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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20181120Avista to Staff 1-7.pdfAVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JURISDICTION: CASE NO: REQUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-05 Staff Production Request Staff-O1 DATE PREPARED: WITNESS: RESPONDER: DEPARTMENT: TELEPHONE: ' :..llll2l2olg '-;i r-i''' NA :r3 !nr. ! i. !.,, ..t..,, ,t LEric Scott Gas Supply (s0e) 49s-4001 ' ' REQUEST NO. r: On page 96 of the Avista 2018 Natural Gas IRP, the Company describes the Northwest Pipeline (NWP) system as being fully-contracted and states: "Capacity expansions of these laterals would be lengthy and costly endeavors which Avista would likely bear most of the incremental cost." Please describe what areas would potentially be impacted by the Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston laterals and explain why Avista would "bear most of the cost" for expansion. Additionally, please describe alternatives to lateral expansions on the NWP system that the Company has considered. RESPONSE: Avista serves customers in the Spokane / Coeur d'Alene / Idaho panhandle via firm supply on both TransCanada's Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) system as well as Williams' Northwest Pipeline (NWP). Historically the primary source of natural gas for customers in the Post Falls / Cd'A / northern ID panhandle area is from NWP's Cd'A lateral which extends east to Kellogg, ID. The Cd'A lateral is constrained by both physical delivery capacity on the lateral as well as available incremental receipt capacity elsewhere on the system. On NWP, transportation contracts are required to have a receipt point where natural gas comes onto the system, and a delivery point(s) where gas comes off the system. In order to increase the capacity that can flow across the Cd'A lateral, a system expansion would be required to provide for the new receipt capacity on the system with firm rights to the Cd'A lateral, and existing delivery facilities would require re-builds to accommodate the increased gas deliveries. Costs for system expansions are covered by the NWP tariff Section 25.3. The costs for any expansions would be the responsibility of Avista whether it's through new long-term transportation contracts or through the direct payment for new facilities. Those expansion costs would then be included in the rate-making process and pending commission approval, would be passed-through to customers in the Company's published tariffed rates. The other altemative to increase natural gas deliverability for Avista customers in the Post Falls / Cd'A area would be to take additional gas from TransCanada's GTN system. Avista is currently completing a project to accomplish this. ln 2012 Avista was facing a potential capacity shortfall along the Cd'A lateral. At that time, Avista's Gas Engineering department was in the process of designing and building a new facility at Chase Road to reinforce the town of Rathdrum, ID. When assessing alternatives, Gas Engineering determined that by up-sizing the proposed facility at Rathdrum, ID, they could, with some distribution system enhancements, provide additional gas volumes to Post Falls and Cd'A that would eliminate the need for a NWP mainline system expansion. In addition, no new Page I of2 transportation contracts were required because the new facility at Chase Road provided for the re-allocation of existing firm delivery capacity. Avista did not request a project estimate to expand the Cd'A lateral because the GTN Chase Road solution was in-process, easily scalable, and required no new transportation contracts. The Lewiston Lateral, while similar to the Cd'A Lateral, lacks any infrastructure off of the GTN pipeline to support deliveries to Avista's customers served from the Lewiston Lateral. As such, any new capacity would require a system expansion under the existing NWP tariff as noted earlier. Page 2 of 2 A\ISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JURISDICTION: IDAHO CASE NO: AVU-G-18-05 REQUESTER: StaffTYPE: Production Request REQUEST NO.: Staff-02 DATE PREPARED: llll2l20l8WITNESS: N/A RESPONDER: Tom Pardee DEPARTMENT: Gas Supply TELEPHONE: (509) 495-2159 REQUEST: On page 146 of the Avista 2018 Natural Gas IRP, the Company describes use of a "front line strategy" for transportation agreements. Please describe the benefits and risks of a front line contracting strategy and to what extent this strategy is used. RESPONSE: Obtaining seasonal transportation is a preferred method, or "front line strategy" of contracting in the seasonally dependent climates of the northwest. Reduced contracting from October through April on TransCanada's GTN pipeline allows Avista to serve firm demand while simultaneously saving fixed costs associated with reserving unused transport. The primary benefit of this strategy is a reduced fixed cost on transportation during the seasons with fewer heating degree days as shown below and on page20 of Avista's 2018 Natural Gas IRP. L*0@ lqr ta[,8 rmm |Il Fln |ly lE tt, ls Jir lt il.