THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD OF THE

DECISION 12-2003 October 29, 2003

IN THE MATTER OF the Public Utilities Act, being Chapter 110 of the Revised Statutes of the Northwest Territories, 1988(Supp.), as amended.

AND IN THE MATTER OF an application pursuant to Section 26 of the Public Utilities Act for intervenor costs for The City of Yellowknife, Town of Hay River and Town of Fort Smith arising from the review of Northwest Territories Power Corporation’s 2001/02 & 2002/03 Phase II General Rate Application. THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD

BOARD MEMBERS John E. Hill Chairman Gabrielle Decorby Member Joe Acorn Member

BOARD STAFF Louise Larocque Board Secretary Raj Retnanandan Board Consultant John Donihee Board Counsel TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. BACKGROUND ...... 1

2. APPLICATION...... 3

3. DECISION ...... 4

4. BOARD ORDER ...... 6

The Public Utilities Board Of the Northwest Territories 1 Decision 12-2003

1. BACKGROUND

On September 6, 2002, the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (“NWTPC”) filed its Phase II General Rate Application for the fiscal years April 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002 and April 1, 2002 to March 31, 2003 (“GRA”), to determine appropriate rates for their customers. In its Phase II GRA, NWTPC requested approval to levelize the rates across the NWT.

NWTPC, by letter dated October 17, 2002, requested approval to withdraw its GRA for levelized rates. NWTPC advised that it would re-file its GRA to apply for community based cost of service rates.

On November 12, 2002, NWTPC re-filed it’s GRA. The Application requested an Order or Orders from the Board:

1. Approving NWTPC’s proposed retail and wholesale rates for the test years 2001/02 and 2002/03; 2. Approving the revised Terms and Conditions of Service.

Pursuant to section 13. (1) of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Board, by letter dated November 12, 2002 directed NWTPC to publish notice of the public hearing of the GRA in newspapers that circulate in the Northwest Territories. The notices, published in November and December 2002, included details of the GRA, and invited interested persons to file a request with the Board for intervenor status.

Intervenors were provided an opportunity to make information requests of NWTPC and to file evidence. Included in the parties expressing an interest in the The Public Utilities Board Of the Northwest Territories 2 Decision 12-2003

GRA were the City of Yellowknife, Town of Hay River and Town of Fort Smith (“YK/HR/SM”).

All information requests by the Board and intervenors together with the responses were made available to all parties before the hearing.

The Board advertised and scheduled the hearing for April 9 – 11, 2003 in Yellowknife and for April 14, 2003 in . The Board adjourned the hearing in Yellowknife on April 10th and continued in Inuvik on April 14th.

The interested parties that attended the Yellowknife hearing were NWTPC, YK/HR/SM, the Association of Municipalities for Fair Power Rates (“the Association”) and Mr. Charles Dent, MLA for Yellowknife Frame Lake.

During the hearing in Yellowknife, the Board and interested parties agreed on dates for argument and reply argument. For argument, the date was set for May 12, 2003 and for reply argument, the date was set for May 26, 2003.

At the Inuvik hearing, the parties that attended were NWTPC and the Association.

Mr. Floyd Roland, MLA for also made a presentation to the Board at the Inuvik hearing.

YK/HR/SM participated as an intervenor in the proceedings, preparing a number of information requests and submitting Argument and Reply Argument after the hearing.

The Public Utilities Board Of the Northwest Territories 3 Decision 12-2003

2. APPLICATION

By letter dated September 3, 2003, YK/HR/SM submitted a summary of the costs incurred from the review of the GRA. The Board, by letter dated September 11, 2003, requested YK/HR/SM to provide more details of their summary. The Board provided YK/HY/SM with a copy of the Board’s Rules of Practice and Procedure.

By letter dated September 30, 2003, YK/HR/SM made an Application to the Board for intervenor costs. The costs consisted of Legal Fees, Consultant Fees and Disbursements, in an amount of $65,105.47.

The Board, in a letter dated October 2, 2003, advised NWTPC of the Application for Intervenor Costs made on behalf of YK/HR/SM and asked them to provide comment.

NWTPC responded by letter dated October 7, 2003, advising that they had reviewed the Application and had no comment.

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3. DECISION

The Board’s Rules of Practice and Procedure subsection 32.(2) stipulates that:

“(2) The Board may award costs to an intervenor who

(a) made a significant contribution which was relevant to the proceeding and which lead to a better understanding by all parties of the issues before the board; (b) participated in the hearing in a responsible manner and cooperated with other intervenors having common objectives in the outcome of the proceeding in order to avoid a duplication of intervention; (c) made a reasonable effort to secure alternative funding where such funding was available to the intervenor; (d) had a substantial interest in the outcome of the proceeding and represented the interests of a substantial number of ratepayers; and (e) has made an application for costs under rule 33.”

Pursuant to the Board’s rules, the YK/HR/SM applied to the Board for an award of costs as specified in Section 2 of this Decision.

In determining whether costs should be awarded in a particular application, the Board considers a number of factors including the nature of the application, the extent of the participation by the intervenors and the actual costs.

Predicated upon these and any other factors particular to an application, the Board determines whether the intervention by a party was meaningful and of assistance, whether the costs were prudently incurred, reasonable and necessary and by whom, to whom and in what amount the costs are to be paid.

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The intervention by the YK/HR/SM was, in the Board’s view, of benefit to NWTPC’s ratepayers within the City of Yellowknife, the Town of Hay River and the Town of Fort Smith.

The Board considers that costs claimed by YK/HR/SM were reasonably and prudently incurred.

Based upon the foregoing, the Board finds that costs of $65,105.47 are reasonable and necessary and that NWTPC should forward such amounts to the City of Yellowknife. NWTPC shall be entitled to recover the sum from its customers and the method of recovery shall be addressed by NWTPC at the time of its next GRA.

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4. BOARD ORDER

NOW, THEREFORE IT IS ORDERED THAT:

Northwest Territories Power Corporation shall forward payment for $65,105.47 to the City of Yellowknife within 30 days of this Decision with a copy to the Board for its information. These are the total costs approved by the Board with respect to the Application for Intervenor Costs submitted by the Intervenors.

ON BEHALF OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES BOARD OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

DATED October 29, 2003 John E. Hill Chairman