20051026Vol. I pp 1-36 Hearing.pdf

ORIGINAL
BEFORE THE IDAHO 'PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION
F I LED BY THE I DAHO COMMUNI
ACTION NETWORK TO AMEND THE
COMMISSION'S UTILITY CUSTOMER
RELATIONS RULES
CASE NO. RUL-U~04-
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BEFORE
COMMISSIONER MARSHA SMITH (Presiding)
COMMISSIONER DENNIS HANSEN
PLACE:Commission Hearing Room
472 West Washington
Boise, Idaho
DATE:October 19, 2005
VOLUME'Pages 1 -
CSB REpORTING
Constance S. Bucy, CSR No. 187
17688 Allendale Road * Wilder, Idaho 83676
[phone] * [phone]
Email csb~spro.net
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For the Staff:Donald Howell, Esq.
Deputy At torney General
472 West WashingtonBoise, Idaho 83720 - 0074
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
APPEARANCES
I N D E X
WITNESS EXAMINATION BY PAGE
Karen McWilliams
(Publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Smith
J . L. Byington
(Publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
Emily Jones
(Publ ic)
StatementMr. Howell (Cross)
Commissioner Smi
Letty Rosas
(publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
Jenny Rosas
(Publ ic)
StatementMr. Howell (Cross)
Pankhuree Bha tnagar
(publ ic)
Statement
Audra Green
(publ ic)
StatementMr. Howell (Cross)
Commissioner Smith
Ron Matthews
(Publ ic)
Statement
Anna Matthews
(Public)Statement
Mr. Howell (Cross)
Ka thryn McNary
(publ ic)
Statement
Commissioner Hansen
Krista Ziebarth
(Publ ic)
Statement
Retta Green
(Public)Statement
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 INDEX
BOISE , IDAHO , WEDNESDAY , OCTOBER 19,2005 7:00 P. M.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Good evenlng, ladies
and gentlemen , and welcome to a public hearing in Idaho
Public Utilities Commission Case No. RUL-U-04-02.It'
further identified as in the matter of the petition filed
by the Idaho Communi ty Action Network to amend the
Commission I S utility customer relations rules.
My name is Marsha Smi th m one of the
three Commissioners in Idaho and I III be Chairing
tonight I s hearing.On my left is Commissioner Dennis
Hansen and we need to excuse Commissioner Paul Kj ellander
this evening who had a conflict that could not be
resolved.Publ ic hearings are very important to the
Commission.They are the time when we listen to your
thoughts and suggestions on our procedures and rules and
that's why we're here tonight.
They re so important that we have a court
reporter who will transcribe everything that is said
tonight so that we may refer to it later and use it in
our deliberations.Tonight we'll start by taking the
appearances of the parties and we'll begin with the
Commission Staff.
MR . HOWELL:Thank you , Madam Chairman.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 COLLOQUY
My name is Don Howe 11 .I m a Deputy At torney General
representing the Commission Staff.I would also note for
the record that the Commission has issued an amended
Notice of Parties in this matter on September the 28th of
All of the electric and all of the natural gas2004 .
utilities were made parties in addition to the water
companies.I am unable to tell you whether they re all
here by counsel , but I do know that some of the utilities
are here and have representatives in the back of the
room.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:I see that all of the
electric , gas and water companies have been made parties
to this and we I 11 not call their names individually.
there are any utility representatives who wish to make a
formal appearance for tonight I s hearing, would you please
do so now?
Okay, is there anyone here representing
the Idaho Community Action Network?, Karen McWilliams
or Sam Blair.
MS. McWILLIAMS:Sam is out of town.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:As I stated earlier,
tonight I S hearing is to listen to your comments, and the
way our procedure works and we I 11 try to make it very
user friendly so don t be intimidated, you III come
- -
you wish to testify, we had a sign-up sheet at the door
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 COLLOQUY
and I have that list and I will just go down the list
calling the names and the person whose name is called
will come forward.Commissioner Hansen will ask you to
raise your right hand and swear you in and then you can
si t at this other chair where there is a microphone so
that everyone can hear you and make your statement.
