| (B) Evidence of the applicant's experience with siting,
permitting, financing, constructing, commissioning, operating, and
maintaining electric generating facilities to provide reliable electric
service in competitive energy markets;
(C) Evidence of the applicant's creditworthiness, including:
(i) A binding equity commitment letter, if the applicant
proposes to fund any project costs using equity, or a binding letter
with information regarding the applicant's other funding sources,
demonstrating the ability to fund the balance of project costs separate
from the loan under this section plus the required three percent construction
escrow deposit amount; and
(ii) Audited financial statements for each of the previous
five fiscal years of the applicant's operations, or if not available,
audited financial statements of the applicant's corporate sponsor
or parent company. Statements must include total assets, total liabilities,
and net worth; and, if available for the applicant, its corporate
sponsor or parent, or both, credit ratings issued by major credit
rating agencies.
(5) Project information.
(A) A narrative explanation that details how the facility
will contribute to reliably meeting peak winter and summer load in
the ERCOT region, including the project's plans for ensuring adequate
fuel supplies and preparations for compliance with §25.55 of
this title (relating to Weather Emergency Preparedness);
(B) Demonstration of the project's eligibility under
subsection (c) of this section, including a statement indicating whether
any generation resource in the electric generating facility will serve
an industrial load or PUN;
(C) Project-specific information that will allow the
TEF administrator to evaluate the viability and attributes of the
electric generating facility, and each individual generation resource,
including:
(i) A table with the resource operation attributes,
including nameplate capacity, heat rate, seasonal net maximum sustainable
ratings during winter and summer, cold and hot temperature start times,
resource ramp rate, and the original equipment manufacturer's estimated
equivalent availability factor (EAF) calculation.
(ii) If any generation resource in the electric generating
facility will serve an industrial load or PUN, an attestation of the
net nameplate capacity of each generation resource that will be dedicated
to ERCOT and nameplate capacity that will serve the industrial load
or PUN, a description of how the electric generating facility will
primarily serve and benefit the ERCOT bulk power system given its
relationship to an industrial load or PUN, including details of all
obligations or commitments of the electric generating facility to
provide energy or capacity to the industrial load or PUN, and whether
the proposed electric generating facility's generation capacity would
be available to the ERCOT bulk power system during any Energy Emergency
Alert, and a copy of any information submitted to ERCOT regarding
PUN net generation capacity availability;
(iii) One-line diagrams of the proposed project for
both transmission planning and the facility;
(iv) Evidence of site control, consistent with applicable
ERCOT planning guide requirements;
(v) An up-to-date phase I environmental site assessment,
conducted in accordance with standards identified in 40 C.F.R. Part
312;
(vi) A description of the electrical interconnection
plan, including evidence that the proposed project is in the interconnection
queue with ERCOT; a copy of the ERCOT screening study, if completed;
and a copy of the full interconnection study with the interconnecting
transmission service provider, if completed;
(vii) A description of the fuel and water supply arrangements,
including copies of applicable fuel and water supply agreements, if
available, and evidence of receipt of necessary water rights and applicable
permits;
(viii) A description of the operations and maintenance
staffing plan, organizational structure, and operating programs and
procedures for the proposed project, including copies of operations
and maintenance agreements, if available, and organizational charts;
(ix) A list of all required environmental, construction,
and operating permits with current approval status;
(x) A description of the air emissions compliance plan,
including evidence of receipt of any required air emissions credits;
(xi) A detailed financial forecast of cash available
for debt service, covering a period equal to the repayment period
of the loan, including sources of revenue, capital, and an annual
operating and maintenance budget; and
(xii) A proposed project schedule with anticipated
dates for major project milestones, such as the start date for project
engineering, construction start date, submission of available interconnection
documents with ERCOT, completion date of the ERCOT screening study,
completion date of the full interconnection study, execution of the
standard generation interconnection agreement, if applicable, submission
of applicable registration documents with ERCOT and the commission,
and commercial operations date.
(6) Estimated costs. A description of estimated project
costs, which includes:
(A) Development, construction, and capital commitments
required for the project to reach completion;
(B) Permitting-related costs;
(C) Development fees;
(D) Land acquisition and lease costs;
(E) Legal fees;
(F) Up-front fees;
(G) Commitment fees;
(H) Interest accrued and capitalized during construction;
(I) Ancillary credit facility fees, if applicable;
(J) Title insurance; and
(K) Interconnection costs.
(f) Evaluation Criteria. The commission will approve
or deny an application based on the criteria and TEF administrator
evaluations outlined in this subsection. Evaluations and other recommendations
provided by the TEF administrator are advisory only. All final decisions
on whether to approve or deny each application will be made by the
commission.
(1) The TEF administrator will evaluate an application
under this section based on:
(A) The applicant's or its corporate sponsor or parent's:
(i) Quality of services and management and proposed
organizational structure for the project for which the applicant seeks
a loan;
(ii) Efficiency of operations, as shown by the applicant's
existing generation resources and asset management practices;
(iii) History of electricity generation operations
in this state and this country;
(iv) Resource operation attributes, including fuel
type and heat rate, seasonal net maximum sustainable ratings for winter
and summer, cold and hot temperature start times, resource ramp rate,
and the original equipment manufacturer's estimated EAF;
(v) Ability to address regional and reliability needs;
(vi) Access to resources essential for operating the
facility for which the loan is requested, such as land, water, and
reliable infrastructure, as applicable;
(vii) Evidence of creditworthiness and ability to repay
the loan on the terms established in the loan agreement, including
the applicant's total assets, total liabilities, net worth, and credit
ratings issued by major credit rating agencies;
(B) The nameplate capacity, total forecasted revenues,
and total estimated costs of the facility for which the loan is requested;
and
(C) The completeness of the application.
(2) The TEF administrator may also consider the following
criteria:
(A) The suitability of the facility site to support
the construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed facility
and to provide sufficient access to utilities;
(B) The sufficiency of the various construction and
equipment supply contracts necessary to construct the facility;
(C) Whether and to what extent the proposed facility
will serve an industrial load or PUN;
(D) The commercial feasibility of the facility's construction
schedule, including the projected commercial operations date;
(E) The facility's proposed environmental permits and
commitments;
(F) The reasonableness of the applicant's forecast
of non-fuel operating and maintenance costs;
(G) The methodology used to construct the facility's
financial forecast of projected net revenues, expenses, and cash flows;
(H) The sufficiency of the applicant's proposed sources
of equity or other funding sources to cover the costs of the facility
not funded through a loan provided under this section;
Cont'd... |
