20201029Telephonic Hearing Transcript Vol I.pdf

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CSB REPORTING
C e rt ifre d S h o rt h on d Rep o rt e r s
Post OfIice Box9774
Boise,Idaho 83707
c sbrepoting@.y ahoo. com
Ph: 208-890-5198 Fax: [phone]
Reporter:
Constance Bucy,
CSR
BETORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILIT]ES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWERCOMPANY'S APPLICATTON FORAUTHORITY TO MODIFY SCHEDULE84'S METERTNG REQUTREMENT ANDTO GRANDFATHER EXISTTNG
CUSTOMERS ! TTH TWO METERS
CASE NO. IPC_E-20_26
TELEPHONTC HEAR]NG
BEFORE
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COMMISSIONER KRISTTNE RAPER (presiding)
COMMTSS]ONER PAUL KJELLANDERCOMMISSIONER ERIC ANDERSON (Telephonically
PLACE:Commission Hearing Room11331 West Chinden Bl_vd.Building B, Suite 201_ABoise, Idaho
DATE:October 13, 2O2O
VOLUMEI-pagesl-69
o ORIGI|YAL
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CSB REPORTING
248.890.5198
Eor the Staff:
For Idaho Power
( Telephonical 1y)
Company:
Eor Idaho Sierra Club:
( Telephonical 1y )
For City of Boise
( Telephonical 1y)
Eor Mi-cron Technology,Inc.:
( Telephonically)
For Russell Schiermeier:
( Telephonically)
APPEARANCES
Edward ,JewelJ., Esq.Deputy Attorney General_
11331 West Chinden Blvd.Bullding 8, Suite 201-A
PO Box 83120
Boi-se, Idaho 83120-0074
Lisa Nordstrom, Esg.Idaho Power Company
Post Office Box 10Boise, rdaho 83707-0070
tiEa Young
Idaho Sierra Cl_ub
503 W. Frankl-in StreetBoise, Idaho 83702
Abigail R. Germaine, Esq.Deputy City Attorney
Boise Clty Attorney's Office105 North Capitol Blvd.
PO Box 500Boise, Idaho 83701-0500
HOLLAND & HART LLPAustin Rueschhoff, Esq.6380 S. Fiddlers Green Circl_eSuite 500
Greenwood Vi11age, CO 80111
Russell Schiermeier
29393 Davis RoadBruneau, Idaho 83604
APPEARANCES
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
INDEX
WTTNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Don Kemper
( Public)Statement 1
Dal-e Hooley
( Public)Statement 10
Jul-ie Sheen
( Public )
Statement L6
Darek Jentzsch
( Public)Statement 19
Richard Eeuerborn
( Public)Statement 22
James Van Dinter
( Public)Statement 25
Kevln King
( Public)Statement 30
Adam Young
( Public)Statement 32
Aimee Chri_stensen
( Public )
Statement 4t
Duane Grant
( Public)Statement 44
Davld Havel1
( Public )
Statement 53
Nick Easterday
( Public)Statement 61
Bruce Lampman
( Public)Statement 64
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198
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BOISE, IDAHO,TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13,2020, 6:00 P. M
YOU, everyone, for
place for a pubIlc
referred to as in
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
your patience.
Good evening. Thank
This is the time and
No. IPC-E-20-26, also
The public
tonight will_ be
case. The
of fdaho Power Company'S
application for authority to modify Schedule B4's
metering requirement and to grandfather existing
customers with two meters.
The purpose of this hearing is to take
testimony from members of the public in reference to
rdaho Power's case. My name is Kristine Raper. r'm the
chair of tonight's proceeding. commissioner paul
Kjellander and commissi-oner Eric Anderson are arso
Commlssioners
hearing in
the matter
underlying record
wil-l- ultimat.ely review the facts and
Case
1n this
present for tonight's public hearing.
testimony that is taken and transcribed
added to the
evidence in the record to make its final decisions.
As an lnitial_ matter, Iet's document
purposes of the record the parties present and their
counsel-. we can begin with staff's representation
through its Deputy Attorney General.
MR. JEWELL: Thank you, Commissioner
for
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
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Raper. My name is Edward Jewell, Deputy Attorney
General.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you, Mr
Jewei-l-, and on to the Company. Is Ms.
phone? So I'm going to give you all an
order to unmute yourself, please press
MS. NORDSTROM: This is
Lisa, and
frrigation
press star
Russell Schiermeier is a party
is not an attorfley, he won't be
this evening, but as a party to
Schiermeier on the line?
MR. SCHIERMEIER:
Schj-ermeier, yes.
Nordstrom on the
indication, in
star six.
Lisa Nordstrom and
for
Please
Conservation
I am lead counsel for Idaho
several- representatives on
Power Company and we have
the line toniqht, a1so, to
l-isten to the testimony that is presented.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, thank YOU,
Idaho
League, Mr
is Eric O1sen, the representative
Pumpers Association, on the l_ine?
six in order to unmute yourself.
Okay, we'11 move on to Idaho
. Ben Otto. Idaho Sierra Cl-ub?
MS. YOUNG: Hi, this is Lisa young,
Director of Idaho Sierra Club.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you, Ms. young.
to the case. Because he
abl-e to ask any questions
the case, is Mr.
This is Russel-lo25
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208.890. s198
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COMMISSIONER RAPER: There we go, thank
you.
MR. SCH.IERMEIER: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: rs Ms. Abigail
Germaine with the city of Boi-se on the line? And the
final party to the case is Mi-cron Technology represented
by Holland & Hart.
MR. RUESCHHOFF: Good evening, this j_s
Austin Rueschhoff on behalf of Micron. r'm just here to
listen this evenlng.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, thank you.
There are a lot of parties to this case. Normally we
have an opportunj-ty after testimony by the public for the
parties to ask questions of the public member who is
testifying. Are there any of the parties who have
identified themselves for the record that intend to ask
questions of any of the public testifiers tonight? And I
do that to streamline things. r'm happy to go through
the list of partj-es for every person who testifies, but
sometimes that gets a bi-t clunky when oftentimes the
parties to the case do not have any intent to ask
questions.
MR. TOMINAGA: Can I interrupt? This is
Lynn Tominaga. r am the Executive Director for the rdaho
rrrj-gation Pumpers and ilm onl-ine or ilm here to listeno25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198
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this evening.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Mr. Tominaga, can you
spell your last name for the record, please?
MR. TOMINAGA: Sure, it's T-o-m-i-n-a-g-a.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you. Okay, I
didn't hear any party that intends to ask questions. rf
anyone feels like that's a violation of their due
process, feel free to as a party, if you're a party to
the case, to jump in by utirizing the star six feature to
unmute your telephone; otherwise, I'm going to ask the
commissioners if there are any questions of any of the
members of the public who testify and we'lr move on from
there.
f don't want anyone to feel like they
don't have an opportunity, but we don't need it to be any
more clunky than it already is trying to do this in a
virtua] fashion, so we're having a few issues this
evening with that star six feature and I think it's
touchy on the listener's end of the phone, so on our end,
we can see when you mute and unmute yourself and i_t's
dupricating efforts, so if we fair to recognize somebody
when they're trying to speak, try again and I'm going to
Iet you feel- free to interrupt me this evening. okay, so
the procedure
AUDIENCE: Oh, scrry, can you hear me? AmI25
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CSB REPORTTNG
208.890.5198 5
f unmuted?
COMMISSIONER RAPER: you are unmuted. Can
f get your who is it that's speaking?
AUDIENCE: Yes, this is David Have11 and
Aaron Page. we're with Agripower sol_ar, whj-ch is a solar
installer for i-rrigation customers.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Are you a party to
the case?
AUDIENCE: We are not a party to the
CASC.
COMM]SSIONER RAPER:
an opportunity at a given point this
if that's what you wish to do.
you ldentifying yourself. We
phone to identify themsefves.
evenl-ng
We don't
don't need everyone
We're just looking
Okay;SO you'11 have
to testify
I appreciate
on the
for
parties to the case to know who it was that was here and
l-istening and who wasn't, so we'11 get moving through the
other procedures now and if you all wish to testify, then
you will be provided that opportunity. Thank you.
So the procedures and parameters for
tonight's hearing, when we call your namer w€ have a list
of only four individuals who gave us their names in
advance, we'11 call those names. we wil-1 unmute your
phone on our end, so don't use star six for that, which
wifl- al-low you to testify. you will be sworn in, as yout25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890. s198
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woul-d in any other official courtroom proceeding. r'l_l-
ask you to identify yourself for the record, whi_ch will
lncl-ude your name, spelling of your rast namer lour
resident address, and whether you are a Schedul_e g4
customer of Idaho power Company.
When you've completed your statement,
attorneys for the parties wourd normally be provided an
opportunity to ask you questions. At this point they've
indicated they won't have any. They can jump in, then,
if they wish. rt shouldn't that prospect shouldn't
discourage anyone from testifying. The attorneys rarely
ask any questions and it is not their intent to
intimidate anyone from testifying tonight.
We do use a court reporter for these
hearings. Tonight.
official record.
looking at my
first witness
Kemper on the
Unless
we have Connie Bucy creating an
I have missed anything, I'm
for that, then we wil_1 go to our
listed as Don Kemper. Is Don
Don Kemper.
Kemper, do you
colleagues
who f have
l- ine ?
AUDIENCE:Yes, this is
COMMTSSIONER RAPER:
stil-1 wish to testlfy?
