20140514Joint Motion for Settlement.pdf

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An TDACORP Company
JULIAA. HILTON
Corporate Counsel
ihi [e-mail]
May 14, 2014
VIA HAND DELIVERY
Jean D. Jewell, Secretary
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
472 West Washington Street
Boise, Idaho 83702
Re: Case No. IPC-E-13-25
Schedule 86 Update - Joint Motion for Approval of Settlement Stipulation
and Settlement Stipulation
Dear Ms. Jewell:
Enclosed forfiling in the above matter are an origina! and seven (7) copies each of
the Joint Motion for Approva! of Settlement Stipulation and Settlement Stipulation.
Very truly yours,JAW
Julia A. Hilton
JAH:csb
Enclosures
1221 W. ldaho St. (83702)
PO. Box 70
Boise, lD 83707
DONOVAN E. WALKER (lSB No. 5921)
JULIA A. HILTON (lSB No. 7740)
ldaho Power Company
1221West ldaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70
Boise, ldaho 83707
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
dwal ker@ idahopower.com
ih i lton@idahopower. com
Attorneys for ldaho Power Company
IN THE MATTER OF TARIFF ADVICE
NO. 13-05 OF IDAHO POWER
COMPANY FOR AUTHORIW TO
UPDATE SCHEDULE 86.
RECEIVEI]
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BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
CASE NO. !PC-E-13-25
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL
OF SETTLEMENT STI PULATION
!. MOTION
ldaho Power Company ("ldaho Powe/' or "Company; ldaho Public Utilities
Commission Staff ("Staff'); J.R. Simplot Company; SE Hazelton A, L.P.; Fulcrum, lnc.;
BP Hydro Associates; Bypass Power Company, lnc.; Notch Butte Hydro Company Inc.;
and Cassia Wind Farm, LLC, referred to herein individually as a "Party" and collectively
as the "Parties", hereby respectfully move the ldaho Public Utilities Commission
("Commission") pursuant to ldaho Code S 61-502, RP 56, and RP 274 for an Order
approving the Settlement Stipulation executed between the Parties. This Motion is
based on the following:
I. INTRODUCTION
1. The terms and conditions of the Settlement Stipulation are summarized in
this Motion and fully set forth in the accompanying Settlement Stipulation filed herewith.
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 1
The Parties agree that the Settlement Stipulation represents a fair, just, and reasonable
compromise of the dispute(s) between the Parties and that this Settlement Stipulation is
in the public interest. The Parties maintain that the Settlement Stipulation as a whole
and its acceptance by the Commission represent a reasonable resolution of a!! issues
between the Parties identified herein. Therefore, the Parties request that the
Commission, in accordance with RP 274-76, approve the Settlement Stipulation and all
of its terms and conditions without material change or condition.
II. BACKGROUND
2. On October 24,2013, ldaho Power filed Tariff Advice No. 13-05 with the
Commission seeking authority to update is Schedule 86, by adding the words "volume"
in front of "weighted average" and to replace the reference to the Dow Jones non-firm
Mid-C electricity price index as reported in the Wall Street Journal with reference to the
Platts non-firm Mid-C electricity price index. The Publisher of the Dow Jones and Platts
indicies provided notice that as of September 13, 2013, it was discontinuing publication
of the Dow Jones non-firm index and transitioning to the Platts non-firm index.
3. On November 18, 2013, Staff recommended that the tariff advice be
suspended and the case processed by Modified Procedure. On December 6, 2013, the
Commission issued Order No. 32945, Notice of Filing and Notice of lntervention
Deadline asking any interested persons to file Petitions to lntervene no later than
December 20, 2013. The following parties petitioned for, and were granted,
intervention: J.R. Simplot Company; SE Hazelton A, L.P.; Fulcrum, lnc.; BP Hydro
Associates; Bypass Power Company, lnc.; Notch Butte Hydro Company lnc.; and
Cassia Wind Farm, LLC. On February 25, 2014, the Commission issued Order No.
32985, Notice of Scheduling and Notice of Technical Hearing, adopting the Parties'
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 2
recommended procedural schedule which started with a Meeting to Discuss Settlement
scheduled for March 4,2014.
