20170828_Brandon1.pdf

DECISION MEMORANDUM 1
DECISION MEMORANDUM

TO: COMMISSIONER KJELLANDER
COMMISSIONER RAPER
COMMISSIONER ANDERSON
COMMISSION SECRETARY
COMMISSION STAFF

FROM: BRANDON KARPEN
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL

DATE: AUGUST 22, 2017

SUBJECT: ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER’S NEW WIND CPCN APPLICATION;
CASE NO. PAC-E-17-07

On July 3, 2017, Rocky Mountain Power applied for a Commission Order granting
Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to construct or acquire four new
Wyoming wind projects with a total combined capacity of 860 megawatts (MW). Further, the
Company requests CPCNs for several transmission facilities, portions of which are associated
with the Company’s Gateway West transmission project. The Company has also requested
approval of binding ratemaking treatment for the investment in the combined projects, in
accordance with Idaho Code § 61-541. The Company asserts that the projects will provide
significant economic benefits for the Company’s customers, and that the projects are time-
limited due largely to federal production tax credits. The Company stresses that the tax benefits
depend on the Company quickly gaining regulatory approval, and thus request a final Order by
March 30, 2018.
On July 26, 2017, the Commission issued a Notice of Application and Order setting
an intervention deadline of August 8, 2017, and directing Staff to develop a procedural schedule
for the processing of this matter. Monsanto Company, PacifiCorp Idaho Industrial Customers,
and the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association intervened. After convening with the parties, Staff
now requests that the Commission adopt the following schedule, agreed upon by the parties.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Commission set a November 20, 2017 deadline for
intervenor testimony, and a December 8, 2017 deadline for rebuttal testimony. On January 16,
2018, the Company will submit supplemental RFP results incorporating the wind projects. After
DECISION MEMORANDUM 2
those results, Staff recommends that the Commission set a February 16, 2018 deadline for
intervenor testimony concerning the RFP results, and a March 2, 2018 deadline for rebuttal
testimony on the RFP results. Finally, Staff recommends that the Commission set a technical
hearing on April 6, 2018.
COMMISSION DECISION
Does the Commission wish to adopt the recommended procedure schedule?

M:PAC-E-17-07_bk2