AUDIENCE: yes, f do.
Mr
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 1 KEMPER
Publ-ic
appearing as
was exami-ned
DON KEMPER,
a public witness, having been duly sworn,
and testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Coul_d you please say
your name, spelling
THE
your last name for the record?
WITNESS: Don Kemper,K-e-m-p-e-r.
your address,COMMfSSIONER RAPER: And
sir?
THE WfTNESS: 7827 Edgecliff Terrace,
Boise, Idaho.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: And are you an Idaho
Power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WfTNESS: f am an Idaho power Company
customer, not a Schedule B4 customer.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, thank you. Can
you please proceed with your testimony?
THE WITNESS: Yes. As a volunteer with
the citizens cl-imate Lobby, r have been making a deep
study of clj-mate simulators, and what the simulators make
clear is that our only hope to avoid some pretty terrible
cl-1mate consequences starts with keeping as much coal 1n
the ground as we possibly can, so the current schedule 84
incentives for irrigators contribute to that hope. by
helping us to end rdaho power Company's reliance on coal,I 25
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CSB REPORTING
248 .890.5198 U KEMPER
Public
so while think that carbon dioxide doesn't weigh
much, the
of CO2 in
you
Ji-m
as we can.
sol-ar irrigation
l-ast year, and at
now, at
of the
that rate,
irrigators
sol-ar by the
it's a huge
connected to
end of 2023,
rate, dt that rate,
Idaho Power will- have
2078. We need to end those emissions as soon
So here's my polnt: Under Schedule 94,
Bridger plant emitted over L2 miflion tons
grew over 500 percent since January of
that rate, even though it's not many
half
added and that's important for
three reasons.
One, irrigation makes 2't percent
Power's July power bill_s, and July is the month
greatest peak l_oad hours. No. 2, maximum solar
of Idaho
with the
output
the same time as these largest peakoccurs in July at
l-oads; and No. 3,three out of four peak l_oad hours occur
when the sun j-s shining brightlyr So r have understood
that the Commj-ssion is truly committed to, what you ca1l,
a glidepath toward a fow carbon future and |m saying
that ending Schedule 84 would take you off that
glidepath.
T have two requests for the Commj_ssion.
First is to please ask the Staff and rdaho power to
provide an analysis of how many tons of co2 emissions
could be ended if hal_f of Idaho irrigators fullyt25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890.5198 9 KEMPER
PubIic
implemented solar,' and second, I would
with the current Schedule 84, at. least
on coal has ended.
ask that you stick
until the reli-ance
Without the uncertainty -- without the
certainty of incentives, the rate of transition to solar
will- drastically drop and the coal emissions will-
continue.
I'd be happy to stand for questions.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank your
Mr. Kemper. Are there any questions from the
Commissioners? Hearing none, Mr. Kemper, I'm going to
make a request of you. you are either incredibly
well-spoken or you had something prepared i-n advance in
order to hit your points. you were a tad staticky. rf
you have those prepared remarks, would you be willing to
submit those to the commission so that we can incfude
those as part of the record and it would be helpful for
that she gets theour court reporter
testimony down as
to make sure
it was glven?
THE WTTNESS:Yes, I'd
RAPER: So
be happy to.
COMMISSIONER our Commission
secretary's email, tf you would email those to her, is
secretaryGpuc. idaho. gov.
THE WITNESS: Thank you very much.25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198 HOOLEY
PubIic
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you very much,
sl_r.
(The witness l_eft the stand. )
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We will- move on to
the next person on our l-ist who is Dal-e Hooley. rs Dale
Hooley on the l-ine?
AUDIENCE: Yes, I'm here.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Sir, do you stil1
wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes, I woul_d l_ike to testlfy.
DALE HOOLEY,
appearing as a public witness, havi-ng been first duly
sworn, testif ied as f ol_lows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Could you
name, spelling your l_ast name for the record,
1s Dale
state your
please ?
Hooley. TheTHE WITNESS: My name
last name j-s H-o-o-1-e-y.
COMMISSTONER RAPER:
address, sir.
Hammett, Idaho, 83627.
Thank you, and your
THE WITNESS: 26196 Indlan Cove Lane,
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you. Are you
an Idaho Power Schedule 84 customer?o 25
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208.890.5198 HOOLEY
Public
THE WITNESS: Yes, f am.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, thanks. please
proceed with your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Okay, if you don't mind,
I'l-l just read my comments.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: That wou]d be fine.
rf r can just ask you in advance, oftentimes when people
read, they read very qulckly, which makes it very hard on
our court reporter.
just pace
yourself and
same that I
wonderful.
yours the
asked Mr. Kemper to, that would be
THE Wf TNESS: I don't mind at al_l. I'l_I
do that.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Terrific. pl_ease go
ahead.
THE WITNESS: I'l_1 give you a littl_e
information about myself and then r want to comment on
the l0-year grandfathering issue, and then I want to
comment on the single meter issue and then r'11_ just add
a few more commentsr so my name is Dale Hooley. I grew
up farming with my father and became a sole proprj_etor in
1-974. T grow peppermint, alfalfa and wheat. My wife
THE WITNESS: Okay.
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
then if you don't mj-nd
If you'11
submitting
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208.890. s198 HOOLEY
Public
Diana and r live in rndian cove, which is halfway between
Hammett and Bruneau in Owyhee County.
My total operatj_on is around 1,000 acres.
A large part of our operatj-on is a 600-acre farm on top
of the butte adjoining our land. we calr- it the Top
Farm. The Top Farm is 500 feet in elevation above the
Snake River. The electrical cost of pumping irrigation
to this farm is its largest expense.
This year we invested in a two-meter, 100
kilowatt sol-ar station that was constructed by Agrisolar
Power. rt was connected to the rdaho power grid on
September 15th of this year.
Is 10 years adequate? I say definitely
not. The commission has authorized, 25 years. r don't
know of a farmer who buirds infrastructure on the basis
of a 1O-year life span. our sor-ar station was designed
for a 25-year fife span. we paid more for sol_ar paners
which have a 2S-year guarantee.
On the single metering
Our sol-ar station is a
issue, I would say
definitely no.two-meter station.
We woul-d not convert it
statlon is l-ocated on a
Top Farm. The pumping
on the Snake River and
approximately two mll_es
to a single meter. The solar
non-irrigated pivot corner of the
station for this farm is located
on BLM ground. This is
distance from the sol_ar stationt25
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208.890. s198
HOOLEY
PubIic
and down from the butte. Having the availabiJ-ity to
station to ouraggregate the energy from the solar
pumping station on the Snake River is paramount.
The cost to converting to a single meter
is irrelevant. The issue is Idaho power wants to change
the rules. I chose to install_ a sofar station with the
understanding that the energy from the solar station
would be aggregated to my pumping station i_n a direct
relationship, one kilowatt-hour into the grid, one
kilowatt-hour out of the grid to our pumps.
We are happy to pay the demand charge for
this arrangement, and as an aside, I might add that this
farm consumes about 1.7 mill-ion kilowatt-hours per season
and I'm hoping that our solar station will- produce about
230,000 kil-owatt-hours, so it's not l_ike it's wiping out
my power bill at al-I.
Havlng a single meter may introduce
instability to investing in so1ar. How does one
determine the value of the energy in the future? How
will it be determined? It could be like having enough
blind confidence to buil-d a house and al-]ow the bank to
determine the mortgage
value of housing became
I have a
Power. I would not be
payment in the future when the
l-ess murky.
good
here
relationship with Idaho
without the constantI25
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208 .890.5198 HOOLEY
PubIic
electricar energy rdaho power provides us. our local
Idaho Power representatives take good care of us.
I have participated in Idaho power's peak
Rewards Program since its inception. I think it's a
great way to conserve energy when the electrj-cal_ l_oad is
high and irrigation efficiency is fow. r think producing
energy during this period can be synergistic. when the
summer sun is blazing, our solar station wlll- be at its
best - rt can help shore up electrica.l- Ioad, stabilize
vortage on our feeder line and produce high value energy.
I'm excited that the cost of producing
sol-ar energy has become economically feasible. rt is a
way to ensure
builds toward
grandchildren.
the viability of our Top Farm. It also
a clean energy future for our
As a footnote, whlch I wi_Il type up, I am
a member of the rdaho Power pumpers Association. r do
not agree with the position they have taken on
farm-produced sol_ar energy. I'm wondering how wel-l- I,m
being represented to the puc. r am one of three farmers
in Owyhee County that produces solar energy. To my
knowledge, no representative from rdaho power pumpers
Associati-on has contacted us for our side of the story
and that ,concl-udes my comments. Thank you.
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CSB REPORT]NG
208.890.s198 HOOLEY
Publ-ic
Mr. Hooley. Are there
Seei-ng none, Lf you, Mr
prepared the prepared
secretaryGpuc. idaho. govr
testimony.
is Lisa
questions from the Commissioners?
Hooley, wil_1 submit those
statement to
that wou]d be terrific.
THE WITNESS: I will.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you for your
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
(The witness l_eft the stand.)
COMMISSIONER RAPER: The next on our l_1st
Hecht and Ms. Hecht notified us in advance that
she wished to testify. The
identified is not coming up
telephone number that she
our system, so Lisa Hecht, tf
you are on the phone, utilj_ze
yourself from your end.
star six in order to unmute
Okay, we will move on. The l-ast person
that provided us information in advance of the hearing
that she wished to testify was Jul_ie sheen. rs Jul-ie
Sheen on the l-ine?
