NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES. Request for Proposals Recording and Transcription Services

Transcription

1 NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES Request for Proposals Recording and Transcription Services The Newfoundland and Labrador Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities is requesting proposals for the provision of Recording and Transcription Services. A copy of the Terms of Reference are posted on the Board s website at or are available for pick-up at the Board s office, 120 Torbay Road, Prince Charles Building, 2nd Floor, Suite E-210. The closing date for the submission of proposals is 3:00 p.m., Wednesday, April 6, The Board reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals. All inquiries should be directed to: Cheryl Blundon Director of Corporate Services and Board Secretary Phone: cblundon@pub.nl.ca -1-

2 NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR THE PROVISION OF RECORDING AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES TERMS OF REFERENCE Purpose The Newfoundland and Labrador Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities is requesting proposals for the provision of Transcription and Recording Services. Introduction The Board is an independent, quasi-judicial regulatory tribunal constituted by the Public Utilities Act, R.S.N The Board has responsibilities for regulating electric utilities, automobile insurance rates, petroleum products pricing, ambulance service licensing, trans-island bus service licensing and, where directed by Government, expropriations and insurance reviews. Statutory responsibilities are carried out under the authority of: the Public Utilities Act; the Electrical Power Control Act; the Petroleum Products Pricing Act; the Automobile Insurance Act; the Insurance Companies Act; the Motor Carrier Act; the Motor Vehicle Transport Act; the Expropriation Act; and the Public Utilities Acquisition of Lands Act. From time-to-time the Board conducts proceedings in relation to these responsibilities. Pursuant to the provisions of the Public Utilities Act, the Board is required to provide a full and complete record of all proceedings. This may include, at the Board s discretion, the recording and transcribing of any proceedings before the Board. At the present time the recording and transcribing of Board proceedings are contracted out. Eligibility Before preparing a proposal for the provision of recording and transcription services to the Board proponents are advised to ensure that their firm can meet the following eligibility criteria: previous experience in the provision of services requested; ability to show quality and efficiency of services requested; ability to meet the minimum same-day transcription requirements as set out in this Terms of Reference; availability of the service provider to physically attend the proceedings; and confirmation of technical equipment requirements. Scope of Work (1) The service provider will, when requested by the Board, provide recording and transcription services for proceedings in accordance with the terms and conditions set out in Schedule A. General administrative duties may be included in these services. (2) The service provider s staff will provide and operate its own recording equipment at proceedings held in St. John s and, when required, outside of the St. John s region. -2-

3 (3) Transcription must be completed on a timely basis. The service provider must make transcriptions available on a same-day, three-day or seven-day basis as required by the Board. (4) Transcripts are to be provided in a paper copy and electronically in the manner that the Board prescribes. (5) The service provider may be requested to transcribe recordings made by persons other than the service provider s own staff. (6) The service provider may be requested to provide electronic copies of the transcript by to other parties as directed by the Board. Consultation The service provider may be required to meet periodically with personnel from the Board to ensure that a quality service is being provided in an efficient manner. Term of Engagement It is expected that the contract will be for a term of three years with an unqualified right for the Board to renew for a further term of three years upon the terms set out in the initial contract. The Board reserves the unqualified right not to re-new the contract. Proposal Evaluation Proposals will be evaluated on the following factors: (a) experience in providing services similar to those being requested by the Board; (b) confirmation that the service provider has the capacity, appropriate level of resources and support services to provide the required service; (c) confirmation that the service provider has the technical equipment to provide the required services; (d) fees proposed as set out in Schedule B; and (e) names of three professional references to whom transcription services have been provided. Proposal Content: Proposals should include: (a) a general description of unique qualifications with an emphasis on how quality and efficiency of service will be delivered; (b) experience in providing services similar to those being requested by the Board; (c) policies with respect to billing practices and payment terms over the course of the three-year contract and renewal period; -3-

