Washington Administrative Code › Title 480 - Utilities and Transportation Commission › Chapter 480-107 - Electric companies-Purchases of resources › Section 480-107-035 - Bid ranking procedure

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) At a
			 minimum, a utility's RFP ranking criteria must recognize resource cost,
			 market-volatility risks, demand-side resource uncertainties and benefits,
			 resource dispatchability, resource effect on system operation, credit and
			 financial risks to the utility, the risks imposed on ratepayers, public
			 policies regarding resource preference , and Washington state or federal
			 government requirements. The ranking criteria must recognize differences in
			 relative amounts of risk and benefit inherent among different technologies,
			 fuel sources, financing arrangements, and contract provisions, including risks
			 and benefits to vulnerable populations and highly impacted communities. The
			 ranking criteria must also be consistent with the avoided cost methodology
			 developed in the IRP the utility uses to support its determination of its
			 resource need. The utility must consider the value of any additional net
			 benefits that are not directly related to the specific need requested.
(2) In choosing to remove a bid
			 during any stage of its evaluation process, the utility may not base its
			 decision solely on the project's ability to only meet a portion of the resource
			 need.
(3) The utility may not
			 discriminate based on a bidder's ownership structure in the ranking
			 process.
(4) The utility and any
			 independent evaluator selected by the utility will each score and rank the
			 qualifying bids using the RFP's ranking criteria and methodology. If bids
			 include unexpected content, the utility may modify the ranking criteria but
			 must notify all bidders of the change, describe the change, and provide an
			 opportunity for bidders to modify their bids.
(5) Within thirty days after the close of the
			 bidding period, the utility must post on its public website a summary of each
			 bid the utility has received. Where use of confidential data prohibits the
			 utility from identifying specifics of a bid, a generic but complete description
			 is sufficient.
(6) The utility may
			 reject any bids that do not comply with the minimum requirements of the RFP or
			 identify the costs of complying with environmental, public health, or other
			 laws, rules, and regulations in effect at the time of the bid.
(7) Within thirty days after executing an
			 agreement for acquisition of a resource, the utility must file the executed
			 agreement and supporting documents with the commission.
(8) The commission may review any
			 acquisitions resulting from the RFP process in the utility's general rate case
			 or other cost recovery proceeding.
(9) The commission will review, as
			 appropriate, a utility's finding that no proposal adequately serves ratepayers'
			 interests, together with evidence filed in support of any acquisition made
			 outside of the RFP process, in the utility's general rate case or other cost
			 recovery proceeding.
Statutory Authority:
				  RCW
				  80.01.040 and
				  80.04.160. 06-08-025 (Docket No.
				  UE-030423, General Order No. R-530), § 480-107-035, filed 3/28/06,
				  effective 4/28/06.