Hearing - G-04204A-24-0237 - UNS Gas, Inc. Tucson

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Arizona Corporation Commission 5h 37m 8 agenda items transcribed 1 day ago official recording ↗

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What is the purpose of the hearing and the initial procedural check?

Judge Martin 0:00

On the record, good morning. Oops, I covered up my script. This is the time set for the hearing in docket number G-042-04A-24-0237. And this is in the matter of the application of UNS gas for a rate increase. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the ACC. It's Friday. Huzzah. And I am the administrative law judge assigned to this matter still. So before we begin, let me check if anybody has any procedural issues they need to talk about. Nothing here in the room. Anybody online?

Claire Michaels 0:44

Just to let you know, Judge, for a brief second, you froze there. So hopefully that will not happen as we go on. It's okay now. I just wanted to let you know that that did happen.

Judge Martin 0:54

Okay. I will try to keep an eye out on things then. It

Ms. Barrios-Cool 0:59

could have just been

Judge Martin 1:00

Ms. Barrios-Cool 1:00

my end. I don't

Claire Michaels 1:00

know if anyone else saw it.

Judge Martin 1:03

Okay. Maybe it was just me. I

Ms. Grable 1:05

saw it too.

Judge Martin 1:07

Yeah. Okay. I think it was just my deer in the headlights look at this point. Alright. So if there's nothing to talk about first, then why don't we go ahead and go to Ms. Reyes?

Claire Michaels 1:20

Yes, Wildfire calls Claire Michael.

Judge Martin 1:23

Good morning, Miss Michael. Can you please

Claire Michaels 1:25

raise

Judge Martin 1:25

your right hand to be sworn in by the court reporter? Oh, gotta steal the microphone. Hang on.

Court Reporter 1:46

Good morning. Oops,

Judge Martin 1:50

we need Ms. Michael back. Where'd she go? Good morning. I'm here. There you go.

Court Reporter 1:56

All right. If you please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? I do. Thank you.

Claire Michaels 2:09

Good morning, Ms. Michael. Would you please state and spell your name for the record? My name is Claire Michaels spelled C-L-A-I-R-E-M-I-C-H-A-E-L. Would you please provide your business address? 340 East Palm Lane, Suite 315, Phoenix, Arizona, 85004. And who is your employer? Wildfire. Would you please tell us about Wildfire and your position there? Yes, I am the Climate Equity Director at Wildfire and I'm continuing our organization's history of advocacy at the Corporation Commission. Wildfire is a statewide nonprofit working to stop poverty before it starts. So we administer funding to a variety of partners across the state to provide assistance to our community members and also have joined that with some advocacy for decades here at the Commission.

Claire Michaels 3:08

intervening on behalf of low-income customers in utility rate proceedings. So you have participated in prior commission proceedings? Yes, I supported testimony in the last TEP rate case and have testified in APS, UNS Electric, and Southwest Gas cases.

Judge Martin 3:26

Michael, can you get a little closer to the microphone because you kind of faded out, if possible?

Claire Michaels 3:33

Is this better?

Judge Martin 3:34

Yeah, thank you.

Claire Michaels 3:36

Have you provided written testimony in this case on behalf of Wildfire? Yes, I provided two rounds of direct and one sort of rebuttal. And is your written testimony in this case identified as exhibits WF1, WF2, and WF3? Yes. Was that written testimony prepared by you or under your direction? Yes. And do you adopt those exhibits as your sworn testimony in this case today? Yes. Do you have any changes or corrections that you would like to add to that written testimony today? Yes.

Judge Martin 4:16

Hold on, we lost your sound.

Claire Michaels 4:22

Can you hear me now?

Judge Martin 4:33

A little bit. Um? Yeah, we heard you there. Might have to just like maybe

Claire Michaels 4:41

I just need to lean really

Judge Martin 4:43

close.

Who is Claire Michael and what is her role with Wildfire?

Claire Michaels 4:43

Judge Martin 4:43

know eat the eat the microphone or something.

Claire Michaels 4:47

Sorry about that. I will just. Stay aggressively close to yeah, just

Judge Martin 4:51

just stay close and speak slowly so we can let you know if things cut in and out. So

Claire Michaels 4:57

OK, sorry about that, Your Honor.

Judge Martin 4:58

Oh me too, I'm sorry.

Claire Michaels 5:02

Yeah, so you were stating that you had some changes to your written testimony. Yes, regarding the customer service fee, we appreciate the company's clarification on the topic. We still would like to see an additional caveat that the fee will not be applied when the bill is requested for purposes of a customer getting any type of assistance. While I understand that's not the use case for this fee was created for, we want to be certain that assistance programs don't become less effective due to an additional fee. Thank you for that correction. Could you provide a brief summary of your testimony?