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Home My WebLink About20100318press release.htm 031810_AvoidedCostUpdate_files/filelist.xml 031810_AvoidedCostUpdate_files/themedata.thmx 031810_AvoidedCostUpdate_files/colorschememapping.xml Clean Clean false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 [if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";} </style> <![endif] Idaho Public Utilities Commission Case No. GNR-E-10-01, Order No. 31025 March 18, 2010 Contact: Gene Fadness (208) 334-0339, 473-8791 Website: http://www.puc.idaho.govwww.puc.idaho.gov Rates paid small-power producers decline The rates that regulated utilities pay small-power producers have decreased significantly due to declining natural gas prices, according to a new price forecast by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Under the provisions of the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA), regulated electric utilities are required to buy power from qualifying small-power producers or co-generators, such as wind or anaerobic digester projects. The rate to be paid the developers of projects 10 megawatts or smaller is determined by the commission and is called the “avoided cost rate” because it is to be equal to the cost the electric utility avoids if it would have had to generate the power itself or purchase it from another source. One of the key factors the commission uses in determining the published avoided-cost rate is a long-term natural gas forecast by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. A change in the forecast automatically triggers a recalculation of the published avoided cost rates. Under new rates effective immediately, a qualifying PURPA project developer who signs a 20-year levelized contract this year would be paid $79.19. Under the previous rate, a developer would have been paid $90.90 per MWh. According to NPCC data, the price for natural gas at the Sumas trading hub in Washington state including delivery averaged $7.68 per/MMBtu, but had dropped to $3.91 in 2009 and is projected to be about $4.56 this year. A full text of the commission’s order, along with the avoided cost rates for Avista Utilities, Idaho Power Co. and PacifiCorp (doing business in eastern Idaho as Rocky Mountain Power) is available on the commission’s Web site at http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov. Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric Cases” and scroll down to case number GNR-E-10-01. Interested parties may petition the commission for reconsideration by no later than April 6. Petitions for reconsideration must set forth specifically why the petitioner contends that the order is unreasonable, unlawful or erroneous. Petitions should include a statement of the nature and quantity of evidence the petitioner will offer if reconsideration is granted. Petitions can be delivered to the commission at 472 W. Washington St. in Boise, mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID, 83720-0074, or faxed to 208-334-3762.