} & lt{r Dcc l.o Frt Ir *r [lr l$ l.l llr! Lr 6 TE Dac ffn r.t gx r, *:, ,s lu 1{ t , o.t tE E* The risks of this strategy are limited. For example, if an abnormally cold day occurs and transportation has been seasonally reduced, Avista owns storage resources at Jackson Prairie storage facility and continues to maintain ample firm transportation resources to serve demand as shown on page 132 of Avista's 2018 Natural Gas IRP and as depicted below in Figure 6.6. l- ltl {r aP Ii ldr h, r.l h! G tc B. aqar aQr lofln a.E ,!,8 rqr Page 1 of2 Slrrhlntlonfldeho iltrd{ord/Ro*burg IIIB lffi,m l.room ,,oqr ,_sqrm tItc l0emeth Fclls taGrandt tt -!I IIIt Figure 6.6: Existing Firm Transportation Resources - Washington & ldaho MDth 500 450 400 350 300 250 2m 150 100 50 0 1 31 61 91 tz]. 151 181 zLL 24L 27L 301 331 361 Day of Year Avista would consider entering into more contracts of this nature if opporlunities were available from the interstate pipeline companies. To date, both of the major interstate pipelines (Williams' Northwest Pipeline (NWP) and GTN) in Avista's service territory are considered fully subscribed, which means these types of contracts are not commonly available. Fo'rtunately, this strategy is currently in use under a reduced quantity of firm transportation on GTN and in a volumetric contract for firm delivery from Jackson Prairie to our service territories on Williams' Northwest Pipeline. Page 2 of2 AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JUzuSDICTION: CASE NO: REQUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-05 Staff Production Request Staff-03 DATE PREPARED: ll/1212018WITNESS: N/A RESPONDER: Kaylene Schultz DEPARTMENT: Gas Supply TELEPHONE: (509) 495-2482 REQUEST: Please provide an electronic copy of the eCommunity newsletter sent by the Company on January 15,2018. Please see Staff PR 03 Attachment A. RESPONSE: Story 1 2O-year roadmap for meeting your energy needs Planning is integral to everything we do at Avista, and it is especially important in determining how to meet the future energy needs of our customers. Central to this effort is a process called the lntegrated Resource Plan, or lRP. You can think of the IRP as a roadmap for how we will meet the energy needs of our electric and natural gas customers 20 years into the future. Read more Avista's team of professional energy analysts uses sophisticated modeling tools, along with input from Technical Advisory Committee, or TAC, participants to develop an electric IRP in odd years and a natural gas IRP in even years. The 2018 natura! gas IRP is in early development and we would like to invite you to become involved in looking towards our energy future. Learn more here about the natural gas lRP and how you can be involved Story 2 Avista provides over $275,000 in seasonal support to help those in need Additional philanthropy brings 2017 giving totalto over $2 million Food banks and community service agencies serving those who need a helping hand are receiving support this holiday season from the Avista Foundation and Avista Corp. totaling $275,670. "At this time of year, the needs are greatest for food, heat and a way for some families to celebrate the holidays," said Dennis Vermillion, senior vice president of Avista Corp., and president of Avista Utilities. "lt is especially meaningful to us to help support the community resources and organizations that make such a difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors." Read more The total giving amount in 2017 from both the Avista Foundation and Avista Corp is over $2 million. Additionally employees provided more than 45,000 hours of volunteerism in their hometowns in 2017. Staff_PR_O3 Attachment A Page 1 of5 Avista makes a portion of its community investments through the Avista Foundation, a separate, non-profit organization established by Avista Corp. Funds for Avista Corp. contributions come from company profits. They are not included as a cost to customers in developing retail rates. 201 7 Seasonal Donations: Energy assistance donations total: $200,000 Twentythree community service agencies are receiving a total of $200,000 to make grants for energy assistance to qualifying Avista customers who are in need this winter and who may have exhausted all other available energy assistance resources. The organizations receiving the donations are identified by Avista's CARES representatives (Customer Assistance Refenal and Evaluation Service). These reps are specially trained and work closest with our most vulnerable customers and the community agencies that provide support services. Regionalfood banks total: $42,120 For those with limited income, feeding their family can be one of the biggest challenges they face each month. Forty-two food