TURN DATA REQUEST NUMBER 8 A SOCALGAS RESPONSE

Transcription

1 Administrative and General Costs (Largely Account 930) 1. Regarding Abandoned Projects: a. Please identify any costs for abandoned projects for which recovery is requested for this rate case. b. Identify the ratemaking treatment requested (i.e., amortization over a period of time with or without return) c. Identify any costs for which recovery is not being requested (e.g., AFUDC) d. If costs relate to specific projects, please identify each specific project, the time when it was abandoned, the reason why it was abandoned, and how it meets the Commission s criteria for abandoned plant most recently enunciated in Decision , slip op. at 54. There is no recovery of abandoned projects requested by SoCalGas in FERC Account 930 in this COS proceeding.

2 2. Regarding American Gas Association dues: a. Please identify the amount of AGA dues for which recovery is requested in this case and provide a basis for the forecast, as well as recorded AGA dues (both total and amount included above the line) in each year from b. Is any portion of AGA dues not deemed eligible for recovery from ratepayers? If so, please provide the basis for that determination. SoCalGas is not requesting recovery of AGA dues in this rate case. SoCalGas has not paid membership dues to the AGA since the 2nd quarter of A total of $512,094 was paid in 1998 and $271,062 was paid in the first half of 1999.

3 3. Regarding Edison Electric Institute dues: TURN DATA REQUEST NUMBER 8 a. Please identify the amount of EEI dues for which recovery is requested in this case and provide a basis for the forecast, as well as recorded EEI dues (both total and amount included above the line) in each year from b. Is any portion of EEI dues not deemed eligible for recovery from ratepayers? If so, please provide the basis for that determination. SoCalGas has not paid any dues to Edison Electric Institute from SoCalGas 2004 forecast does not include any dues to Edison Electric Institute.

4 4. Regarding Contributions and Memberships (Sempra Energy Corporate): a. Please identify each organization to which a Sempra Energy Corporate Center contribution or membership payment in excess of $5,000 was made in 2001 which was included in the base figures contained in Mr. Ault s workpapers. b. For each such organization, also identify the amount of the contribution for which ratepayer recovery is requested. c. For each such organization, identify any contributions for which ratepayer recovery is not requested; and (if an organization receives funds that are split between ratepayers and shareholders) explain the basis for the split between ratepayers and shareholders. d. Identify the residual dollars (contributions less than $5000 per organization), reconciling them with the figures shown in Mr. Ault s workpapers. a. The total of all contributions over $5,000 was $3,127,157 and the total of contributions under $5,000 was $668,249, for a grand total of $3,795,406, which reconciles with the 2001 recorded amount shown in Workpapers FHA-35. This workpaper shows that no expense of this nature for Test Year 2004 is allocated to SoCalGas or SDG&E, thus no recovery of such costs is requested in this proceeding by SoCalGas or SDG&E. Therefore, SoCalGas and SDG&E object to this question to the extent it requests any further information on the grounds that it is not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence in this proceeding. The ALJ s Ruling of June 18, 2003, denying Greenlining s motion to compel, among other things, data responses regarding charitable contributions determined that discovery is not appropriate with respect to contributions that SoCalGas and SDG&E do not seek to recover in rates and do not affect their TY 2004 revenue requirement. b. All contributions and memberships made by Sempra Energy were (and are) made at shareholder expense. Ratepayer recovery is not requested. c. All contributions and memberships that would be listed if subpart a. were answered are those for which ratepayer recovery was not and is not requested. d. See response to 4.a.

5 5. Regarding Contributions and Memberships (SoCal Gas direct expenses): a. Please identify each organization to which SoCal Gas made a contribution or membership payment in excess of $5,000 was made in 2001 which was included for recovery from ratepayers. Identify the FERC account(s) in which these contributions and memberships were booked. b. For each such organization, also identify the amount of the contribution for which ratepayer recovery is requested. c. For each such organization, identify any contributions for which ratepayer recovery is not requested; and (if an organization receives funds that are split between ratepayers and shareholders) explain the basis for the split between ratepayers and shareholders. d. Identify the residual dollars (contributions less than $5000 per organization) included in the 2001 base year. SoCalGas paid $5,525 in 2001 for membership in Club 33, a facility used primarily to meet with customers or other business contacts for lunch to maintain relationships. This expense was booked to FERC Account 920 and SoCalGas is not seeking recovery from ratepayers in 2004 (this will be removed from the 2004 forecast on the September errata). SoCalGas paid dues of under $5,000 to various Municipalities Chambers of Commerce in 2001 totaling $20,939. The dues were charged to various FERC accounts. Ratepayer recovery is not requested (these expenses will be removed in the September errata). SoCalGas paid dues of under $5,000 for various organizations such as AICPA, CMA, Institute for Management, etc. in 2001 totaling $63,442. The expenses were booked to various FERC accounts, typically determined by the job assignment of the employee associated with the expense. Ratepayer recovery is being requested.

