5. Reasonableness of
Requested Compensation

CFC requests $37,467.50 for its participation in this proceeding, as follows:

Work on Proceeding
Attorney		Year	Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
Alexis K. Wodtke		2009/1016	97.317	$350.00	$34,055.00
Preparation of NOI and Compensation Request
Attorney	Year		Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
	2009/1018		19.519	$175.00	$3,412.50
Total Requested Compensation					$37,467.50

In general, the components of this request must constitute reasonable fees and costs of the customer's preparation for and participation in a proceeding that resulted in a substantial contribution. The issues we consider to determine reasonableness are discussed below.

5.1. Hours and Costs Related to and
Necessary for Substantial Contribution

We first assess whether the hours claimed for the customer's efforts that resulted in substantial contributions to Commission decisions are reasonable by determining to what degree the hours and costs are related to the work performed and necessary for the substantial contribution.

CFC believes that the total number of hours claimed is reasonable given the scope of this proceeding and the complexity of the issues. We disagree. CFC's²⁰ itemization of services and expenditures contains numbers that simply do not add up. When the Commission requested clarification on its numbers CFC was less than helpful. The breakdown of hours and issues provided as Exhibit A to the instant request, similarly, do not add up. We have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decipher CFC's intent, with little success. CFC's claim that the remaining 90 percent of its time not charged to D.09-12-046 should be compensated in the instant proceeding is not supported. The instant request does not accurately allocate CFC's time and costs among the issues. We cannot determine what, if any, relevance the D.09-12-046 claims have to the instant proceeding.

As noted previously, CFC's categorization of the issues in D.10-06-047 do not comport with the issues identified in the Scoping Ruling and the Decision. We have reviewed CFC's breakdown of time and issues contained in its spreadsheet.²¹ We have determined that CFC made contributions in the areas of: Privacy/Security-2.7 hours, Metrics-5.7 hours, Cyber-Security-10.2 hours and Access to Information/Privacy-14.3 hours. All other time is disallowed. This is a reduction of 66.19 percent. We have also reduced the time claimed for preparation of the compensation request by 66.19 percent. We caution CFC that we may make even larger disallowances in the future if it again files a request that fails to accurately account for hours and allocate its time and costs accurately among the issues.

5.2. Intervenor Hourly Rates

We next take into consideration whether the claimed fees and costs are comparable to the market rates paid to experts and advocates having comparable training and experience and offering similar services.

CFC seeks an hourly rate of $350.00 for attorney Alexis Wodtke, for work performed in 2009 and 2010. We previously approved this rate for Wodtke in D.97-07-015 and D.09-11-030, and adopt it here.

¹⁶ It is impossible to discern with any degree of certainty to which year CFC has allocated its hours.

¹⁷ We have corrected here for CFC's erroneous figure of 185.3 hours. CFC's timesheets are less than clear, however, the amount of compensation, requested, $34,055.00, would equal 97.3 hours at $350.00 per hour.

¹⁸ Supra, note 16.

¹⁹ We have corrected here for CFC's erroneous figure of 18.5 hours. The amount of compensation requested, $3412.50, would equal 19.5 hours at $175.00 per hour.

²⁰ CFC Request for Award of Compensation, at 12.

²¹ Id., Exhibit A.