20210429Avista to Staff 1-2.pdf

AVISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
IDAHO
AW-E-2r-03
IPUC
Production Request
StaflOOl
i.ir 'itjl*r.,
ruRISDICTION:
CASE NO:
REQUESTER:
TYPE:
REQUEST NO.:
DATE PREPARED: 0412912021WITNESS: ,':ri : i.== ?S PH 3, '.i.0
RESPONDER:
DEPARTMENT: Joe Miller ,_ ,, t,tj',, -:
,.ri;e
iEgroi;TELEpHONj. Tia Benjamin' '
Regulatory Affairs
(s09) 49s-222s
REQUEST:
On page 4 of the Application, the Company states that the primary driver of the increase in
overhead line extension rates is due to a decrease in vehicle usage during 2020. Please respond to
the following regarding decreased vehicle usage and the increase in overhead line extension rates:
a. Please provide the reasons for decreased vehicle usage in overhead electrical work durin92020
b. Does the Company expect the decreased vehicle usage in overhead electrical work to continue
in future years? Please explain.
c. Please provide the vehicle usage by year for all vehicles used in overhead electrical work from
2018-2020.
d. Did vehicle usage in underground electrical work decrease during 2020? Please explain.
e. Please explain other drivers, besides decreased vehicle use, that caused an increase in overhead
line extension rates.
RESPONSE:
a. The decrease in overhead vehicle usage for electric work was due in part to the cyclical
nature of construction projects that has led to variability in the number of hours for various
vehicle classes. It is also due to operational changes made during the second and third
quarters of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Company expsriences year-to-year volatility in the number of hours of usage
by vehicle type depending on the nature of the consfuction projects that occur. As an
example, as shown in Staft-PR-00l Attachment A, the tandem digger, a corlmon vehicle
type used in most construction projects, has varied considerably over the past three
construction years with a notable uptick in hours when comparing the 2018 and 2019
time-period, followed by a return to normal rrl,2020.
Also, in Avista's early response to the COVID-l9 pandemic, starting in March
2020, electric crews were put on limited working schedules where ofEces in rural areas
were only responding to outages and urban ofEces were rotating crews at50%o capacity for
approx. six to eight weeks. Following that period, crews returned to working following
CDC guidelines where the Company continued to operate with a limited workforce due to
contact tracing, testing and quarantine protocols. It is estimated, this caused an
approximate l0-15%o work reduction over an extended period of 2020.
b. The Company expects continued variability by vehicle type in vehicle usage hours due to
the variability in construction projects noted in part A. The Company does not expect the
COVID-19 pandemic to have an impact on vehicle usage on a go fonvard basis.
c. Please see Staff-PR-0Ol Attachment A.
d. Yes, for similar reasons described above, underground vehicle usage also decreased in
2020. However, the impact of the business process improvement which affected the way
vehicle rates are applied in the Company's workorder system was more impactful to
underground work and offset the effect of the decrease in vehicle usage.
e. In addition to a reduction in vehicle usage, overhead work saw an overall average 3o/o
increase in labor and a 3% increase in materials.
AVISTA CORPORATION
RESPONSE TO REQ[TEST FOR TNFORMATTON
ruRISDICTION: IDAHO
CASE NO: AVU-E-21-03
REQUESTER: IPUCTYPE: Production Request
REQUEST NO.: Staff-002
DATE PREPARED: 0412612021WITNESS: N/A
RESPONDER: Tia Benjamin
DEPARTMENT: Regulatory Affairs
TELEPHONE: [phone]
REQUEST:
On page 5 of the Application, the Company states that the primary driver of the decrease in
underground line extension rates is due to abusiness process improvement in the way vehicle rates
are applied in the Company's workorder system. Did this business process improvement affect any
of the other average costs discussed in the Application? If so, please explain how those costs were
affected. If not, please explain why not.
RESPONSE:
The business process improvement did not materially affect any other costs included in this
application, only vehicle rates. The improvement specifically targeted improving vehicle usage to
better represent vehicle utilization in the field.
OH Crew Vehicle Usage 2OL8-2O2O
GLASS 56:
DUALWHEEL January February March 1ST QTR April May
USAGE
(imputed)
CLASS 66:
TANDEM
DIGGERS
USAGE: (For allvehicles in class, estimated mileage)
2019 86,4',12 69,618 94,964 250,994
2019 147,489 56,560 ',112,139 316,188
2020 95,743 76,850 86,441 259,034
73,111
96,745
64,030
80,434
121,866
66,650
January February March 1ST QTR April May
USAGE
(imputed)
CLASS 68:
DOUBLE
BUCKET
USAGE: (For all vehicles in class, estimated hours)
2018 1,889 1,335 1,748 4,972
2019 1,372 1,901 1,905 5,178
2020 1,126 1,390 1,578 4,094
'l ,262
2,437
1,264
1,259
1,538
'l ,240
January February March lST QTR April May
USAGE
(imputed)USAGE: (For all vehicles in class, estimated hours)
2019 2,006 1,390 1,979 5,375
2019 1,689 1,532 1,801 5,022
2020 1,413 2,094 1,525 5,032
1,504
1,727
1,058
1,247
1,712
1,281
June zND QTR July August September 3RD QTR October November
120,395
107,580
106,858
273,940
326,191
237,538
102,167
121,555
114,869
81,988
95,655
83,989
98,137
95,767
94,169
282,292
312,977
293,027
89,826
90,088
134,948
75,894
87,342
108,643
June 2ND QTR July August September 3RD QTR October November
,362
,367
,222
1
1
1
3,882
5,342
3,726
June 2NDQTR
1,493
1,749
1J04
1,432
1,303
1,267
1,441
1,342
1,443
4,366
4,393
3,814
2,376
1,630
1,519
1,250
1,825
1 ,442
July August September 3RD QTR October November
,2601
,437
,497
,537
1
1
1
4,187
4,936
3,876
1,462
1,427
1,570
1,570
'|.,329
1,618
1,366
1,491
4,650
4,363
4,080
1,612
1,902
1,989
1,709
1,499
2,038
December TOTAL Averase
110,550
u,431
116,911
December
276,270
261,861
360,502
I,083,406
1,217,216
I,150,101
90,29{
101,t135
95,842
,520
1,620
1,598
1,546
TOTAL Averaoe
1,388
1,429
1,74;6
December
5,015
4384
4,706
18,235
19,797
16,340
1
1
1
,650
,362
TOTAL Averaqe
1,906
1,456
1,il1
5,227
4,867
5,568
19,4{19
{9,178
18,556