1. From an Intervener's Perspective by Matt White

2.  An intervener is a non-utility that participates in a rate case to advocate its interest  Interveners can be  Consumer advocates: Government agency that protects residential customers’ interests  Large scale energy users  Environmental groups  Unregulated electric suppliers

3.  Environmental  Safety/Consumer Protection  Number one interest  Interveners want to pay less for electricity

4.  Convince the Public Utilities Commission that rates should be lower  Three ways to reduce electric rates  Reduce the revenue requirement  Shift revenues to another customer class  Modify rate design within the class

5.  Revenue Requirement is the amount of money utilities are allowed to collect from consumers through electric rates  Utilities are entitled to recover all of the costs they incur to serve customers (e.g. cost of fuel, labor)  Utilities are entitled to receive a rate of return on all of their assets they use to serve customers  Add the value of all a utility’s assets (e.g. power plants, electric lines)  Utilities receive a certain percentage of the value of all their assets annually

6.  Argue that a utility’s reported costs are too high  Argue that a utility values its assets too high  Argue that a utility’s rate of return should be lowered

7.  Reducing revenue requirements reduces rates for all customers

8.  If revenue requirement is the size of the pie utilities receive from customers

9.  Rate design and class allocation is the method of determining the piece of the pie each customer must pay

10.  Each electric customer is assigned to a class  Similar customers are assigned to the same classes  Usually residential customers are in the same class, industrial customers are in the same class, and commercial customers are in the same class  Each class is assigned a certain percentage of the revenue requirement  Each class has a different electric rate design to recover those revenues  Rates are higher or lower depending on the class  Different charges depending on the class (e.g. fixed monthly charges, per kWh charges, per kW charges)

11.  Argue that the other classes should pay more of the revenue requirement and argue that your class should pay less  This pits one intervener against the other

12.  The pie also must be divided up amongst each customer in the class.  Rate design determines how much of the revenue requirement each customer pays

13.  Customer’s are allocated their piece of the revenue requirement through the charges they receive on their electric bill  There are generally three types of charges  Fixed monthly charge  Energy Charge (per kWh)  Demand Charge (per kW)

14.  Each customer pays a different percent of the revenue requirement, depending on the type of charge  Example: If in the residential class there is a high fixed monthly charge, and a low energy charge who wins and who loses?  Customers with low electric usage lose because they must pay the high fixed monthly charge no matter what  Customers with high electric usage win because there is a low cost to excess consumption

15.  Know your electric consumption pattern and argue for the charges that cost you the least

16.  If you pay less because the rate design has been changed in your class, other customers in your class pay more

17.  Generally rate cases are a zero sum game  If the utility gets less, customers get more and visa versa (revenue requirement)  If one customer class pays less revenues, another class pays more  If one customer in a class is charged less, another customer is charged more

18.  Those who do not show up to the table (i.e. intervene in a rate case)  The other players will take your chips!!!