0609.2000-03-14.farmer.ham.txt 9.8 KB

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  1. Subject: bpa rate case - seasonal rates
  2. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - forwarded by mary hain / hou / ect on 03 / 14 / 2000 08 : 48 am
  3. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  4. enron capital minnesota power
  5. and light co . , opinion no . 12 , issued april 14 , 1978 , mimeo at 24 - 5 .
  6. [ 65 , 229 ]
  7. in both cases , the commission rejected rate design features where there was
  8. no evidence in the record showing that the rate design features reflected
  9. cost incurrence , id . in its order setting this proceeding for hearing , the
  10. commission took note of edison ' s proposed seasonal differential and
  11. specifically directed that the parties fully address the issues related to
  12. the cost support for the seasonal rate design , commission order issued march
  13. 30 , 1979 , mimeo at 4 - 5 . on october 9 , 1980 , the parties were directed by the
  14. presiding judge to identify in their initial briefs the portions of the
  15. record that relate to cost support for the seasonal differential .
  16. the requirement that edison provide cost support for its seasonal
  17. differential , as discussed supra , is also set forth in the commission ' s
  18. filing requirements for rate schedules : if the rate design is intended to
  19. reflect costs , the applicant must show how it reflects costs ; if the rate
  20. design is not intended to reflect costs , the applicant must justify the
  21. departure from costbased rates , 18 cfr o 35 . 13 ( b ) ( 4 ) ( iii ) statement p .
  22. edison ' s seasonal differential is intended to lessen the costs imposed upon
  23. it by its prominent summer peak . edison reasons that , since it must build
  24. capacity to meet its prominent summer peak , charging more in the summer would
  25. give customers an incentive to control their summer demands and , therefore ,
  26. edison ' s cost of adding capacity would be reduced ( tr . 169 ) . accordingly ,
  27. edison must show how its seasonal differential reflects the costs imposed on
  28. it by summer demand , under the commission ' s filing requirements in 18 cfr o 35 .
  29. 13 ( b ) ( 4 ) ( iii ) statement p . further , even purpa section 111 ( d ) ( 4 ) relied upon
  30. by edison states that rates " shall be on a seasonal basis which reflects the
  31. costs of providing service to such class of consumers at different seasons of
  32. the year to the extent that such costs vary seasonally for such utility . "
  33. ( emphasis added . )
  34. further , support for relying on marginal rather than average costs comes from
  35. the commission itself . in its order of march 30 , 1979 setting this cause for
  36. hearing , mimeo at 4 , 5 , the commission , in commenting on time of day and
  37. seasonal rates , mentioned that it encourage innovative rate design to match
  38. more closely rates to costs . in this regard , the commission cited its order
  39. no . 537 , supra at 4 , which specifically suggests use of pricing mechanisms
  40. based on marginal cost principles
  41. [ 65 , 236 ]
  42. for jurisdictional wholesale sales . under the circumstances in this case ,
  43. where the sale of economy energy is related to edison ' s costs in adding or
  44. eliminating additional excess capacity , it is appropriate to establish the
  45. price for economy transactions on marginal costs . this provides a more close
  46. matching of the rate to the cost than would a rate design based on average
  47. costs . accordingly , winnetka ' s position on pricing of economy energy will not
  48. be adopted .
  49. affirmed and reversed - see next paragraph
  50. comm - opinion - order , 23 ferc ? 61 , 219 , commonwealth edison company , docket nos .
  51. er 79 - 182 - 000 and er 80 - 106 - 000 , ( may 12 , 1983 )
  52. turning to commonwealth ' s exceptions , we find that the judge correctly
  53. rejected the seasonal differential . even if we accept the company ' s
  54. interpretation of purpa , it still has not cited any record evidence
  55. whatsoever of a difference in costs between summer and nonsummer months .
  56. without at least some showing of a cost difference , it is impossible to make
  57. a judgment on the reasonableness of the company ' s 15 . 25 % proposal . we
  58. therefore uphold the judge on this point .
  59. we reverse the judge ' s adoption of a price set at 110 % of the utility ' s
  60. incremental costs , however , and approve the type - b split - savings method
  61. proposed by commonwealth . under this method , economy transactions are
  62. arranged for a 12 - hour or similar period at a fixed price based on cost
  63. estimates at the time of the agreement . if the utility ' s incremental costs
  64. rise to the point that continued supply would become burdensome , the utility
  65. may terminate supply . we find this method superior to that proposed by staff
  66. in that implementation is greatly simplified . cost determinations need not be
  67. made as frequently .
