20210616Final_Order_No_35076.pdf

ORDER NO. 35076 1

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
June 16, 2021
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

On April 22, 2021, Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp (“Company”)
applied for approval of the Company’s annual update to the variable energy portion of avoided
cost rates for Qualifying Facility (“QF”) under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978
(“PURPA”) with the 1992 Amendments to the Company’s power purchase agreements. The
Company requests that the updated rates take effect on July 1, 2021.
On May 10, 2021, the Commission issued a Notice of Application, Notice of Modified
Procedure, and Order that established deadlines for interested persons to file comments on the
Application. Order No. 35042. The Commission Staff (“Staff”) filed the only comments and
recommended the Commission approve the Application.
Having reviewed the record, the Commission approves the Application.
BACKGROUND
The 1992 Amendments to the Company’s power purchase agreements describe how to
calculate the variable energy price component of the avoided cost rate for 13 QFs. Order No.
28708. The variable energy rate is calculated by summing the average of the Company’s fuel costs
for its Carbon, Hale, Naughton, Huntington, and Hunter coal-fired generation plants with the
variable operations and maintenance costs for Colstrip. See e.g., Order Nos. 24253, 28708, 29316.
The 1992 Amendments began adjusting the variable energy price component annually in 2003.
The Company files its revised variable energy costs by June 1 each year, and the update takes
effect July 1. Order No. 29316. Last year, like newly adopted procedures to other annual updates
to avoided cost rates, the Commission decided to process this annual update by Modified
Procedure. See GNR-E-20-01, AVU-E-20-04, IPC-E-20-24, and PAC-E-20-08.

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION
OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN POWER
REQUESTING APPROVAL OF THE
ANNUAL REVISION TO QF VARIABLE
ENERGY PRICES PURSUANT TO THE
TERMS OF THE 1992 AMENDMENTS TO
PURCHASE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN
IDAHO QFS AND PACIFICORP
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
CASE NO. PAC-E-21-12

ORDER NO. 35076

ORDER NO. 35076 2

COMMENTS
Staff reviewed and confirmed the Company correctly calculated the variable energy
rate. Staff noted that the Carbon and Hale plants no longer operate and were properly excluded
from the calculations. Staff recommended the Commission approve the change to the variable
energy rate from $23.07 per megawatt-hour (“MWh”) to $23.02 per MWh for the 13 QFs with the
1992 Amendments, effective July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022.
COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DECISION
The Commission has jurisdiction over the Company, an electric utility, under Title 61
of the Idaho Code and PURPA. The Commission has authority under PURPA and Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) regulations to set avoided costs, to order electric utilities to
enter fixed-term obligations for the purchase of energy from QFs, and to implement FERC rules.
Having reviewed the record, the Commission finds that the Company correctly
calculated its proposed revision to the adjustable portion of the avoided cost rate in its QF contracts
with the 1992 Amendments. We find the resulting adjusted rate to be fair, just, and reasonable.
O R D E R
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the variable energy rate for deliveries from July 1,
2021, through June 30, 2022, for Company QF contracts having the 1992 Amendments shall be
$23.02 per MWh.
THIS IS A FINAL ORDER. Any person interested in this Order may petition for
reconsideration within twenty-one (21) days of the service date of this Order about any matter
decided in this Order. Within seven (7) days after any person has petitioned for reconsideration,
any other person may cross-petition for reconsideration. See Idaho Code § 61-626.
///

ORDER NO. 35076 3

DONE by order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 16th day
of June 2021.

PAUL KJELLANDER, PRESIDENT

KRISTINE RAPER, COMMISSIONER

ERIC ANDERSON, COMMISSIONER

ATTEST:

Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary

I:\Legal\ELECTRIC\PAC-E-21-12\orders\PACE2112_final_jh.docx