Energy Alabama Requests HSV Utilities Justify Rate Hike

Below is the Freedom of Information Act letter that Energy Alabama submitted to Huntsville Utilities requesting that they provide information that justifies their upcoming rate hike.

Information we have requested includes:

  1. Cost of service studies from fiscal year 2016 to present
  2. Any and all analysis and calculations to show the impact of the upcoming rate increase to each customer class
  3. Number of participants, by customer class, in each energy efficiency program offered by Huntsville Utilities or affiliates
  4. Actual weather adjusted energy savings and cost savings by all energy efficiency programs offered by Huntsville Utilities (or affiliates).

Read the full letter (submitted by email) below:

Mr. Joe Gehrdes
Director, Communication and Public Relations
Huntsville Utiltiies
PO Box 2048
Huntsville, Alabama 35804

Joe.gehrdes@hsvutil.org

RE: Open Records Request – September 2018

Dear Mr. Gehrdes,
Pursuant to the Alabama Open Records Act, we hereby request the following records:

1. Any and all cost of service studies on file with Huntsville Utilities from FY2016 to the date of this
filing;
2. Any and all analyses and calculations that show the impact of the upcoming rate increases to each
customer class;
3. Numbers of participants, by customer class to include residential, commercial and industrial, in
each energy efficiency program offered by Huntsville Utilities and/or its authorized affiliates;
4. Actual weather adjusted energy savings and cost savings by all energy efficiency programs offered by Huntsville Utilities and/or its authorized affiliates.

As used above, the term “records” includes, without limitation, all communications, correspondence, records of phone conversations, text messages, encrypted messages, transcripts of testimony, minutes or
notes of meetings, electronic mail, PowerPoint or other similar presentations, memoranda, reports, maps, photographs, drawings, data, tables, spreadsheets, formulas, notes, observations, impressions, contracts, and policies or directives, whether in an electronic or print medium, original or copy, or draft or final form.

The timeframe of this public records request is between January 1, 2016 and the date of this filing.

You may exclude news articles, press clippings, and duplicate emails.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. Therefore, we are requesting a waiver of any fees.

We are, however, prepared to pay reasonable costs for these documents. In the event that there are fees, we would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. We
would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or USB drive if not. We are also available to obtain the documents via an on-site visit should that be most efficient for Huntsville
Utilities.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption that justifies the refusal to release the information and notify us of the appeal procedures available to us under the law.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,

Daniel Tait
Technical Director
Energy Alabama

Letter to Huntsville Utilities

As of this writing, HSV Utilities has failed to respond to this letter. As such, we have provided these recommendations to the Huntsville City Council.

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