6. Productivity

D.98-04-059 directed customers to demonstrate productivity by assigning a reasonable dollar value to the benefits of their participation to ratepayers. (D.98-04-059 at 34-35.) The costs of a customer's participation should bear a reasonable relationship to the benefits realized through its participation. This showing assists us in determining the overall reasonableness of the request.

CFC states its participation was productive and prevented residential customers from shouldering an additional $90 million cost of the public participation programs currently being paid for by business customers. CFC's efforts, along with that of other consumer groups, prevented a change in the allocation method that would have shifted those costs to residential customers. Our own analysis of CFC's claim of productivity is outlined in Section 5.