1. (1) Upon Commission approval of a Pre-certified Fund grant or approval of a request for payment from a Case Fund, the Participating Public Utilities must pay the amounts granted pursuant to Commission order. The Participating Public Utilities must pay the amount authorized by the Commission no later than 30 days after receipt of the Commission order. Pre-certification fund Grant Recipients should file a notice of release no later than November 17, specifying any funds that the pre-certification fund Grant Recipient intends to release back to the pre-certification fund. The Commission shall issue a final notice to pre-certification fund Grant Recipients requiring all notices of release by December 7 to identify any rollover funds for the subsequent year.
2. (2) To receive payment of a Case Fund Grant, a Grant Recipient must submit a request for payment of Eligible Expenses to the Commission and serve a copy on the Participating Public Utility from whose account payment is to be made. If the Grant Recipient intends to release funds not used, the grantee may file a release of funds. Case Fund Grant Recipients are encouraged to file a notice of release as soon as possible after resolution of the applicable proceeding and/or their final budget is known. To the extent possible, Case Fund Grant Recipients should file a notice of release no later than November 17, specifying any funds that the Grant Recipient intends to release back to the case fund. In the event that released funds include any amount included in a progress payment previously made, the Grant Recipient must return such funds via a check to the relevant Participating Public Utility's fund within 30 days of the final notice of release.
3. (3) A request for payment or notice of release of funds for a Case Fund Grant may be made at any time during an Eligible Proceeding, after the Commission has approved the applicable proposed budget.

4. (4) The request for Case Fund payment must:

   1. (a) Itemize the expenses, payees and hourly rates for amounts to be reimbursed, including billing details, and including separately identified amounts for consultant or expert witness fees and travel expenses;
   2. (b) Demonstrate that the expenses are reasonable and are directly attributable to issues and positions pursued on behalf of low-income residential customers or Environmental Justice Communities and consistent with the Grant Recipient's proposed budget;
   3. (c) Provide information sufficient to show that the Grant Recipient has complied with any condition or requirement of the Case Fund Grant; and
   4. (d) Specify whether the request for payment is for a progress payment or final payment in full and indicate whether any approved budget amount may be released back to the applicable Case Fund because the Grant Recipient does not intend to request payment for the full approved budget amount.
5. (5) A request for payment under this section may be made as a progress payment prior to the completion of the activity to be performed consistent with an approved budget; provided that any request for payment prior to completion of the activity may not exceed 50 percent of the applicable approved budget.
6. (6) Any person may provide a response to a request for payment of a Case Fund Grant or Pre‑certification Fund Grant within 7 days of the filing of the request. Within 30 days of receiving a request for payment of a Case Fund Grant or Pre-certification Fund Grant, the Commission will make best efforts to review the sufficiency of the request and act upon it. The Commission may disallow a request for payment, in whole or in part, if it determines that the request seeks reimbursement for expenses that are not Eligible Expenses or expenses that are inconsistent with the Grant Recipient's Case Fund Grant or Pre-certification Fund Grant, or any conditions placed on the Case Fund Grant or Pre-certification Fund Grant.
7. (7) On or before each April 1, each Case-Fund Grant Recipient who had, during the prior calendar year, a continuing or newly approved Case Fund Grant or pending proposed budget for an Case Fund Grant request must provide a report to the Administrative Hearings Division showing, as of December 31 of the prior calendar year for each Case Fund, their budget requests pending approval, approved budget amounts, requested payments, payments received, amounts actually spent on expenses described in budgets for proceedings in which the intervenor received an Case Fund Grant, and a statement indicating whether any of their approved budget amounts for an Case Fund Grant may be released back to the applicable Case Fund because the grantee does not intend to use the full approved amount.
8. (8) Each November 17 during the term of the Agreement. Pre-certified Grant Recipients will provide the Administrative Hearings Division a statement setting forth the manner in which the Pre-certification Fund Grant was spent or intends to be spent, including information sufficient to show that the funds were spent in a manner consistent with the these rules, whether a request for payment for remaining amounts has been filed, the remaining amount outstanding and whether the remaining amount or any initial amount will be released back to the fund. Each Pre‑certified Organization will serve a copy of the report it provides under this section on the applicable Participating Public Utility or Utilities.
9. (9) Information presented under this rule may be provided by Grant Recipients or Eligible Recipients directly to the Administrative Hearings Division with copies served upon the relevant Participating Public Utilities and may be designated as confidential and protected from public disclosure by the Commission to the maximum extent possible under the Oregon Public Records Law. The confidential designation will not prevent the applicable Participating Public Utility from reviewing the requests, budgets, or reports. If the order approving a budget imposes confidentiality obligations or if the information is provided pursuant to a protective order, the applicable Participating Public Utility will abide by any such applicable confidentiality obligations.
10. (10) The Commission may audit the relevant records of a Grant Recipient as allowed by law and as necessary to verify the accuracy of the information provided by that Grant Recipient within three years of the order approving the grant.

Statutory/Other Authority

ORS 757.072

Statutes/Other Implemented

ORS 757.072

History

PUC 3-2025, amend filed 12/26/2025, effective 12/26/2025
PUC 1-2023, adopt filed 05/10/2023, effective 05/10/2023