Process to Review Pacific Power Annual Costs “Fundamentally Broken”
Posted on January 24, 2017 by Bob Jenks
Tags, Energy
At today’s Public Meeting of the Public Utility Commission (PUC), CUB declared that the annual process to review PacifiCorp’s power costs is “fundamentally broken”.
CUB noted that Pacific Power has been challenged on 29 issues related to its power cost filings over the last two years, by CUB, PUC Staff and other intervenors, and the PUC has ruled in the company’s favor 28 of those times. In the one case where the utility lost, the dollar amount was too low to have any effect on rates.
CUB described a process that is difficult for parties. The company is constantly changing how it models costs and does not abide by guidelines requiring it to be transparent about changes to its underlying models. This year the PUC had ordered Pacific Power not to change it models, but it did so anyway.
CUB also raised concerns that Pacific Power’s models will allow it to overcharge customers for costs related to this winter’s weather. One of the models allows the company to add millions of dollars to future power costs partially based on the volume of balancing purchases it made this year. Because the winter weather will increase its purchases, this model will allow Pacific Power to keep charging customers for the cost of this winter for the next four years. CUB noted that the weather is causing high customer bills and there is no evidence that the utility is not being fully compensated for the cost of serving customers this winter.
The Commission has ordered Pacific Power to hold workshops with CUB, PUC Staff, and other parties to try to resolve some of the disagreements over the utility’s power cost modeling. CUB raised concerns that the company was approaching this as a compliance obligation rather than a chance to collaborate with parties. CUB noted that Pacific Power refused to accommodate CUB’s schedule when it set the date for the first workshop.
CUB said it hoped the workshops can help solve some of the problems, but that the problems go beyond the workshops. CUB called on the Commission to stop Pacific Power from constantly tinkering with its models, and limit the filing to things like updating fuel and power prices. In addition, CUB called for the Commission to hold the utility accountable when it violates transparency guidelines.
Finally, we noted that this has little to do with modeling power costs. Other utilities are able to meet PUC guidelines without the kinds of problems that Pacific Power demonstrates. This is a Pacific Power problem and it needs to be solved. The current process is fundamentally broken.
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03/15/17 | 0 Comments | Process to Review Pacific Power Annual Costs “Fundamentally Broken”