20230620Final_Order_No_35819.pdf

ORDER NO. 35819 1

Office of the Secretary
Service Date
June 20, 2023
BEFORE THE IDAHO PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION

IN THE MATTER OF ROCKY MOUNTAIN
POWER’S APPLICATION REQUESTING
APPROVAL OF THE ANNUAL REVISION
TO QF VARIABLE ENERGY PRICES
PURSUANT TO TERMS OF THE 1992
AMENDMENTS TO POWER PURCHASE
AGREEMENTS BETWEEN PACIFICORP
AND IDAHO QFs
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CASE NO. PAC-E-23-14

ORDER NO. 35819

On April 18, 2023, Rocky Mountain Power, a division of PacifiCorp (“Company”), applied
to the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) for approval to update the Qualifying
Facility (“QF”) variable energy price pursuant to the terms of the 1992 amendments
(“Amendment”) to certain Idaho QFs power purchase agreements (“Application”). Specifically,
the Company requested Commission approval for a variable energy rate of $24.85 per megawatt
hour (“MWh”). The Company requested that its Application be processed by Modified Procedure
with an effective date for the new variable energy rate of July 1, 2023.
On May 10, 2023, the Commission issued a Notice of Application and established public
comment and Company reply deadlines. Order No. 35775. Staff filed the only comments in this
case.
The Commission now issues this Order approving the Application as filed.
THE APPLICATION
The Company indicated thirteen QF contracts were affected by the Amendment outlining
the method used to determine the variable energy component of the avoided cost rate for QF
contracts. The Company represented that only one QF contract affected by the Amendment
remains in effect— Marsh Valley Hydro contract—which is effective through February 28, 2028.1
The Company represented that the variable energy rate is calculated as the sum of the
Company’s fuel costs and Colstrip variable Operation and Maintenance (“O&M”) cost.2 The

1 The remaining 12 QF contracts originally subject to the Amendment have expired, among which ten have entered
into new PPAs and two did not seek new contracts.
2 The Amendment defined fuel costs “as the average cost of fuel consumed in the Utah Division plants, specifically
Carbon, Hale, Naughton, Huntington, and Hunter coal plants.” Application at 2. The Amendment specified that any
plant that does not operate in a calendar year will be removed from the average fuel cost calculation. Since Carbon
and Hale plants are now closed, the Company removed these from its calculation.
ORDER NO. 35819 2

Company represented the variable O&M costs were set based on the variable costs associated with
the operation of the coal power generating facility Colstrip, excluding the generation tax and the
line loss adjustments. Based on that calculation, the Company proposed that the variable energy
rate for deliveries commencing July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, should be $24.85 per MWh.
STAFF COMMENTS
Staff analyzed the data provided by the Company and believed that the proposed rate was
correct. Staff recommended the Commission approve the variable energy rate of $24.85 per MWh,
as requested by the Company, effective July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.
COMMISSION FINDINGS AND DECISION
The Commission has jurisdiction over the Company, an electric utility, under Title 61 of
the Idaho Code and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (“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. 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 §§ 61-502 and 61-503.
The Commission has reviewed the record—including the Application and Staff’s
Comments. Based on our review, we find it reasonable to approve the Application as filed. Staff
reviewed the data provided by the Company and supports the Company’s calculations included in
the Application. Relatedly, the Company used the same calculation method that has been utilized
in the Commission’s previously approved variable energy rate revisions. Accordingly, the
Commission finds that a variable energy rate of $24.85 per MWh effective July 1, 2023, through
June 30, 2024, is fair, just, and reasonable.
O R D E R
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the variable energy rate for deliveries from affected QF
contracts between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024, shall be $24.85 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 regarding 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. 35819 3

DONE by Order of the Idaho Public Utilities Commission at Boise, Idaho this 20th day of
June 2023.

_________________________________________
ERIC ANDERSON, PRESIDENT

__________________________________________
JOHN R. HAMMOND JR., COMMISSIONER

__________________________________________
EDWARD LODGE, COMMISSIONER

ATTEST:

__________________________________
Jan Noriyuki
Commission Secretary

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