Trade Service Agmt 2023-2025~1.pdf

S-86000-00007162 – Revision 1

INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE

IN THE

TRADE SERVICE AGREEMENT

WITH THE

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF OREGON

FOR

REPORTING AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES

(July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025)

1. Introduction

The Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC) regulates customer rates and services of the state’s investor-owned electric, natural gas, and certain telephone utilities and water companies.

The PUC conducts proceedings on administrative rules and contested cases concerning utility rates and services. Cases may involve multiple parties, including utilities, customers, and PUC Staff. Proceedings may be located remotely, at the PUC in Salem, or at various locations throughout the state, and can last from fifteen (15) minutes to several days, depending on the complexity of the issues.

At the discretion of the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), a Certified Shorthand Reporter or

Transcription Service (Contractor) may be requested to make a verbatim record of the proceeding and may or may not be asked to prepare a transcript that meets standards set out in Exhibit A, attached. The PUC may also digitally record the proceeding and make the audio file available to the public.

2. Purpose

Through this invitation, the PUC seeks Contractors interested in providing certified shorthand reporting and transcription services for proceedings. The PUC establishes an OregonBuys Notice Number for this service.

Completion and return of the enclosed Contractor Services Response Form indicates your interest in performing these services at the scheduled price, your ability to meet the scope of work and timeline standards, and your confirmation that you possess all applicable certifications and skills required to provide reporting or transcription services.

Upon completion of your response to this invitation, the PUC will review the response form.

If the information contained on the form is found to be acceptable, PUC will place you in a geographic pool of Contractors. As needed, the PUC will solicit a Contractor from the pool based on the location of the proceeding. When more than one Contractor serves a proceeding location, the Contractors located closest to the proceeding location will be given first priority for the proceeding. The PUC will contact Contractors on a rotational basis. The PUC will notify Contractor by telephone or email of a scheduled proceeding, change, or cancellation of proceeding, or other pertinent information as soon as practicable.

S-86000-00007162 – Revision 1

3. Agreement Term

a. This is an open-call Trade Service Agreement (Agreement). The Agreement term begins July 1, 2023, and continues through June 30, 2025. Contractors are encouraged to respond to this invitation as soon as possible (or anytime before June 30, 2025) to become eligible for work with the PUC by signing and submitting the attached Response Form. Contractors must be issued a Work Order Number prior to being eligible to report on a proceeding for the PUC.

b. This Agreement may be amended to extend the dates for performance. Both parties must sign the amendment, and any necessary approvals must be obtained before any work may begin under the amended agreement.

c. The Contractor may be pulled from the pool of Contractors at any time during the term of this Agreement if the PUC deems that the Contractor’s performance is unacceptable.

4. Contractor Responsibilities

4.1 Confirmation:

a. Contractor must confirm scheduled attendance at an assigned proceeding by 3:00 p.m. one business day prior to the scheduled proceeding by contacting the PUC at (503) 378-6678 or e-mail to puc.hearings@puc.oregon.gov. Failure to confirm scheduled attendance may result in loss of service for the scheduled proceeding and future service opportunities.

b. If a scheduled Contractor cannot attend an assigned proceeding, the PUC must approve, in advance, any substitution of a Contractor who is not directly employed by the scheduled Contractor’s company.

4.2 Reporting:

Contractor must make an accurate and verbatim record of any assigned proceeding and must provide his or her own court reporting equipment and supplies. Contractor must have the formatting flexibility to prepare condensed or mini transcripts and associated word indexing and must retain notes and other records of each proceeding in proper, reproducible form for a period of five (5) years.

4.3 Preparation of Transcripts:

The parties to a PUC proceeding, the PUC Staff, or the ALJ may request a Contractor to prepare a transcript. Upon such a request, Contractor must:

a. Produce an accurate and complete transcript of the proceeding in the format prescribed in Exhibit A. Alternate formats, such as condensed transcripts, must be approved in advance by the ALJ.

mailto:puc.hearings@puc.oregon.gov

b. Exclude all confidential portions of the proceeding from the transcript, and prepare a separate confidential transcript as directed by the ALJ. The ALJ may send specific instructions regarding the distribution of the confidential transcript to the Contractor. Contractor must contact the ALJ prior to the delivery of any confidential transcripts to parties, or who are not identified in the ALJ’s instructions, to ensure that the intended recipient is authorized to review the confidential information.

c. Certify that all transcripts are a complete and accurate record of the proceeding and provide a word index. Any correction to a transcript must be approved by the presiding ALJ. The parties to the proceeding must file a joint motion to request any correction to a transcript. The ALJ will issue a ruling and may request Contractor to prepare a corrected transcript in whole or in part. The Contractor will produce the corrected transcript or corrected pages as instructed by the ALJ.

