needs to be, for
everyone to be, fair; hence, time-of-use. Whenever power
is more va]-uable, the compensation st.ructure for sol-ar
customers should be more valuabfe,
as perhaps midday, t-he
When power is
generat ion
That ' s go-ing
strucLure may be
be fair.
Grandfathering
to be testified
a percent of the power
of customers is fair.
to ad nauseam i-n this case
due to the issues wrth the Order, which Irve already
mentioned, so sorry, again, for the Length here. but I25
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have a fot of points to cover. That is al-]. I really
believe that rejecting Lhe settlement is the most
reasonabl-e cou.rse of action until Case 18-l-6 and
potentiall,y a fu11 rate redesign are done; otherwise,
declding to change the rate structure for solar customers
would be unfair, unjust, and unreasonabl-e,
Idaho Power customers further shoul-d have
a sol-ar bill of rights similar to other states where
customer-owned generation, the benefits are properly
given, compensation is fair, and the priority is given to
customer-owned generation instead of utility-owned
generation. In clos.ing, I urge you to protect the
qrowing solar industry j-n ldaho. Please don't put me out
of work. Please do not put the interests and profj-ts of
a few companies above those of the pub-Lic. Thank you.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ATe theTe any
questions from parties to the case or from members of the
Commission? Since there are none, we want to thank you
for your testimony.
(The witness left the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller with the last four digit-s in their telephone
number belnq 5719, 5719. Is the cal-fer there?
TllE CALLER: I'm here.
COMMISSlONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
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Let's begin by swearino ycu in.
appearrng as
was examined
KRIS MILLER,
a publ j-c witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
, COMMlSSIONER
for the record your name and
THE I/,] ] TNES S :
M-i-I-f-e-r, 3735 North 2500
KJELLANDER: Could you state
speIl
Kri s
it for us as wel]?
Miller, K-r-i-s
East, Twin Ealls, ldaho, and
I am a current Idaho Power user.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you'd fike, pl-ease offer us your comments.
THE WITNESS: So I mean, I just put a
system in this year and I put a substant.ial- system i-n,
because I had two adjacent addresses and so I could make
use of the transferring of kilowatt-hours, you know, once
a year after, you know, the season of generation. I
could transfer it from my shop to my house, so that
really defeaLs the whole purpose, you know, and just like
the guy said before, f mean, nobody saw this coming
exactly this directj-on, but it's going to take me a
f ifetj-me to pay it off if ldaho Power comes in and says,
1ook, you know. we're going to cut you in ha1f.
You know, basically I produce the powero
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and then the credits that I want to transfer ls half of
what T produced and I woufdn't have put in as large of a
down thesystem, obvious-ty,
pj-pe, but I don't
this f uJ-ly on, you
You
had I known this was coming
know that they've really .l-ooked j-nto
know, what their costs are.
know, f can't T find it- r.eaf hard
to be.Iieve that solar panels -- you know, people wj,th
solar panels is creat.ing a higher cost for power in
Idaho. Just like the gentleman before said, you know,
you've got to upgrade your transformer if it.'s not just
quite right. We1I, Idaho Power doesn't do that. You
have to do that. You know, a lot of people specu.Iated
that it wou.Id be grandfathered. If you were in by a
certain date that you would be the one-for-one and then,
you
that
know, customers going forward, you know, may not have
opportunity, but they would know up front what they
were getting into
you ' re not going
after the cutoff
wi t-h Lhe
Lo get a
it I sand
fact that hey, you know,
one-for-one trade, You're
going to be this.
T mean, I just see this being a huge road
block in the so.Iar industry in Idaho for sure and, you
know, as Idaho Power customers, you know, we've al-l- been
looking for a way to how can we produce powe.r, how can we
lessen our costs, because Idaho Power is the only entity
in Idaho that you can get power from, so we don't have at25
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choice, Therers no competition, so as far as the
infrastructure goes and they're basj-ng this on welJ., you
know, it's costing the resj-dential customer that doesnrt
have solar more than the guy that has solar. I kind of
see that as a cop-out. I don't see how that can rea11y
be.
You know what they didn't anticipate was
the type of construction that's
Boise, Twrn, al} of Idaho, so I
going on right now in
can understand their
they didn't
month moving from
infrastructLlre being behind, because
know, 2,000 people ayouant i-cipate,
Cafi-fornia
they were
though, is
that they
or any other communist state into Idaho, and
Iittfe bit ill-prepared, so a]l I can think,
that the solar has been brenef.icial to them so
a
can keep up with the, you know, needs of the
power, because they have no other, you know, source of
generation, you know, versus hydroelectric or some of the
wind generation that's been put in.
I just -- I think they're throwing numbers
out there, I truly think they are throwing numbers out
there just to push it through. I don't see that this is
based on any actual numbers, but, you know, here I am,
started in JuJ-y and have put, you know, a total- of 15
plus megawatts back into the system or generated so far
and was looking forward to, you know, my one-for-oneo25
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208.890.s198
transfer to my other place, which it wiII never cover
both completely, I'1I al-ways pay Idaho Power, you know,
unless I create more of a system, but I just -- I think
this needs to be looked into a 1ot more than just
grandfathering a bunch of people in and then, you know,
telling Lhe new peop.Ie looking at it that, you know, this
rs your new figures.
I j ust think
altogether and the
it's golng to
whole idea of
kill thi-s
be c omi ngindustry
I'm not
green .
the
the re
fai-r
answer is, but they're
sure that they
VCj
real-1y know, you know, what
j ust thrcwing something out
had such an influx of so1ar,and saying hey, we'
put it on Ehe solar but I don't think that's
to everybody. I
really looklng at
reasonable idea.
they need to be pushed into
up with a
9UYS,
thinkcic
goes up
kind of
everything and coming
You know, a fot of people have stated the
per month fee
there ' s some option. but to j ust
th.is for us and now
say hey,
werre just
donrt think
or, you know, something. I'm sure
.1I I
you're going to generate
going to give you half or
that sofves the problem,
problem.
You know,
system or they didnrt do
less than half,
1 only see that creating more
I
they don't maintenance any of my
anything. All they did was come
M I I,LER
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and
you
end
and
switch out one met.er to the next.
know, extra infrastructure. Where
of the line. I used to have a lot
I don't see any,
f'm at, I'm on the
of power surges
well pump, it hadnot enough power and,know, myyou
lackfried it twice because of of power. In
and a lack oftherers so many houses around
our a rea
power that
they had power issues and I haven't seen that since.
Obviousfy, I went on the grid and started
producing my own power and produced some extra power for
Idaho Power. I just -- I think this rea11y needs to be
fooked at extensively
As it slows down for
for the next two to three years.
incentives from the government, from
the federal government, you know, we're not going to see
an j-ncrease in solar power. You know, as those
incentives go away, solar power gets less and 1ess, you
know, realistic to make work.
I think we need to be going in the
incentives to adddirection of, you know,
solar pohrer instead of
creating more
going aga ins t and creating reasons
why not to invest in sol-ar power.
af l- the answers. I just know that
about it .is unfair, unjust, and we'
resuft that anybody is going to
for anybody as far as the public
Idaho Power get s
You know, I don't have
the way they're going
re not going to get a
that ' s going to work
goes.
what they want and25
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208 .890.5198
MCGAV IN
Publ i c
they're off to the races again, so
my -- what I have
that is my
I appreciate
offer and we
That's
I guess
to say.cornment s .
your guys I
can visit come up with a real plan
Idaho's sol ar power.that makes sense for Idahoans and
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Commission? There bei-ng none, thank you for your
testimony.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller with the last four diqits in their phone number as
6333, 6333. rs the caller there?
'I'HE CALLER: Yes. I am here .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great. Why
don't we get you sworn in for the record.
time and I hope you reject their
this in the future and
appearlng as
was examined
TRUDY MCGAVIN,
a public witness, havlng been duly swo.rn,
and testlfied as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and spellcould you for
it for us?25
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MCGAV ] N
Public
TIIE WITNESS: My name is Trudy Mccavj-n,
T-r-u-d-y M-c-G-a-v-1-n.
your address, please ?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
ldaho.
going to read my
thank you to the
THE !'lITNESS: 3203 Treasure Drive, Boise,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: Yes. Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
coufd you please offer us your comment?
THE WITNESS: Okay, yes, I wifl, so I'm
our statement if that's okay, so
Commission for holding these public
meetings and .l-isten to our concerns. My famiJ-y has
invested over 25,000 for our rooftop solar system and are
net metering customers. We've had this system in
operation for just over a year now. We .rnstalled the
system both for the slgnificant improvement of our
environmental- impact ln Idaho as wefl as for the return
on investment of the system.
We be.Iieve strongl-y in providing green
energy. We have severaf buildings in Boise that use
Idaho Power, these are rentals, and have had the
intention to install one or two additional systems on
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208.890.5198
MCGAV IN
Public
other sites. These additional instaflations are now on
hofd. We have purchased an electric car that we charge
wj-th our system. This is another way we are able to
reduce our air quality impact in Boise. We are doing
everything we
envi ronment a 1
investment we
through. We
not a1low for
again, if you
grandfathering,
reads, it would
Idaho Power for
i-nvestment for
years to break
impact and rooftop solar rs one mal oI
take, at Least
can as consumers to minimlze our
action that other Idaho consumers can
until this rate decrease proposal.
I have a strong concer:n
have wi]l be fost if this
you're going
wou]d. but the
for the va]ue of
understand that the current
the rates to transfer with
have if
proposal goes
proposal does
our system, so
a1low for
way it currently
being heard by
return on
to
yes, it
not, At lhe current rate
our solar generation, the
the existing system wi.ll take us nearly 20
even.
We generate our power during the day and
we use less power during the day than we gene.rate,
because we have an electrj-c heat pump system, our
is also heavily during the evening when we have no
but
u sage
solar.
If we are not paid Lhe same amount for the power we
generate as
unreasonable
the power
e con oma c
we use, this would be an
harm to us, so we do --j ust to25
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make note, we are not genenat,ing
enough for them to get some, but
we're generat ing
some months, of course,
so it's not .Iike we're generating
we us.l .
we're having to pay in,
an amount over than what
The proposed rate cut wj-f1 completely
negate the economic benefit for investing in the system,
The new rate woul-d be so fow as to never break even over
the usable life of the solar panefs; therefore, at the
proposed rates, there j-s absolutely no economic financiaL
incentive for Idaho Power subscribers to instal-1 solar
rooftops. This proposal would effectively eliminate
consumer rooftop solar installations 1n Idaho.
There are numerous sol-ar installation
This wif] destroy hundreds of good-paying jobs in Idaho.
I reiterate what cLher call-ers have indicated that the
pubfic expected that the required study per the IPUC Case
No. IPC-E-17-13 to eva.Iuate the actua.I costs and benefi-ts
and the true impact- of installing rooftop solar woul-d be
done.
companies that would
ldaho eliminated as
effective Iy
a result of
f understand that
j ust the request
I ask like othe::
have thei-r busi-ness .in
the proposed rate cut.
no such study was
to approve the
ca.l.Ie rs that it sounds
completed, but
settfement, so
fike this study really a needed study to evaluateo
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208.890.5198
150 MCGAV IN
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these costs. I've done a lot of research on green power
generation. I donrt befieve the propaganda that Idaho
Power is stating is based on fact. I befieve that the
value of rooftop solar is actually much more a benefit to
Idaho than any potentia.I downside being cited by Idaho
Power as a basis of thls settfement proposal.
If this proposed rate goes through and a
class actj-on lawsuit is filed, my husband and I wilf
definitely participate. I don't want to see that happen.
Please reject this settfement and conduct the appropriate
study, Pl-ease do not cut the rate bej-ng provided to al1
our rooftop so]ar installations, past, present, and
future. At a minlmum, please grandfather existing
systems and tie that grandfather rate structure to a
solar system itself/ not the Idaho Power customer as that
would be the only way to protect the val-ue of the
investment, and that's my statement. Thank you very
much .
COMM] SSIONER KJELLANDER :Thank you. Are
case or membersthere any questions frcm parties
of the Commission? There being
testimony today,
(The witness lef t
to the
none, thank you for your
the 1ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to a
ca1ler with the last four digits in thej-r phone number as25
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208.890.s198
151 HO FFER
Pubfic
'1092, 1092. Is the caller there?
don't we begin by swearing you in.
THE CALLER: Yes, hel Io.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: HelIo. !,lhy
appearing as
was examined
PAT HOFF'ER,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as f o]lows:
could you for
name ?
THE WITNESS: Pat, P-a-t,
H-o-f-f-e-r,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
your address, please.
THE WITNESS: 22825 Elsie
E-1-s-i-e, Caldwe.l-.1-, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER:
afternoon, and could you please offer
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record state your name and spe1l your
Hoffer,
Thank you, and
Street,
And are you a
We11, good
your comment ?
am currently a sola rT]IE W]TNESS:
power client. I have been
Okay, I
a c-L ient of ldaho Power for ao25
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208.890. s1-98
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752
great number of years and the current system is that I
give the excess power that I produce from my so.l-ar to
Idaho Power and then at nighttime I get back some of that
if I need it, and then if I don't use aLl- of the power,
Idaho Power is keeping it and they're selling it to other
customers who need power, so why does that cost them
money? Somehow that doesn't quite make sense to me. I
guess they need a different accountant, and they want to
change it so that I will onfy get back half of what --
the excess that I produce and anymore, I may have to
start paying for the free power that I'm giving them, so,
therefore, pfease do not a1l-ow them to make these
changes. That's my comment.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from partj-es to the case or members
of the Commission? Seeing none, then, thank you again
for your comments today.