AUDfENCE: yes, f'm on the llne.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Do you still_ wish to
testify?
AUDIENCE: yes.
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 SHEEN
PubIic
JULIE SHEEN,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif i_ed as f ollows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If you'11 state your
name, spelling your l_ast name for the record.
THE WITNESS: Julie Sheen, S-h_e_e_n.
COMMfSSIONER RAPER: And your address?
THE WITNESS: L41 Ellsworth Road,
PocateIlo, Idaho.
COMMfSSIONER RAPER: And Ms. Sheen, are
you an Idaho power Schedule g4 customer?
THE WITNESS: f am not.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Okay, please go ahead
and provide your testimony for the record.
WfTNESS: Okay, Idaho power should not be
changlng the exlsting and successful program of net
metering for farmers and ranchers. r am a farmer in
southeast rdaho and while we do not have a solar system
rlght now, we would r-ike to put one in in the near
future. Renewable energy rike sol_ar power is the future.
rt's definitery the future for farmers and ranchers for
whom it will help cut costs tremendously.
Since Idaho is a rural_ state and is made
up of farmers, ranchers and their families, itrs veryI25
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CSB REPORTTNG
208.890.5198 SHEEN
Publ-ic
fool-ish and unpopular for rdaho power to stand in the way
of energy independence for farmers in our state. whil_e
many farmers want to instalf solar systems, they know
that solar is a long-term investment. By creating
uncertainty in the marketprace, rdaho power wil_r make it
nearly i-mpossibre for any farmer to make the financial_
decision to invest in sol-ar. rdaho power needs to
establish new and fair export rates before closing the
window on its current program.
Wh1le Idaho power's
100 percent
that energy
of Idaho,
sense that
not just big
Idaho Power
util-ities.
renewable energy is
independence remains
spoken commitment to
valuable, it is important
an option for the people
ft simply doesn't make
percent renewables whil_e simultaneously
goal of 100
chiJ-ling solar
j-nvestment. Solar boosts the local_ economy as
good-paying solar-rer-ated jobs enter the state. As
COVID-19 has shown us, locaf economi_es survive
uncertainty best when they are diverse. sorar on farms
bring jobs to rural areas where they are desperately
needed.
Finally, Idaho power has intentionally
made this comment period too short and in the autumn when
farmers are extremely busy with the harvest and may not
have ti-me to comment. rdaho power needs to extend the
has this stated
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 SHBEN
PubIic
public comment period past
COMMISSTONER
conclude your testimony?
THE WTTNESS:
COMMISSIONER
the fall- harvest season.
RAPER: Ms. Sheen, does that
RAPER: Thank you very much.
none, thatAny questions from
concludes our list of identj-fied callers for the evening.
(The witness left the stand. )
COMMfSSIONER RAPER: As I understand it,
we have a couple dozen calfers on the line, knowing that
some of those are 1awyers and some of those are
representatives of the parties to the case. The most
efficient way for us to handre this is my technical_
assistants, pluraI this evening, wilf cal_l_ out the l-ast
four digits of your telephone number and we wirr unmute
you from our end, so don't mess with the star six button
or 1t wil-1 complicate matters.
Adam Rush, our public information offJ_cer,
wil-l- identif y the last f our digits of a calrer's number
and ask you if you wish to testify. rf you don't, that's
okay. Just let us
we wifl move on to
MR.
endi-ng in 4182, No . 4182,
AUDTENCE:
Yes.
the Commissioners? Hearing
know you're calling
the next cal_ler-
RUSH: Caller with
to l-isten in and
the phone number
do you wish to testify?
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CSB REPORTTNG
208.890.5198 JENTZSCH
Public
DAREK JENTZSCH,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as fol-l_ows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
your name, spelling your last name
please.
spelled J-e-n-t-z-s-c-h.
COMM]SS]ONER
If you cou1d state
for the record,
RAPER: Okay,
frm not sure what kind of a
If you could get on or
end it's oD, but we,ll_
off
THE WfTNESS: Darek Jentzsch and that is
sir, you are a
1itt1e staticky on your end.
receiver that you're using.
speaker, Irm not sure which
currently have
program yet.
continue to try and move forward with it as is. My court
reporter is having a bit of trouble getting the
information rlght now because of the static on our end.
Are you an Idaho power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WITNESS: yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, please provj_de
your testimony.
THE WITNESS: So my name is Darek
Jentzsch. r'm the general manager of JK Earms. we farm
about 20,000 acres in southern Idaho We do not
the net metering
investigating
any solar sites up on
We have been seriouslya25
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CSB REPORT]NG
208 .8 90 . 5198 JENTZSCH
Publ_ic
putting some solar
yet done so due to
metering program.
We al-so have several
interested in the program. We feel_
a long enough time frame to recoup
investment. The exit strategy for
really deemed not existent by
sites in oursel-ves, but we have not
the uncertainty surrounding the net
landlords that are
that 10 years is not
the cost of such an
such an investment was
and thereforer w€
was too high for
woul-d not be
was more
deemed that the risk for the
such a large amount of money and that
our group
investment
WC
able to put up solar panels until_ there
certainty surrounding
I have
the net metering program.
al-so not been abl-e to recommend in
faith to any of our
Associ-ati-on
landlords that they
what the Trrigation
deep
go down this
Pumpers
well-
good
road
pumpers
Power's
elther. Contrary to
an
saysr ds one of the largest
southern Idaho, w€ are not in favor of fdaho
proposal. We own 1 ,000 acres of deep well
irrigated land and we rent another 4,000 acres of deep
we11s.
We believe there's a large beneficial_
economic impact to people spending federal subsidies in
our state. we al-so believe that this is a long-term
investment that wirl contribute to profitable and
sustai-nable agriculture. rdaho power has said that theyo25
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PubIic
CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
have a goal to move
believe that solar
program are a wj-n-win
the environment, and
to 100 percent renewable energy. We
net meteringsites installed under the
for the farmer, the local economy,
Idaho Power.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Thank you, sir, Does
that conclude your testimony?
THE WITNESS: yes, it does.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you very much.
rf you have your testimony written d.own and could submit
that through the emai-l that f've been providing, the
secretaryGpuc.idaho.gov, that wourd be very he1pfu]. rf
you don't, it's okay. we'll- do the best we can with the
technol-ogy that we're working with. we appreciate your
testimony tonight.
THE V0ITNESS: Okay, yeah, I 'll_ submit
that.
ending in 4001,
testify?
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Thank you.
(The witness left the stand. )
MR. RUSH: Caller with the phone number
number ending in 4001, do you wish to
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, we'Il_ move to
the next caller.
MR. RUSH: Call_er wi-th the number ending
in 6404, carler with the number ending 1n 6404, do youo25
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208.890.5198 FEUERBORN
Public
wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes, I do
RICHARD FEUERBORN,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testifled as follows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If you cou1d please
state your name,
record.
spelling your last name for the
THE WITNESS: Richard Feuerborn and that's
spelled E-e-u-e-r-b-o-r-n.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your resident
address, sir?
THE WITNESS: 444 Skyline Drive in
Pocatello.
COMMTSSIONER
Power Schedul_e 84 customer?
THE WITNESS:
farm products and everything
interest in this and al_so as
RAPER: Are you an Idaho
I am not. As a consumer of
I eat, I think I have an
a person who
into the future with the cl-imate changes
on and the condition of the need for this
consuming the fossif fuels, I wou1d 1ike
COMMISSIONER RAPER: WeI1,
plans to live
that are going
planet to quit
to testify.
then, we are25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .8 90. s198 FEUERBORN
Publ-ic
interested in getting your testimony on the record.
Please proceed with your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Okay, thank you very much
for this opportuni-ty. r think that sol-ar and other
renewable energy sources are the future of not only this
country but the planet and certainly of this state. we
need to encourage r would like to see rdaho power and
the PUC encourage the expansion of non-fossir fuel energy
sources and specifically so1ar.
I think the history of solar that we have
today is very limited. r think we just have cut the tip
of the iceberg, so to speak, and we need to stay on a
steady course to see how this prays out and encourage
rapld and extensive expansion of sofar energy in the
state of rdaho. rdaho can be a leader in solar energy,
particularly where it pertains to farming communities.
we need to see how this works in being abl_e to transmit
this power back into the grid and r know that rdaho power
is constantly concerned about that sort of thing and this
is a very real- opportunity to work on those ki-nds of
projects in order to bet.ter not only rdaho but the entire
country.
I think we have to plan for the possible
crimate changes that might reduce the amount of water we
have even in this water shed that feeds this state and so25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.51_98
FEUERBORN
PubIic
solar and wind are a couple of methods that we can
compensate for any potential- loss, and in the meantlme
the fact that we might in the remote possibility that
sometime in the distant future we would overbuild the
solar, it just means that we might use l-ess of the water,
and the other thing that I'd like Idaho Power and the PUC
to consider is the ongoj.ng rapid development of battery
improvements so that we can actually store and use the
power that we might be generating with batteries without
the need to rely on firing up coal-flred or gas-fired
power plants. Thank you. That's the end of my
testimony.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you for your
participation this evening.
(The witness l-eft the stand.)
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We'11 move to the
next person on the l-ine.
