Parts 1 and 2 can be read by scrolling down. Part 1 was posted July 18, 2011.
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As stated earlier, this writer received the notification of requested residential rate hikes from Bangor Hydro Electric Company (BHE) on December 30, 2010, and wrote a Letter of Objection on January 1, 2011. That letter was received by the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) on January 4, 2011. From that point on I became an Intervenor in the case.
For those who would like to read the actual letter, go to www.maine.gov/mpuc/ and click on Virtual Case File located on the right side of the page. It is a shaded area. You will be presented with a sheet filled with blank sections. Use only the section, “Case ID” and type in 2010377. Then click at the bottom of the page to proceed.
You will find the MPUC has posted 20 pages containing several listed documents per page relating to this case, with page 1 being the most recent filings. At the bottom of the page you can request any page. Each page contains approximately 10 documents listed by date filed. Page 19 contains my original letter – with attachments. One of the attachments is the Actual Notification sent out to BHE’s residential ratepayers.
It is important to note that the notification states as follows:
“If you wish to present your views on this proposed increase, you may participate in one of two ways:
“1. You may petition to intervene. If your petition is granted, you will be a party with the right to participate formally in the hearings and in negotiations. Your petition must be made in writing and must state the name and docket number of this proceeding (it became 2010-377), and the manner in which you are affected by the proceeding. Your petition must also include a short statement of the nature and extent of the participation you seek, and a statement of the nature of the evidence or argument you intend to submit. Your petition must be received by the Administrative Director, Maine Public Utilities Commission, 18 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333-0018 by the deadline set by the Commission for Intervention. (NOTE this last sentence. Nowhere in this notification is that date stated. Nowhere.) You must also send a copy of your petition to Bangor Hydro Electric company, attn: Bradford A. Borman, P.O. Box 932, Bangor, Maine 04402-0932.
“2. Alternatively, you may request interested person (or nonparty) status by filing a request with the Administrative Director at the above address. If your name is added to the mailing list as an interested person, you will receive notice of the time and place of any hearings, including public witness hearings, held in this case.
“You may request that the Commission hold a public hearing in this matter. If you wish to request that the Commission hold such a hearing, you must file a written request to that effect with the Administrative Director at the above address by the deadline the Commission sets. (NOTE: No deadline was set or referenced in this notification.) Persons who request a hearing will automatically be added to this mailing list as interested persons.
“You may appear as a public witness at a hearing, if one is held, and give your views on the proposed change in rates. The purpose of a public witness hearing is to give members of the public an opportunity to give their views on the matters under consideration by the Commission in this case. (NOTE: Public Hearings usually allow any member of the pubic in attendance to speak. According to this notification, the only people who would be allowed to speak [witness] would be those who have written the prescribed letters by the undefined deadline. Does this feel fixed to any readers?) Any subsequent notice of hearing and/or opportunity to intervene may be given by publication in newspapers and may thereafter be given in mail only to those customers who have petitioned for intervention, requested inclusion as an interested person (or nonparty), or requested a hearing….”
This writer’s letter of petition took issue with the following regarding the notification sent to those who would be most directly affected by the requested rate increase:
(1) the lack of BHE’s identification on the address face of the mailer,
(2) the lack of a mailing date on either the address face or the notification itself,
(3) the bulk mail stamp used which states Cedar Rapids, IA and not Maine,
(4) the appearance of the mailing being ‘junk mail’,
(5) the timing of the mailing so as to coincide with end-of-the-year mailing soliciting seniors to purchase various vendors’ Part C and Part D Medicare coverage – and – charitable donations that would qualify as income tax deductions.
This writer stated that any or all of items 1-5 would incline many recipients to throw out the notification as ‘junk mail’ and therefore never know either BHE’s intentions or the recipients’ rights to petition in opposition.
Additionally, as time passed and this writer realized that the MPUC was limiting participation of individuals who did send in letters of protest, I challenged why none of the deadlines the MPUC was referencing was included in the notification. This issue was addressed directly in a phone call to my residence by BHE’s represented attorney, Nora Healy, who told me that BHE needed to meet a deadline for filing (presumably the beginning of December 2010) and at that time the MPUC had failed to determine what the deadline(s) would be. So BHE went ahead and issued the notification without the deadlines. The MPUC never addressed my question re: this issue.
The result of the actions by BHE and the MPUC placed a burden on ratepayers who potentially could/would have filed a petition but (a) never received or opened the notification, or (b) wrote letters only to find them discounted because they missed the never defined MPUC deadline.
My January 1, 2011 letter officially requested, that “Public Hearings be held throughout the effected areas, not just in Augusta, over this issue". I also requested to be listed as an individual who would like to be heard.
In days to come I will describe how these issues raised were addressed.
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