19971215_1.docx

MINUTES OF DECISION MEETING
December 15, 1997 - 1:30 p.m.
In attendance were Commissioners Dennis Hansen, Ralph Nelson and Marsha H. Smith and staff members Don Howell, Brad Purdy, Scott Woodbury, Cheri Copsey, Weldon Stutzman, Keith Hessing, Bill Eastlake, Bev Barker, Joe Cusick, Tonya Clark, Birdelle Brown, Wayne Hart, Carolee Hall, David Scott, Terri Carlock, Lynn Anderson, Dave Schunke  and Myrna Walters.
Also in attendance were Joe Miller Attorney at Law; Michael Creamer, Attorney at Law; Jeannette Bowman of Idaho Power Company; Bob Dunbar, Administrator of TRS Fund and Paul Jauregui, Attorney at Law.
Commission President Dennis Hansen called the Decision Meeting to Order.
Items from the Published December 15, 1997 Agenda were discussed and acted upon as follows.
Item 1 on the agenda was consideration of the Minutes of the November 24, 1997 Decision Meeting.
Commissioner Smith made a motion to approve the Minutes as submitted which have been reviewed and corrected. Motion carried unanimously.
Items 2 thru 7 listed on the Consent Agenda portion of the Meeting Agenda were then considered. (Items 3 and 5 were duplicate items).
Commissioner Hansen made a motion to approve staff recommendation on  all items on the Consent Agenda.
Commissioner Smith did have a question. Asked if the effective date on Item 2 was still November 27, since the Decision Memorandum was dated November 25 and wasn’t considered until now?
Bill Eastlake responded that the effective date requested was still November 27.
Commissioners Nelson and Smith then concurred with Commissioner Hansen’s motion.
8. Weldon Stutzman’s December 12, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Case No. GTE-T-97-1 Joint Application of GTE Macro Communications and GTE Northwest for Approval of Interconnection Agreement.
Weldon reviewed the decision memo. Said staff recommends approval upon GTE’s making the same rates available to other companies already having agreements.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the agreement with staff’s caveat. Other Commissioners concurred.
9. Brad Purdy’s December 1, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: MCIMETRO Access Transmission Service Inc. Application for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity and For Authority to Provide Local Exchange Service as a Competitive Local Carrier, Case No. MCM-T-97-1.
Brad Purdy explained that staff had some concerns but they were worked out with the company. Staff is now satisfied that they have enough information and staff will monitor certain aspects of MCI Metro’s performance. Also noted that the company has not yet filed a tariff that meets requirements. Staff recommends approval of the issuance of a certificate.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to grant the certificate; motion passed unanimously.
10. Brad Purdy’s December 1, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Case No. IPC-E-96-26; Idaho Power Public Purposes Case: Application of Rate Fairness Group for Intervenor Funding.
Brad reviewed the decision memo. Total amount requested is about $8,000. Idaho Power Company had a number of objections. It comes down to the Commission’s decision on whether   the Rate Fairness Group has met the intent of the statute and to what extend it is entitled to intervenor funding.
Commissioner Nelson asked Brad about the Rate Fairness Group’s participation in the case?    Didn’t see that they participated in the rehearing. Didn’t remember them after the original conference. What kind of a material contribution did they make to the case? As to the amount in question, thought the itemization as such  was okay, but generally in cases of this nature we have approved less than that.
Commissioner Smith said generally she supports awarding of intervenor funding to encourage participation in all our cases. But she does have concerns about the amount of the request and the amount of the time spent. Thought it was a little high given the type of case. Was stuck between giving an award to encourage participation and concerns with the cost.
Brad Purdy added that there was some procedural goings on in this case that might explain some of their attorney time. Idaho Power did object to the intervention at first. They made some back and forth filings.  
Commissioner Hansen said he agreed with Commissioners Nelson and Smith that it is a bit excessive, in regard to this case. Think as a Commission we don’t want to discourage groups from coming forth and intervening in cases, and realize the expense that this brings about.  So, would make a motion that the Commission grant half the amount requested, which would be $4,045.70. Think that would be fair in regards to this case and be considerate of some of the costs incurred in this. Would throw this out for discussion or call for a vote. Asked for discussion of a substitute motion.
Commissioner Nelson said he had a number that was $5,400. Would make a substitute motion to grant $5,400 in intervenor funding. Explained $100 per hour was the figure he had for legal fees.
Vote was taken on the substitute motion. It passed unanimously.
Commissioner Nelson suggested discussing how the company is going to be reimbursed for this.  Would go with company’s recommendation.
Brad Purdy said he thought that was another issue, which customer class to charge this to? Company has raised this as a concern.
Commissioner Hansen said it was his opinion that they are representing  a senior citizen/retired persons group.
Brad Purdy said as he understood it they were individuals who constitute not only residential but also business customers.
Paul Jauregui, counsel for the group was in attendance and responded that they are all residential customers and one irrigator and one commercial.
Commissioner Nelson suggested that since we are looking at truing it up in the PCA, that this number is so small that we include it before we determine the percentage of increase or decrease to customers in general.  
Commissioner Smith said she would go along with Commissioner Nelson’s recommendation.
11. Brad Purdy’s December 2, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Case No. GNR-E-97-1 Electric Unbundling: Procedure for Handling Small, Non-Regulated Electric Providers.
Keith Hessing explained that three of the companies listed were contacted by phone and all four received information by mail.
