20230421Petition.pdf

LISA D. NORDSTROM
Lead Counsel
[e-mail]
April 21, 2023
VIA ELECTRONIC FILING
Jan Noriyuki, Secretary
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg 8,
Suite 201-A (83714)
PO Box 83720
Boise, Idaho 83720-0074
Re: Case No. IPC-E-23-13
In the Matter of Idaho Power Company’s Petition to Modify Order No.
34031’s Timeframe for a Prudence Determination of Hells Canyon
Complex Expenditures
Dear Ms. Noriyuki:
Enclosed for electronic filing, please find Idaho Power Company’s Petition in the
above-entitled matter.
If you have any questions about the enclosed document, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Very truly yours,
Lisa D. Nordstrom
LDN:sg
Enclosures
RECEIVED
Friday, April 21, 2023 1:08:09 PM
IDAHO PUBLIC
UTILITIES COMMISSION

PETITION - 1

LISA D. NORDSTROM (ISB No. 5733)
MEGAN GOICOECHEA ALLEN (ISB No. 7623)
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70
Boise, Idaho 83707
Telephone: [phone]
Facsimile: [phone]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

Attorneys for Idaho Power Company

BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF IDAHO POWER
COMPANY’S PETITION TO MODIFY
ORDER NO. 34031’S TIMEFRAME FOR
A PRUDENCE DETERMINATION OF
HELLS CANYON COMPLEX
EXPENDITURES

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CASE NO. IPC-E-23-13

PETITION

Idaho Power Company (“Idaho Power” or “Company”) respectfully petitions the
Idaho Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) to modify the timing of the requirement
approved by Order No. 340311 that the Company file a request for a prudence
determination on Hells Canyon Complex (“HCC”) expenditures incurred after December
31, 2015, through a time not to exceed five years from the Commission’s approval of the
Settlement Stipulation (“Stipulation”). The Company instead seeks to file a request for a
prudence determination within 12 months of receiving the final license, or in the event a
final license is not received by year-end 2025, to file in early 2026 for prudence of

1 In the Matter of the Application of Idaho Power Company for a Determination of Hells Canyon
Relicensing Costs through 2015 as Prudently Incurred, Case No. IPC-E-16-32, Order No. 34031 (Apr. 12,
2018).

PETITION - 2

expenditures incurred through year-end 2025. Idaho Power conferred with the two other
signing parties to the Stipulation filed in Case No. IPC-E-16-32 approved by Order No.
34031 – Commission Staff (“Staff”) and the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association (“IIPA”)
– and neither party objects to the Company’s request.
In support of this request, Idaho Power provides the following:
BACKGROUND
1. The HCC consists of three hydroelectric projects (dams, reservoirs, and
powerhouses) on the segment of the Snake River forming the border between Idaho and
Oregon. The HCC represents approximately 1,167 megawatts (“MW”) of nameplate
generation capacity and is an important source of low cost, clean electric energy for Idaho
Power’s customers.
2. Idaho Power is required to obtain a license from the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) to operate the HCC. The previous license was set to
expire on July 31, 2005, and in anticipation of that expiration, the Company began
relicensing efforts in 1991 in preparation for the filing of a new license application, which
ultimately occurred in July 2003. Because the Company’s relicensing application is still
pending, Idaho Power has been operating under annual licenses since July 2005.
3. On December 14, 2016, Idaho Power filed an application in Case No. IPC-
E-16-32 requesting a prudence review of all HCC relicensing expenditures incurred
through year-end 2015. This request was made due to the ongoing nature of HCC
expenditures spanning nearly three decades, the extensive nature of the expenditures
incurred, and the nearing retirement of Company subject matter experts at that time.
4. After extensive review, audit, and discovery, the Company, Staff, and IIPA
(collectively “Signing Parties”)2 filed a Settlement Stipulation on January 5, 2018. As part

2 The Industrial Customers of Idaho Power intervened in Case No. IPC-E-16-32 but did not sign the
Settlement Stipulation. The Idaho Conservation League also intervened but withdrew from the case prior
to negotiation of a Settlement Stipulation.

PETITION - 3

of this Stipulation, the Signing Parties agreed to limit the amount of time before the next
prudence review of HCC expenditures, given the volume of the audit required in Case
No. IPC-E-16-32, and uncertainty surrounding the timing of the HCC relicensing process.
The time period was defined in the Stipulation as a filing to include “…expenditures
incurred after December 31, 2015, through a time period specified by the Company in its
filing, but not to exceed five years from the Commission’s approval of this Settlement
Stipulation.”3
5. On April 13, 2018, the Commission issued Order No. 34031 approving the
Stipulation. Therefore, in accordance with the terms of the Stipulation, Idaho Power is
now required to prepare a filing to request a prudence determination for all expenditures
incurred between December 31, 2015 and April 13, 2023.
PETITION
6. Idaho Power files this petition because it believes current conditions warrant
a modification to the timing envisioned by this provision of the Stipulation approved in
Order No. 34031. Since Parties entered into the Stipulation, Idaho Power has made
significant progress toward obtaining the new long-term license for the HCC, and there is
less uncertainty surrounding the issuance date than existed in 2018 when the Stipulation
was signed. For example, the issue of § 401 certification was a key sticking point in the
HCC relicensing process in 2018, as this certification is required from both Idaho and
Oregon before FERC can issue its final license. During the processing of Case No. IPC-
E-16-32, the states of Idaho and Oregon appeared to be at an impasse regarding fish
passage conditions of their respective § 401 certifications, leading to increased
uncertainty over timing of the final FERC license issuance.
7. In April 2019, Idaho Power reached a settlement with the states of Idaho
and Oregon resolving the § 401 certification issues in dispute, resulting in the issuance

