Code of Maine Rules › 65 - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › 407 - PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION › Chapter 307 - SALE OF CAPACITY AND ENERGY; EXTENSIONS FOR DIVESTITURE OF ASSETS › Section 407-307-7 - SELECTION OF BIDDERS; SALE

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A. Eligible
				Bidders; Bidding Requirements; Time for Filing Bids; Noncompliance
Any person, including an affiliated competitive provider of a
				  utility subject to this Chapter, may bid. Bids for the first sale period shall
				  be filed not later than noon on October 1, 1999. Bids for subsequent sale
				  periods shall be filed not later than noon on the date established in the
				  request for bids. Bids shall be sealed and shall comply with all requirements
				  of the request for bids approved by the Commission, including the provision of
				  all required pricing and other information. There shall be a single round of
				  bids for each sale period. A bid that does not comply with any material
				  requirement of the request for bids is disqualified, subject to review by the
				  Commission of the utility's decision that the requirement was material and that
				  the bidder did not comply with the requirement. Within 7 days of being notified
				  of a disqualification, the Commission will complete its review or notify the
				  utility that it requires additional time for review.
B. Requirements Applicable to Utilities and
				Affiliated Competitive Providers
Utilities subject to this Chapter and affiliated competitive
				  providers (as defined in
				   35-A M.R.S.A.
				  §3205(1)(A) ) of those
				  utilities shall comply with the standards of conduct contained in
				   35-A M.R.S.A.
				  §3205(3) and Chapter
				  304 of the Commission's rules.
C. Financial Qualifications of Bidders
Prior to executing a contract with a winning bidder, the
				  utility shall determine whether that bidder is financially qualified to meet
				  the payment commitments of the contract for sale.
D. Selection
On or before November 1, 1999 for the first round of bids,
				  and on dates thereafter as ordered by the Commission for subsequent rounds,
				  utilities subject to this Chapter shall select the winning bidder(s) based on
				  the highest price or combination of prices presented by financially qualified
				  bidders. To determine the highest bid(s), a utility shall calculate the net
				  present value of each bid. To determine net present values, a utility shall
				  multiply each monthly bid price (including time-of-day prices) by the
				  quantities (in kW and kWh) of capacity and energy provided to the utility in
				  the applicable pricing category during the same month of the recent annual
				  period identified in the information provided with the request for bids
				  pursuant to Section
				  6(B)(2)(e),
				  discounted by the utility's overall before-tax cost of capital as last found by
				  the Commission. If, in the opinion of the utility, one or more months in a
				  recent test period do not reasonably represent the output it expects to receive
				  during the sale period, the utility may use an average of data from the same
				  month of other recent test periods. The utility shall provide notice of its
				  intent to use alternative data in the information provided with the request for
				  bids pursuant to Section
				  6(B)(2)(e). Utilities
				  shall not execute contracts with the winning bidder(s) until directed to do so
				  by the Commission pursuant to section
				  7(I).
E. Effective Date of Sales; Length
				of Sales Periods
The effective date for the first sale period shall be March
				  1, 2000 and the sale of capacity and energy shall be for a 2-year period. For
				  subsequent sale periods, the effective date for a sale shall be the day
				  following the expiration of the preceding sale period.
By order issued not less than 4 months prior to the date for
				  issuance of each request for bids, the Commission shall establish the duration
				  of the period for the next sale of capacity and energy.
F. General Principles Applicable to
				Determination of Financial Qualifications and Selection of Highest Bidders
Utilities subject to this Chapter shall conduct all bidding
				  processes, including determining the financial qualifications of and selecting
				  the highest bidder, in a manner that does not discriminate among bidders and
				  that is consistent with the purposes of maximizing the sale price of the
				  capacity and energy sold pursuant to this Chapter and of minimizing stranded
				  costs.
G. Market Power
If the Commission conducts a proceeding addressing the issue
				  of market concentration or market power, and finds that no single purchaser
				  should be allowed to purchase all of the capacity and energy from contracts
				  with qualifying facilities and other renewable resources as described in
				  section
				  6(A)(1), the
				  Commission shall issue an order in that proceeding limiting the percentage of
				  capacity and energy from qualifying facilities and other renewable resources
				  that any single bidder may purchase pursuant to this Chapter. If the Commission
				  in that proceeding finds that a specific entity would obtain an unacceptable
				  level of market concentration if it purchased more than a specified percentage
				  of the capacity and energy from qualifying facilities and other renewable
				  resources available under this Chapter, the Commission by order in that
				  proceeding may limit the percentage of such capacity and energy the entity may
				  purchase pursuant to this Chapter.
H. Submission of Information to Commission
On or before November 1, 1999 for the first round of bids and
				  on dates thereafter as ordered by the Commission, a utility subject to this
				  Chapter shall notify the Commission of its determination of the winning
				  bidder(s) made pursuant to section
				  7(D). At this time,
				  the utility shall include the identities of the winning bidder(s), the bid
				  price(s) and an explanation and documentation of the analyses it used to
				  determine the winning bid(s), and a summary of the losing bids. Utilities shall
				  inform the Commission of any grounds for which it believes the sale of capacity
				  and energy to a winning bidder selected pursuant to section
				  7(D) would not be in
				  the public interest.
I.
				Commission Review; Rejection of Bids
On or before December 1, 1999 for the first round of bids,
				  and on dates thereafter as ordered by the Commission for subsequent rounds, the
				  Commission shall inform utilities whether contracts with winning bidder(s)
				  should be executed. Upon a finding that stranded costs would not be reasonably
				  mitigated by acceptance of a winning bid, the Commission may order the utility
				  to reject a winning bid, and to either accept an alternative bid or sell the
				  rights to the capacity and energy in the regional wholesale bulk power markets
				  until the selection of a new purchaser.
J. Stranded Costs
The Commission shall use the bid price(s) of the winning
				  bid(s) in calculating a utility's stranded costs for the applicable generation
				  assets or generation-related business activities, unless it finds, in a
				  proceeding that addresses stranded costs, that the utility, in its bidding
				  process or selection, did not act prudently to maximize the sales price or to
				  minimize stranded costs. In any such proceeding addressing stranded costs, the
				  Commission may issue appropriate orders necessary to protect confidential
				  information of bidders, including non-winning bidders.