20230314Public Workshop.pdf

Workshop Participation
Online:
To open chat in WebEx, please select the icon.
Type questions and comments in the chat box;
Please use the “all panelists” option when using chat to ensure your message will be seen.
To speak, click on the hand in the lower right corner.
On the phone:
*3 is the command to raise and lower your hand;
When your line has been un-muted, you will hear an
announcement indicating that.
This PowerPoint is available on the commission’s homepage at puc.idaho.gov.
*This workshop is being recorded*
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Purpose of Public Workshop
Informational session to learn about the case
•Present the Rocky Mountain Power Application.
•Explain Staff’s role.
Provide customers an opportunity to meet Commission Staff.
Ask questions and learn how to submit written public
comments.
This Public Workshop is not part of the official case record.
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•Established in 1913. Idaho Code Sections 61 and 62.
•The Commission regulates Idaho’s investor-owned utilities, ensuring adequate service and reasonable rates.
•The Commission is made up of three Commissioners appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The Commissioners make the decisions in each case.
•Commission Staff is made up of Auditors, Consumer Compliance Investigators, Engineers, Technical Analysts, and Admin.
•Staff is conducting this workshop. Staff is one of the Parties in the case and providing comments to the Commissioners.
What is the Idaho Public
Utilities Commission?
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Application Process
Customers may want the Commission to reject Rocky Mountain
Power’s request to restructure its rates, but state law requires
that the Commission:
•Consider the evidence that is on the record, which includes the Company’s
Application, comments from Staff & Parties, and customers’ written comments
or oral testimony at public customer hearings.
•Meet the statutory public interest standard that ensures customers have
adequate, safe, and reliable service at just and reasonable rates.
Important Points to Consider:
•It is not in the public interest to have a utility that cannot adequately serve all
the customers in its assigned territory now and in the future.
•All Commission decisions must withstand Idaho Supreme Court appeals from
either utility or customer groups.
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Application Process
Important Point to Consider:
•Regulated utilities are not like any other business. They are
assigned service territories and must serve every customer in that
territory. What they charge customers is determined by state
regulators. In exchange for their guarantee to provide adequate,
safe, and reliable service, the state must provide utilities the
opportunity to earn a reasonable rate of return on their
investment.
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Application
•Filed October 20, 2022.
•Requested approval of a Rate Modernization Plan with an
effective date of December 1, 2022.
1.On November 30, the Commission suspended the effective date by 30
days and five months.
•Requested three revenue-neutral rate restructures for Schedule
1 and Schedule 36 customers, to be phased-in over 5 years.
1.Raise the fixed Customer Service Charge but reduce the variable
energy charge;
2.Replace inclining block-tiered energy rates with constant rates.
3.Change the time-of-use periods in Schedule 36.
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Request 1:
Raise the Customer Charge but
Lower the Monthly Energy Charge
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Fixed
Charge
increases
Energy
Charge
decreases
Phased in
over 5 yrs
Schedule
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Fixed
Charge
increases
Energy
Charge
decreases
Phased in
over 5 yrs
Request 1:
Raise the Customer Charge but
Lower the Monthly Energy Charge
Schedule
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Request 2:
Phase-out Monthly Inclining
Block-Tier Rates
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Rate Increases above
700 kWh/month
Constant Rate.
Inclining Tiers
gone
Phased in
over 5 yrs
Schedule 1
Only Rate Increases above
1,000 kWh/month
$0.00
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MONTHLY KWH
Summer
Existing Monthly Bill New Monthly Bill
Rate Restructure Graph
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(Winter would be similar)
Why Is the Company Proposing This?
1. “The current rate structure does not adequately reflect cost causation.”
The Customer Service Charge does not cover all the fixed costs that are incurred by a customer.
The extra fixed costs are recovered by the energy charge.
Therefore, low-usage customers are being subsidized by high-usage customers.
The use of inclining tiered rates increases the subsidy.
2. “Tiered rates produce more problems than they solve
because they are not economically justified and unduly
penalize customers.”
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Schedule 36 Time of Use
Current TOU Proposed TOU
On-Peak
Summer (May –October)
Weekdays 8am –11pm
Winter (November –April)
Weekdays 7am –10pm
Holidays excluded
On-Peak
Summer (June –October)
Every Day 3pm –11pm
Winter (November –May)
Every Day 6am –9am & 6pm –11pm
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•Time Of Use (“TOU”) change is proposed to occur in Year 3
•TOU rates would align with Schedule 9
*Schedule 9 = General Service High Voltage
Why Is the Company Proposing This?
