20030814Comment.pdf

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Renewable N!)rthwest Project
August '12, 2003 '
Commission Secretary
. Idaho Public Utilities Commi~sion
O. Box'83720
goise, ID93720-0074
anD. Jewell, Commission Secretary
, Case,No.PAC-O3-
, In the Illatter of the applicationofPaclfiCorpforapprovalofa
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new rene",:,ableenergy tariff, i.e electric serviceSchedllle No. 70,
~ New Wind Geothennal & Solar Pow~r Rider'" Optional
The Renewable Northwest Project (RNP) appreCiates the opportunity to provide
comments.on PacifiCorp s proposed'renewable energy tariff, Schedule 70.: We
support ~acifiCorp' s application to offer the Blue Sky product to customers in
Idaho. RNP has had. an ongoing partnership withPacifiCorp since April 2000,
" whenthe Blue Sky programwas firstoffeted in OregonaIid Washington; This
. partnership has focused on educatitmaloutreachtocomniercialandresidential
cU$tomers.RNPhas also participated in various stakeholder meetings and
processesprovidingJeedback aboutthe company s optional renewable energy
programs. RNF has encouraged PacifiCorpto continue t'o improve their
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renewable produGts, apd to offer products to customers in all of their service
territories.
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General Comments'
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Utility greenpdcing programs are a good cotnplement to renewable resource
acquisition onbehalfof all rate payers. These programs offer customers a
voluntary option to increase their cornmitmenttorenewable energy and its
environmental benefits beyond what the utility isair~ady dQing., RNP believes
, that greenpi'icing programs :are valu~d by cuStOI11ers~nd are .an im1?ortant part
of removing barriers to renewable resources. The option to support renewable
energy through participation in the Blue Sky program is a benefit for'
PacifiCorp scustomersinldaho. '
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. (100% p,n.,oo""',, ~"lo). "'og "y-O,.."
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, PacifiCorp Blue Skyproduct col11posed 6f lOO%"n~w~'ren.ewable resoUrce.s;'meets ' ",
: Renew 2000 standards. Thesemiriimum content standards forNort~west utilitygreen,
pricin.g programs ate supported byregioriaLenviromn~ntal groups and assur~that the
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productis making ~differen.ce 'forth~ environment, ,~aCifiCorP ha,s 'been an active
p~riicipant ihtheReilew 200p,stakeholderprocess, aJidone 'of tWo utilities to go through
, . thecertitication process.: Renew 2000is likely to merge witl1the Green~eprogram a .
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natiorialprognim for Ween power produet standards, in tl1enear fuwre. , VIe, encour~ge
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Pa~ifiCorp tocontimieits:parlicipation in the NW regional stcikeholder group; arid th~
certif1cation of its Blue Sky:pr,6q.ucLThirdparty certification ofth,e Blue Sky product, by
one of these groups will assurePacifiCorp sc1;istornersinldaho and other service
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, territories that the premium paid for renewable power above their basic 'serViCe rate does '
, go toward the support ofthese resources. " ' ' c
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While w~ feel Pacifi Corp s' Bl~~ Sky programwill:bring b~nefits to thecolnpany ,and to,
customers, RNP would '*e to suggest some, additionalimprovelpenh t~afincrease the
val~~of this program for c\i~tomets, ' '
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Preferencesfor Procurenient.
