| (ii) if a hearing is requested within 15 days after
the petition is filed, a final order shall be issued within 45 days,
or as soon as practicable thereafter, after the petition is filed.
The 45 day timeline for issuance of an order may be extended upon
mutual agreement of the parties. Such agreement may provide for interim
rate relief.
(E) In addition to the adjustment permitted under subparagraphs
(A)-(D) of this paragraph, an affiliated REP may also request an adjustment
to the fuel factor if the headroom under the price to beat decreases
as a result of significant changes in the price of purchased energy.
In making a request under this subparagraph:
(i) an affiliated REP shall demonstrate that:
(I) the representative power price has changed such
that the headroom under the price to beat has decreased; and
(II) the adjustment to the fuel factor is necessary
to restore the amount of headroom that existed at the time that the
initial price to beat fuel factor was set by the commission using
then current forecasts of the representative power price.
(III) an affiliated REP making an adjustment under
this subparagraph shall also file the gas price calculation in subparagraphs
(A) and (B) of this paragraph for purposes of subsequent adjustments
to the fuel factor based on changes in natural gas prices.
(ii) the commission will issue a final order on an
application filed under this subparagraph within 60 days, or as soon
as practicable thereafter, after the application is filed. The 60
day timeline for issuance of an order may be extended upon mutual
agreement of the parties. Such agreement may provide for interim rate
relief.
(F) The commission shall, upon a showing made by an
interested party, that a sufficiently liquid electricity commodity
trading hub (or hubs) or index has developed for the affiliated REP's
relevant geographic or power region, allow an affiliated REP to transition
to the use of electricity commodity futures prices at that hub or
index to adjust the fuel factor to adequately reflect significant
changes in the price of purchased energy. After the commission has
made a finding that a sufficiently liquid electricity commodity trading
hub or index has developed, the affiliated REP shall be required to
perform an additional adjustment under subparagraphs (A) through (D)
or (E) of this paragraph before utilization of the futures prices
at that trading hub or index to change the fuel factor so that a benchmark
electricity price can be established. Subsequent changes to the fuel
factor shall be based on the percentage change in the electricity
commodity index using the same methodology for the natural gas price
adjustment under subparagraphs (A) - (D) of this paragraph.
(2) Adjustment for financial integrity. Upon a finding
that an affiliated REP will be unable to maintain its financial integrity
if it complies with subsection (f) of this section, the commission
shall set the affiliated REP's price to beat at the minimum level
that will allow the affiliated REP to maintain its financial integrity.
However, in no event shall the price to beat exceed the level of rates,
on a bundled basis, charged by the affiliated electric utility on
September 1, 1999, adjusted for fuel.
(3) True-up adjustment. The commission shall adjust
the price to beat following the true-up proceedings under PURA §39.262.
The commission shall consider the following adjustments to the price
to beat on a schedule consistent with the processing of the TDU rate
adjustment application pursuant to §25.263(n) of this title (relating
to True-up Proceeding):
(A) Fuel factor adjustment. A 20 trading-day rolling
price shall be calculated in accordance with paragraph (1)(A)-(D)
of this subsection. If the 20 trading-day rolling price is less than
the price used to calculate the then-current fuel factor (i.e. The
percentage difference is negative), then the price to beat fuel factor
shall be adjusted downward by the percentage difference in the prices.
An adjustment required to be made in accordance with this subparagraph
shall not be considered a request by an affiliated REP under paragraph
(1) of this subsection.
(B) Base rate adjustment. Using the typical residential
and small commercial usage calculations described in subsection (c)(3)
of this section, the base rate components of the price to beat shall
be adjusted, either upward or downward, such that the difference between
the average price to beat base rate and the average non-bypassable
charges that exist following the proceeding pursuant to §25.263(n)
of this title is the same as existed on January 1, 2002. Each component
of the base rates for each residential price to beat base rate tariff
shall be adjusted in the same proportion in complying with this section.
Each component of the base rates for each small commercial price to
beat base rate tariff shall be adjusted in the same proportion in
complying with this section
(C) Filing by affiliated REP. An affiliated REP shall
make filings necessary to implement subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this
paragraph on a schedule to be determined by the commission.
(h) Non-price to beat offers.
(1) Offers to residential customers. An affiliated
REP may not offer any rates other than the price to beat rates to
residential customers within the affiliated electric utility's service
area until the earlier of 36 months after the date customer choice
is introduced, or when the commission determines that an affiliated
REP has met or exceeded the threshold target for residential customers
described in subsection (i) of this section.
(2) Offers to small commercial customers. An affiliated
REP may not offer rates other than the price to beat rates to small
commercial customers until the earlier of 36 months after the date
customer choice is introduced, or when the commission determines that
an affiliated REP has met or exceeded the threshold target for small
commercial customers described in subsection (i) of this section.
(3) Offers to aggregated small commercial load. Notwithstanding
paragraph (2) of this subsection, an affiliated REP may charge rates
different from the price to beat for service to aggregated loads having
an aggregated peak demand in excess of 1,000 kW provided that all
affected customers are commonly owned or are franchisees of the same
franchisor.
(A) If aggregated customers whose loads are served
by an affiliated REP in accordance with this subsection disaggregate,
those individual customers may resume service under the applicable
price to beat rate(s), provided that those customers meet the eligibility
requirements of subsection (e) of this section.
(B) Any usage removed from the threshold calculation
in subsection (i)(1)(B) of this section due to aggregation shall be
added back into the threshold calculation upon disaggregation of the
aggregated load.
(i) Threshold targets.
(1) Calculation of threshold targets.
(A) Residential target. The residential threshold target
shall be equal to 40% of the total number of kilowatt-hours (kWh)
consumed by residential customers served by the affiliated electric
utility during the calendar year 2000.
(B) Small commercial target. The small commercial threshold
target shall be equal to 40% of the following difference: the total
number of kWh consumed by small commercial customers served by the
affiliated electric utility during the calendar year 2000 minus the
aggregated load served by the affiliated REP that complies with the
requirements of subsection (h)(3) of this section. The kWh associated
with a customer who becomes ineligible for the price to beat because
the customer's peak demand exceeds 1,000 kW shall also be removed
from the threshold target.
(2) Meeting of threshold targets. Upon a showing by
the affiliated transmission and distribution utility that the electric
power consumption of the relevant customer group served by nonaffiliated
REPs meets or exceeds the targets determined by the calculation in
paragraph (1) of this subsection, the affiliated REP may offer rates
other than the price to beat.
(A) Calculation of residential consumption. The amount
of electric power of residential customers served by nonaffiliated
REPs shall equal the number of residential customers served by nonaffiliated
REPs, except customers that the affiliated REP has dropped to the
POLR, times the average annual consumption of residential customers
served by the affiliated utility during the calendar year 2000.
(i) The number of customers served by nonaffiliated
REPs shall be determined by summing the number of customers in the
transmission and distribution utility's certificated service area
with a designated REP other than the affiliated REP in the registration
database maintained by the registration agent. Customers dropped to
the POLR by the affiliated REP shall not count as load served by a
nonaffiliated REP.
Cont'd... |
