20100217Comments.pdf

DONALD L. HOWELL, II
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074
[phone]
IDAHO BAR NO. 3366
f"" ,. ,. r- " (1"",c/ .,,- f. ~ ¡r~- r ~ .'; ;~....3. V i:.c,." ',J _
2010 FEB 17 PM I: 36
Street Address for Express Mail:
472 W. WASHINGTON
BOISE, IDAHO 83702-5918
Attorney for the Commission Staff
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
ALLEN LAKE,
Complainant,
ATLANTA POWER COMPANY,
Respondent.
)
) CASE NO. ATL-E-09-1
)
)
) COMMENTS OF THE
) COMMISSION STAFF
)
)
vs.
The Staff of the Idaho Public Utilties Commission, by and through its Attorney of Record,
Donald L. Howell II, Deputy Attorney General, submits the following comments.
BACKGROUND
In April of2009, Mr. Allen Lake, a customer of Atlanta Power Company, fied a complaint
with the Commission alleging that the electric power he was receiving would not run his new
dishwasher. He asserted that he had the appliance supplier go through the dishwasher and replace
the controls and when that did not improve the situation, the supplier completely replaced the
dishwasher. The problem persisted. At that point he and the supplier determined that the problem
was associated with the quality of power being provided by Atlanta Power Company.
The Staff s response to the initial complaint was to treat it as an informal complaint,
IDAPA 31.01.01.021. The Staff had several conversations with the customer and Mr. Israel Ray,
STAFF COMMENTS 1 FEBRUARY 17,2010
the President of Atlanta Power, to determine a course of action to address and hopefully resolve
the problem. The Staff determined that a power quality analysis would be required to more
specifically define the problem. In the process of determining who could do such a review and
what the cost would be, two Idaho Power Company power quality engineers volunteered to do the
study on their own time. The study was conducted on August 28,2009, and a brief report was
provided. The report addressed several safety and power quality issues.
One of the findings identified in the report was that system frequency varied approximately
10 cycles per second (cps) around an ideal 60 cps. Also, when the frequency dropped below 59
cps, the voltage dropped off significantly. Based upon these results, Staff believed that this
voltage drop was the power quality problem that was causing the dishwasher malfunction.
The power system controls operate based on system frequency measured in cps. When
system load increases, the turbine/generator slows causing system frequency to slow until the
hydro-turbine's wicket gates open to let more water into the turbine. When load declines, the
turbine/generator speed increases causing the system frequency to increase above 60 cps until the
water flow is reduced by parially closing the wicket gates. The existing control system allows the
operator to set high and low frequencies (above and below 60 cps) which cause a motor to open or
close the wicket gates incrementally. The chain that connected the motor shaft to the wicket gate
shaft had some play in it that was slowing the machines response to these frequency variations.
Mr. Ray proposed to have a "tensoner" built to tighten the chain and reduce the response time to
frequency changes. The process of designing, building and installng the tensioner took a few
months.
Two things happened before the tensioner was installed. First, Atlanta power provided Mr.
Lake with a plug-in meter that allowed him to monitor frequency at his home. He quickly
determined that it was high frequency not low frequency that was turing offhis dishwasher. But
it was stil a frequency-related problem and reducing system response time to frequency
fluctuations stil seemed like the correct thing to do. Second, Mr. Lake became concerned that
Atlanta Power might not do anything about his dishwasher problem. He subsequently requested
formal processing of his complaint which precipitated this formal complaint case.
After the tensioner was built and installed, the initial tests of the dishwasher showed or
seemed to show some improvement. However, after a short period of time, Mr. Lake asserted that
there had been little change.
STAFF COMMENTS 2 FEBRUARY 17,2010
The Commission accepted Mr. Lake's formal complaint and issued a sumons in
November of2009, requiring Atlanta Power to respond. Atlanta Power did respond on December
15,2009. The Company explained what had been done and committed to continue to work on the
problem. Mr. Lake responded to Atlanta Power's comments on December 28,2009, saying that
the problem stil existed. That brings us to where we are now.
STAFF REVIEW AND COMMENTS
Mr. Ray states that he plans to continue to work on the problem. One of the things that he
may do next is to heat the chain drive system previously discussed. The chain drive is exposed to
outside air temperatures. It seems that after the tensioner was installed and before the weather
turned cold, there were fewer dishwasher problems. Possibly the lubricants thickened on the chain
drive in colder weather and offset the gains in response time the tensioner provided.
