Southwestern Power Administration – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Section 132 of Public Law 109-103 (2005) authorized and directed the Secretary of the Army to implement alternatives BS-3 and NF-7, as described in the White River Minimum Flows Reallocation Study Report, Arkansas and Missouri, dated July 2004. The law states that the Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), shall determine any impacts on electric energy and capacity generated at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Project No. 2221 caused by the storage reallocation at Bull Shoals Lake. Further, the licensee of Project No. 2221 shall be fully compensated by the Corps of Engineers for those impacts on the basis of the present value of the estimated future lifetime replacement costs of the electrical energy and capacity at the time of implementation of the White River Minimum Flows project. The law also states that losses to the Federal hydropower purpose of the Bull Shoals and Norfork Projects shall be offset by a reduction in the costs allocated to the Federal hydropower purpose. Further, such reduction shall be determined by the Administrator of Southwestern on the basis of the present value of the estimated future lifetime replacement cost of the electrical energy and capacity at the time of implementation of the White River Minimum Flows project. Assuming a January 1, 2011, date of implementation, Southwestern has made a draft determination that the present value of the estimated future lifetime replacement costs of the electrical energy and capacity at FERC Project No. 2221 is $21,363,700. Southwestern has made a draft determination that the present value of the estimated future lifetime replacement costs of the electrical energy and capacity for Federal hydropower is $41,584,800.

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2007 Power Repayment Studies that show the need for an increase in annual revenues to meet cost recovery criteria. Such increased revenues are required due to significant increases in expected U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' generation investment expenses at the project. The Administrator has developed a proposed Sam Rayburn Dam rate schedule, which is supported by a power repayment study, to recover the required revenues. Beginning October 1, 2007, the proposed rate would increase annual revenues 22.8 percent from $2,816,064 to $3,458,124.

Pursuant to Delegation Order Nos. 00-037.00, effective December 6, 2001, and 00-001-00B, effective July 28, 2005, the Deputy Secretary has approved and placed into effect on an interim basis Rate Order No. SWPA-56, which increases the power rates for the Integrated System pursuant to the following Integrated System Rate Schedules:

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2006 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 increased investments and replacements in hydroelectric generating facilities and increased purchased power expenses. The Administrator has developed proposed Integrated System rates, which are supported by a rate design study, to recover the required revenues. The May 2006 Revised Study indicates that the proposed rates would increase annual system revenues approximately 25.9 percent from $136,267,400 to $171,505,848, over a three-year period to meet projected annual expenses and repay the investments in facilities over the required number of years.

Pursuant to Delegation Order Nos. 00-037.00, effective December 6, 2001, and 00-001.00B, effective July 28, 2005, the Deputy Secretary has approved and placed into effect on an interim basis Rate Order No. SWPA-55, which increases the power rate for the Robert Douglas Willis Hydropower Project (Willis) pursuant to the following Willis Rate Schedule:

The Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern) is revising its Open Access Transmission Service Tariff (Tariff). Southwestern's existing Tariff was approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Commission) on May 13, 1998. Southwestern intends to update certain Tariff provisions from its original Tariff filing to reflect the agreement executed between Southwestern and the Southwest Power Pool Regional Transmission Organization (SPP RTO), and to further clarify the limitation Southwestern has in the use of generation from facilities owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Publication of this Federal Register notice announces a public meeting and an opportunity for informal comment on Southwestern's revised Tariff prior to filing with the Commission.

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2005 Power Repayment Studies that show the need for an increase in annual revenues to meet cost recovery criteria. Such increased revenues are required due to significant increases in expected U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' generation investment and slight increases in operations and maintenance expenses at the project. The Administrator has developed a proposed Sam Rayburn Dam rate schedule, which is supported by a power repayment study, to recover the required revenues. Beginning January 1, 2006, the proposed rate would increase annual revenues 12 percent from $2,513,724 to $2,816,064.

The Administrator, Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern), has prepared Current and Revised 2005 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 increased investments and replacements in hydroelectric generating and high-voltage transmission facilities and increased operation and maintenance expenses. The Administrator has developed proposed Integrated System rates, which are supported by a rate design study, to recover the required revenues. Beginning January 1, 2006, and thereafter, the proposed rates would increase annual system revenues approximately 7.1 percent from $124,552,200 to $133,342,029.