News Releases

Notice of PURPA Hearing

October 26, 2006

Contact Jim Bottone, 770/266-2384

You are hereby notified that Walton EMC (“Walton”) will hold a hearing in its auditorium located at 842 US Hwy 78, Monroe, Georgia, 30655, at 1 p.m. on January 4, 2007 for the purpose of hearing evidence regarding new electric service standards promulgated under the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

• Intervention:
• Only those persons served on Walton’s electric distribution system have a right to intervene in this proceeding. Any intervener must file a notice to intervene no later than December 8, 2006.  Notices to intervene must clearly establish that the intervener has active service on Walton’s electric lines.  As part of the notice to intervene, the intervener must notify Walton of their intent to file testimony in the proceeding.Notices to intervene must be mailed to Sarah Malcom at Walton EMC, P.O. Box 260, Monroe, GA, 30655-0260.Any notice to intervene that is filed late must state the reason why such notice was not filed by December 8, 2006. The hearing officer will determine whether to grant intervention out of time.Interveners may request documentary evidence through Walton by filing requests with Sarah Malcom at Walton EMC. It shall be the responsibility of the party sponsoring any exhibits to see that the court reporter and all parties of record, in addition to the hearing officer, receive copies of all exhibits at the time of their introduction at the hearing.
• Any party may testify at the hearing without intervening in accordance with the rules for limited appearances stated below.
  
  

• Service:
• Any documents or exhibits filed with Walton prior to the hearing must also be filed with all interveners in the proceeding.
  
  

• Hearing Exhibits: 
• It shall be the responsibility of the party sponsoring any hearing exhibits to see that the court reporter and all interveners, in addition to the hearing officer, receive copies of all exhibits at the time of their introduction at the hearing.
  
  

• Rights of Interveners

The parties and interveners in this proceeding have the following rights in connection with this hearing:

• To respond in writing and by appearance at hearing to the matters at issue in this docket and to present evidence on any relevant issue;To be represented by counsel at each party’s expense;
• To cross-examine any witness offering testimony at hearing contrary to the party’s interests or legal position.
  
  

• Assignment To Hearing Officer
• Walton has appointed a hearing officer to conduct the hearing in this proceeding to take evidence and swear in witnesses. The hearing officer will present all duly entered evidence to the board for its consideration and decision.
  
  

• Testimony
• An original and two copies of any direct testimony along with a 3.5" disk containing an electronic version in either Microsoft Word for text documents or Microsoft Excel format for spreadsheets, is to be filed by 4 p.m. December 22, 2006. All such filings shall be made at the front desk of the main Walton EMC office, 842 US Hwy 78, Monroe, Georgia, 30655, and addressed to the attention of Sarah Malcom.All pre-filed testimony must be in question-answer format.Each intervener must also file with one another, and the assigned hearing officer, a copy of any direct testimony.
• PLEASE NOTE THAT All TESTIMONY MUST BE PRE-FILED WITH WALTON EMC. No intervener will be permitted to testify at the hearing unless he or she has timely pre-filed testimony in accordance with the directives set forth in this notice.

• Limited Appearances

• Any person not an intervener to the proceeding who would like to testify at the hearing is able to do so. Such appearance shall be limited to their direct testimony only and shall not be subject to cross-examination and shall not have the right to cross-examine other witnesses or parties. 
• Persons interested in making a limited appearance at the hearing are encouraged to notify Walton in advance at (770) 266-2325; however advance notification is not required.
  
  

• Matters at Issue

The following matters are at issue in this proceeding and will be decided on the basis of facts and arguments presented at hearing:

• Whether Walton EMC should offer its customers a schedule of time-based rates and “smart metering” to reflect any differences in cost to Walton for providing electric service during different time periods of the day.Whether Walton EMC should adopt an interconnection standard allowing qualified customer owned generation to connect directly to Walton’s electric distribution system.
• Whether Walton EMC should offer its customers a net metering service.  Such service can have several implementation strategies, but all involve offsetting customer-generated electricity with electricity consumed by the customer from Walton facilities.

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