20150603Sixth Quarterly Report.pdf

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LISA D. NORDSTROM r , .,i ,.Lead Counsel ,,"ii:-i=i'i ::;', ,i i",r, l.'-t ,[e-mail] iJ
June 3,2015
VIA HAND DELIVERY
Jean D. Jewell, Secretary
!daho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington Street
Boise, ldaho 83702
Re: Case No. IPC-E-13-16 - Selective Catalytic Reduction ('SCR") Controls on Jim Bridger
Power Plant Units 3 and 4 - ldaho Power Company's 6th Quarterly Report
Dear Ms. Jewell:
ln Order No. 32929, the ldaho Public Utilities Commission ("Commission") directed
Idaho Power Company ("Company') to submit quarterly reports updating the Commission
on any changes to environmenta! policy or regulations until such time as the Jim Bridger
Power Plant upgrades are installed and placed in service. The enclosed materials indicate
that the Company still expects the SCRs on Units 3 and 4 will be placed in service by
December 31,2015, and December 31, 2016, respectively.
Please note that the attachment to this report is commercially sensitive and if
disclosed freely could subject ldaho Power or its customers to risk of competitive
disadvantage or other business injury. Consequently, the attachment will be provided
separately to those parties that have signed the Protective Agreement in this matter. The
undersigned attorney, in accordance with RP 233, certifies that this monthly report contains
information that is a trade secret or privileged or confidential as described in ldaho Code $
9-340, et seq., and $ 48-801, et seq., and as such is exempt from public inspection,
examination, or copying.
Very truly yours,
d*-Q,flv^*t^"-t
Lisa D. Nordstrom
LDN:kkt
Enclosurescc: Service List
1221 W. ldaho St. (83702)
PO. Box 70
Boise. lD 83707
6th Quarterlv Report for the Jim Bridger Plant
Selective Gatalvtic Reduction Upsrade at Units 3 and 4
June 3.2015
This quarterly report provides an update as to the current status of environmental policies or
regulations that are relevant to the construction of the Selective Catalytic Reduction ('SCR')
controls at the Jim Bridger Plant Units 3 and 4 ("Bridger Plant"), as well as a construction
progress update for the SCR installation project through May 18, 2015, and a schedule of major
construction milestones. Finally, a summary of actual project costs and a forecast of total
project costs as of March 31, 2015, are provided in a confidential attachment to this report.
Environmental Regu :
Clean Air Act Section 111(d) for Existinq Power Plants
On June 2, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA') released its draft proposal to
regulate COz emissions from existing power plants. The final rule is expected to be issued this
summer (August) with a deadline of June 2016 for the states to issue their State lmplementation
Plans ('SlP'). Based on the current schedule from the EPA, it is estimated that approval or
disapproval, from the federal EPA of the SlPs will occur in the 2016-2018 timeframe.
Mercurv and Air Toxics Standards ("MATS")
On November 25, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would review whether the EPA
should have considered the cost of complying with the MATS when it finalized the rule in
December 2011. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the rule
in April 2014, but the Utility Air Regulatory Group, 21 states, and the National Mining
Association asked the high court to review it. Oral arguments were held on March 25,2015.
Subsequently, on April 21 , 2015, the EPA Administrator, Gina McCarty, signed letters to
petitioners denying the remaining issues in the petitions for reconsideration because they do not
meet the criteria for reconsideration and/or are moot. Although ldaho Power Company's
("ldaho Power" or "Company") investments related to the MATS regulations were included in the
Company's Coal Study filed with the 2013 lntegrated Resource Plan ('lRP'), they were not
within the scope of the Bridger SCR Upgrade request filed in Case No. IPC-E-13-16. The U.S.
Supreme Court is expected to render its decision by the end of June 2015.
Jim Bridoer Units 3 rs:
The Company has prepared an updated analysis for Jim Bridger Units 3 and 4 SCRs and it will
be included in Appendix C to the Company's 2015 lRP. The results of the analysis will be
discussed in the SCR quarterly report that will be submitted in September 2015.
Construction Progrc :
The project to install the SCR controls at the Bridger Plant is moving forward as planned and is
on schedule to meet the required completion dates. The following section provides a high level
description of the construction activities since the last quarterly report (which provided an
update through February 17,2015).
The following are updates on projects that were included as part of the Engineering,
Procurement and Construction contract ("EPC Contract") or individual projects identified as
separate expense categories in the budget.
The Unit 3 structural steel is 99 percent complete and 60.1 percent of the 3,031 tons of Unit 4
structuralsteel has been erected.
As of May 10,2015,70 percent of the 7,570linear feet for the Unit 3 SCR reactor piping has
been completed.
