From a letter to Barton L. Kline, senior attorney for Idaho Power Company, from the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power, dated November 20, 2009:
I write on behalf of the Industrial Customers of Idaho Power ("ICIP") to comment on Idaho Power's November 2009 Draft Sales and Load Forecast ("Draft Load Forecast"), which Mark Stokes provided to the Integrated Resources Plan Advisory Council ("IRPAC") on November 4, 2009. . .
Although the Draft Load Forecast is preliminary and may not be technically subject to any formal discovery requirements, it is useful to keep in mind the right of interested parties to review pertinent data and models underlying an electric utility's IRP prior to its acceptance or acknowledgement by a state's utility commission. . .
Without convincing data, ICIP is skeptical the economy will recover as rapidly as the Company expects. The Draft Load Forecast expects the economy to recover rapidly to the levels experienced in the 1993 to 2003 period in the next few years. We expect the economy to recover more slowly and do not expect the near-term growth rate will increase as rapidly as the Company predicts. . .
In sum, ICIP is skeptical of the accuracy of the Draft Load Forecast's projected growth rates without access to additional supporting data and models. We hope that Idaho Power will provide . . . access to the underlying data and models for its final load forecast so that ICIP and others may adequately participate and comment in the IRP process. . .
