20110105Vol XV Telephonic pp 2528-2540.pdf

ORIGINAL
-BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF PACIFICORP DBA ROCKY MOUNTAIN
POWER FOR APPROVAL OF CHANGES TO
ITS ELECTRIC SERVICE SCHEDULES
CASE NO.
PAC-E-10-07
TELEPHONIC '
PUBLIC HEARING
t;--
HEARING BEFORE
\(J
-0:i
r:(J(1COMMISSIONER MARSHA H. SMITH (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER MACK A. REDFORD
COMMISSIONER JIM D. KEMPTON
-
PLACE:Commission Hearing Room
472 West Washington Street
Boise, Idaho
DATE:December 2, 2010
VOLUME XV - Pages 2528 - 2540
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HEDRICK
POST OFFICE BOX 578
BOISE, IDAHO 83701
208-336-9208
-COURT REPORTING
ttl'" th ~I M//f(lIi¡ .iiír 19
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APPEARANCES
NEIL PRICE, Esq.
Deputy Attorneys General
472 West Washington
Boise, Idaho 83702
HEDRICK COURT REPORTING
P. o. BOX 578, BOISE, ID 83701
APPEARANCES
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WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
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Loran Bassett Statement 2530
4 ( Public)
5 Lloyd Hicks Statement 2532
( Public)
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Bernetta Hanson Statement 2534
7 ( Public)
8 James Thomson Statement 2536
( Public)
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12 EXHIBITSe13
14 (No exhibits were marked.)
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HEDRICK COURT REPORTING
P. O. BOX 578, BOISE, ID 83701
INDEX
EXHIBITS
1 BOISE, IDAHO, MONDAY, DECEMBER 20,2010, 7:00 P.M.e 2
3
4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Good evening, ladies and
5 gentlemen. This is the time and place set for a public hearing
6 before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission in Case No.
7 PAC-E-10-07, further identified as in the matter of the
8 Application of PacifiCorp, doing business as Rocky Mountain
9 Power, for approval of changes to its electric service
10 schedules.
11 My name is Marsha Smith; Ilm one of the three
12 Commissioners who make up the State Public Utili ties
e 13 Commission. Also with me tonight are Commissioner Jim Kempton,
14 who is president of the Commission; and Commissioner Mack
15 Redford. The three of us are here to take comments from the
16 public regarding Rocky Mountain i s Application.
17 I want to take a few minutes and describe our
18 hearing process.
19 A Commission hearing is similar to a District
20 Court proceeding, and all of our Decisions must be based on
21 evidence that we have in a record. So, tonight, we have a
22 court reporter with us who will take down verbatim all the
23 statements that are given.
24 The Commission is required by State law to-25 consider a rate increase Request when it is filed with us, and
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1 it i S our job to balance the interests of the public with those
2 of the Utility. So we don i t have the option to just say, "No."
3 We are required by law to allow utili ties to recover
4 prudently-incurred expenses, and to have the opportunity to
5 earn a reasonable return on their investment. The Commission
6 may deny recovery to a utility if it fails to provide adequate
7 evidence to support its expenditures.
8 Ilm pleased that you have joined us on this
9 telephonic hearing. Everyone who is on the line will be able
10 to hear whoever is speaking; however, you are muted until it is
11 your turn to testify.
12 If you would like to testify, you press star one
13 on your phone keypad, and that puts you in line.
14 When it's your turn, we i II open your line, you
15 will be able to talk to us, and you will hear a prompt that
16 will say, "Ask your question." When you hear the prompt, we
17 need you to give us your name and please spell that so the
18 court reporter has it down correctly, and tell us your mailing
19 address so we have that also.
20 Commissioner Redford will swear you in. Because
21 of the nature of our record, all testimony must be sworn.
22 And when you -- it i S your turn to speak, please
23 eliminate any background noise such as a TV or radio so that
24 we can hear you clearly.
25 And then when you i re finished, there may be
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1 questions from the Commissioners.
2 If at any time after you have done the star one
3 to be in line to testify you change your mind, just hit the
4 pound key and that will take you out of the list.
5 So, if there is nothing further, we will go to
6 our first person who i s in the queue.
7 A VOICE: Participant line unmuted.
8 MR. BASSETT: Yes. My name is Loran Bassett. I
9 live in Grace. And itls L-O-R-A-N B-A-S-S-E-T-T. I live in
10 Grace, Idaho, at 83241, Ivins Road.
11 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: Mr. Bassett, would you
12 please -- I i m going to swear you in.
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14 LORAN BASSETT,
15 appearing as a public witness, being first duly sworn, was
16 examined and testified as follows:
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18 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: Thank you very much.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Please go ahead,
20 Mr. Bassett.
21 THE WITNESS: Okay. I have a -- my biggest
22 concern with this rate raise is I live about 12 miles from
23 Monsanto, and Monsanto is the lifeblood of Southeast Idaho. If
24 this rate goes through at the at the rate that they want it
25 to, it i s going to kill our whole Southeast Idaho because
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1 that -- Monsanto and everybody that is connected to Monsanto --
2 with the kind of a rate that they're wanting to or the kind of
3 increase they i re wanting, Monsanto cannot compete with China
4 for the same product, and it would just be gone.
