Website: www.puc.idaho.gov
Commission issues orders in rail cases
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission recently issued
final orders in two railroad-related cases.
The commission said it would not object to a petition
before the U.S. Surface Transportation Board by Palouse River & Coulee City
Railroad to abandon 0.2 miles of rail line near downtown Moscow. The rail line
and right-of-way 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 said the rail line,
which is impeding commercial development in the area, was used by only one car
during 2006 and the shipper, Moscow Idaho Seed Company, has since closed. A
parallel rail line will remain active.
“Based upon the record in this case including the
testimony offered at the public hearing, the lack of any intervenors and the
lack of objections, we find that Idaho shippers will not be adversely affected
by the abandonment,” the commission said. The U.S. Surface Transportation Board
will make the final decision on abandonment.
The commission also granted BG&CM Railroad’s petition
to decrease its annual regulatory fee. BG&CM Railroad operates portions of
the previous Camas Prairie Railroad’s Grangeville branch line that runs from Cottonwood
to Spalding.
The assessment that utilities and railroads must pay the
commission is based on a percentage of gross operating revenues. BG&CM
stated it over-reported its gross intrastate operating revenue by inadvertently
including operating revenues from another railroad. The railroad claims that by
over-reporting its operating revenues its assessment was $5,087.76. The
commission approved an adjusted assessment of $1,820.76.