4 (d) specifications of technical equipment used, including recording equipment, computer software, digital recording, etc; and (f) the indexing capability of the software program that is used. Conditions (1) The Board will not be liable for any costs incurred by the proponents in the preparation and presentation of their proposals. (2) The Board reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals. The lowest or any proposal shall not necessarily be accepted and the Board may, at its sole discretion, accept a non-compliant proposal. The Board may select one or more proposals. The Board may also require proponents to meet with the Board prior to the selection of the service provider. (3) Intellectual property - All materials, documents, findings and electronic data conceived, developed or produced by the service provider in the recording of the Board s proceedings shall be the property of the Board and shall be delivered to the Board at the end of every proceeding. (4) The service provider may be requested to provide recording service outside the City of St. John s. Travel arrangements will be made by the Board and travel expenses will be paid for meals and other expenses in accordance with the Board s approved travel guidelines. Process The hourly rate for Recording Services is the same for services provided in and outside the St. John s region. The service provider may charge an eight-hour minimum rate for travel outside of St. John s. Two paper copies of the proposals must be received by the Board no later than 3:00 p.m., on Wednesday, April 6, The Board will accept proposal submissions by to meet the 3:00 p.m., April 6 th deadline where confirmation is received that paper copies are enroute to the Board. For mail or courier delivery the envelope should be sealed and clearly marked and addressed as follows: Proposal for Recording and Transcription Services Director of Corporate Services and Board Secretary Board of Commissioners of Public Utilities P.O. Box Suite E-210, 120 Torbay Road St. John s, NL A1A 5B2. Additional information may be obtained by contacting the Director of Corporate Services and Board Secretary at (709) or by at cblundon@pub.nl.ca. -4-

5 SERVICES Schedule A Page 1 (1) For the purpose of these Terms of Reference, the Board provides the following definitions. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Transcription Page - the printing medium used by the service provider for billing purposes. Transcription Pages shall have line numbering and should contain an average of 25 lines. A sample Transcription Page is attached for information purposes. Paper Copy the reproduction of original Transcription Pages that have been reformatted so that four transcription pages fit on an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper. A sample Copy is attached for information purposes. (Attachment #1) Electronic Copy - the electronic copy of the transcript. The electronic copy must be an exact copy of the original signed transcript. Digital Copy - the digital recording of the proceeding. Same-Day Service For proceedings that finish at or before 1:30 p.m. - Transcripts are provided electronically by 8:00 p.m. on the same day and in paper format before 9:00 a.m. the next day. For proceedings that finish between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. - Transcripts are provided electronically by 11:00 p.m. on the same day and in paper format by 9:00 a.m. the next day. (f) (g) Three-Day Service - Transcripts are provided electronically and in paper format before noon on the third day after the proceeding was recorded. Seven-Day Service - Transcripts are provided electronically and in paper format before noon on the seventh day after the proceeding was recorded. (2) Proponents are required to provide recording and transcription services as requested by the Board as follows: (a) Recording Services The service provider will record and monitor proceedings at the Board s facility using their own equipment. This may include general administrative duties associated with the provision of these services, including the distribution of water to attendees at the proceeding. The service provider must be available to provide the services when requested by the Board. (b) Transcription Services (i) The service provider will transcribe the recording of proceedings onto a Transcription Page. Transcription Pages are required to be minimized so that four Transcription Pages fit on a standard 8 X 11 sheet of paper. The service provider must provide Same-Day Service, Three-day Service, or Seven-Day Service when requested by the Board. (ii) At the Board s request the service provider will provide an electronic copy in the formats required by the Board. All transcripts filed electronically must be searchable and allow for key-word searching. This will require documents to be scanned with optical character recognition (OCR) or converted to OCR before they are filed with the Board. The electronic copy must be an exact copy of the original signed transcript. - 5-

6 FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS Schedule B Page 1 FEES The Service Provider shall provide a detailed statement of Fees that will be charged for the services in the format set out below. Table of Fees SERVICE PROPOSED RATES 1. Recording Services (per hour) 2. Transcription Services (per page) (a) Recording Services provided by the Service Provider i) Same-Day service ii) Three-Day service iii) Seven-Day service (b) Recording Services provided by Others i) Same-Day service ii) Three-Day service iii) Seven-Day service 3. Paper Copy rate per standard 8 X 11 page 4. Electronic Copy 5. Copy of Digital Recording Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Requirements (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) The hourly rate for Recording Services is required to be the same rate for services provided in and outside the St. John s region. The service provider may charge an eight-hour minimum rate for travel outside of St. John s. The service provider shall set out the rates for transcription services where the proceeding was recorded by the service provider s own staff and, if different, where it was recorded by persons other than the service provider s own staff. The service provider shall set out the rates for a Transcription Page on the basis of each of: same day; three-day; and seven-day service. The service provider will provide a rate for a Paper Copy, which includes four Transcription Pages. The service provider will provide a rate for an electronic copy of the transcript. The service provider will provide a rate for providing, on the request of the Board, copies of the digital recording used for recording evidence during a proceeding. -6-