  68. related to pmas
  69. reg - preamble , fercsr ? 36 , 710 , procedures for public participation in power
  70. and transmission rate adjustments and extensions , december 31 , 1980 , 10 cfr
  71. 903 , 45 fr 86976
  72. [ 36 , 741 ]
  73. historically , many purpa - type standards have been used in designing wholesale
  74. rates for the sale of federal hydroelectric power . pmas analyze costs to
  75. establish revenue requirements and consider this information in designing
  76. rates . declining block rates for energy were once used by the pmas but
  77. subsequently were found inappropriate and eliminated from rate schedules .
  78. many of the pmas for years have been effectively using various forms of load
  79. management measures in their rate schedules , such as scheduling limitations ,
  80. loadshaping , capacity and energy overrun charges , etc . bpa has had a history
  81. of using seasonal rates for wholesale firm capacity and energy and also
  82. offered its direct service industrial customers interruptible rates some time
  83. ago . southwestern has had interruptible capacity rates in effect since 1957 .
  84. these examples demonstrate the willingness of the pmas to implement
  85. purpa - type standards where applicable .
  86. many of these purpa - type standards , when applied appropriately in the design
  87. of pma rates , can serve to implement the purposes of purpa by encouraging
  88. conservation of energy , efficient use of resources and facilities , and
  89. equitable rates . the public participation process will provide an opportunity
  90. to examine these and other appropriate concepts .
  91. the pmas will continue to review and revise their power marketing practices
  92. on a system - by - system basis to serve the purpa objectives . the assistant
  93. secretary for resource applications , working with the administrators of the
  94. power administrations , and after receiving public comment , will consider the
  95. adoption of rate design guidelines , similar in form to the guidelines in ra
  96. 6120 . 2 on financial accounting and ratemaking , which will reflect the
  97. experience gained by the pmas in their system - by - system approach to rate
  98. design .
  99. related to purpa
  100. fed - law , fercsr ? 5021 , purpa , sec . 111 . consideration and determination
  101. respecting certain ratemaking standards .
  102. ( 4 ) seasonal rates . - - the rates charged by an electric utility for providing
  103. electric service to each class of electric consumers shall be on a seasonal
  104. basis which reflects the costs of providing service to such class of
  105. consumers at different seasons of the year to the extent that such costs vary
  106. seasonally for such utility .
  107. fed - reg - notice , fercsr ? 37 , 503 , doe responsibilities under title i of purpa
  108. ( 4 ) seasonal rates shall be established where costs vary by season ;
  109. prop - reg - preamble , fercsr 1988 - 1998 ? 32 , 457 , administrative determination of
  110. full avoided costs , sales of power to qualifying facilities , and
  111. inter - connection facilities , march 16 , 1988 , docket no . rm 88 - 6 - 000 , 53 fr
  112. 9331 , 55 fr 31882
  113. pricing flexibility may take several different forms . for instance , a
  114. contract could provide qfs with a price floor applicable to all the power
  115. supplied to the utility , but still provide for higher variable unit prices
  116. reflecting daily or seasonal periods . the price floor would provide the
  117. revenue stream necessary for the qf to secure financial support while
  118. [ 32 , 174 ]
  119. the price variability would induce the qf to maximize deliveries in peak - load
  120. periods when the utility values additional supplies most . of course , the
  121. price floor should not exceed the minimum value of the utility ' s avoided
  122. cost . similarly , a contract could provide for a two part price - - a fixed
  123. payment for capacity and an energy price for power delivered . the qf would be
  124. assured a minimum revenue stream based on the value of its capacity . the
  125. variable energy component would allow the utility to dispatch the qf capacity
  126. only when it was economic . whatever the pattern of contract payments , rates
  127. for purchases from qfs should always reflect how well the characteristics of
  128. the suppliers ' power match the purchasing utility ' s need . this will ensure
  129. that the qf will make most production decisions on the basis of rates
  130. reflecting avoided costs ( rather than the guaranteed average rate ) and , at
  131. the same time , will receive revenues sufficient to attract investors .
  132. to avoid problems such as those associated with take - or - pay contracts in the
  133. natural gas industry , the commission wishes to stress the danger of including
  134. forecasted fuel costs in the fixed rate structure of long - term contracts ,
  135. especially in combination with the specification of minimum purchase
  136. quantities . the commission also encourages the use of time - of - day and
  137. seasonal rates in flexible pricing structures for long - term contracts .
  138. reg - preamble , fercsr 1977 - 1981 ? 30 , 128 , small power production and
  139. cogeneration facilities ; regulations implementing section 210 of the public
  140. utility regulatory policies act of 1978 , order no . 69 , february 25 , 1980 ,
  141. docket no . rm 79 - 55 , 18 cfr 292 , 45 fr 12214 , 45 fr . . .
  142. rather than specifying that exact time - of - day or seasonal rates for purchases
  143. are required , however , the commission believes that the selection of a
  144. methodology is best left to the state regulatory authorities and nonregulated
  145. electric utilities charged with the implementation of these provisions .