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P3:cifiCorp hasre~~ntlyinstitJ.it~dapfice d~crease for its BlueSky:produttin Oregon
VI asbington, Wyoming and Utah.., Now their productis more affordable arid is 'likely to
: encoUJage custOri1er~to, supporteveJ1 more renewable power, While a 10wpricebriI1gs
, value to customers, this: must be~ahlllced 'by the irnPortallce oflocaland new t~sotirces. '
VI eappreciate the way PacifiCorp has baJanced the~e,two aspects with theirindusionof
preferencesJorI)f(~cur~meritorrenewableresQurces for the Blue Sky program, which place
ahigher v~lue,onlo'calandnewresources,
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, .IJ1sever~l stakeholder meeting~, RNPand others' expresSedstrohgprefereI1c~S forloc;alarid
new resomces'to ' supply the demand in this program,,' Research inc~udingthatrecellt1y
completed by Pa~iftCorpandPortlandG~neral Electric~ shdwsthat customerS:Q.avea
strong preference forresourc;esin the Northwest , PacifiCorp pas done a: great job of
putting these preferences intQ anord~r that caJ).beusedby theirprocW'em~t departJ:Ilerit to ,
get thehigheslyalueresource whileatthesametime.1imiting theirpnce risk. ,
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, Ill'ad4iti~n to apr~cur~mentpreference for localresources,which isjargelyf()cusedon
large scalewil).dresources,: RNP woulden9ouragePacifiCorp to invest some of the .
procee(tsfrom its BlueSkyprQgra.m-intoiocalsolarins~al1ations, Idah9has a str~)t1g:so1ar
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" resource and illstallationof local sola'rsystems wou,ldbriIiga very visible inyestment in
'renewable resources' to Idaho ,communities thataresupporting~he'13lue-SkY program,
stable Rate Product
While RNP sees the ad~inistrative e~se ancl'curi~nt1owerco stofsuppJyi~gth.eB1~e Sky'
, :program with Tradable Renewable Certifitates (tags)'frnpsuPPortslanguage ~nthetariff
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thatwiUalso ,allow for supply from bundled energy, This option allows the gr~atest
, flexibility in getting the best price for customers, and the potel1tialto offerBlue Sky as a
stabi~fateprodliCt,
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RNP prefers a stablerateprodu9t fo the currentstnictllreoftbeBl~e Sky product., A~table
rate product fixes the pricecir t1)e energyportionofthe bill'sociated with the green power ,
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purchase, wbllethe current structure ofthe Blue Sky product is'piice, adder, always '
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top of~ qustomersb~sic service rate. When ,the. utility's rates go up;, therene"Y~ble power
, customer does not receive any 'benefit for paying extra to support a resource that has no
fuel costs andtherefore very.1jttleprice variation oVer theJifeofthe proj~ct.: Astablerate'
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product passes oil to customers' one of tl-,:emosttangiblebenefitsorrenewable resources,
theirpricestabi~ity.
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Wind powerpfices havedec1iried dramatically in the past few years, makingwind,niore
cost-competitive, withothetnew resourc~s. 'PacifiCorp ',srecerit Ii1tegrated Re~ourcePlan :
: (IRP) showed that wind power is ,cost effective add the company plans to: add over 1,400
M\"ofwi~d and other renewable resources to their portf01io overthenexttel1 yea~s~ "
Giventhatwi1?-dpoweriscost-::coP1petitive for all ratepayers RNP feels,.that cu~tomers
paying ~premiulJlforwind pro.duc~sshouldrec~ive the added benefii6fa stable rate, "In ,
, oUted:ucational outreach work we have h~ard from manycustomer~,bothcommercial and
residential, that they would be more interested inparticipatingin 8:greenpo",er program
thatoffereda: stable rate, ~hanthecurr~IitpriCe adder structure,
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, It is important forPacifi Corp custom~rs irt Idah() to have the option, to support rehewable,
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energy. resources" and the proposed Blue Skyiaiiffis agoocl place to start: pa~ifiCoJP
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comrnittedto sfudyingthe feasibility of offering a stable rate pro dud in ,their Blue ~ky
tariff filings in Oregon Utah, a~d\V ashiI)g1on" RNP would like tocontinueworking:'Yith ,
them and others on this st1,1dyand additional :ways toimpfove voluntary green powet;
programsfortheircust6iners,
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Ti1ankyou fotthe oPPOliunitytoprovide'comJ:Ile~ts onthe changes iot~e Bhi~Sky ta,riff,
Sincerely,
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, Diane Zipper "
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Directorof Green Power Programs
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Natalie McIntire"
(!reenPower Pt~grams ~Coordinato~
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, ' .. cc:poug Larson; PacifiCorp ,
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