4. The Parties met on March 4, 2014, for settlement discussions and
reached agreement resolving all issues between the Parties identified herein. Based
upon the settlement discussions, as a compromise of the respective positions of the
parties, and for other consideration as set forth below, the Parties agreed to the
following terms set forth more fully in the Settlement Stipulation filed herewith:
III. TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENT STIPUIATION
5. The Parties agree to amend the definition of "Avoided Energy Cost"
contained in Schedule 86 to state as fo!!ows:
Avoided Energy Cost is 82.4o/o of the monthly arithmetic average of
each day's lntercontinental Exchange ("!CE') daily firm Mid-C Peak
Avg and Mid-C Off-Peak Avg index prices. Each day's index prices
will reflect the relative proportions of peak hours and off-peak hours
in the month as follows:
Heavy Load (HL) Hours: The daily hours from hour ending 0700-
2200 Mountain Time, (16 hours) excluding all hours on all Sundays,
New Years Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day,
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Light Load (LL) Hours: The daily hours from hour ending 2300-
0600 Mountain Time (8 hours), plus all other hours on all Sundays,
New Years Day, Memorial Day, lndependence Day, Labor Day,
Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
The actualAvoided Energy Cost calculation being:
n
.824* ( I (lCE Mid-C Peak Arg,. * HL hours for day) + (lCE
X='l
Mid-C Off-Peak Arg, * LL hours for day)) I (n.24))
where n = number of days in the month
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION .3
!f the lCE Mid-C lndex prices are not reported for a particular day or
days, prices derived from the respective averages of HL and LL
prices for the immediately preceding and following reporting periods
or days shall be substituted into the formula stated in this definition
and shall therefore be multiplied by the appropriate respective
numbers of HL and LL Hours for such particular day or days with the
result that each hour in such month shal! have a related price in such
formula. lf the day for which prices are not reported has in it only LL
Hours (for example a Sunday), the respective averages shall use
only prices reported for LL hours in the immediately preceding and
following reporting periods or days. If the day for which prices are not
reported is a Saturday or Monday or is adjacent on the calendar to a
holiday, the prices used for HL Hours shall be those for HL hours in
the nearest (forward or backward) reporting periods or days for
which HL prices are reported.
Filed as Attachment No. 1 to the Settlement Stipulation is an example of a Schedule 86
avoided cost rate calculation using one month of actual data from the lCE Mid-C daily
price index. Filed as Attachment No. 2 to the Settlement Stipulation is a red-lined
version of Schedule 86 showing the above-referenced change. The Parties agreement
was, on a net basis, thatT0o/o of the ICE firm index would replace the current 85% of the
Dow Jones non-firm index. However, because of the way that Schedule 86 is
structured, Purchase Price is defined as 85% of the monthly Avoided Enerqv Cost. ln
review of past Commission Orders the 85% reference is meant to provide for the cost of
transmission, losses, and other transaction costs related with either moving the non-firm
energy to market or serving load to assure that customers remain indifferent to the
PURPA transaction. ln the interest of compromise, the Settlement does not propose
any change to the referenced 85% discount in the Purchase Price section of Schedule
86, and thus preserves the reference to these separate and distinct costs.
Consequently, since the Parties' agreement was for a net discount of 7Oo/o to the firm
ICE index to replace the 85% of the non-firm Dow Jones index, a discount of 82.4o/o is
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 4
required in the Avoided Enerov Cost to arrive at the index price. Then the 85% discount
is applied to the Purchase Price, which roughly equates to the 70% discount to the firm
ICE index.
6. The Parties agree to amend the Firm Energy Sales Agreements ("FESA")
between ldaho Power and each intervening party to reference the ICE index using the
same language as, and consistent with, the Schedule 86 language agreed upon herein.
Filed as Attachment No. 2 to the Settlement Stipulation are the associated Firm Energy
Sales Agreement Amendments, signed by ldaho Power and the relevant intervening
party, required to effectuate this change to the power sales agreements. The Parties
jointly recommend approval of each of these contract amendments as part of this
Settlement Stipulation.
