MALADOFF.docx

DECISION MEMORANDUM
TO:COMMISSIONER NELSON
COMMISSIONER SMITH
COMMISSIONER HANSEN
MYRNA WALTERS
TONYA CLARK
DON HOWELL
STEPHANIE MILLER
DAVE SCHUNKE
BEVERLY BARKER
GARY RICHARDSON
WORKING FILE
FROM:BRAD PURDY
JUDY STOKES
DATE:MARCH 15, 1996
RE:PACIFICORP’S PROPOSED CLOSURE OF THE UP&L MALAD OFFICE
On February 12, 1996, the Commission conducted a decision meeting during which it discussed the memorandum submitted on February 9, 1996, in this case discussing the proposed closure of Utah Power & Light Company’s (UP&L) Malad field office and the petition received by the Commission and signed by 813 of UP&L’s twenty-two hundred local customers protesting the proposed closure.  As noted in the earlier decision memorandum, the petition asserted that the Malad office provides a “vital link between this community and the power company.”  
After discussing the matter, the Commission directed Staff to investigate the proposed closure and determine what effect it would have on the quality of service provided to UP&L’s customers in the area.  Staff has concluded its investigation, and, as discussed below, believes that the closure would not adversely affect the service provided to customers in the area.  
The Malad office currently has three employees; a customer service representative, a part-time meter reader and a local agent/lineman.  The lineman has been seriously ill for some time and the position has been, essentially, vacant.  That position has now been filled by another person.  Crews are typically dispatched from Tremonton, Utah, approximately 35 miles south of Malad.  In the event of emergency, crews can be dispatched from Preston.  UP&L intends to close the Malad office on March 22, 1996.  
Staff investigation has determined that about 85% of the approximately twenty-two hundred customers served by the Malad office, already do business by mail or telephone.  The Company has established a pay station at the Thomas Food Center in downtown Malad.  This pay station will be available to the public between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday for customers who choose to pay their bill in person.
The lineman/agent currently stationed in Malad will continue to reside and operate in the same area.  All aspects of the Company’s local operations will remain unchanged except that the customer service representative position will be eliminated and the Malad office closed to the public.  The area Manager, Bruce Jensen, is located in Preston.
Staff asked the Company to respond to the complaints of a number of local customers that they experience an excessive number of outages.  The Company provided an outage report for 1995 showing the number of actual outages. That report indicates that there were five sustained line outages.  There were 23 “momentary” outages occurring during the year.  Momentary outages are otherwise known as power blips or outages lasting for less than one second.  The Company notes that, although these outages are brief in duration, they do tend to cause electronic clocks to reset.  UP&L states that the momentary outages are a result of a circuit breaker in the substation responding to a temporary fault or short-circuit by opening the circuit and then automatically reclosing.  The system is designed to operate in this manner to protect equipment and prevent outages of longer duration.  The Company contends that it does not know what causes these temporary faults but believes that external factors such as wind, lightening, tree branches and animals all contribute to the problem.  UP&L states that it takes its responsibility to provide quality service very seriously and is in the process of assessing the entire Malad area to determine if the existing system has fallen below acceptable standards.  The Company conducts an annual review of all areas to determine how best to budget its ongoing maintenance needs.  UP&L states that the local agent now living in the Malad area will respond to many of the local citizen’s needs for service.  When additional resources are needed, the Company will continue to have crews in Tremonton, Lava and Preston available.  The Staff engineer assigned to this investigation, Don Oliason, has been unavailable, and therefore, has been unable to review the information submitted by the Company.
Staff determined that the Company has not provided any written information to its customers in its Idaho service territory.  Instead, it has relied on press releases and hand out cards at the local offices and brief information in a bill stuffer.  Staff believes these efforts are insufficient, and may in fact given rise to incorrect customer assumptions.
Staff has asked UP&L to mail information to all its Malad customers informing them of the closure and explaining how the closure will affect the manner in which they interact with the Company.  This information will include the Company’s 24-hour, toll-free number for calls originating outside Malad and a local number listed on customer’s monthly statements to report outages, request emergency services, or inquire about their bill.  This information will also provide the location of the pay station.
Idaho Code § 61-302 provides that
Every public utility shall “furnish, provide and maintain such service, instrumentalities, equipment and facilities as shall promote the safety, health, comfort and convenience” of its employees, customers and the public. . . .
Idaho Code § 61-520 provides the Commission with explicit authority to establish reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, or service to be provided by public utilities.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Company be required to provide written information to all its Idaho customers, including those in Malad.
Staff believes, that although the customers in the Malad area may have legitimate concerns about the quality of service they receive, the Company appears to be providing reasonable customer service and has taken reasonable steps to maintain service despite closure of the local office.  Moreover, the physical closure of the Malad office should not affect the quality of service currently being provided.  The pay station will be available for more hours than the office was for the purpose of making payments.  A lineman will remain in Malad and will continue to perform the same functions as always.
Based on the foregoing, Staff recommends that the Commission take no further action with respect to the proposed closure and the Petition in Opposition.  Staff will continue its informal investigation of service quality and report back to the Commission its findings at a later date.
Commission Decision
Does the Commission wish to take further action in this matter?  If so, what?
Brad Purdy
vld/M:Maladoff.bp