1.“The TOU periods for Schedule 36, that have been in place since the early 1980’s, are no longer reflective of costs.”
2.“The Company is proposing to change the TOU periods to a shorter window of time for the on-peak period that better reflects the times when it is more costly for the
Company to serve.”
3.“In the 2021 Rate Case, the Company identified these
hours as the times during both seasons when the [market] pricing was the highest and used them to set [TOU rates]...for Schedule 9.”
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Average Monthly Bill
Year 1 –Schedule 1
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kWh Monthly Billing
–Present
Monthly Billing
–Proposed
Annual Average
Change %
100 $36.46 $44.20 21.2%
500 $116.85 $120.78 3.4%
783 -Avg $175.34 $176.25 0.5%
1,000 $223.17 $221.17 -0.9%
5,000 $1,169.78 $1,101.16 -5.9%
Reference Exhibit No. 3-Page 1
Average Monthly Bill
Year 5 –Schedule 1
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kWh Monthly Billing
–Present
Monthly Billing
–Proposed
Annual Average
Change %
100 $36.46 $75.15 106.1%
500 $116.85 $136.50 16.8%
783 -Avg $175.34 $179.91 2.6%
1,000 $223.17 $213.19 -4.5%
5,000 $1,169.78 $826.69 -29.3%
Reference Exhibit No. 3-Page 2
Average Monthly Bill
Year 1 –Schedule 36
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kWh Monthly Billing
–Present
Monthly Billing
–Proposed
Annual Average
Change %
100 $48.29 $53.48 10.8%
500 $118.73 $122.21 2.9%
1,000 $206.79 $208.12 0.6%
1,397-Avg $276.71 $276.33 -0.1%
5,000 $911.25 $895.39 -1.7%
Reference Exhibit No. 3-Page 3
Average Monthly Bill
Year 5 –Schedule 36
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kWh Monthly Billing
–Present
Monthly Billing
–Proposed
Annual Average
Change %
100 $48.29 $75.28 55.9%
500 $118.73 $137.13 15.5%
1,000 $206.79 $214.45 3.7%
1,397-Avg $276.71 $275.84 -0.3%
5,000 $911.25 $832.99 -8.6%
Reference Exhibit No. 3-Page 4
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Consumer Assistance
•Utility Compliance Investigators assist customers to
resolve issues and/or disputes with the Company.
•Investigators monitor compliance with laws,
commission rules, and the Company’s tariff.
•Investigators review issues from similar previous
cases, review previous complaints, review
submitted comments from customers, and
investigate consumer issues raised in the case.
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Consumer Issues
As of this week, the PUC has received 9
Customer Comments
•All of comments were against the change.
•The change penalizes the low use customers and rewards high usage -discourages conservation.
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CUSTOMER COMMENTS
Customer written comments are due prior to the
Commission closing the record on the case.
(Reference Case Number PAC-E-22-15)
•Internet Website Address –puc.idaho.gov
•Select -Case Comment Form (once comments are submitted, they become part of public record)
•Email –Address: [e-mail]
•Mail –IPUC, PO Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074oBlank Customer Comments sheets are available here tonight to be mailed in or left with Staff.
•Public Customer Hearing –Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at 6:00 PM
COMMENTS ONLY
(QUESTIONS WILL NOT BE ADDRESSED)
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Idaho Public Utilities Homepage
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Comments Form Page
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PUC Home Page
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Electric Page
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Open Electric Cases Page
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Case Summary Page
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Event Date Location
Case Filed October 20, 2022
Public Workshop Today (March 14, 2023)Idaho Falls, ID
Party Comments April 11, 2023
Written Public Comments April 11, 2023
Customer Public Hearing April 18, 2023 Idaho Falls, ID
Company Reply Deadline April 25, 2023
Close of Case Final Order
Proposed Effective Date Final Order
•Customers can subscribe to the Commission’s RSS feed to receive updates about all cases via email.
•Continue submitting your comments.
•Customer Public Hearing date is April 18, 2023, at 6:00 PM.
•The Commission will issue a final order which will close the case.
Where do we go from here?
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Workshop Participation
Online:
To open chat in WebEx, please select the icon.
Type questions and comments in the chat box;
Please use the “all panelists” option when using chat to ensure your message will be seen.
To speak, click on the hand in the lower right corner.
On the phone:
*3 is the command to raise and lower your hand;
When your line has been un-muted, you will hear an
announcement indicating that.
This PowerPoint is available on the commission’s homepage at puc.idaho.gov.
*This workshop is being recorded*
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Customer Hearing