19900226notice_of_application.pdf

..Of II th Secrry
SØe Date
FEB 26 1990
BEFORE TH IDAHO PUBLIC UTIT COMMION
IN TH MATIER OF TH APPLICATION
OF IDAHO POWER COMPAN FOR
AUTORI TO RATE BASE THIN REUI FOR TH
REBlßD OF TH SWAN FALLS HYRO-
ELECTRIC FACILITY.
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
CASE NO. IPC-E-902
NOTCE OF APPLICATION
YOU ARE HEREBY NOTIFIED that on February 14, 1990, Idaho Power
Company applied to the Idaho Public Utilties Commission for authority to rate base its
investment in the Swan Falls hydroelectric facilty.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Applicant alleges that the Company
proposes to retire its existing lOA megawatt powerhouse at Swan Falls and to redevelop
the project with two generating units with a total rated capacity of 25 megawatts. The
Application describes the total project as:
(1) The 25-foot-high, l,2l8-foot-long concrete and rock filed Swan
Falls dam;
(2) The Swan Falls Reservoir with a surface area of 900 acres and atotal storage capacity of 4,800 acre-feet;
(3) A spilway with crest elevation of 2,300 feet above mean sealevel with 12 bays, each provided with radial gates 31 feet wide and
14.5 feet high;
(4) A powerhouse at the east abutment of the Swan Falls damcontaining two identical, horizontal, bulb-type turbine-generating
units, each with a rated capacity of 12.5 megawatts;
(5) A substation located 200 feet from the powerhouse, equipped
with a l3.8/138-kilovolt (kv) 30,OOO-kilovolt-ampere, three-phase
transform er;
(6) A 1,400-foot-long, 120-foot-wide (bottom width) tailrace;
(7) A 1.2-mile-long, 138-kv transmission line connecting to anexisting 138-kv transmission line owned and operated by the
licensee; and
NOTICE OF APPLICATION -1-
..
(8) Appurtenant facilties.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Application contains the following
attachments:
(1) The Order Amending License (Major) issued by the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission; and
(2) The Memorandum Decision and Order approving an application
for a permit for a water right issued by the Idaho Department' of
Water Resources on April 10, 1989.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Application alleges that the Swan
Falls project has been, and wil continue to be, integral to Idaho Power's Snake River
hydroelectric system, that the project is a non-deferrable resource the physical state of
which requires current reconstruction and rehabiltation to maintain safety and
operational standards, that the Company's existing water rights at Swan Falls are defined
by the Swan Falls agreement between the State of Idaho and Idaho Power Company, and
that protection of streamflows at Swan Falls is of great importance to flows in the Snake
River both above and below Swan Falls.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Application recites the history of the
Company's licensing for Swan Falls since June 30, 1970.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Application states that it wil be
supplem~nted with additional information concerning costs of the rebuild after
completion of design and solicitation of bids for turbines and generators, planned for June
1, 1990. The Company proposes at that time to make a "commitment estimate", which
would be the Company's best estimate of costs before the award of any contract plus an
additional amount of 25% to establish a cost ceiling for the project. The Company would
commit to building the project for less than the commitment estimate (as may be
adjusted to account for documented changes in escalation rates or scope), and if the final
NOTICE OF APPLICATION -2-
'..
costs exceed the commitment estimate, the Company would absorb the extra costs. The
Company estimates it wil have the necessary data to submit to the Commission a
commitment estimate on or about June 1, 1990, at which time the Company wil
supplement this Application with that information.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that Idaho Power wil be represented by -the
following persons in this proceeding and that copies of all documents required by the.
Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure (IDAPA 31.A) to be served upon the
Applicant Idaho Power Company should be served upon the following two representatives
of Idaho Power:
Larry Ripley
Evans, Keane, Koontz, Boyd, Simko & Ripley
c/o Idaho Power Company
1220 West Idaho Street
P.O. Box 70
Boise, ID 83707
Steven L. Herndon
Idaho Power Company
1220 West Idaho Street
P.O. Box 70
Boise,ID 83707
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that persons desiring to intervene in this
proceeding for the purposes of becoming a party must file a Petition to Intervene with
the Commission Secretary and upon all parties to the proceeding on or before June 15,
1990. Persons not desiring the right of a party, i.e., the right to cross examination and
make and argue motions, need not petition to intervene.
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that the Commission wil consider this
Application under the Public Utilties Law, Chapters 1-7, Title 61, Idaho Code. In
considering this Application, the Commission may issue any Order addressing the future
ratemaking treatment of the Company's investment in the Swan Falls plant and/or the
NOTICE OF APPLICATION -3-
..
effect of the Swan Falls plant upon the Company's revenues, expenses, depreciation,
valuation, etc., consistent with the statutory provisions of the Swan Falls Agreement.
See 1985 Idaho Session Laws, Chapters 14-18, 162, 204 (in particular, Chapter 14, §§2 and
3); see also Miles v. Idaho Power Company, 116 Idaho 635, 778 P.2d 757 (1989).
YOU ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED that all proceedings conducted in this' case
wil be conducted pursuant to the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, IDAPA
31.A.
DATED at Boise, Idaho this "".3fld day of February 1990.
~/trr~
MY J. WALTERS - COMMSSION SECRETARY
MG:dc/N-112
NOTICE OF APPLICATION -4-