7. The Parties jointly recommend to the Commission that it allow any existing
PURPA qualifying facility ("QF') that currently has a contract with ldaho Power
containing reference to the Dow Jones non-firm Mid-C electricity price index to amend
their respective FESAs consistent with the terms agreed to in this Settlement Stipulation
and similar to the contract amendments submitted for approval herewith between ldaho
Power and the intervening parties, should they choose to do so.
8. The Settlement Stipulation contains a provision stating that all terms and
conditions of the Settlement Agreement are subject to approval by this Commission and
that only after such approval, without material change or modification, has been
received shall the Settlement Agreement be valid.
9. The Settlement Stipulation is a fair, equitable, and final resolution to this
matter, and others between the Parties, and is in the public interest. The Parties
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 5
respectfully requests that the Commission grant this Motion and approve the Settlement
Stipulation in its entirety, without material change or condition, pursuant to RP 274.
III. PROCEDURE
10. Pursuant to RP 274, the Commission has discretion to determine the
manner with which it considers a proposed settlement. ln this matter, the Parties have
reached agreement on proposed changes to Schedule 86 and modification of their
respective FESAs. The Settlement Stipulation is reasonable and in the public interest.
The Parties request that the Commission approve the Settlement Stipulation without
further proceedings.
11. ln the alternative, should the Commission determine that further
proceedings are required to consider the Settlement Stipulation, pursuant to RP 201,
the parties believe the public interest does not require a hearing to consider the issues
presented by this Motion and request it be processed as expeditiously as possible by
Modified Procedure, without waiving the right to a hearing on the previously disputed
matters in this proceeding should the Commission reject the settlement.
!V. REQUESTED RELIEF
NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties respectfully request that the Commission enter
its Order approving the Settlement Stipulation without material change or condition, and
without fu rther proceed ings.
Respectfully submitted this ?La"v ot 2014.
AN E. WALKER
Attorney for Idaho Power Company
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 6
A. SASSER
Attomey for IPUC Staff
p,hTl db
Attorney for J.R. Simplot Company; SE
Hazelton A, L.P.; Fulcrum, Inc.; BP Hydro
Associates; Bypass Power Company, lnc.;
Notch Butte Hydro Company lnc.
PETER J. RICHARDSON
for Cassia Wind Farm, LLC
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 7
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 14th day of May 2014 ! served a true and correct
copy of the JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION upon
the following named parties by the method indicated below, and addressed to the
following:
Commission Staff
Kristine A. Sasser
Deputy Attorney General
ldaho Public Utilities Commission
47 2 W est Washington (83702)
P.O. Box 83720
Boise, ldaho 83720-007 4
X Email [e-mail]
J. R. Simplot Company; Cassia Wind _Hand Delivered
Farm, LLC; SE Hazelton A, L.P.; _U.S. Mail
Fulcrum, lnc.; BP Hydro Associates; _Overnight Mail
Bypass Power Company, lnc.; and _FAX
Notch Butte Hydro Company, lnc. X Email [e-mail]
Peter J. Richardson
Gregory M. Adams
RICHARDSON ADAMS, PLLC
515 North 27th Street
Boise, ldaho 83702
J. R. Simplot Company
Don Sturtevant
J. R. Simplot Company
P.O. Box27
Boise, ldaho 83707 -0027
Gassia Wind Farm, LLC
Paul Ackerman
Assistant General Counsel
q reo@ richard so nad ams. com
X Email [e-mail]
Overnight Mail
Exelon Business Services Company, LLC _FAX
100 Constellation Way
Baltimore, Maryland 2'1202
X Email [e-mail]
Hand Delivered
U.S. Mail
Overnight Mail
FAX
Hand Delivered
U.S. Mail
Overnight Mail
FAX
_Hand Delivered_U.S. Mail
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 8
SE Hazelton A, L.P.; Fulcrum, lnc.; BP
Hydro Associates; Bypass Power
Gompany, lnc.; and Notch Butte Hydro
Company, lnc.
Megan Beauregard
Associate General Counsel
Ene! Green Power North America, lnc.
One Tech Drive, Suite 220
Andover, Massachusetts 01 81 0
Hand Delivered
U.S. Mail
Overnight Mai!
FAXX Email [e-mail]
JOINT MOTION FOR APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT STIPULATION - 9