3 Settlement Stipulation and Motion to Approve Settlement Stipulation, p. 7 ¶ 12 (Dec. 8, 2017).

PETITION - 4

of both the Oregon and Idaho certifications in May 2019. Further, as noted in the
Company’s 2022 Annual Report of Hells Canyon Relicensing Expenditures4 filed in Case
No. IPC-E-16-32 on February 28, 2023, FERC is now predicting that its draft
supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) will be published in June 2023,
and the final supplemental EIS will be issued in December 2023. This is a key step toward
FERC issuing its final license. Based on this update, Idaho Power is predicting the final
license will be issued in 2024 or 2025, with a higher degree of certainty than what existed
in 2018.
8. Given the current expected timing of the license, if Idaho Power were to
make a prudence filing for expenditures incurred to date and the license is received in
2024 or 2025, another prudence review filing would need to occur shortly after (or
potentially even during) the processing of the prudence review required by the Stipulation.
Idaho Power believes it would be more administratively efficient for the Company to wait
until the final license is issued given what is known today, and that extending the time
period subject to review would not unduly burden Staff, the Commission, or other
stakeholders in their review. In the event Idaho Power does not receive an HCC license
by year-end 2025, Idaho Power proposes to file for a prudence review of HCC relicensing
expenditures incurred between December 31, 2015 and December 31, 2025, in early
2026.
9. Additionally, as noted above, Idaho Power has filed annual HCC update
reports every year since the issuance of Order No. 34031, keeping Staff and stakeholders
apprised of expenditures made each year since the date of the prior prudence review.
MODIFIED PROCEDURE
10. Idaho Power believes that a technical hearing is not necessary to consider

4 Per ¶ 9 of the Stipulation, Idaho Power is required to provide annual reports within Case No. IPC-E-16-
32 detailing the status of the relicensing process and expenditures made in the prior year.

PETITION - 5

the issues presented herein and respectfully requests that this Petition be processed
under Modified Procedure, i.e., by written submissions rather than by hearing. RP 201,
et seq.
COMMUNICATIONS AND SERVICE OF PLEADINGS
11. Communications and service of pleadings, exhibits, orders and other
documents relating to this proceeding should be sent to the following:
Lisa Nordstrom
Megan Goicoechea Allen
Regulatory Dockets
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70 Boise, Idaho 83707
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Matthew T. Larkin
Courtney Waites
Idaho Power Company
1221 West Idaho Street (83702)
P.O. Box 70 Boise, Idaho 83707
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

CONCLUSION
12. In light of recent progress toward achieving the final long-term license for
HCC, and given the timing of the expected license issuance and the efficiency of
reviewing expenditures at that time, the Company respectfully requests the Commission
issue an order modifying and extending the timing of the requirement approved by Order
No. 34031 that Idaho Power file a request for a prudence determination on HCC
expenditures incurred after December 31, 2015, not to exceed five years from the
Commission’s approval of the Stipulation, to instead require the Company to file a request
for prudence within 12 months of receiving the final license. If a final license is not
received by year-end 2025, Idaho Power would file a prudence request in early 2026 for
expenditures incurred through December 31, 2025.
13. Idaho Power conferred with the Signing Parties to the Stipulation and
neither Staff nor IIPA object to this request.

PETITION - 6

DATED at Boise, Idaho, this 21st day of April 2023.

LISA D. NORDSTROM
Attorney for Idaho Power Company

PETITION - 7

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY that on the 21st day of April 2023, I served a true and correct
copy of Idaho Power Company’s Petition upon the following named parties by the method
indicated below, and addressed to the following:

Commission Staff
Dayn Hardie
Deputy Attorney General
Idaho Public Utilities Commission
11331 W. Chinden Blvd., Bldg No. 8,
Suite 201-A (83714)
PO Box 83720
Boise, ID 83720-0074
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Idaho Irrigation Pumpers Association, Inc.
Eric L. Olsen
ECHOHAWK & OLSEN, PLLC
P.O. Box 6119
Pocatello, Idaho 83205

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X EMAIL: elo.echohawk.com
Anthony Yankel
12700 Lake Avenue, Unit 2505
Lakewood, Ohio 44107

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Industrial Customers of Idaho Power
Peter J. Richardson
RICHARDSON ADAMS, PLLC
515 P.O. Box 7218
Boise, Idaho 83707
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Dr. Don Reading
6070 Hill Road
Boise, Idaho 83703

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X EMAIL: dreadin mindsprin .com

________________________________
Stacy Gust, Regulatory Administrative
Assistant