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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20040621Stamper Direct.pdfBrad M. Purdy Attorney at Law Bar No. 3472 2019 N. 17th St. Boise, ID. 83702 (208) 384-1299 FAX: (208) 384-8511 ~y(?ghotmail. com Attorney for Petitioner Community Action Partnership Association of Idaho F~ECEIVED riJ ; L L. ! 2 nu~ JUi'a 2 1 Pelt 3: ,. . .. " .... , i,-,' l'iU tULjLiL UTILITIES COr'it1ISSiON BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION11 OF AVISTA CORPORATION FOR THE 12 AUTHORITY TO INCREASE ITS RATES AND CHARGES FOR ELECTRIC AND 13 NATURAL GAS SERVICE TO ELECTRIC AND NATURAL GAS CUSTOMERS IN THE14 STATE OF IDAHO. CASE NOS. AVU-04- VU -04- COMMUNITY ACTION P ARTNERSBIP ASSOCIATION OF IDAHO DIRECT TESTIMONY OF LARRY STAMPER ..-..-r-r...."........... .........,............r.. ........,.,. TTT ......,.~ T . -r..-r..TT ............ . ... r-r....,-r.. I. INTRODUCTION Please state your name and business address. My name is Larry Stamper and I am the Weatherization Program Director for Community Action Partnership (CAP) located at 124 New 6th St., Lewiston, ID. 83501. Please provide a brief description of your organization? CAP is one of six CAPs statewide. We are a non profit organization that provides services to low income citizens in Region 1 and 2 of North Idaho. Region 1 includes the counties ofBenewah, Bonner, Boundary, Kootenai, and Shoshone. Region 2 includes the counties of Clearwater, Idaho, Latah, Lewis and Nez Perce. Our service area starts just north New Meadows and runs approximately 350 miles north to the Canadian border, encompassing the entire North Idaho Panhandle. CAP? Please describe the scope of your relevant work experience and responsibilities with As Weatherization Program Director, I am responsible for providing energy conservation measures to low income households within our two-region service area, with priority given to elderly, disabled and households with "high" energy burdens, as determined by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare. I have worked for CAP for more than twenty years, seventeen as the Weatherization Program Director. Although I am responsible for a large service area, I am a hands-on Director who is frequently in the field performing energy audits on income eligible homes. As such, I personally observe the daily struggles that low income families must endure. This might appear as small children wrapped in coats to stay warm in a poorly heated, drafty home. It might entire families living in only one room of the home because they cannot afford to heat the entire structure. I am often contacted by the elderly who tell me they cannot afford to purchase their medication because they do not have any money left after paying for shelter, utilities and food. ..-..-r-r...."........... """""............-r, """""'TTT""""~ T . -r..-r..TT""'""""", r-r....,-r.. Often, I observe individuals who have installed alternative forms of heat into their homes that constitutes a serious safety and health risk, for example, un-vented oil, kerosene and propane heaters, improperly installed wood stoves, etc. These desperately fashioned heating devices are particularly harmful to the elderly, infIrm and to children, but the choice of those using them is to either accept the risk of exposure to toxins and fIre, or to freezing. II. AVISTA WEATBERIZATIONPROGRAM Please describe the programs funded by A VISTA? CAP receives funding from A VISTA to provide energy conservation measures to electrically heated homes of low income customers located within AVISTA's Idaho service area. Pursuant to its contract with A VISTA, CAP is allowed up to 15% of the subtotal for health and safety measures and 15% for Administrative costs. There are two specific programs that A VISTA funds. The fIrst is the regular weatherization program. With this program, CAP is reimbursed for major weatherization measures such as attic, wall, and floor insulation, duct and pipe wrap, as well as infiltration (i. air leakage). In order for a home to qualify for funding under this program, it must have an " number, which is the total kilowatt usage per year, of at least 4000, and at least one major measure addressed (e., attic insulation). As discussed later, I propose that this R number requirement be removed from the contract with A VISTA. The reason I make this recommendation is that many customers who are in need of weatherization and qualify as low income, are relatively low electricity users. Seniors, in particular, are quite frugal in their consumption of electricity. The R number is provided by A VISTA and is the reason why many homes with alternative heat sources do not qualify for this program. The second A VISTA program is the "Energy Exchange Program." This program pays for the change-out of electric space heat and water heat to natural gas. Under this program, CAP is reimbursed 00% of actual costs, but also requires an "R number" of at least 4000. This ..-..-r-r...."........... .........,............-r... """"",.TTT ......,.~ T . -'-"-'-"TT ............. ... r-r.."'