| (G) information concerning calculations related to
the requirements of paragraph (7) of this subsection;
(H) the incentive payments by the utility, by program,
including a list of each energy efficiency administrator and/or service
provider receiving more than 5% of the utility's overall incentive
payments and the percentage of the utility's incentives received by
those providers. Such information may be treated as confidential;
(I) the utility's administrative costs, including any
affiliate costs and EECRF proceeding expenses and an explanation of
both;
(J) the actual EECRF revenues by rate class for any
period for which the utility calculates an under- or over-recovery
of EECRF costs;
(K) the utility's bidding and engagement process for
contracting with energy efficiency service providers, including a
list of all energy efficiency service providers that participated
in the utility programs and contractors paid with funds collected
through the EECRF. Such information may be treated as confidential;
(L) the estimated useful life used for each measure
in each program, or a link to the information if publicly available;
and
(M) any other information that supports the determination
of the EECRF.
(11) The following factors must be included in the
application, as applicable, to support the recovery of energy efficiency
costs under this subsection.
(A) the costs are less than or equal to the benefits
of the programs, as calculated in §25.181(d) of this title;
(B) the program portfolio was implemented in accordance
with recommendations made by the commission's EM&V contractor
and approved by the commission and the EM&V contractor has found
no material deficiencies in the utility's administration of its portfolio
of energy efficiency programs under §25.181 of this title. This
subparagraph does not preclude parties from examining and challenging
the reasonableness of a utility's energy efficiency program expenses
nor does it limit the commission's ability to address the reasonableness
of a utility's energy efficiency program expenses;
(C) if a utility is in an area in which customer choice
is offered and is subject to the requirements of PURA §39.905(f),
the utility met its targeted low-income energy efficiency requirements
under §25.181 of this title;
(D) existing market conditions in the utility's service
territory affected its ability to implement one or more of its energy
efficiency programs or affected its costs;
(E) the utility's costs incurred and achievements accomplished
in the previous year or estimated for the year the requested EECRF
will be in effect are consistent with the utility's energy efficiency
program costs and achievements in previous years notwithstanding any
recommendations or comments by the EM&V contractor;
(F) changed circumstances in the utility's service
area since the commission approved the utility's budget for the implementation
year that affect the ability of the utility to implement any of its
energy efficiency programs or its energy efficiency costs;
(G) the number of energy efficiency service providers
operating in the utility's service territory affects the ability of
the utility to implement any of its energy efficiency programs or
its energy efficiency costs;
(H) customer participation in the utility's prior years'
energy efficiency programs affects customer participation in the utility's
energy efficiency programs in previous years or its proposed programs
underlying its EECRF request and the extent to which program costs
were expended to generate more participation or transform the market
for the utility's programs;
(I) the utility's energy efficiency costs for the previous
year or estimated for the year the requested EECRF will be in effect
are comparable to costs in other markets with similar conditions;
and
(J) the utility has set its incentive payments with
the objective of achieving its energy and demand goals under §25.181
of this title at the lowest reasonable cost per program.
(12) The scope of an EECRF proceeding includes the
extent to which the costs recovered through the EECRF complied with
PURA §39.905, this section, and §25.181 of this title; the
extent to which the costs recovered were reasonable and necessary
to reduce demand and energy growth; and a determination of whether
the costs to be recovered through an EECRF are reasonable estimates
of the costs necessary to provide energy efficiency programs and to
meet or exceed the utility's energy efficiency goals. The proceeding
shall not include a review of program design to the extent that the
programs complied with the energy efficiency implementation project
(EEIP) process defined in §25.181(q) of this title. The commission
shall not allow recovery of expenses that are designated as non-recoverable
under §25.231(b)(2) of this title (relating to Cost of Service).
(13) Notice of a utility's filing of an EECRF application
is reasonable if the utility provides in writing a general description
of the application and the docket number assigned to the application
within seven days of the application filing date to:
(A) All parties in the utility's most recent completed
EECRF docket;
(B) All retail electric providers that are authorized
by the registration agent to provide service in the utility's service
area at the time the EECRF application is filed;
(C) All parties in the utility's most recent completed
base-rate proceeding; and
(D) The state agency that administers the federal weatherization
program.
(14) The utility shall file an affidavit attesting
to the completion of notice within 14 days after the application is
filed.
(15) The commission may approve a utility's request
to establish an EECRF revenue requirement or EECRF rates that are
lower than the amounts otherwise determined under this section.
(e) Energy efficiency performance bonus. A utility
that exceeds its demand and energy reduction goals established in
§25.181 of this title at a cost that does not exceed the cost
caps established in subsection (d)(7) of this section shall be awarded
a performance bonus calculated in accordance with this subsection.
The performance bonus shall be based on the utility's energy efficiency
achievements for the previous program year. The bonus calculation
shall not include demand or energy savings that result from programs
other than programs implemented under §25.181 of this title.
(1) The performance bonus shall entitle the utility
to receive a share of the net benefits realized in meeting its demand
reduction goal established in §25.181 of this title.
(2) Net benefits shall be calculated as the sum of
total avoided cost associated with the eligible programs administered
by the utility minus the sum of all program costs. Program costs shall
include the cost of incentives, EM&V contractor costs, any shareholder
bonus awarded to the utility, and actual or allocated research and
development and administrative costs, but shall not include any interest
amounts applied to over- or under-recoveries. Total avoided costs
and program costs shall be calculated in accordance with this section
and §25.181 of this title.
(3) A utility that exceeds 100% of its demand and energy
reduction goals shall receive a bonus equal to 1% of the net benefits
for every 2% that the demand reduction goal has been exceeded, with
a maximum of 10% of the utility's total net benefits.
(4) The commission may reduce the bonus otherwise permitted
under this subsection for a utility with a lower goal, higher administrative
spending cap, or higher EECRF cost cap established by the commission
under §25.181(e)(2) of this title. The bonus shall be considered
in the EECRF proceeding in which the bonus is requested.
(5) In calculating net benefits to determine a performance
bonus, a discount rate equal to the utility's weighted average cost
of capital of the utility and an escalation rate of 2% shall be used.
The utility shall provide documentation for the net benefits calculation,
including, but not limited to, the weighted average cost of capital,
useful life of equipment or measure, and quantity of each measure
implemented.
(6) The bonus shall be allocated in proportion to the
program costs associated with meeting the demand and energy goals
under §25.181 of this title and allocated to eligible customers
on a rate class basis.
(7) A bonus earned under this section shall not be
included in the utility's revenues or net income for the purpose of
establishing a utility's rates or commission assessment of its earnings.
|
