20240829PAC to Staff 16-19.pdf

RECEIVED
Thursday, August 29, 2024
IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION
_ ROCKY MOUNTAIN
POWER
A DIVISION OF PACIFICORP
1407 W North Temple, Suite 330
Salt Lake City, Utah 84116
August 29, 2024
Monica Barrios-Sanchez
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd.
Bldg. 8, Ste. 201-A
Boise, ID 83714
monica.barrio ssanchez(apuc.Idaho.gov
S ecretarygpuc.idaho.gov
RE: ID PAC-E-24-09
IPUC Set 2 (16-19)
Please find enclosed Rocky Mountain Power's Responses to IPUC 2nd Set Data Requests 16-19.
If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at [phone].
Sincerely,
/s/
Mark Alder
Manager, Regulation
Enclosures

PAC-E-24-09/Rocky Mountain Power
August 29, 2024
IPUC Data Request 16
IPUC Data Request 16
Referencing Figures 2 and 3 on page 11 of the Idaho Wildfire Mitigation Plan,
please provide the causes that are included in the "Other" column. Additionally,
please provide what methods the Company is using to define what is included in
the Unknown category for ignition risk factors.
Response to IPUC Data Request 16
The "Other" category includes weather-related causes such as wind, ice, freezing
fog, frost, snow, sleet, and blizzards; environmental causes like fire or smoke (not
due to faults) and flooding; operational causes such as improper protective
coordination, overload, and incorrect records; and other known causes.
The "Unknown"ignition risk drivers refer to interruptions where the direct cause
could not be identified.
Recordholder: Chase Talbot
Sponsor: Kevin Benson

PAC-E-24-09/Rocky Mountain Power
August 29, 2024
IPUC Data Request 17
IPUC Data Request 17
In the Company's Response to Production Request No. 10, please explain if the
annual meteorology department expenses are an expansion of the Company's
meteorology department or if this is a new department dedicated for wildfire.
Response to IPUC Data Request 17
PacifiCorp's meteorology department was established within the emergency
management program in 2021 to enhance situational awareness during fire
season. The annual expenses are allocated to developing new situational
awareness tools, improving existing tools, fire weather research and maintaining
weather station equipment.
Recordholder: William Farr
Sponsor: Eleonore Yotsov

PAC-E-24-09/Rocky Mountain Power
August 29, 2024
IPUC Data Request 18
IPUC Data Request 18
In the Company's Response to Production Request No. 11, the Company's table
forecasts a large capital expenditure in 2025. Please explain why the Company
forecasts to spend $582,195 in 2025 and then$36,741 in 2026 and 2027.
Response to IPUC Data Request 18
PacifiCorp plans to make critical improvements to the in-house Weather Research
and Forecasting (WRF) forecasting model in 2025 that will produce multiple
weather forecast scenarios for each computer model initialization, rather than one
deterministic scenario. This is known as a computer model ensemble. The
ensemble will consist of anywhere from seven to 13 different members, or
scenarios, that will run simultaneously every 12 hours. This will allow PacifiCorp
meteorologists to analyze multiple scenarios which provides better situational
awareness regarding best-case and worst-case forecast scenarios and the
likelihood that any potential weather scenario may occur. Additionally, this
feature may allow PacifiCorp the ability to increase its forecast resolution and
determine which specific areas of infrastructure are at highest risk, thus reducing
the number of customers potentially impacted during a possible public safety
power shutoff(PSPS) event. To make this improvement, the computer model will
need significantly more computing power. The majority of 2025's costs will be
applied to adding three new high power computing clusters (HPCC)to increase
the computing power of the WRF model.
Recordholder: William Farr
Sponsor: Eleonore Yotsov

PAC-E-24-09/Rocky Mountain Power
August 29, 2024
IPUC Data Request 19
IPUC Data Request 19
In the Company's Response to Production Request No. 6, the Company's response
had a footnote that said, "It is important to note that, while there is no area
designated as FHCA in Idaho, vegetation management work is nonetheless
performed on circuits identified as potentially high risk by the company's
meteorology group" (emphasis added). Please explain if the criteria used by the
Company's meteorology group is the same as the FireSight model to identify risk
areas. If not the same, please explain the difference.
Response to IPUC Data Request 19
PacifiCorp's meteorology group uses different criteria than the FireSight model to
identify risk areas. The meteorology group identifies circuits in high risk by
conducting a fuels and terrain analysis. This analysis is comprised of
understanding observed fire history, fuel type and flammability and terrain type
and accessibility in the vicinity of the Company's infrastructure. The analysis
conducted using FireSight to develop the fire high consequence areas (FHCA)
includes, in addition these fuel and terrain characteristics, an assessment of wind-
driven fire risk as described in the Company's 2024 Wildfire Mitigation Plan
(WMP), Section 1.2.
Recordholder: Kevin Benson
Sponsor: Joshua Jones