Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This proposed rule outlines the requirements
for applications to the commission, pursuant to section 393.170.1 and
393.170.2,
RSMo, requesting that the commission grant a certificate of convenience and
necessity to an electric utility for a service area or to operate or construct
an electric generating plant, an electric transmission line, or a gas
transmission line that facilitates the operation of an electric generating
plant.
(1) Definitions. As
used in this rule, the following terms mean:
(A) Asset means:
1. An electric generating plant, or a gas
transmission line that facilitates the operation of an electric generating
plant, that is expected to serve Missouri customers and be included in the rate
base used to set their retail rates regardless of whether the item(s) to be
constructed or operated is located inside or outside the electric utility's
certificated service area or inside or outside Missouri; or
2. Transmission and distribution plant
located outside the electric utility's service territory, but within
Missouri;
(B)
Construction means:
1. Construction of new
asset(s); or
2. The improvement,
retrofit, or rebuild of an asset that will result in a ten percent (10%)
increase in rate base as established in the electric utility's most recent rate
case;
(C) Construction
does not include:
1. The construction of an
energy generation unit that has a capacity of one (1) megawatt or less;
or
2. The construction of
utility-owned solar facilities as required under section
393.1665, RSMo;
3. Periodic, routine, or preventative
maintenance; or
4. Replacement of
equipment or devices with the same or substantially similar items due to
failure or near term projected failure as long as the replacements are intended
to restore the asset to an operational state at or near a recently rated
capacity level.
(2) Certificate of convenience and necessity.
(A) An electric utility must obtain a
certificate of convenience and necessity prior to-
1. Providing electric service to retail
customers in a service area pursuant to section 393.170.2, RSMo;
2. Construction of an asset pursuant to
section 393.170.1, RSMo; or
3.
Operation of an asset pursuant to section 393.170.2, RSMo.
(B) The commission may, by its order, impose
upon the issuance of a certificate of convenience and necessity such condition
or conditions as it may deem reasonable and necessary.
(C) In determining whether to grant a
certificate of convenience and necessity, the commission may, by its order,
make a determination on the prudence of the decision to operate or construct an
asset subject to the commission's subsequent review of costs and applicable
timelines.
(D) An electric utility
must exercise the authority granted within two (2) years from the grant
thereof.
(3) In addition
to the general requirements of
4 CSR
240-2.060(1), the following
additional general requirements apply to all applications for a certificate of
convenience and necessity, pursuant to sections 393.170.1 and .2, RSMo:
(A) The application shall include facts
showing that granting the application is necessary or convenient for the public
service;
(B) If an asset to be
operated or constructed is outside Missouri, the application shall include
plans for allocating costs, other than regional transmission
organization/independent system operator cost sharing, to the applicable
jurisdiction; and
(C) If any of the
items required under this rule are unavailable at the time the application is
filed, the unavailable items may be filed prior to the granting of authority by
the commission, or the commission may grant the certificate subject to the
condition that the unavailable items be filed before authority under the
certificate is exercised.
(4) If the application is for authorization
to provide electric service to retail customers in a service area for the
electric utility under section 393.170.2, RSMo, the application shall also
include:
(A) A list of those entities
providing regulated or nonregulated retail electric service in all or any part
of the service area proposed, including a map that identifies where each entity
is providing retail electric service within the area proposed;
(B) If there are ten (10) or more residents
or landowners, the name and address of no fewer than ten (10) persons residing
in the proposed service area or of no fewer than ten (10) landowners, in the
event there are no residences in the area, or, if there are fewer than ten (10)
residents or landowners, the name and address of all residents and
landowners;
(C) The legal
description of the service area to be certificated;
(D) A plat of the proposed service area drawn
to a scale of one-half inch (1/2") to the mile on maps comparable to county
highway maps issued by the state's Department of Transportation or a plat drawn
to a scale of two thousand feet (2,000') to the inch; and
(E) A feasibility study containing plans and
specifications for the utility system, plans for financing, proposed rates and
charges, and an estimate of the number of customers, revenues, and expenses
during the first three (3) years of operations.
