| (iv) If the panel determines that a control premium exists for the retained interest, the panel shall determine the amount of the control premium, and the commission shall adopt the determination, but may not use the control premium to increase the value of the assets by more than 10%. (v) The costs and expenses of the panel, as approved by the commission, shall be paid by each transferee corporation. (vi) The determination of the commission, based on the finding of the panel and other admitted evidence, conclusively establishes the value of the common stock of each transferee corporation. (vii) The average book value of each transferee corporation's debt and preferred stock securities during the 30-day period chosen by the commission to determine the market value of common stock shall be added to the market value of its stock. (viii) The market value of each transferee corporation's assets shall be reduced by the corresponding net book value of the assets acquired by the transferee corporation from any entity other than the electric utility or its APGC. (ix) The market value of the assets resulting from the procedures required by clauses (i) - (viii) of this subparagraph establishes the market value of the generation assets transferred by the electric utility or APGC to each transferee corporation. (D) Exchange of assets method. If, at any time after December 31, 1999, an electric utility or its APGC transfers some or all of its generation assets, including any fuel and fuel transportation contracts related to those assets, in a bona fide third-party exchange transaction, the stranded costs related to the transferred assets shall be the difference between the net book value and the market value of the transferred assets at the time of the exchange, taking into account any other consideration received or given. (i) The market value of the transferred assets may be determined through an appraisal by a nationally recognized independent appraisal firm, if the market value is subject to a market valuation by means of an offer of sale in accordance with this subparagraph. (ii) To obtain a market valuation by means of an offer of sale, the owner of the asset shall offer it for sale to other parties under procedures that provide broad public notice of the offer and a reasonable opportunity for other parties to bid on the asset. The owner of the asset shall provide to the commission copies of all documentation explaining and attesting to the utility's sale proposal. (iii) The owner of the asset may establish a reserve price for any offer based on the sum of the appraised value of the asset and the tax impact of selling the asset, as determined by the commission. (iv) Within 30 days of closing, the utility or its APGC shall provide to the commission a detailed explanation, which may be filed confidentially, of the transaction and a description of the generating unit, property boundaries, fuel and parts, emission allowances, and other general categories of items associated with the transfer, including any ancillary items related to the assets. (2) ECOM Method. Unless an electric utility or its APGC combines all its remaining generation assets into one or more transferee corporations pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) or (C) of this subsection, the electric utility shall quantify its stranded costs for nuclear assets using the ECOM method. (A) The ECOM method is the estimation model prepared for and described by the commission's April 1998 Report to the Texas Senate Interim Committee on Electric Restructuring entitled "Potentially Strandable Investment (ECOM) Report: 1998 Update." The methodology used in the model must be the same as that used in the 1998 report to determine the "base case." (B) As part of the filing specified in subsection (d) of this section, the electric utility shall rerun the ECOM model using updated company specific inputs required by the model, updating the market price of electricity, and using updated natural gas price forecasts and the capacity cost based on the long-run marginal cost of the most economic new generation technology then available, as approved by the commission pursuant to subsection (e)(3) of this section. Natural gas price projections used in the model shall be forward prices of Houston Ship Channel natural gas. (C) Growth rates in generating plant operations and maintenance costs and allocated administrative and general costs shall be benchmarked by comparing those costs to the best available information on cost trends for comparable generating plants. (D) Capital additions shall be benchmarked using the 1.5% limitation set forth in PURA §39.259(b). (g) Quantification of net book value of generation assets. (1) For purposes of this section, the net book value of generation assets shall be established as of December 31, 2001, or the date a market value is established through a market valuation method under subsection (f) of this section, whichever is earlier. (2) Net book value of generation assets consists of: (A) The generation-related electric plant in service, less accumulated depreciation (exclusive of depreciation related to mitigation), plus generation-related construction work in progress, plant held for future use, and nuclear, coal, and lignite fuel inventories, reduced by: (i) net mitigation; (ii) the net book value of nuclear generation assets if quantification of ECOM related to those nuclear generation assets is determined pursuant to PURA §39.262(i); and (iii) any generation-related invested capital recoverable through a CTC, exclusive of related carrying costs, projected to be collected through the date of the final order in the true-up proceeding. (B) Above-market purchased power costs arising from contracts in effect before January 1, 1999, including any amendments and revisions to such contracts resulting from litigation initiated before January 1, 1999. (i) The purchased power market value of the demand and energy included in the purchased power contracts shall be determined by using the weighted average costs of the highest three offers from a bona fide third-party transaction or transactions on the open market. (ii) The bona fide third-party transaction or transactions on the open market shall be structured so that the above-market purchased power costs are determined pursuant to subclause (I) or (II) of this clause. (I) A transaction may be structured so the electric utility pays a third party to assume the utility's obligations under the purchased power contract. The weighted average of the three highest offers received in the transaction establishes the above-market purchased power costs. (II) A transaction may be structured so a third party pays the utility to take power under the purchased power contract. The difference between the net present value of obligations under the existing contracts at the utility's cost of capital and the weighted average of the three highest offers received in the transaction establishes the above-market purchased power costs. (C) Deferred debits, to the extent they have not been securitized, related to a utility's discontinuance of the application of SFAS No. 71 ("Accounting for the Effects of Certain Types of Regulation") for generation-related assets if required by PURA Chapter 39. (D) Capital costs incurred before May 1, 2003 to improve air quality to the extent they have been approved by the commission pursuant to §25.261 of this title (relating to Stranded Cost Recovery of Environmental Cleanup Costs). (E) Any adjustments resulting from the commission's review of the TDU's, APGC's, and AREP's efforts pursuant to subsection (e)(4) of this section. (h) True-up of final fuel balance. (1) An APGC shall reconcile the former electric utility's final fuel balance determined under PURA §39.202(c). (2) The final fuel balance shall be reduced by any revenues collected by the AREP under any commission-approved fuel surcharge, from the date of introduction of competition to the utility's customers through the date of the true-up filing under this section, so long as the fuel surcharge is associated with fuel costs incurred during the time period covered by the final reconcilable fuel balance. (3) If an electric utility or its TDU or APGC is assessed by another utility in Texas a fuel surcharge after 2001 for under-recoveries occurring through the end of 2001, the surcharged utility shall add the amount of surcharges and any associated carrying costs paid after 2001 to its final fuel balance. (4) The final fuel balance, as adjusted by paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subsection, shall include carrying costs on the positive or negative fuel balance equal to: (A) the weighted-average cost of capital approved in the company's unbundled cost of service (UCOS) proceeding, if the period until the date of the final true-up order is greater than one year; or Cont'd... |