banks in Washington, ldaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska will receive donations, either directly or through a distributor to help support the vital safety-net services they provide. Through their buying power and relationships with food producers, the food banks are able to leverage donations like ours to bring several times their value to help stock the shelves for those in need. Additional Giving: $33,550 Helping agencies meet other needs of vulnerable and low-income residents is an especially difficult task at this time of year. Avista's support of non-profits and community partners is an important part of our commitment to community vitality. Story 3 ldaho Economic Development Association Recognizes Paul Kimmellwith Distinguished Service Award The ldaho Economic Development Association (IEDA) recognized Avista Regional Business Manager Paul Kimmellwith its first-ever Distinguished Service Award at the 2017 IEDA Spring Conference in Blackfoot, ldaho, on April 6. IEDA is a statewide association of economic development professionals dedicated to ldaho's economic prosperity by enhancing and elevating the practice of economic development in ldaho to promote sustainable business groMh and strengthen communities through education, networking and advocacy. Read more Kimmell, serving as an IEDA Board Member since 2012, was selected for his outstanding Staff PR 03 Attachment A Page 2 of 5 support and contributions to the membership. Kristen Jensen, Executive Director of the Great Rift Business Development Council and IEDA past President, said Kimmellwas very deserving of the award. "!t is a specia! award that the IEDA Board has never given before. Paul is such a strong advocate for the economic well-being of ldaho's communities and truly supports our IEDA colleagues throughout the state. We appreciate all he does," Jenson noted. Photo credit: IEDA Past-President Kristen Jensen presents award to Paul Kimmell JPEG in folder Story 4 Building relationships in the community is his forte* Even if you don't know Mike Tatko, you've probably seen him in the community or at least heard his voice. On Friday nights in the fall, Tatko travels throughout north central ldaho to officiate high school football games. When he's not making sure players and coaches mind their manners on the field, Tatko can be heard broadcasting Avista NAIA World Series tournament action on KOZE radio. Read more As visible as those activities are, they're what Tatko does in his spare time. During the week, he's working, often unnoticed, on some of the region's most important initiatives. He has promoted the Avista NAIA World Series and helped make sure the event remained in Lewiston, which adds to the economic vitality of the region. Tatko was on the selection committee that recently named Derek Brandes as the president of Walla Walla Community College. Tatko is serving on a committee to help the Lewiston-Nez Perce County RegionalAirport chart its course as it fights for survival amid competition from airports in Pullman and Spokane. The committee's job is to identify strategies to maintain existing commercial passenger service to Boise, Seattle and Salt Lake City and search for ways to expand service so that even more passengers will use the Lewiston facility. "At Avista, we talk about the value of relationships," said Pat Lynch, Avista's community development director and president of the Avista Foundation in Spokane. "Mike epitomizes that approach as he continues to build and strengthen relationships throughout the region. Everyone seems to know and appreciate Mike and his contributions to his communities. Mike is a great collaborator, relationship builder and a strong communicator. As a result, he is able to get things done for the mutual benefit of our customers, our communities and our company." Bio Box: Mike Tatko Title: Regional business manager Employer: Avista Age:53 Staff_PR_O3 Attach ment A Page 3 of 5 Education: Bachelor's degree from University of ldaho in journalism and communication with a minor in political science; graduated from Highland High School in 1982 after being raised on a farm near Craigmont Family: Two sons, Jake, 16 years old and Josh, 12 Career history: As regional business manager, Tatko is responsible for strategies to enhance business opportunities and community partnerships. The service territory includes Nez Perce, Cleanryater, ldaho and Lewis counties in ldaho, Asotin County in Washington and a portion of Wallowa County in Oregon. He joined Avista in February 2011. Prior to joining Avista, Tatko was a corporate spokesman for the Regence Group where he worked for 10 years, at Lewis- Clark State College for two years in sports information and at the Lewiston Tribune tor 12 years. Civic involvement: Nez Perce County finance campaign chairman for Brad Little, an ldaho gubernatorial candidate in 2018; chairman of the city of Lewiston