(5) If the application is for authorization
to operate assets under section 393.170.2, RSMo, the application shall also
include:
(A) A description of the asset(s) to
be operated;
(B) The value of the
asset(s) to be operated;
(C) The
purchase price and plans for financing the operation; and
(D) Plans and specifications for the asset,
including as-built drawings.
(6) If the application is for authorization
to construct an asset under section 393.170.1, RSMo, the application shall also
include:
(A) A description of the proposed
route or site of construction;
(B)
A list of all electric, gas, and telephone conduit, wires, cables, and lines of
regulated and nonregulated utilities, railroad tracks, and each underground
facility, as defined in section
319.015, RSMo, which
the proposed construction will cross;
(C) A description of the plans,
specifications, and estimated costs for the complete scope of the construction
project that also clearly identifies what will be the operational features of
the asset once it is fully operational and used for service;
(D) The projected beginning of construction
date and the anticipated fully operational and used for service date of the
asset;
(E) A description of any
common plant to be included in the construction project;
(F) Plans for financing the construction of
the asset;
(G) A description of how
the proposed asset relates to the electric utility's adopted preferred plan
under 4 CSR 240-22;
(H) An overview
of the electric utility's plan for this project regarding competitive bidding,
although competitive bidding is not required, for the design, engineering,
procurement, construction management, and construction of the asset;
(I) An overview of plans for operating and
maintaining an asset;
(J) An
overview of plans for restoration of safe and adequate service after
significant, unplanned/forced outages of an asset; and
(K) An affidavit or other verified
certification of compliance with the following notice requirements to
landowners directly affected by electric transmission line routes or
transmission substation locations proposed by the application. The proof of
compliance shall include a list of all directly affected landowners to whom
notice was sent.
1. Applicant shall provide
notice of its application to the owners of land, or their designee, as stated
in the records of the county assessor's office, on a date not more than sixty
(60) days prior to the date the notice is sent, who would be directly affected
by the requested certificate, including the preferred route or location, as
applicable, and any known alternative route or location of the proposed
facilities. For purposes of this notice, land is directly affected if a
permanent easement or other permanent property interest would be obtained over
all or any portion of the land or if the land contains a habitable structure
that would be within three hundred (300) feet of the centerline of an electric
transmission line.
2. Any letter
sent by applicant as notice of the application shall be on its representative's
letterhead or on the letterhead of the utility, and it shall clearly set forth-
A. The identity, address, and telephone
number of the utility representative;
B. The identity of the utility attempting to
acquire the certificate;
C. The
general purpose of the proposed project;
D. The type of facility to be constructed;
and
E. The contact information of
the Public Service Commission and Office of the Public Counsel.
3. If twenty-five (25) or more
persons in a county would be entitled to receive notice of the application,
applicant shall hold at least one (1) public meeting in that county. The
meeting shall be held in a building open to the public and sufficient in size
to accommodate the number of persons in the county entitled to receive notice
of the application. Additionally-
A. All
persons entitled to notice of the application shall be afforded a reasonable
amount of time to pose questions or to state their concerns;
B. To the extent reasonably practicable, the
public meeting shall be held at a time that allows affected landowners an
opportunity to attend; and
C.
Notice of the public meeting shall be sent to any persons entitled to receive
notice of the application.
4. If applicant, after filing proof of
compliance, becomes aware of a person entitled to receive notice of the
application to whom applicant did not send such notice, applicant shall, within
twenty (20) days, provide notice to that person by certified mail, return
receipt requested, containing all the required information. Applicant shall
also file a supplemental proof of compliance regarding the additional
notice.
(7)
Provisions of this rule do not create any new requirements for or affect
assets, improvements, rebuilds, or retrofits already in rate base as of the
effective date of this rule. Provisions of this rule may be waived by the
commission for good cause shown.
*Original authority: 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963,
1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995,
1996.