4.4 Delivery and PUC Use of Transcripts:

a. Unless directed otherwise, Contractor must deliver transcripts (certified original and requested copies) to the requesting party within fourteen (14) days following the proceeding or the issued date of a ruling approving transcript corrections.

b. Contractor must advise the ALJ and the parties to the proceeding if an extension in delivery schedule is requested. The request must be in written form, stating the reasons for delay and stating the anticipated delivery date. The ALJ will review requests for extensions and advise the Contractor if the extension is approved.

c. When transcripts are requested by any party, including the PUC Staff or Attorney

General’s office, the Contractor will provide the ALJ, at no cost: a signed, certified transcript in a text-searchable Portable Document Format (i.e., .pdf format) via email to the ALJ’s assistant, or via upload/sharing application currently in use by PUC (contact the PUC at (503) 378-6678 or e-mail:

puc.hearings@puc.oregon.gov). The ALJ may duplicate this copy for his or her own use or that of the Commissioners but will not provide any copies of the transcript to any parties in the case, including PUC Staff. The PUC Staff requesting transcripts will not provide any copies of the transcript to Staff of another division of PUC or to any parties in the case.

d. Any transcript produced will become a public record subject to the Oregon Public

Records Law and the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure. The PUC may copy limited portions of a transcript to comply with a public records request. The PUC may make copies of the entire transcript if the case has been appealed to a court.

4.5 Confidentiality:

By completing and returning the enclosed Contractor Services Response Form, Contractor consents to be bound by the terms of all protective orders governing the disclosure of protected information applicable to the proceedings to which Contractor is assigned.

mailto:puc.hearings@puc.oregon.gov

5. Fee Schedule

5.1 Reporting: (includes arriving 15 minutes prior to the proceeding to set up) Hourly Rate (billed in 15-minute increments) $143.00

5.2 Oral Argument:

Hourly rate Oral Argument (billed in 15-minute increments) $143.00

5.3 Travel:*

Time: If the travel to the event exceeds 20-miles from Contractor’s normal place of business $ 35.00/hour Mileage: In excess of 20 miles to and from the normal place of business State Rates Meals State Rates Lodging State Rates

*Travel expenses may not be authorized if a notice of cancellation of an assignment for a proceeding is given to Contractor at least twenty-four (24) hours before the scheduled proceeding.

5.4 Canceled Proceeding:

Notice provided twenty-four (24) hours prior to scheduled proceeding $ 0.00 Notice provided less than twenty-four (24) hours prior to scheduled proceeding $114.00

5.5 Original Electronic Transcript

Requested by ALJ or PUC Staff:

Delivered timely within fourteen (14) calendar days from proceeding $ 9.75/page Expedited request (less than 7-day delivery) $ 11.95/page Daily transcripts requested (24-hour or less delivery required) $ 14.25/page Corrected Transcript $ 1.00/page

5.6 Transcript Requested by Parties other than PUC:

Contractor’s fee to be negotiated between Contractor and requesting party. The Fee Schedule listed in 5.4 above pertains only to services requested by the PUC.

*Travel expenses and mileage reimbursement are per diem at the rates set forth in the Oregon Accounting Manual as of the date Contractor incurred the travel or other expenses. The Oregon Accounting Manual is available at http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/CFO/SARS/policies/oam/40.10.00.pdf. The rate may change during the term of the contract. Reimbursement of these expenses requires prior authorization from the PUC.

http://www.oregon.gov/DAS/CFO/SARS/policies/oam/40.10.00.pdf

5.7 All delivery charges are the responsibility of Contractor.

6. Invoicing and Payment

6.1 a. Contractor must submit an itemized, detailed invoice to the PUC at the conclusion of each proceeding or, if requested, with the delivery of the transcript to the PUC.

b. Each invoice must include:

(1) Date of proceeding

(2) Docket number

(3) Case name

(4) Name of presiding Administrative Law Judge

(5) Proceeding location (city)

(6) Arrival and departure time

(7) Total hours of attendance, with itemization of hours (i.e., minimum hours, hours thereafter)

(8) Travel and expenses (include expense receipts)

(9) Number of pages in transcript

(10) Cost per page

(11) PUC’s Work/Purchase order number

(12) Contractor’s Invoice number

(13) Contractor’s Federal tax identification number

(14) OregonBuys Notice number

(15) Name of the PUC representative requesting transcript

c. Upon receipt of an accurate invoice, the PUC will make payment to Contractor within thirty (30) days in accordance with regular payment procedure.