7 November 16, (9:08 a. m.) 2 CHAIRMAN: 3 Q. So do we have any preliminary matters? 4 MS. GLYNN: 5 Q. No, Mr. Chair. 6 CHAIRMAN: 7 Q. All right. So I guess we're over to Hydro. 16 MR. SCOTT PELLEY, AFFIRMED 17 MS. CARLA RUSSELL, AFFIRMED 18 MS. CAROL ANN LUTZ, AFFIRMED 19 CHAIRMAN: 20 Q. Your panel is sworn, sir, 21 EXAMINATION-IN-CHIEF BY MR. FREDERICK CASS 22 MR. CASS: 23 Q. Thank you. Mr. Pelley, could you please just 24 confirm your position for the record and give 25 a summary of your work experience? Multi-Page ;"' Page 1 ATTACHMENT #1 NL Hydro GRA Page 3 got my chartered accounting designation in , worked with Deloitte and I've been at 3 Hydro for the last four years in a couple of 4 different positions. I was manager of rates 5 for a year and also manager of investment 6 analysis and financial planning for a year as 7 well. Previous to that, I've worked in other 8 companies such as Newfoundland Power, Vector 9 Aerospace, Fortis, XWave, and my current role 10 is, as I said, the general manager of finance 11 for Hydro. 8 MR. CASS: 9 Q. Yes, Mr. Chair. We have the Finance witnesses 10 ready to be sworn. For the record, they are 11 Scott Pelley, Carla Russell and Carol Ann Lutz. CHAIRMAN: MR. CASS: Q. All right. And Ms. Lutz, the same for you Q. Okay. Let me get my -- here we are. Okay, Mr. Pellcy, I guess P11 start with you please, just your position and your work experience. Page 2 I MR. PELLEY: 2 A. Sure. I'm Scott Pelley. I'm the corporate 3 treasurer with Nalcor Energy, as well as 4 Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro. So in my 5 role I'm responsible for a couple of areas for 6 all our subsidiaries, including Newfoundland 7 and Labrador Hydro. I guess one of the main 8 areas would be financing, the design and 9 execution of financing strategies for Nalcor 1o and its subsidiaries. The other area would be 11 financial risk management for the company, as 12 well as cash management and general banking, 13 and relationship management with some of our 14 key finance stakeholders, such as banks, 15 rating agencies and our shareholder. Anything 16 MS. LUTZ: 17 A. Sure. I'm the divisional controller for 18 Hydro. I have a Bachelor of Commerce and a 19 certified management accounting designation 20 and an MBA. I spent a significant portion of 21 my career working in the private sector. I 22 joined Nalcor Energy in 2007 and joined in the 23 financial reporting group in the corporate 24 office. I was the corporate controller for 25 Nalcor from 2011 until 2014 and in the summer Page 4 1 of 2014, I moved over as controller of Hydro. 2 MR. CASS: 3 Q. Thank you. 4 MR. PELLEY: 5 A. I believe, Fred, I think I only answered half 6 your question. I left out the, I guess, 7 background and work experience piece. I'm 8 also a chartered accountant, have a B.Sc 9 (honours) from Memorial and an MBA from 10 Memorial with a concentration in finance. 11 I've been with Nalcor for about five years in 12 several different roles, and prior to that, I 13 worked in public accounting in the areas of 14 audit insurance, as well as corporate finance 15 and business valuations. 16 else? 16 MR. CASS: 17 MR. CASS: 17 Q. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Russell, what area of 18 Q. No, that's fine, thank you. Ms. Russell, the 18 evidence is this panel responsible for? 19 same, please, could you just confirm your 19 MS. RUSSELL: 20 position and give a summary of your work 20 A. We'll be responsible for Section 3 of the 21 experience? 21 finance evidence. 22 MS. RUSSELL: 22 MR. CASS: 23 A. Sure. I'm the general manager of finance for 23 Q. Okay, thank you, and do you adopt the written 24 Hydro and responsible for the finance, 24 evidence in that area? 25 regulatory and supply chain areas in Hydro. I 25 MS. RUSSELL: Discoveries Unlimited Inc., Ph: (709) Page 1 - Page 4