IPCE974.docx

SCOTT WOODBURY
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE,  IDAHO  83720-0074
[phone]
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W WASHINGTON
BOISE ID  83702-5983
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR AN ACCOUNTING ORDER AUTHORIZING THE AMORTIZATION OF CERTAIN GENERAL PLANT ACCOUNTS.
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CASE NO. IPC-E-97-4
COMMENTS OF THE
COMMISSION STAFF
COMES  NOW the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission, by and through its Attorney of record, Scott Woodbury, Deputy Attorney General, and in response to the Notice of Application, Notice of Modified Procedure and Notice of Comment/Protest Deadline in Case No. IPC-E-97-4 issued on April 18, 1997, submits the following comments.
Idaho Power Company (IPC) requests an accounting order authorizing
the Company to amortize certain general plant accounts.  The accounts included in the
proposed change include the following:

                   ACCOUNT                   DESCRIPTION
                         391.10             Office Furniture & Equipment
                         391.20             Computer Equipment (Excluding Mainframe Hardware)
                         393.00             Stores Equipment
                         394.00             Tools, Shop & Garage Equipment
                         395.00             Laboratory Equipment
                         397.00             Communication Equipment
                         398.00             Miscellaneous Equipment
The proposal would allow IPC to account for additions and retirements at
the vintage level for each account rather than on an individual item basis.  The items
would be recorded at the vintage level and amortized over the current life for the account.
When each vintage group in the primary account becomes fully depreciated, the original
cost of the vintage group is retired from plant in service.  No interim retirements would
be recorded.
The Company’s request is revenue neutral at this time since the accounts
will be amortized using the currently approved depreciation rates.  Embedded plant that
is fully depreciated will be removed from the books by crediting the asset account and
debiting the reserve account, leaving rate base unchanged.
The proposed accounting for general plant in service at the vintage level
is less labor intensive than tracking each item specifically.  This proposal is consistent
with the Company’s goals of reducing costs and committing employees time to those
activities that increase efficiency.  The plant items are high in volume but low in cost
for each unit.  The accounts listed above totaled $49,888,056 at December 31, 1996 or
2.0% of the $2,538,019,016 total plant in service as of that date.  There were 55,364
total units in all the accounts listed above as of  December 31, 1996, for an average
price for each unit of $901.
The Commission has earlier approved this accounting treatment for the
same accounts for Washington Water Power in Order No. 25102 regarding Case No.
WWP-E-93-9.  The Company appears to have adequate compensating internal controls
to prevent large losses to occur in the accounts in question to go undetected.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends approval of the change in accounting and depreciation
for these accounts.  It is a cost and labor saving measure that is revenue neutral for rate
base and depreciation.
DATED at Boise, Idaho, this              day of May 1997.
______________________________________
Scott Woodbury
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff:  
Kent Schneider
SW:KS3:gdk/umisc/comments/ipce974.swk