DR 98-154 CONCORD ELECTRIC COMPANY AND EXETER & HAMPTON ELECTRIC COMPANY Electric Utility Restructuring: Offer of Settlement Prehearing Conference Order O R D E R N O. 23,033 October 5, 1998
APPEARANCES: Scott Mueller, Esq. for Unitil; Carlos Gavilondo, Esq. for Granite State Electric Company; Michael Holmes, Esq. for the Office of Consumer Advocate; Pentti J. Aalto for PJA Energy Systems Design; Gary Gilmore for the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights; F. Anne Ross, Esq. for the New Hampshire Retail Merchants Association; Wynn E. Arnold, Assistant Attorney General for the Governor's Office of Energy and Community Services; James Monahan for Cabletron Systems, Inc.; Daniel Allegretti, Esq. for Enron Energy Services, Inc.; Charles Clough, Esq. for Freedom Partners, L.L.C.; and, Robert Frank, Esq. for the Staff of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission. On September 8, 1998, a proposed Unitil Restructuring Settlement Agreement (Settlement) was filed by Concord Electric Company (CEC), Exeter & Hampton Electric Company (E&H), Unitil Resources Inc.(URI), Unitil Service Company (USC), and Unitil Power Corp. (UPC) (collectively, Unitil) on behalf of several parties. In addition to Unitil, the following entities are signatories to the Settlement: the Staff of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission (Staff); Cabletron Systems, Inc. (Cabletron); Enron Energy Services, Inc. (Enron); the Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA); the Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire (RMA); Freedom Partners, L.L.C. (Freedom Partners); and the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire (BIA). A duly noticed prehearing conference was held on September 18, 1998. INTERVENTIONS Prior to the prehearing conference, written requests for intervention were received from the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights (CRR), Cabletron, the Governor's Office of Energy and Community Services, the RMA, and State Representative Jeb E. Bradley. At the prehearing conference, the Commission granted intervention to each of these parties, and conditionally granted intervention to the following parties on their oral motions subject to the filing of a written request by September 23, 1998: Enron, Freedom Partners, BIA, PJA Energy Systems Design (PJA), Granite State Electric Company (GSEC). Written requests by these parties have been received and their interventions are granted. Subsequent to the prehearing conference a written request for late intervention was filed by the New Hampshire Electric Cooperative, Inc., and, having received no objection, intervention is granted. The Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) is a statutorily recognized intervenor. SCHEDULE During the prehearing conference, the Commission approved the following procedural schedule: Technical Session..............September 18, 1998 (immediately after Prehearing) Technical Session..............September 24, 1998 Intervenor Testimony...........October 7, 1998 Technical Session/ Settlement Conference..........October 12, 1998 (9:00 A.M.) Rebuttal Testimony.............October 16, 1998 Hearings.......................October 21-22, 1998 Post-Hearing Briefs............October 29, 1998 The parties have agreed to conduct discovery on a rolling basis up to the scheduled hearings, a proposal which the Commission herein approves. Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby ORDERED, that the Commission affirms and ratifies its prior rulings on intervention, grants such additional requests for intervention as discussed above, and approves the procedural schedule as set forth in the body of this order. By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New Hampshire this fifth day of October, 1998. Douglas L. Patch Bruce B. Ellsworth Susan S. Geiger Chairman Commissioner Commissioner Attested by: Thomas B. Getz Executive Director and Secretary