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Idaho Public Utilities Commission

Case No. ATL-E-08-02

Notice of Public Hearing and Order No. 30561

May 29, 2008

Contact: Gene Fadness [phone], 890-2712

Website:
http://www.puc.idaho.govwww.puc.idaho.gov

Commission will conduct hearing on emergency surcharge

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has suspended for six months a request by Atlanta Power to increase its base electric rates by 60.6 percent, but will hold a public hearing on June 12 to consider the company’s request to implement an emergency surcharge of 54.2 percent to be effective immediately.

Atlanta Power serves about 75 residential and commercial customers in the Elmore County community of Atlanta.

In August of last year, the commission authorized the company to defer its extraordinary costs incurred after the failure of Atlanta Power’s hydroelectric turbine. In March, the commission authorized the company to incur a debt of $110,000 for expenses associated with turbine repair, the purchase of a stand-by diesel generator and other minor expenses.

To retire the debt, Atlanta Power claims it will need to make monthly payments of $3,088.66 for the first 12 months and $2,206.01 for the next 72 months. Under that payment arrangement, the surcharge on customers would be 54.2 percent for the first year and 38.7 percent for the remaining six years. If the commission should later approve the 60.2 percent base rate increase the company is requesting, the size of the surcharge payment would decrease to 33.7 percent for the first year and 24.1 percent for the remaining six years.

For a customer who uses up to 500 kilowatt-hours per month, the surcharge, if granted in full before a base rate adjustment, would increase rates from about $81 per month to $121 per month for the first year and to $110 per month for the remaining six years.

Commission staff will file a report and recommendation on the emergency surcharge request by June 5. Customers can file written comments (on the surcharge portion only) through June 11. The public hearing will begin at 10 a.m. on June 12 in the commission hearing room at 472 W. Washington St. There is no presentation from the commission or the company at the public hearing. The only purpose of the hearing is to hear testimony from customers.

For customers who do not want to drive to Boise, written comments, which can be e-mailed, mailed or faxed to the addresses below, carry as much weight in evidence as oral testimony. The commission’s choice of the Boise hearing location recognizes the nature of the emergency relief requested, the remoteness of the Atlanta community and the calendaring constraints of the commission in scheduling a hearing on such short notice. Later this year, the commission will conduct a hearing on the company’s full rate case application in Atlanta, including a revisiting of the emergency surcharge request.

Comments are accepted via e-mail by accessing the commission’s homepage at
http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the case number (ATL-E-08-02) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to [phone].

A full text of the commission’s order, along with other documents related to this case, is available on the commission’s Web site at
http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov. Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric Cases” and scroll down to the above case number.