20230623Customer Hearing Transcript Vol I 6-14-2023.pdf

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWER )COMPANY'S APPLICATION FOR A )CASE NO.IPC-E-23-01CERTIFICATEOFPUBLIC)CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY FOR THE )BOARDMAN TO HEMINGWAY 500-KV )TRANSMISSION LINE )
BEFORE
COMMISSIONER ERIC ANDERSON (Presiding)COMMISSIONER JOHN HAMMONDCOMMISSIONEREDWARDLODGE
PLACE:Commission Hearing Room
11331 West Chinden Blvd.Building 8,Suite 201-ABoise,Idaho
DATE:June 14,2023
VOLUME I -Pages 1 -12
CSB REPORTINGORIGINALCertfiedShorthandReporters
Post Office Box 9774
Boise,Idaho 83707
.Reporter:csbreporting(a yahoo.com Constance Bucy,Ph:208-890-5198 CSR
1 A PPE A R A NCES
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3 For the Staff:Chris Burdin
Deputy Attorney General4IPUC
11331 W.Chinden Blvd.,
5 Bldg.No.8,Suite 201-A
PO Box 837206Boise,ID 83720-0074
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For Idaho Power Company:Donovan E.Walker
8 Idaho Power Company
PO Box 70
9 Boise,ID 83707-0070
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CSB REPORTING 2 APPEARANCES208.890.5198
1 I NDEX
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3 WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
4 Don Kemper Statement 7
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CSB REPORTING 3 INDEX208.890.5198
1 BOISE,IDAHO,WEDNESDAY,JUNE 14,2023,6:00 P.M.
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4 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Good evening.
5 This is the time and place for a customer hearing in
6 Case No.IPC-E-23-01,also referred to as the matter of
7 Idaho Power Company's application for a certificate of
8 public convenience and necessity for the Boardman to
9 Hemingway 500-kilovolt transmission line project.
10 The purpose of this hearing is to take
11 testimony from the members of the public in reference to
12 Idaho Power's request that was filed with the Commission
13 on January 9th,2023.
14 My name is Eric Anderson.I'm the Chair
15 of tonight's proceeding.I am joined with Commissioner
16 Hammond to my left and Commissioner Lodge to my right and
17 we will be deciding this case collectively and make a
18 final determination on the matter.
19 To this point,several parties have
20 intervened and an informational workshop for the public
21 has been conducted.Tonight's objective is to take live
22 testimony,which will be added to the underlying record
23 in the case.The Commission will review the facts and
24 the evidence in the record to make its final decision for
25 the proceedings.
CSB REPORTING 4 COLLOQUY208.890.5198
1 Do I have a sign-up sheet yet?Oh,we
2 have a sign-up sheet and we'll find out how many people
3 are signed up in a minute and I don't think we're going
4 to have too many people signed up tonight,so I won't put
5 a limit on time,but let's make sure that the subject
6 matter is generic to what this case is and not get off
7 into other things.If we do,we'll guide you in the
8 right direction to who to speak with,so as far as the
9 procedure tonight,when I call your name from the sign-up
10 sheet,you will take the stand and be sworn in.
11 I will ask you to raise your right hand
12 and swear or affirm the testimony you are about to
13 provide will be the whole truth.Our Deputy Attorney
14 General Chris Burdin will be here tonight taking --
15 representing Staff and he will take --the Deputy
16 Attorney General will then ask you to identify yourself
17 for the record,which will include your name,spelling of
18 your last name,your city of residence,and whether you
19 are a customer of Idaho Power Company.Then you may
20 present your testimony.
21 Please remain on the stand to see if the
22 parties or Commissioners have any questions.After that,
23 you will be excused.It's late in the afternoon,sorry
24 here.For those in the audience,we ask that you refrain
25 from reacting to any testimony while it's presented or
CSB REPORTING 5 COLLOQUY208.890.5198
1 after.That means no clapping or verbal comment and we
2 all appreciate your willingness to respect this process.
3 Since our cases are judicial in nature,we
4 do have a court reporter with us this evening,Connie
5 Bucy.Please don't speak too softly or too fast or she
6 will remind you to slow down or speak up.The transcript
7 is necessary because of our quasi judicial role,and we
8 must base our decisions on the official record of which
9 this is a part of,and that record is also significant in
10 the event that our decision is appealed.
11 At this time let's take a moment to
12 recognize the appearances of the parties.Idaho Power.
13 MR.WALKER:Thank you,Mr.Chairman.
14 Donovan Walker representing Idaho Power.
15 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Welcome,
16 Mr.Walker,and with Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities
17 Commission.
18 MR.BURDIN:Thank you,Commissioner.
19 Chris Burdin representing Staff at this proceeding.
20 Thank you.
21 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Thank you,
22 Mr.Burdin.Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association?
23 Industrial Customers of Idaho Power Company?Micron
24 Technology?City of Boise?Idaho Conservation League?
25 Are there any other parties here that I have failed to
CSB REPORTING 6 COLLOQUY208.890.5198
1 identify?No.
2 Well,with that,we are ready to call our
3 one witness that has signed up to speak tonight,Mr.Don
4 Kemper.Please take the stand up here,Mr.Kemper.
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6 DON KEMPER,
7 appearing as a public witness,having been duly sworn,
8 was examined and testified as follows:
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10 EXAMINATION
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12 BY MR.BURDIN:
13 Q Would you please state your name and spell
14 your last name for the record?
15 A Don Kemper,K-e-m-p-e-r.
16 Q And where do you reside?
17 A 1821 Edgecliff Terrace in Boise and I am
18 an Idaho customer,Idaho Power customer.
19 Q Thank you.Go ahead,please.
20 A Thank you,so members of the Commission,
21 I'm pleased to be here.I'm here both as a citizen and a
22 customer,but also representing 500 plus members of
23 Boise's Chapter of Citizens'Climate Lobby and the CCL's
24 main focus is just trying to advocate for and encourage
25 climate smart policy,and in this case,we have two
CSB REPORTING 7 KEMPER208.890.5198 Public
1 roles:We're all also Idaho Power customers,at least
2 virtually all of us,and so you'll see both things come
3 in.
4 We're here in support of the certificate
5 for necessity and we understand three things quite
6 clearly.One is that the cost of energy from wind and
7 solar continues to go down and that's a good thing.We
8 know that the cost of energy from coal and natural gas is
9 generally going up,and the third thing we know is that
10 the economics alone will eventually support the
11 transition to more green-based energy.
12 However,there is a missing link in the
13 process and that is the transmission lines,because no
14 matter how much green energy we produce,if you don't
15 have a good way to get it from where it's produced to
16 where it's needed,we're not going to be able to do the
17 transition as quickly and that means that there will be
18 at least three bad things that happen.
19 One is that our power rates will go up,
20 because we won't have access to the lower cost energy
21 that's increasingly going to be available.Second thing
22 is the U.S.will miss its climate goals and that will
23 lead toward more push toward global warming,more push
24 toward increased floods,increased wildfires,increased
25 drought,and the third thing is that those impacts of the
CSB REPORTING 8 KEMPER208.890.5198 Public
1 climate will have a negative impact on the GDP.It will
2 hold down our business and industry in the U.S.and
3 worldwide,so that's kind of the rationale for our
4 interest in this.
5 Boardman to Hemingway is a key part of a
6 modernized transmission system that will be needed.It's
7 only one part,but it's a key part,and when did you
8 start?2007,something like that,so it's taking too
9 long to get these transmission lines approved.I
10 understand it's a complex problem and there are many
11 entities involved and so based on that,you know,we know
12 that your charge is to assure the public of the
13 availability of power at a reasonable cost,that that's
14 the basics,I think,of what your charge is,and we also
15 think you're charged with looking around the corner to
16 see what's going to come next.
17 As you look at the changing costs of power
18 and as you look at things like customers like us are
19 shifting from natural gas heat in the winter to electric
20 heat pumps,there's going to be a huge increase in the
21 need in the winter for low cost power and we're not going
22 to be able to provide it all ourselves in Idaho.
23 We're going to need transmission lines,
24 not only what we're doing here today,but we're going to
25 need more transmission lines from Arizona,New Mexico,
CSB REPORTING 9 KEMPER208.890.5198 Public
1 Nevada,getting their power here,low cost power to the
2 citizens in your jurisdiction,so to speak,so I think
3 it's --I don't know what you can do about this,but my
4 hope is that the Commission and the whole PUC will be
5 able to take a leadership role in whatever interstate and
6 intrastate negotiations,alignments,coordination is
7 necessary to get this permitting process done faster,
8 because we're going to run out of low cost power before
9 the current status of permitting allows us to get the
10 power moved from the right place to the right place.
11 That's what I've got and I'm happy to
12 answer any questions if you have any.
13 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Thank you,
14 Mr.Kemper.We'll start with the parties.Does Idaho
15 Power have any questions of this witness?
16 MR.WALKER:No questions,Mr.Chairman.
17 Thank you for your testimony.
18 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Does Staff any
19 questions?Mr.Burdin?
20 MR.BURDIN:Nothing from Staff.Thank
21 you,Mr.Kemper.
22 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:The Commissioners,
23 any questions?It looks like you're off the hook for
24 questions,but we certainly do appreciate you being here
25 tonight and thank you very much for your testimony.
CSB REPORTING 10 KEMPER208.890.5198 Public
1 THE WITNESS:Thank you.
2 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:You're excused.
3 (The witness left the stand.)
4 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Do we have anybody
5 else that wishes to testify tonight?I think what we'll
6 do is we'll just take a five-minute recess and see if
7 anybody else shows up,and at that time we'll either
8 continue on or adjourn,so we'll give it five minutes.
9 Thank you very much.
10 (Recess.)
11 COMMISSIONER ANDERSON:Well,our five
12 minutes is up and it doesn't look like we've had anybody
13 else sign up.I'll give anybody that wants to speak
14 another opportunity and it doesn't look like I see
15 anybody rising to the occasion tonight.
16 I do thank Mr.Kemper for being here to
17 testify,and at that point,I guess,we'll go ahead and
18 call this meeting adjourned.Thank you,everybody.
19 (The hearing adjourned at 6:16 p.m.)
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CSB REPORTING 11 COLLOQUY208.890.5198
1 A UTHENT I C A T I ON
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4 This is to certify that the foregoing
5 proceedings held in the matter of Idaho Power Company's
6 application for a certificate of public convenience and
7 necessity for the Boardman to Hemingway 500-kilovolt
8 transmission line,commencing at 6:00 p.m.,on Wednesday,
9 June 14,2023,at the Commission Hearing Room,11331 West
10 Chinden Blvd.,Building 8,Suite 201-A,Boise,Idaho,is
11 a true and correct transcript of said proceedings and the
12 original thereof for the file of the Commission.
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CONSTANCE S.BUCY18CertifiedShorthand Reporter #1
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CONSTANCE S BUCY
2 2 NoTARY PUBuc.sTATEOF IDAHO
COMMISSION NUMBER 12995
MY COMMISSION EXPIRES 9-5-202423
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CSB REPORTING 12 AUTHENTICATION(208)890-5198