6 6. Regarding External Affairs & Communications (SoCalGas Workpaper FHA-42): a. Provide recorded 2001 and 2002 spending on advertising to promote utility programs and services which was slated to increase in Provide representative samples of print ads and transcripts of radio or TV ads. b. Provide a specific explanation of the content of the additional advertisements that would be funded by the $400,000 increase. c. Provide examples of the topics covered by increase in video and graphic production to provide more effective employee communication. d. Identify any savings that will result in the test year and after the test year as a result of greater reliance on video and graphic production relative to other methods of employee training. a. Corporate Center s use of advertising dollars since Utility Integration has focused on Webbased delivery rather than traditional print or media ads. Very little of the restated 2001 and 2002 spending was for this type of advertising. The shift toward and the increase requested is for additional Web programming resources (See response to UCAN-DR-12, Question 9). Thus, there are no samples of utility-oriented print ads or transcripts available. All advertising in those forms is included in Department A-10, Brand/Corporate Image, of which no costs are allocated to the Utilities. b. The Utility advertising group focuses solely on utility products and services, while the Corporate Center group emphasizes energy policy, education and outreach. They are responsible for creating a public awareness about the changing energy industry and how all customers can most effectively participate and benefit. In response to this increased need, and in recognition that Global business units are also served by this advertising, the Communications department changed its allocation method for the forecast years. In 2004, the Utilities will receive only 46% of the total allocated cost. With this allocation change, Sempra is actually reducing its Communications allocation to SDG&E by $17,000 from 2001 actuals, and SoCal Gas by $26,000. ($ s) SDG&E SoCal Gas 2001 Allocation $ 383 $ 594 Costs for Video Production $ ( 8) $ ( 13) Costs for Advertising $ ( 9) $ ( 13) 2004 Allocation $ 366 $ 568 Reference Workpaper FHA- 42 c. The use of video (both delivered through interoffice mail and delivered on the web through streaming media) as an educational and training tool is an efficient and effective way to present employees with the most current information they need to serve customers with the best, most cost effective and excellent service. It also is an excellent method for consistently communicating the

7 Response to Question 6 (Continued) latest safety and workplace standards, and company information important to their morale on the job. Some examples of these kinds of videos are: Customer Service All-Stars (a series on providing excellent customer service) The Sempra Energy Utilities: Strategic Plan Energy Safety for All of Us Holiday Safety Meter Reader Safety Be Tree Smart (Tree-trimming safety) Rolling Blackouts: Are you prepared? Making the Most of Summer Underground Service Alert (Ditch Digging Safety) Residential New Construction Emergency Operating Center public service accouchement How to Refuel an NGV d. Increasing the use of video production for training will not result in quantifiable savings. While video production is more expensive, that is somewhat offset by efficiencies of time, materials and labor resources that would otherwise be needed for these training programs. The overall benefits are in the flexible, effective and consistent delivery of the training information.

8 7. Regarding External Affairs & Communications (SoCal Gas Workpaper FHA-48): a. Please explain why costs related to branding/corporate image should not be treated as below the line for ratemaking purposes. If you believe that these costs should be included above the line, please explain how they are consistent with the precedents for allowable advertising established in Commission Decisions and b. Please identify the FERC account(s) in which these costs will be included. c. Please identify recorded costs in this area for d. Were these costs included above the line in recorded years in computing sharing in the SoCal Gas and PBR? a. The costs related to branding/corporate image are treated as below the line. At the corporate center when costs are retained they are treated as shareholder expense and not ratepayer expense. As shown in Workpaper FHA-48, none of the dollars are directly assigned or allocated to the Utilities. b. Since none of the costs flow through to the Utilities, there is no FERC accounting. c. 1999: $7,898, : $7,874, : $2,480, : $2,544,000 Recorded costs for Sempra Energy are only available from Prior to and during 1998, when Sempra Energy was formed, these costs were recorded at predecessor entities on various accounting systems. It would be time-consuming and difficult to provide a meaningful comparison of costs for those years. d. No, these costs were not included above the line in recorded years in computing sharing in the SoCalGas and PBR.

9 8. Please identify bank fees for which recovery is requested in this rate case by FERC account and sub account, provide any adjustments from 2001 to 2004, and provide recorded figures for Recorded costs for Sempra Energy are only available from Prior to and during 1998, when Sempra Energy was formed, these costs were recorded at SoCal Gas on various other accounting systems. It would be time-consuming and difficult to compile costs for those years that are comparable. The following table shows actual bank fees between 1999 and 2002, as well as those forecast in the Cost of Service, between 2002 and SoCal Gas (FERC Account 923) ($-000's) Actual Actual Actual Actual Forecast Forecast Forecast $ 1,542 $ 1,651 $ 1,855 $ 1,822 $ 1,776 $ 1,878 $ 1,878 Please also see the response to ORA-SDG&E-DFB-092, Question 14.

10 9. Please identify securities remarketing fees for which recovery is requested in this rate case by FERC account and sub account, provide any adjustments from 2001 to 2004, and provide recorded figures for SoCal Gas does not incur remarketing fees. Remarketing fees are charges related to floating rate debt. SoCal Gas does not carry this type of debt.