October 2006 CA-505-3

What is an Open Meeting?
Is there an Agenda?
How do I participate in an Open Meeting?
What happens at an Open Meeting?
What should I remember when speaking?
Where is the Open Meeting Located?



What is an Open Meeting?
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) conducts its regular business at Open Meetings. When a regulated company files to change its rates or services, the UTC has 30 days to act on the filing. At the Open Meeting, UTC staff, company representatives and interested persons discuss the filings with the UTC’s three commissioners. The commissioners can approve the filing, allow the fi ling to go into effect, extend the filing for further investigation, or set the filing for a formal hearing.

When are Open Meetings?
Generally, Open Meetings are held on the second, fourth, and fi fth Wednesday of each month at 9:30 a.m. in the second-floor hearing room in Olympia.

How am I notified?
Often a notice will be included with your bill. You may also receive a separately mailed notice. This notice explains the details of the filing and tells you how to contact the UTC for more information.

Is there an agenda?
There is an agenda for each Open Meeting that is available several days in advance. If you want to regularly receive the agenda either by mail or by e-mail, contact the UTC Records Center at (360) 664-1234. The agenda is posted on the UTC’s Web page at www.wutc.wa.gov.

The Open Meeting agenda is divided into three major sections as follows:

Utilities/Transportation Items
These filings are considered action items. The commissioners will deliberate longer on filings that are controversial or require a more detailed explanation. UTC staff prepares a memo describing the filing and make a recommendation to the commissioners. The memos are available two days before the Open Meeting on the UTC’s Web page: www.wutc.wa.gov.

Consent Items
The majority of Open Meeting filings are not controversial. These filings are approved by the commissioners on a single motion.
No Action Items
Filings that go into effect without the commissioners’ taking action are put on the No Action section of the agenda.



How to participate in an Open Meeting?

In Person - When you arrive, pick up a copy of the agenda and staff memo (if available) of the filing you are interested in. Please sign in, and indicate whether you wish to speak on a particular agenda item. You may also submit written comments, prior to the start of the Open Meeting.

By Telephone - If you are unable to attend an Open Meeting in person, you can make arrangements with the UTC Records Center to participate by telephone. We recommend you call the Records Center one day before the meeting at (360) 664-1234. You will be asked which agenda item or docket number you are interested in. You may also request a copy of the staff memo. Your name will be added to the speaker sign-in sheet.


There are a limited number of lines available to participate by telephone. Depending on the level of interest in the meeting, it can be critical to call early before the meeting begins. If you call in before the meeting begins, you will hear two beeps then silence until the meeting begins. Any sounds from your telephone will be heard in the UTC’s hearing room and to others listening. Please mute your telephone until you are called on by the commissioners to speak. If you put your line on hold while you listen to the meeting, please be sure that your system does not play music. If all lines are in use, you will receive a busy signal.

What happens at an Open Meeting?
The chairman will call the meeting to order, and last-minute changes to the agenda are announced. The chairman will ask if anyone wants to comment on any consent or no-action filings. If no one responds, the consent items are approved and the no action items will automatically take effect.

Filings on the action section of the agenda are addressed in order. UTC staff members present each item to the commissioners. Staff summarizes each filing, which is also presented in a written memo, and then recommends an action to be taken by the commissioners. After the UTC staff presentation, company representatives are invited to speak, followed by any other member of the public.

When everyone has spoken, the commissioners discuss the issues of the fi ling. By law, this is the first time the commissioners are allowed to discuss the fi ling with each other.

What should you remember when speaking at an Open Meeting?
· When your name is called, go to the podium, or take the mute off your phone.
· State your name clearly and directly into the microphone.
· Keep comments brief and specific to the issue.
· State your opinion, and any supporting facts or reasons for your opinion.

Where is the Open Meeting Located?
Open Meetings are held in the second-floor hearing room at the UTC’s headquarters, located at 1300 S. Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, Washington 98504.