If an Order of the Commission indicates that a hearing will be held remotely, the hearing will be held via Webex as a Webex Event. If you do not plan to speak but simply want to watch, the hearing will be livestreamed via the Commission’s YouTube channel.
Once a remote public witness hearing has been scheduled, it will be listed on the remote public witness registration page. There will be a registration link next to each remote hearing. Clicking this link will open a sign up form where you will be able to sign up for the remote hearing. Once you've completed the form you will receive a confirmation email.
If you register by the deadline, you will later receive an email providing the phone number and instructions for calling into the hearing.
The telephone line for the hearing will open 30 minutes before the hearing begins. To access the public hearing and testify by phone, please call phone number provided and when prompted, enter the Access Code #, then the numeric Webinar Meeting Password # . It will then say "you're muted" which means you have successfully entered the webinar.
The Webex administrator will request to unmute a public witness caller. When it is your turn, you will hear the message: “You are being asked to unmute yourself. To unmute, press *6 ”. It is important that you listen for this message.
Once you unmute yourself, state your name to signify that you are unmuted. You will then be asked by the Hearing Examiner to affirm your testimony, and then the Public Staff counsel will go over preliminary questions to get you identified for the record. After that, you will begin to provide your statement.
We generally limit each speaker to about five minutes, but if we have many people who want to speak, we might shorten the time to three minutes. Please be organized and succinct so that we can hear from as many people as possible.
At the beginning you will be asked your name, address, and the name of the utility that serves you. You will be asked to affirm that the statement you are about to make will be true. After you make your statement, it is possible that a Commissioner or an attorney for the utility or the Public Staff will have clarifying questions for you.
The Commission’s court reporter will create a written transcript of your statement, so it is important that you speak clearly. The transcript is made a permanent part of the official record in the proceeding, and can be viewed a week or two after the hearing via the Commission’s website. In addition, an audio recording is made, as well as a YouTube video, both of which are made available to the public via the Commission’s website.
Yes, however making a statement at a public hearing, under oath, has more legal weight than providing a written statement. To provide a written statement, you can mail a letter to the Commission at the address below. Or, you can provide a statement via email here. In either case, be sure to put the docket number of the proceeding in the subject line. After two or three business days, such statements are made part of the official record and can be viewed via the Commission’s website.
Yes, you can listen to the live stream of the hearing on the Commission’s YouTube Channel. You can access the live stream from this website’s home page as well via the YouTube icon in the upper right.
Make sure to have your phone fully charged or have a charger on hand.