5. Reasonableness of Requested Compensation

TURN's amended and corrected request is $115,419.98 for its participation in D.07-09-004 as follows:

Work on Proceeding
Attorney/Staff		Year	Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
Michel Florio		2006	32.00	$485.00	$15,520.00
Michel Florio		2007	4.25	$525.00	$ 2,231.25
Matthew Freedman		2006	69.00	$280.00	$19,320.00
Matthew Freedman		2007	33.50	$300.00	$10,050.00
Hayley Goodson		2006	100.25	$195.00	$19,548.75
Hayley Goodson		2007	81.50	$210.00	$17,115.00
Attorney/Staff Subtotal:					$83,785.00
Expert Witnesses
William Marcus/JBS Energy 1/1/06-4/30/06			0.33	$210.00	$ 69.30
William Marcus/JBS Energy 5/1/06-4/17/07			87.34	$220.00	$19,214.80
Jeff Nahigian/JBS Energy 5/1/06 -7/26/07			58.00	$165.00	$ 9,570.00
Expert Witness Subtotal					$28,854.10
Preparation of NOI and Compensation Request
Attorney/Staff	Year		Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
Matthew Freedman	2006		0.50	$140.00 (50%)	$ 70.00
Hayley Goodson	2007		23.25	$105.00 (50%)	$ 2,441.25
Subtotal Hourly Compensation:					$ 2,511.25
Expenses:					$ 269.63
Total Requested Compensation					$115,419.98

VSI requests $31,003.75 for its participation in D.07-09-004, as follows:

Work on Proceeding
Attorney/Staff		Year	Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
John P. Ross		2006	81.90	$125.00	$10,237.50
John P. Ross		2007	49.05	$130.00	$ 6,376.50
Edward A. Smeloff		2006	14.75	$300.00	$ 4,425.00
Greggory L. Wheatland		2006	20.80	$345.00	$ 7,176.00
Greggory L. Wheatland		2007	4.00	$355.00	$ 1,420.00
Subtotal:					$29,635.00
Preparation of NOI and Compensation Request
Attorney/Staff	Year		Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
John P. Ross	2006		5.00	$ 62.50 (50%)	$ 312.50
John P. Ross	2007		2.75	$ 65.00 (50%)	$ 178.75
Greggory L. Wheatland	2006		2.00	$172.50 (50%)	$ 345.00
Greggory L. Wheatland	2007		3.00	$177.50 (50%)	$ 532.50
Subtotal Hourly Compensation:					$ 1,368.75
Total Requested Compensation					$31,003.75

AECA requests $24,074.73 for its participation in D.07-09-004, as follows:

Work on Proceeding
Attorney/Expert		Year	Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
Steven Moss & Richard McCann		--	113.25	$175.00	$19,818.75
Michael Boccadoro 3/3/06 - 5/3/07		--	8.25	$150.00	$ 1,237.50
Dan Geis 3/3/06 - 11/2/07		--	78.75	$125.00	$ 9,843.75
Subtotal:					$30,900.00
Preparation of NOI and Compensation Request
Attorney/Staff	Year		Hours	Hourly Rate	Total
Dan Geis	2007		3.00	$62.50 (50%)	$ 187.50
Subtotal Hourly Compensation:					$ 187.50
Expenses:					$ 57.04
Total AECA Compensation					$31,144.54
Total Requested Compensation-77.3% Compensation factor					$24,074.73

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.

TURN documented its claimed hours by presenting a daily breakdown of the hours of its attorneys, accompanied by a brief description of each activity. The hourly breakdown reasonably supports the claim for total hours.

Similarly, VSI documented its claimed hours by presenting a daily breakdown of the hours of its attorneys, accompanied by a brief description of each activity. With the exception of 1.75 hours of Ross's time dated "12/11/06" for which no description is provided, the hourly breakdown reasonably supports the claim for total hours. Therefore, the Commission disallows 1.75 hours of Ross's 2006 claimed hours from VSI's November 6, 2007 request and reduces the total hours from 81.90 to 80.15.

Given the circumstances of this proceeding and that VSI did not allocate its time and costs among issues, we cannot determine the exact amount to disallow for the duplicative and unnecessary work discussed above. Therefore, the Commission will use our discretion and reduce the amount awarded by 25%. We caution VSI that we may make even larger disallowances in the future if it again fails to allocate its time and costs among the issues.

We also find deficiencies in AECA's claim. A bare list of 18 numbered invoices from Steven Moss & Richard McCann of "M-Cubed," apparently expert witnesses who prepared AECA's written testimony, is offered as sole documentation for AECA's claim for a total of 113.25 hours of work related to the "PG&E Rate Case." However, the relevance of the work to this compensation claim is unclear. No actual invoices are included in AECA's claim that would identify, as required by Rule 17.4(b), the specific date and task performed and what issue was addressed by the task. We acknowledge above that AECA made a substantial contribution to D.07-09-004 through its testimony and participation in the Agricultural Settlement. However, AECA also contributed to a prior decision in this proceeding, D.07-05-048, and was awarded compensation for that effort. Without any information about the actual work of these consultants, we cannot evaluate whether the activities warrant the time and rate claimed here as connected to D.07-09-004. Therefore, we are compelled to disallow these hours in their entirety.

