20051031Application.pdf

IDAHO POWER COMPANY
O. BOX 70
BOISE, IDAHO 83707
BARTON L. KLINE
Senior Attorney
. An IDACORP Company
October 2004
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, Jean D. Jewell , Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington Street
P. O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Re: Case No. I PC-05- ?J;p
Idaho Power Company s Cloud Seeding Program
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Dear Ms. Jewell:
Please find enclosed for filing an original and seven (7) copies of Idaho
Power Company s Application to include expenses associated with its Cloud Seeding
Program in the Company s PCA on an ongoing basis.
Also enclosed are nine (9) copies of the direct testimony of Idaho Power
Company witnesses Gregory W. Said and Gary Riley. One copy of each is designated
as the Reporter s Copy. A computer disk containing the testimony is also enclosed.
I would appreciate it if you would return a stamped copy of this transmittal
letter in the enclosed self-addressed , stamped envelope.
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Barton L. Kline
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Enclosures
Telephone [phone], Fax [phone] E-mail BKlinertYidahopower.com
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BARTON L. KLINE, ISB # 1526
MONICA B. MOEN , ISB # 5734
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street
P. O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707
Telephone: [phone]
FAX Telephone: [phone]
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Attorneys for Idaho Power Company
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION OF
IDAHO POWER COMPANY TO INCLUDE
EXPENSES ASSOCIATED WITH ITS
CLOUD SEEDING PROGRAM IN THE
COMPANY'S PCA ON AN ONGOING BASIS
CASE NO. IPC-05-
APPLICA TION
In accordance with RP 052 , application is hereby made to the Idaho Public
Utilities Commission ("Commission ) by Idaho Power Company ("Idaho Power" or
Company ) for an order authorizing the Company to include expenses associated with
its cloud seeding program in the Company s Power Cost Adjustment ("PCA") on an
ongoing basis.
In support of this Application Idaho Power represents as follows:
Idaho Power is an Idaho corporation , whose principal place of business is
1221 West Idaho Street , Boise , Idaho 83702.
APPLICATION , Page
II.
Idaho Power operates a public utility supplying retail electric service in
southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. Idaho Power is subject to the jurisdiction of this
Commission in Idaho and to the jurisdiction of the Oregon Public Utility Commission in
Oregon. Idaho Power is also subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission.
III.
Simultaneous with the filing of this Application, Idaho Power has filed its
direct case consisting of the testimony and exhibits of witnesses Gregory W. Said and
Gary Riley. While Idaho Power believes that this case should be processed under
modified procedure (RP 201 et. seq.
),
Idaho Power stands ready for immediate
consideration of this Application if it is the Commission s determination that a hearing
should be held.
IV.
Idaho Power has operated a cloud seeding program on a limited basis for
a number of years. In Order No. 29505 issued in 2003 in Case No. IPC-03-, the
Commission found that the operating expenses and capital costs associated with the
cloud seeding program that the Company included in its general rate case filing would
not be recoverable because of the short duration of the cloud seeding program during
the test year and the lack of data demonstrating the effectiveness of the cloud seeding
program.
I n December of 2004, in Order No. 29670 in Case No. I PC-04-, the
Commission approved Idaho Power s request for an accounting order authorizing the
APPLICATION , Page 2
Company to defer its variable cloud seeding costs incurred during the 2004-2005 winter
period. In Order No. 29670 the Commission found that Idaho Power had presented
sufficient evidence to establish that the cloud seeding program had been cost-effective
during the last two winters. The Commission also found that, subject to the normal PCA
review process, the Company would be allowed to recover its reasonable cloud seeding
expenses incurred in the 2004-2005 winter season in its PCA rates.
The Company has now completed its analysis of the cost-effectiveness of
the third year of the cloud seeding program (2004-2005). The cumulative costs and
benefits of the three years of operating the cloud seeding program are presented in the
testimony and exhibits filed with this Application. In summary, the data presented
indicates that over the past three years Idaho Power s cloud seeding program has
resulted in material amounts of additional precipitation , which translated into additional
streamflows for Idaho Power s customers.
Idaho Power has measured and valued these additional streamflows and
determined that benefits received from cloud seeding have been 1.7 times the expense
incurred for cloud seeding over the three-year period. Idaho Power believes that these
measured benefits will continue into the future if the cloud seeding program is
continued.
In this Application Idaho Power is requesting two things: First , that the
Commission allow the Company to defer the expenses the Company will incur to
continue the cloud seeding program during the winter of 2005-2006. Second , Idaho
Power is requesting that the Commission authorize the Company to include future
APPLICATION , Page 3
expenses associated with the Company s cloud seeding program as a part of its PCA
rates on an ongoing basis beginning with the 2006-2007 PCA period. Idaho Power
proposes that the Idaho jurisdictional portion of these ongoing cloud seeding expenses
be shared on the same ninety percent-ten percent (900 /100/0) ratio by which other
power supply expenses are shared between customers and shareholders in the PCA.
Idaho Power will not include its capital investment in the cloud seeding program until
that investment is presented for approval by the Commission in the Company s next
general revenue requirement case.
VI.
Communications with respect to this Application should be sent to the
following:
Barton L. Kline , Senior Attorney
Monica B. Moen, Attorney
Idaho Power Company
O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707-0070
bkline (g) idahopower.com
mmoen
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idahopower.com
Gregory W. Said
Director of Revenue Requirement
Idaho Power Company
O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707-0070
gsaid
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idahopower.com
NOW , THEREFORE, Idaho Power respectfully requests that the
Commission issue its order (1) authorizing Idaho Power to defer the 2005-2006
expenses associated with the cloud seeding program for subsequent recovery in the
PCA and (2) that the Commission authorize Idaho Power to include future cloud
seeding program expenses in the PCA on an ongoing basis.
DATED at Boise , Idaho, this day of October, 2005.~/u
BARTON L. KLINE
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
APPLICATION, Page 4