5. Currently Authorized Hourly Rates

Here we examine the authorized hourly rates paid to intervenors in 2003 and 2004 in light of the data from utilities on their expenses for representation in our proceedings (new intervenor rates proposed for 2005 are examined in Sections 6 and 7 of this decision). Regarding the hourly rates we currently authorize for intervenors, we find these rates are within the ranges of hourly rates that utilities pay their representatives overall. This is true both for attorneys and experts, at all levels of experience. The currently authorized intervenor rates are generally higher than those that utilities pay their in-house representatives; however, considering all the utility data, we find that our currently authorized rates do not exceed the "comparable market rate" within the meaning of § 1806.

Pursuant to the schedule outlined in the ALJ's February 18, 2005 ruling, the state's six major utilities and 15 intervenors filed comments and related compensation data for 2003-2004 (the utilities earlier filed 2003 data).⁴ The tables in the next two sections summarize the data.

5.1. Rates for Attorneys: 2003-2004

The table below shows hourly rates for attorneys for 2003 and 2004. The data from the intervenors is supplemented by our own historical records of previous awards. The participants in this proceeding agreed the data for attorney hourly rates would be disaggregated into the following groups, based on the number of years since completion of law school: 0-2 years; 3-4 years; 5-7 years; 8-12 years; and 13 years and over.

Generally, we found a concentration of attorneys (data points) in the higher levels of experience for intervenors and the utilities, with both groups having long experience in utility-related work and work before the Commission. The number of filed data points for intervenors is shown in parenthesis for each level of experience. For the utilities, only three of the utilities filed data sets with a breakdown of the number of data points (individuals) for 2003, and one utility filed a breakdown for 2004. The utility data points also were not disaggregated into the levels of experience described above. Using these data sets, we conservatively estimate that the utility attorney rate ranges are based on about 100 in-house attorneys and 50-75 outside attorneys for each year. The breadth of the utility sample relative to the much smaller number of intervenor attorneys suggests that the rate ranges we derive from the sample are reasonably robust for our purposes.

Attorney Rates 2003-2004

Years Experience	2003	2004
13+years
Utilities (outside)	$195-$625	$205-$585
Intervenors (11)	$250-$450	$250-$490
Utilities (in-house)	$185-$420	$170-$475
8-12 years
Utilities (outside)	$170-$490	$190-$535
Intervenors (5)	$275-$300	$270-$325
Utilities (in-house)	$150-$220	$135-$215
5-7 years
Utilities (outside)	$250-$425	$250-$400
Intervenors (1) *	$225-$250	$250-$270
Utilities (in-house)	$115-$160	$130-$165
3-4 years
Utilities (outside)	$230-$395	$185-$400
Intervenors (0)	N/A	N/A
Utilities (in-house)	N/A	$160
0-2 years
Utilities (outside)	$165-$395	$130-$400
Intervenors (1)	N/A	$190
Utilities (in-house)	N/A	N/A

* One individual awarded two rate levels each year

For 2003 and 2004, we find that all currently authorized intervenor attorney rates fall within the range of utility outside attorney rates. The utility outside attorney rates comprise a wider range than the intervenor rates, which may be due to a wider range of specialties and project-specific work for which the utilities hire outside attorneys. The rates paid to in-house utility attorneys are lower than those paid to intervenor attorneys in all categories for these years. However, at the most senior attorney level, which includes 11 of the 18 intervenor attorneys in our data, the top of the range of rates for both years for in-house utility attorneys is only slightly lower than the top of the range for intervenor attorneys.

For 2004, intervenor attorney rates increased an average of 8% from 2003 (the increase deemed reasonable in Resolution ALJ-184). The average increase for utility outside attorneys for 2004 was roughly 5%. For utility in-house attorneys (based on limited data), there appears to have been little or no increase, except at the high end of the range for the most senior attorneys. By comparison, in reviewing other cost-of-living data readily available to the public,⁵ we found the general rate of inflation for 2004 to be 2.7%.

5.2. Rates for Experts: 2003-2004

The data on the hourly rates paid to experts show that, as with rates for attorneys, all currently authorized rates for 2003 and 2004 for intervenor experts fall within the range of those rates utilities paid to their outside experts, with utility expert rates comprising a wider range than intervenor expert rates. The rates utilities paid to their in-house experts also comprise a wider range than intervenor rates for 2004, and are very close to the rate range for intervenors for 2003. The table below shows these rate ranges. Based on the table, we find our rates for experts to be reasonable even if we looked only to the rates that utilities pay their in-house experts.

Similar to the data for attorneys, the number of data points filed for intervenor experts is shown in the table. For the utilities, the actual number of data points is extrapolated from three data sets for 2003 and one data set for 2004.

Expert Rates 2003-2004

	2003 Range	2004 Range
Utilities*
Outside (125)	$65-$450 **	$90-$475
In-House (200)	$70-$315	$60-$420
Intervenors (28)	$110-$330	$110-$360

* For utilities, excludes rates paid to executive level experts (company presidents,
directors and officers).
** Excludes rate of $735 paid by one utility to one outside expert in 2003.

Unlike the rates for attorneys, the rates for experts were not disaggregated into levels based on years of experience. However, where the experience level of the individual experts was provided, we found that, similar to attorneys, most experts appearing in Commission proceedings have at least 10 years' experience, including some with over 25 years' experience.

For intervenors, most rates paid to individual experts increased by 8% from 2003 to 2004 (the increase deemed reasonable in Resolution ALJ-184). The table aggregates the utility data, but looking at each utility individually, we found no major increases for these years, and in some cases found decreases.

⁴ Initial data were filed by many utilities, then only by the large utilities as the proceeding progressed. See note 2 above.

⁵ Social Security Administration; U.S. Dept. of Labor; Federal Reserve Bank.