[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 126 (Monday, July 1, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39280-39282]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-15685]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Southwestern Power Administration


Integrated System Power Rates

AGENCY: Southwestern Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of public review and comment.

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SUMMARY: The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration 
(Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2013 Power Repayment 
Studies which show the need for an increase in annual revenues to meet 
cost recovery criteria. Such increased revenues are needed primarily to 
cover the increased costs associated with increased operations and 
maintenance and increases to investments and replacements in the 
hydroelectric generating facilities. The Administrator of Southwestern 
has developed proposed Integrated System rates, which are supported by 
the rate design study, to recover the required revenues. The Revised 
2013 Study indicates that the proposed rates would increase annual 
system revenues approximately 4.7 percent from $184,059,100 to 
$192,765,802 effective October 1, 2013 through September 30, 2017.

DATES: The consultation and comment period will begin on the date of 
publication of this Federal Register notice and will end on August 30, 
2013. If requested, a combined Public Information and Comment Forum 
(Forum) will be held in Tulsa, Oklahoma at 9:00 a.m. on July 11, 2013. 
If requested, persons desiring the Forum to be held should indicate in 
writing to the Southwestern Vice President, Chief Operating Officer 
(see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) by letter, email, or facsimile 
transmission (918-595-6656) by July 8, 2013, their request for such 
Forum. If no request is received, no such Forum will be held.

ADDRESSES: If requested, the Forum will be held in Southwestern's 
offices, Room 1460, Williams Center Tower I, One West Third Street, 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James K. McDonald, Vice President, 
Chief Operating Officer, Office of Corporate Operations, Southwestern 
Power Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, One West Third Street, 
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103, (918) 595-6690, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Originally established by Secretarial Order 
No. 1865 dated August 31, 1943, Southwestern is an agency within the 
U.S. Department of Energy created by the Department of Energy 
Organization Act, Public Law 95-91, dated August 4, 1977. Guidelines 
for preparation of power repayment studies are included in DOE Order 
No. RA 6120.2 entitled Power Marketing Administration Financial 
Reporting. Procedures for public participation in power and 
transmission rate adjustments of the Power Marketing Administrations 
are found at title 10, part 903, subpart A of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR 903). Procedures for the confirmation and approval 
of rates for the Federal Power Marketing Administrations are found at 
title 18, part 300, subpart L of the Code of Federal Regulations (18 
CFR 300).
    Southwestern markets power from 24 multi-purpose reservoir projects 
with hydroelectric power facilities constructed and operated by the 
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). These projects are located in the 
states of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. Southwestern's 
marketing area includes these states plus Kansas and Louisiana. The 
costs associated with the hydropower facilities of 22 of the 24 
projects are repaid via revenues received under the Integrated System 
rates, as are those of Southwestern's transmission facilities, which 
consist of 1,380 miles of high-voltage transmission lines, 25 
substations, and 46 microwave and VHF radio sites. Costs associated 
with the Sam Rayburn and Robert D. Willis Dams, two Corps projects that 
are isolated hydraulically, electrically, and financially from the 
Integrated System, are repaid under separate rate schedules and are not 
addressed in this notice.
    Following Department of Energy guidelines, the Administrator of 
Southwestern, prepared the Current Power Repayment Study using existing 
system rates.\1\ This study indicates that Southwestern's legal 
requirement to repay the investment in power generating and 
transmission facilities for power and energy marketed by Southwestern 
will not be met without an increase in revenues. The need for increased 
revenues is primarily due to increased costs associated with operations 
and maintenance and increased investments and replacements in 
hydroelectric generating facilities for the Corps and Southwestern's 
transmission system. The Revised Power Repayment Study shows that 
additional annual revenues of $8,706,702 (a 4.7 percent increase) are 
needed to satisfy repayment criteria.
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    \1\ FERC, on March 5, 2012, confirmed and approved the existing 
Integrated System rate schedules for the period January 1, 2012 
through September 30, 2015. See 138 FERC ] 62,199.
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    The Rate Design Study which allocates the revenue requirement to 
the various system rate schedules for recovery and provides for 
transmission service rates in general conformance with FERC Order No. 
888 has also been completed.\2\ The proposed new rates