6.2 Payment may be delayed if:

a. A requested transcript is not received within the requested time without prior approval;

b. The transcript is incomplete and/or fails to meet the standards set out in Exhibit A; or

c. The invoice is incomplete or incorrect.

EXHIBIT A

FORM OF TRANSCRIPT

A transcript must meet the specifications found in the Oregon Rules of Appellate Procedure Rule 3.35.

Transcripts containing confidential information must be prepared and submitted as instructed by the ALJ, and as indicated in 4.3(b) of this agreement.

7/1/2023 - 6/30/2025 Court Reporting & Transcription Services / S-86000-00007162

EXHIBIT B

SAMPLE FORM OF INVOICE STATEMENT

*CONTRACTOR'S LETTERHEAD*

TO: ALJ _____________________________ DATE: ___________________________

PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF OREGON (Your) FEDERAL TAX ID NO.: ______ PO BOX 1088 (Your) INVOICE NO.: ______________

SALEM OR 97308-1088 PUC PURCHASE ORDER NO.: PO-

86000-00020613 OregonBuys Solicitation No.: S-86000- 00007162

RE: Docket/Case No.: ________________ Date of Proceeding: _________________ Case Name: _____________________ Proceeding Location: _______________ Arrival Time: _____________________ Transcript Requested by PUC Departure Time: ___________________ Representative: ________________________ Total Hours of Attendance: ___________ Mileage: _________________________

Reporting Fee: (Per Section 5)

2 hours $286.00 x $143.00 =

Transcript: Original, plus 1 copy Within 14 days 22 pages x $9.75 page = $214.50

Travel Time: (Per Section 5.3) # of hours (round trip) x $35.00 per hour = $ * Mileage: (Per Section 5.3) # of miles in excess of 20 miles to and from the normal place of business (round trip) x state rate = $ * Meals: $ * Lodging: $ *

TOTAL: $***.**

Attachments:

Travel and Expense Receipts

[*Note: Per Diem at the rates set forth in the Oregon Accounting Manual, per Agreement.]

Signature of Contractor

Printed Name of Contractor

CONTRACTOR SERVICES RESPONSE FORM

The following signature indicates Contractor’s willingness and ability to perform services for the Public Utility Commission of Oregon (PUC) under all terms, conditions, and specifications as stated in the PUC’s Invitation to Participate for Court Reporting and Transcription Services for the period of July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025, biennium. Oregon Procurement Information Network (“OregonBuys” Notice No. S-86000-00007162.

Additional Information Needed:

Name (please print)

Company/Organization

Address

City/State/Zip

Telephone Number(s)

COBID Certification Number

OregonBuys Supplier Number* (To get a Supplier Number, go to https://oregonbuys.gov/bso/)

Name of Auto Insurance Provider

Auto Insurance Policy Expiration Date

Email Address

__________________________________________ (Signed W-9 Form required) Federal Tax ID Number

Certified Shorthand Reporter (CSR) No.

Geographic Availability: (Specify cities and/or counties, statewide, etc.)

Comments: ________________________________________________________________________.

NOTE: If company has more than one Contractor, please list all names and CSR numbers of persons who would be performing services. (Continue on back of form or on additional page if necessary.)

Contractor Signature Date

PUC Authorized Representative, Signature Date

MAIL TO: Public Utility Commission of Oregon, Attn.: Procurement & Contract Specialist, Business Services Division, PO Box 1088, Salem, OR 97308-1088.

or EMAIL TO: Rich Palmer at Rich.Palmer@puc.oregon.gov (Requires full color scanned copy of Response Form with applicant’s signature.)

https://oregonbuys.gov/bso/ mailto:Rich.Palmer@puc.oregon.gov