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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
December 20, 2011, at 9:30 A.M. CST
Room 413, Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota
NOTE: If you wish to join this meeting by conference call, please contact the Commission at 605-773-3201 by 5:00 p.m. CST on Monday, December 19, 2011. Lines are limited and are given out on a first come, first served basis, subject to possible reassignment to accommodate persons who must appear in a proceeding. Ultimately, if you wish to participate in the Commission Meeting and a line is not available, you may have to appear in person.
NOTE: To listen to the Commission Meeting live please go to the PUC's website www.puc.sd.gov and click on the LIVE link on the home page. The Commission requests persons who will only be listening to proceedings and not actively appearing in a case listen via the web cast to free phone lines for those who have to appear. The Commission meetings are archived on the PUC's website under the Commission Actions tab, Click on "Commission Meeting Archives," to access the recordings.
NOTE: Notice is further given to persons with disabilities that this Commission meeting is being held in a physically accessible place. If you have special needs, please notify the Commission and we will make all necessary arrangements.
AGENDA OF COMMISSION MEETING
Administration
1. Approval of the Minutes of the Commission Meeting Held on December 6, 2011. (Staff: Joy Irving)
Consumer Reports
1. Status Report on Consumer Utility Inquiries and Complaints Received by the Commission. (Consumer Affairs: Deb Gregg)
Electric
On April 18, 2007, MidAmerican Energy filed an application for Commission consideration of its Energy Efficiency Plan (Plan). The Plan contains programs designed for MidAmerican's gas and electric customers in South Dakota, phased in over a three-year period. For each program, MidAmerican has included design, implementation, costs, projected energy savings, and cost-effectiveness data. The Plan also includes a phase-in of particular programs over a three-year period commencing in January 2008, annual reporting to the Commission and a cost recovery mechanism. On October 21, 2011, MidAmerican submitted a request to the Commission to approve a one-year extension of its three-year plan by December 31, 2011. On December 7, 2011, MidAmerican submitted an Amended request for approval of a one-year extension of its three-year plan by December 31, 2011.
TODAY, shall the Commission extend MidAmerican's energy efficiency plan for one year? AND, shall the Commission allow the additional estimated 2012 costs of $341,079 in the 2012 budget? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?
On December 8, 2011, NorthWestern Corporation, dba NorthWestern Energy, filed for approval of a contract with deviations, asking for Commission approval on less than thirty (30) days' notice. The proposed contract would provide electric service to a customer that will pay a portion of the cost for extending service to the customer's location. Inclusion of these costs would place the connection charges outside the tariffed rates currently on file with the Commission.
TODAY, shall the Commission grant approval for the Contract with Deviations on less than thirty days' notice?
Telecommunications
On October 29, 2009, South Dakota Network (SDN) submitted this complaint against Sprint Communications Company L.P. (Sprint) for 1.) failing to pay intrastate centralized equal access charges at the rates approved by the Commission, 2.) failing to immediately pay undisputed portions of SDN's invoices as required by SDN's Tariff, and 3.) payment by Sprint of SDN's costs of action, reasonable attorney's fees incurred by SDN, and for twice the amount of damages sustained by SDN, if SDN is required to recover its damages by suit or on appeal. On September 23, 2011, SDN filed an amended Motion for Partial Summary Judgment with the Commission. On October 7, 2011, Northern Valley Communications LLC (Northern Valley) filed a counter claim against Sprint. On October 17, 2011, Sprint filed, with the Commission, a Motion to Dismiss Northern Valley's counter claim.
TODAY, shall the Commission grant SDN's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment? AND, shall the Commission grant Northern Valley's Motion for Leave to File Counterclaims? AND shall the Commission grant Sprint's Motion to Dismiss Counterclaims?
On December 9, 2011, MCImetro Access Transmission Services LLC dba Verizon Access Transmission Services filed for approval of its Intrastate Switched Access Tariff No. 2. These tariff pages reflect Verizon Access' implementation of the intercarrier compensation regime for certain VoIP-PSTN traffic that was recently mandated (absent agreement by the affected companies) by the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") in its November 18, 2011, Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in WC Dockets No. 10-90, etc. In accordance with that Order, the tariff revisions will take effect on January 1, 2012. The amendments implement a methodology, consistent with the FCC's Order, for separating Relevant VoIP-PSTN traffic from access traffic that will be billed at standard intrastate switched access rates. The VoIP-PSTN traffic so identified will be billed at the rates set forth in MCImetro's interstate access tariff.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the requested tariff changes?
3. In the Matter of Failure of Certain Telecommunications Companies to Timely Pay their Gross Receipts Tax (Finance Manager: Cindy Kemnitz)
The following companies have failed to timely pay their gross receipts tax as required by SDCL 49-1A:
Local Exchange providers:
NET TALK.COM, Inc.
Wireless providers:
Affinity Mobile, LLC dba Trumpet Mobile
Conexions LLC dba Conexion Wireless
Triarch Marketing, Inc. dba Triarch Communications
Long Distance providers:
1-800-Reconex, Inc.
Airnex Communications, Inc.
BLC Management LLC dba Angles Communications Solutions
Digital Telecommunications, Inc.
Hawk Relay, LLC
SNiP Link, LLC
Telenational Communications, Inc.
TODAY, shall the Commission issue an Order to Show Cause as to why the Commission should not fine, or suspend or revoke the Certificates of Authority of each of these companies for failure to pay the requisite gross receipts tax?
Items for Commission Discussion
Announcements
1. The PUC offices will be closed Monday, December 26, 2011, in observance of the Christmas holiday.
2. The PUC offices will be closed Monday, January 2, 2012, in observance of the New Year's holiday.
3. The next regularly scheduled commission meeting will be held Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 1:30 p.m., CDT, in Room 413 at the State Capitol Building, Pierre, S.D.
4. The PUC offices will be closed Monday, January 16, 2012, in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
5. Commission meetings are scheduled for January 17 and 31, 2012.
/S/ Cindy Kemnitz
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
puc@state.sd.us
December 13, 2011