MR. RUSH: Caller with the phone number
ending in 1 4BB, caller with the phone number ending in
7 4BB, do you wish to testify?
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, we'11 move on
to the next person.
MR. RUSH: Cal-l-er with the phone number
testify?ending in 1904, 1904, do you wish to
COMMISSTONER RAPER:Hearing nothing basedo25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 VAN D]NTER
Public
on those four digitsr w€ wirl move on to the next
telephone number.
MR. RUSH : Call-er with
ending in 7508, cal1er with the phone
7508, do you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: f don't wish
you.
the phone number
number ending in
to testify. Thank
MR. RUSH: Thank you.
COMM]SS]ONER RAPER:
in and listening. We'll move on to
Thank you for calting
the next person.
MR. RUSH: Cal1er with the phone number
number ending inphoneending in 4074, caIler wlth the
401,4, do you wish to testify?
Cal-1er with the phone number
B2BB,
wish
ending in
82BB, do you
to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes, f do.
JAMES VAN DTNTER,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as foll-ows:
COMMfSSfONER RAPER: Could you state your
name, spelling your last name for the record, please?
THE WITNESS: My name 1s James Van Dj-nter,
call-er with the phone number ending in
o 25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. 5198
VAN DINTER
Public
l-ast name V-a-n D-i-n-t-e-r.
s1r.
solar customer.
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
Pl-ease proceed with your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Members
would l-ike to point out to you that
to modify the
the system.
Idaho Power
It was pointed
directed Idaho Power to do a
of solar woul-d be. That was
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your address,
THE WITNESS: l20BB West T j_dewater, a1l-
one word, Drive, Boise, Idaho, 83713.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you, and are
you an Idaho Power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WITNESS: No, I'm not. I,m a home
attempt by
provj-ders
spent last
bu11ding.
seriously
of sol-ar into
March in the meeting room over in the ol-d Hp
Over 500 of us came to testify and question
why Idaho Power was doing this.
out then that you had
study to verify what
the second time that
Okay, thank you.
of the Commissj-on, I
this is the second
entrance of private
If you rememberr w€
impact
you
to date,tol-d ldaho Power to do that and to my knowledge,
Idaho Power has failed to do that.
The attempts to change the
of power,power, one of the largest users
large users of
our irrigationt25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198 VAN DTNTER
PubIic
communi-ty, is
have the right
homegrown
that each
farms, for
addition to
our homes, for
the ability of
seriousl-y questionable. Each f armer shoul_d
to control 1ts own power bill_
does not
with
energy. Why Idaho power recognize
of us that are purchasing solar systems for our
providing an
bring
our business are
Idaho Power to
the home
rates that
they get.
electricity to the Idaho community.
Second step is just like with
rate, Idaho power is attempting to change the
they're willing
Relative to us
to pay people for energy that
homeowners is we never get
our power, because Idaho power gives us I
any money for
credit for what
we generate over what we use and, therefore, we never see
any money and if we do generate more energy in a year
than we user we get a credit for it. we never see a
single penny, so f'm not sure why they,re going after
this rate.
When we take a look at what is needed for
irrigators to do this, the man who testified that he used
over a mill-ion kilowatts per year, his system generates
250,000 kilowatts, is a perfect example of the illogic of
this proposal on the part of rdaho power. rf you take a
look at the fact that in 2079, irrigation road in Jury
was 631 kilowatt-hours, solar generation was 2.47. This
1s a very small population of the irrigation users andI25
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CSB REPORTING
208 .890.5198 VAN DINTER
Public
even at the rate of 500 percent increase, it wilr_ be wer-r_
over the Iinaudibre] if every single person wour_d
establish a solar system.
The other part fdaho power is most likely
Iinaudibfe] homeowners their attempt to rimit how long
that it wifr keep the present rate and the grandfather
crause is much ress than what it takes to break even on
these sol-ar systems. 10 years is a joke. They,re
insulting us. r hope you feel the same way with this
attempt to l-imit how long you can actually use your
system, how long you get a return on your i_nvestment;
therefore, we would ask that No. r, you go back to rdaho
Power and before you even consider this proposal, you
remind them of the promise, of the direction you gave
them back in April to provide a study and when and if
they ever complete that study, you'11 take a rook at
another proposal.
No. 2, we ask that
careful-ly and make sure we have a
solar power
homeowners
going to pay us during
unique system of how to
customers provide. fdaho power
with a two-cent rate per kilowatt
times during
you take
fair credit
you l-ook
rate that
I inaudible ]
theyrre
the day and acertain
rate
provide them eight cents or
kilowatt of actual power, we
that. Even though we
seven to eight cents per
again receive nothing, so weI25
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208.890. s198 VAN DINTER
Public
ask that the farmers be treated fairly and that they be
given an opportunity to get a return on their investment
and we recognize that they're doing something that rdaho
Power had asked them for years.
I remember for a number of years fdaho
Power had a special
would allow them to
for irrigation farmers that
their irrigation pumps if
their area for power. What
program
turn off
there was an over-demand in
the farmers are doing is providing an al_ternate source of
energy that wil-l- not force rdaho power to turn off those
pumps during peak irrigation season, so r ask the pubric
utilities commi-ssion, No. 1-, insist that the study be
done before you even consider this proposal.
do make a mistakeNo. 2, if you of moving
forward with this proposal that you ask Staff toyour
hascareful-l-y review it, because Idaho power not been
honest with you. That's end of my testimony.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you, sir, for
your testimony. rf you have those statements prepared in
writing, if you could submit those through the commissj-on
secretary, her email is secretaryGpuc.idaho.gov. That
wdy, we make sure that our transcript is an accurate
refl-ection of your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Thank you.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Thank you.t 25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198 KING
Public
(The witness left the stand. )
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We'll move on to the
next caller.
MR. RUSH: Cal_ler with the number ending
in 0880, caI]er with the number ending in 0gg0, do you
wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes.
KEVIN KING,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as fol1ows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If could you state
your name, spelling
please.
your l-ast name for the record,
THE WITNESS: Kevin King, K-i-n-g.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your resj_dent
address ?
THE WITNESS: 894 East Ocelot Street in
Meridian.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If I can clarify,
your first name was Kevin King?
THE WITNESS: Correct
COMMfSSIONER RAPER: And could you repeat
your address, please?t 25
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208.890.5198 KING
Publ-ic
THE WITNESS: 894 East Ocelot Street in
percent.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you, and are
you an fdaho Power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WITNESS: f am not.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, please proceed
with your testlmony.
THE WITNESS: So f am Kevin King, the
board chalr of the rdaho crean Energy Association. we
are not intervenors on this particular docket and r want
to take the opportunity to -- well, one, r won't take
long because r think pretty much everyone before me has
rea11y hit the nail on the head here with some of the
issues with this particular docket and point out again,
reinforce the fact that the 1O-year term is a joke. rt's
a joke for residential soIar, let al-one comparing that to
commercial cr&r systems is not even fair, and then most
importantly, r just want to polnt out that this is
another opportunity where rdaho power is failing to
answer the question and request that's been asked of them
by the PUC for many years and that is for us, meaning all
of us, to make informed decisions, we need to have a
study.
We need to have some basis and backqround
other than oplnions that are more than educated guessesa25
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Publ-1c
CSB REPORTING
208.890.5198
to determine the
and I feel- this
posi-tion
shou]dn't
resource
to make
way we should be handling
docket is, again, putting
their best judgment call-
the situation,
everyone in the
when we
to focus on the
the basis 1s we
study
what
should be working off of. That'!s all- r really need to
say at this point.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We appreciate your
testimony, s j-r.
(The witness l_eft the stand.)
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We will_ move on to
the next caller.
MR. RUSH: Cal_l_er with the phone number
phone number ending in
be doing that.
value of solar
We need a
and find out
Ido
ending in 0885, caller with the
0885, do you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes,
ADAM YOUNG,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Could you state your
name, spelling your last name for the record, please?
THE WITNESS: Adam young, y-o-u-n-g.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Mr. young, what j_s25
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208 .890.5198 YOUNG
Public
your resj-dent address?
THE WITNESS: 1552 West Taber Road,
Blackfoot, 8322L .
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you. Are you
aN Idaho Power Schedule g4 customer?
THE WfTNESS: yes, I am.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: pl_ease proceed with
your testimony.
THE WITNESS: I would 1ike to express some
concerns that f have with Idaho power Companyrs
application to amend Schedul-e 84.My primary concerns
proposedare two-fol_d: One, Idaho power has
grandfathering customers who interconnect a generation
system to their system prior to December l, 2020, under
schedufe 84's present terms. Any customer generation
projects begun on or after that date wour_d be subject to
any changes that might be made to Schedule 84 in the
future- our farm invested a significant amount of
capitar to construct two sol-ar sites featuring L2 sol-ar
panels on dual-axis trackers. A significant amount of
ti-me was spent analyzing the proposed system, its cost,
its expected return, and its payback period.
We did not move forward with the proj ect
behinduntil we were very comfortable with the numbers
our analysi_s. fdaho power Company's proposal wou1d25
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208.890.s198 YOUNG
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render such financial analysis impossible for projects
starting on or after December 1st. rt is unfair to deny
grandfathering to such projects when no al-ternative plan
has been presented. Simply put, we wou]d never even
consider such an expensive project if we knew that rdaho
Power could potentially pu]1 the rug out from und.er us
with changes to the current compensati-on structure.
