OAH Docket No.
7-2500-20907-2
PUC Docket Nos.
G-022/GR-09-962 and G-022/MR-09-983
STATE OF
OFFICE OF
ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
FOR THE
|
In the Matter of the Application of Greater Minnesota Gas,
Inc., for Authority to Increase Rates for Natural Gas Service in the State of
|
PREHEARING ORDER |
This
matter came on for a Prehearing Conference before Administrative Law Judge
(ALJ) Richard C. Luis at the offices of the Minnesota Public Utilities
Commission in
Eric
F. Swanson, Esq., appeared for and on behalf of Greater Minnesota Gas
(GMG). Julia Anderson and Adam Heinen,
Assistant Attorneys General, appeared for and on behalf of the Minnesota
Department of Commerce, Office of Energy Security (DOC/OES). Ronald Giteck and William Stamets, Assistant
Attorneys General, appeared for and on behalf of the Office of the Attorney
General/Residential Utilities Division (OAG/RUD). Robert Harding, Gerald Dasinger and Shannon
McIntyre appeared for the Staff of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission
(PUC Staff).
Based on
the discussions during the Prehearing Conference, and on the proceedings
herein, the Administrative Law Judge makes the following:
ORDER
1. There will be no prefiled testimony from
the parties to the case, and no evidentiary hearing will be convened. Rather, the parties will work to resolve the
issues presented by GMG’s application and, after a thorough investigation, and
after considering all public comments, GMG and the State Agencies will present
their final positions in writing for consideration of the Administrative Law
Judge. It is contemplated that a
Stipulation of Facts will be part of the final presentation.
2. The Parties agreed to file Status Reports
with the Administrative Law Judge periodically regarding any progress on
discovery or the resolution of any issues.
3. On January 15, 2010, the Parties, through
Mr. Swanson, filed a Status Report, which Report noted that the Parties
continue to engage in discovery and, as discovery continues, they intend also
to discuss resolution of any issues identified by the OES or RUD. The Parties continue to recommend following
an informal process for resolving this matter, as was discussed on December 4,
2009, and recommend no changes to the schedule discussed then.
4.
The Parties will file their next Status Report on
January 29, 2010.
5.
There will be a Public Hearing in this matter. It will convene at the
6.
The deadline for intervention as a party in this
matter is February 1, 2010.
7.
The deadline for written comments from the public in
this matter is Friday, March 5, 2010.
Public Comments must be postmarked or e-mailed by that date to: Richard C. Luis Administrative Law Judge,
Office of Administrative Hearings,
8.
This Order is effective immediately and may be
modified by the Administrative Law Judge for cause.
Dated this 21st day of January, 2010.
_/s/
Richard C. Luis _
RICHARD
C. LUIS
Administrative
Law Judge