The Staff has identified another solution specific to the dishwasher problem and discussed
it with Mr. Lake and Mr. Ray. The solution is to purchase and install a double conversion
uninterrptible power supply (UPS) on the dishwasher circuit in Mr. Lakes home. A double
conversion UPS would convert Atlanta Power's AC electricity to DC, store it in batteries, then
convert it back to perfect wave form 60 cps AC power using an inverter. This system would cost
approximately $2,000. This solution would solve power quality concerns on one circuit for one
customer. Although only Mr. Lake is complaining at this time, all Atlanta Power Customers are
experiencing the same fluctuations even though their electrical equipment continues to function.
The Staff is aware of one other customer who has experienced problems similar to Mr. Lake, but
he has not lodged a complaint.
A more expensive solution that would improve power quality for all customers on the
entire system involves replacing the turbine/generator control system. As previously discussed,
the current control system does not begin to respond until a high or low frequency set point is
exceeded. A more accurate control system would detect when the frequency was beginning to
change and adjust the wicket gates more quickly and in smaller increments instead of waiting to
respond until the system is substantially above or below 60 cps. The Staff s rough estimate of the
cost of replacing the control system is $15,000 to $25,000.
As the Commission is aware, Atlanta Power's electric rates are very high relative to other
electric rates in Idaho. Atlanta Power customers curently pay an average of 44.3 t/kWh. Other
Idaho customers pay less than 10 t/kWh. The Commission established the rates in Order No.
STAFF COMMENTS 3 FEBRUARY 17,2010
30704 (Case No. ATL-E-08-02) to provide the Company with the revenue necessary to operate the
system. Some customers have disconnected from the system as a direct result of the last rate
increase, including Atlanta Power's single largest customer. The Staff is very concerned that
fuher increases in Atlanta Power's electric rates could result in other customers leaving the
system. Staff s hope throughout this investigation has been that a no cost or very low cost
solution could be found. In Staffs view the cost of replacing the turbine/generator controls does
not qualify as low cost.
Staff does not believe that Atlanta Power should invest in a double conversion UPS for Mr.
Lake's dishwasher circuit. Such an investment would establish a precedent that may require
Atlanta Power to make other such purchases to meet the needs of other customers who may be
experiencing power quality problems. It would not take very many $2,000 investments before the
Company's total investment would equal or exceed the cost of solving the power quality concern
for all customers.
The Staff believes that the power quality problem that Mr. Lake is experiencing is reaL.
The Staff fuher believes that all other Atlanta Power customers are being exposed to the same
fluctuating power quality and that some electrical appliances may experience shortened lives as a
result. Ít is likely that this has been the situation on Atlanta Power's system since its inception in
the early 1980's. While this is not a desirable situation, an investment requiring a rate increase is
less desirable. In Staffs opinion, the loss of more customers, which may occur with even a small
rate increase, could jeopardize the financial viability of the Company and potentially end central
system power service in Atlanta.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
For the reasons stated above, the Staff proposes the following approach to resolve the
power quality problem in Atlanta. First, the Commission should tae Mr. Ray up on his expressed
willngness to continue to pursue very low cost solutions to system and customer specific power
quality concerns. Second, in November of2011 the Company is scheduled to make the final
monthly payment of approximately $1,460 on the next loan to be extinguished. If there have been
no significant changes in the Company's financial position at that time, $1,460 per month could be
available to address any remaining power quality issues on the system without increasing rates. It
is Staffs proposal that when the next maturing loan is paid off, the financial position of Atlanta
Power be evaluated. Following the evaluation the Staff recommends that the Commission
STAFF COMMENTS 4 FEBRUARY 17,2010
implement a plan to resolve any remaining system power quality concerns without increasing rates
above present levels, if possible.
r.Á
Respectfully submitted this /1 day of February 2010.
~
Donald L. Howe , II
Deputy Attorney General
Technical Staff: Keith Hessing
i:umisc/commentsatle09. i dhk comments
STAFF COMMENTS 5 FEBRUARY 17,2010
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE THIS 17TH DAY OF FEBRUARY 2010,
SERVED THE FOREGOING COMMENTS OF THE COMMISSION STAFF, IN
CASE NO. ATL-E-09-01, BY MAILING A COPY THEREOF, POSTAGE PREPAID,
TO THE FOLLOWING:
ISRAEL RAY
PRESIDENT
ATLANTA POWER COMPANY
11140 CHICKEN DINER RD
CALDWELL ID 83607
ALLEN LAKE
80 E ALTURAS DR
ATLANTA ID 83601
E-MAIL: allenrlake(ßrtci.net
~iA
SECRETARY
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE