20011103Notice of Application.doc

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

in the matter of THE APPLICATION OF IDAHO POWER COMPANY FOR APPROVAL OF A NEW sCHEDULE 84—NET METERING. )
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CASE NO. IPC-E-01-39

NOTICE OF APPLICATION

NOTICE OF MODIFIED PROCEDURE

NOTICE OF COMMENT/PROTEST DEADLINE

YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that on November 9, 2001, Idaho Power Company (Idaho Power; Company) filed an Application with the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (Commission) requesting approval of a new tariff Schedule 84—Customer Energy Production—Net Metering. Concurrent with this filing the Company has requested the deletion of net metering option language in Schedule 86. Reference Case No. IPC-E-01-40.
BACKGROUND
On January 22, 1997, the Commission issued Order No. 26750 authorizing Idaho Power to implement net metering as a pricing option in the Company’s Tariff Schedule 86—Cogeneration and Small Power Production—Non-Firm Energy. Net metering was identified as Option B in the purchase price section of Schedule 86 and described as “offset to retail sales.” In recent months, the Company states it has received input from potential net metering customers indicating that the current net metering provision of Schedule 86—Option B—is difficult to understand and cumbersome to implement. In response to those comments and in an effort to reduce the administrative requirements of computing individual monthly charges for different generating facilities and multiple customers, the Company is requesting authorization to revise its net metering provisions.
Description of Proposal
The Company is requesting approval of a net metering option that:
allows the Company to use its existing billing system;
allows the customer to use a single meter to register the energy supplied by the Company and the energy delivered by the customer;
charges the customer the rate consistent with its class of service while the meter is running forward;
pays the customer the retail rate consistent with its class of service while the meter is running backward; and
does not impose any monthly charges other than those provided for on the customer’s standard service schedule.

Idaho Power is proposing that its net metering option, the proposed Schedule 84, be available to customers taking service under Schedule 1 or Schedule 7 who own and/or operate a generation facility that is fueled by solar, wind, biomass, or hydro power, or represents fuel cell technology, is rated at 25 kW of nameplate capacity or less, and is interconnected to the customer’s individual electric system on the customer’s side of the meter. A single meter will be utilized for the net metering service. All energy supplied by the Company to the customer will cause the meter to run forward; all energy delivered by the customer to the Company will cause the meter to run backward. If the energy supplied by the Company exceeds the energy generated by the customer during the billing period, the customer will be billed for the net amount of energy recorded on the meter at the standard Schedule 1 or Schedule 7 tariff rate, as applicable. If the energy generated by the customer exceeds the energy supplied by the Company during the billing period, the customer will be credited for the net amount of energy delivered to the Company at the standard Schedule 1 or Schedule 7 tariff rate, as applicable.
The Company is proposing to make the net metering service under Schedule 84 available on a first come, first serve basis until the cumulative generation nameplate capacity of net metering systems connected to the Company’s system equals 2.9 MW. The 2.9 MW limit represents 1/10th of 1% of the Company’s retail peak demand for year 2000. The 1/10th of 1% limit, the Company contends, is considered to be an industry standard and is identical to the limit on net metering capacity the Commission previously approved for Avista Utilities.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Commission has reviewed the filings of record in Case No. IPC-E-01-39. The Commission has preliminarily determined that the public interest may not require a hearing to consider the issues presented and that the issues raised by the Application may be processed under Modified Procedure, i.e., by written submission rather than by hearing. Reference Commission Rules of Procedure, IDAPA 31.01.01.201-204.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the deadline for filing written comments or protests with respect to the Company’s proposed Schedule 84 tariff and the use of Modified Procedure in Case No. IPC-E-01-39 is Friday, December 21, 2001.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that if no written comments or protests are received within the deadline, the Commission may consider the matter on its merits and may enter its Order without a formal hearing. If comments or protests are filed within the deadline, the Commission will consider them and in its discretion may set the matter for hearing or may decide the matter and issue its Order on the basis of the written positions before it. Reference IDAPA 31.01.01.204.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that written comments concerning Case No. IPCE01-39 should be mailed to the Commission and the Company at the addresses reflected below.

COMMISSION SECRETARY
IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
PO BOX 83720
BOISE, IDAHO 83720-0074

Street Address for Express Mail:

472 W WASHINGTON ST
BOISE, ID 83702-5983 BARTON L KLINE
SENIOR ATTORNEY
IDAHO POWER COMPANY
PO BOX 70
BOISE ID 83707-0070
E-Mail: [e-mail]

Street Address for Express Mail
1221 WEST IDAHO STREET
BOISE, ID 83702

And

MAGGIE BRILZ
DIRECTOR OF PRICING
IDAHO POWER COMPANY
PO BOX 70
BOISE ID 83707-0070
E-Mail: [e-mail]

Street Address for Express Mail
1221 WEST IDAHO STREET
BOISE, ID 83702

All comments should contain the case caption and case number shown on the first page of this document. Persons desiring to submit comments via e-mail may do so by accessing the Commission’s homepage located at www.puc.state.id.us under the heading “Contact Us.” Once at the “Contact Us” page, select “Email Case Comments or Questions,” fill in the case number as it appears on the front of this document, and enter your comments. These comments should also be sent to the applicant at the e-mail addresses listed above.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Application in Case No. IPC-E-01-39 can be reviewed at the Commission’s office and at the principal office of Idaho Power Company during regular business hours.
DATED at Boise, Idaho this day of November 2001.

Jean D. Jewell
Commission Secretary

vld/N:IPC-E-01-39_sw

NOTICE OF APPLICATION
NOTICE OF MODIFIED PROCEDURE
NOTICE OF COMMENT/PROTEST DEADLINE 1

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
Novemberr 23, 2001