Before you make your statement, Mr. Howell
will ask you a few questions which will consist of your
name and your address so we have you properly identified
for our record and then you may make your statement , and
then you need to pause when you re finished and see
the Commissioners or Mr. Howell have any questions for
you to clarify what you stated, so wi th that, we'll begin
with Karen McWilliams.
KAREN McWILLIAMS,
appearing as a public witness , having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Good evenlng.
Good evening.
Could you state your full name for the
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 McWILLIAMS
Public
record and spell your last, please?
Karen McWilliams, M-W- i -1- i -a-m- s.
And are you represent ing anyone in
particular tonight?
Yes, I am, ICAN , the Idaho Community
Action Network.
Could you give us an address, please?
My addre s s
Or I CAN I S address.
My address is 1425 North Liberty, No. 13,
here in Boise.
Thank you, and do you have a statement
you I d like to give the Commission?
Yes , I do.
Please go ahead.
I m talking about the winter moratorium.
Making people who are eligible for LIHEAP also eligible
for the winter moratorium is a great idea.There are
many people who did not qualify because they did not have
children , seniors or infirmed people in their household
but who really needed the assistance.The new rule will
help make this fair.The PUC should take the lead in
fighting for low income energy assistance for all
Idahoans.This year more than ever many Idahoans will be
unable to pay their bills and LIHEAP just can't help
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
McWILLIAMS
Public
everyone who needs it wi th the fundings it has.The PUC
hears from people who need help and should use this
information to speak for us.
It's very - - I I m very glad that you are
changing the rules to make the utilities turn the power
on when someone who qualifies for the winter moratorium
moves into a new house.It would be terrible to be
trapped in a bad house si tuation to keep the power on.
think that you should go further , though , and make the
power companies turn the power back on for the people who
need winter moratorium but have their power shut off
before December.People need heat during the winter.
That I s why we have the moratorium.
I am disappointed that you have decided
not to extend the winter moratorium to November and
March.It's really cold in Idaho during those months and
we need the protection.The utilities say that it does
not help people to let them pile up their bills over the
winter and lose their power after the winter moratorium
and that it's making the moratorium longer
- -
make the
problem worse , but it does not help you if you have the
power turned off during the winter or you have to pay
high fees to have it turned back on.
Some spend all summer paYlng off their
winter bills to get the power turned back on for the
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 McWILLIAMS
Public
fall.That's really hard, but it's better than freezing.
I hope you will consider it.Also, my sister and I live
in an all-electric apartment.We each have oxygen
machines and I have a bypass machine that I have to use
when I sleep at night , that if I don't have the power
then I could die.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Does that conclude
your statement?
THE WITNESS:Yes , it does.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there
any questions.
MR. HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:No questions.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
I just had one and just to clarify to make
sure your statement is accurately reflected , when you
said LIHEAP , were you referring to the low income heating
energy assistance program?
Yes , ma I am.
L- I -H-E-A- P?
Yes , ma' am.I know I probably didn'
pronounce it correctly.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 McWILLIAMS (Com)
Public
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Well , people can say
the acronym differently and I just wanted to be sure that
the court reporter had it correct.Thank you very much.
THE WITNESS:You I re welcome.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Jole Byington.
MS. BYINGTON:J . L. Byington.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:J . L., sorry.
J . L. BYINGTON
appearlng as a public witness, having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Ma' am, could I have your name and spell
your last name for the record , please?
Okay, I go by J. L., but my name is Jerry
L. Byington , B-i-n-g-t-o-n.
And do you have an address you'd like to
gl ve us for the record?
15 Randall , Boise , Idaho , 83705.
And do you have a statement you'd like to
glve the Commission?
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 BYINGTON
Public
Yes.
Please go ahead.
Okay.ve been in all these actions for
, 25 years and a little over 20 years ago we had this
moratorium put in and it took us a hard time to get it,
but I agree wi th everybody else , we didn't get it as much
as we wanted then and we would really like to have
now.We would ike to have it from November to March.
These are the coldest months of the year.This is when
people really suffer.I mean , not only if you don't have
the energy on , then your water freezes up.You have
plpes bursting.You have a big mess and you have to
clean that up besides pay all your bills.It gets to be
a little bit overwhelming to people.
Now , I know that I've had a couple of
notices when I was younger about needing to have my power
shut off if I didn't pay, but I managed to squeak
through, but a lot of people aren't that fortunate and
do know people that's had their power turned off and they
couldn't get it back on.Well , I think that it should
not be turned off just before winter and let you go , you
know, go winter wi thout it and cause you more problems in
all the ways because it could also be health problems and
everything, because if you don't have your water , you
don't have heat , you're definitely not going to be a well
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 BYINGTON
Publ i c
person , and I'm a CNA and I m into heal th care and I do
believe that having the moratorium extended is better for
people than to have it , you know , cut off early when they
really still need it.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Okay, are there
questions?Mr. Howell.
MR. HOWELL:No questions.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commi s s i one r
Hansen.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
Does the level pay program where you'd pay
the same each month through the summer and the winter
you find that that a help this si tuation for those
that have the higher bills maybe In the winter and have
difficult time maybe paying that high , where does the
level pay during the whole year , do you see that as
helping solve the problem?
Well , it doesn't solve it because some
people , of course , are using more electrici ty.It all
depends on what kind of heating you have, energy, but
myself , I am on the level pay and I would find it very
difficult to have to pay the amount for an all-electric
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
BYINGTON (Com)
Publ i c
home, you know , during the winter especially, but
doesn't always help people because sometimes people just
don't have the money, even in the summer , and like they
said, making up all their payments from the winter in the
summer lS, you know , they get it paid off just in time to
have it turned off if they don't have the moratorium , so
yes , it can be a little bit of help to some people and
other people it wouldn't help because they wouldn't be
able to pay it level.
COMMI S S IONER HANSEN:Thank you very much.
That's all have.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for your
testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Emily Jones.
EMILY JONES,
appearlng as a public witness , having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name and spell
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
JONES
Publ ic
your last name for the record,please?
My name Emily Jones,J -o-n-e-s.That
shoul d be easy for you to spell.
It is, my grandmother's maiden name, so
can you give us an address?
309 East 47th Street in Garden City,
Idaho.
And do you have a statement you'd like to
glve the Commission?
ardon me?
Do you have a statement you'd like to glve
the Commission?
Yes, I do.
Please go ahead.
My statement is about the medical
certificates.I have , 1 ike , maj or heart problems and my
own problems and now I have a stomach ulcer and, of
course, wi thout any heat , I would really be in trouble.
My mobile home I live in is all electric, so it's really
expensi ve, and it's not even wintertime yet and my power
bill is already 85 bucks, so I really think that they
should extend the period of time for the medical
certificates.Even if you have a medical certificate,
you can only keep your power on for 30 days right now and
I think they should extend that to at least three months,
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 JONES
Publ ic
because I don't think 30 days is long enough for anybody
to be able to raise enough money to pay their bills.
problem is I can't work at all because I've been declared
totally disabled.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ms. Jones, does that
conclude your statement?
THE WITNESS:Pardon me?
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Does that conclude
your statement?
THE WITNESS:Yes.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there
are questions.Mr. Howell.
MR . HOWELL:Just one question.
CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Ms. Jones, you know that you can get at
least one renewal on your medical certificate for an
additional monthly payment or monthly time?
No, I didn't know that.They didn't tell
me that.
MR . HOWELL:No further quest ions.
CSB REPORTINGWilder, ID 83676 JONES (X)
Public
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
I just had one.In your home have you
ever had an energy audit or been considered in any of the
utility weatherization programs?
Yes , it has and it's been weatherized.
Did you notice any difference in your
bills after that?
Not a whole heck of a lot.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Okay, thank you very
much for your testimony.
(The witness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let ty Rosas.
LETTY ROSAS
1 7 appearlng as a public witness , having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
I need your full name and spell your last
for the record , please.
Leticia Rosas , R-
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 ROSAS
Publ ic
And your addre s s, ma' am?
818 North Illinois, No.4, in Caldwell.
In Caldwell?
Uh-huh.
And your zip code?
83605.
Grea t .
My name is Letty and I live in Caldwell.
