971202.docx

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER HANSEN
COMMISSIONER NELSON
COMMISSIONER SMITH
MYRNA WALTERS
TONYA CLARK
DON HOWELL
STEPHANIE MILLER
DAVE SCHUNKE
KEITH HESSING
DAVID SCOTT
WORKING FILE
FROM:BRAD PURDY
DATE:December 2, 1997
RE:CASE NO. GNR-E-97-1
ELECTRIC UNBUNDLING: PROCEDURE FOR HANDLING SMALL, NON-REGULATED ELECTRIC PROVIDERS.
It was recently discovered by Staff that there are four non-profit providers of electricity operating in the state of Idaho, with customer bases ranging from 50 to 800 customers, were not served with copies of the Commission’s Notices or Orders in this case. Those providers include East End Mutual Electric Cooperative, Farmers Cooperative, City of Minidoka and Riverside Electric Cooperative.  It was initially believed that these electric providers were exempt from the requirements of the unbundling legislation because they had less than 1,000 customers. Upon further investigation, however, it appears that with respect to municipals and cooperatives, the 1,000 customer threshold was designed to apply only to Inland Power and Light Company. Consequently, there are no other municipal or cooperative electric providers in the state of Idaho who are exempt from the requirements of the unbundling legislation.
Because of the late date and the fact that the four electric providers in question are so small, Staff proposes that the Commission issue an Order (1) granting these four providers an additional one month beyond the December 18, 1997 deadline in which to provide their unbundling reports, and; (2) that the Commission accept an abbreviated report form from these providers which satisfies the minimum requirements of the unbundling legislation, i.e., that the providers separate their costs into generation, transmission, distribution and other.  Another abbreviated filing requirement would be to provide the number of customers and associated annual energy consumption by voltage level of service (i.e. transmission, primary and secondary).  Staff believes that this would satisfy the spirit and intent of the unbundling legislation. Staff has discussed with or mailed information concerning this proposal to all four of the previously mentioned providers.
Commission Decision:
Does the Commission wish to issue an Order allowing an additional month for these providers to file their unbundling report in the abbreviated format proposed by the Commission Staff?

Brad Purdy
cm\M:gnre971.bp3