Two, irrigation customers shou1d be
granted the same 25-year grandfathering period as
residential cusLomers. our systems are built to last at
l-east that long and, as stated before, represent a
signif icant f inancial_ j-nvestment.
On a more general
customer generation
benefits
represents a
obviously us as irrigators or else we would not
have invested in our system, but it also benefits rdaho
Power and the Company's other customers. The
compensatj-on we receive for sol_ar generation is
dollar-for-dol1ar, a rate much lower than what the
Company can turn around and sell that energy for to
higher-paying residential and out-of-state customers.
This is supported by the fact that rdaho power 1s willing
to compensate its irrigation customers for turning off
their pumps during high-demand windows under its
irrigation Peak Rewards program and for upgrading
note, I bel_ieve that
win-win scenario. It
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208 .8 90 . 5198 YOUNG
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irrigation systems to require less power. rf my system
is contributing to rdaho power company's bottom ]i_ne,
then it cannot follow that r am increasing costs for
fellow customers.
I woul_d also l_ike to express two general
concerns dealing with the program that arenft directly
rel-ated to TPC-E-20-26. The first has to do with rdaho
Powerrs 100 kilowatt l-imit on customer generation systems
and the company's aggregation rures. The way these rures
are applied creates design inefficiencies that are often
purely arbitrary. For exampfe, we had to abandon one
potential solar site because we would not be all_owed to
aggregate that polnt of diversion wlth any of our other
pumps, even though all 0f our pumps are under the same
name and within about 10 miles of each other. There also
seems to be tittre reason for us to have been requj_red to
buil-d two solar generation sites within two miles of each
other instead of just one, simply to avoi-d exceeding the
l-00 kilowatt limit.
My second
Company' s responsiveness
interconnection process.
my family began farmJ-ng,
experiences Idaho Power.
concern has to do
in completing the
In the more than
we have had very
with the
60 years since
positive
inexpensive,They
consj-stent el-ectricity and have
have provided
always been verya25
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responsj-ve to outages or other problems. That is why I
have been surprised with the pushback and lack of
communication we received as our project neared
completion. The non-electrical portion of our systemrs
construction was completed in mid-Ju1y. We scanned and
emailed our desi-gn consent forms to the Idaho power
engi-neer on July 21st. We expected to pass final_
inspections in the next few days and have our system
energized in the first week of August. After three days
with no response from Idaho Power, our sol-ar system
buiJ-der, AgriPower Solar, tried to fol_l_ow up via emaiL
wlth the design engineer, who had also failed to respond
to the electrical contractor who had questions regarding
the project and specific placement of the new meter base.
On August 7th, we received an email from
the design engineer with official quotes for
j-nterconnecting our two systems. We immediately signed
those forms and delivered them with payment by hand to
Idaho Power's Pocatello office. Shortly afterward, we
were noticed by AgriPower Solar that they had spoken to
Idaho Powerrs design engineer and that we would be
required to level the road to one of the net meter bases
before it would pass j-nspection. ft's worth mentioning
that rdaho Power has been using this same road to access
our pump meter for decades.
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you
that
say].ng,
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Sir?
THE WITNESS: We leveled the road --
COMMISSIONER RApER: Would you could
do me two favors? One, slow down just a touch so
we can keep up with the content of what you're
and if you'11 also please forward your prepared
statement
hearing,
to our Commission secretary fotlowing the
that wou]-d be terrific to make sure our
transcript is an accurate refl_ection of
THE WITNESS: YeS,
have forwarded these remarks on to
forwarded them earlier today.
COMMTSS]ONER RAPER:
r'l-1
Terrific. Thank you
very much. Pl-ease go ahead. I apologize for the
interruption.
THE WITNESS: No, no problem; so we
l-eveled the road by August 13th and notified Agripower
Solar who notified fdaho Power. After waiting for a
week, the design engineer came out to the site in
question, inspected it, l_eft, and called Agripower Sol_ar
to notify them that our road was not satisfactory and did
not pass inspection. rn each of these communications,
rdaho Powerrs engineer blocked his telephone number and
dld not provi-de a way for us or Agripower sol-ar to tal_k
with hlm directly, so we were l_eft without any clear
the
your testimony.
slow down and I
secretary. I
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208 .890.5198
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direction on what work we needed to do to pass
inspection. They also failed to move forward wj_th our
second site, which had nothing keeping it from passing
inspection.
In order to resolve the issue and move
forward, I ca11ed the Idaho Power supervisor in charge of
our project.
wanted to do
I explained the
whatever needed
inspection, but that we were
j-ssues were causing a hang-up
also expressed how helpful it
issue and expressed that we
to be done to pass
confused about exactly what
for the design engineer. I
would be to tal-k with the
engineer in real- time to better understand and resolve
whatever j-ssues were pushing our interconnection back.
The supervisor agreed with me, apologized for the
miscommunication, and explained that we would need to
gravel portions of our road to pass inspectj-on.
At that point, we graveled nearly the
entire roadway and notified the Company. After more than
two weeks without any word from Idaho Power, w€ began to
feel that the Company was intentionally stonewalling us.
I once again talked to the Company's supervisor who came
off annoyed and condescending on our phone call. A few
days after September Bth's large windstorm, I called
agai-n to fol-l-ow up on the status of our project. I was
toId, of course, that it would be moved back as the25
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208.890.5198 YOUNG
Public
company first worked to restore power to other customers.
on september 29th, the day after the pubr-ic util-ities
Commission's public workshop, our
was finally completed and we began
our generation.
interconnection process
receiving credit for
I share this to demonstrate what I felt
was an intentional effort to stonewal-l- and push back
against our sol-ar project. communlcation from rdaho
Power seemed intentionally vague and the i_nterconnection
process seemed to be dragged out way longer than
necessary. This was not only a nuisance for us, it
represented between $3-5,000 in lost generation from the
beginning of August to the end of september. Thank you
for considering my comments and concerns.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you for your
testimony.
(The witness l-eft the stand.)
COMMISSfONER RAPER: We'l_l move on to the
next call-er.
MR. RUSH: Cal-l-er with the number endj_ng
in 9918, cal1er with the number ending i_n 9918, do you
wish to testlfy?
THE WITNESS: This is Don English, a
member of commission staff. r will not be testifying.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Thank you.I 25
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208.890.5198
in 7905,
you wish
behal-f of
MR. RUSH: Caffer with
call-er with the phone number
to testify?
AUDIENCE: No comments,
one of the parties.
the number ending
ending 1n 1906, do
just listening on
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you very much.
phone numberMR. RUSH: Cal-l-er with the
ending in 8587, caller with the number endj_ng in 8587, do
you wish to testify?
AUDfENCE: No, this is Li_sa from Sierra
Club. No, thank you.
COMMISS]ONER RAPER: ThanK you.
number ending
5661, do you
MR. RUSH: Caller with the
in 5661,
wish to
caller with the number ending in
testify?
AUDIENCE: No, I
MR. RUSH: Call-er
cal-l-er with the number
testify?
AUDIENCE: No. I am just here to listen.
Thank you.
do not.
with the number endJ_ng
ending in 4859, do youin 4859,
wish to
MR. RUSH: Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank
MR. RUSH: Caller with the
in 8619, caller with the number ending in
you.
number ending
8619, do youI25
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208.890.s198 CHRISTENSEN
Publ-ic
wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes, I do
AIMEE CHRISTENSEN,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as fo1lows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If you coul-d state
your name, spelling your l-ast name for the record.
THE WITNESS: Sure, Ry.name is Aimee
Christensen and my first name is spelled A-i-m-e-e and my
last name is spelled C-h-r-i-s-t-e-n-s-e-n.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your address?
THE WITNESS:Mailing address is PO Box
street address is 272
Sun Valley.
RAPER: Thank you.
Ms. Christensen, if you could sl_ow down just a tad as
Are you anyou're speaking, that would be terrific.
Idaho Power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WITNESS: I'm not. I'm an existing
residential solar net meteri_ng customer.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Please proceed with
your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Thank you. My testimony Ls
4089 in Ketchum,
Bitterroot Road,
Idaho. My
No. 3, in
COMMISSIONER
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208.890.s198 CHRTSTENSEN
Public
focused on supporting our farmers in rdaho to have the
maximum choice in order to increase their competitiveness
within our reglonal economies and our globaI economi-es --
Ms. Christensen,
our court reporter can
COMMISS]ONER RAPER:
so thatcould you please slow down
get everything that you're
we have it as part of the
and if you'11 also submit
saying? It's important that
underlying record in the case
the comments in writing to our
Commission secretary, that wou1d be terrific.
THE WITNESS: I I 11 sl_ow down. I haven't
written anything.
COMMISSf ONER RAPER: Oh, wel-l-, then you ' re
just very wel-1 spoken. please proceed.
THE WITNESS: Thank you. So I'm speaking
on beharf of rdaho farmers in order to support those who
have testified today and those who may not be able to
because of the time of year we,re in. I would l_ike to
support their maximum choice to increase their
competit j-veness
the last several
loca1 economies
g1oba1
focused
market, but, also,
on buil-ding more
there are two issues.
our commodity growers who
on the
years
and so
competitive they
and be able to tap
allows them to be more
f spent
resilient
are selling
are by
into solar
to g1oba1
reducing
now that
One,
markets,the more
their power costs
it is l-ower costt25
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208.890.5198 CHRISTENSEN
Publ-1c
competitive selling into globa1 markets as wel_l as the
fact that many who are sourcing our raw commodity are
looking for farmers to be more sustainabre in their
growing activities, so companies like General Mil1s,
Iinaudible] and others are seeking commodi_ties, barley
and other crops, that are more sustainably grown and so
it creates an opportunity for our farmers to be able to
access a premium and more markets and be more
competitive, so for our commodlty growers, it's i-mportant
for them to both be abfe to green their operations and
also to be more cost competitive.
For
growers, it can be
our 1ocal food
very expensive
greenhouses totheir need to have
season allows them to be able to
and regional food
in our c]imate and
extend their growing
sell into our l_ocal food
their cost and to powermarket and solar is way to reduce
their operations in a more cost-effective wdy, making it
so that our local and regional farmers can self their
products to us and be more resirient in the face of
things like covrD-19 where we saw our supply chain, our
food supply chain, Iinaudib]el so dramati-ca]Iy, so rdaho
wants to be more resilient 1n the face of threats, such
as clj-mate change, such as COVID.
We want to have more loca1 self-reliance.
Sol-ar is one way that our growers can be more25
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208.890.5198 GRANTPublic
self-reliant
I'm here
and our economy
to endorse and
more self-reliantr so
farmers who have
can be
j ust
farspoken
speak
SO
support
on this cal-l and those who were unabl_e to
Thank you very much.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Thank your
tonight.
Ms. Christensen, for your testimony.
(The witness left the stand. )
COMMISSIONER RAPER: I think that we have
just a few call-ers left on the 1ine, a few numbers that
we haven't checked, so we'11 run through those and see
where we're at.
in 0006,
wish to
name,
Grant.
MR. RUSH: Call_er with the number ending
cal-l-er with the number endj_ng i-n 0006, do you
testify?
AUDIENCE: yes, I do.
DUANE GRANT,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as foll-ows:
COMMfSSIONER RAPER: Could you state your
spelling your last name for the record, please?
THE WITNESS: Sure. My name is Duane
Last name is speJ-Ied G-r-a-n-t.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Mr. Grant, what is25
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208.890.51-98 GRANT
Public
THE WITNESS: My address is
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Pardon? I'm sorry.
THE WITNESS: My address is that's
fine. My address is 107 East 500 North, Rupert, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Usually people catch
on to that part of the proceeding. Are you an Idaho
Power Schedul-e 84 customer?
THE WITNESS: I am a pending Idaho power
Schedul-e 84 customer. I have got installations in
progress.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: Okay, please proceed
with your testimony.
THE WITNESS: Thank you and good evening,
Commissioners and Staff. Back in 1958, ily parents, Doug
and Clarice Grant, moved their three children from
central california to the desert homestead tract north of
Rupert, on the eastern
Idaho and built a smal1
side of the Magic Valley area of
home and planted
farmers
some crops and
they joined a community of
electricity to pump water
Idaho
from the Snake
using
Rj-ver aquifer
onto the fertil-e Idaho soil.
Over the succeeding
acres and crops have been added to
This month represents
father's 40 harvests
decades, children and
the original stake.
my 40th harvest. I've built on my
before and I'm delighted to report,25
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208.890. s198 GRANT
PubIic
very happy to report, that the next generation of rdaho
farmers in our family is well on thelr way towards 40
harvests of their own.
Today my family does busj_ness as Grant 4-D
Earms, LLC. we lrrigate crops running up and down the
Snake River plain running from southeast rdaho on into
eastern oregon. our operation produces nine varj_eties of
commercial potatoes, seed potatoes, sugar beets, onions,
and a number of other crops.
Our relatj-onship with Idaho power is and
always has been excellent. With over 16,000 horsepower
over 764 meters,
associ-ated cost has a
of instal-l-ed
managing the
direct and a
largest cost category, coming in bel_ow rent, 1abor, and
fertilizer and crop protection llne i-tems. our 20-year
usage history dating back to l.999 shows electricity cost
about 5
service in Idaho on
relationship and its
significant impact
Power costs are
on our bottom line.
perpetually our fourth
total annual_ farm saIes,
percent, which occurred
2O-year l-ow of 3.23
2071.
averagl_ng
with the
.6 percent of
high of 6.15
20L6, and the
2 0 -year
l-njust recently
percent that occurred back in
The cost
that 2)-year period, our
averages mask the story. During
per acre power cost calcul_ated
on a five-year rolling average has i-ncreased from $46.04I25
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208.890. s198 GRANTPublic
an acre to $84.24 per acre in 2019. That,s an g3 percent
increase over that 20-year period or 4.4 percent
averagely, and frankly, the percentage of sal_es expense
would have been even higher except that diligent
attention to a three-fold strategy of lowering power
usage, producl_ng ever higher yields, and growing higher
val-ue crops has succeeded in our keeping our power costs
in check in terms of percent of sales.
During this 20-year period, we've spent
large amounts of capital to implement numerous
initiatlves to reduce growth in per acre power costs.
Among those, we've converted from high pressure wheel
l1ne and hand fine systems to row pressure pivot systems.
we have revamped multiple pump stations to match pumped
water output more closely with
the efficiency of the systems.
frequency drives where feasibl_e reduce power usage.
we've enrolfed allLike other farmers,
eligible and practical pumps in rdaho power's peak
Rewards Program. we have stopped fall- irrigation of
ground until just before winter. We're currently
starting we started that a couple of weeks ago to
system needs, j_mproving
We've installed variable
to
avoid summer
evaporation.
systems on a
demand charges and to reduce water
We re-nozzle and and repackage
systematic basls to assure best
irrigation
availabl-e25
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water delivery efficiency, and we've developed a
proprietary soil moisture monitoring system that updates
to the cloud every 15 minutes from our potato, sugar
beet, and corn fields, enabling preci_se application of
the goldirocks amount of water or the just right amount
that the crop needs.
There's many other smaller steps that have
been taken to manage that power cost. Net metering is
now our latest investment in the never-ending battre to
manage cost. Improvements in solar technol_ogy coupled
with long-standing federal and state policies supporting
renewable energy have together today created a scenario
where sol-ar-based net metering meets the return on
investment threshold of a good business.
Our extensive analysis shows that net
metering under the current rules does not work on aIl
pumping systems. Our analysis shows that when a pumpj_ng
system is providing irrigation water to the traditional-
four-year rotation of potatoes, wheat, sugar beets, and
barley with their varied water demands, pumping from
about a 200-foot statlc water l-evel-, w€ will- only fu11y
capture the economic return of a sol_ar system if the
j-nstall-ed horsepower i_n an aggregated manner is 2OO
horsepower or larger.
Anythj-ng l-ess than that in our analysisI25
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208.890.5198 GRANTPublic
won't fu1Iy capture the economic val_ue, So when install_ed
on that 200 horsepower load., even carculating all of the
sol-ar benefits after the 25 percent marginal federa] tax
rate and the seven percent state tax rate, a 10-year
return, so if we were grandfathered in at 10 years, that
wou]d generate an interna] rate of return of just 3.2g
percent, but if al-lowed to earn in a grandfathered
manner, if you wil-l-, which were the rules that were in
place when we signed up to buil-d our sol-ar projects and
we run for a 25-year period, the 25-year rRR for klnd of
exactly the same pumping scenario moves to 14.21 percent.
That's the return that we signed up for, not the 3.2g.
Perhaps even more importantly, solar net
metering provldes the opportunity to soft fix a portion
of our kil-owatt-hour rate into the future. Given that
rdaho Power's cost for our per acre electricity use has
increased averagely at 4.4 percent over the past 20
years, the opportunity to even partlally manage the
increase is a key motivator for our investment in sorar.
Importantly, unlike when Idaho power or
other util-itles invest in lnfrastructurer we do not have
risk of recovering ourthethe ability to share
investment with other
get to sel_l the power
ratepayers or customers. We don't
that we generate to anyone and are
in fact required to give any unused power that our sol_ar25
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systems generate to Idaho power free of
We recover our investment
we continue to use
l-evef at which
about the next 25 years.
investment by netting the
charge.
only if we
el-ectricity in
we're currently
Only then can we
value of future
. Idaho Power and
recover our
f ail-ure, technology
black swans that can
cost patterns. Those
Of the
Power expects
as they have
continue
our pumps
usl-ng it
to farm, if
at the same
for
generati-on against future power bills
its customers do not bear the risk of potential business
changes, market changes or other
significantly alter power use or
risks are ours to bear.
164 Idaho Power meters that we're
responsible for, we've
economically suited for
identified only 42 sites that are
the current net metering program.
of thoser we directly own and are installing solar on 13
sites. Three long-term 1andlords are insta1ling on 11
1B economically viable
the landlords could not
additlonal sites. The remaj_ning
sites were not buil-t out because
get comfortable with the ambiguities and the uncertainty
that exists today with the rdaho power net metering
program today.
proj ects j-nto
Perhaps another way of bringing the soLar
context, it's helpful to l-ook at what Idaho
to earn on their large capital investments
detail-ed in their estimated system rateO25
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208.890. s198 GRANT
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impact due to large capital investments, a pubrication
that was published August 2nd, 2018, by the Company. In
that document, Idaho Power represented they expect to
increase revenue equal to averagely 1B percent of the
capital cost of a large project. Commissioners, by
comparison, even after subtracting the tax benefits that
accrue to sol-ar projects by reducing the cost of the
so"l-ar project by the tax benefit, we will receive in
avoided cost equivalent to increased revenue only g. T
percent annually. our investment in infrastructure to
feed power into the grid is a bargaln to the system by
comparison to what rdaho Power expects to receive for its
capital investment.