audit committee; board member of Valley Vision, Lewis-Clark State College Foundation and lnland Northwest Partners. Valley Vision is a not-for-profit economic development group that serves the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley. lnland Northwest Partners is also an economic development group that was founded by Avista to promote business throughout its service territory. He also serves on an advisory committee for the Workforce Education Division at Walla Walla Community College, Clarkston branch and a committee for expansion of air service for the Lewiston-Nez Perce County Regional Airport. Fun facts: He officiates high school football and works as a broadcaster for KOZE radio during the NAIA World Series. *Published in the Lewiston Tribune Story 5 Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine receives $50,000 grant from Avista Foundation for endowed scholarships At the intersection of helping students achieve their dream of attending medical school and developing great doctors who care about rural and urban underserved health care in Washington is a $50,000 grant from the Avista Foundation for two endowed scholarships to Washington State University's Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. The scholarships will work in concert with the mission of the university to train professionals to practice in areas of the state that are considered medically underserved. Each year, two students from the College of Medicine will be selected by the university to receive a scholarship award from the Avista Scholars endowment in perpetuity. Read more ln announcing the grant, Patrick Lynch, Avista Foundation president said, "Avista's legacy of investment in the communities we serve is lived out by this endowed gift to the university. Every year, and for years to come, students will receive a scholarship award that helps make their dreams of becoming a doctor to the people of our region come true." Staff_PR_O3 Attach ment A Page 4 of 5 "We are very grateful to the Avista Foundation for their support of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and their generosity of this gift to our talented students," said John Tomkowiak, founding dean of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. "These scholarships will not only make a significant impact on the financial future of our students, they will help ensure that student loan debt will not deter students from practicing medicine in the areas of the state where they are needed most." Story 6 Avista receives national utility customer service award Avista recently received the Edison Electric lnstitute's 2017 National Key Accounts Award for Outstanding Customer Service. The award is given to electric companies that provide superior service to national, multi-site energy customers. Avista was one of only eight recipients chosen by customers in a nationwide open-ballet process. Ann Carey, Avista national account executive, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Read more More than 700 companies, encompassing a variety of industries - including national brands such as Microsoft, Walmart, Staples, Marriott Hotels and Costco - were eligible to nominate and vote for utilities that go "above and beyond their expectations." They were then asked to rate those selected companies on important traits, including innovative offerings, ease of incentive programs, and appropriate communications and customer support before, during and after outages. Most of the voting companies are in at least 48 states and work with hundreds of different utilities. "To be one of the few utilities in the country receiving this award is a real honor," said Dennis Vermillion, president of Avista Utilities, "and an acknowledgment of the incredible service our employees provide to our customers." EET g&r.r tbcfkINSIITUTT !EDA Past-President Kristen Jensen presents award to Paul Kimmell Staff_PR_03 Attach ment A Page 5 of 5 z, J f{ It- ) AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JURISDICTION: CASE NO: REQUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-0s Staff Production Request Staff-04 DATE PREPARED: ll/1212018WITNESS: N/A RESPONDER: Dan Johnson DEPARTMENT: Gas Planning TELEPHONE: (s09) 49s-8ssl REQUEST: In the Company's 2016 IRP, targeted location conservation programs were mentioned as a potential method to offset distribution system constraint areas. In that case, Staff asked the Company to provide information about targeted location conservation programs in Idaho. The Company responded that its Demand Side Management Group, Gas Supply, and Gas Engineering teams would work together to determine projects for a pilot program. Please provide a complete description of work done since the 2016 IRP to develop a targeted location conservation pilot program. RESPONSE: Targeted natural gas conservation was discussed with the IPUC Staff in preparation for the 2016 