Agenda - Council - 09/27/1983 - Laserfiche WebLink

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and the Rules of Practice of the Public UtllitJes Commission (Hlnn. Reg. PSC 500-521), to the extent that they have not been superseded by the Rules of the Office of Administrative Hearings. The dates for evtdentiary and public hearings will be established by the Hearing Examiner after the Prehearing Conference scheduled below. These rules may be purchased from the Documents Section of the Department of Administration, ll7 University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota 55155, (612) 297-3000. The rules provide generally for the procedural rights of the parties )ncludtng: rights to advance notice of witnesses and evidence, right to a preheating conference, rights to present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, and rights to purchase a record or transcript. Parties are entitled to issuance of subpoenas to compel witnesses to attend and produce documents and other evidence. Any person intending to intervene as a formal party to these hearings n~Jst submit a Petition for Leave to Intervene to the Hearing Examiner and serve the petition on all existing parties. The petition n~st state how the Petitioner's legal rights, duties, or privileges may be determined or affected by the Coranission's decision in :he matter and shall set forth the grounds and purposes for which intervention is sought and shall indicate the Petitioner's statutory right to intervene, if one exists. All parties have the right to be represented by legal counsel, by a person of their choice, or by themselves if not otherwise prohibited as the unauthorized practice of law. m A Notice of Appearance must be filed with the Hearing Examiner within 20 days of the date of service of this Order if any party intends to appear at the hearing. The Notice of Appearance is not required if the hearing date is less than 20 days from the issuance of this Order. Potential intervenors shail attend the preheating conference scheduled below with information which will facilitate the scheduling of hearings permitting all of the parties to present their evidentiary views in a manner and within a time frame which would be as fair and expeditious as possible. Matters which may be discussed include: the reasonable time period required to prepare direct testimony for filing on all of the issues; the time period for preparation of direct testimony by lntervenors; reco~nmended areas for hearings to receive public input regarding the petition; time required for pa~ties to prepare for depositions and other discovery; and other matters that will facilitate full and fair hearings on the petition. If persons have good reason for requesting a delay of any hearing, the request must be made in writing to the Hearing Examiner at least five days prior to the hearing. A copy of the request must be served on the Commission and all parties. Failure to appear at the hearing may result in the issues set out ~ere being deemed proven. A possible result is that the rates proposed by the Company may be accepted by the Coranission. Following the contested hearing, the Con~ission may approve all or any part of the proposed rate increase but may not approve an overall increase greater than that proposed ~y the Company. However, the Commission may adjust rates for classes of customers to levels greater than those proposed by the Company and make other rate adjustments based upon the testimony of other parties. If no person contests the proposed rate increase at the hearing, the rates ~nay be approved as proposed. Any question concerning informal disposition of this matter or discovery of tnfonnation should be addressed to Karl Sonneman, Special Assistant Attorney General, 780 American Center Building, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101, (612) 296-6030. -2-