Brad said staff will come out with a form for them to fill in . They are not a part of an association of co-ops and municipals. Propose giving them an additional month to get these forms in.
Commissioner Nelson commented that in thinking about this and how we deal with them, it is unclear what enforcement power we have, so would keep that in mind in talking to them. Don’t know what we are going to do if they don’t comply.
Commissioner Smith made a motion to adopt staff recommendation. Motion carried unanimously.
14. Cheri C. Copsey’s December 9, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Joint Application of U S West, Albion Telephone Company and Westel, Inc. for an Original and an Amended Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, Respectively. - Case Nos. USW-T-97-17/WTL-T-97-1, and
15. Cheri C. Copsey’s December 9, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Application of U S West and Fremont Telcom Company for an Original and an Amended Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, Respectively, Case Nos. USW-T-97-17/FRE-T-97-1.
Cheri reviewed the two matters. These two companies not only requested new certificates but also included in their applications, service areas previously unserved.  
Commissioner Nelson asked what staff recommendation has been in granting a certificate in an area where there is no one to be served?  
Joe Cusick responded - in the past, companies have not chosen  to go into areas if there weren’t customers. Since the statute has changed, thought in this case it was appropriate to include these areas. This is an area U S West could have served and may not be as aggressive as the independents.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the two applications.
Motion carried unanimously.
12. Cheri C. Copsey’s December 9, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: In the Matter of Idaho Telephone Association’s Request on behalf of its Members to be Designated as Eligible Telecommunications Carriers - Case No. GNR-T-97-17 and
13. Cheri Copsey’s December 9, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: In the Matter of Century Telephone of Idaho, Inc., Potlatch Telephone Company and Troy Telephone Company’s (dba TDS Telecom) Case Nos CEN-T-97-1, POT-T-97-1, TRO-T-97-1.
Cheri reviewed the memos. There are several carriers requesting this designation. It has to occur before the end of the year or they won’t be able to get USF. Item 12 is the ITA members. Staff has recommended that those requests be granted. In addition to granting those Eligible Telecom Carriers statute, ITA has also requested that there be a three year waiver of certain requirements under the Telecommunications Act of 1996 pursuant to Idaho statute. Staff also recommends granting of that. As part of that designation, Commission is to designate their areas. Each has asked that their authority be designated. Only difference between  Items 12 and 13 is that staff notes that Oregon/Idaho Utilities is also requesting a waiver of single party service for 3 years and staff has recommended that that request be granted. Issue in Item 12 is ETC status and rural telephone carriers whether it will grant a waiver under the Idaho statutes and whether it will designate the various study areas as ETC service areas.  
Commissioner Smith commented that the designation as ETC didn’t mean the same as a USF  support area in our legislation.  Said for the waiver of Oregon/Idaho Utilities, the decision memo says 1 year. Three years might be better. Made a motion to approve staff recommendation and change Oregon-Idaho single party service waiver to 3 years.
Motion carried unanimously.
16. Scott Woodbury’s December 10, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Case No. WWP-G-97-2 Gas Tracker.
Scott reviewed the matter. Potlatch filed a peittion for intervention and comments were received from staff and 3 customers, all opposed to the increase. It is a 16.61% increase for residential. Staff comments point out that IGC and WWP employ different strategies. Staff recommends approval of the application. Company requests a December 15 effective date.  
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve the application; motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Smith asked that the order make it clear it was cost of gas based only.
17. Scott Woodbury’s December 10, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Case No. WWP-E-97-1 MOPS II PILOT.
Scott explained the filing. Said staff would recommend that this be processed by modified procedure. Staff has talked to the company about the requested January 1, effective date and company has agreed to slip that date to February 1.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion that this be processed under modified procedure. Motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Smith asked if this was what they filed in the State of Washington?
Scott replied he thought it was and it tracks their legislative proposal.
18. Birdelle Brown’s December 12, 1997 Decision Memorandum re: Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) Fund Emergency Request for Increased Rates.
Birdelle Brown reviewed her memo. Explained why the shortfall was occuring. If a rate change isn’t granted Mr. Dunbar estimates that in 3 or 4 months the fund will be in the red. Staff is
recommending accepting Mr. Dunbar’s recommendation on an emergency basis and when he files his report in February, for decision in March, Commission can adjust it then.
Commissioner Hansen asked why the Commission needed to make this decision before the annual report is filed? Will we be in the red before February? Staying on the current rates, what month will the fund be in the red?
Bob Dunbar responded - there is $30,245 right now in checking. Will be out of money sometime next month or in February depending on how the revenue comes in, etc. It takes at least 60 days from an order to get this increase to start coming in.
Commissioner Nelson said he was wondering why the MTS rate went up so much higher than local access?
Bob explained. Back when this began the Commission wanted it 50/50. What you see is a reflection on making those balance out after EAS implementation.  Will have to revisit those percentages.  
Commissioner Nelson asked if this was still a valid goal?
Bob Dunbar said it makes  it more difficult for staff to come up with a mix. Most states aren’t trying to balance this. Would have no problem trying to find a simpler way.
Commissioner Smith said she thought it was something the Commission needs to think about.
Commissioner Nelson made a motion to approve Mr. Dunbar’s recommendation.
Motion carried unanimously.
Meeting adjourned.
Dated at Boise, Idaho, this 22nd day of December, 1997.