5 Reasonableness of Requested Compensation

TURN requests $46,469.10 for its participation in this proceeding. Attorney and expert fees comprise the bulk of the costs, in addition to $237.85 in other costs, as outlined below.

Attorney/Advocate Fees
	Hours	Rates
William Nusbaum	79.25	$365	$28,926.25
Comp	12.50	$182.50	$ 2,281.25
Regina Costa	50.25	$230	$11,557.50
Christine Mailloux	5.50	$325	$ 1,787.50
Robert Finkelstein	4.25	$395	$ 1,678.75
		Subtotal	$46,231.25
Other Reasonable Costs
Photocopying			$ 88.20
Postage			$ 2.21
Lexis			$ 147.40
Phone			$ .04
		Subtotal	$ 237.85
		TOTAL	$46,469.10

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. Thus, only those fees and costs associated with the customer's work that the Commission concludes made a substantial contribution are reasonable and eligible for compensation. We must also assess whether the hours claimed for the customer's efforts that resulted in substantial contributions to Commission decisions are reasonable. 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.² Since we found that TURN's efforts made a substantial contribution to the delineated decision, we need not exclude any issues from TURN's award compensation.

To assist us in determining the reasonableness of the requested compensation in addition to the above factors, D.98-04-059 directed customers to demonstrate productivity by assigning reasonable dollar value to the benefits of their participation to ratepayers. The costs of a customer's participation should bear a reasonable relationship to the benefits realized through their participation.

A primary issue in this proceeding was the request of SBC for authority to assess rates at below-cost levels when certain levels of competition could be reached. Due to the limited areas in the state with active competition, TURN showed that granting this request might result in a majority of customers paying higher rates to subsidize the below-cost prices offered to others. Though no precise monetary benefits to ratepayers were identified, TURN's participation resulted in an overall benefit to ratepayers by avoiding the potential future harm of subsidized rates and assisted the Commission in making its decision to deny the SBC application as not being in the public interest. We therefore find that TURN was productive participant in this proceeding.

Finally, in determining compensation, we take into consideration the market rates for similar services from comparably qualified persons. The Commission previously approved the 2004 hourly rates for Mailloux and Costa in D.04-12-054, and we adopt these rates here. TURN's proposed rates for Nusbaum and Finkelstein are based on 2003 rates from that same decision, escalated by 8%, as provided in Resolution ALJ-184, and rounded to the nearest $5. This is consistent with our previous practice and we also adopt these hourly rates. We find all these rates reasonable.

The itemized direct expenses submitted by TURN include costs for photocopying, postage, and legal research. The cost breakdown included with the request shows the miscellaneous expenses to be commensurate with the work performed. We find these costs reasonable.