Opinion ID: 2582159
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Chugach submitted its permanent rate request to the Commission at the same time as its interim rate request; under Section 9(h) of the Agreement both rate requests were exempt from the Joint Committee process.

Text: MEA's ninth cause of action sought to compel Chugach to complete the process for seeking a rate change specified in section 9(d) of the Agreement before submitting its rate case to the Commission. MEA contends that the superior court erred in granting summary judgment to Chugach on this claim. Section 9(d)(1) of the Agreement mandates that [b]efore Chugach implements any change in rates, charges, or other tariff provisions applicable to power sold under this Agreement (other than interim tariff changes under Section 9(h) below), the Chugach staff will submit the proposed change, together with such explanatory materials as the Chugach staff has prepared ... to a Joint Committee for review. MEA contends that Chugach violated section 9(d) by attaching its 2000 permanent rate case to its interim rate [42] case and submitting both to the Commission four months before the Commission's deadline for filing the permanent rate case, without first submitting it to the Joint Committee. The superior court rejected this argument and granted summary judgment to Chugach because it found that by attaching the permanent rate case to the interim case, both were exempted from the Joint Committee process by the terms of section 9(h), which excludes interim rate cases from review. [43] Chugach contends that interim rate relief was necessary because it faced a situation where, if certain conditions came to pass, it could have failed to collect enough under existing rates to cover its financial obligations. Chugach argues that the Commission requires a utility to file its entire rate case with its interim rate request, because it requires the same supporting information for an interim rate request as for a permanent rate request. Chugach argues that this requirement was in harmony with the Agreement because Section 9(h) specifically states that interim rate requests are subject to such regulatory restraints as may exist at the time and because it had a reasonable expectation that the contract would be interpreted to allow it to follow the industry practice of making both filings together. MEA responds that allowing Joint Committee review after submission to the Commission would completely frustrate the purpose of section 9(d) because MEA bargained for the provision to ensure that it would have a right to participate before firm positions were taken. We are troubled by Chugach's avoidance of the Joint Committee process. Section 9(d) of the Agreement clearly envisions the submission of permanent rate requests to the Joint Committee process prior to their submission to the Commission. Nonetheless, because the permanent rate request was filed simultaneously with the interim rate request, the permanent rate request was entitled to exemption from the Joint Committee process. Chugach was authorized by law to file both requests at the same time. Indeed, the rate filing system appears to call for the submission of both rate requests simultaneously; the interim rate request is simply an extension of the permanent rate request, as both requests require identical information. [44] In describing rate (tariff) filings, the Alaska Administrative Code provides that [i]f interim approval of a tariff filing is sought, that request must also be set out in the tariff advice letter. [45] That Chugach was entitled to file its permanent and interim rate requests simultaneously was reinforced at the July 10, 2001 prehearing conference for Chugach's interim rate request, where Hearing Examiner Clark repeatedly rejected the notion that separate interim and permanent rate filings were required. At one point he stated that Chugach has the burden of proof on the legal standards so I think we are looking at one filing, not two and not really establishing two separate schedules to accomplish the tasks. Because Chugach's permanent rate request was an extension of its interim rate request, Chugach was entitled to file its permanent and interim rate requests simultaneously under section 9(h), which allows Chugach to bypass the Joint Committee process and use other or abbreviated procedures to develop interim rates.