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. A link is at the top of this page.
Generally, public witnesses must register about a week in advance of the hearing by sending an email to ncucpublichearing@ncuc.gov. The deadline for registering for any specific hearing can be found via the Schedule of Hearings on this website.
If you register by the deadline, you will later receive a phone call or an email providing the phone number and instructions for calling into the hearing.
After you dial the phone number provided to you, you will hear an announcement that says “Welcome to WebEx, please enter your access code or PIN.” Enter the access code that you have been provided and press the # key to be connected to the meeting. If you hang up or lose connection, you can call in again.
After introductions, the WebEx administrator will unmute public witnesses one at a time to provide their testimony. Please listen for two beeps, which means you have been unmuted and are live in the meeting. If you are following along with the meeting on YouTube, be sure to mute or pause the YouTube video, otherwise it will cause feedback when you speak. Witnesses will speak in the order in which they joined the meeting.
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.