4. Procedural History

By Resolution ALJ 176-3197, dated August 23, 2007, the Commission preliminary designated the captioned applications as "ratesetting" with hearings indicated. A Prehearing Conference (PHC) held on November 13, 2007, was continued to January 17, 2008, upon Division of Ratepayer Advocates' (DRA) unopposed request for additional time to determine whether any, or all, of the issues in this application would be identified as issues in Phase 2 of the Commission's conservation investigation.

Absent the issuance of a Phase 2 conservation investigation Scoping Memo identifying conservation issues to be addressed in that proceeding as of January 17, 2008, all parties agreed to a schedule in this proceeding. On January 22, assigned Commissioner Simon issued a Scoping Memo and Ruling setting a schedule that included mediation under the Commission's Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process prior to a May 28 start of evidentiary hearings.