(The witness left the line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the last four digits of a caller 8459, 8459. Is the
ca]ler there?
THE CALLER: Yeah, I've already given my
opj.nion or my input earlier today. I had to jump off the
line, but I jumped back on.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, okay- Well,
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208.890. 5l-98
thank you, and werll --
THE CALLER: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: -- move on,
then, and thank you again. The last four digits of the
next ca1ler are 0846, 0846. Is the caller there? 0846.
(No response . )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We'Il- move on to
the next cal.Ier 2031 , 2031 . Is the call-er there? Okay,
lost 2037.
Next cal-ler 2080, 2080. We just lost
2080.
And the next caller 5694, 5694. Is the
cal1er there ?
THE CALLER:
earfier. I was just hearing
COMMISS]ONER
gave my test imony
of them.
I a l ready
the res t
KJELLAN DER :Okay, thank you.
Are there moreLet's see,
caffs? And just a brief pause here so that we can get a
fev, additional ca1ls on my sheet.
(Pause in proceedings . )
COMMISSIONER K.IELLANDER: And I now have
that list. We move now to a caller whose last four
digits in their phone number are 0206, 0206. Is the
caffer on the line?
THE CALLER: YeS.
that exhausts the Iist I have.
o 25
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208.890. 5198
SHIELDS
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon,
and fet me swear you in.
appearing as
was examined
BR]AN SH ] ELDS,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
could you for the record please state your name and spell
it?
THE WITNESS: Itrs Brian, B-r-i-a-n,
Shields, S-h-i-e-1-d-s.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 2 Northridge Way, Jerome,
Idahof 83338.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.
Could you please offer us your comments?
THE WITNESS: We1}, I'm just kind of
perplexed with this proposal. We put rooftop sol-ar on
our home .Iast December and I also am an employee of a
solar system. It's a very large system, It was a huge
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208.890.5198
155
investment. Werre klnd of different than most people in
that our house is alL el-ectric, so we need to provide
enough energy in the summer to heat our house in the
winter, so our power bills in the winter are much higher
than they are in the summer.
We entered .into a contract with Idaho
Power in good falth that we would produce energy and
when we need it in the winter,store it on the
we wi] 1 be able
grid and
to call on that.
we would not be able to afford to
pay our solar bill. I also have
Under the new proposal,
pay ldaho Power and to
not been able to self a
system in good faith since this proposaf came out because
I don't bef j-eve it would be of benefit to my customers,
so if this proposal goes forward as stands, itrs my
opan.Ion
away and
that the entire sol-ar system in ldaho will go
there wil-I be no more green power,
I mean, Idaho
sources to buy power, because
enough power off the river.
they're trying to put an end
that's -- you know, to go on
reiterat.ing the corunents I've
say.
I don't understand
to sola.r in Idaho and
Power is going to other:
they can no longer produce
why
basically
appreciate you
what I have to
would be j ust
but I
mu ch
hea rd,
takj-ng my testimony and that's pretty
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
SHIELDS
PubI ic
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Pubfic
there any questions from partj-es to the case or members
of the Commission? There being none, thank you for your
testimony today.
(The witness }eft the 1ine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller with the last four dlgits of their phone number
beinq 1873, 1873. Is the ca1ler there?
THE CALLER: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good, Iet's get
you sworn in.
appearing as
was examined
LARRY MOORE
a public witness, having been duly swo.rn,
and testif i-ed as f o]f ows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
could you for the record pfease state your name and spe1l
ir?
THE WITNESS: Lar.ry Moo.re, L-a-r-r-y
M-o-o-r-e.
address.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
THE WITNESS: 11710 West Tioga Street.
Boise, Idaho,. 83709.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you aI25
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208.890.5198
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Public
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
w iLh this phone call,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank vou.
CouJ-d you please offer us your
, THE WITNESS: ]
colr[nents?
got on this l-ate in the
but I did hear Mr.game here
Miller's
said. I agree that
energy thought by --
with their plan and
idea. I did thls to
conmenLs and I ditto pretty much everything he
we're going to ruin the whole
if Idaho Power is able to go
it just goes against the whofe
green
forward
sofar
as a conservat lon thought by
I think it'sqo 1ng
wor ked
fdaho
other than
to solar power and so I did it and
Powe r
weII for me and worked welf for the state and also
and that's
even though they're thinking the opposite.
I think it's mor:e greed on their part
trying to say that they're not making money,
pretty much aff my con[nents. It's sad that
the PUC can agree to, you know, al-lowing customers to do
this and then pulJ-ing back that right by allowing Idaho
Power to come forward and change their game fater in the
process, so I think that is wrong, you know, and it's
going to take advantage of the people and so thatrs my
comments there. I just fee.I that v/ay and I will- listen
in on this and I appreciate it and thank you for
including me in this conference ca11.o
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Commission? Seeing none, thank you again for your
testimony today.
(The witness l-eft the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER K.JELLANDER: We move now To a
caffer v.rith the .Iast four diglts in their number being
5119, 5'719. rs the calfer there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I already co[unented
earlier.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
to a caffer with the l-ast four diqits 1907,
the call-er there?
Moving
t901 .
now
fs
THE CALLER:
testj-mony earlier. I 'm j ust
Yes, I already gave my
listening in.
COMMTSSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
Mov in g
3021 .
now to a caller with the last four digits 3027,
Is the cafler ther:e.
THE CALLER: I'm just listening l-n.
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
We'11 move to caller 2055, 2055. Is the ca11er there?
2055. As the last four digits of your phone number,
2055.
(No response. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Move now to the
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208.890.51_98
LOKEN
Pub l lc
next caller with the last four dig.j-ts of 1294, L294. fs
the caller the re ?
THE CALLER: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Can we begin by swearing you j-n.?
appearing as
was examined
ROBERT LOKEN,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as f o.Il-ows:
COMM]SS]ONER KJELLANDER :Thank you, and
.I itt 1e moreif we could get you to speak up just
would be appreciated on
a
loudly,
p 1ea se
for us
that our end. Could you
state for the record your ful-I name and speIl it
as welf ?
THE WITNESS: Robert Loken, R-o-b-e-r-t
L-o- k-e-n .
COMMISSIONER K.TELLAN DER: And your
address ,
THE WITNESS:. 2496 East Ashbrook Court,
EagLe, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE I/,11TNESS: Yes, I am
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Pfease provide25
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208. 890.5198
LOKEN
PubIic
us your comment.
T}IE WITNESS
do1lars for solar panels on
many thousands
one-and-a-haf f
I paid
my roof
of
years
ago
the
with the promise from Idaho Power that if I foffowed
requlrements, whlch I did, I wou.Id be reimbursed at
retail- for the energy generated by my panels, Now, IP
se1ls the energy at retaif to its customers and they get
this -- the energy they get from my panels to their
customers. Now, IP is breaking its promise by proposing
to lower my reimbursement by approximately half and I
find this extremely unethical and unfair. I was ra.ised
to believe that a prom.ise is a
Now, of course,
cus t ome rs ,
promr- se .
IP may develop new
but not for those underprogr:ams for future
the decades ofd net metering program. so please reject
IP's proposa.l-. That is my comrnent.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
to the
Thank you. Are
case or membersthere any questions from parties
of the Commission? There being
again for your testimony.
(The witness lef t
none, then. thank you
the line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
caller with the last four digits of their phone number
being 8128, 8128. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: YeS.I 25
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208.890.5198
ROBB
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COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great, thank
you. Let's began by swearing you in.
appearrng as
was examined
PAUL ROBB,
a public wj-tness, havlng been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER K,-IELLANDER: Thank you, and
could you please for the record state your fuf .I name and
spell it for us?
THE WITNESS: My name is Paul Robb,
P-a-u-l- R-o-b-b.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS: 5134 North Backwater Avenue,
Garden City, 83714.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: And aTe you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE i/'JII,NESS: T am,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you.
Could you please offer us your cornrnent?
THE WITNESS: Sure. As teachers, my wife
and I have invested our careers, time, and resources in
future for our chifdren. Usingbetterhelping build a
our ret.irement savings to reduce our carbon emissions2lt
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208.890. s198
ROBB
Pub-L a c
footprint
example.
seemed worth the sac.rifice and feading by
service agreement with ldaho
addition to gene r:at ing clean
measures to conserve our use
COMM]SSlONER KJELLANDER:
The proposed net metering rates in essence
penalizes conservation measures as well when a sofar
customerr s surplus energy, then, is devalued and has to
be bought back. It makes no sense, so we ask that you
please honor the service agreement with responsi-ble
citizens trying do the right thing for our community and
envlronment. That is my statement.
As retirees, we are literally counting on our
Power being honored. In
energy, we a.Iso take great
of energy.
Thank you. Are
case or members
thank you again
there any questions from parties to the
of the Commission? Seelng none, then,
for your comments today.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next caller: last four digits of t-heir phone 4960,
4960. Is the caller there?
(No response. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let's move on to
the next ca.Iler, t-hen. 8798, 8798. Is the calfer there?
THE CALLER: (Inaudible. )
COMMISSIONER KJELI,ANDER: Hello.
THE CALI,ER: (lnaudible. )25
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890.si98
COMMISSIONER K.IELLANDER: Excuse me, sir,
werre having a iittle dj-fficulty in
don't we start first by getting you
we'f1 see how the audio sounds.
hearing you.
sworn in and
why
then
THE CALLER: Can you hear me?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Yes.
THE CALLER: I said earlier I'm just
listenlng on f ine.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Just Iistening.
THE WITNESS: I wifl testify tomorrow
night.
COMMISSlONER KJBLLANDER: Okay, that ' s
good, thank you, and we appreciate your attention to this
matter today. Thank you for being on the call.
We'lI move now to the next caller with the
fast four dlgits 8798. Oh, I'm sorry. The next call-er
is last four digits 4231 , 4237. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: The caller is here. I
a.Lready made my comments and I was booted off, so I had
to cafl back in.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, but we did
get
YES,
line
your comments,'
THE
but the phone,
dropped me, so
is that cor.rect ?
CALLER:
you guys
I had to
You got
-- for
my corunents earlier,
some reason the phone
call back in again.o 25
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208.890.5198
FRI BERG
PubIic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
we appreciate having you back on the l-ine. Letrs move
now to the next ca1ler with the last four digits in their
number as 8'717, 8'777. Is the caJ-fer there?
THE CALLER: Yes, she is.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, good. Why
don't we begin by getting you sworn in.
appearrng as
was examined
LINDA FR]BERG,
a public witness, having been dufy sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
could you for the record please state your name and spe11
it?
THE WITNESS: My name is Linda Eriberg,
spelled Linda, L-i-n-d-a, Eriberg, E-r-i-b-e-r-9.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS z 12585 South Carriage Hill
Way in Nampa, 83686.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you an
Idaho Power customer?
THE WITNESS: f am. We are.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good. WelL,25
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208. 890.5198
F'R I BERG
Public
good afternoon, and if you'd 1ike, please offer us your
statement.
THE WITNESS: My husband and I added solar
j ust a]-most one
expectation that
yea.r ago,
we coufd
about 11 months ago, with the
continue with the service
agreement that was made between us and Idaho Power.
We're recent retirees and for economic reasons looked at
adding or did add the solar system,
ecological benefj-ts over the current
used, so to withdravr the agreed-upon
had originally made with Idaho Power
add to our retired budget and so we
as wefl as the
power that ' s being
conmitment that we
would substantially
want to make our
voice be heard that we are opposed to the current
suggestion of
have fost you.
yeah .
COMMl SSIONER KJELLANDER: I think we may
THE WITNESS: My husband was trying to
help me a little bit.
THE CALLER: This is her
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
moment. If you choose to testify, and
might be wi111ng to, we need to get you
hu sband
Me rv yn,
i.t sounds
sworn in
Me rvyn .
j ust
fike
and
a
you
get
you officially on the record, so
at least for the moment concludes
and so why don't we get you sworn
f 'm assuming that that
the comments of Linda,
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208.890. 5198
ERIBERG
Pubfic
appearlng as
was examined
MERVYN FRIBERG,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fol-.Iows:
your name on
well as spell
COMMISSIONER
the record, if
it for us.
THE W]TNESS:
E-r-i-b-e-r-9.
COMMI SS IONER
KJELLANDER: Why don't we get
you could state your name as
M-e-r-v-y-n,
Ye s, it 's Mervyn,
KIIELLAN DER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS: 12585 South Carriage Hil-1
Way, Nampa, Idaho, 83686.
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: Are you a
customer of ldaho Power?