5 My second -- my second thought is I understand
6 they want more of this money so that they can build lines into
7 California, and I don i t quite see why us people in Southeast
8 Idaho has to pay for the California lines.
9 and this, I can i t swear that IAnd then I have
10 know all of this exactly, but my understanding is -- is that
11 Berkshire Hathaway bought this company. And I have seen
12 numerous companies that they have bought: They bleed them,
13 they bleed them dry. They get everything for a dollar i s worth
14 of profit and when it i S all gone they just dump them. They
15 trash the company and anybody that relies on the company. And
16 so I think you need to take that into consideration.
17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Does that conclude your
18 statement, Mr. Bassett?
19 THE WITNESS: I think so.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay, let i s see if there are
21 any questions.
22 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: I have none.
23 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: I have none.
24 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay.
25 We thank you for participating tonight and giving
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1 your comments.
2 THE WITNESS: All right, thank you.
3 (The witness was excused.)
4 A VOICE: Participant line unmuted.
5 MR. HICKS: Yes, this is Lloyd Hicks from Rigby,
6 Idaho; 225 North 3600 East, Rigby, Idaho.
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8 LLOYD HICKS,
9 appearing as a public witness, being first duly sworn, was
10 examined and testified as follows:
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12 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: Spell his name.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mr. Hicks, could you spell
14 your name, please, so we're sure we have it correct?
15 THE WITNESS: L-L-O-Y-D -- Lloyd -- H-I-C-K-S.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much. Please
17 go ahead.
18 THE WITNESS: Okay. I have three points:
19 The first one, I do agree with the 7.3 percent
20 overall increase that was reconciled by the Commission Staff in
21 lieu of the 13.7 requested increase, but I have a comment
22 there: The Staff recommendation did not include -- it included
23 recoverabili ty of future costs, but it did not include the
24 proj ection of a down economy and the lower demand that most
25 people have seen and expect to see for a period. It should
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1 have included some reduction in costs relative to demand.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay.
3 THE WITNESS: The second comment I have is the
4 Rocky Mountain hasn i t reduced their staff sufficiently based on
5 the demand reductions they i ve seen in the last few years. The
6 reduced demand, closed businesses, and general economy decline
7 should have related to some manpower cuts and some manpower
8 savings to Rocky Mountain, just like it did for everybody else.
9 And without those manpower savings that should have occurred,
10 we can i t justify continuing the same -- same old same old of
11 Rocky Mountain while everybody else has made major manpower
12 reductions, including the State itself.
13 The third comment I have is that we ratepayers
14 expect all utili ties to share the pain that we are all seeing
15 with reduced employment and empty houses, empty businesses, and
16 the 70 percent reduction of capacity that we have here in the
17 State relative to a normal of i 88 and i 95, and I think that
18 Rocky Mountain should share in those ~- in the pain and in lieu
19 of an increase, I think manpower savings and reduced demand
20 should reflect -- reflect on that rate.
21 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Does that conclude your
22 remarks, Mr. Hicks?
23 THE WITNESS: Yes, ma i am.
24 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Let i s see if there are any
25 questions.
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HICKS
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1 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: None.
2 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: No.
3 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Doesn i t look like there are
4 any. We very much appreciate your participation tonight.
5 (The witness was excused.)
6 A VOICE: Participant line unmuted.
7 MS. HANSON: Hello?
8 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Yes. Will you please state
9 your name and spell it, and give us your mailing address?
10 It's Bernetta Hanson: B-E-R-N-E-T-T-A
11 H-A-N-S-O-N. Our maJling address is P.O. Box 731 Ashton
12 A-S-H-T-O-N -- Idaho -- I-D -- 83420.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you.
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15 BERNETTA HANSON,
16 appearing as a public witness, being first duly sworn, was
17 examined and testified as follows:
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19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Please proceed.
THE WITNESS: Well, my statement i s a bit more
21 general because I didn i t have some of the facts these other
22 folks did.
23 But our community is roughly 1,200 and it i S in a
24 rural area, and we i re definitely not in the high-rent district;
e 25 and minimum wage here is the norm, not the exception. And like
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HANSON
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1 those of us on fixed incomes, we i re not seeing any increase in
2 the last two years for all of the food and gas and medicine,
3 et cetera; that i s all increased. And -- and those that have in
4 this state are now having to work longer because our inept
5 Congress and greedy Wall Street. So, economy in our area has
6 never really come back since the late i 90s when the
7 environmentalists shut down the timber industry up here. And
8 welve also just learned here with our tax notice, the
9 homeowner i s exemption has been lowered also.
