Here's a simplified primer on the rate setting process. An independent panel of five presidentially appointed commissioners, and their staffs, who review, question, alter and approve any rate or classification changes the USPS proposes. The Office of the Consumer Advocate of the PRC is tasked to represent the interest of the general public in the rate case. This allows them to present arguments, testimony and rebuttal.
All intervenors receive regular mailings of documents presented in the case.
The Alliance has been a full intervenor in every rate case since 1980. The next day, this decision is announced publicly. The USPS formally filed the BOG-approved rate case with the PRC, delivering boxes and boxes of paperwork designed to prove why the proposed rates are needed and accurate. PRC officials and intervenors will spend hours pouring over the USPS data, trying to understand how the proposed rates came to be calculated and often looking for flaws in the data. This is where the Alliance's counsel David Levy and economist Dr. John Haldi prove invaluable as they dig amidst reams of USPS data looking for answers.