THE WITNESS: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you
and please offer us your thoughts,
THE WITNESS: Yeah, the additional thing I
was trying to add is that, you know, werve made the loan
to purchase the sol-ar system based on an understand.ing
that the net metering would help us out and lf this is
taken away, it's not just kicking us back to where we
were before, we would still have to -- you know, there
woufd be a significant out of cost that we're onlya25
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208.890.5198
ER ] BERG
Publ ic
gettinq hal-f back instead of the ful-l cost and so it's a
significant further burden to us financially if Idaho
Power reneges on their commitment, their agreed pJ-an with
us.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
Does that conclude your comments?
THE !'IITNESS: Yes.
CCMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you. Are
f romthere any questions for
the case or
either Linda or Mervyn
parties to members of the Commission? There
belng none, we wish to thank you for your comments today.
(The witnesses feft the line.)
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER:
calfer wlth the .Iast four digits in thei.r
0203 , 0203. 1s the cal1er there?
Moving now to a
phone number of
THE CALLER: I'm just li-stening in.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
VJe'f l- move now to a caller with the last four digits
7389, 7389. Is the ca.l-.1-er there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am here. I had a
question regarding if I'm al-lowed to make comments if I
already made a written cornment on the IPUC websj.te,
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: SuTe, you Can,
but what we'fl need to do first is get you sworn i-n.
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208.890.s198
DAVI S
Publ- i c
NICK DAV] S,
appearing as a pul-..J ic witness,
sworn, testifled as follows:
having been first duly
COMM]SS IONER
the record p]-ease state your
THE WITNESS:
N-i-c-k D-a-v-i-s.
COMMISS IONER
KJELLANDER: CouId you for
for us?name and spel1
Yeah, it's Nick
i.t
Davi s ,
KJELLANDER: And your
addre s s .
THE !{ITNESS: 6298 North Stafford Place,
Boise, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE biITNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, please
provide us your comment.
THE W]TNESS:Okay, I'I1 just comment on
in my written corunent, but
shine a littl-e light on the
the parts
basically
di fference
difference
cus t ome r,
house and
l did not include
I j ust wanted to
beLween, if this proposal does go
and
through the
between, an existing customer a new
so I recently installed a sofar system on my
going to potentiafl-y
completely
had I known that this was
be a net hourly system/ I would haveO25
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208.890. s198
DAV] S
PubIic
redesigned my system.
I wouid have had my panels facing more
the summer and thewesterly to utilize the power in
evening and afternoon better, potentialfy probably a
smal-fer system that way, because therers rea11y no need
to overgenerate with the net hourly and potentially a
battery or a smafl battery to offset some of my usage
that aren't generated -- you know, that arenrt during
times of generatlon, so I just think that's important to
know that therers a Lrig difference, and my investment is,
1ike, a 20-plus-year investment period and so it's not
financially feasibfe to refocate solar pane.Is and redo
the system, so Irm stuck with the system I've got, so
even if it changes in what I believe your IPUC Staff
said, eight years was your potential proposal for, you
know what I'm saying, for accepting the proposal, that
was -- eight years -- I mean in eight years lrm going to
start l-ooking at more increased biIIs.
I'm still going to be paying off my solar
system at that point. It's going to become not
financially feasible and I think you guys understand the
ramifications, you know, regarding the economic or
ecol-ogy of the whole thing, and being green and
environmentally friendly, I think this is a statement
that you guys need to make to Idaho and to alf of the --25
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208.890.5198
RUSSELL
PubIic
to everybody that you guys support. c.Iean energy and
obviously, by doing this, you're saying the exact
opposite, so those are my comments. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Are there any
questions from parties to the case or members of the
Commission? Seeing none, thenr we appreciate your
comments today.
(The witness l-eft the line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to
the next caffer with the Iast four digits of their phone
number beinq 6206, 6206. Is the cal-fer there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
good afternoon. Let me start by swearing you in.
appearing as
was examined
ROBERT RUSSELL,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as f o]]ows:
could you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and spell
THE WITNESS: Yes. it's Robert Russell,
R-o-b-e-r-t R-u-s-s-e-l-.1.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your25
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208.890.5198
address.
THE WITNESS: I l-ive at 5 Symms Ranch Road
in SaImon. Idaho, 83461 .
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: And aTe you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am, yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDERi Thank you.
Please offer up your comments for us.
THE WITNESS: Okay. You know, I have been
listening for some time now and my comments are simiLar
to lrhat I've heard before, but basically, I just put j-n a
solar system that's only been operational for three
months. I got it in in August of this year and for aJ-f
the same reasons that I've heard other people
would have designed
a different return
that the agreement
my system
period on
Lhat I had
differently and
explain, I
perhaps for
I known
Power was going
I did tal- k to
behind what
you. Are
membe rs
my investment had
with I daho
to change,' therefore, I really
Idaho Power. I understand the
they're proposing, but I
who have already designed
think that existing customers
believe
rat i ona fe
to the case or
and invested in their system
should be grandfathered in at the existing situation.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK
there any questions from parties
of the Commission? Seeing none,then, we appreclate your
RU S SELL
Public
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208.890.5198
S CHUELE R
Publ ic
comments today.
(The witness ieft the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to the next caller with the ]ast four diglts of their
phone number being 1041 , 1A41. Is cal1er ther:e?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Good
afternoon. Let me get you sworn in for the record.
appearing as
was examined
JOSEPH SCHUELER,
a publi-c witness, having been duly sworn,
and testifi.ed as folfows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you for
the record please state your name and spe11 it?
THE WITNESS: My name is Joseph Schueler,
spelled..T-o-s-e-p-h, Schueler, S-c-h-u-e-l-e-r.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
your address, please.
THE WITNESS: 1,002 North 8th Street. It's
ln Boise, Idaho, 837 02 .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And a.re you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: f am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and25
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208. B 90. 5198
could you pfease offer us your statement?
THE WITNFISS: Yor.1
Power customer for t hree
then I sha.re a res idence mountalns as we],1, but
bet, and Irm
properties
an Idaho
separate
up in the
in Boise and
al-so under Idaho Power, so my statement ls I
to not allow Idaho Power to take the existing
production
implore you
rates for
My wi fe
such a way as
remain caIm,
inquire
to us with
that which we
resident.iaL so.Iar generators and set new rates for those
producers.
contact Idaho Power the next day, and
further about j-t. Perhaps it didn't
My heart absolutely sunk when I read the
fetter sent by Idaho Power this last month.
reassured me this had to be a step taken in
to remai-n fair to us and our investment and
just
apply
be yondsome aspects of our
consume at the end
powe r
of the year.
I called the next day and when I spoke to
an Idaho Power representative, f was not on]-y shocked to
learn my worst thoughts were accurate, but it was
actualfy worse than I feared, so just to give you a
perspective on us, my wife and I took out a loan, 38,000,
to invest .in a 20-panel solar array system for our
primary home in downtown Boise in 2018.
This system was designed to offset 90
percent of our etectricity consumption on a 1910 year,
S CHUELE R
Publ ic
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208.890.5198
S CHU ELE R
PubIic
1,400 square foot home without natural- gas, so werre all
el-ectr.ic there and that 10 pe.rcent gap we hoped to make
more energy efficiency upgrades to the home, alL
investing in that o]-der home so that we could be as
energy efficient as possibler so my estimates put the
rose at a consistent rate
Honestly,
recovery of
between 10
fee 1-good
the use of
those funds at a low investment return of
annuaf utility costs
5 and 15 percent.
see it as a wise,
opportunity costs for
have pa j-d down our
investment of my
the amo rt i zat ion
and 12 yea rs,assumlng
be tween
I didn't
mortgage at an assured return
mortgage interest compounded
schedul-e, so you may ask why
sofar. Wel1, I wouldn't want
lnvestment rel-ative to
that 38,000. We could
of
by
did
to
we choose to invest in
think I would have to
ask that question or have that question not known to the
Publ-ic Util iti es Commission.
lrle all know the importance of investing in
al-ternative energy sources, especially right now, and
Idaho itself has a rich history in such investments,
Idaho Power is heavily invested in solar energy itself,
so it just makes sense, not upfront, but over time and to
scafe. Yet, Idaho Power's proposed settlement agreement
threatens to undermine my investment, making our modest
rate of return non-existent. If you cut our return for
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production in half to what your consumption rate of cost
is, there's just no end in sight to that return.
It's go.ing to even make our home,
depending on them, the monopoly holder of our energy
resou.rce, as a customer at our location under contract
and it's to a public utility company, so when asked why
we shoufd pay full price for our consumption while
receiving half price for our production on a tiered
system fulJ-y in effect prior to my investment maturation,
I was tofd something really concerning to me as an fdaho
resident. I was told that Idaho Power can shop around in
competitive markets for so.Iar at rates cheaper than $rhat
was provided me as a consumer of their energyi therefore,
they found a happy medium above those market rates that
they felt was fair.
And I just want to bring a coupfe, several
issues I see with that market-based attitude. Eirst,
they're not a private market purchaser. Theyrre a public
utility provider under contract. Due to lack of
competition, they can purchase sofar from externa.l
parties at massive.l-y reduced rates because they control
all power in Idaho and thereby, represent virtually all
the customer base in Idaho, assuring lower prices through
volume.
Second, if this we.re a competit j-ve market
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scenario' I, too, woufd have the ability to review the
pricing being provided me and "shop around" as they do
for better pricl-ng for my solar production. Yet, Idaho
Power wi.Il not let me. In fact, they do not even al1ow
me to consume the same energy I produce, nor install
battery storage to store energy. In Boj-se, you can't do
that, so I'm forced to join their net metering program
and have no market buyer variability, not from my own
choosing or competitj-on availability, but because Idaho
makes it i]1ega1 for me to do anything other than use
electricity through fdaho Power and that gives them
dlrectfy the power I produce and trust that they're
measurj-ng that productivity accurately and accepting the
rates they provide.
How then can that same company hand me
reduced rates after my investment period and stilf fook
me in the eye? To me, that equates to robbery. This
settlement, if a]l-owed to proceed, wilf rob me of my
freedom, I have a right to purchase my power or consume
power or limit that consumption and invest in my home.
My largest single purchase investment outside of property
purchasing was this solar array system, and r wlfl- have
my monthly utility payment right back where it was prior
to investing in solar.
With the .reduced value of solar equipment,
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no good investor wj-lf want a solar
sucks money out of your pocket like
this goes through, so that feads me
don't know if you've been watchj-ng
environmental outlook long term .is
product that only
it's doing to mine if
to my final point. I
the news, but our
so good. Even the
United States'
not
history has produced its own report detaj-11n9 the
economic impacts of inaction on climate change and costs
the taxpayers in the billions of dollars and onl-y
worsening over time.
As the fire seasons onfy ramp up in Idaho
as snowpack and watershed capabllitj-es diminish and
most conservative administration across
seasonal ebbs and ffow intensifies for a
Idaho climate, this resul-ts in increased
destruction, increased harmful
dryer, hotter
fire
bug infestation, increased
and a dimin.ished va.lue inassociated floodinq and eroslon
Idaho. Treasure Valley j-nversions reach air quality
standards further and further as population growth
continues to result in more and more carbon pol]ution in
the valley and it traps air between the peaks of our
mountain ranges, all to the detriment of public heal,th
and diminj-shed quality of life, particularly children,
the e1der1y, and those who are iLl-.
Our native safmon population will continue
to decl-ine and have received concerted attention by our
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Governor and our nationaf efected Congressmen by
underpe r formirrg dams owned and managed or subsidized by
Idaho Power. I could go on and on, I'm a hunter and an
angler and I see what power Idaho trufy has and how it is
mismanaged. We can be doing better than this and it
needs to start with our solar.
The point is the time is now to garner
every tool in our tool-box and every individual in the
state, a state known for its independence and individual-
respons ibi l itles, to puJ-1 their own weight to find
sustainable energy p.roduction practices, then why on
earth would you denigrate, castigate, and in other ways
disincentivize private citj-zens of Idaho from developing
their own energy production system, It's at our own
cost.
If anything, you should incentivize Idaho
residents to invest in a decentralized solar grid system
that places the cost of maintenance and repair on the
individual consumer instead of a centralized monopoly,
Iinaudible], The proposed separate rate system
accomplishes the opposite. If you wish to separate
rates, pay solar producers more for their production. I
understand the need for a public utility consortium, but
they don't own the power. Idaho citizens do and we have
a right to use j-t, produce it, and enshrine our
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890. s198
SCHUELER
Public
envj-ronment with a sustainabLe energy source for future
generations.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Excuse me, sir,
couJ-d you slow down a little bit? You're going a little
fast --
THE WITNESS: Oh, I'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: -- and our court
reporter is having a littfe bit of difflculty having her
fingers fIy across the keyboard.
THE WITNESS: Okay, sorry. The point is
the time is now to garner every tool in our toolbox and
every individual in this state, a state known for its
independence and indivi-duaI responsibi I ities, to pu1l
their weight to find sustainable energy production
practices. Why on earth would you disincentivize private
citizens of ldaho from developing their own energy
production systems? If anything, you should be
incentivizing Idaho residents to invest in a more
decentrafized sol-ar grid system that places the cost of
maintenance and repair on
of a centralized monopoly,
the inCividual consumer instead
and I've read this, that the
same power
action. !,le
sites tend to be soft targets for terro.rist
are decentra.Iized through solar production.
accomplishes the oppos ite.