10 So, I think Rocky Mountain Power should be doing
11 what most of us have been having to do for some time now, is
12 look for ways to cut back on expenses.
13 And I have to say I i ve found the other two
14 Mr. Bassett and Mr. Hick i s information very interesting, and I
15 feel like they have some very good points.
16 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you very much. Let i s
17 see if there are questions.
18 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: No.
19 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: No.
20 COMMISSIONER SMITH: I don i t see any questions.
21 We thank you for calling in and participating.
22 THE WITNESS: Thank you for the opportunity.
23 (The witness was excused.)
24 MR. RON LAW: No one else has signed up to
25 testify.
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P. O. BOX 578, BOISE, ID 83701
HANSON
Public
e 1 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It appears that no one else
2 has signed up to testify tonight. If there are people on the
3 line who have not made any comments yet and would like to, what
4 you need to do is press star -- the star -- and the number one
5 key on your telephone, and you will get in the queue.
6 MR. LAW: Ready?
7 COMMISSIONER SMITH: We i re ready.
8 A VOICE: Participant line unmuted.
9 MR. THOMSON: Hello. My name is James Thomson:
10 J-A-M-E-S T-H-O-M-S-O-N. I live at 361 North 4420 East, Rigby,
11 Idaho.
12 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Mack.
--13 Commissioner Redford will swear you in.
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15 JAMES THOMSON,
16 appearing as a public witness, being first duly sworn, was
17 examined and testified as follows:
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19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: And we need you to speak a
20 little louder. The court reporter is having a little trouble
21 hearing you. Thank you.
22 THE WITNESS: Is this all right?
23 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Oh, that i s better. Thank
24 you.
e 25 THE WITNESS: My points are the people who are on
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THOMSON
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1 a fixed income have been given notices that the next two years,
2 they will get no increase. The INL government workers have
3 been on notice that they will, for the next two years, have no
4 increase.
5 Due to the recession and everybody is having to
6 tighten their belts -- and I understand that the electrical
7 companies need to proj ect their -- so that they can get money
8 for future use, but during this time, I feel that it i S not in
9 the best interest of the public or the people to have an
10 increase of this magnitude. I agree with everything that's
11 been said so far.
12 And that i s all I had to say.
13 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Thank you, Mr. Thomson.
14 Let i s see if there are questions.
15 COMMISSIONER KEMPTON: No.
16 COMMISSIONER REDFORD: No.
17 COMMISSIONER SMITH: It doesn i t appear so. We
18 appreciate your comments and your participation tonight.
19 (The witness was excused.)
20 A VOICE: There are no more questions.
21 MR. LAW: No one else signed up.
22 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay. It appears that there
23 is no one else who has signed up to testify tonight. We do
24 want to thank all of those who took the time to participate
25 oh, wait. One more?
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1 MR. LAW: It looks like it.
2 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Go ahead then.
3 A VOICE: Participant line unmuted.
4 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Please state your name and
5 spell your name, and give us your mailing address.
6 Is there someone on the line who would like to
7 make a comment?
8 MR. LAW: Itls an 801 number. Itls a Utah
9 number.
10 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Is it someone from the
11 Company? It i S an 801 Utah number.
12 MR. LAW: 801-803-1240. I guess they donlt want
13 to comment.
14 COMMISSIONER SMITH: Okay. It appears that who
15 was ever calling in from the Utah number, the 801 area code
16 number, has decided not to comment, so is there anyone else on
17 the -- in the queue?
18 A VOICE: There are no more questions.
19 COMMISSIONER SMITH: All right. We want to thank
20 all of those who participated in our telephonic hearing
21 tonight, and hope that it was easy for you to do and that you
22 had the opportunity to participate in our hearing.
23 Wi th there appearing to be no more persons to
24 comment tonight, the Commission will adjourn this hearing and
25 declare the record in this case to be closed. And our process
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1 is to deliberate on it and issue an Order as soon as possible.
2 We i re hoping for an interim Order by the end of the year with a
3 final Order to come later next year after we have a subsequent
4 hearing on the issue of Monsanto i s economic value of their
5 interruptibili ty.
6 So we thank everyone for participating tonight,
7 and the hearing is adjourned.
8 (The hearing concluded at 7: 17 p.m.)
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AUTHENTICATION
4 This is to certify that the foregoing is a
5 true and correct transcript to the best of my ability of the
6 telephonic proceedings held in the matter of the Application of
7 PacifiCorp, dba Rocky Mountain Power, for approval of changes
8 to its electric service schedules, Case No. PAC-E-10-07,
9 commencing on Monday, December 20, 2010, at the Commission
10 Hearing Room, 472 West Washington, Boise, Idaho, and the
11 original thereof for the file of the Commission.
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, otary Pub '
in and for t State of Idaho,
residing at Meridian, Idaho.
My Commission expires 2-8-2014.
Idaho CSR No. 475
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AUTHENTICATIONHEDRICK COURT REPORTING
P. O. BOX 578, BOISE, ID 83701