As of May 18, 2015,30 percent of the overall electrical field work has been completed which
consists of: 69 percent of the ammonia area electrical work, 52 percent of the Unit 3 SCR
electrical work, and 1 percent of the Unit 4 SCR electrical work.
The installation and structural reinforcement of the Electrostatic Precipitator ("ESP"), ESP inlet
and outlet flues, and ESP supports was awarded to Day & Zimmermann.
Proposals for the Unit 3 and Unit 4 boiler and air preheater ('APH') structural reinforcement
were received. Day & Zimmermann was awarded the Unit 3 boiler reinforcement, APH casing
and pedestal reinforcement, and the APH duplex seal installation. The Unit 4 reinforcement
work has not been awarded yet. Day & Zimmermann was also selected to perform the boiler
overhaulwork.
The seal modifications to the APH are going to add an additional 18,397 pounds to the
structure. Sargent & Lundy, LLC, the owner's engineer, is currently reviewing the information to
determine if additional structural reinforcements are needed to accommodate the additional
load.
The Unit 3 economizer section of the boiler was shipped on May 15, 2015, from Babcock
Power's Sunco facility. The Unit 4 economizer purchase order has been created and is in the
approval process.
The first Unit 4 induced draft fan wheel completed the overspeed test. When the contractor
tried to remove the wheel from the test shaft, the contractor damaged the mounting ring on the
wheel. The wheel will be repaired and installed on the permanent shaft and was shipped May
5, 2015. The second wheel was overspeed tested on April 19, 2015, and no issues were
reported. Both the wheels and the motors are still scheduled to arrive on-site without any
negative impact to the schedule for the Unit 4 SCR.
The draft SCR operations and maintenance ("O&M") manual and DVDs were received by
PacifiCorp and ldaho Power on April 1, 2015. Babcock & Wilcox Company and The Perry
Group, the EPC Contractor, are responsible for assembling and providing the SCR O&M
manual. Currently, the manual is over 9,600 pages and is expected to be over 10,000 pages
when complete.
The Unit 3 and Unit 4 short spring outages were successfully completed, including the electrical
tie-in work on Unit 3.
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Sc.hedule:
The project remains on schedule to comply with the required completion dates with the following
major milestones remaining:
o Unit 3 Fall Outage Start - September 5, 2015o Unit 3 Mechanical Completion - November 5, 2015o Unit 3 Compliance deadline - December 31,2015. Unit 4 Fall Outage Start - September 3,2016o Unit 4 Mechanical Completion - November 3, 2016o Unit 4 Compliance deadline - December 31, 2016
Concfusrron:
The installation of SCR controls at the Bridger Plant remains on schedule and under budget.
Based on what is known today, the SCR investments continue to be the most cost-effective
means of ensuring that Units 3 and 4 comply with state and federal emissions regulations.
Further, the Company continues to believe that the Bridger Plant SCR investments represent
the lowest cost and least risk option for serving future customer demands.
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CERTTFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on this 3d day of June 20151 served a true and correct
copy of the within 6th QUARTERLY REPORT FOR THE JIM BRIDGER SELECTIVE
CATALYTIC REDUCTION UPGRADE AT UNITS 3 AND 4, upon the following named
parties by the method indicated below, and addressed to the following:
Gommission Staff X Hand Delivered
Don Howell U.S. Mail
Deputy Attomey General
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington (83702)
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-OOT 4
Overnight Mai!
X Email [e-mail]
lndustrial Customers of ldaho Power Hand Delivered
Peter J. Richardson
Gregory M. Adams
RICHARDSON ADAMS, PLLC
515 North 27th Street (83702)
P.O. Box 7218
Boise, ldaho 83707
Dr. Don Reading
6070 Hi!! Road
Boise, ldaho 83703
ldaho Gonservation League
Benjamin J. Otto
ldaho Conservation League
710 North Sixth Street
Boise, ldaho 83702
Snake River Alliance
Dean J. Miller
McDEVITT & MILLER LLP
420 West Bannock Street (83702)
P.O. Box 2564
Boise, ldaho 83701
FAX
X U.S. n4ail
_Overnight Mail
_FAXX Email [e-mail]
[e-mail]
_Hand Delivered
X U.S. Mail
Overnight Mail
FAXX Email [e-mail]
_Hand DeliveredX U.S. Mail
Overnight Mail
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Hand Delivered
X U.S. Mail
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_FAXX Email [e-mail]
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Ken Miller, Clean Energy Program Director
Snake RiverAlliance
P.O. Box 1731
Boise, ldaho 83701
Hand Delivered
X U.S. Mail
_Ovemight Mail
_FAXX Email [e-mail]
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE