950714.docx

SCOTT WOODBURY
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
472 WEST WASHINGTON STREET
PO BOX 83720
BOISE,  IDAHO  83720-0074
[phone]
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W WASHINGTON
BOISE ID  83702-5983
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE  THE  IDAHO  PUBLIC  UTILITIES  COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION)
OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR)CASE  NO.  IPC-E-95-6
AN AMENDMENT TO CERTIFICATE)
OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND )
NECESSITY, CERTIFICATE NO. 272.)COMMENTS OF
)THE COMMISSION
______________________________________)STAFF
COMES  NOW  the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its Attorney of record, Scott Woodbury, Deputy Attorney General, and submits the following  comments for the Commission’s consideration in Case No. IPC-E-95-6.
The Commission Staff supports the Company's application "to remove the authority for the construction of a second Wood River - Ketchum 138 kV transmission line from [its] Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity".  Authorization to construct the line was granted by the Commission in 1974.  (Order No. 11315, Case No. U-1006-89)  The Company's filing discusses the right-of-way problems it has encountered and the extraordinary measures it has taken to improve the dependability of the existing line.  Staff is impressed with the dependability of the existing line; "only two unplanned outages in the past fourteen years, for a total duration of only three minutes."
If longer or more frequent outages occur in the future or if the Company experiences substantial load growth in the Ketchum/Sun Valley area, it would once again be appropriate to examine the options.

DATED  at Boise, Idaho, this            day of July 1995.
______________________________________
Scott Woodbury
Deputy Attorney General
_______________________________________
Keith Hessing
Staff Engineer
ipce956.sw/umisc:gdk