The pr:oposed separate rate system
If you wish to separateo25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890.5198
SCHUELER
Public
rates, if anything, pay solar
production. f understand t-he
producers
need for a
more for their
utility
citizens
publ ic
I dahoconsortium, but they don't own t.he
do and we have a right to use .it,
our environment with a sustainabl-e
powe r .
produce,and enshr.ine
energy source for
future generations.
Idaho Power has been granted a va.Iuabl-e
responsibility to
and this proposal
responsibillty.
this is the l-a st
access to power to all citizens
in the face of that
been advised to advocate, and
have been advised to advocate
ensure
laughs
I have
comment, I
for at least a grandfather c.Iause for those of
invested early. The selfish side of me wants
us who
to support
it only
future ofbe silent. I know
far more solar
proposal stands
that measure, I'11 be honest; however, to fre,
therepresents
our nation
personaf
choice to
a payoff to
wi 1I rely on
put
applications than
in direct defianceit does today and the
of that endeavor. It cannot pass because I know from
experience that someone who made the difficult
line is that I
my comlflunity and world
woufd not have done so
before mv bottom
if this proposal
will go into effect.
grandchi.l-dren to have
been to me, It just
make it impossible.
I want my children and
solar as easily available as it has
has to be easier. Please do not
Thank you.o
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COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER:
there any quesiions from parties to the
of the Commission? Seeing none, then,
testimony.
Thank you. Are
case or members
thank you for your
(The witness left the fine.)
the next ca.Ifer with the ]ast four di-gits of their phone
number being 8124, 8724. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: Yes, he11o.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We now move to
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Yes, he11o. Why
donrt we begin by swearing you in.
appearing as
was examined
GREGORY FARMER,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
could you for the record please state your full- name and
spel1 it. for us?
THE WITNESS: Gregory Farmer.
G-r-e-g-o-r-y E-a-r-m-e-r.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address ?
THE WITNESS: 568 Victoria Drive, Boise.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a25
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FARMER
Publlc
customer of ldaho Power?
your testimony.
panels approximately two-and-a-haIf years
TllE V{ITNESS: Yes/ I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Please offer us
THE WITNESS: Yes, I installed solar
ago
the
with the
understanding that net metering would be
thls would be monitored and col-.Iected.
grandfathering those in who have signed
agreement with Idaho Power.
way that
The second thino
and I'm going to
along with
have that
I advocate for
on in that
that if this
changed, theydoes go through
are forcing me
electricity to
to become a business by me selling
donrt have the
-- I have put allbenefits of being a
Power; however, I
business. I wiL l
Irlaho
the upfront costs
maintenance, and
tax benefits for
I wil-l be in charge of
no ability to depreciate or have
a business.
1n.
I have
belng
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: And does that
complete your cornments ?
THE WITNESS: It does, thank you.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Commission? There being none, thank you again for
your testimony.o
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Publ ic
(The witness left the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We know move to
a ca]Ier with the last four digits of their phone number
being 6605, 6605. Is lhe caller there?
THE CALLER: YeS, I aM
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good a fteTnoon,
and fet me swear you in first.
appearing as
was examined
AUSTIN THOMPSON,
a publ-ic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
could you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and spell
THE WITNESS: Austin Thompson, A-u-s-t-i-n
T-h-o-m-p- s -o-n .
COMM]SS]ONER KJELLANDER: And youT
address.
THE WITNESS: My address is 2106 North
Linden Street, Jerome, Idaho, 83338,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho?
THE WTTNESS: Yes, sir, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you.a 25
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208.890.5198
THOMPSON
Public
Could you please offer: us your coniment?
THE WITNESS: Yeah, so I have been a sol-ar
sales representat-ive for
going through, evaluating
as far as financially, as
the last two years j-n Idaho and
homeowners' current s i tuat ions
goes, regardl-ess of different
was barely able to make it as
structure provided with their
as financial feas ibi 1i t y
prices in systems, Idaho
it is with the rate
net metering program, so
going through having sofd almost 50 deals myself in the
fast two years and having a company that has instaffed
over 2r 000, we have several-, obviously several, thousands
of homeowners that are invo]-ved in the net meterinq
program who are either not able to speak here today or
listen j-n, but have reached out to us internally and
asked that we go through and stand our ground as far as
what we have sofd them on, so our biggest concern is
coming down to, at the very l-east, advocating for a
grandfather cl-ause for those preexisting homeowners.
Understanding Idaho Power ' s current
sj-tuation and their reason for the proposa] is
understandable, but going under the context of trying to
revoke the net metering program that has been put ln
place for af.l- these previous homeowners, everybody has
made their decisions based on the cur.rent situati-on.
A1so, I just wanted to touch on ldaho
far
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Power going comp.Iete green energy by 2045. I befieve
that by proposi.ng -- making solar next to impossible is
going to be one of the most difficuJ.t things for Idaho
Power to achieve by cutting out homeowner generation.
The reason being is solar is one of the only renewable
resources that is scal-able on a person-by-person basis
allowing Idaho Power to obtain that goaf. That concludes
my cornments.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Commission? There being none, then, thank you for
you testimony this afternoon.
(The witness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to a
cafler with the last four digits of their phone number
being 2454, 2454. Is the cafler there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Great. Letrs
get you sworn in,
a
I
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208.890.5198
THOM P SON
Public
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208.890.5198
EBERTZ
Public
appearlng as
was examined
KIRK EBERTZ,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER K,fELLANDER: Thank you, and
coufd you for the record pl-ease state your fulf name and
spel1 it?
THE WITNESS: Kirk Ebertz. K-i-r-k
E-b-e-r-t-2.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE !,IITNESS: 125 Belmont Drive, Ketchum,
Idaho, 83340.
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: And are you a
custome.r of ldaho Power?
THE WITNESS : Yes I i^7e are.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
Could you please offer us your statement?
THE WITNESS: Sure. We fooked
costs and rewards of sofar panels and decj-ded
at the
to go ahead
Idaho Power
the new
'1',n I s
with them after
wants to change
rates no longer
isn't right. I
crunching the numbers and now
the rates for net metering and
make the sofar cost effective.
feel we should be grandfathered in to the
rates that we siqned up for and agreed to. and I alsoo25
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208.890.5198
EBERTZ
Publ ic
think the Stat.e of Idaho shoul-d be looking
renewable
to do all they
can to encourage solar energy
not making it more dj.fficulL,
It's something
and
try
that
energy and
to help it.
everyone knows our
climate is changing
Let's do aff we can
conrment s ,
and it's not changing for the better.
to make i"t better. That concludes my
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Commj-ssion? There being none, then. thank you
again for your cornments today.
(The witness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next caller with the Iast four digits 0033, 0033. Is
the caller the re ?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's get you sworn in f i-rst.
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208.890.5r98
EELTON
Public
appearing as
was examined
MICHAEL EELTON,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fol-l-ows:
could you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and speJ-l
THE WITNESS: My name is Michael Felton,
M-i-c-h-a-e-1 E-e-l-t-o-n, and I live at 507 Sun Terrace
Drive in Twin Eafls, ldaho.
COMMISSIONER K,fELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER K.TELLANDER: Wel-l-, good
afternoon, thank you, and cou.Id please offer us your
statement ?
THE WITNESS: Sure. My wife
wo.rth of panels on our home in May
the permitting process was approval
which we
and I put in
$24, 000
Part of
Powe r ,
exce -L 1en t
benefit on
The panels
than what
have been
of this year.
by Idaho
doing an
as far as our
that Idaho
got.
bet terj ob,
net and now to
expected
f i-nd out
WC
Power wants to
met e r ing,
change the rate, instead of feeling good
to spend to getmoney I hadabout myself in spite of the
solar panels, if this change goes through, I'm going too25
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EELTON
PubI ic
have a $24,000 albatross on the roof of my house that's
not going to make
to my home, and I
Idaho Powe.r to do
I think at the very
relied on what Idaho Power tofd us
should be grandfathered in and that
large number of people, and I think
heard testify today to
me any money, isn't going to add value
just think it's completely unfair for
that.
feast people who
the rate would be
that wouJ-d protect a
that I s basically what
wanted and if, youeveryone I rve
know, people
they're going
want to put pane I s
to have to crunch
in the future, then
numbers and see if it
up
the
works for them.
I know that systems are getti-ng cheaper as
time goes on and so maybe it will- work at the new rate
they want, but lhey're absol-ute1y cutting the financial
throats of anybody who put panels up prior to this
proposed rate change and that concfudes my testimony.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you,
Mr. Felton. Are there any questions from parties to the
case or members of the Commission? Hearing none, then,
again we thank you for your testimony today.
(The $ritness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next calfer with the last four digits of their phone
number being 6478, 6478. Is the cafler there?25
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BURICA
PubIic
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
CCMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begin by getting you sworn in for the record.
appearing as
was examined
DAVID BURICA,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as fol Iows :
coufd you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and spell
THE WITNESS: David Burica, D-a-v-i-d
B-u-r-i-c-a.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 311 [inaudib]el ]ane,
McCalf, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:
that once more? We had a little bit of a
lj-ne and I apologi ze.
THE WITNESS: 311 Heikkila
I daho .
Could you repeat
breakup on the
L,ane, McCall,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, and I am
sorry, could you spell- the name of the l-ane?
THE WITNESS: Sure, it's H-e-i-k-k-i-I-a.e 25
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BUR ] CA
Pub I ic
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
again, I apologlze for the difficulty in us hearing you
and are you a customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
coul-d you pfease offer us your statement?
THE WITNESS: Sure. The proposal that
Idaho Power brought to the IPUC last year regarding the
evaluation of the export credit was specifically proposed
to be an evaluati.on of both the costs and benefits of the
export credit to ]daho Power as I understand it. The
settlement agreement as l read it looked to be entirely
I could telf.
benefits and
based
they
that
costs
whe re
on the costs evaluation and from urhat
specificaffy left out aIl evaluation
would be speciflcally benefit.s that
of
cause the pea ker
or the peaker benefits that occur during the surmer
solar matched the increased demand on Idaho Power
during those days, and
envj ronmenLal benefi ts,
then as general benefits, such as
all of which were left to be
evaluated for the future, and I feef that the Commission
shoul-d not accept this settl-ement proposaf until the
other half of the equation has been eva.]uated and that's
1r.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
there any questions from parties to the case or membersa
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208. 890. s19B
JE FEREY
PubIic
of the Commission? There berng none, then, we thank you
for your comments Loday.
(The witness Ieft the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the nexL caller with Lhe last four digits of their phone
number being 3352, 3352. Is the caller there? 3352?
(No response. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We will move on
to the next caller with the last four digits 8459, 8459.
Is the cal.Ie.r t-here? 8459?
(No response. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Moving now to
the next caller with the last four digits beinq 0336,
0336. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begin by gelting you sworn in.
appearing as
was examined
ELIZABETH JEEEREY,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fol-l-ows:
COMMlSSIONER
the record please state your
THE WITNESS:
KJELLANDER: Could
name and spe1l it
Elizabeth Jeffrey,
you for
for us?
Eli z abetho25
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JE FFREY
Publ i c
with a "2" Je{ ( rcy, I-c-f-f-r -c'-y.
COMMISSlONER KJELLANDER: And your
addre s s .
THE WITNESS: 201 North 3rd Avenue in
Hailey.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE !,I]TNESS : Yes, we are .
COMMTSSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
Could you please offer us your cornment?
THE WITNESS: Yes. I was quite concerned
and downsized and
to make sure it
about this proposition.
bui-Lt a smal I house in
was going to be a house
[,]e are reLired
Hailey
that
and worked
we could afford to live in
for the rest of our lives and made it tight and made it
and so when at the endnot net zero, but we worked at it,
of the discussion period wj-th our builder,we discussed
was higher
to take the
we didn't
what can we do to bring the cost down. It
than we'd expected. His recommendation
solar off, being the h,iggest cost item
need, and we felt we did need it if we
was
tha t
wanted to move
forward with our fixed .income, and so we chose to keep
have itthat because of the payback and the abllity to
long we hope
Idaho Power,
even out in 20 years, which is how to .I ive .
When we worked with theyo25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890. s198
JE FFREY
PubIic
guaranteed us we would be grandfathered in
and, I befieve, in the agreement and so we
surprised a couple weeks ago to hear that
questioned now, especial-1y as we need more
all around the state. It's a curious way
both ve rba I ly
were pretty
that is being
and more so]-ar
to quash the
it differently knowing
Ionger, but I woufd
the agreements that
were made and from a
to that end and support
for coal, so thatrs my
idea
Powe r
go 1ng
different
of even being able to
Company and put solar
forward other people
depend on agreements with our
on our roof, and I rea.Iize
wiII do
hope that
numbers and maybe l iving
the Commission consider
were made as sol id
pubJ-ic ut i l.i ty and
solar and fight the
whole corunenL.
agreements that
be trustworthy
increased need
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you. ATe
there any questions from parties to the case or members
of the Corunission? Seeing none, then, we agaj.n thank you
for your comments today.
(The witness left the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next caller with the last four digits of their phone
number betng 3021 , 3027. Is the ca]ler there?
THE CALLER: I'm just listening in.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, thank you.