Lastly, Ird l_ike to request the .abillty to
continue to use the dual_ meeting system. In our case,
some of our systems wil_I be owned by fandlords and we
wil-l- be obligated to pay our landlords for the varue of
the el-ectricity generated by the solar systems that they
purchased. Moving to a single meter system simply
measuring the net consumption will- make our agreement
with our l-andlords that we entered into unworkable.
Furthermore, a single net meter wil_l_ make
monitoring pump pe.rformance and efficiency more difficult
as the energy consumptj_on of the pump system wil-l_ be
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208 .8 90 . 51_ 98
GRANT
Public
Commissioners, I hoped f 've establ_ished
that the Idaho Power net metering program is not a
freebie to participants, but it is in fact a useful tool
in mitigating the cost of electricity in specific
circumstances. r'd encourage the commission to match the
25-year grandfather provision that was enacted for
residentiar and commercial net metering residential
net metering participants. '
No. 2, to make the two-meter system at
least opti-ona1 for net meteri_ng participants going
forward. I encourage the Commission to enabl_e the
movement of sorar systems by the system owner without
voiding the grandfather provision. This would enabl_e
tenants who lease economically viabl-e pumping systems for
the normal fj-ve-year l-ease term to purchase and install_
sorar systems with the confidence that we can move and
reinstal-l those systems on a subsequent
status.voiding our grandfather
eliminate
properties
metering.
il1ogica1
Commi-ssion
Eourth, I'd l-ike to ask the
the requirement that meters be on
in order to aggregate the meters
As others have testified, that's
and not workable, and, 1ast1y, I'd
to please examine e1iminating the
farm without
Commission to
contiguous
for net
simply
ask the
100 kil-owatt
cap on net metering systems. This woul_d enable25
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208.890.5198 HAVELL
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install-ation of larger
systems without having
capricious 100 kilowatt
I thank
for your testimony
question. You are
have that prepared,
in 2142, sir, do you wish to
THE WITNESS:
and more economically viabl_e
to meet the illogical and
cap.
you for
testify?
Yes.
your time. I'l-l- take any
questions if you have them and I wil-I submit this in
writing.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you very much
was going to be my next
spoken, but if you didn't
and that
very well
then yourre better than mostr so if
our Commission secretary, thatyou coul-d submit that to
would be terrific.
THE WITNESS: I wil_l. Thank you.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you.
(The witness l-eft the stand.)
COMMISSfONER RAPER: We'11 move on to our
next caller.
MR. RUSH: Call_er with the number ending
DAVTD HAVELL,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Could you state your25
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208.890. s198 HAVELL
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name, spelling your fast name for the record, please?
THE WITNESS: Yes, my name is David
Havel-l-, H-a-v-e-1-l-.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your address,
slr?
THE WITNESS: My address is 3275 Gregson
Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84109.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: So I can presume that
you are not an Idaho Power Schedule 84 customer?
having spent
dry, but Do,
with your testimony.
words, but
attempt to
THE WITNESS:
enough time up
I am not.
I aspire to be. After
there, I aspire to be one one
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, please proceed
THE WITNESS: Yes, thank you, Kristine.
an e]ectrical
I
am with AgriPower Sol-ar and because I'm
engineer, f may find myself stumbling over these words
and if that's the case, r'd ask that Aaron page who is on
the cal-l with me to jump in and help me, save me from the
I have some prepared comments that I wil_l
del-iver intelligently, so I just
COMMISSIONER RAPER: SiT?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: ff you'11
just a minute, itrs a little staticky on your
stop for
end and sot25
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208 .8 90 . s19B HAVELL
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if you could sl-ow down just a touch, particurarly when
you're delivering the prepared portion of your comments,
then we'll be able to keep up on our end better.
THE WITNESS: Okay, hold on, l_et me switch
over. fs that any better?
COMMISSIONER RAPER: No. Do you want to
try again?
THE WITNESS: How about that, is that any
better?
COMMISSIONER RAPER: That i_s much better.
If you could, sorry, start over from the top. f won't
we don't need to swear you in and get all that again, but
just your initial- comments and then please proceed with
whatever testimony you would like to provide.
THE WITNESS: Sure, yeah, and don't
hesitate to chi-me in if ilm not coming through very well-.
ilm working here in utah, So it might be kind of a tough
time getting up there. r just wanted to start by saying
that -- welI, first of all, r'm wi-th Agripower sol-ar. we
are a sofar an instafl_er of sol-ar systems,
specifically built to be deslgned
irrigation customers, for farmers,
and targeted for
and
when we got together and kind of
together, the very first thing we
Idaho Power and begin a dialogue
three years ago
at this, put thislooked
did was to reach out to
with them so we could25
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understand what their position is on solar power and
their interest l-evel in seej-ng it go forward.
As the net metering people at Idaho power
know, we have a very good relationship with them. Werve
worked very carefully to meet everyone's request and to
do everything by the book so everything is clearly
outl-ined and all the requj-rements are clearly met. We
work reaIIy well- wlth them. We've had a great
relationship with them and every cofllmunication we've had
with them has been that there may be some concern on
their part about residential_ solar going forward, but
that for irrigation sakes, there was no concern. In
fact, they embrace the idea of irrigation solar
instal-l-ation, and we've had some customers make simil-ar
inquiries to Idaho Power and have received the same
response.
truthfully,
months to a
the att.itude
we reaI1y do
because it's
To echo someone else's comments earlier,
it feels a littfe bit in the l-ast several_
year there's been a little bit of a shift in
rural- farmersr so
I want to make.
I have three kind of high level poj_nts
Eirst is that. we are as an installer,
and level- of support from Idaho Power, but
view them and the utility as partners,
j-n the best interest of our customers, the
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208.890.5198 HAVELL
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we have a little bit different perspective, of course,
but we are not opposed to changes in the tariff
necessarily; however, it makes no sense to us to propose
changes without having a landing spot of what you're
going to change to, so with that, there's a couple of
points.
The most important or one of the most
important issues is the 10-year grandfathering term. As
Mr. Grant was explaining in much better words than r did,
in order for farmers to get an acceptabl-e rate of return
and make this work for them, they need more than 10
years. They're expensive. They're built to last 25
years, at least, and continue functioning well beyond
that. As you know, farmers don't they're much 1ike
everyone el-se, they don't want to j_nvest in systems and
equipment that wil-l last 50 years and provide no rate of
return, so we don't think rea11y
should
that there should be any
time limit. This
the very least, 25
shoul-d be that at
years to match
a minimum.
forever, but in
residential plan
program go on
the
Without a plan in place, nobody is going
to do this. It will effectively kill solar in the
irrigation's case until there is clarity. I don't know
if that's what rdaho Power wants, but that's exactly what
will happen. No plans means no more sol-ar. No one woul-dI25
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CSB REPORTING
208.890. s198
HAVELL
Public
also addressed that woul-d be real1y helpful is to remove
the arbitrary 100
limit has forced a
kilowatt limit for every meter. That
lot of I don't want to say jumping
do it in their right mind and we
try to get anyone to sign up and
what their going-forward plan is.
Another issue that
money which has gone right
clarity on thi-s and there's
through hoops, but a l-ot of work to try
crazy aggregation rul-es that Idaho Power
farmers can instal-f sites at pumps that
than what the sol-ar can produce and yet
at much larger pumps where the output is
kilowatts.
wouldnrt in good faith
do it without clarity on
I believe Mr. Grant
and utll-ize the
has so that
are much smal-fer
apply it to sj-tes
]imited to 100
rea11y
f ederal-
In addition, f want to address
briefly the USDA grant money. The USDA has
program for renewable energy projects. To
customers have received a total of $800,000
a
to the farmers.
date, our
in grant
If we have no
what the plan will be, those
away. The tax credits that
to sunset, obviously, but
in what's going to happen
concern and not understanding
grants obvj-ousl-y wiIl go
are sunsetting will continue
is uncertainty
will- take to
the longer there
the longer people
up and those tax credits and REAPsign
Idaho farmersr so we bel-ieve that that
grants are lost to
is a significant25
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208.890.5198 HAVELL
Publ-ic
amount of money to farmers and motlvation to continue to
do this.
Let's see, and a couple of technical
points because, like I said, I'm an engineer. I canrt
help myself. Our specific systems are designed to
provide 35 to 40 percent more energy during the peak
demand hours, peak consumption hours, for rdaho power and
they consume a tiny fraction of a rand area from other
systems of l-ess than a thj_rd of an acre for a 100
kilowatt instaIl. Now, if we put up 11000 sites, and for
some perspective, we've put up 4l so far in three years,
if we were put to put up 1,000 of those,
than one percent of Idaho power's total
we'd have less
capacj-ty, and the
outpacing thatpopulation growth in Idaho currently
demand by a long shotr so basically,
an extraordinarily small percent of
l-s
we're talking about
their capacity.
Even though Idaho power l_ikes to use
percent of growth i-n this market space, itrs really very
misl-eading and an unhelpful statistic and number to use
because it started off super, super smarr-. There were no
large scare solar irrigation systems until Agripower
sorar came in and started instal-ling them, So, you know,
10,000 percent of one kil_owatt is nothingr so we're
talking about a super insignificant number here.
