Compilation of Rules and Regulations of the State of Georgia
Department 515 - RULES OF GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
Chapter 515-3 - GENERAL RULES
Subject 515-3-4 - INTEGRATED RESOURCE PLANNING
Rule 515-3-4-.09 - Demand-Side Resource Certificate Filing Requirements and Procedures

Universal Citation: GA Rules and Regs r 515-3-4-.09

Current through Rules and Regulations filed through September 23, 2024

(1) The Utility shall file an application for certification of a demand- side resource as required by O.C.G.A. §46-3A with the Commission (twenty-five copies). The application for review and approval of the certificate shall clearly identify:

(a) The name of the applicant(s) and address(es) of the principal place of business of the applicant;

(b) The name, title, address, voice phone, and facsimile phone number of the person authorized to receive notices and communications with respect to the application;

(c) The location(s) that the public may inspect a copy of the application; and

(d) Requests by the utility that any information utilized in the plan which the utility deems trade secret be filed in accordance with the Commission's Trade Secret Rule 515-3-1-.11.

(2) Hearing and Review of Demand-Side Resources Certificate Applications.

(a) Proceedings. The Commission shall commence a hearing no sooner than thirty days after receipt of fees related to the utility's completed application for certification of a demand-side resource. A completed application must include all information described in Rule 515-3-4-.04(4) as well as documentation that all applicable state and federal permits required to complete the project have been secured, or, in the event that the permit is unsecurable until an appropriate later phase of project completion, the application process must have been initiated in accordance with applicable federal, state, or local statutes;

(b) Completeness of the Utility Certificate Application. The Commission shall determine whether the utility certificate application filing is complete within thirty days following the initial submission of the certificate application by the utility. The Commission will inform the utility of substantive defects in the content of the certificate application filing which would materially affect the Commission's ability to continue the certificate application review process. If the Commission finds as a matter of fact that the utility certificate application is not complete, by Order of the Commission the review process may be stayed until the utility has submitted a complete certificate application;

(c) Fees. Within sixty days after receipt of the completed certificate application, the Commission shall establish a fee therefor and notify the applicant. Upon receipt of the fee from the applicant, the Commission shall continue its review of the certificate application;

(d) Waiver of Information. If, after a good-faith effort, the utility cannot provide the data required by these Rules, the utility must request a waiver, in writing. This request must be filed no less than 60 days prior to the filing of the certificate application. The utility must publish in appropriate media of mass dissemination that it has applied for a waiver. The request shall include:
1. Reference to the requirement for information that is the subject of the waiver request;

2. An explanation of the reasons the required information was impractical to supply; and

3. Proposed substitute information, if applicable;

If no waiver is granted, materials must be filed as required in the Rules.

(e) Standard for Approval. Based upon the evidence of record presented at the hearing on the application, the Commission shall render a decision either approving the application, approving it subject to stated conditions, approving it in part and rejecting it in part, rejecting it as filed, or providing an alternate capacity resource certification within one-hundred eighty days of receipt of the fees related to the utility's completed application. A utility's application shall be approved if found to be in the public interest and to substantially comply with these regulations; and

(f) Each utility may file annually one application requesting certification of all demand-side resource activities proposed by the utility for implementation during the program year. The Commission approval of the annual consolidated demand-side resource filing will have the same force as approval of the individual component demand-side programs. The Commission encourages this alternative to filing separate certificate applications for each full-scale and pilot demand-side program.

(3) The application itself shall contain at a minimum the following information:

(a) A statement of how the proposed application is consistent with or affects the most-currently approved Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). If a revised IRP is available, it shall also be filed;

(b) If the demand-side resource is a new resource, information must be provided for it that corresponds to information required for demand-side resources in the IRP Rule 515-3-4-.04(4). Information as to how the resource would affect the IRP must also be furnished;

(c) A summary description of each program or service to be offered shall include customers and markets targeted, projected market penetration levels, implementation and evaluation schedule, projected capacity and energy savings, participant costs and savings, projected program costs and benefits, data collection activities, process and impact evaluation plans, and expected costs;

(d) A cost-benefit analysis based on current Commission policy, covering the estimated useful life of the proposed demand-side resource as well as the useful life of the energy efficiency and energy management measures which comprise the demand-side resource, along with a summary comparison of the benefits and costs of other alternatives considered in the preparation of the applicant's IRP, sufficient to demonstrate that the proposed resource is economic and reliable; and

(e) A description of the demand-side resource to include identification of the specific energy efficiency and energy management measures and programs, strategies and type of delivery mechanisms proposed. The description should include at a minimum the information contained in Rule 515-3-4-.04(4), including the following:
1. Resource Assessment and Program Design. Resource assessment and program design must be consistent with Rule 515-3-4-.04(4)(a) and Rule 515-3-4-.04(4)(b);

