20080114Reconsideration petition.pdf

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLACATION
OF P ACIFICORP BDA ROCKY MOUTINAIN
POWER FOR APPROVAL OF CHANGES
TO ITS ELECTRICAL SERVICE SHEDULES
CASE NO PAC-E-07~1û J~N \ 4 f;lî 8~ \;i
~ '~ûBl\C .cORDER NO 30482 HI Ct'OM~t\SSlO,
UiiU'í\
Honorable commissioners I would like to respectfully ask for your reconsideration of
your majority opinion under commission rule 341 concernng my petition for intervenor
funding. In case# PAC -E-07 -05 order no 30482 for the following reasons:
As a private citizen, I did not have the resources to expand on this case as the other
intervening parties and staff did. By refusing me of any compensation for my expenses,
you are saying that a private citizen of limited means need not be involved as an
intervenor in the future.
Although my findings were the same as the commission staff, I arived at them
independently of the staff by studying the company testimony. My testimony validated
the staff findings.
My lawyer, Kevin Homer, paricipated in all the conference calls it took to work out the
agreement by all paries. He also complied with all commission requests in a timely and
professional manner.
I did not expand on my testimony or attend the technical hearing based on the agreement
arrived at from an earlier date. I felt the agreement arrived at was best for my interest.
The fact that my lawyer did paricipate in settlement negotiations, and I signed the
settlement which the commission ultimately accepted. I feel this shows an equal material
contribution to that of the other paries in reaching the final judgment in this case.
I also checked the company service centers for the filing in this case. In past cases, the
company was found not to have the filing easily available to its customers case# PAC-E-
02-01. The fact that I checked the offices was something that no other party did in this
case.
As for public awareness (if you look at the attendance at the Rexburg workshop as
compared to the attendance at the Rigby Public Hearing) you will find that without me .
taking the time to alert the media to the public hearngs, public paricipation would have
been low. You are not required to advertise your hearings in the same way local
governents do; public awareness is always low because of a lack of information. There
are no major news outlets that are impacted by a Rocky Mountain Power case. Even
though Gene Fadness was timely with the press releases, it was not until I called the local
media outlets that media coverage was given for this case. When I called different news
outlets only the Post Register was even aware this case was happening.
For this case I went out and found a lawyer willng to work with me on this case. The
only reason I acquired an attorney was because of past criticism from the commission on
the quality of my legal training and help. I had also hoped to begin bringing more
competent lawyers in to the area of utilty law in Eastern Idaho. If you look at the history
of utilty cases concerning Eastern Idaho, the only truly trained and competent lawyers
available are Randy Budge and Eric Olsen. Because of their commitments, they always
are representing the same clients. My lawyer, Kevin Homer complied with every request
and kept all my filings acceptable to the commission. At the Rigby hearing, he asked
more questions of the witness than the commission did. The fault in the weakness of my
case lies with me.
There was a financial hardship placed on me by paricipating in this case at least two
times. I had no money in my checking account. When it came time to go to the technical
hearing in Boise, I honestly did not have the money to go. The only reason I got involved
in this case, was I felt obligated because I had signed off in a previous agreement that
involved this case # PAC-E-05-01 in which I was a intervenor. Believe me if I had not
been a signiory in that case, I would not have entered in this one because of my lack
financial resources. At this time, I do not seek any recovery of my financial personal loss,
but whatever monies are left in the case should go to my lawyer for his expenses and
time. I would state that the weakness of my case lies with me not Kevin Homer. This is
only the second time I have applied for intervenor funding. The effort is so that my
lawyer might receive payment for his services in this case.
I never really expected to have my personal time paid. The whole problem of public
utilty intervention as you, the commissioners, noted that there was over $91,000 in
intervention claims and only $40,000 to be given out to satisfy those claims. This shows
how inadequate the system is and unless a way is found to address this problem, you can
count on far less public paricipation in the future
I did my best to contribute to this case. As a private citizen, I was committed to do my
duty. I went out and did my best to contribute to this case. I feel that the commission
does have the flexibilty to award my lawyer some funds in this case for the reasons I
have stated. If you want a private citizen to paricipate in the future interventions you
need to find a way to allow for private citizens to intervene without risking their financial
well being. I wil no longer be able to bear the financial risk of being an intervenor in
future cases. The sad fact is that I tried to help my fellow citizens. If I had robbed or
murdered one of them, I would have had all the legal help I needed. But.. . because I stood
up for them and myself, I will pay the consequences. I know that there are some funds
left to award. Should you find it possible in my petition for reconsideration, I than you
in advance for any recompense.~~.
Timothy Shurz
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Delivered to: 13y US M ai (
DEAN BROCKBANK, Esq.
Senior Counsel
Rocky Mountain Power
201 S. Main Street, Suite 2300
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
e-mail: dean.brockbanl((ß)pacificorp.com
DATA REQUEST RESPONSE CENTER
PACIFICORP
825 N. E. Multnomah, Suite 2000
Portland, OR 97232
e-mail: datarequest(fpacificorp.com
JAMES R. SMITH
MONSANTO COMPANY
P. O. Box 816
Soda Springs, ID 83276
e-mail: jim.r.smith(fmonsanto.com
ERIC L. OLSEN, ESQ.
RACINE OLSON NYE BUDGE BAILEY
P. O. Box 1391
Pocatello, ID 83201-1391
e-mail: elo(fracinelaw.net
CONLEY E. WARD, Esq.
MICHAEL C. CREAMER, Esq.
GIVENS PURSLEY LLP
P. O. Box 2720
Boise,ID 83701-2720
e-mail: cew(fgivenspursely.com
BRIAN DICKMAN"
Manager, ID Regulatory Affairs
Rocky Mountain Power
201 S. Main Street, Suite 2300
~ ,
Salt Lake City, UT 8411 1
e-mail: brian.dickman(fpacificorp.com
RANDALL C. BUDGE, Esq.
Racine Olson Nye Budge & Bailey
P. O. Box 1391
Pocatello, ID 83201-1391
e-mail: rcb(fracinelaw.net
MAURICE BRUBAKER
KATIE IVERSON
Brubaker & Associates
1215 Fern Ridge Parkway, Suite 208
St. Louis, MO 63141
e-mail: mbrubaker(fconsultbai.com
kiverson((consul tbai. com
ANTHONY Y ANKEL
29814 Lake Road
Bay Vilage, OH 44140
e-mail: yankel(fattbi.com
DENNIS E. PESEAU, Ph.D.
Utilty Resources, Inc.
1500 Libert Street S. E., Suite 250
Salem, OR 97302
e-mail: dpeseau(fexcite.com
BRAD M. PURDY, Esq.
2019 North 17th Street
Boise, ID 83702
e-mail: bmpurdy(fhotmaiL.com
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