Oregon Administrative Rules › Chapter 860 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION › Division 25 - REGULATIONS TO PREVENT DUPLICATION OF FACILITIES › Section 860-025-0030 - Petitions for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Construction of Overhead Transmission Lines

Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 7, July 1, 2024
(1) Petitions under ORS
			 758.015,
			 for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct an overhead
			 transmission line that will necessitate a condemnation of land or an interest
			 therein, must be filed in accordance with OAR 860-001-0170.
(2) Petitions under ORS
			 758.015 must contain the following information:
(a)
			 The information required under ORS
			 758.015 and the additional information set forth in this rule;
(b) A thorough description of the information
			 listed in subsection (c) of this rule, including but not limited to the
			 proposed route, voltage and capacity of the line. The description must include
			 a comprehensive narrative that provides sufficient detail to enable a full
			 understanding of the public convenience, necessity and justification in the
			 public interest for the proposed transmission line and the benefits to be
			 derived therefrom, and to enable a determination of its safety and
			 practicability under normal and emergency conditions, as well as the
			 foreseeable or potential consequences of not building the proposed transmission
			 line;
(c) A map or maps that are
			 drawn to appropriate scale and show appropriate distinguishing colors and
			 symbols to depict the following information:
(A) A general location and boundaries of
			 petitioner's service area to be connected or served by the proposed
			 transmission line;
(B) Proposed
			 route, voltage and capacity of the proposed transmission line;
(C) Available alternate transmission line
			 routes analyzed by petitioner, if any;
(D) Other transmission lines and substations
			 of petitioner connecting, serving or capable of being adopted to connect or
			 serve the areas covered by the proposed transmission line, if any;
(E) The terminals, substations, sources of
			 energy, and load centers, existing or proposed, related to the proposed
			 transmission line and its intended operation, including the proposed
			 transmission line itself;
(F) Each
			 parcel of land that the petitioner has either acquired or has determined it
			 should acquire an interest in to construct and operate the transmission line.
			 The parcels of land that the petitioner has determined it should acquire an
			 interest in must be clearly marked, and must clearly show the general contour,
			 uses, and improvements along that portion of the proposed route, inclusive of
			 structures and agricultural uses;
(d) An estimate of both already incurred and
			 forecasted costs of developing the transmission line project, including:
(A) Parcels of land that petitioner
			 determines it should obtain an interest in for which condemnation is assumed to
			 be necessary at the time of the petition;
(B) Other parcels of land and any interests
			 therein acquired or to be acquired;
(C) Transmission facilities, including but
			 not limited to, poles, lines, substations, accessory and miscellaneous labor,
			 plant, and equipment inclusive of any communication apparatus and environmental
			 mitigations;
(D) Indirect and
			 overhead costs including engineering, legal expense, taxes, interest during
			 construction, and itemized administrative and general expenses;
(E) Any other costs, direct or indirect,
			 relating to the transmission line project including but not limited to
			 operating and maintenance costs of the project;
(F) Explanation of the foregoing cost
			 estimates as needed to enable a full understanding of their basis and
			 derivation;
(e) An
			 explanation of the financial feasibility of the proposed transmission line,
			 including any expected costs, revenues, and financing tools;
(f) A description of the parcels of land that
			 petitioner determines it should obtain an interest in and for which
			 condemnation is assumed to be necessary at the time of the petition, a full
			 explanation of the intended use, and the specific necessity and convenience of
			 each. The description must be accompanied by the names and addresses of all
			 persons who have interests, known or of record, in the land to be physically
			 impacted or traversed by the proposed route from whom petitioner has not yet
			 acquired the interest, rights of way or option therefor. Petitioner must
			 include with the petition certification verifying that notice of the petition
			 has been mailed to said persons;
(g) A statement and explanation with
			 supporting data comparable to that described in subsections (d) and (e) of this
			 section for possible alternative routes analyzed by petitioner;
(h) Such additional information as petitioner
			 determines is necessary for a full understanding of the petition;
(i) A summary of petitioner's plan to ensure
			 compliance with applicable Commission rules, including but not limited to OAR
			 Chapter 860, Division 24, and other safety standards for the safe construction,
			 operation and maintenance of the transmission line. Petitioner must include a
			 certificate executed by an authorized representative of petitioner affirming
			 that it will adhere to the applicable Commission rules and other applicable
			 safety standards for construction operation and maintenance of the transmission
			 line. The representative's certificate must be a sworn statement under ORS
			 162.055 attesting to the truth of the certification;
(j) Estimated revenue requirement impact. At
			 a minimum, petitioner must include an estimate of the levelized, annual revenue
			 requirement of the transmission line as a percentage of its estimated annual
			 revenue requirement. A revenue requirement estimate provided under this rule
			 may be used solely for the purposes of evaluating the petition;
(k) Public benefits and costs of the
			 transmission line, if any, that are reasonably known to petitioner, including
			 but not limited to:
(A) Costs and benefits to
			 petitioner's Oregon customers and customers of other Oregon utilities and to
			 Oregonians in general;
(B) Costs and
			 benefits that the proposed transmission line will provide related to connection
			 to regional and inter-regional grids;
(l) A review of and reference to regulatory
			 approvals and reviews that concern, analyze or otherwise discuss the proposed
			 transmission line, such as an integrated resource plan acknowledgement, other
			 short- or long-term planning documents, construction work plans filed with a
			 regulatory body, and any relevant site certificate issued by the Energy
			 Facility Siting Council;
(m) The
			 most recent load forecasts available to petitioner supporting need for the
			 line. The load forecasts shall, when feasible, include a load forecast of at
			 least 10 years, and an accompanying narrative explaining the kind, nature,
			 extent, and estimated growth of the energy requirements or reasonably
			 anticipated need, load or demand, as relevant to the proposed transmission
			 line;
(n) An evaluation of available
			 alternatives to construction of the transmission line, including but not
			 limited to conservation measures, non-wires alternatives, and construction of
			 one or more lower-voltage single or multi-circuit lines. The petitioner may
			 make reference to relevant sections of its most recent integrated resource plan
			 (IRP) filed under OAR 860-027-0400, local transmission plans, or a planning
			 document substantially equivalent to an IRP;
(o) All electrical engineering studies and
			 reliability or resiliency analyses known to the petitioner at the time the
			 petition is submitted, whether performed by the petitioner or other entities
			 supporting the necessity of the transmission line when relevant, including
			 those addressing single and multiple contingencies;
(p) A narrative that identifies all land use
			 approvals and permits required for construction of the transmission line. This
			 narrative must include information on whether petitioner has submitted an
			 application for each approval or permit, the status of all such applications,
			 and an explanation as to why petitioner did not obtain any pending or
			 outstanding approvals or permits before submitting a petition under this rule
			 as applicable, including anticipated timelines for issuance of any pending or
			 outstanding approvals and permits, and the section of OAR 860-025-0040  under
			 which the petitioner seeks to demonstrate compliance with that rule;
(q) When filing a petition, a petitioner must
			 also certify that it has concurrently submitted its responses to the most
			 recent version of the Standard Data Requests for Petitions for Certificates of
			 Public Convenience and Necessity, developed by Staff and available on the
			 Commission's website.