021913_RMPirrigationloadcontrol.pdf

Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Case No. PAC-E-12-14, Order No. 32742
February 19, 2013
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone], 890-2712
Website: www.puc.idaho.gov

Rocky Mountain proposes changes to irrigation program
Commission taking comments through March 1

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission will take comments through March 1 on a
proposal by Rocky Mountain Power to transfer management to a third party of two
programs that pay irrigators for reducing consumption during peak-load hours.

Rocky Mountain Power, which serves customers in eastern Idaho, has been paying or
crediting irrigators who volunteer to participate in two load reduction programs. It now
seeks to cancel the tariff schedules that establish the amounts irrigators are to be paid
under those programs and instead contract with a third-party aggregator, EnerNoc, Inc.,
to administer irrigation load control.

Last year, the utility began seeking bids from vendors who the company said may be
able to operate the programs in a more cost-efficient manner. Under the current
company-operated program, Rocky Mountain must pay all participating irrigators even if
it does not achieve the load reduction anticipated. In 2012, for example, the company
paid for 244 MW of curtailment, but received only 139 MW, or 57 percent of
participating load.

After reviewing five bid proposals, the company selected EnerNoc’s “pay-for-
performance” model which pays irrigators for actual load reduction only. EnerNoc,
headquartered in Boston with a Boise research center on Discovery Way, manages more
than 25 pay-for-performance contracts throughout the country.

The organization that represents most irrigators, the Idaho Irrigation Pumpers
Association, requested a hearing. But the commission said a modified procedure that
uses written comment is an effective means for obtaining public input and participation.

Under the proposed contract, EnerNoc would assume all responsibility for installing,
operating and maintaining irrigation load control devices as well as recruiting
customers, providing customer service and issuing irrigation credits. EnerNoc will be
paid based on the average load available for curtailment, minus performance
adjustments. It will receive incentives to optimize load curtailment during historical
peak times. As with the current program, participating irrigators will be notified the day
before curtailment and will be able to opt-out before dispatch.

The EnerNoc programs would replace two programs currently operated by Rocky
Mountain Power. The larger of the two programs (Tariff Schedule 72A) allows the
company to remotely turn off pumps of irrigators who volunteer to participate. During
the 2012 irrigation season, there were 12 such “control events” where the company
realized a load reduction of 139 megawatts. Under another older program (Tariff
Schedule 72), load control events are scheduled ahead of time. At its height in 2005,
Schedule 72 had 489 customers with a peak reduction capability if 54 megawatts.
Beginning in 2007, many of the customers under Schedule 72 switched to the newer
remote dispatch program.

Comments are accepted through March 1 via e-mail by accessing the commission’s
homepage at www.puc.idaho.gov and clicking on "Comments & Questions About a
Case." Fill in the case number (PAC-E-12-14) and enter your comments. Comments can
also be mailed to P.O. Box 83720, Boise, ID 83720-0074 or faxed to [phone].

A full text of the commission’s order, along with other documents related to this case, is
available on the commission’s Web site. Click on “File Room” and then on “Electric
Cases” and scroll down to the above case number.

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