I came today to ask you to change the rules to make
utili ties provide some translation in Spanish.Many
people in my communi ty are immigrants and speak Spanish.
We came to Idaho to make a better life for ourselves and
our families.We're part of the community.We do our
best to pay the bills on time, but like anyone , sometimes
we have trouble and we need the same help that other
people need.The utilities should have to put a short
notice in Spanish on the shutoff notices to tell people
what it is and what to do about it.Those notices are
hard to read.
I know some people who have to have their
kids try to read the bills for them or neighbors.They
shouldn't have to ask their kids to be adul ts or let
neighbors in on their private business.They pay the
bills and should get the same service as other people
including information they can read.It would not cost
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 ROSAS
Publ i c
the utility much to add that notice.I al so heard that
you cut out the rules that the PUC will translate the
summary of the rules into other languages.That would be
a big help because the summaries are hard to understand
but have really important information.I hope you change
your mind about that.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Are there
questions?Mr. Howell.
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commi s s i one r
Hansen.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER HANSEN:
Are you aware of anyone, any neighbors or
anyone, that has actually had their electrici ty or gas
turned off because they couldn't, they didn t understand
the notice that they were going to have it turned off
they didn't pay their bill?
Yes, I do, because they didn't know
because they couldn't read the information that they sent
them , so they didn't know that they had to pay on the
same day, so yeah.
So do most people, though, when they get
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
ROSAS (Com)
Public
their bill if they're Spanish speaking, do they pretty
much understand how much they owe, though?
Yeah , yeah, they do.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:They do.Okay,
thank you.That I S all I have.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very
much.
THE WITNESS:Yeah.
(The witness left the stand.
COMMI S S lONER SMITH:Jenny Rosas.
JENNY ROSAS,
appearlng as a public witness , having been duly sworn,
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name and spell
your last name?
My name is Jenny Rosas , R-o-s-a-s.
And an address, ma' am?
818 North Illinois, No., in Caldwell.
And do you have a statement you 'd like to
give?
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
ROSAS
Public
Yeah , I do.Okay, many people in my
community are immigrants and speak Spanish.Putting a
warnlng on the shutoff notices, explaining what it is and
telling me how to get in touch with the utility in
Spanish would help people a lot.m really surprised
and disappointed that you decided not to give people that
help who are not really costing utilities anything to put
that on the notices and would make such a big difference
for a lot of people I know.I think the PUC should
provide model summaries of the rules in languages other
than English , at least in Spanish.The rul e change got
rid of that requirement.People whoThat's a mistake.
don't speak English well should still know the rights.
Immigrants are an important part of my community and they
deserve to be treated fairly.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Okay, thank you.Any
questions?
MR . HOWELL:Just one question.
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Jenny, do you know that the rule as
proposed by the Commission does say that the Commission
will include Spanish language translations of its model
CSB REPORTINGWilder, ID 83676 ROSAS (X)
Public
summarles to the utilities and other interested parties
upon request?
, I did not know that.
MR . HOWELL:Okay.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:I f you spoke Spani sh
how would you know that you had to request that?Sorry,
just wondering.Do you have a question?
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:No.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you f or your
testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Pankhuree Bha tnagar
How bad was
MS. BHA TNAGAR :Pretty good.
P ANKHURE E BHA TNAGAR ,
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name and spell
your first and last name , please?
cSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 BHA TNAGAR
Publ ic
Pankhuree Bhatnagar
, p-
last name B-a-t -
cSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
Thank you , and do you have an address?
860 Sherwood, Apartment 106B , Boise,
Do you have a statement?
Yes.I work at the learning lab with
Idaho 83076.
people who don t speak English and others who are
functionally illiterate and I think translating utility
notices is very important so people know what to do.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Does that conclude
your statement?
THE WITNESS:Yes.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Do you have a
question , Mr. Howell?
MR. HOWELL:No, ma' am.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Hansen?
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:No.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Andrea Green.
BHA TNAGAR
Publ i c
AUDRA GREEN
appearing as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn , testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR.HOWELL:
Coul d
your last name?
you state your full name and spell
Audra Green , G-e-n.
And do you have an addre s s ?
1802 West Washington Street, Boise,
83702.
Thank you , and a statement for the
Commission?
Yes.I am an ESL instructor in one of the
three ESL departments at Boise State, which obviously
means we have a high need, and I am in support of putting
a warning on the shutoff notices in Spanish and
potentially other languages.As an instructor , I
continually have students that come in that need help
with paperwork and a lot of them are utilities, they
don't really know what to do and I know that I only reach
a small percentage of the people that need help in this
community.
cSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 GREEN
Publ ic
We have at least 30 or 40 languages wi thin
our program alone.Over 50 percent of them speak Spanish
and only Spanish , level 1 and 2 English , and we also have
high rates of Russian , French, Farsi , Arabic and, of
course, Spani sh .The CDHD, if you ve been out there,
they have posters in well over , I think , upwards of
languages in there, so I know that the PUC has the power
and the ability to also translate some pretty simple
stuff , so I'm here to support that.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Are there
questions?
CROSS - EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Is it just the shutoff notices or do you
want other or are you proposing other
The shutoff notices, definitely, but
think it would also be just as simple to on a lot of
utilities just put a simple statement that says if you
can't read this or understand this, please call this
number, but definitely the shutoff notices, those are
pretty important.
Thank you.MR . HOWELL:
cSB REPORTINGWilder, ID 83676
GREEN (X)Public
EXAMINATION
BY COMMISSIONER SMITH:
So could I clarify, would that statement
be in English for if you can't read this?
I don't know if you've been to cDHDNo.
they have a large poster that has 15 to 20 languages that
says if you can't understand this, call this number or
we'll find a translator over and over again in various
languages, so a little bit of extra ink that would say
you can't understand this utility, please call this
number and we'll find someone who can help you in various
languages.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for your
statement.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ron Matthews.
cSB REPORTINGWilder, ID 83676
GREEN (Com)
Public
RON MATTHEWS,
appearlng as a public witness, having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name and spell
your last name for the record, please?
Ronald Lee Matthews, M-a-e-w-s.
And sir , do you have an address?
Address is 15926 Sunburst Drive, Caldwell
Idaho.It's a rural address near the Sandhollow area.
Do you have a statement you'd like to give
the Commission?
Yes , I do.
Please go ahead.
Madam Chair, Commissioner , I am actually
an optimist , but in a few minutes you won t think so.
There's a great deal of difficulty now with utilities.
So far we have enough electricity.There's a report I
read on the Internet this morning from the commodities
market that says there's not enough natural gas in North
America for demand.ve read that it's expected to be a
much more difficult than normal winter this year and when
CSB REPORTINGWilder, ID 83676
MATTHEWS
Publ i c
you start putting little bits and pleces together , you
start worrYlng about the future and utilities.
You're probably looking at maybe 100
people in the State of Idaho this winter that won't live
through it because of the cold.They simply won't have
power or gas to make it through wi thout freezing.When
you compound that wi th the fact that we had the actual
inflation rate unadjusted is now 10 percent and markets
slowing and equity is dropping and job rates not
increasing to meet bills, you re starting to look at
other little facts , like currently such things as the
moratorium address about 13.5 percent of the people in
this state.The same number you can use, on average, who
are not sure where the next meal is coming from simply in
tha t group.Wi th increasing problems wi th the economy,
you could be looking at closer to 40 percent next winter
that your rules are going to impact.Are your rul e s
strong enough to keep more people from dying?And that
is all I have to say.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let's see
if there are questions.
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commissioner Hansen?
Thank you very much.
(The wi tness left the stand.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 MATTHEWS
Publ ic
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Anna Matthews.
ANNA MATTHEWS,
appearlng as a public witness , having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Can you state your full name and spell
your last name for the record, please?
Anna Matthews , M-t-t-
And an address, ma' am?
15926 Sunburst Drive, Caldwell , 83607.
Do you have a statement?
Yes, I do.
Please go ahead.
First off , I have a young man that's golng
to bring up hundreds of petitions that have been signed
from people from all around the state urging the
Commissioners to make the rules stronger.We are golng
to give them to the Commission tonight.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.
