20160906AVU to Staff 122.doc

AVISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

JURISDICTION: IDAHO DATE PREPARED: 08/26/2016
CASE NO.: AVU-E-16-03 WITNESS: Scott Kinney
REQUESTER: IPUC RESPONDER: Heide Evans
TYPE: Production Request DEPARTMENT: Hydro Licensing
REQUEST NO.: Staff - 122 TELEPHONE: [phone]

REQUEST:

Please provide a detailed description of the controls that are in place to ensure the projects being implemented under the CFSA are least cost. Please describe the steps taken to develop each project budget and during project implementation to document the prudency of expenditures. Please explain if different budget development and implementation processes are applied if the projects implementation is conducted by: (1) the Company; (2) a contract managed by the Company; (3) government agency or stakeholder staff; or (4) a contract management by a government agency or stakeholder.

RESPONSE:

Please see Staff_PR_122 Attachment A for the Clark Fork River Annual Implementation Plan Approval Process. The role of the Clark Fork Management Committee is outlined in the Company’s response to Staff_DR_120, and in the FERC license and settlement agreement.

The budget development process, as outlined in Attachment A, is the same for all projects being funded under the CFSA. Implementation processes can vary depending on the lead for projects. In some cases, Avista’s obligation is to contribute funding as a portion of the overall project budget for an agency-led project. In those instances, agencies follow their own contract management and cost control policies and procedures; Avista does not take on any risk for projects going over agency-led budgets; under the CFSA, we work collaboratively with those lead agencies to ensure that project outcomes are met, but our formal obligation is satisfied through our funding portion.

For projects that Avista is the lead implementer, we follow Avista-standard contract management and oversight to ensure the appropriate least cost of achieving the obligated measures.

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