-r.. means that to qualify for weatherization, the household must consume more than 4000 kilowatt hours per month. Please describe the typical housing structure that low income A VISTA customers reside ID. Approximately 55% of the housing stock are mobile homes. These homes are generally in fair condition, but because of the nature of their construction, they are highly energy inefficient. As mentioned, they often have had added to them a secondary, unsafe, heat source. Because of problems associated with the use of aluminum wiring, the inability to install wall insulation, and A VISTA's R number criterion, these homes usually do not qualify for A VISTA' regular weatherization program and receive no funding from the Company. This places additional burden on D.E. resources which have already been drastically reduced based on the 2000 Census. In 2003, CAP was granted federal funding of 128 homes in the Region 2 area and 185 homes in Region 1. For 2004, CAP's funding will allow weatherization of only 93 homes in Region 2 and 187 in Region 1. This does not include any A VISTA funding. Is there a backlog of households eligible for weatherization funding under the A VISTA weatherization pro gram? Yes. CAP is unable to advertise the weatherization program because it has already exhausted its allocated monies. To advertise would only provide false hope to those in need. Because of the small number of households in some counties, CAP has a very large waiting list. For example, in Lewis County, CAP has more than 60 households on its waiting list and is projecting only 5 households weatherized per year in that county. In Idaho County, there are approximately 100 households on the waiting list and we are projecting weatherizing only 20 per year in that county. Clearwater County is our largest county with approximately 145 households waiting weatherization. We project being able to ..-..T-r...."........... """""""'.......-r, ........,.,. TTT ......,.~ T . -.-..-r..TT ............ . ... r-r....,-r.. weatherize only 10 units per year in that county. Clearwater County was hit hard, economically, over the last few years when the Potlatch plywood mill was shut down. We have more people on our priority list than we have available federal funds for these three counties alone. Occasionally, CAP attempts to update its waiting lists and remove those whose income eligibility has lapsed. Some of those customers have given up seeking weatherization due to their perception that it will never occur and the inconvenience of being required to re-verify their eligibility every year. Are there any program changes that you recommend? Yes. I propose changing the current contract between A VISTA and CAP to add windows and doors as allowable weatherization measures funded by A VISTA toward meeting the S.I.R. ("savings to investment ration ) of 1.0 and to allow for base load measures to be included. Base load measures include non-heating or cooling measures such as energy efficient appliances. In 2004 alone, 9449 households qualified for LlHEAP making them also eligible for AVISTA's weatherization program. There are approximately 21 000 households currently eligible for A VIST A weatherization. At current funding levels and program design, it would take nearly 70 years to meet all the needs in North Idaho. In light of this, do you recommend increasing AVISTA's low income weatherization level of funding? Yes. I propose increasing A VISTA'S funding to the weatherization program from the current 2004 level of$108 208 (Idaho only) to $490 000. What is the basis for this recommendation? Assuming the incorporation of my proposed program design changes (to include base load measures as allowable costs, eliminate the R number requirement, etc.), CAP would be able ..-..-r-r...."........... """'..,............-r, ........,.,. TTT ......,.~ T . ..-....-..TT ............ . , r-r....,..-.. to weatherize 123 A VISTA units in North Idaho. This constitutes an average of 10 per month at an average cost of $4 000 per unit and a total budget of $490 000 annually. How does this recommended funding level compare to the Idaho Power low income funding level recently approved by the Commission? Idaho Power has 61 000 customers below 150% of the federal poverty guidelines in its Idaho service area. VISTA has 25 000 such customers. Thus, the $490 000 budget for VISTA would be proportionate to the $1.2 million Idaho Power budget. III. CONCLUSION Would you please summarize your recommendations to the Commission? Yes. I recommend the following: Make necessary changes to the A VISTA weatherization program so that it correlates to D.E. regulations and includes addressing all measures which show an S.I.R. of 1.0 or better. This includes weatherization of doors and windows and base load measures. Increase A VISTA's low incomer weatherization funding level to $490.000; Amend the weatherization program to qualify all A VISTA households using electricity as the primary heat source for weatherization, no matter what secondary fuel source is being used. People with all electric heat typically install secondary heat sources because of the relatively high cost of electricity as a heating source. Amend the weatherization program to eliminate the R number requirement. Again, all households with electricity as the primary heat source should automatically qualify for weatherization. Does this conclude your testimony? Yes it does. ..-..-r-r...."........... """""............-r, """"""TTT""""~ T . ..-....-..TT""'........, r-r....,..-..c::. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 21st day of June 2004, I caused to be served the foregoing DIRECT TESTIMONY OF LARRY STAMPER on the following, in the manner indicated. Scott Woodbury John Hammond Idaho Public Utilities Commission 472 W. Washington St. Boise, ID. 83720-0074 (J S. Mail, postage prepaid (;kHand delivered (J Facsimile (J Overnight mail David J. Meyer Senior Vice President and General Counsel A vista Corporation O. Box 3727 1411 E. Mission Ave., MSC- Spokane, WA. 99220-3727 (J S. Mail, postage prepaid (J Hand delivered (J Facsimile Overnight mail Kelly Norwood V ice President A vista Corporation O. Box 3727 1411 E. Mission Ave., MSC- 7 Spokane, WA. 99220-3727 (J S. Mail, postage prepaid (J Hand delivered (J Facsimile Overnight mail Dennis E. Pesseau, Ph. Utility Resources, Inc. 1500 Liberty St. SE, Ste. 250 Salem, OR 97302 (J S. Mail, postage prepaid (J Hand delivered (J Facsimile (Ii Overnight mail Conley E. Ward 601 W. Bannock St. Boise, ID. 83702 Charles L.A. Cox EVANS, KEANE 111 Main St. O. Box 659 Kellogg, ID. 83837 (J S. Mail, postage prepaid Hand delivered (J Facsimile (J Overnight mail (J S. Mail, postage prepaid (J Hand delivered (J Facsimile 94 Overnight mail ~~~,- .L-Brad M. PUrdy ,.....-r..-...."........... """""""'.......-r'a ........,.,. TTT ......,.~ T . ..-..-r..TT ............ . , r-r.."'-r..