20150729press release.pdf

Case No. IPC-E-15-18, Order No. 33342
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone], 890-2712
www.puc.idaho.gov

Idaho Power seeks commission order declaring
10 Wood River area solar projects are one project

BOISE (July 30, 2015) – Idaho Power Company is asking state regulators to declare that solar
projects proposed in the Wood River Valley are actually one, large project rather than 10
smaller projects.

Site Based Energy claims that ten, 100-kilowatt projects are separate projects with different
owners. The projects are seeking power purchase agreements with Idaho Power under the
provisions of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act or PURPA. The federal act requires
utilities to buy output from qualified renewable projects at an “avoided-cost rate,” or the rate
the utility avoids by not having to generate the power itself or buy it from another source.

Idaho Power claims Site Based Energy is trying to qualify for the Idaho Public Utilities
Commission’s published avoided-cost rate for small, intermittent renewable projects 100
kilowatts or smaller. Intermittent projects (primarily wind and solar) larger than 100 kilowatts
must negotiate with the utility for a rate.

Idaho Power is asking the commission to issue an order finding that the projects “are actually a
single one-megawatt project ‘disaggregated’ into ten, 100-kW projects.” If the commission
grants Idaho Power’s request, the project would negotiate with Idaho Power for a rate rather
than receiving the commission’s published rate. The determination may also impact the length
of the proposed contract. Published rate contracts are for 20 years, while negotiated contracts
would be for five years, or whatever maximum contract term the commission determines in
another case pending before it.

Idaho Power said the request comes from the same developer, John Reuter of Site Based
Energy. “These ten projects are all located at the same site, on the same contiguous property,
and divided into ten sections,” Idaho Power claims. “Each application appears to be nearly
identical, except for the differing name of facility and the corresponding GPS coordinates for
each project.”

Site Based Energy claims the projects are all stand-alone projects with separate ownerships
with common ownership of interconnection equipment. Site Based claims the projects are
individual projects seeking economies of scale by purchasing and building together.

The commission is taking comments on the application through Aug. 14. Comments are
accepted via e-mail by accessing the commission’s Website at www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking
on "Case Comment Form,” under the “Consumers” heading. Fill in the case number (IPC-E-15-
18) and enter your comments. Comments can also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID
83720-0074 or faxed to [phone].

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