Moving on, then, to the next caller with the last four25
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CSB REPORT ING
208.890. s198
RI HA
Public
diglts 5651. 565i. Is t-he caller there?
THE CALLER: Irm also just listening in.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, the next
four diglts 5392, 5392. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: Speaki-ng.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good. Let's get
you sworn in for the recor:d.
TIMOTHY E. RIHA,
appearing as a public witness, having been fj.rst duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
could you for the record p]-ease state your fufl name and
spe1l it for us?
THE WITNESS: Timothy E. Riha,
t-i-m-o-t-h-y E. R-i-h-a last name.
COMMISSlONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
your address.
THE WITNESS: 341-9 Kaden Lane, Nampa,
Idaho,83686.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of ldaho Power?
TI1E WITNESS: I am a customer of Idaho
Power and I am afso a stockhofder of Idaho Power,a 25
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208.890. s198
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RI HA
Publ i c
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you for
joining us this afternoon and could you please offer your
collunent ?
THE WITNESS: WelI, yes, as I say, Irm an
Idaho Power stockho.lder. I installed sol-ar paneJ-s on our
home as sort of an insurance poJ-icy, because we're 70s
and older and you can't really get insurance polJ-cies, so
thinking that if we put insurance or put the sofar panels
on our house, that would enhance the value of our home
should we end up selJ-ing it and whoever would buy it
woul-d get 'the same deal from Idaho Power with the credits
as we signed up for, and f'm a little miffed with ldaho
Power for trying to come around the back side and l-ower
our investment by trying to give us fess credits, so I
totally disagree as a stockholder with what Idaho Power
is doing.
The way this area is grow.ing, if we have a
drought and power is not being able to produce like 1t
has in the past, soJ-ar panels wou.Id be helpful . Now, we
produce excess number of hours or our panels do and I
have a credit that buifds up and I'm not asking them to
buy those and pay me. I'm just saying let it ride and
I'I1 use them as I can, so I thj-nk it's totalfy unfair
for Idaho Power to do what they're doing and try to cut
our rewards. That's totally wrong to me.
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890.5198
We signed an agreement wlth that
understandj-ng. Had I known that they were going to pul-f
some shenanigans like this, I woufd have never put the
solar panels on, so I'm a little disappointed with Idaho
Power and what they're trying to do. I think itrs
totalLy unfair.
frm a senior citizen. I'm on a fixed
income. I invested, paid for
a bit of a loan to pay off the
COMMISS IONER KJELLANDER :
these things. I sti11 have
ba.l-ance, but I think it ' s
totaffy unfair of Idaho Power to change the rules and
that ' s my comment.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We11, thank you
for your coftunent. Are there any questions from parties
to the case or members of the Commission? There being
none, then, we certainly thank you for your comments
today.
(The witness }eft the line.)
currentl-y do not have
it be would my intent
to see if we have any
notice from our court
any other calfers
to take at.Ieast
At this point we
in the queue, so
a 15-minute break
addltional callers cafl in, and I
reporter that that 15 minutes was
welcomed and I certainly do appreciate your willingness
to work through as diligently as you have without as many
breaks as we normally would have in a live meetlng, so,
R] HA
Pubfic
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
again.
point
momen t
thank you for your
we wifl be prepared
with the reminder
record. Again, this is the
for Case No. I PC-E-18-15.
patience there, so at thls
t.o go cff the record in just a
that we wil-], return within 15
minutes, so .if there are additj-onal callers who calJ- in,
we can get their comments on the record as we11, so with
that, we will go off the record for 15 minutes and if my
math is cor.rect, which it Iikely is not, that wiff be
somewhere around 3:06 is, I believe, the time in which we
wifl return, so thank you and we look forward to being
back on at 3:06.
(Recess . )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We wil-f go back
on the
hearing
public
intent to 4:00 p.m
wno
go up
ca.IIers
corrunents slnce 10:00 a
telephonic publ ic
We have been taking
.m. this morn.ing. It 1s our
this afternoon and we haveto
two more
resume our telephonic
number ending in the
calfer on the f ine?
have joined us,
public hearing
last four digits
so we will begin or
with the phone
6101 ,6101 . Is the
THE CALLER: Yes, I am on the line.
COMMlSS]ONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begin by swearing you ln.
a 25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. 5198
AMAN
Publ ic
appearang as
was examined
R]CK AMAN,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as folfows:
could you for the record state your name and spell 1t for
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
THE WITNESS: Sure, Rick Aman, R-i-c-k
Star,
and a
A-m-a-n. Irm at 7263 Southern Vista Court in
US?
noon, so thank
of your day. I
except my wi fe
weeks before we
fong day. I showed about 10: l5
taking the
and had
comment toward the end
Idaho, and I am both a customer of ldaho Power
supplier of
if you wou1d, please offer us your statement or
comment.
THE WITNESS: Wel1, first of
thank the Cornmissioners. You have endured
energy to Idaho Power as wel-l .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
a 11, 1et me
an awful ly
t o l- eave at
you
up
for
imagine
and I put
rece ived
nothing I'm going to say is
solar panels in 1i teral I y
the note from Idaho Power
new,
three
tha t
ofthere was goj-ng to be hourly net meter.ing and that,
course, is a significant problem.
There was no indication that that kind of
process was go-ing to be in place when we put a relatively25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890. 5198
AMAN
Publ ic
expensive
wouldn ' t
solar system on our roof. Had we known, we
have done it.It \^ras really clear
Idaho Power. the.re
and, of
course, in talking wrth 15 a place
that we as consumers need to check to indicate we
rules will change.
that within our
understand the rates wilJ- change and
I don't think
appl ication,
this kind of
that mi-tigates
there coufd have
the fact
been some indication that
a process
As with
was golng on.
a numbrer of other callers, I'm
asking for a study, because I do not understand the
concept
actually
of Idaho Power the idea that rooftop sofa r
additional -- there would bewifl cost customers
additional costs to other customers.I j ust
and I
don't
befieve thal. I've asked for a study
so 1et
literally
have a CD
would ask
you rea 11y
cus t ome rs
fuIl of informat ion,
the Commissioners to
need to grandfather
me just say that I
reject the
.l-n exi st ing
settfement and
sol.ar
if that isn't the case. Thank you.
ThankCOMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER:you. Are
there any questions from parties to case or members of
the Commiss.ion? There being none, then, we thank you for
your testimony today.
(The witness left the line.)
COMt'lISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the nexL caller with the last four digits of thei-r25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
CONTRUCC I
Publ ic
telephone number being E925, 8925. Is the ca1ler there?
TI1E CALLER: Ye-s, that-'s me.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begin by getting you sworn in.
JONATHAN CONTRUCCI,
appearinq as a public witness, having been duly sworn,
was examlned and testifi-ed as follows:
could you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
the record please state your name and spe.Il
THE WITNESS: Yes, it's Jonathan Contrucci
and that's J- o-n -a-t -h-a-n, last name C-o-n-t-r-u-c-c-i.
COMMISSIONER KJEI,LANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS:
Street, Boise, Idaho, 83706.
COMMISSIONER
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS:
COMMlSSIONER
That I s 1507 East Wright
KJELLANDER: And are you a
I am.
KJELLANDER:Thank you.
or statement ?
am a member of the
Could you please offer- us your comment
T},IE IIJITNTESS: YeS, So I
solar industry profession he::e, solar energy consuftant,I 25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
CONTRUCC]
PubIic
so my job is to go to people's homes with the peopi.e who
are interested and size the system for t.hem and basing
the savings and the performance based on past and present
and then forecasting future based on those data points,
and so I've been doing this now for about three years and
have probably over 100 customers that have gone solar
with ne, and I am a customer myself for net metering.
My solar
familiar with the
went in April of 2017, so I'm
net metering program and how it
worked for the last, you know, 17 years and it was a
substantial shock to me to see what the proposal, the
settlement, was and that lt would not incfude -- woul-d
not protect existing customers who made a substantiaf
investment of tens of thousands of doll"ars based on the
evidence that was availabfe to us at the time/ and I've
actually done a decent amount of math, at least I
attempted to be as accurate as I can, to see how this
ve ry
wil- 1 impact
that I see
hour I y arid
data of a
existing and customers and the biggest change
is the change from -- wel], change to net
based on the math that I was able to do on the
number of customers, I think I did the math on
six, there's not one customer that had over 50 percent
that they were using on site.
Most of their energy was being exported on
that net hourly basis and so the proposed chanqe wil-f bea25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890. s198
CONTRUCCI
Publ- i c
substantial- to those customers, thousands of dollars
worth of energy
change. on my
around -- over
my customers have over 20, so
double on that, and the J-arger
that j-s exported to the grid,
know, to the savings of people
so if I woufd have known what
that is being d.j-minished because of that
own personal home, it looks to be
$2,000 over the next 20 years and that is
a very small system that I have, only 12 panels. Most of
that would be at .Ieast
the system the more energy
so the less impact, you
with the largest systems,
the changes would be, I
different than how I'mwoul-d have sized systems
sizing systems today and
wouf d be much d.if f erent,
one, I would love to see
based off. I've scoured
ve ry
a1so,
too, so I
the study
everywhere
t heir expected savrngs
-- well-.thlnk tha t
that al-l- this is being
and have not been
able to see how these numbers are ca.l-cu1ated, how the
.04406 number came to be and so I woufd Like to see that
before there are any decisions made or if there hasn't
been one completed, I really think that would be the best
option would be to figure out exactly what the
cost-benefit anafysis is. I just don't think there's
been enough time.
This all seems fike it's happening so fast
and it was stateci in the docket previously that
discriminatcry rates will not fo.I.Iow the ruling and Io25
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feel f ike this is a discriminatory rate, especially since
custonrers are not being grandfathered in, andexi s t 1ng
anothe r thing,
tha tshifting
but I do
going to make
something that
I agree, yeah, maybe there's a cost
could be happening to non-so1ar customers,
not think it is to the extent that Idaho Power
10
is claiming, especially since such a small number of
people in Idaho have sol-ar. By Idaho Power's own math on
the IRP, .5 percent of customers have so.Iar and that's
barely a drop in the bucket, so yeah, I am against the
settlement and I am -- if the settfement does go through,
f am for grandfathering existing customers. I think it
woul-d be the only ethical and fair thing to do.
I feel really bad for a number of my
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custoners that made a decision based on
information and now that j-s be.ing taken
it more of a
of savings.
toy for the
1S
the present
away from them,
i think it's
rich and Iess of
fn
thousands of dcflars worth
average Joes 1i ke me can also partake
producing thatwith c-Lean, renewablc
close to the 1oads.
sense. Yeah, that's
energy that
I think that
what I wanted
just makes a
to say and
fot
I thank you
powe r
of
o
for your time.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER :
there any questions from parties to the
of the Commission? Hear.ing none, thank
Thank you. Are
case or members
you for your
CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.5198
CONT RUCC I
Publ, ic
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208.890.5198
THOM P SON
Public
testimony today.
(The !,rit-ness left- t-he line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next caLler with the last four digits of their phone
number hreing 1815, 181-5. Is the ca-Ller there?
THE CALLER: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's Iirst begin by swearing you in.
appear.rng as
was examined
JOHANNAH THOMPSON,
a pubfic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testi.fied as follows:
for the record state your full name and
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you please
THE WITNESS: Yes, it's
spe11 it
Johannah Thomp s on,
J-o-h-a-n-n-a-h, last name T-h-o-m-p- s -o-n .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS i L625 South Latah Street in
Boise, Idaho,83705.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: I am, yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
for us?
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208.890.5198
could you pfease offer us your testimony today?
TliE WITNESS: Yes, so I am a nurse here in
Idaho. I've lived here for six years and I've considered
putting sofar on my home recently. On researching the
policies and returns on solar this fa1], I learned about
this pending case. I'm unab]-e to determine what my
savings wou.Id be at this time if I instafl photovoltaic
modules on my property with this new policy potentially
being put .l-n p1ace, so I woul-d like to comment on the
IPC-E-18-15 specifically as to the fairness of these
p ropos ed
proposal
any value
changes and how unjust the current settlement
is, so the current .rate study doesn't provide
to the numerous benefits which a customer-owned
on-site generation system such as solar wouJ-d provide to
the grid,
Idaho Power states in this case, and this
is quote, "The signing parties agreed that other costs
and benefj-ts, capacity integration costs, and
environmental- benefits may be measurable, but agreed not
to include those costs or benefits as pa.rt of the
settlement agreement"; so currently my home is on rate
Schedul-e 1 with ldaho Power, but I do have the option to
choose to invest in solar and become a Schedule 6
customer, and I onfy received notice of this case through
friends and it's very unsettling that I didn't receive ao25
206 THOMPSON
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208.890.5198
THOM P SON
Public
about changes to the
potentiaf investment.
public notice from Idaho Power that I might need to know
which would change my
final1y, if I pay
and in example one,
versus exampLe two,
rate schedule,
sooner, and then
of $100 a monthan ave.rage power
I lower thj-s by
bi It
50 percent with solar
I see an ad for energy efficiency paid for Idaho Power
and lower my consumption by 50 percent using their other
suggested methods, the management and cost shift of my
use to other customers is virtually the same j-n both of
those examples.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And does that
concfude your comments?
THE WITNESS: It does, yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
membe r sthereany queslions
Commission?Seeing
today.
from parLies to the case or
of the none, then, we thank you again
for vour comment s
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
(The witness left the l-ine. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Susan, iust a
the next caller whose last four digits are 4319, 4319.
Is the ca.I]e r there?
THE CALLER: Yes, this is Susan
Giannettino.
moment, if we co,:Id get you sworn in first.o 25
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208 .890. 5198
G IANNETT ] NO
Publ i-c
appear.rng as
was examined
SUSAN GIANNETTINO,
a pubj-ic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as f o]f or,rs:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and spel]coufd you for
it for us?
address, please.
THE W]TNESS: My
Cd o]ena, O-I-e-n-a, in Hailey.
THE WITNESS: Susan Gj-annettino, Susan
S-u-s-a-n, Giannettino G-.i-a-n-n-e-t-t-i-n-o.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
physical address is 1040
Idaho, I3333.
COMMTSSIONER KJELLANDER: Are you a
customer of Idaho Pcwer?
THE WITNESS: YeS, I am.
COMM]SS]ONER KJELLANDER: Wel]., good
afternoon, and please provide your
THE WITNESS: ThanK
thank you for t-he opportunity that
We have also provided comment via
provided comment back when the PUC
considering this entire topic.
our new home in Halley, Idaho,
that time I wanted to make sur:e
testimony.
you very much and
you I ve provided here.
the website and
wAS
We put
ori gi na 11y
solar panels on
about three years ago. At
I fully understood what25
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208.890.5198
G IANNETT INO
Pub.I ic
the relationship was between our solar generation and
Idaho Power's rate system, so I spent a fair amount of
time interacting with Idaho Power customer service
representatives and staff and I have that documentation
if anybody needs to see it.
At that time I thought ldaho Power was
be j- ng
ma ki ng
point,
that we have, so I am not h.ppy, my husband and I
happy, to see a proposed change. Whife I have to
the fact that Idaho Powe.r can propose a change to
and do exactly this sort of process, I feel that
enticed into putting solar paneJ-s on our roof in
quite fair and responsive to the investment we were
on our own in solar panels and so far to this
we've been very satisfied with the relationship
had with
are not
accept
the PUC
we were
part
because of
ratepayers
selfishly,
system.
solar panels and
efficient house,
time .is probably
felt that given
investment.
I
the program that Idaho Pohrer
who were willing to do that,so personally and
I'm very concerned about a change in the
We've made
slnce we
a significant investment in
already had a new energy
the amortization of
lengthier than some
the net metering, we
that investment over
people, but we stilf
made a wi se
'm not sure today if things were as
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G IANNETT I NO
PubI ic
uncertain as they
through, Irm not
roof. I befieve
commitment to clean energy
it intends to achieve and I
are now or if this proposed change goes
suJ:e r^Je would put solar panels on our
that ldaho Power has expressed a
and has set itself a goal that
think j-t's disingenuous to
have made that promise to the broad community, the
environmental corrununj-ty, the conservation community, the
ratepayers and not recognize that sol-ar, and for that
matter wind, but domestic solar j-s a piece of that larger
pttzzLe.
There should be an incentivization of
people wi1ling
energy goal.doing bus iness
need to be, so
as usua.I is not
I would suggest
unethical, but
to help Idaho Power achieve that clean
Just gorng
tha tto get us where we
it 's not
thlnk it's
I can't quite say
appropriate to come
it's I don't
at feast grandfather
the same time, I a.Iso
the J-mplicat.ion of
in this obviously
port f oIj-o of clean
you.
there any questions
of the Commission ?
to this position and not
in the existing ratepayers, and at
think Idaho Power needs to rethink
not will ing
good locat i on
COMM],SSIONER KJELLANDER :
from parties to the
Seeing none, then,
to support domestic solar
for sofar in its entire
energy. Those are my cornments. Thank
Thank you. Are
case or members
we appreciate yourI?.5
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27L
conments today.
('Ihe witness ,Lef t the line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let's move now
to the next cafler with the fast four digits in their
number beinq 5329. 5329. Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: Yes, f am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Let's begjn by getLing you sworn jn.
ROY COSSAIRT,
appearing as a public witness, havj-ng been first duly
sworn, testified as foflows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you for
for us?the record please
THE
name is Cossairt,
WITNESS: YeS,
West Edna Street in Boise, Idaho,
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: Yes, we are.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: WeI1, good
afternoon, and could you please provide us your
testimony?
THE WITNESS: Yes. My wife and I went
state your name and spell it
C-o-s-s-a-i-r-t,
itrs Roy, R-o-y, fast
and my address is 9921
83704.
COSSA]RT
Pubfic
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208.890.5198
COS SAI RT
PubI ic
through the process of
house and 1i ke previous
deciding to put
caf f ers, we d j-d
be
31 panels on our
in conversations with ldaho Power and we
our due diligence
had been tofd
valid andthat the net- metering agreement would
grandfathered in for people that had
2017, and so when we saw this change
been installed by
com:" ng,
be the
we were
way forward,quite concerned if
then we would not
We
going to
the pane 1s on our roof.
weren't
this was
have put
fike the
roof, because it's a biq blank space that is not going to
have a huge environmental impact compared to putting
together a solar farm somewhere which wil-l take up space
and cause grief wherever the land is in terms of the
concrete and just the heat and cutting down the access,
so we're al-l for solar, but I don't think that Idaho
idea of the panels on our
in previousPower has given, as they've discussed
testimonies, any val-ue to that whj-ch we are
up to the grid, especially if you consider
one-for-one exchange in terms of watt for a
worked fairly weII.
We're not at net zero and we
feeding back
they've done a
watt and this
intending
a sudden
looking
because
to be, but at the same time,
going from one to a .6 or ,4
at what's been proposed, that
it does rrot take into account
if this is a1I of
down the road in
is di s ingenuous,
the value thato
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208.890. s198
213 COSSAIRT
Public
we've added by putting over S25,000 worth of equipment on
our roof to help generate power for Idaho Power.
Especially when you .Iook at their peak time in the
summer, we're giving back power to the grld that they're
needing right away, and so to discount that as kind of
nil-, that's hurtful and I think it's a bad business
decision.
I understand if they get solar farms, they
can qet a generation price down to, and I'II pick a
number, four-tenths of something, but the fact that werre
at eight-tenths is more retail, but what we could be
spending for power during the peak times is that summer
rate. I don't remember what the number is, if it
to l0 or just what it ls, but we're feeding that
we wou.ld be
goes up
to Idaho
gettingPower and that ' s the
for our first block,
same pr.ice that
so I think that
had been told in document.ation Lhat
change,
we woufd
aga1n, we
be
grandfathered in and that's obviously changed, and I
think the PUC shou]d not allow this particular change to
happen, and Idaho Power needs to take a new l-ook at how
they are dealing with their
their producers.
There I s kind
wants to own everything that
clients and customers and
ot a story that ldaho Power
kind of feeds that narratj-ve,
generates power and thi s
because of the fact we owno25
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208.890.5198
COSSAI RT
Publ ic
sofar panels and now
goes right along with
we're going to be reimbursed fess
the general- gist of ny
story on what they' re
should be allowed and
that narrati-ve, so I think that's
testimony. They've changed their
trying to do and I donrt think it
whil-e water is most efficlent in
terms of getting .Ieast energy costs for Idaho Power,
solar can be quite useful as wel1, especially during
those peak times, so that's my testimony.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you. Are
membe rsthere any questions from parties
of the Commission? There being
your testimony.
to the case or
none, then, thank you for
(The witness l-eft the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: !,ie move now to
the next caller with the last four digits of 3613, 3673.
Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: YeS, ] am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good a fternoon,
Why don't we begin by swearlng you in.
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WELT Y
PubIic
appearang as
was exami ned
LAURESTA WELTY,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as folfows:
could you for
it for us?
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
the reco.rd please state your name and spell
THE WITNESS: My name is Lauresta Welty,
L-a-u-r-e-s-t-a W-e-1-t-y.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS: 2309 Ma-Lad Street, Boise,
I daho .
COMMISSIONER
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS:
COMM]SSIONER
afternoon and please offer
THE WITNESS:
others that I've heard. I
KJELLANDER: And are you a
KJELLANDER: WeIl, good
your
My
just
testimony at
test j-mony is
this time.
slmilar to
I have solar panels on my roof and we put
want.ed to add my voice.
them in in 2 016
a done dealwas basically
issue and that this would be
when we thought net metering
and that this wouldnrt be an
an investment, and we would not have made thj-s investment
if we wouldn't have been net zero. because we had to paya25
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208.890.5198
WELTY
Publ ic
for the solar
solar panels,
by not having
to do that.
paneis and so
we needed to
because we had to pay for the
have a way to afford that and
to pay a power bi1l, that's how we're able
We took a second mortgage out on the house
in order to qet solar
cost. to us and we --
pane.Is, so it was a signi ficant
about the
We definitely
that, we're
possibility of not being
shou.Id be grandfathered
concerned that people are not
re very concerned
grandfathered in,
in, but more than
going to
house, and
have an incent ive
solar energy is
wet
to put solar panels on their
the cleanest kind of energy that we
I daho
want to
can get
Poh/er,
and itr s very
I think, isimportant for our future, and
always talking about how they
and this is the best way to do
use clean energy
and so we need to be
us a way to provide
net metering is
peopfe are
that,
able to provide they need to give
that.
be c omi ng
interested
different
If they're concerned
too difficult because too
in doing it, then
option where solar
they need to give us a
panels on roofs woufd sti1l
they pay for the sofar
that
many
be a possibility,
panels themselves
houses that have
so whethe r
and just put them on our houses, on the
some kind of a program
sunlight, and they come up with
where customers don't pay for the
good
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208.890.s198
WELT Y
Publ ic
solar panels and then continue
electricity through Idaho Power
paying -- do j-ng
and continue to pay an
electricity bi11. I think that's a real possible
afternative, but their current opt.ion is basically a no
win situation and will cause many, many of us to fose
this j.nvestment and many others wil-l- noL be able to get
the cLean energy that they woufd have otherwi.se, and
think that is everything f wanted to say.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We1f, thank
Let's see if there are any questions from parties to
case or members of the Commission. There being no
I
you -
the
questions, we thank you again for your testj-mony today,
(The witness left the fine. )
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: Let's move now
to the next caf l-er wlth the .Last four digits of their
number beinq 4863, 4863. Is the call-er on the line?
THE CALLER: Could you repeat that? It
might be me.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: I think it's
you.
THE WITNESS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Let's begin by
swearing you in.
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208.890.5198
MARC I NKO
PubI ic
appearing as
was examined
ROBERT MARCINKO,
a public witness, having been dufy sworn/
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you cou]-d for the recor:d, please state your name and
spell it for us.
TI1E WITNESS: It's Robert Marcinko,
M-a-r-c- i -n-k-o .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
your address, please.
THE WITNESS: 3315 Lundburg Lane in
Pocatello, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER K.IELLANDER: And are you a
customer of ldaho Power?
THE WITNESS: YeS, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay. We11,
good afternoon and please offer us your conments.
THE WITNESS: I'11 try and keep this
simple and short. I've just recently had solar panels
installed and unless Idaho Power installed my new meter
today, werre stil f
making my deci sion
not hooked up, but in the course of
to have them installed just within the
what the costlast
wou l d
couple months, i fooked at, you
be and my savinctrs would be over
know,
some time and I25
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208. 890.5198
MARC I NKO
PubI ic
never expected that I woufd actualJ-y essent.ia.Ily be
around to pay off
felt it was a good
che system I'n having
thing to do from an
instaJ-Ied, but I
envi ronmenta 1
standpoint with
taking place.
In
also, to have my
friends and many
they coufdn't
they would be
installed on
not even tha t
feft that even with the
installed, I talked with numerous
neighbors and t.hey all essentially
credit value that is applied that
do it now and they didn't think
ever see a payback to have sol-ar
the issues with climate change that are
the course of making the decision,
system
of my
afford to
a.Iive to
their homes, so the incentive right now i-s
Idaho Power are presenti-ng, the incentive
great and right now with the
say
changes that
to do so is
I tota l ly
there ' s going to be
on their homes and
it's many decades
the incenti-ve
going to be even worse, so Ird have to
disagree with this plan.
They're concerned that
too many peopfe putting solar systems
they're going to lose money. I think
away from that ever occurrj-ng, because
sti l- f isn't that
have the money to
even if they do,
system instalfed,
screwing me over
great for people to do it. People don't
install these systems and, you know,
just like myself just recently having my
I feel that ldaho Power is essentially
as wefl as others that I've heard ta]k,25
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MELOY
Publ- i-c
so that's bas.ically my two cents' worth,
the opportunity.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER:
your comments. Are there any questions
the case or members of the Commission?
then, we again thank you for your testimony
(The witness feft the Iine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We
so I appreciate
Thank you for
from parties to
There being none,
today.
move to our
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon,
and fet's beqin by swearing you in.
next cafler whose last four digits
number end in 0834, 0834. Is the
THE CALLER: I am.
appear.r-ng as
was examined
of their telephone
caffer there ?
LINDSAY MELOY,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
could you for the record pfease state your fuII name and
spell it for us?