2. Demand-Side Resource Costs:
(i) Delineation of Program Costs. For each program design, detailed estimates of program costs shall be developed by end-use or program as appropriate. In developing these estimates, the following components of cost shall be separately identified:
(I) Expected demand-side resource expenditures by program participants, if any;

(II) Expected demand-side resource expenditures by the utility, if any;

(III) Expected demand-side resource expenditures by third parties (e.g., Southern Company or energy service company), if any;

(IV) Utility administrative expenses for the program that add to the total cost of the demand-side resource(s);

(V) Descriptions of demand-side program related contracts, including where known, scope, type, contractor, cost estimate, contractor selection process and criteria;

(VI) Cost expenditure plan, by year, to include a breakdown of the following areas: end-use data collection, demand-side program planning, marketing, engineering/design, implementation, start-up, monitoring and evaluation;

(VII) Total cost estimate to include all work papers and assumptions, broken out by demand-side measure and program, hardware, incentive payments, administrative costs, major design features, and other related activities;

(VIII) In cases where activities (e.g., market research) associated with demand-side programs, also serve other functions, the allocation of costs among those functions, including separately all costs incurred to date and to-go costs for each area and/or activity;

(IX) Termination costs;

(X) Estimated annual capital costs over the life of the resource; and

(XI) The costs of utility educational and informational activities that are focused on demand-side programs, but that do not directly cause demand-side measure implementation must be separately described.

(ii) The utility shall provide the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation activities schedule in milestone summary form; and

(iii) The utility shall provide where available, a comparison of existing demand-side programs similar in type or design implemented by the applicant or a utility elsewhere.

3. Projected Effects of Demand-Side Resources. The effects on energy consumption and peak demand of each program design shall be estimated by program;

4. Program Evaluation. Each utility shall file a summary of the process and load impact evaluation plan, concurrently with the development of the programs themselves, to assess the implementation and quantify the impact on energy and capacity use of the demand- side resources. The evaluation plan shall identify the type and timing of the measurement activity used to evaluate each demandside resource. The evaluation plan shall provide a process by which the results will be used to modify impact estimates for future planning and design of demand-side programs. The plan shall identify procedures to be employed with regard to the following aspects of the evaluation of each program:
(i) Establishment of protocols to collect basic data regarding load impact, participation level, utility costs, third party costs, and total costs. Load impact data should be aimed at determining load shape impacts, net program savings, useful life of measures and persistence of savings, including utility actions to optimize market penetration of programs; and

(ii) Comparison of demand patterns of similar participant and nonparticipant groups, and/or use of customer bill analysis, engineering estimates, end-use meter data, or other methods to identify the gross and net impacts of program participation on customers' usage and demand patterns.

5. Demand-Side Resource Implementation Monitoring. The utility shall file monthly data on a quarterly basis, except as indicated otherwise, the following information regarding demand-side programs to enable the monitoring and evaluation of the program. If, upon review of the information submitted in a quarterly implementation monitoring report, the Commission determines that a change in program design, schedule, cost, or evaluation methodology is substantial enough to warrant the utility filing for a demand-side certificate amendment and the utility has not done so, the amendment process described in Rule 515-3-4-.10 shall be initiated. The quarterly report shall include:
(i) Sufficient data to confirm that standards of public convenience and necessity are being met in an economic and reliable manner;

(ii) Cost/benefit analysis using the screening test under which the program was certified; and

(iii) Data pertaining to various implementation factors. The data shall include:
(I) Complete documentation of expenditures with comparisons to and calculated variations from original budget, with explanations of variances in excess of five percent (or some other predetermined variation tolerance as specified by the Commission in the approved certificate);

(II) A completed schedule showing comparison of planned implementation and completion dates for all significant activities and explanations for major variations in planned vs. actual dates;

(III) Notification of any modifications to the program that do not automatically require amendment, including changes to program evaluation methodology;

(IV) Major contracts and their scope, in summary form, at such time as they become available;

(V) The utility shall notify the Commission immediately upon determining that the cost and/or schedule for any demand-side resource has changed from that included in the approved certificate. Revised cost and schedule estimates shall be provided to the Commission in as much detail as has been developed by the utility; and

(VI) Any other relevant documents used by management to evaluate implementation, if requested.

Ga. L. 1878-79 p. 125; 1907, pp. 72-81; 1922 pp. 142-147; 1975 pp. 404-412; 1991 pp. 1696-1705.

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