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Home My WebLink About20100708press release.htm 070810_IPCosolarpower_files/filelist.xml 070810_IPCosolarpower_files/themedata.thmx 070810_IPCosolarpower_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. IPC-E-10-19 July 8, 2010 Contact: Gene Fadness (208) 334-0339, 890-2712 Website: http://www.puc.idaho.govwww.puc.idaho.gov Idaho Power seeks approval of first solar sales agreement The Idaho Public Utilities Commission is taking comments through Aug. 19 on Idaho Power Company’s first-ever proposed PURPA agreement with a solar power project. The company has a number of net metering agreements with customers who own small primarily residential solar projects, but this project is the first sales agreement with a larger provider. Idaho Power is asking that the commission approve the 20-year sales agreement with the developer of a 20-megawatt photovoltaic solar project located on 180 acres 16 miles west of Mountain Home. The manager of the Grand View Solar PV One project is Robert Paul of Deseret Hot Springs, Calif. The project, with a scheduled on-line date of Jan. 1, 2011, is a qualifying facility under the provisions of PURPA, the federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. PURPA requires electric utilities to offer to buy power produced by qualifying small power producers or cogenerators. The rate to be paid PURPA project developers, called an “avoided cost rate,” is determined and published by state commissions. The avoided cost rate 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. Declining natural gas prices and a new price forecast by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council led to the commission to lower the avoided cost rate paid power developers on March 16. However, Idaho Power claims the sales agreement with this project was “materially complete” before March 16 and, except for routine final processing, would have been signed by both parties by that date. For that reason, Idaho Power claims the project meets the grandfathering criteria established by the commission that allows projects to be priced at a former rate. The proposed 20-year agreement is a non-levelized agreement, meaning the price for the electricity generated gradually increases through the life of the contract. The rate, under the proposed contract is $77.77 per megawatt-hour in 2011 escalating to $128.31 per MWh in 2031. That rate is adjusted for heavy- and light-load seasons as well as heavy- and light-load hours. The planned monthly output for the project varies from 1,326 megawatt-hours in January to 4,816 megawatt-hours in July. Even though project capacity is 20 megawatts, the project is not expected to exceed 10 average megawatts on a monthly basis. Should the project exceed 10 average megawatts, Idaho Power will accept the energy but will not be required to pay for it. Idaho caps the size of projects that can qualify for the published avoided-cost rate at 10 MW. The developer is also required to allow the Idaho Power to complete a study on how the project will interconnect with the utility’s transmission grid. Comments are accepted via e-mail through Aug. 19 by accessing the commission’s homepage at http://www.puc.idaho.gov/www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking on "Comments & Questions." Fill in the case number (IPC-E-10-19) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to (208) 334-3762. A full text of the commission’s order, along with other documents related to this case, 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 the above case number.