860-089-0450 Independent Evaluator Duties (1) The IE will oversee the competitive bidding process to ensure that it is conducted fairly, transparently, and properly. (2) The IE must be available and responsive to the Commission throughout the process, and must provide the Commission with the IE’s notes of all conversations and the full text of written communications between the IE and the electric company and any third-party that are related to the IE’s execution of its duties. (3) The IE must consult with the electric company on preparation of the draft RFP and submit its assessment of the final draft RFP to the Commission when the company files the final draft for approval. (4) The IE must check whether the electric company’s scoring of the bids and selection of the initial and final shortlists are reasonable. (5) To determine if the electric company’s selections for the initial and final shortlists are reasonable, when the RFP allows bidding by the issuing electric company or an affiliate of the company, or includes resource ownership options for the electric company, the IE must independently score the affiliate bids and bids with ownership characteristics or options, if any, and all or a sample of the remaining bids. When the IE does not score all bids, and a request for acknowledgment of a final shortlist is pending before the Commission, as provided in OAR 860‑089-0500; a participant in the acknowledgment proceeding may request that the Commission direct the IE to score all remaining bids or a broader sample. (6) The IE must also evaluate the unique risks and advantages associated with any company-owned resources (including but not limited to the electric company’s benchmark), and may apply the same evaluation to third-party bids, including an evaluation of the following issues: (a) Construction cost over-runs (considering contractual guarantees, cost and prudence of guarantees, remaining exposure to ratepayers for cost over-runs, and potential benefits of cost under-runs); (b) Reasonableness of forced outage rates; (c) Reasonableness of any proposal or absence of a proposal to offer electric company owned or benchmark resource elements (e.g., site, transmission rights or fuel arrangements) to third-party bidders as part of the draft and final RFP; (d) End effect values; (e) Environmental emissions costs; (f) Reasonableness of operation and maintenance costs; (g) Adequacy of capital additions costs; (h) Reasonableness of performance assumptions for output, heat rate, and power curve; and (i) Specificity of construction schedules or risk of construction delays. (7) The IE must review the reasonableness of any score submitted by the electric company for a benchmark resource. Once the electric company and the IE have both scored and evaluated the competing bids and any benchmark resource, the IE and the electric company must file their scores with the Commission. The IE and electric company must compare results and attempt to reconcile and resolve any scoring differences. If the electric company and IE are unable to resolve scoring differences, the IE must explain the differences in its closing report to the Commission. (8) The IE must review the electric company’s sensitivity analysis of the bid rankings required under OAR 860-089-0400 and file a written assessment with the Commission prior to the electric company requesting acknowledgment of the final short list. (9) The IE must file a closing report with the Commission after the electric company has selected its final shortlist. The IE’s closing report must include an evaluation of the applicable competitive bidding processes in selecting the least-cost, least-risk acquisition of resources. The Commission may request that the IE include additional analysis in its closing report. (10) Unless the Commission directs otherwise, the IE must participate in the final short list acknowledgment proceeding initiated by the electric company, and must continue to participate if, at the time of acknowledgment of the electric company’s final shortlist, the Commission chooses to require IE involvement through final resource selection. In addition to making a decision on acknowledgment, the Commission, on its own motion or at the request of other parties, including bidders, may require expanded IE involvement. Upon such a request or its own motion, the Commission may require an IE to be involved in the competitive bidding process through final resource selection. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS Ch. 183, 756, 758, 2016 OL Ch. 28 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 756.040, 758.060, 2016 OL Ch. 28, Sect. 6 History: PUC 4-2018, adopt filed 08/30/2018, effective 08/30/2018