20220525Final_Order_No_35416.pdf

ORDER NO. 35416 1

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
May 25, 2022
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

On February 22, 2022, Rocky Mountain Power (“Company”), a division of PacifiCorp,
applied for authority to update Electric Service Regulation No. 13, Curtailment Plan for Electric
Energy (“Curtailment Plan”). The Company requested its Application be processed by Modified
Procedure with an effective date of June 1, 2022.
On March 10, 2022, the Commission issued a Notice of Application and Notice of
Modified procedure establishing public comment and Company reply deadlines. Order No. 35342.
On April 27, 2022, Staff submitted the only comments filed in the case.
Having reviewed the record in this case, we issue this Order approving the Company’s
Application.
APPLICATION
In November 1993, the Commission ordered all electric service suppliers operating in
the State of Idaho to file individual curtailment plans with the Commission pursuant to Idaho Code
§ 61-531 et. seq., to deal with electric service curtailment during periods of prolonged energy
shortage. Order No. 25259.
In June 2015, the Company revised its Curtailment Plan to: (a) include new provisions
relating to demand-side management (“DSM”) and emergency load shed groups; (b) remove
financial penalties; and (c) clarify what types of entities could initiate load curtailment. Application
at 2. The Company’s Curtailment Plan consists of five stages. Id. at 3.
The Company stated that the primary purpose of its Application was to update its
Curtailment Plan to remove the interruptible load from the Stage 1 Mandatory curtailment option.
Id. at 4. The Company stated it had recently entered a new contract with a large industrial customer
resolving the curtailment terms of the customer’s energy service agreement (“ESA”). Id. at 4. The
large industrial customer previously had a contract with the Company under which the Company
could curtail the supply of electricity to this customer under Stage 1 of the Curtailment Plan during
IN THE MATTER OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN
POWER’S APPLICATION TO UPDATE
ELECTRICAL SERVICE REGULATION NO.
13 – CURTAILMENT PLAN FOR ELECTRIC
ENERGY
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CASE NO. PAC-E-22-04

ORDER NO. 35416
ORDER NO. 35416 2

emergency load curtailment events. Id. at 4. In exchange for agreeing to mandatory curtailment
during emergency events in Stage 1 under the previous contract, the large industrial customer
received a “system integrity credit” on its monthly bill. Id. at 4. The Company stated because the
new contract with the large industrial customer did not include a system integrity clause, the Stage
1 mandatory curtailment was no longer applicable to the customer. Id. at 4.
Accordingly, the Company sought to revise the Curtailment Plan to: (1) remove the
reference to “interruptible customer load shed” in Stage 1; (2) remove a section subtitled
“Interruptible Loads” in Section IV of the Curtailment Plan; and (3) make other minor edits,
including replacing the reference to the “Peak Regional Reliability Coordinator” with the “RC
West Regional Reliability Coordinator” and correcting the reference to the Commission. Id. at 5.
STAFF COMMENTS
Staff noted that the Commission considers the following factors in acting upon a
curtailment plan: (1) the consistency of the plan with the public health, safety, and welfare; (2) the
technical feasibility of implementation of the plan; and (3) the effectiveness with which the plan
minimizes the impact of any curtailment. See Idaho Code § 61-532. Staff believed the proposed
revisions to the Curtailment Plan satisfied the relevant statutory requirements.
Staff noted that Bayer Corporation (“Bayer”) was the large interruptible customer the
Company sought to remove from the Stage 1 category.1 Staff Comments at 2. Staff noted that
during the settlement negotiations in Case No. PAC-E-21-07, the Company filed an updated ESA.2
Id. at 3. Staff stated that the Company included Mike Veile’s pre-filed testimony in Case No. PAC-
E-21-07 which indicated the system integrity curtailment product had been eliminated in the
updated ESA. Id.
Staff noted the Commission’s finding in Order No. 35277 that the value of the Bayer
curtailment product described in the updated ESA was reasonable and valuable to the Company’s
Idaho customers. As such, Staff understood and supported the Company’s update to the
Curtailment Plan to reflect the terms of the updated ESA with Bayer in Case No. PAC-E-21-07.
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1 See Case No. PAC-E-21-07.
2 The updated ESA is attached to the direct testimony of Mike Veile in Case No. PAC-E-21-07 as Exhibit 301.
ORDER NO. 35416 3

Curtailment Notification Procedures
Staff reviewed the procedures the Company used to notify state regulatory and
reliability authorities of curtailment or interruption periods. Staff believed that, aside from the
process used to notify the Commission, those procedures were sufficient.
Staff noted that in the process of updating its Curtailment Plan, the Company did not
solicit additional input from those directly impacted by curtailment. Staff believed it would be
beneficial if the Company met with stakeholders impacted by curtailment and solicited their input
before the next Curtailment Plan update.
In sum, Staff recommended: (1) the Commission approve the updated Curtailment
Plan; (2) that the Company solicit input from stakeholders in developing future updates to its
Curtailment Plan; and (3) the Company meet with Staff to review and update the notification
procedures it uses to notify the Commission in the curtailment process.
COMMISSION DISCUSSION AND FINDINGS
The Commission has jurisdiction over this matter under Title 61 of the Idaho Code.
The Company is an electrical corporation and public utility. Idaho Code §§ 61-119 and -129. The
Commission is empowered to investigate rates, charges, rules, regulations, practices, and contracts
of public utilities and to determine whether they are just, reasonable, preferential, discriminatory,
or in violation of any provision of law, and to fix the same by order. Idaho Code §§ 61- 501, -502
and -503. Idaho Code § 61-532 requires the Commission to act upon curtailment plans submitted
by utilities by either adopting or rejecting the plans. Having reviewed the record, including the
Company’s updated Curtailment Plan, we hereby approve the Company’s Application.
We find that updated curtailment plans are critical to ensuring reliable service to
customers, especially in times when transmission across the west is more constrained during
periods of peak demand. We also find that utilities having updated curtailment plans is in the public
interest. We direct the Company to work with Staff and interested entities who might be affected
during curtailment events in developing future updates to its Curtailment Plan. We also find the
recommendation that the Company continue to work with Staff in reviewing and updating the
notification procedures contained in the Curtailment Plan to be reasonable.

ORDER NO. 35416 4

O R D E R
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the Company’s Application is approved as filed.
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.
DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 25th day
of May 2022.

_______________________________________
ERIC ANDERSON, PRESIDENT

_______________________________________
JOHN CHATBURN, COMMISSIONER

_______________________________________
JOHN R. HAMMOND, JR., COMMISSIONER

ATTEST:

Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary

I:\Legal\ELECTRIC\PAC-E-22-04 Curtailment\orders\PACE2204_final_rn.docx