8. Future Hourly Rate Updates

We envision an annual ongoing process for updating the hourly rates paid to intervenors. As stated in Resolution ALJ-184, this annual process should be short and informal. To that end, we designate the Chief Administrative Law Judge, in consultation with the President of the Commission, to take the necessary steps to coordinate and facilitate a process for updating the hourly intervenor rates for work performed in 2006. Such steps may include holding workshops, adjusting the timing or the content of the data sets, and providing for comment periods. The following procedures should facilitate and simplify the process, but they in turn may be revised and refined over time, upon further consideration of any alternatives or as the Commission deems necessary.

Utilities:

1. Beginning in 2006, the state's six largest utilities shall annually serve on all parties to this proceeding, by April 30, data sets showing, for the two preceding calendar years, the hourly rates paid to all outside and in-house representatives (attorneys and experts) who participate in our proceedings, using the spreadsheet format and type of data developed in this proceeding.

2. The data shall include the effective hourly rates paid to employees and the as-billed hourly rates of outside representatives, along with the number of data points (individuals) included in each level or group.

3. The data shall be accompanied by analysis of any escalation in rates over the two preceding years.

4. For attorneys, the data shall be disaggregated into the same levels of experience (years since completion of law school) described earlier; 0-2 years; 3-4 years; 5-7 years; 8-12 years; and 13 and over years.

5. For experts, the data shall be disaggregated by job classification and by levels of experience relevant to the classification: 0-2 years (entry); 3-9 years (journey); and 10 and over years (senior).

6. The data may be treated as confidential under the guidelines described later in today's decision.

Intervenors:

1. For any given year, all intervenor proposed rates shall be within the same range of utility rates from the year immediately preceding that year in which the work was performed, for individuals with similar training and experience. For example, intervenor rates for work performed in 2006 shall be within the range of utility rates for 2005, subject to possible escalation (below).

2. Escalation, if any, to previously authorized rates shall be based on the increases in utility costs of representation, as shown in the utility data sets for the two preceding years.

3. Where additional experience since the last authorized rate would move a representative to a higher level of qualification (e.g., from intermediate to senior level), an increase beyond the inflation rate is reasonable to bring the representative's hourly rate within the range of the representative's peers at the higher level.

4. An increase beyond the escalation rate may be reasonable on the basis of a specific showing that a representative has historically sought rates that appear to be at the low end of the range of rates for their peers. This increase is intended to narrow but not necessarily eliminate perceived disparities.