20190918Reply Comments.pdf

APrursra
Avista Corp.
141 1 East Mission P.O.Box 3727
Spokane, Washington 99220-0500
Telephone [phone]
Toll Free 800-721-9170
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
Otlice ol lhe SecretaryRECEIUED
sEP I I 2019
Boise,ldaho
September 18,2019
Diane Hanian
Commission Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington St.
Boise, ID 83702-5983
RE: Case No. AVU-E-19-09
Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) Annual Rate Adjustment Filing of Avista Corporation
Dear Ms. Hanian:
Enclosed for filing are Avista's Reply Comments for the 2019 PCA Annual Rate Adjustment
Filing. Please direct any questions regarding this filing to Annette Brandon at [phone] or
myself at [phone].
Patrick
Director of Regulatory Affairs
Enclosures
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that I have served Avista Corporation's Reply Comments
regarding Power Cost Adjustment (PCA) Annual Rate Adjustment Filing by mailing a
copy thereof, postage prepaid, to the following:
Commission Secretary
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
472W. Washington St.
Boise, lD 83702-5983
Jvlarv Lewallen
Cleanrvater Paper
28530 W Canyon Creek Rd. - South
Wilsonville, OR 97007
Email: marv@marv. lewallen.com
(Excluding Confidential lnformation)
Dean J. [\Iiller, Lawyer
3620 E. Wam Springs
Boise, lD 83701
Email: [e-mail]
(Excluding Confidential lnformation)
Larry A Crowley
The Energy Strategies lnstitute lnc
5549 S. Cliffsedge Ave
Boise, lD 83716
Email: [e-mail]
(Excluding Confidential !nformation)
.ciZ-_
Paul Kimball
Manager Regulatory Compliance and Discovery
Peter J. Richardson
Richardson Adams PLLC
515 N. 27th Street
Boise, lD 83702
Peter. richardsonadams. com
Ronald L. Williams
Willams Bradbury, P.C.
P.O. Box 368
Boise, lD 83701
ron@wi I I iamsbrad bu ry. com
Terry Borden
Cleanruater Paper
601 W. RiversideAve. Suite 1100
Spokane, WA 99201
Terry. Borden@clearwater paper. com
Dr. Don Reading
6070 Hill Road
Boise, ldaho 83703
d read ing@mindspring. com
Dated at Spokane, Washington this 18th day of September 2019
I DAVID J MEYER2 VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF COUNSEL FOR
3 REGULATORY & GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
4 AVISTA CORPORATION5 14II E. MISSION AVENUE
6 P. O.BOX37277 SPOKANE, WASHINGTON 992208 PHONE: [phone], FAX: [phone]
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BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
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IN THE MATTER OF THE POWER COST )
ADJUSTMENT (PCA) ANNUAL RATE )
ADJUSTMENT FILING OF AVISTA )CoRPORATTON )
CASE NO. AVU-E-19-09
REPLY COMMENTS OF
AVISTA CORPORATION
19 On September I I ,2019, the Staff of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission ("Staff')
20 provided comments in Avista's 2019 annual Power Supply Adjustment Application. Avista
2l would first like to thank Staff for their thorough and thoughtful review, conducted both at the
22 Commission Offices as well as on-site at Avista. The purpose of these comments is to briefly
23 address a few concerns raised by Staff. Specifically, Staff provides their understanding of the
24 issues related to the transformers located at Avista's Coyote Springs II generating facility. In the
25 end, Staff recommends that Avista "provide a comprehensive report to the Commission detailing
26 its investigation and studies of outages at the Coyote Springs II Plant and its plans to mitigate
27 future outages." Comments atp.14.
28 Avista has spent considerable time investigating/trouble-shooting the cause of the
29 transformer failures at its Coyote Springs II plant in September 2018. However, given the issue
AVISTA'S REPLY COMMENTS PAGE 1
I is most likely located deep within the transformer itself, we have shipped it to an external industry
2 expert, ABB Industrial Solutions in Ontario, Canada for a more detailed investigation. This
3 investigation is anticipated to take several months, with a final "root cause" investigation report
4 expected sometime in the first quarter of 2020. Once the investigation is completed, a
5 Comprehensive Report will be compiled and provided to the Commission for review.
6 As it relates to the Company's future operating plans for Coyote Springs II, Avista is
7 currently investigating a new strategy utilizing three in-service single phase transformers as an
8 alternative to the existing dual-wound, three phase solution. Portland General Electric has used
9 single phase transformers in this configuration at Coyote Springs Unit I for the life of their plant
l0 without incident. While we had some initial thoughts about switching to the single phase
I I transformer option last decade, the transformer that failed late in 2018 operated, without issues,
12 for almost 13 years. That said, now is the time to consider another option, and as such we have
l3 solicited prices for this potential plan and will make a determination when we have sufficient
l4 information.
15 Again, Avista thanks Staff for their thorough review of our filing, and we agree with
16 Staff s recommendations set forth on p. l4 of their comments.
17 Dated at Spokane, Washington this I 8th day of Septemb er 2019.
18 AVISTA CORPORATION
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David Jfuryo
Vice President and Chief Counsel for
Regulatory & Governmental Affairs
AVISTA'S REPLY COMMENTS PAGE 2
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STATE OF WASHINGTON )
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County ofSpokane )
David J. Meyer, being first duly swom on oath, deposes and says: That he is the Vice
President and Chief Counsel for Regulatory & Governmental Affairs and makes this
verification for and on behalf of said corporation, being thereto duly authorized;
That he has read the foregoing filing, knows the contents thereof, and believes the same
to be true.
SIGNED AND SWORN to before me this 18th day of September2019, by David J.
Meyer
n
N C in and for the State of Washington,
residing at
Commission Expires:Z3 2tir
AVISTA'S REPLY COMMENTS PAGE 3
VERIFICATION
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