Website: www.puc.idaho.gov
Commission conducting hearings on two railroad matters
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will conduct two
telephonic hearings on Tuesday, May 29 regarding two railroad issues.
Palouse River & Coulee City Railroad is petitioning to
abandon 0.2 miles of rail line near downtown Moscow. A previous news release
from the commission gave the incorrect toll-free number interested parties can
call to offer testimony or listen to the proceedings. The correct number is
1-877-232-4392. Once connected, enter participant code 263892. The hearing
begins at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
The rail line and right-of-way proposed for abandonment
generally runs between College Street/8th Street and the new bridge
on U.S. Highway 95, in the southern part of downtown and to the east of the
University of Idaho campus. The railroad asserts the rail line is impeding
commercial development in the area. It further asserts that only one car was
shipped on this segment of the line during 2006 and the shipper, Moscow Idaho
Seed Company, has since closed. A parallel rail line will remain active.
The commission will conduct another telephonic hearing on
the same day regarding a petition by the BG&CM Railroad of its annual
regulatory fee assessed by the commission. The railroad operates portions of
the previous Camas Prairie Railroad’s Grangeville branch line that runs from
Cottonwood to Spalding.
That hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m., PDT. Those who want
to testify or listen to the proceedings may call a toll-free number at
1-888-285-4585 and enter participant code 135601.
BG&CM stated it over-reported its gross intrastate
operating revenue by inadvertently including operating revenues from another
railroad. The assessment utilities and railroads must pay the commission is
based on gross operating revenues. The railroad claims that by over-reporting
its operating revenues its assessment was $5,087.76 and should be $1,892.52.
For those who can attend the hearings, they will be conducted in the commission’s hearing room at 472 W. Washington St., Boise.