8. Productivity

D.98-04-059 directed customers to demonstrate productivity by assigning a 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. This showing assists us in determining the overall reasonableness of the request.

The rerouting of the transmission line did not result in any real cost savings, as the route PacifiCorp proposed and the route we adopted cost approximately the same amount. While it is difficult to place a value on the Hoy Valley, a pristine, spring filled area, preserving it surely was a "productive" endeavor. Were an intervenor required to demonstrate a monetary value of its accomplishments in every case, no case that resulted in intangible benefits would ever merit compensation. Our practice has been to be lenient with regard to the productivity requirement, and we find that such lenience is appropriate here. We find the Mackintoshes' work was productive.