Washington Administrative Code › Title 194 - Commerce, Department of (Energy) › Chapter 194-37 - Energy independence › Section 194-37-190 - Documentation of financial path - Substitute resource and resource equivalence

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) In
			 support of its annual filings to the department under
			 RCW
			    19.285.070, utilities must document the type,
			 availability, and cost of the reasonably available substitute resource used to
			 calculate the incremental cost of an eligible renewable resource.
(a) In documenting the incremental cost under
			 RCW
			    19.285.050(1)(b), a utility
			 is encouraged to identify substitute resources using its integrated resource
			 planning process, if one is available. If a utility elects to choose a
			 substitute resource from a different source other than its most recently
			 published integrated resource plan, it must document the basis for this
			 decision. Documentation of the cost of a substitute resource may include, but
			 is not limited to, formal offers for the sale of electricity, or published cost
			 projections from reputable third-party sources.
(b) In its selection of a substitute
			 resource, the utility shall develop documentation demonstrating that the
			 substitute resource satisfies the requirements set forth in
			 RCW
			    19.285.050. The requirements are:
(i) Equivalence between the eligible
			 renewable resource and the substitute resource by demonstrating the equivalence
			 in the amount of energy produced by each resource;
(ii) Equivalence between the eligible
			 renewable resource and the substitute resource by demonstrating the same
			 contract length or facility life of each resource;
(iii) The substitute resource is reasonably
			 available to the utility; and
(iv)
			 The substitute resource does not qualify as an eligible renewable
			 resource.
(c) Only
			 supply-side substitute resources shall be used by utilities in the calculation
			 of the incremental cost of eligible renewable resources.
(d) When the renewable requirements under
			 RCW
			    19.285.040(2) result in a
			 utility having resources in excess of its load, the utility may use that excess
			 resource as the substitute resource if the substitute resource requirements of
			 (b) of this subsection are otherwise satisfied. The utility will document the
			 resale revenues, net of transaction costs, received through the sale of excess
			 resources or the purchase price for the sale of the excess facility sold as a
			 result of the requirement to acquire eligible renewable resources. A utility
			 that uses a value other than the documented resale revenue in the determination
			 of the levelized delivered cost of the substitute resource, such as a forecast
			 of projected market prices, must provide documentation to support this
			 alternative approach.
(e) A utility
			 may use foregone power purchases from BPA, plus any billing credit obtained for
			 reducing its purchases from BPA, as the basis for the cost of the substitute
			 resource if:
(i) The substitute resource
			 requirements of (b) of this subsection are otherwise satisfied;
(ii) It is entitled under its BPA power sales
			 contract to have the BPA meet its net power requirements for the expected life
			 of an eligible renewable resource or eligible renewable resource purchase;
			 and
(iii) As a result of meeting
			 the renewable requirements under
			 RCW
			    19.285.040(2), it foregoes
			 part of its BPA entitlement in order to obtain that eligible renewable
			 resource.