The hourly breakdown of Geis's time is also somewhat troubling for its lack of information, particularly no description of the issue involved for each identified activity. For example, it has repeated entries similar to "Conference call w/PG&E" and "Discuss w/McCann." Further, only 2.00 hours, or about 2.4% of Geis's time is specifically identified as related to the settlement. If AECA were not seeking compensation for such a narrow set of issues related to one particular settlement agreement, this limited amount of description would be insufficient under Rule 17.4(b) and AECA is hereby notified that more explicit explanation will be required in any future compensation claim.

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.

5.2.1. TURN

TURN seeks an hourly rate of $485.00 for Florio's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Florio in D.06-11-031, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $525.00 for Florio's work performed in 2007, which represents a 3% cost of living adjustment and an additional 5% "step" increase applicable to attorneys or experts under the conditions described in D.07-01-009 (issued in Rulemaking 06-08-019). We previously approved a 2007 hourly rate of $520.00, instead of $525.00 as requested, for Florio in D.08-03-012 because D.07-01-009 also provides that step increases may not result in rates above the highest rate for any given range for a given year (D.07-01-009, p. 6). We therefore approve a rate of $520, the highest rate for the range of applicable 2007 rates, for Florio's work.

TURN seeks an hourly rate of $280.00 for Freedman's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Freedman in D.08-08-026, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $300.00 for Freedman's work performed in 2007. We previously approved this rate for Freedman in D.07-10-012, and adopt it here.

TURN seeks an hourly rate of $195.00 for Goodson's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Goodson in D.07-05-018, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $210.00 for Goodson's work performed in 2007. We previously approved this rate for Goodson in D.07-12-026, and adopt it here.

TURN also relied on expert witnesses, Marcus and Nahigian. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $210.00 for Marcus' work performed between January 1, 2006 and April 30, 2006. We previously approved this rate for Marcus in D.06-10-018, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $220.00 for Marcus' work performed between May 1, 2006 and April 17, 2007. We previously approved this rate for Marcus in D.07-05-018, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $165.00 for Nahigian's work performed between October 4, 2006 and July 26, 2007. We previously approved this rate for Nahigian in D.07-12-026 and adopt it here.

5.2.2. VSI

VSI seeks an hourly rate of $125.00 for Ross's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Ross in D.07-06-011, and adopt it here. TURN seeks an hourly rate of $130.00 for Ross's work performed in 2007 which appears to reflect a 3% cost of living adjustment increase over the approved 2006 rate rounded to the nearest $5 increment and we adopt it here.

VSI seeks an hourly rate of $300.00 for Smeloff's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Smeloff in D.07-06-011, and adopt it here.

VSI seeks an hourly rate of $345.00 for Wheatland's work performed in 2006. We previously approved this rate for Wheatland in D.07-06-011, and adopt it here. VSI seeks an hourly rate of $355.00 for Wheatland's work performed in 2007 which appears to reflect a 3% cost of living adjustment increase over the approved 2006 rate rounded to the nearest $5 increment and we adopt it here.

5.2.3. AECA

AECA seeks an hourly rate of $125.00 for Geis's work performed in 2006 and 2007. We previously approved this rate for 2006 for Geis in D.07-05-048, and adopt it here.

AECA seeks an hourly rate of $150.00 for Boccadoro's work performed in 2006 and 2007. We previously approved this rate for 2006 for Boccadoro in D.07-05-048, and adopt it here.

AECA seeks an hourly rate of $175.00 for the work of Moss and McCann. Although we previously approved this rate for both experts in D.06-04-065 and D.07-05-048, the claim for their compensation is disallowed because of a lack of documentation as described above.

5.3. Direct Expenses

The itemized direct expenses submitted by TURN include the following:

The cost breakdown included with the request shows the miscellaneous expenses to be commensurate with the work performed. JBS Energy's travel expenses of $75.00 are explained as the cost billed by Marcus for one round trip from his office in West Sacramento to San Francisco in order to attend the evidentiary hearing on the proposed MCRA Settlement at which his presence was necessary. This travel request does not constitute routine commuting and the amount is less than the 2006 standard mileage rate of $0.445/mile set by the Internal Revenue Service and approved by the Commission for travel by JBS Energy in D.07-12-026. Therefore, we find all of TURN's expenses to be reasonable.

VSI requested no expenses.

The itemized direct expenses submitted by AECA include the following:

We find all of AECA's expenses to be reasonable.