| (a) Components of cost of service. Except as provided
for in subsection (c)(2) of this section, relating to invested capital;
rate base, and §23.23(b) of this title, (relating to Rate Design),
rates are to be based upon an electric utility's cost of rendering
service to the public during a historical test year, adjusted for
known and measurable changes. The two components of cost of service
are allowable expenses and return on invested capital.
(b) Allowable expenses. Only those expenses which are
reasonable and necessary to provide service to the public will be
included in allowable expenses. In computing an electric utility's
allowable expenses, only the electric utility's historical test year
expenses as adjusted for known and measurable changes will be considered,
except as provided for in any section of these rules dealing with
fuel expenses.
(1) Components of allowable expenses. Allowable expenses,
to the extent they are reasonable and necessary, and subject to this
section, may include, but are not limited to the following general
categories:
(A) Operations and maintenance expense incurred in
furnishing normal electric utility service and in maintaining electric
utility plant used by and useful to the electric utility in providing
such service to the public. Payments to affiliated interests for costs
of service, or any property, right or thing, or for interest expense
will not be allowed as an expense for cost of service except as provided
in the Public Utility Regulatory Act §36.058.
(B) Depreciation expense based on original cost and
computed on a straight line basis as approved by the commission. Other
methods of depreciation may be used when it is determined that such
depreciation methodology is a more equitable means of recovering the
cost of the plant.
(C) Assessments and taxes other than income taxes.
(D) Federal income taxes on a normalized basis. Federal
income taxes must be computed according to the provisions of the Public
Utility Regulatory Act §36.060.
(E) Advertising, contributions and donations. The actual
expenditures for ordinary advertising, contributions, and donations
may be allowed as a cost of service provided that the total sum of
all such items allowed in the cost of service must not exceed three-tenths
of 1.0% (0.3%) of the gross receipts of the electric utility for services
rendered to the public. The following expenses must be included in
the calculation of the three-tenths of 1.0% (0.3%) maximum:
(i) funds expended advertising methods of conserving
energy;
(ii) funds expended advertising methods by which the
consumer can effect a savings in total electric utility bills;
(iii) funds expended advertising methods to shift usage
off of system peak; and
(iv) funds expended promoting renewable energy.
(F) Nuclear decommissioning expense. The following
restrictions must apply to the inclusion of nuclear decommissioning
costs that are placed in an electric utility's cost of service.
(i) An electric utility owning or leasing an interest
in a nuclear-fueled generating unit must include its cost of nuclear
decommissioning in its cost of service. Funds collected from ratepayers
for decommissioning must be deposited monthly in irrevocable trusts
external to the electric utility, in accordance with §25.301
of this title (relating to Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts). All funds
held in short-term investments must bear interest. The level of the
annual cost of decommissioning for ratemaking purposes will be determined
in each rate case based on an allowance for contingencies of 10% of
the cost of decommissioning, the most current information reasonably
available regarding the cost of decommissioning, the balance of funds
in the decommissioning trust, anticipated escalation rates, the anticipated
return on the funds in the decommissioning trust, and other relevant
factors. The annual amount for the cost of decommissioning determined
pursuant to the preceding sentence must be expressly included in the
cost of service established by the commission's order.
(ii) In the event that an electric utility implements
an interim rate increase, including an increase filed under bond,
an incremental change in decommissioning funding must be included
in the increase.
(iii) An electric utility's decommissioning fund and
trust balances will be reviewed in general rate cases. In the event
that an electric utility does not have a rate case within a five-year
period, the commission, on its own motion or on the motion of commission
staff, the Office of Public Utility Counsel, or any affected person,
may initiate a proceeding to review the electric utility's decommissioning
cost study and plan, and the balance of the trust.
(iv) An electric utility must perform, or cause to
be performed, a study of the decommissioning costs of each nuclear
generating unit that it owns or in which it leases an interest. A
study or a redetermination of the previous study must be performed
at least every five years. The study or redetermination should consider
the most current information reasonably available on the cost of decommissioning.
A copy of the study or redetermination must be filed with the commission
and a copy provided to the Office of Public Utility Counsel. An electric
utility's most recent decommissioning study or redeterminations must
be filed with the commission within 30 days of the effective date
of this subsection. The five-year requirement for a new study or redetermination
must begin from the date of the last study or redetermination.
(G) Accruals credited to reserve accounts for self-insurance
under a plan requested by an electric utility and approved by the
commission. The commission may consider approval of a self insurance
plan in a rate case in which expenses or rate base treatment are requested
for a such a plan. For the purposes of this section, a self insurance
plan is a plan providing for accruals to be credited to reserve accounts.
The reserve accounts are to be charged with property and liability
losses which occur, and which could not have been reasonably anticipated
and included in operating and maintenance expenses, and are not paid
or reimbursed by commercial insurance. The commission will approve
a self insurance plan to the extent it finds it to be in the public
interest. In order to establish that the plan is in the public interest,
the electric utility must present a cost benefit analysis performed
by a qualified independent insurance consultant who demonstrates that,
with consideration of all costs, self-insurance is a lower-cost alternative
than commercial insurance and the ratepayers will receive the benefits
of the self insurance plan. The cost benefit analysis must present
a detailed analysis of the appropriate limits of self insurance, an
analysis of the appropriate annual accruals to build a reserve account
for self insurance, and the level at which further accruals should
be decreased or terminated.
(H) Postretirement benefits other than pensions (known
in the electric utility industry as "OPEB"). For ratemaking purposes,
expense associated postretirement benefits other than pensions (OPEB)
must be treated as follows:
(i) OPEB expense must be included in an electric utility's
cost of service for ratemaking purposes based on actual payments made.
(ii) An electric utility may request a one-time conversion
to inclusion of current OPEB expense in cost of service for ratemaking
purposes on an accrual basis in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles (GAAP). Rate recognition of OPEB expense on
an accrual basis must be made only in the context of a full rate case.
(iii) An electric utility will not be allowed to recover
current OPEB expense on an accrual basis until GAAP requires that
electric utility to report OPEB expense on an accrual basis.
(iv) For ratemaking purposes, the transition obligation
must be amortized over 20 years.
(v) OPEB amounts included in rates must be placed in
an irrevocable external trust fund dedicated to the payment of OPEB
expenses. The trust must be established no later than six months after
the order establishing the OPEB expense amount included in rates.
The electric utility must make deposits to the fund at least once
per year. Deposits on the fund must include, in addition to the amount
included in rates, an amount equal to fund earnings that would have
accrued if deposits had been made monthly. The funding requirement
can be met with deposits made in advance of the recognition of the
expense for ratemaking purposes. The electric utility must, to the
extent permitted by the Internal Revenue Code, establish a postretirement
benefit plan that allows for current federal income tax deductions
for contributions and allows earnings on the trust funds to accumulate
tax free.
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