And then 1astIy, the interesting thing25
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208.890.5198 HAVELL
Public
about farmers 1s that even if Lhey were to offset, build
a big enough sol-ar system to offset, 100 percent of their
energy consumption, they would sti_ll be paying demand
charges, and that makes sense. We understand that
therers a rot of long di-stance r-ines and transformers and
there's just a lot of equipment that needs to be
maintained and handled to understand that; however, we
be]ieve that what needs to be taken into consideration is
the significant revenue source for rdaho power. Even if
a farmer was paying zero percent for their energy, they
could stifl be paying tens of thousand dol_lars a month in
demand charges.
And, sorry, one l_ast thing, Kevj_n,
Mr. King, I think, spoke earl_ier about making a real
commitment to energy studies so that anything that rdaho
Power comes back with in their energy studies should be
done and long before any changes to the existing tariffs
are contemplated. rt makes J-itera1ly zero sense to
propose changes wi-thout any kind of actual hard numbers,
data driven, and plan to go forward, so r thank you for
your time and r wil-l email you my comments. Thank you.
COMMISSfONER RAPER: That wou.l_d be
terrific. Thank you very much for your testimony.
(The witness left the stand. )
MR. RUSH: Caller with the phone numbero25
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208 .8 90 . s19B
EASTERDAY
Public
just here
5115, caller with the phone number ending in
you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: No, I have nothing to say. I,m
to listen.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, thank you very
much.
MR. RUSH: Cal_l_er with the phone number
phone number ending inending 1n 6559, cal1er with the
6559, do you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: Yes,please.
NICK EASTERDAY,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testif ied as foll-ows:
ending in
5115, do
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
your name, spelling your l_ast name
please.
THE WITNESS: Nick
E-a-s -t-e-r-d-a-y.
COMMISS]ONER RAPER:
THE WITNESS: 211,4
Gooding, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
Power Schedule B4 customer?
If you could state
for the record,
Easterday,
And your address?
East 1850 South,
And are you an Idaho
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208.890.5198 EASTERDAY
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THE WfTNESS: f am not.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, if you will
please proceed with your testimony.
THE WITNESS: So I just started working
for sprout Energy, which is an rdaho-based solar company,
so r kind of just got thrown into ar-r- of this stuff with
rdaho Power, and the thing that is kind of shocking to me
that rrm surprised no one has mentioned is the fact that
there seems to be like a state-sponsored monopoly
interfering with, you know, trade and economic
competition, which kind of goes against the sherman
Antitrust Act of 1890 and, yeah, I mean, it makes me
wonder what's next that, you know, doesn't bode well with
fdaho Power.
I mean, ily concern is most of the dams in
fdaho are approaching 60 years. Most of them were
constructed with a service l-ife of 75 years, and based on
the 2078 rdaho infrastructure report card put together by
the southern rdaho section of American society of civil
Engineers, the dams in fdaho have a ,C'r rating, Iargely
due to rdaho Power not puttlng a whole l-ot of money into
their exi-sting infrastructure, and now it seems like
they're trying to squash, you know, the future of energy
in Idaho.
I grew up in southern Idaho and there are25
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208.890. s198 EASTERDAY
PubIic
two things that you can
l-ots of wind and lots of
rely on pretty much
sun. Even if it's
year-round:
20 degrees,
so muchit will be nice and sunny, so yeah, there I s
the deserts ofsunshine just pouring down on southern
Idaho, there's no reason why we shouldn't be taking
advantage of that and, you know, making living up to
all- of those, you know, Keep Idaho Green signs we see as
we drive down the roads, because, you know, renewabl-e
energy wil-l- help ensure that we have, 1ike, cl_ear skies
and can enjoy the beauty of Idaho. I mean, already, you
know, power is pretty green in ]daho, being mostly hydro,
but, you know, that also comes with its own cost,,
especially if you reaI1y like salmon, but, yeah, that's
kind of my two cents on it, that rdaho power should be
embracing any and arl options to produce power in rdaho,
especially with the amount of people that are moving to
Idaho because it's so awesome.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Okay, does that
concl-ude your testimony?
THE WITNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Thank you very much
for participating in the hearing.
(The witness left the stand. )
COMMISSIONER RAPER: We'11 move on. We
may have one or two more and we'l-l- see who is lef t to25
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208 .8 90 . 5198
LAMPMAN
Public
testify.
MR. RUSH : Call_er with the phone number
phone number ending inending
6042,
in 6042, caIler with the
do you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: No, thls is Abby Germaine
representing the City of Boise, just listening. Thank
you.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Terrific. Thank you,
Ms. Germaine , for getting
will move on to the flnal
MR. RUSH:
ending in 3014, caIler with the
3014, do you wish to testify?
AUDIENCE: YeS,
yourself on
call-er.
Caller with
phone
the record. V'Ie
the phone number
number ending in
I would.
BRUCE LAMPMAN,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as fol1ows:
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Would you
name, spelling your last name for the record,
THE WITNESS: Bruce Lampman,
L-a-m-p-m-a-n.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And your address?
THE WITNESS: 26724 Crane Fall_s Road in
state your
please ?
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208.890.5198 LAMPMAN
Publ-ic
Bruneau, Idaho.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: And, slr, are you an
Idaho Power Schedule 84 customer?
THE WfTNESS: Yes.
COMMISSIONER RAPER: Pl-ease proceed with
your testimony.
THE WITNESS: The biggest thing f see is
ilve been to several- rdaho power meetings where they tord
us that conserving power is the cheapest way that they
can meet demand. That's why they have the peak Rewards
Program and if anybody has been to any of the popul-ated
areas in southern Idaho, they're building houses and
businesses as fast as they can hammer and nail and it
l-ooks like there's going to be a non-stop j_ncrease in
power demand from the city population growth, which arso
they charge the higher rate than the irrigators, and it
would be j-nteresting to know how Idaho power plans to
meet that demand with green power that they arso l-ike to
advertise on thej-r newsl-etters that they send with thej-r
power bil1.
If they want to encourage solar systems to
be developed by the cheaper ratepayers that they could --
l-ike people stated before, that they coul-d sel-l the power
to the cities and out of state
COMMISSIONER RAPER: If f cou1d interruptt25
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208 .8 90 . 5198
LAMPMAN
Publ-ic
momentarily, I apologize, your fast
were crystal cfear. Before that, it
were moving the phone back and forth
mouth. We just want to make sure and
we can for the transcript.
THE WfTNESS: Do you want me to start
over?
COMMISSIONER RAPER:
Proceed from where you are, but if
that you have
that through
terrific.
couple of sentences
sounded l-ike you
away from your
get as accurate as
biggest thing is that I
support solar power and
forward, theyrre going
the growing population
No, you're good.
starting over means
prepared testimony, if you could submit
the Commission secretary, that would be
THE WITNESS:No, f'm -- oo, that was my
l1ke that if we donrt
renewable energy coming
feel-
other
to
of
system that we have
take situation that
and that's all I have.
COMM]SSIONER RAPER:
of you
prepared
deterred you
to say. That was
have to find electricity for
Idaho in surrounding states and
be a detriment to use theI don't see how it could
existing power
in a give and
to invest in,
to transmit this power
some people are willing
Okay,
from
I apologize if
anything you
not my
my interruption
were otherwise
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208.890.5198
THE WITNESS: No, I feel like my voice was
heard and a 1ot of the other comments made good sense to
me.
COMMISSIONER
for your testimony.
(The witness
COMMISSIONER
everybody who has call-ed in
to thank everyone on the phone
technology element of this we
RAPER: Okay, wel_l-, thank you
l-eft the stand. )
RAPER: So that concludes
this evening and I just want
patience. The
learning and
for their
are stil1
hopefully get better with each hearing that we have.
werre stil-l- in a situation where telephonic hearings are
the best way to get
can participate in
the largest number
both for those who
the largest. number of
these events and that
of customers that can
customers who
is what we want,
participate, so
who just cal-l-ed in
your participation
These are important
we hear from everybody
this record by my last
falls on October 27Lh
November 17th. I
testified and those
to l-isten in, I want to thank you for
in this evening's publi-c hearing.
issues and so it's important that
who has something to say.
A1l that remains in
review is a comment deadline that
and a reply
acknowledge
deadline that faIls on
that there was some testimony earller about
extending those comment deadlines, but those are the25
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deadlines as they currently sit on the record, so with
that, I will again thank everyone for their patience and
their time and effort and their contribution, and with
thatr we are adjourned.
(The Hearing adjourned at 7248 p.m.)
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208.890. s198
AUTHENTTCATION
This is to certlfy that the foregoing
telephonic proceedings held in the matter of rdaho power
Company's application for aut.hority to modify Schedule
84's met.ering requirement and to grandfather existing
customers with two meters, commencing at 6:00 p.m.r orr
Tuesday, October 13, 2020, dt the Commission Hearing
Room, 11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Building B, Suite 2Ot-A,
Bolse, Idaho, is a true and correct transcript of said
telephonic proceedings and the original thereof for the
file of the Commi-ssion.
CONSTANCECertified S. BUCY
Shorthand Reporte 87
I'IOTARYPUBLIC
coMMtsst0N
MYCOt MtsstoN
. SIATE OF IDAHO
NUt EER 12995
EXPTRES 9-$2024
CONSTANCE S BUCY
I 25
69 AUTHENTICATION