THE WITNESS:And next, here a few years
ago I used to live in Council and I was married to a
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 MATTHEWS
Public
different man the time and we was having lot
problems wi th making ends meet because lot
medical bills and December on Christmas vacation
kids were home from school , I had to go into town to do
some things and my husband was working.While I was
gone, someone came and turned our power off.I had not
received any written notices and I had not received any
phone calls from them.When I got home , I found the
power off.I had to scrounge money to get back to town
and get it paid and then we had to wai t another three
hours for people to show up clear from McCall to come and
turn the power back on , and at the time I did not know
about the winter moratorium and this was on a Friday
afternoon and you do have new rules that are helping that
say they can't turn it off on Friday mornings, but they
can still -- they can't turn it off on Friday afternoons
but they still can in the mornings.
Well , sometimes in the country if it I S
shut off in the morning and if family members are
working, by the time they get home , they don t know it I s
been shut off and they have to pay extra , and like in
Council , you have to have someone clear from out of town
come in to turn it back on for you and it costs you a lot
of extra money, and I know that with things
- -
if there
were some more changes and stuff like in Council for the
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Wilder , ID 83676 MATTHEWS
Public
winter moratorium , the winters up there last a lot longer
and are more severe than they are down here and I have a
lot of family and friends that still live up there and
know that they could use the extra time from November to
March to help them make it through the winters.That'
all.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much
and the Commission will include these letters as if they
had been submitted as comments.
THE WITNESS:Okay.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Are there any
questions?
CROS S - EXAMINA T I ON
BY MR. HOWELL:
Ma' am , what was the name of the utility
that shut your power off?
Idaho Power.
Okay, would you support or is it your
testimony that you would like to see the Friday shutoff
eliminated entirely?
I would like to see the Friday eliminated
entirely, make it to where Thursday would be the last day
that they could cut you off.That way, it gives people
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Wilder , ID 83676 MATTHEWS (X)
Public
Friday to get things taken care of, the full day on
Friday, because so many families in the rural areas, it
takes both members,the parents,working and then by the
time they get home from work if it'al ready shut off
it I S hard sometimes to get into town and get turned
back on.
And are you aware that under the
Commission's current rules that all customers receive two
notices , they receive a mailed notice at least seven days
before the --
I never received mine.Of course, up In
some of the rural areas like Council , we have had a lot
of problems wi th mail not being received and I think
that's probably - - I've even had mail that I have sent
out that has not turned up where it's supposed to be in
some of your rural areas.
Okay, thank you.No furtherMR. HOWELL:
questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much
for your statement.
(The witness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ka thryn McNary.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
MATTHEWS (X)
Public
KATHRYN McNARY
appearlng as a public witness, having been duly sworn
was examined and testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name and spell
your last name for the record, please?
Kathryn McNary, M-c-N-a-r-
And ma' am , do you have an address you'd
like to provide the Commission?
1511 Missoula Way, Caldwell , 83605.
And do you have a statement for the
Commission?
Yes, I do.I think it's a great idea that
you guys are putting the information for the moratorium
in wi th the shutoff notices during the winter.That will
be very useful.I disagree with the decision not to make
utilities put the time and date that they will be
shutting off the power on the shutoff notices.I know
some people that had been shut off , like shut off in the
middle of the winter not knowing that there was such
thing.As a matter of fact, I was almost one of them.
My husband happened to be at home.I had
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
McNARY
Public
not received a past due notice, I had not received a
call , and had my husband not been home when they come to
shut the power off , we would have missed out on the
moratorium, and recently I got
- -
I received a call for
my power to be shut off which is great, that's wonderful
but I did not receive a letter until three days later and
usually you re supposed to have received the letter prior
to the phone call.Tha t 's about it.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there
are any questions.
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commi s s i one r
Hansen.
EXAMINATION
BY COMMI S S lONER HANSEN:
When you received the phone call , did they
tell you , though, in the phone call when they were golng
to turn it off?
No, they did not.
They just said
They said this is a courtesy call from
Idaho Power , please call this number and that's what I
got.That was the end of the message and they hung up.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 McNARY (Com)
Public
So you didn't really have a live voice, it
was just a recording?
No.It was a recording, yes.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:Okay, thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you for your
testimony.
