Appendix A-Item 4.

 

                       

4.         Procedures for Presentation of Evidence and Cross-examination of Witnesses

 

Pre-filed testimony of all non-expert witnesses should be adopted upon their taking the stand, and, unless otherwise objected to, will be accepted as evidence.

 

Reports of expert witnesses should be adopted upon their taking the stand, and, unless otherwise objected to, will be accepted as evidence.

 

The order of presentation and cross-examination of witnesses is as follows:

 

Direct evidence Hydro

First Cross                   Newfoundland Power

Second Cross               Industrial customers

Third Cross                  Consumer Advocate

Fourth Cross                Others

Last Cross                    Counsel to the Board

 

Board   Questions

 

 

Questions on Matters Arising   

Hydro

                                    Newfoundland Power

                                    Industrial Customers

                                    Consumer Advocate

                                    Others

                                    Counsel to the Board

 

Direct Evidence                        Intervenor Presenting Witness

First Cross                               Hydro

Second Cross, and so on          Other Intervenors per above

 

Board                                       Questions

 

Questions on Matters Arising   

            Intervenor Presenting Witness

                                                Hydro

                                                Other Intervenors

                                                Counsel to the Board

 

Appendix A-Item 5.

 

                       

5.   Protocol and Procedure for Filing

 

Rules of Procedure

 

 

A         Public Record

 

All documents filed with respect to this proceeding shall be placed on the public record.

 

B         Form of Documents

 

(1)        Unless directed by the Board, the official record of this proceeding will be the original paper copy filed with the Board’s Secretary and all copies.

 

(2)        Every written document filed by a party shall be prepared as follows:

 

(a)        Typed, written or printed on 8½ X 11 letter size paper, 3-hole punched for standard binders.

 

            (b)        Each page shall be numbered.

 

(c)                Where reasonable, each line shall be numbered.

 

 

C         Filing of Documents

 

This subsection shall govern filing of documents with the Board. Filing is accomplished when the Board receives the submission.

 

(1)        All documents shall be filed with the Board Secretary.

 

(2)        Documents may be filed by:

 

(a)        Hand delivery;

(b)        Courier service;

(c)        Registered Mail;

(d)        Facsimile; or

(e)        Other means directed by the Board.

 

(3)        All documents shall be date and time stamped when received at the Board’s Office.  To ensure distribution on the same business day, all documents filed according to the scheduled dates shall be filed no later than 2:00 P.M. on the date stipulated.  Documents filed after this time or on a Board holiday shall be considered as filed on the next Board business day and will be distributed on that date.

 

 

 

 

D         Revisions to Documents

 

(1)        A party may revise any document where new information or information to correct errors on submitted filings becomes available before the completion of a hearing. In which event:

 

(a)        Any party may request a hearing on the new information.

 

(b)        The Board will determine whether a hearing is required to consider the revised document.

 

(2)        Where all or any part of a document is revised, each revision shall indicate the page(s) revised, the line (s) revised as well as the number of the revision (i.e. 1^st revision) and the date of the revision.

 

E          Service of Documents

 

This subsection shall govern service of all papers upon parties and proposed intervenors.

 

(1)        Service upon a party shall be complete when the party or the party’s legal representative receives the document. Service may be made as follows:

 

            (a)        Hand delivery;

(b)        Courier service;

            (c)        Registered Mail;

(d)        Facsimile;

(e)        Or other means directed by the Board.

 

(2)        Service will be effective:

 

(a)        If the document is delivered by hand, courier or fax on the same day that delivery is made.

 

(b)        If the document is delivered by registered mail on the date of receipt.

 

(3)        If service is made by any other means, within the timeframe directed by the Board.

 

 

F          Number of Copies of Filings and other Documents

 

Unless otherwise ordered by the Board, parties filing documents with the Board shall adhere to the following guidelines:

 

(1)        File with the Board Secretary one original signed copy of each document.

 

(2)        Provide 17 copies of the original documents with the Board.

 

(3)        Two copies of each of the documents, described in subsection (1), shall be served on the Applicant.

 

(4)        Each intervenor or where indicated, each legal representative of the Intervenor.

