DR 98-043
New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc.
1998-99 Demand Side Management Filing
Order Approving Interventions and Procedural Schedule
O R D E R N O. 22,937
May 15, 1998
APPEARANCES: Dean, Rice & Kane by Anne Davidson,
Esq., for the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc.;
Heidi Kroll for the Governor's Office of Energy and
Community Services; Kenneth E. Traum for the Office of the
Consumer Advocate; and Michelle A. Caraway and James J.
Cunningham, Jr. for the Staff of the New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On March 23, 1998, the New Hampshire Electric
Cooperative, Inc. (NHEC) filed with the New Hampshire Public
Utilities Commission (Commission) a petition for approval of
its Demand Side Management (DSM) Program for the program
year July 1, 1998 through June 30, 1999. Included in the
petition is the supporting testimony of Bob Reals, Manager
of Energy Services, and Heather Saladino, Manager of Rates &
Finances.
NHEC proposes a DSM Program budget of $1,206,059
with $827,332 allocated for residential programs and
$378,726 allocated for commercial/industrial programs. NHEC
intends to offer a program portfolio of the same ten
programs approved by the Commission for the 1997-98 program
year with only minor program modifications. NHEC proposes
to change its current DSM surcharge for its residential
class from $0.00174 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) to $0.00159/kWh,
for its general class from $0.00231/kWh to $0.00203/kWh, and
for the primary general class from $0.00270/kWh to
$0.00174/kWh.
By an Order of Notice issued April 3, 1998, the
Commission scheduled a prehearing conference and first
technical session for April 29, 1998, set deadlines for
intervention requests and objections thereto, outlined a
proposed procedural schedule, and required the Parties and
Commission Staff (Staff) to summarize their positions with
regard to the filing for the record. On April 20, 1998, the
Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) filed a Petition to
Intervene. On April 23, 1998, the Governor's Office of
Energy and Community Services (ECS) filed a Motion for
Limited Intervention. No party objected to either CLF's or
ECS's petitions and the Commission granted their
interventions at the prehearing conference. The Office of
the Consumer Advocate (OCA) is a statutorily recognized
intervenor.
At the prehearing conference, NHEC, ECS, OCA and
Staff agreed to the proposed procedural schedule as outlined
in the Order of Notice and as follows:
Data Requests by Staff and May 4, 1998
Intervenors
Company Data Responses May 13, 1998
Technical Session May 20, 1998
Testimony by Staff and May 27, 1998
Intervenors (by fax)
Data Requests by the Company May 29, 1998
Data Responses by Staff and June 3, 1998
Intervenors
Settlement Conference, 10 AM June 5, 1998
Filing of Settlement Agreement, if any June 10, 1998
Hearing, 10 AM June 17, 1998.
At the prehearing conference, in accordance with
the Order of Notice, NHEC, ECS, OCA and Staff stated their
positions with regard to the filing for the record. NHEC
stated that it has presented the Commission with a DSM
Program similar to the one approved by the Commission last
year. In order to recover costs associated with its
program, NHEC has revised its DSM surcharges which reflect
rate decreases for all of its rate classes. The DSM
surcharges also reflect a carry-over from last year's
program of approximately $260,000.
ECS stated that it supports the types and range of
programs proposed by NHEC. ECS also stated that it
encourages NHEC to consolidate its efforts regarding market
transformation with regional and national initiatives to
take advantage of possible synergies. Additionally, ECS
stated that its concern that approval of underspending of
NHEC's DSM Program budget to effect rate decreases would set
a bad precedent for other utilities in subsequent program
years. The OCA stated that as a preliminary position, it
has no major problems with NHEC's filing. However, should
NHEC eventually prevail at the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission in its case against Public Service Company of New
Hampshire regarding the Amended Partial Requirements
Agreement, then the OCA believes that the cost-effectiveness
of NHEC's proposed programs will significantly change due to
lower avoided costs.
Staff stated that its concerns relate to the
interplay between NHEC's current rate case and its effects
on this DSM Program filing, whether NHEC intends to recover
lost revenues and how NHEC developed its budget for the
1998-99 program year.
CLF was not present at the prehearing conference
but asked Staff to state that it currently has no position
but that CLF intends to fully participate in the docket and
in the technical session scheduled to immediately follow the
prehearing conference.
II. COMMISSION ANALYSIS
We find the proposed procedural schedule to be
reasonable and will, therefore, approve it for the duration
of the case. In so far as ECS's request to participate in
the docket is concerned, we note that our rules no longer
specify what limited intervention status entails, though RSA
541-A:32 gives us the authority to impose conditions on
participation in the proceeding. We take at face value
ECS's request in this docket for limited intervention to
participate "in technical / settlement sessions, and
submitting brief written comments, if appropriate" and will
grant their request. To the extent they wish to offer
detailed comments on the specifics of NHEC's or Staff's or
any other party's testimony or filings, as they have done in
some other recent DSM proceedings, they should submit
prefiled direct testimony and be subject to
cross-examination, which would amount to full intervenor
status. We appreciate ECS's willingness to take the time to
participate in our dockets and encourage them to continue to
do so.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that CLF's Petition to Intervene and
ECS's Motion for Limited Intervention are GRANTED; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that the procedural schedule
delineated above is APPROVED.
By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New
Hampshire this fifteenth day of May, 1998.
Douglas L. Patch Bruce B. Ellsworth Susan S. Geiger
Chairman Commissioner Commissioner
Attested by:
Thomas B. Getz
Executive Director and Secretary