20010220.min.doc

MINUTES OF DECISION MEETING
FEBRUARY 20, 2001 - 1:30 PM

In attendance were Commissioners Dennis Hansen, Marsha Smith, and Paul Kjellander.

Commissioner Hansen called the meeting to order. The first order of business was APPROVAL OF MINUTES of the January 29, 2001 Decision Meeting. Commissioner Hansen made a motion that the minutes be approved. A vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously.

The next order of business was approval of the CONSENT AGENDA, items 2-8. Commissioner Hansen asked if there were any questions or need for discussion on any of the items. Commissioner Smith stated she had questions on item 4 and item 6. Regarding item 4, she stated she agreed that the filing by Bonneville County is non-jurisdictional. She questioned if the filing could be accepted for informational purposes, however, given the fact Staff has worked with the county, the county made the changes requested, and it re-filed the tariff. She said that after going through all the work, now is not the time to say to them "never mind." Joe Cusick agreed with her recommendation.

Regarding item 6, Commissioner Smith noted the company had asked for a shorter comment period, and she questioned why Staff didn't want to shorten the 21-day period and why Staff didn't think 14 days would be enough. Scott Woodbury replied that Staff believed the matter was of sufficient importance that it wanted to provide everybody the opportunity to comment on it. Mr. Woodbury said he did speak to Larry Ripley and he had no problem with the extension of one week. Commissioner Smith said she thought the matter was important, too, but she didn't know if 21 days would be any better than 14 days in terms of getting responses. Mr. Woodbury replied 21 days was standard, and since the matter was of significant importance, Staff recommended the standard number of days.

There was no further discussion and Commissioner Hansen moved for approval of the Consent Agenda items with Staff's recommendations. There was no discussion on the motion. A vote was taken on the motion and it carried unanimously.

Commissioner Hansen said that he would like to compliment the PUC staff members for conserving energy. He noted one staff member, Lynn Anderson, was found reading by sunlight in his office. He stated the PUC is trying to set an example and is going to be monitoring its utility bills each month to see how it is doing in its conservation efforts. He then adjourned the meeting.

Dated this ____ day of March, 2001.

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COMMISSION SECRETARY