THE WITNESS: Lindsay Meloy, L-i-n-d-s-a-y
M-e-1-o-y.
address.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And yourt25
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THE WITNESS: 1507 East Wright Street,
Boise, Idaho, 83706.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNESS: f am.
COMMISSIONER KJEI,LANDER: Okay. Wel1,
good afternoon, and please provide your test.imony.
THE WITNESS: Thank you, so I signed up
for my sol"ar and I got it installed a couple of years ago
when I was 28 and working at a nonprofit and it was the
most expensive purchase I had ever made by a long shot.
It cost me about $15,000 and I, you know, did that under
the net monthly metering program that existed, and I had
done some research and I knew that Nevada had tried to
get away with net metering and not qrandfathering in
existing customersr but that in the end that they had to
reverse that decision because it was deemed to be
unethical and the governor in Nevada actually dj,dn't even
reappoint the presidirrg officer of the PUC. It was a big
thing, so I felt pretty safe knowing that Idaho's monthly
net metering program had been around, I think, 15 years
at that time, and so I rea11y felt that even j.f there
were to be changes in the future that grandfathering
would exist, and I befieve that it's fair, just, and
reasonable for that to be the case. because my system was
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208. 890. s198
227 MELOY
PubIic
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designed unde-r that net monthly metering program.
Switching over to this new net hourly
billing program is not what my system was optimized
underneath and it would have been designed differently
had that been the case. I was actually at a meeting that
was put on where one guy was tafking, he has a masterrs
in math and econ and he said he dj-d the math on switching
from the net monthfy metering to the net hourly bill-ing
and it changed his payback period from l-7 to 35 years,
and I don't have the math prowess to do that math on
mine, but that's a huge, huge switch and I think in
Idaho, we have shared values of valuing individual
j-nvestments and keeping things fair and this just doesn't
fit rhat bill.
It's not fair to change the program that
al,l of us Iinaudible] underneath and especially not to a
new program that doesn't include everyone. You know,
this might be different j-f everyone was under the net
hourly program, but in addition to that, you know, this
whole thing started with the PUC asking for a study from
Idaho Power and there's no study. Ihe study hasn't been
done or we haven't seen the study, and so, you know,
without that, I think they shcufd go back and they shou1d
be tofd to do their homework, because therers been
numerous studies that have shown that net metering is
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Publ ic
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actual-Iy -- the economic benefjts outweigh the costs and
impose no si-gni-f icant cost inerease for non-so1ar
customers.
You know, you can go to the Brookings
Institute, the SEIA website. There's Iots of studies
from PUCs to different institutes, the states that show
that and for Idaho Power to be making this decision
without that study isn't fair, and so the case -- you
know, this is a tiny
that are asking to be
a minuscule change for
i-t costs us thousands
number of people, of their customers
grandfathered in
folks that don't
and thousands of
and it would have
have so1ar,
dol1ars, and
but
Lhey
love to spout, Idaho Power spouts and advert.ises, that
they support green clean energy with one hand, but on the
other hand, they're hurting individuafs' investments into
that same clean green energy, anC, you know, they love to
ask people to reduce energy consumption, but when we're
basically doing that, reducing t-he amount of energy that
we're using from them, we're gett.ing dinged for it and,
you know, if they're going to be paying to install and
supply megawatts of sofar in the future, why not just
a.l-Iow the private investmenL and the dispersed production
of energy that's cur:rently there, because maintaining
these terms for existing customers is very common
practice for other ut ilities in the region and around the25
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208.890. s198
MELOY
Public
nation, and it's reasonabfe for us as Idahoans to get
that same treatment. because solar reduces transmission
and distribution costs. There's less demand load,
especially during peak sumner use.
That doesn't even count the environmental-
benefj-ts t.hat currently are not incl-uded at a1f j.n their
calculation and,
now. Now i-t 's a
you
fot
know, there's a lot
more difficulE for
it to
the wav bac k
of guess work
me to understand
know what the
getting
to define an
how my sol-ar works and to explain
savings are, and I'm also real1y concerned wi-th how thi s
is going to settl-e out with defining
Itve heard that Idaho Power wants an
exlsting customers.
existing customer in
to October 11th andthis set t l-ement be al1
therers a l-ot of people
sol-ar since then and I
that have probably l-ooked lnto
don't think lt's fair at a1f for
them to not reall-y have known
into, so I would Love to see
existing customer as anybody
application wj-thin 30 days of
again, because grandfathering
fair, and equal anC ethical,
tafk to those things and, you
what they were
the PUC deci<1e
who files a net metering
agreement, andyour finaf
is what's
so I just
rea 11y
rea l1y
j ust,
wanted to
seems Iike rhe net metering program was
was wel- 1- estabf i shed for 15 years, had a
kriow, ma ke it cLear that it
something that
precedent for
being grandfathered in if there were changes like there
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were in Nevada, but there's been no study done to prove
the rate that they buythe numbers for the paybacks
for the power that we put out
o11
onto the grid, so there's a
Iot of reasons to grandfather in, but also to reject this
settfement entire.Iy and send it back until Idaho Power
has done their homework.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay.
THE W]TNESS: That,s aII f have.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: A11 r j-ght.
I 25
?_25
Weff, thank you for your cornments. Are there any
questions from parties to the case or members of the
Commission? There being none, then, we appreciate your
comments and thank you for jolnj-ng us this afternoon.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER K,JELLANDER: iie move now to
the next calfer with the last four digits of their phone
number being 2444, 2444. Is the cal-.Ier there?
THE CALLER: The calfer .is here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay, why don't
rrre begin by swearing you in,
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208.890.5198
SIMMONS
PubI ic
appearrng as
was exam.ined
CARL S IMMONS,
a p,rblic witness, having been du.Iy swornl
and testified as f ol-f ows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: ThanK you, and
if you could for the record state your name and spelf it
for us,
THE WITNESS: CarI Simmons, C-a-r-f,
S-i-m-m-o-n-s.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
addre s s .
THE WITNESS i 244 oh, no, it lsn'L. I
just moved here a little wh11e ago. I've got to fook it
up.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: I have to walk
home today and I may have to look it up before I get out,
too.
THE ViITNESS: Not quite that bad, but
al-most. I can find the house. I just don't know the
address.Irll- have it for you in just a second here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: A1I right.
THE WITNESS: Okay, r,re are at 2866 South
Iinaudible. ] .
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you repeat
that for us?o 25
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221 S IMMONS
PubI ic
TtlE WITNESS: 2866 South Canonero,
C-a-n-o-n-e-r-o, Iriay.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: Yes. I am.
COMM]SSIONER KJELLANDER: AIl
WeIl, we wefcome your conments, then. Please
T}IE WITNESS:
r ight .
proceed.
moved here aA11 ri-ghty.
our home, and
premise that
We
coup f e
sofar
powe r
Now,
of years ago,
power insta I led
bought
on the
immediately had
this so }ar
over X amount of time is going to pay for itseLf.
that was not the big selling point. Whi-Ie not being
envi ronmental i st, I am an environmentafist and Ia strong
want to save what environment I can and this is the only
way I ' ve qot to do it.
I was told that the way it's set up nor.,
would be the way it's kept and would be grandfathered i.n.
Now, I realize that that's a se1l.ing point, that those
people at the time had absoLutel-y no way of providing,
but I did get a contract, at Ieast a verbal contract,
with Idaho Power that this is golng to be the way it is
and they will leave it afone, and now they vrant to change
it and they're talklng about the .reason they need to do
that is the cost to producing and transmitting the power
i-s increasing.25
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WeIl, I'11 go along with that. They're
passing that on to the ratepayers, including me. Now,
what they're telling me is my expense, which was $30,000
plus to have my solar installed, doesn't mean anything
and I think thatrs very wrong. My expense of putting the
solar in means a 1ot to me and I think that point, the
amount of money that we spent putting solar in, needs to
be figured into this thing somehow. Exactfy how I'm not
sure, but that's prett.y much how I feef about the whole
thing, and I want to thank you ve.ry much for allowing me
a coupfe of minut-es to express my feelings on this
point.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: We appreciate
your corunents. Let's see if there are any questions from
parties to this case or members of the Commission. There
being none, thanks agarn for your testimony today.
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to the next ca.l-l,er with the last four digits of their
telephone number being 3674, 361 4. Is the calfer there?
THE CALLER: I'm here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Wel1, good
afternoon. Why don't we begin by swearing you in.
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208.890.5198
S I MMONS
Public
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208.890.5198
WELTY
Public
appearang as
was examined
JUSTIN WELTY,
a publj.c witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as foflows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
full namewhy don't we begin by getting
and spefl j.t for the record.
?HE WITNESS:
Welty, J-u-s-t--i--n W-e-1-t-y.
you to state your
My fu11 name .is Justin
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS | 2349 West. Malad Street,
which is M-a-.I-a-d, in Boise, 83705.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Powe r ?
THE WITNESS: I am, yes.
COMM]SS]ONER KJELLANDER :Okay. Wel-f , we
are ready to Lake your statement. Go ahead.
THE WTTNESS: Thank you. I
the.Iast
was j ust
couple of
than f ever
cal l ing
calfers
to say I was listening
and I think they said
to
it way better
coufd, but we also invested $15,000 ln solar panels for a
variety of reasons, one of wh.ich was to become soJ-ar
independent and reduce our costs in the long run by an
upfront cost arid feef that this new system that's being25
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208.890.5198
WELTY
Pub-L rc
imposed upon us is very unfair without any study to show
what the long-term impact is going to be on the consumer
as well as how it's affecting -- like the previous
speakers have said, what's going to happen with the
studies that were supposed to be done and then haven't
been
j ust
these
they can
produced yet,
talk about how hypocritical
from Idaho
but mainfy I wanted to call today to
l feel it is to see afl
advertisements
to be more
telling us how to
efficient,
Powe r
conserve energy, how
changing light bulbs,
ene rgy
pots.cover lng
them af II see
costs lots and lot s
over the airwaves. That
of money. They're doing everything
reduce power, but when I see them
trying to
to try to
do this to us who are generatlng the most locaf
power for ourselves and our neighbors at peak times,
because that power gets shared, it just strikes me as
incredibly hypocritical of a Company to be doing that to
us, because we are doing the most for power consumption,
and as previous speakers talked about, we are generating
power not only for ourselves, but for our neighbors and
werre transferring that power during peak times when
Idaho Power needs it most.
To suddenly say that
you less now, especially those of us
we're going to charge
who have .invested,
you know, many years ago rn solar power, just seemsI
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208.890. 5198
WELTY
Pubf i c
beyond hypocritical to me and
fathom why they would do this
wanting to have more money in
more commercials about how to
I can't understand or
other than simple greed and
their pockets, to produce
save powe.r, because a1l,
that costs money,
let you get to the
and thank you for your time and I'll
next caller.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Well-, thank you
for your call. Letrs see if there are questions from
parties to the case or members of the Commission, and
there being none, again, thank you for your comments
today.
(The witness left the lj-ne. )
COMMISSlONER KJELI,ANDER: We move now to
the next caller with the l-ast four digj-ts of their
telephone number being 1628, 1,628. Is the cal-fer there?
THE CALLER: YeS, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good a fternoon.
Letrs begin by swearing you in.
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208.890.5198
MORGAN
Public
appearlng as
was exam.ined
JENETTE MORGAN,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testif ied as fo.l]ows:
coufd you for
it for us?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
the record please state your name and speJ-I
THE WITNESS: My name is Jenette Morgan.
It's speffed J-e-n-e-t-t-e M-o-r-g-a-n.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS : 215 Covered ['lagon Court of
WiIder, Idaho. 83676.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE WITNE]SS: YeS, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Okay. If you
would, could you please offer your cornment?
THE 'iITNESS: WeII, I would like to chime
in that I do not agree wlth the suggested change to
hourly monitor-ing for both day and night. I recently
invested into solar panels and I feel that this change .is
significantly going to chanqe the model that I understood
going into this investment. that now my home electricity
usage is going to be monitored at nlghttime and rathero25
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than showing the net usage over the whole day, I'm going
to be charged more at night versus matching the
electricity produced during the daytime, so r am against
the hourly rnonitoring, but primarily, I object to the
rate changes proposed and the change in rates ove.r the
eight-year period.
I very recentfy purchased our solar panels
with the idea that over the long run, the energy produced
by ny panels would hel-p pay for the initial investment,
and I was very surprised shortly after our investment to
find out about this case and how Idaho is proposing to
drastically drop the rate that we get paid for the
kilowatts per hour and I just think that's a very unfair
change that is going to hurt not only ny personal
investment and the long-term payoff of my panels, but I
think it's going to discourage others from investing into
solar panels and helping to support our environment
through cleaner energy, so that is what I have to say,
COMMISSfONER KJELIANDER: Thank you. Let
me see if there are any questions from parties
representing or legaJ. counsel representing the partj-es or
from the Commissioners. There being none, then, thank
you again for your testimony.
(The witness left the Line. )
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
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208.890.5198
MORGAN
Publ i c
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208.890.5198
the next caffer with Lhe last four digits of their number
beir\g 2441 , 2441 . Is the cal.Ier: there?