THE WITNESS:Thank you.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Krista Ziebarth.
KRISTA ZIEBARTH
appearlng as a public witness , having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Could you state your full name for the
record and spell both your first and last name?
Krista Ziebarth.Kr i s t a , K - r - i - s - t - a ,
Ziebarth , Z - i -t -
Do you have an address, ma' am?
Yes, 7070 Garey Lane , Boise , Idaho
83714.
And do you have a statement for the
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 Z I EBAR TH
Public
Commission?
I do.
Please go ahead.
I think that it is great that you are not
golng to let the utilities shut people off on the day
before a holiday anymore.Getting your power shut off
before a hol iday means choosing between paying huge fees
to turn it on during the holidays or getting cold, but
you should do the same for Fridays.Not shutting off
afternoon gives people a little more time to get the
power back on , but if you work all day and get home to
the powerless house, you have the same choice, a weekend
freezing or spending money you don't have or you wouldn'
have your power shut off in the first place.Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you.Let's see
if there are questions.
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Ret ta Green.
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 Z I EBAR TH
Public
RETTA GREEN
appearlng as a public witness, having been first duly
sworn, testified as follows:
EXAMINATION
BY MR. HOWELL:
Ma' am, would you state your full name and
spell your last for the record?
My name Ret ta Green G-r-e-
And addre s s?
And reside 209A Fifth Street North
Wilder, Idaho.My mailing address is P.O. Box 572,
Caldwell, Idaho.
And do you have a statement for the
Commission?
Yes, I do.About two years ago I had
surgery on my left knee and I was laying flat in bed,
wasn't able to get up and around and the only way I could
get around was wi th the help of a walker.This is in
April and May.On the 14th day of May, they came out to
shut my power off.There was a knock on the door.
course , I have a big shar pei and she was in the house
with me.I hobbled to the door with a walker and I went
up and asked them if I could help them and they said
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
GREEN
Public
we're here to shut your power off.
At that time I had asked my doctor to gl
me a medical certificate because I was not able to drive
and go pay my bi 11 s or go get any money orders and
didn't have any help.I handed him the medical
certificate and he told me that wouldn't do.As it went
, he glve me until the next Saturday to pay my bill of
$87.00 and I asked him how I was supposed to do that when
I just got out of the hospi tal.I got a call from Idaho
Power telling me if the bill was not paid by that Friday,
they would be back out and shutting my power off.
Needless to say, I had to call my friends
at the IPUC office and get them to intervene for me until
I could pay my bill.A medical certificate they do not
honor.They want it every 30 days and if you're flat in
bed for SlX weeks and you can't do anything, it's not
going to do you any good to try to get another 30 -day
permi t because your doctor has already given you one and
they don't like writing those permits up every 30 days.
They say it's a waste of time and it's just burnt paper.
Thank you.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Let's see if there
are any questions.Mr. Howell?
MR . HOWELL:No questions.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Commi s s i one r
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
GREEN
Publ ic
Hansen.
COMMISSIONER HANSEN:No.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:Thank you very much
for coming tonight.
(The wi tness left the stand.
COMMISSIONER SMITH:That concludes the
people who have previously signed up to testify; however
if there is anyone here who has a statement they would
like to give , you may come forward at this time; so
seeing no takers , we wish to thank all of you for your
attendance here tonight, for your participation and your
comments.Your comments will be taken into consideration
as we deliberate on the final rule that the Commission
will adopt and we appreciate your participation and the
hearing is adj ourned.
Thank you.
(The Hearing adj ourned at 7: 40 p. m. )
CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676
COLLOQUY
T I C T I O
This is to certify that the foregoing
proceedings held in the matter of the petition filed by
the Idaho Communi ty Action Network to amend the
Commission utility customer relations rules, commencing
at 7:00 p.m., on Wednesday, October 19 2005, at the
Commission Hearing Room, 472 West Washington , Boise,
Idaho , is a true and correct transcript of said
proceedings and the original thereof for the file of the
Commission.
;:s~
CONSTANCE S. BUCY
Certified Shorthand Repor er
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CSB REPORTING
Wilder , ID 83676 COLLOQUY