20090506Comments.pdf

DONALD L. HOWELL, II
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
IDAHO BAR NO. 3366
(~Ef:
2609 MAY -6 At-1/1: 41
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W. WASHINGTON
BOISE, IDAHO 83702-5983
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF ANNUAL REVISIONS TO )
AVISTA CORPORATION'S SCHEDULE 51 )
REGARDING LINE EXTENSIONS, )
CONVERSIONS AND RELOCATIONS. )
)
)
)
CASE NO. A VU-E-09-3
COMMENTS OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF
The Staff of the Idaho Public Utilties Commission, by and through its Attorney of Record,
Donald L. Howell II, Deputy Attorney General, submits the following comments in response to
Order No. 30787 issued on April 22, 2009.
BACKGROUND
On March 31, 2009, Avista Corporation filed Tariff Advice No. 09-01-E proposing various
revisions to Schedule 51 regarding the Company's line extension, conversion, and relocation
charges. In Order No. 28562 issued November 27,2000, the Commission directed Avista to
anually update its Schedule 51 charges on or before April 1 each year. The purose of the annual
fiing is to update the Company's line extension charges to reflect actual costs incurred in the
previous calendar year. The Company requests an effective date of May 18,2009.
STAFF COMMENTS 1 MAY 6, 2009
STAFF REVIEW
Staffhas reviewed the proposed revised tariff which includes all of the proposed line
extension cost updates. The proposed costs update incorporates all of the changes ordered by the
Commission in Order No. 28562 which stated that the "Company may continue to anually fie an
updated taiff reflecting changes in Basic Costs."
In this update, most line extension costs have increased at least 10 percent. For example,
the fixed cost for an overhead primar service increases 13 percent from $3,323 to $3,774.
Similarly, the fixed cost for an underground secondar also increases about 13 percent from $175
to $199. For a residential development, the service cost per lot increases 12 percent from $523 to
$587. Including the service cost with primar, secondar and transformer costs, the total cost per
lot increases approximately 9 percent from $2,090 to $2,288. While most of the line extension
costs and charges have increased, transformer costs are down approximately 5 percent for
overhead transformers and approximately 11 percent for pad-mounted transformers. Staffhas
consistently seen transformer costs increase each year and this is the first update in the past few
years in which Staff has seen a decrease in transformer costs. While most of the cost updates
appear to be a substantial increase from last year, Staff believes these cost updates are reasonable
because they reflect the actual costs incurred by the Company in the previous calendar year.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff asserted that updating line extension costs anually results in new customers bearing
their fair share of extension costs, rather than burdening existing ratepayers with the cost of
serving new customers. Therefore, Staff recommends that the Commission approve Avista's
proposed revisions to Schedule 51 - Line Extension, Conversion and Relocation Schedule.
Respectfully submitted this th(ó day of May 2009.
Æ~i~
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff: TJ Golo
i:umisc/comments/avue09.3dhtj
STAFF COMMENTS 2 MAY 6, 2009
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE THIS 6TH DAY OF MAY 2009, SERVED
THE FOREGOING COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF, IN CASE
NO. AVU-E-09-03, BY MAILING A COpy THEREOF, POSTAGE PREPAID, TO THE
FOLLOWING:
PATRICK EHRBAR
SR REGULATORY ANALYST
A VISTA CORPORATION
POBOX 3727
SPOKANE W A 99220
E-MAIL: pat.ehrbar(ßavistacorp.com
KELLY NORWOOD
VICE PRESIDENT - STATE & FED. REG.
A VISTA UTILITIES
PO BOX 3727
SPOKANE WA 99220
E-MAIL: kelly.norwood(ßavistacorp.com
Jo~
SECRETARY
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE