[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 126 (Monday, July 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30858-30861]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-13981]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Western Area Power Administration


Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program--Eastern Division-Rate Order 
No. WAPA-180

AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.

ACTION: Notice of Proposed Firm Power Service and Sale of Surplus 
Products Rates.

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SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) is proposing revised 
rates for Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program--Eastern Division (P-SMBP--
ED) firm power and firm peaking power service, and a new formula rate 
for sales of surplus products. Current firm power and firm peaking 
power service rates, under Rate Schedules P-SED-F12 and P-SED-FP12, are 
in effect through December 31, 2019.
    WAPA is proposing to lower the overall charges for firm power and 
firm peaking power service by 19 percent, as a result of rebalancing 
the charge components in formula-based Rate Schedules P-SED-F12 and P-
SED-FP12 by reducing the drought adder component, increasing the base 
component, and removing the voltage discount. The proposed rates will 
provide sufficient revenue to pay all annual costs, including interest 
expense, and repay investments within the allowable periods. In 
addition, WAPA is proposing a new formula rate for the sale of surplus 
products under Rate Schedule P-SED-M1. This new

[[Page 30859]]

rate schedule will allow for the sale of generation and generation-
related products in excess of WAPA's P-SMBP--ED firm power obligations 
at market rates. WAPA will prepare a brochure providing detailed 
information on these proposed rates prior to the public information 
forums listed below. This brochure will be posted to WAPA's Web site at 
https://www.wapa.gov/regions/UGP/rates/Pages/2018-firm-rate-adjustment.aspx. If approved, the proposed rates, under Rate Schedules 
P-SED-F13, P-SED-FP13, and P-SED-M1 would become effective on January 
1, 2018, and would remain in effect through December 31, 2022, or until 
superseded. Publication of this Federal Register notice begins the 
formal process for the proposed rate adjustment and new sale of surplus 
products formula rate.

DATES: The consultation and comment period will begin July 3, 2017 and 
end October 2, 2017. WAPA will present a detailed explanation of the 
proposed rates and other modifications at public information forums 
being held on the following dates and times:
    1. August 22, 2017, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. MDT, Denver, Colorado.
    2. August 23, 2017, 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. CDT, Sioux Falls, South 
Dakota.
    WAPA will accept oral and written comments at public comment forums 
on the following dates and times:
    1. August 22, 2017, 11:00 a.m. to no later than 12 noon MDT, 
Denver, Colorado.
    2. August 23, 2017, 11:00 a.m. to no later than 12 noon CDT, Sioux 
Falls, South Dakota.
    WAPA will accept written comments anytime during the consultation 
and comment period.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and/or requests to be informed of Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) actions concerning the proposed 
rates submitted by WAPA to FERC for approval should be sent to: Mr. 
Robert J. Harris, Regional Manager, Upper Great Plains Region, Western 
Area Power Administration, 2900 4th Avenue North, 6th Floor, Billings, 
MT 59101-1266, or email [email protected]. Information about this 
rate process is posted on WAPA's Web site at https://www.wapa.gov/regions/UGP/rates/Pages/2018-firm-rate-adjustment.aspx. WAPA will post 
official comments received via letter and email to its Web site after 
the close of the comment period. WAPA must receive written comments by 
the end of the consultation and comment period to ensure they are 
considered in WAPA's decision process.
    Public information and comment forum locations are:
    1. Denver--Embassy Suites, 7001 Yampa Street, Denver, Colorado.
    2. Sioux Falls--Holiday Inn, 100 West 8th Street, Sioux Falls, 
South Dakota.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mrs. Linda Cady-Hoffman, Rates 
Manager, Upper Great Plains Region, Western Area Power Administration, 
2900 4th Avenue North, 6th Floor, Billings, MT 59101-1266, telephone: 
(406) 255-2920, email: [email protected]@wapa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Firm Electric Service