THE CALLER: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon -
Letrs begin by swearing you in.
appear.rng as
was examined
SHAR] DORSEY,
a public witness, having been duJ-y sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you coul-d for the record, p]ease state your name and
spe11 it for us.
THE WITNESS: Shari Dorsey, S-h-a-r-i
I_\-^-r-d-^-r,u v r J L y.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, please.
THE WITNESS: 1190 East Carter Street --
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer --
TflE WI'INESS : -- Boise 7 Idaho.
COMMISS]ONER KJELLANDER: Oh, I'm SoTTy.
Thank you.
THE WITNESS: T'm sorry.
COMMISSIONER K.JELLANDER:You're fine. Io
DORS EY
Publ ic
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208 .890.5198
235 DORS E Y
Publ ic
was just ;unping Lhe qun. Are you a customer of Idaho
Powe r: ?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank vou. Tf
you could please provide your comrnent for us.
THE WITNESS: Thank you. We would fike to
voice our objection Lo ldaho Power's proposal to change
the net
and many
meter.ing system for existing
others made the decision to
solar customers. We
system
Idaho
bus iness
years and
to trust
same.
is a customary
We've }ived inpractice.
one th ing
based on the current net
Power. and I don't think
metering system
lt would be f air
invest in a solar
t hr ough
at a}l or
offer to new customers whife leaving their existing
reasonabfe for this to be chanqed for
ft is common for businesses to change
existlng customers.
the plans they
and reasonable
ldaho for over 40
value is the abiJ-ity
companies. We are
would even consider
customers' p-Ian s the
Thi s
our government and
that we rea 11y
utiliLy
Por^rervery disappolnted that Idaho
going back on their word by proposing this change and we
really want to encou.rage and trust that the PUC will
reject Idaho Power's proposal and require them to do what
is reasonable for their customers.
I for many years defended ldaho Pov/er whenI25
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208. 890. 5198
RAYNE S
Public
many people criticized me for using level pay and I
trusted them and they always kept their
rates or Iowered our rates accordj-ng to
word, raised our
our usage, but I
have to say that now I am questioning that
first time, because I just don't think this
right. That's all. Thank you.
there any questions
Commission? Seeing
testimony.
trust f or: the
moraLLy
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER:Thank you. Are
Members of thefrom the part i es ?
none, then, thank you again for your
(The witness left the line.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move now to
the next cafler with the l-ast four digits of their
telephone number being 0425, 0425. Is the ca11er there?
THE CALLER: Yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good afternoon.
Why donrt we begin by swearing you in.
appearfng as
was examined
LAURA RAYNES,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
cou.Id we have you state your name and speI1 j-t for us for
the record?o 25
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THE WITNESS: Laura, L-a-u-r-a, Raynes,
R-a-y-n-e-s.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And your
address, pfease,
THE WITNESS: 4986 East Sawmj-l-f Vlay and
that's in Boise, I3 716.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And are you a
customer of Idaho Power?
THE W]TNESS: I am.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
we're ready for your comment.
THE WITNESS: Welf, I just want to say
that I agree with everything that I've heard on the last
few ca1ls, that I do think it is unfair for Idaho Power
to expect peopJ-e with existing solar systems, solar power
systems, to suddenly receive, 1ike, 50 percent of what
they were being paid before for their rooftop generation,
and I a1so, I submitted a written comment to this effect,
but I also thlnk that at this time in -- on a planetary
scafe at this time in our history, it is reall-y morally
wrong to be disincentivizing clean energy.
There are more and more people who woufd
do solar on their rooftops, except that Idaho Power is
going to make it less appealing to do so if this proposal
goes through and so I would rea1ly encourage the Public
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208.890.s198
231 RAYNES
Public
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208.890. s198
HUNTER
Public
Utilities Commission to reject their proposal. Thank
you -
there any questions from parties
of the Commission? Seei-ng none,
comments and thank you very much
(The witness lef t
appearrng as
was examined
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Are
to the case or members
then, we appreclate your
for calling in.
the l-ine. )
our next caller with the last four digits being 8454.
That's 8454. Is the caller there?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: We move noi^, to
THE CALLER: YeS.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Good a fternoon.
Let's begin by swearing you in.
NIC HUNTER,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as fof lows :
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Could you for
the record please state your name and spell it?
THE WITNESS: It's Nic Hunter. WeII, are
you asking for the account name or just name?
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Just your name
and if you could just spell it so that our transcription
expert can get that into the record.25
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208.890.5198
?39 HUNTER
Pubf i-c
THE WITNESS: So itrs Nic Hunter, spelled
N-i-c, last nar,re 1s I{-u-n-t--e-r.
COMMISSIONER
your address, please ?
THE WITNESS:
Boise, rdaho, 83709.
COMM]SS]ONER
are you a customer of Idaho
THE W]TNESS:
COMMISS]ONER
are ready for your comment.
THE WITNESS:
al lowing
had so.Iar
KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
4324 South TiIIamook Way,
K,IELLAN DER: Thank you, and
Power ?
I am,
KJELLANDER: Thank you. We
Great. Thank
us to cafl in today.
for about a year now.
f appreciate
f t ve also
you for
that. so I've
spoken with a
fixed.l-ot of people who
so for us
whether or
because of
have when
have sofar who are
to go solar took us
on a very
about aincome,
de cide
ma in 1y
people
and so one
the poL j.cy
up, the PUC
derogatory
done and so
heard of a
not we were going to do
the financiaL, I gues s,
it comes to investing j-n
it or not,
struggles that
their future,
year to
I've
study was
haven't
thing that
is proposed
had stated
Irm kind Cf frustrated with is that
to change, because
that there wouldnrt
when we signed
be any
effects after the after the case
I haven't seen a case study
case study yet. I've looked
yet. I
online.
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208 .890.5198
240 HUNT ER
Public
looked at the PUC website, so if there's somethi-ng that
Irm just not findrng, it would be great to know where
that information is.
And from the environmental standpoint, it
just seens like -- I guess I'm rea1ly confused why Idaho
Power is making this shift. I think that for Idaho Power
to ful-fill their portfolio, residential homeowners having
renewable energy as a part of their overall portfolio, I
see this as a hindrance to allowing that to exist. I
really appreciate the fast few people who have spoke, I
wholeheartedly agree with everything I heard over the
last few calls and I'ff feave it at that so you can get
to some other call-s going in here.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Wef1, thank you.
Are there any questions from parties to the case or
members of the Commission? Hearing none, then, thank you
again for you testimony.
(The witness left the fine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And that brings
us to our final caller of the day -- oh, excuse me, 1
more past this. I just have oneare tlrobelieve there
more number.
caller, which
'7111 1 a) )
We do have two, so let's move to the next
the final four dig.its of their number are
Is the caller there?
THE CALLER: Yes, sir.25
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208.890.5198
NEV ] LLE
Public
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you. Why
don't we go ahead and get you sworn in.
appearing as
was examined
THOMAS F. NEVILLE,
a pubJ-ic witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as foffows:
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you, and
if you could
record,
state your name and spell your name for the
THE WITNESS: Yes, my name is Thomas E
l-ast name is NevilLe, N-e-v-i-l-.I-e. I am an Idaho Power
customer.
COMMISSIONER K,IELLANDER: And your
address.
THE WITNESS:. 3722 West Edson, E-d-s-o-n,
Terrace, Boise, 83705.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we're readv
for vour com-rnenL.
THE WITNESS: Thank you, Honorable
Commlssioners. I appreciate
been on the
the opportunity to have this
input. I've
less. I 've
I am largely
Neville. I'
only
hea rd
.l .ine for 15 minutes or
corunents from three or four others and
IIr
in agreement wrth them. I am Thomas
73 years old and a Boise native. My wife
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208.890.5198
NEVILLE
Pubfic
Nancy Nevil-le and I have raised four chil-dren who al,L
attended public schools, college, and are now gainfully
employed here.
I've been a public servant my entire 1ife,
starting as a Naval officer and then having a A2-year
career i-n the law. I submj-t this testimony as a private
citizen. In each of calendar years 2018 and 2019, I made
difficult deci.sions to instafl rooftop solar panels on
as wel]- as on a home outside of Boise.both my Boise home
I selected Auric,
both instances. I
A-u-r-i-c, Energy
say "dif f icul-t"
as mv contractor in
decisions because the
funds required were very substantial 1n amount and
particular.Iy so for anyone in public service for which
one neither seeks nor expects nor receives higher
compensation.
CandidIy, I made these two lnvestments
using a l-ifetime of savings and retirement benefits.
I've tried for many years to remain aware of issues
surrounding Idaho Power, an entity for which I've had
high regard in the past. My impression ls that Idaho
Power's peak summer .l-oads have grown substantially and
have set new records in recent years.
f have also thought that Idaho Powerrs two
fairly
Bennet t
new natural gas-powered facilities, those at
Mountain and the othe.r even more recent.l-y ato25
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208.890.5198
NEVILLE
Publ- ic
Langley Gulch, were bui.It in rro small part Lo meet these
summer peak load challenges. Part of my own
roo f top
months
rationale in
solar panel s
when Idaho
making my
.incfuded
Power had
the sun was
so.I a r panels
the grid.
a type
we I come and
now wi shes
shining brightly
were producing
two decis.ions to invest in
the fact that the hot sum,ner
set new oeak foad records were precisely when
and residential rooftop
and exporting energy back to
This seemed to me to be an opportunity for
me as an indivi-dua1 to use less from ldaho Power at a
time when Idaho Power was stressed by my producing c.Iean,
1ocal, and rel-iabIe energy. I had thought this shoul-d be
of renewable energy which Idaho Power would
would encourage. I
to change the rules
understand Idaho Power
after the fact, after
and ins tal ledindividuafs such as me have invested
rooftop solar
detriment on
panels,
c -redi t s
after having relied to their
for energy exported back to the grid
at the same raLe as a1l- customers pay Idaho Power for
electricity.
If
metering" program
could be changed
exported onto the
nearly ha1f, as I
thls change is approved, the
for existing customers, such
so that the creclit rates for
grrd would be substantially
understand it, over the next
"net
as mysel f,
ene rgy
reduced by
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
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Pubfic
years. Such a change may well remind one of "bait and
switch" schemes, which are fundamentally unfair to the
point of being reprehensible. In addition to being
fundamentally unfair, forcing existing solar owners into
a new program with substantially reduced credits for
el-ectricity provided back to the grid wou.Id substantlal-fy
reduce the vafue of existing solar ownersr investments,
prolonging by years the break-even calculations investors
made.
In my case, at age 73, being forced into
new credit rates after the fact woufd make it unlikely I
years further
customers who
would ]ive long enough to see a new break-even point
their detriment in making their
recej-ving falr credits at the
for e l-ect r icit y should be
out in the f utu.re. Existing soJ-ar
relied to
investment decisions on
rates afl customers pay
"grandfathered, " exempted from this proposaf and not
forced into a new credit rate scheme of which they had no
notice.
Regardl-ess of whether or not it woul-d be
fair to impose such a change on future investors who are
given notice j-n advance of such changes as of a date,
just for example, such as July lst, 2A20, it remains
potential-Iy or patently, I shoufd say, inequitabfe to
impose retroactively such changes on customers who were25
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CSB REPORT ING
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I 25
245
contractuafly obliged and had made payments for such
instalfations or who had already actually instalfed thelr
rooftop residential" solar panels. A common sense
compromise would qrandfather those of us in this
situation. Thank you for considering my remarks. I am
respec!fuIIy Thomas E. Neville.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Thank you,
Let's see if there are any questions from parties to the
case or members of the Commission. There being none,
thank you again for your cornnents.
(The witness feft the fine.)
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: And we move now
to the final caller and that is the caller with the last
four digits of their telephone number being 2875. That's
2815. Is the cal.Ier on the li-ne?
THE CALLER: The ca11er is on the line. I
spoke earlier and had to switch phones. I'm only hear to
fisten at this time.
COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER: Oh, okay. We11,
thank you, and we appreciate that. That exhausts the
list of callers that we have today. I want to thank the
parties to the case for their wiffingness to stay here
throughout the fength of today's telephonic conference.
I a.Lso want to thank my coJ-Ieagues,
Commissi-oner Eric Anderson and Commissioner Kristlne
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Raper, and
few breaks
process.
time to
Conn i e
today
Aga in,
Bucy, our
and all-owed US
our new
to proceed
eve rybody
of you who
Thi-s was
system in
through this
who took the
stayed on to
our first
our new
court reporter, who took very
I want to thank
call in
more
today and those
of the comment s ..I i- sten to
telephonic
facifities
hearing using
and I'm sure that we have fearned a lot that
we wif l- debrief on to try to make the system work even
better as we use it going forward, but with that, then,
we wil-L continue the pubfic hearing tomorrow live in our
faiilities, and for those of you who need the exact
reference to that., it is on the website and can be
accessed.
I'm sure f have it in front of documents
today, but for the fife of me cannot find it, so I wj-II
and location thatnot give you the wrong ti-me
can be found on the website.
and date
for your participation
the continuance of the
tomorrow.
That said, again, thank you
and we are adjourned untif
hearing wh j-ch will be
t oday
publ ic
(The tefephonic public hearing adjourned
at 4:1.2 p.m. )
25
246 COLLOQUY