6. 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.

TURN asks that we treat this compensation request similar to some of its past requests with regard to the difficulty of establishing specific monetary benefits associated with its participation. TURN claims its contribution to PAGs and PRGs throughout this process was aimed at policy matters which, aside from the $2 billion forecast of customer net benefits associated with utilities 2006-2008 portfolios, are difficult to quantify in monetary terms. TURN notes this difficulty but observes that the establishment of energy efficiency policies has a direct and lasting impact on customer rates. We agree and have so stated in several Commission orders; however, our concern here is whether TURN's participation specifically has contributed productively to more effective energy efficiency programs. On the basis of the limited information before us, we cannot make that specific finding, although it appears reasonable to assume that TURN's efforts have been productive.