    On December 2, 2014, the Deputy Secretary of Energy approved, on an 
interim basis, Rate Order No. WAPA-166 and Rate Schedules P-SED-F12 and 
P-SED-FP12 for the period beginning January 1, 2015, and ending 
December 31, 2019 (79 FR 72670-72677 (Dec. 8, 2014)).\1\ These Rate 
Schedules are formula-based, providing for downward adjustments to the 
drought adder component.\2\ On January 1, 2017, the drought adder 
component of the P-SMBP--ED effective Rate Schedules was adjusted 
downward, recognizing repayment of drought costs included in the 
drought adder component of the approved formula rates. The formula-
based drought adder component needs to be adjusted down to zero in 2018 
and such adjustment can be made using the approved annual drought adder 
adjustment process. However, since any adjustment to the base component 
must be done through a public rate process, WAPA now proposes to adjust 
both the base and drought adder components through a rate adjustment 
process. WAPA proposes to adjust the formula-based drought adder 
component of firm power rate schedules down to zero in 2018, while the 
base component will be adjusted upward to address present costs. The P-
SMBP Fiscal Year 2016 Power Repayment Study (PRS) revenue requirement 
and current water conditions in the P-SMBP are the determining factors 
for this proposed rate adjustment.
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    \1\ FERC confirmed and approved Rate Order WAPA-166 on a final 
basis on March 18, 2015, in Docket No. EF15-3-000. See United States 
Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration (Pick-Sloan 
Missouri Basin Program--Eastern Division), 150 FERC ] 62,170.
    \2\ The drought adder component is a formula-based revenue 
requirement that includes future purchase power above timing 
purchases, previous purchase power drought deficits, and interest on 
the purchase power drought deficits. See 72 FR 64067 (November 14, 
2007). The drought adder was added as a component to the energy and 
capacity rates in Rate Order No. WAPA-135, which was approved by the 
Deputy Secretary on an interim basis on November 14, 2007 (72 FR 
64067). FERC confirmed and approved Rate Order WAPA-135 on a final 
basis on April 14, 2008, in Docket No. EF08-5031. See United States 
Department of Energy, Western Area Power Administration (Pick-Sloan 
Missouri Basin Program-Eastern Division), 123 FERC ] 62,048. Western 
reviews the drought adder each September to determine if drought 
costs differ from those projected in the Power Repayment Study and 
whether an adjustment to the drought adder is necessary. See 72 FR 
at 64071. The drought adder may be adjusted downward using the 
approved annual drought adder adjustment process, whereas an 
incremental upward adjustment to the drought adder component greater 
than the equivalent of 2 mills/kWh requires a public rate process. 
See 72 FR at 64071.
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    WAPA's Upper Great Plains Region (UGP) is also proposing the 
removal of the 5 percent voltage discount currently in the existing P-
SMBP--ED firm power rate schedule P-SED-F12 and removing it from the 
firm power revenue requirement determined in the FY 2016 PRS. The 
voltage discount was originally created by the Bureau of Reclamation 
(BOR) in its firm power rate schedules prior to the creation of WAPA. 
This discount was to compensate certain preference customers for 
providing ``transmission'' facilities otherwise provided by the BOR and 
later WAPA. The effect of providing this discount to certain customers 
is to raise the firm power rates to all customers to recover the 
dollars lost by providing the discount. By removing the voltage 
discount, the overall P-SMBP--ED firm power rate will be lower and all 
firm power customers will pay firm power rates on an equivalent basis. 
The original intent of the voltage discount has been met in its nearly 
70 years of application. The voltage discount has been difficult to 
administer equitably among customers. It takes considerable staff time 
to administer, impedes simplifying power and energy billing, and adds 
complexity to solely Upper Great Plains (UGP) power billing. Removing 
the voltage discount is revenue neutral for WAPA.
    With the removal of the voltage discount taken into account, the 
proposed total annual revenue requirement for P-SMBP--ED is $230.1 
million for firm power and firm peaking power service. The existing P-
SMBP--ED charges in the current rate schedules for firm power and firm 
peaking power are being reduced, as indicated in Table 1:

[[Page 30860]]



                     Table 1--Summary of Current and Proposed Revenue Requirement and Rates
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                                                             Current under P-
                                                             SED-F12/ P-SED-   Proposed under P-
                                                                FP12 with       SED-F13/ P-SED-
                    Firm power service                       modified drought      FP13 as of     Percent change
                                                             adder reduction    January 1, 2018
                                                             as of January 1,
-------------------------------------------------------------------2017-----------------------------------------
P-SMBP--ED Revenue Requirement (millions $)...............             $282.7             $230.1             -19
P-SMBP--ED Composite Rate (mills/kWh).....................              28.25              24.00             -15
Firm Capacity ($/kW-month)................................              $6.50              $5.25             -19
Firm Energy (mills/kWh)...................................              16.18              13.27             -18
Firm Peaking Capacity ($/kW-month)........................              $5.85              $4.75             -19
Firm Peaking Energy (mills/kWh) 1.........................              16.18              13.27             -18
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1 Firm Peaking Energy is normally returned. This charge will be assessed in the event Firm Peaking Energy is not
  returned.

    Under the current rate methodology, rates for P-SMBP--ED firm power 
and firm peaking power service are designed to recover an annual 
revenue requirement that includes investment repayment, interest, 
purchase power, operation and maintenance, and other expenses within 
the allowable period. The annual revenue requirement continues to be 
allocated equally between capacity and energy.
    WAPA is proposing to place Rate Schedules P-SED-F13 and P-SED-FP13 
into effect for the 5-year period beginning January 1, 2018, through 
December 31, 2022. The proposed adjustment updates the base component 
with present costs and reduces the drought adder component to zero, as 
the drought-related debts are projected to be fully repaid in 2018. The 
net effect of these adjustments results in an overall decrease to the 
P-SMBP--ED rates.
    Base component costs for the P-SMBP--ED have increased primarily 
due to inflationary annual and capital cost increases associated with 
incorporating three new out-year projections into the 5-year cost 
evaluation period of the current rate-setting PRS. Concurrently, WAPA 
will be reducing the P SMBP--ED drought adder components of the firm 
power rates to zero recognizing the full repayment of drought costs in 
2018. The anticipated net effect of these planned rate actions is the 
firm power rate charges for the P-SMBP--ED will be decreasing overall 
from the current rate charges. A comparison of the current and proposed 
components is listed in Table 2.

                                                    Table 2--Summary of P-SMBP--ED Charge Components
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                                                          Current charges under rate schedules P-  Proposed charges under rate schedules P-
                                                           SED-F12 and P-SED-FP12 with modified     SED-F13 and P-SED-FP13 as of January 1,
                                                         drought adder reduction as of January 1,                    2018
                                                                           2017                   ------------------------------------------    Change
                                                        ------------------------------------------                                            (percent)
                                                             Base      Drought adder     Total         Base      Drought adder     Total
                                                          component      component       charge     component      component       charge
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Firm Capacity ($/kWmonth)..............................        $4.90           $1.60        $6.50        $5.25           $0.00        $5.25          -19
Firm Energy (mills/kWh)................................        12.33            3.85        16.18        13.27            0.00        13.27          -18
Firm Peaking Capacity ($/kWmonth)......................        $4.45           $1.40        $5.85        $4.75           $0.00        $4.75          -19
Firm Peaking Energy (mills/kWh) 1......................        12.33            3.85        16.18        13.27            0.00        13.27          -18
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1 Firm peaking energy is normally returned. This charge will be assessed in the event firm peaking energy is not returned.