Natural Gas IRP. During these conversations, Staff conveyed their interest in using targeted conservation as a resource option. Avista included targeted conservation programs in its Natural Gas IRP as a focused conservation approach that may have the potential to offset or delay system infrastructure projects and costs. To date, the Company has not encountered a project where a targeted approach could be used because the incremental benefits of implementing a conservation program would not offset the need to enhance Avista's natural gas system. In most cases, targeted conservation programs cannot offset enough demand within a timeframe necessary to ensure the continuation of reliable service. In addition to timing, projects must also meet specific criteria in order to be considered for a targeted conservation program. The Gas Engineering department evaluates the geographic location of each project, the system pressure, the expected customer load growth and several other factors. All of these variables must align in order for a targeted conservation program to be considered. The Company will consider using targeted conservation programs in the future when the system specifications and other variables are conducive to this type of approach, while simultaneously recognizing that the likelihood of pursuing targeted programs is limited. The Company also continues to pursue all cost-effective system wide conservation. AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JUzuSDICTION: CASE NO: REQUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-05 Staff Production Request Staff-05 DATE PREPARED: 1lll2l20l8WITNESS: N/A RESPONDER: Terrence Browne DEPARTMENT: Gas Planning TELEPHONE: (509) 495-8551 REQUEST: In the 2018 IRP, the Company suggests that targeted location conservation programs might provide benefits to offset constraint areas and be an effective strategy. IttP at 173. Please describe the analysis of costs and benefits that would be used to evaluate a targeted conservation program as a cost effective strategy. RESPONSE: Please see Avista's responses to Sta[PR_04 and StaflPR_06 for the criteria used to evaluate the feasibility of targeted conservation programs, as well as a description of planned actions to further analyze the costs and benefits of demand side management programs with distribution and supply side resources. AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JURISDICTION: CASE NO: REQUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-05 Staff Production Request Staff-06 DATE PREPARED: llll2l20l8WITNESS: N/A RESPONDER: Terrence Browne DEPARTMENT: Gas Planning TELEPHONE: (509) 495-8ssl REQUEST: On page 7 of the Avista 2018 Natural Gas IRP, the Company states that no resource deficiencies exist except under the High Growth and Low price scenario. However, the Company shows several distribution resource projects will be required within the planning horizon. Please explain how the Company considered DSM as a least-cost way to defer or avoid the distribution projects listed in Table 8.1 of the Avista 2018 Natural Gas IRP. IRP at 177 . RESPONSE: The Company used Applied Energy Group to perform an external independent evaluation of Avista's conservation potential. Studies are then performed in order to meet the achievable savings as guided by the initial marginal cost. A plan to address this action can be found on page 183 of the 2018 IRP. This series of action plans should provide a cost comparison between potential supply side resources, DSM and distribution projects for future projects going forward. AVISTA CORPORATION RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR INFORMATION JURISDICTION CASE NO: RE.QUESTER: TYPE: REQUEST NO.: IDAHO AVU-G-18-05 Staff Production Request Staff-07 DATE PREPARED WITNESS: RESPONDER: DEPARTMENT: TELEPHONE: t1lt2t2018 N/A Tom Pardee Gas Supply (s09) 49s-21s9 REQUEST: The 2018 IRP does not include any assumptions or costs for carbon or other greenhouse gas emissions in Idaho. Most other utilities include a federal cost of carbon or similar proxy at some point in the2}-year planning horizon. Please explain why the Company did not include this in its analysis. RESPONSE: In the process of preparing the 2018 Natural Gas Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), Avista updated its model to account for unique cost of carbon assumptions by jurisdiction. In preparation of this jurisdictional cost of carbon, Avista considered potential state policies and existing federal policies to help determine a value. At a time when federal policy on climate change is being reduced, and many of the websites for the social costs of carbon or policies are being undone, the federal policy did not provide a logical value to reasonably plan around. In the absence of a guiding policy or initiative to inform the planning process, Idaho ended up without a cost of carbon in the current planning process.