20240423Final_Order_No_36157.pdf

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
April 23,2024
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF AVISTA ) CASE NO. AVU-E-23-15
CORPORATION'S AND CLEARWATER )
PAPER CORPORATION'S JOINT PETITION )
FOR APPROVAL OF AMENDMENT NO. 1 ) ORDER NO. 36157
TO POWER PURCHASE AND SALE )
AGREEMENT )
On October 2, 2023, Avista Corporation ("Avista" or "Company") and Clearwater Paper
Corporation("Clearwater")(collectively the"Parties")jointly petitioned for Commission approval
to amend their 2018 Power Purchase and Sale Agreement ("Agreement") to extend the term for
three additional years ("Petition"). These requests were contained in Amendment Nos. 1 and 2 to
the Agreement.
On December 29, 2023, the Commission issued Order No. 36046 approving the
Company's Petition subject to a compliance filing which required the Company to work with Staff
to determine the appropriate rates to be charged between the Parties, in addition to other
modifications.
On January 19, 2024, the Company submitted a compliance filing which was followed by
a corrected compliance filing on that same date. The Company submitted a subsequent compliance
filing on February 2, 2024, (collectively"Compliance Filings").1
At the Commission's February 13, 2024, Decision Meeting, Staff presented a Decision
Memorandum which noted that Staff had reviewed the Company's Compliance Filings and
recommended the Commission issue an Order specifying that the Company had sufficiently—but
not completely—complied with Commission requirements in Order No. 36046.2
COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
We have reviewed the record and find that the Compliance Filings sufficiently comply with
the Commission's requirements from Order No. 36406. Aside from one remaining error caused by
not using the first capacity deficiency date from when the original Agreement was signed
(December 2026), the Company has complied with this Commission's directives. As noted by
Staff, despite this error, the avoided cost rate paid by Clearwater under the Schedule 25P Block 2
1 The Compliance Filings contained proposed Amendment Nos.3 and 4.
2 The Company did not use the first capacity deficiency date authorized when the original 2018 Agreement was signed.
ORDER NO. 36157 1

Generation Load rate will offset the absence of capacity payments for the one-month period in
December 2026. We agree with Staff that if the Agreement is renewed beyond 2026, capacity
payments should start immediately upon implementation of the renewal contract.
For these reasons, the Commission finds that the Company sufficiently complied with
Order No. 36406. Accordingly, the Commission approves the Company's proposed Amendment
Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 to the Agreement, effective as of January 1, 2024.
ORDER
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Company's Agreement, as updated through
Amendment Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4, is approved effective as of January 1, 2024.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order may petition for
reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the service date of this Order about any matter
decided in this Order. Within seven (7) days after any person has petitioned for reconsideration,
any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration.Idaho Code § 61-626.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 23`d day of
April 2024.
ERIC ANDERSON, PRESIDENT
ri R. HJ R. HAMMOND JR., COMMISSIONER
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EDWARD LODG OMMISSIONER
ATTEST:
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Commission Secretary
I:\Legal\ELECTRIC\AVU-E-23-15_CWP ESA\orders\AVUE2315_Comp_md.docx
ORDER NO. 36157 2