V. Reduction of Time for Public Review and Comment

ORA did not waive public review and comment on the draft decision. We must consider whether the public interest is better served by allowing 30 days for comments or by reducing or eliminating the time. As we have discussed, interest rate hedges are a time-sensitive transaction opportunity that may not wait for a longer review process and without a reduction in time we could miss that opportunity, if one exists. We believe the hedging approval process that we adopt will adequately protect ratepayers. We also received three well-argued responses to the Petition that we were able to consider. Therefore, we have determined that pursuant to Rule 77.7(f)(9), reducing to 10 days the otherwise applicable 30-day period for public review and comment is in the public interest. Parties' comments are due 5 days after the date of mailing. Reply comments are not permitted.