20131010Avista to Staff 1-3.pdf

Avista Corp.
1411 East Mission P.O. Box3727
Spokane. Washington 99220-0500
Telephone [phone]
TollFree 8OO-727-917O
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October9,2}l3 -.1
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington St.
Boise,ID 83720-0074
Atfir: Karl T. Klein
Deputy Attomey General
Re: Production Request of the Commission Staffin Case Nos. AVU-E-13-08
Dear Mr. Klein,
Enclosed are an original and three copies of Avistaos responses to IPUC Staffs production
requests in the above referenced docket. Included in this mailing are Avista's responses to
production requests 01 - 03. The electronic versions of the responses were emailed on l0l09ll3.
If there are any questions regarding the enclosed information, please contact Paul Kimball at
[phone] or via e-mail at [e-mail]
Sincerely,4-2"
Paul Kimball
Regulatory Analyst
Enclosures
AYISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQTJEST FOR INT'ORMATION
ruRISDICTION: IDAHO DATE PREPARED: 10/0912013
CASE NO: AVU-E-13-08 WITNESS:
REQUESTER: IPUC RESPONDER: Bruce FolsomTYPE: Production Request DEPARTMENT: Energy Effrciency Policy
REQUEST NO.: Statr- 01 TELEPHONE: [phone]
RBQTIEST:
Please provide the amounts for Research and Development that Avista pays annually in its other
jurisdictions. Please include the entity to which those payments are made, and the scope of the
work done by those entities.
RESPONSE:
In addition to the entities receiving Research and Development (R&D) funding shown on page 3 of
the Company's Application, Avista supports one other R&D entity on an annual basis:
2012 - $143,849 (WA/ID/OR) - Gas Technology Institute (GTI) for research related to
analyzingfailed pipe.
While not an annual payment schedule, Avista has provided approximately $500,000 to
Washington State University over the past few years for research, reporting and compliance of grid
modernization work.
Lastly, the current R&D funding shown onpage 3 is Idatro's allocated share of electric R&D ofthe
stated organizations; Avista's Washington jurisdiction provides funding to these at its allocated
share as well.
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AVISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR TNFORMATTON
DATE PREPARED: 1010812013JURISDICTION:
CASE NO:
REQUESTER:
TYPE:
REQUEST NO.:
IDAHO
AVU-E-13-08
IPUC
Production Request
Staff- 02
WITNESS:
RESPONDER:
DEPARTMENT:
TELEPHONE:
Bruce Folsom
Energy Effrciency Policy
(s09) 49s-8706
REQUEST:
Please explain why Idaho customers should pay for Research and Development projects that will
benefit customers in other jurisdictions.
RESPONSE:
Avista's research and development (R&D) proposal is intended to benefit all of Avista's
customers in each jurisdiction. R&D, by its very nature, is not designed to be specific to any one
jurisdiction. The Company will select projects that provide efficiencies on its system that benefits
its customers and./or provide effrciency retail services to its customers. Regarding potential
benefits to customers in other jurisdictions, this is to be expected for R&D projects of general
application. Utilities frequently pioneer new concepts and, then, present the details at conferences,
or by hosting site visits, and/or through trade publications. Further, Avista customers benefit from
R&D expenditures from other utilities as well. Examples of this include benefits from the
California investor-owned utilities participation in research consortiumsl and Bonneville Power
Administration's contribution to regional and national (through EPRI) research.
' Consumer Electronics.
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AYISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
ruRISDICTION:
CASE NO:
REQUESTER:
TYPE:
REQUEST NO.:
IDAHO
AW-E-13-08
IPUC
Production Request
Staff - 03
DATE PREPARED: 10/08/2013
WITNESS:
RESPONDER:
DEPARTMENT:
TELEPHONE:
Bruce Folsom
Energy Efficiency Policy
(soe) 4es-8706
REQUEST:
The Company's Application reads, "Research and development is defined, for the purpose of this
proposal, to be applied R&D that could yield benefits to customers in the next one to four years."
(Application, page 3). But the list of project types that may be considered for funding includes a
description of the University of Idatro's Integrated Design Lab's (IDL) work that reads
'olnvolvement on these projects spans both basic and applied research..." (Application, page 6).
Please confirm that the reference to "basic" research references IDL's past or ongoing work
outside of this funding proposal, not projects that would be funded through Schedule 91.
RESPONSE:
The inclusion of the statement that "Involvement on these projects spans both basic and applied
research..." was intended as a general description of the University of Idatro's Integrated Design
Lab's (IDL) overall work. The selection of R&D projects funded through Avista's Schedule 9l
would be for applied research.
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