           

(5)        The distribution list for each Intervenor is attached to these guidelines.

 

 

G         Charge for Copies

 

(1)        The Board will provide a copy of any document authored by the Board, or its consultants, at no charge.

(2)        Copies of documents originating or authored by the parties should be requested directly from the parties.

(3)        The Board will charge for the cost associated with the reproduction of any other document requested of it by an individual or party.

 

Copy fees reflect the costs associated with reproducing the material. Copies made at the Board offices are 15 cents per page. Copying sent to outside vendors is recovered on an actual cost basis.

 

(4)        One copy of the transcript for each day of the hearing will be provided to each Intervenor or where indicated, each legal representatives of the Intervenor, at no cost.

(5)        Copies of the Legislation, Acts, and Regulations can be obtained from the Queen’s Printer, viewed at the Board’s Main Offices, or viewed on the Board’s Website at www.pub.nf.ca.

 

H         Public Viewing

 

Interested persons may view any or all documents filed in this proceeding at the Board’s Public Viewing Room at the Board’s main offices by contacting the Board Secretary.

 

I           Electronic Filing

 

The Board recognizes the value inherent in this technology, and wishes to assess the use of electronic filing during this hearing.  Accordingly, the Board, on an experimental basis, wishes to establish procedures and protocols for the filing of electronic copies of original hard-copy documentation.

 

The Board’s intention is to implement a process whereby electronic versions of the documentation filed with the Board will be placed on the PUB server (www.pub.nf.ca) where they would be available for download. 

 

The Board requests that each party to the Hydro hearing, unless otherwise exempted, file with the Board an electronic version of all documentation filed with the Board since May 31, 2001 related to the Hydro Application, in the following manner:

 

-           Each individual document shall be converted while in electronic form to “read only” *.pdf format (Adobe Acrobat), still allowing for key word searches and cut and paste functionality

 

-           On the day of filing of the hard copy, one copy of the electronic *.pdf file will be emailed to ito@pub.nf.ca

 

The following documentation is exempted from the requirement to e-file:

 

i)                    covering letters or correspondence;

ii)                   background reports, Board Orders, or historical documentation prepared previous to this hearing; and

iii)                 case law filed in support of Motions.

 

It is noted that certain parties to the Hydro Application have sought electronic copies of documents.  Until such time as the Board has established a procedure for placing the electronic copy on its server, it is unable to fulfill individual requests.  However, the Board would encourage the parties, as an interim measure, to co-operate with each other to facilitate this process.

 

Please note that the electronic file will not be an official document for the purposes of the hearing. The original paper documents will remain the official documents.

 

 

Appendix A-Item 6.

 

 

 

6.         Motions

 

As noted in the Schedule of Dates, certain days have been set aside for the specific purpose of hearing any Motion that has been filed by a party. While any party is free to file a Motion at any time, it is proposed that these Motion days would be used by the Board wherever possible to conduct the actual hearing of the Motion should it be a contested matter.

 

Parties are to adhere to the same directions for the filing of documents as provided for in Item 4 of this Appendix A.

 

Motions must be filed at least 5 days before the scheduled Motion day. The 5 day period includes the first day, but not the last day.  The 5 day period also includes weekend days where applicable.

 

Response briefs to a Motion must be filed by the responding party at least one clear day before the Motion day.

 

Where a party wishes to have a matter heard other than on a reserved Motion day, they may provide Notice to the Board of their request.  Upon its receipt, the Board will consider the request and render a decision accordingly.

                                   

Appendix A-Item 7.

 

 

7.         Information Requests Outside of set Schedule

 

 

Notwithstanding the dates for the issuing of, and replying to, Information requests filed by the Applicant and Intervenors as provided for in Item 2 (“Schedule of Dates”) of this Procedural Order, the Applicant and the Intervenors may file Information Requests outside of the set schedule. The party receiving an Information Request issued outside of the set schedule will have 14 days to issue their reply, provided however that any such Information Request issued outside of the set schedule is issued and received prior to September 4, 2001. Replies to Information Request issued after September 4, 2001 are to be provided by the responding party as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving the Information Requests.