    As a part of the current and proposed rate schedules, WAPA provides 
for a formula-based adjustment of the drought adder component of up to 
2 mills/kWh. The 2 mills/kWh cap is intended to place a limit on the 
amount the drought adder component can be adjusted relative to 
associated drought costs to recover costs attributable to the drought 
adder formula rate for any one-year cycle. Continuing to identify the 
firm power service revenue requirement using base and drought adder 
components will assist WAPA in the presentation of future impacts of 
droughts, demonstrate repayment of drought-related costs in the PRS, 
and allow WAPA to be more responsive to changes caused by drought-
related expenses. WAPA will continue to charge and bill its customers 
firm power and firm peaking power service rates for energy and 
capacity, which are the sum of the base and drought adder components.

Sale of Surplus Products

    In addition to the firm power and firm peaking power rate 
schedules, WAPA is proposing a new formula-based rate schedule, P-SED-
M1, applicable to the sale of surplus energy and capacity products. The 
schedule includes reserves, regulation, frequency response, and energy. 
If WAPA UGP surplus products are available, the charge will be 
determined based on market rates, plus administrative costs. The 
customer will be responsible for acquiring transmission service 
necessary to deliver the product(s) for which a separate charge may be 
incurred. WAPA is proposing to place Rate Schedule P-SED-M1 into effect 
for the 5-year period beginning January 1, 2018, through December 31, 
2022.

Legal Authority

    The proposed rates constitute a major rate adjustment, as defined 
by 10 CFR 903.2(e); therefore, WAPA will hold the public information 
and public comment forums for this rate adjustment, pursuant to 10 CFR 
903.15 and 903.16. WAPA will review all timely public comments and make 
amendments or adjustments to the proposals as appropriate. Proposed 
rates will be forwarded to the Deputy Secretary of Energy for approval 
on an interim basis.
    WAPA is establishing firm power service rates, firm peaking power 
service rates, and sale of surplus

[[Page 30861]]

product formula rates for P-SMBP-ED under the Department of Energy 
(DOE) Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7152); the Reclamation Act of 1902 
(ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388), as amended and supplemented by subsequent 
enactments, particularly section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 
1939 (43 U.S.C. 485h(c)) and section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 
(16 U.S.C. 825s); and other acts specifically applicable to the 
projects involved.
    By Delegation Order No. 00-037.00B, effective November 19, 2016, 
the Secretary of Energy delegated: (1) The authority to develop power 
and transmission rates to WAPA's Administrator; (2) the authority to 
confirm, approve, and place such rates into effect on an interim basis 
to the Deputy Secretary of Energy; and (3) the authority to confirm, 
approve, and place into effect on a final basis, to remand or to 
disapprove such rates to FERC. Existing DOE procedures for public 
participation in power rate adjustments (10 CFR part 903) were 
published on September 18, 1985 (50 FR 37835).

Availability of Information

    All brochures, studies, comments, letters, memorandums, or other 
documents WAPA initiates or uses to develop the proposed rates will be 
available for inspection and copying at the Upper Great Plains Regional 
Office, located at 2900 4th Avenue North, 6th Floor, Billings, Montana. 
These documents and supporting information will be posted on WAPA's Web 
site as they become available under the ``2018 Firm Rate Adjustment'' 
section located at https://www.wapa.gov/regions/UGP/rates/Pages/2018-firm-rate-adjustment.aspx.

Ratemaking Procedure Requirements

Environmental Compliance

    In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 
1969, 42 U.S.C. 4321-4347; the Council on Environmental Quality 
Regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508); and DOE 
NEPA Implementing Procedures and Guidelines (10 CFR part 1021), WAPA is 
in the process of determining whether an environmental assessment or an 
environmental impact statement should be prepared or if this action can 
be categorically excluded from those requirements.

Determination Under Executive Order 12866

    WAPA has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under 
Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this notice by the 
Office of Management and Budget is required.

    Dated: June 27, 2017.
Mark A. Gabriel,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-13981 Filed 6-30-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6450-01-P