Reasonableness of Requested Compensation

Latino Issues Forum requests $166,255⁵ for its participation in this proceeding, as follows:

Advocate	Year	Rate		Hours	Total
Susan Brown	2001	$380.00		26.5	$ 10,070.00
Brown	2002	$380.00		281.5	$106,970.00
Brown	2003	$380.00		2.0	$ 760.00
Brown	2004	$390.00		7.0	$ 2,730.00
Enrique Gallardo	2001	$245.00		31.5	$ 7,717.50
Gallardo	2002	$255.00		110.5	$ 28,177.50
Gallardo	2003	$265.00		5.0	$ 1,325.00
Gallardo	2004	$275.00		7.5	$ 2,062.50
Viola Gonzales	2002	$310.00		13.5	$ 4,185.00
		Other Costs			$ 2,259.00
			Total		$166,256.50

Latino Issues Forum waives 50 hours spent by Brown on equity issues during Phase I of the proceeding and 97.9 hours spent by its law clerks.

The components of this request must constitute reasonable fees and costs of the customer's preparation for and participation in a proceeding that resulted in a substantial contribution. Thus, only those fees and costs associated with the customer's work that the Commission concludes made a substantial contribution are reasonable and eligible for compensation.

To assist us in determining the reasonableness of the requested compensation, 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.

Latino Issues Forum focused on demonstrating in this proceeding that large low-moderate income households suffered a disproportionate energy burden due to the baseline allocation procedure. Latino Issues Forum does not precisely quantify the benefit realized by easing the high energy burden on large households. Although the rate relief afforded to large low-moderate income households is not quantified, we agree that affected ratepayers will avoid certain electric costs by applying a lower rate to a certain level of usage. We also realize the additional societal benefit of rewarding the conservation efforts of large low-moderate income households by not penalizing them for household size.

Next, we must assess whether the hours claimed for the customer's efforts that resulted in substantial contributions to Commission decisions are reasonable. Latino Issues Forum documented its claimed hours by presenting a daily breakdown of the hours of its attorneys and expert, accompanied by a brief description of each activity. ⁶ With one minor exception the hourly breakdown reasonably supports the claim for total hours. In preparing the request for claimed hours, Latino Issues Forum waived hours Brown spent on equity issues in 2001. To be consistent, we disallow the 0.5 hours Gallardo spent on equity issues in 2001. Since we found Latino Issues Forum's efforts made a substantial contribution to the delineated decisions, we need not exclude from Latino Issues Forum's award compensation for certain issues. However, we note that Latino Issues Forum broke down its efforts by issue; had we needed to eliminate certain issues from the award, this breakdown would have facilitated the process.

Finally, in determining compensation, we take into consideration the market rates for similar services from comparably qualified persons. The rates requested by Latino Issues Forum for Brown in 2001 through 2003, Gallardo in 2002 and 2003, and Gonzales in 2001 are based upon previously approved rates by the Commission and are reasonable. The 2004 rate requested for Brown is $390 and represents an increase based on her additional experience compared to the rate adopted in 2003. The requested increase is less than the 8% increase that Resolution ALJ-184 deemed reasonable for 2004 rates, and we adopt it here.

The 2001 and 2004 rates requested for Gallardo represent increments lower and higher than the rates we have approved for 2002 and 2003 to account for Gallardo's increasing experience practicing law. The hourly rate requested for 2001 ($245) is the rate requested when Gallardo had been an attorney for 4 years. In D.02-11-024, we awarded a rate of $210 for work performed in 2000 by attorney Leanne Bober who had 4 years of experience at that time. For that reason, we find that a rate of $230 is more reasonable for Gallardo's hours in 2001 and more consistent with the market rates awarded to others with similar training and experience. The rate requested for 2004 is the same rate that was awarded to Itzel Berrio, another 1997 law school graduate, for work performed in 2003. The requested 2004 rate is reasonable.

Latino Issues Forum requests $2,259 for photocopying, postage, and supplies. We decline to authorize compensation for $345 for unspecified supplies. We approve $1,914 in other costs.