[[Page 39281]]

would increase annual revenues to an estimated $192,765,802 and would 
satisfy the present financial criteria for repayment of the project and 
transmission system investments within the required number of years. As 
indicated in the Rate Design Study, this revenue would be developed 
primarily through increases in the charges for power sales capacity and 
energy and transmission services, including some of the ancillary 
services for deliveries of both Federal and non-Federal power and 
associated energy from the transmission system of Southwestern.
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    \2\ Promoting Wholesale Competition Through Open Access Non-
discriminatory Transmission Services by Public Utilities; Recovery 
of Stranded Costs by Public Utilities and Transmitting Utilities, 
Order No. 888, 61 FR 21,540 (5/10/1996), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 
31,036 (1996), order on reh'g, Order No. 888-A, 62 FR 12,274 (3/14/
1997), FERC Stats. & Regs. ] 31,048 (1997), order on reh'g, Order 
No. 888-B, 81 FERC ] 61,248 (1997), order on reh'g, Order No. 888-C, 
82 FERC ] 61,046 (1998), aff'd in relevant part sub nom. 
Transmission Access Policy Study Group v. FERC, 225 F.3d 667 (D.C. 
Cir. 2000), aff'd sub nom. New York v. FERC, 535 U.S. 1 (2002).
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    A second component of the Integrated System rates for power and 
energy, the Purchased Power Adder (PPA), produces revenues which are 
segregated to cover the cost of power purchased to meet contractual 
obligations. The PPA is established to reflect revenues required to 
meet Southwestern's purchased power needs on an average annual basis. 
The PPA rate will decrease slightly to reflect the declining average 
cost of purchasing power over the period applied to our projected power 
needs. The Administrator's authority to adjust the PPA at his 
discretion with the Purchased Power Adder Adjustment (PPAA) will remain 
in force.\3\ The PPAA is limited to two adjustments per year not to 
exceed a total of  5.9 mills per kilowatthour per year. The 
PPA will decrease to $0.0059 per kilowatthour and the PPAA will remain 
at $0.0021 per kilowatthour effective October 1, 2013.
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    \3\ See 138 FERC ] 62,199 (2012).
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    A revision to the component for Regulation Purchased Adder service 
has been proposed to the existing rate schedules to include a four-year 
transition to a full reimbursement based on average annual replacement 
energy costs for supplying regulation service to those customers inside 
the Balancing Authority Area (BAA). This revision to the Regulation 
Purchased Adder is being proposed so that all customers receiving 
regulation service within the BAA are appropriately assessed for their 
consumption of the service that is purchased to supplement the Federal 
resource used to support the BAA's requirement to regulate for loads. A 
copy of the proposed Regulation Purchased Adder language contained 
within the proposed Rate Schedules can be requested from Mr. James K. 
McDonald at the address listed above (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).
    Below is a general comparison of the existing and proposed system 
rates:

 
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                                                   Existing rates                       Proposed rates
           GENERATION RATES            -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                        Rate Schedule P-11 (System Peaking)  Rate Schedule P-13 (System Peaking)
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Capacity
    Grid or 138-161kV.................  $4.29/kW/Mo                          $4.50/kW/Mo.
    Regulation & Freq. Response         $0.09/kW/Mo                          $0.07/kW/Mo.
     (generation in BAA).
    Regulation Purchased Adder (load    prorata share of total energy cost   prorata share of total energy cost
     within SWPA BAA).                                                        (includes refinement to
                                                                              procedure).
    Reserve Ancillary Services........  $0.0224/kW/Mo                        $0.0292/kW/Mo.
    Purchased Power Adder.............  $0.0062/kWh                          $0.0059/kWh.
    Administrator's Discretionary       $0.0062/kWh annually     $0.0059/kWh annually.
     Adder Adjustment Limit.
    Transformation Service 69kV         $0.42/kW/Mo                          $0.46/kW/Mo.
     (applied to usage, not
     reservation).
  Energy..............................
    Peaking Energy....................  $0.0091/kWh                          $0.0094/kWh.
    Supplemental Peaking Energy.......  $0.0091/kWh                          $0.0094/kWh.
    TRANSMISSION RATES................  Rate Schedule NFTS-11                Rate Schedule NFTS-13
                                        (Transmission)                       (Transmission)
Capacity (Firm Reservation with         $1.28/kW/Mo                          $1.48/kW/Mo.
 energy) Grid or 138-161 kV.
                                        $0.320/kW/Week                       $0.370/kW/Week.
                                        $0.0582/kW/Day                       $0.0673/kW/Day.
    Required Ancillary Services         $0.13/kW/Mo, or $0.033/kW/Week, or   $0.13/kW/Mo, or $0.033/kW/Week, or
     (generation in BAA).                $0.006/kW/Day                        $0.006/kW/Day.
    Reserve Ancillary Services          $0.0224/kW/Mo, or $0.0056/kW/Week,   $0.0292/kW/Mo, or $0.0073/kW/Week,
     (generation in BAA).                or $0.00102/kW/Day                   or $0.00132/kW/Day.
    Regulation & Freq Response          $0.09/kW/Mo, or $0.023/kW/Week, or   $0.07/kW/Mo, or $0.018/kW/Week, or
     (deliveries within BAA).            $0.0041/kW/Day                       $0.0032/kW/Day.
    Transformation Service 69 kV and    $0.42/kW/Mo                          $0.46/kW/Mo.
     below (applied on usage, not
     reservation) Weekly and daily
     rates not applied.
Capacity (Non-firm with energy).......  80% of firm monthly charge divided   80% of firm monthly charge divided
                                         by 4 for weekly rate, divided by     by 4 for weekly rate, divided by
                                         22 for daily rate, and divided by    22 for daily rate, and divided by
                                         352 for hourly rate                  352 for hourly rate.
Network Service.......................  $1.28/kW/Mo                          $1.48/kW/Mo.
    Required Ancillary Services:......  $0.13/kW/Mo                          $0.13/kW/Mo.
    Reserve Ancillary Services          $0.00224/kW/Mo                       $0.00292/kW/Mo.
     (generation in BAA).
    Regulation & Freq Response          $0.09/kW/Mo                          $0.07/kW/Mo.
     (deliveries within BAA).

[[Page 39282]]

 
          EXCESS ENERGY RATES           Rate Schedule EE-11                  Rate Schedule EE-13
                                        (Excess Energy)                      (Excess Energy)
    Energy............................  $0.0091/kWh                          $0.0094/kWh.
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    Southwestern's customers and other interested parties may receive 
copies of the Integrated System Power Repayment Studies and/or Rate 
Design Study, by submitting a request to Mr. James K. McDonald (see FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT).
    A Public Information and Comment Forum (Forum) is tentatively 
scheduled to be held on July 11, 2013, to explain to customers and 
interested parties the proposed rates and supporting studies and to 
allow for comment. A chairman, who will be responsible for orderly 
procedure, will conduct the Forum if a Forum is requested. Questions 
concerning the rates, studies, and information presented at the Forum 
will be answered, to the extent possible, at the Forum. Questions not 
answered at the Forum will be answered in writing. Questions involving 
voluminous data contained in Southwestern's records may best be 
answered by consultation and review of pertinent records at 
Southwestern's offices.
    Persons requesting that a Forum be held should indicate in writing 
to the Southwestern Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (see FOR 
FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT) by letter, email, or facsimile 
transmission (918-595-6656) by July 8, 2013, their request for such a 
Forum. If no request is received, no such Forum will be held. Persons 
interested in speaking at the Forum, if held, should submit a request 
to Mr. James K. McDonald, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, 
Southwestern, at least seven (7) calendar days prior to the Forum so 
that a list of forum participants can be developed. The chairman may 
allow others to speak if time permits.
    A transcript of the Forum, if held, will be made. Copies of the 
transcript and all documents introduced will be available for review at 
Southwestern's offices (see ADDRESSES) during normal business hours. 
Copies of the transcript and all documents introduced may also be 
obtained, for a fee, from the transcribing service.
    All written comments or an electronic copy in MS Word on the 
proposed Integrated System Rates are due on or before August 30, 2013. 
Comments should be submitted to Mr. James K. McDonald, Vice President 
and Chief Operating Officer, Southwestern, (see FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT).
    Following review of the oral and written comments and the 
information gathered in the course of the proceeding, the Administrator 
will submit the finalized Integrated System Power Repayment Studies and 
Rate Design Study in support of the proposed rates to the Deputy 
Secretary of Energy for confirmation and approval on an interim basis, 
and subsequently to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for 
confirmation and approval on a final basis. The Commission will allow 
the public an opportunity to provide written comments on the proposed 
rate increase before making a final decision.

    Dated: June 24, 2013.
Christopher M. Turner,
Administrator .
[FR Doc. 2013-15685 Filed 6-28-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P