Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, March 15, 2024
PURPOSE: This rule requires the utility to select a
preferred resource plan, develop an implementation plan, and officially adopt a
resource acquisition strategy. The rule also requires the utility to prepare
contingency plans and evaluate the demand-side resources that are included in
the resource acquisition strategy.
(1) The utility shall select a preferred
resource plan from among the alternative resource plans that have been analyzed
pursuant to the requirements of
4 CSR
240-22.060. The utility shall describe and document
the process used to select the preferred resource plan, including the relative
weights given to the various performance measures and the rationale used by
utility decision-makers to judge the appropriate tradeoffs between competing
planning objectives and between expected performance and risk. The utility
shall provide the names, titles, and roles of the utility decision-makers in
the preferred resource plan selection process. The preferred resource plan
shall satisfy at least the following conditions:
(A) In the judgment of utility
decision-makers, strike an appropriate balance between the various planning
objectives specified in
4 CSR
240-22.010(2);
(B) Invest in advanced transmission and
distribution technologies unless, in the judgment of the utility
decision-makers, investing in those technologies to upgrade transmission and/or
distribution networks is not in the public interest;
(C) Utilize demand-side resources to the
maximum amount that comply with legal mandates and, in the judgment of the
utility decision-makers, are consistent with the public interest and achieve
state energy policies; and
(D) In
the judgment of the utility decision-makers, the preferred plan, in conjunction
with the deployment of emergency demand response measures and access to
short-term and emergency power supplies, has sufficient resources to serve load
forecasted under extreme weather conditions pursuant to
4 CSR
240-22.030(8)(B) for the
implementation period. If the utility cannot affirm the sufficiency of
resources, it shall consider an alternative resource plan or modifications to
its preferred resource plan that can meet extreme weather conditions.
(2) The utility shall specify the
ranges or combinations of outcomes for the critical uncertain factors that
define the limits within which the preferred resource plan is judged to be
appropriate and explain how these limits were determined. The utility shall
also describe and document its assessment of whether, and under what
circumstances, other uncertain factors associated with the preferred resource
plan could materially affect the performance of the preferred resource plan
relative to alternative resource plans.
(3) The utility shall describe and document
its quantification of the expected value of better information concerning at
least the critical uncertain factors that affect the performance of the
preferred resource plan, as measured by the present value of utility revenue
requirements. The utility shall provide a tabulation of the key quantitative
results of that analysis and a discussion of how those findings will be
incorporated in ongoing research activities.
(4) The utility shall describe and document
its contingency resource plans in preparation for the possibility that the
preferred resource plan should cease to be appropriate, whether due to the
limits identified pursuant to
4 CSR
240-22.070(2) being exceeded or for
any other reason.
(A) The utility shall
identify as contingency resource plans those alternative resource plans that
become preferred if the critical uncertain factors exceed the limits developed
pursuant to section (2).
(B) The
utility shall develop a process to pick among alternative resource plans, or to
revise the alternative resource plans as necessary, to help ensure reliable and
low cost service should the preferred resource plan no longer be appropriate
for any reason. The utility may also use this process to confirm the viability
of contingency resource plans identified pursuant to subsection
(4)(A).
(C) Each contingency
resource plan shall satisfy the fundamental objective in
4 CSR
240-22.010(2) and the specific
requirements pursuant to
4 CSR
240-22.070(1).
(5) Analysis of Load-Building Programs. If
the utility intends to continue existing load-building programs or implement
new ones, it shall analyze these programs in the context of one (1) or more of
the alternative resource plans developed pursuant to
4 CSR
240-22.060(3) of this rule, including
the preferred resource plan selected pursuant to
4 CSR
240-22.070(1). This analysis shall
use the same modeling procedure and assumptions described in
4 CSR
240-22.060(4). The utility shall
describe and document-
(A) Its analysis of
load building programs, including the following elements:
1. Estimation of the impact of load-building
programs on the electric utility's summer and winter peak demands and energy
usage;
2. A comparison of annual
average rates in each year of the planning horizon for the resource plan(s)
with and without the load-building program;
3. A comparison of the probable environmental
costs of the resource plan(s) in each year of the planning horizon with and
without the proposed load-building program;
4. A calculation of the performance measures
and risk by year; and 5. An assessment of any other aspects of the proposed
load-building programs that affect the public interest; and
(B) All current and proposed
load-building programs, a discussion of why these programs are judged to be in
the public interest, and, for all resource plans that include these programs,
plots of the following over the planning horizon:
1. Annual average rates with and without the
load-building programs; and
2.
Annual utility costs and probable environmental costs with and without the
load-building programs.
(6) The utility shall develop an
implementation plan that specifies the major tasks, schedules, and milestones
necessary to implement the preferred resource plan over the implementation
period. The utility shall describe and document its implementation plan, which
shall contain-
(A) A schedule and description
of ongoing and planned research activities to update and improve the quality of
data used in load analysis and forecasting;
(B) A schedule and description of ongoing and
planned demand-side programs and demand-side rates, evaluations, and research
activities to improve the quality of demand-side resources;
(C) A schedule and description of all
supply-side resource research, engineering, retirement, acquisition, and
construction activities, including research to meet expected environmental
regulations;
(D) Identification of
critical paths and major milestones for implementation of each demand-side
resource and each supply-side resource, including decision points for
committing to major expenditures;
(E) A description of adequate competitive
procurement policies to be used in the acquisition and development of
supply-side resources;
(F) A
process for monitoring the critical uncertain factors on a continuous basis and
reporting significant changes in a timely fashion to those managers or officers
who have the authority to direct the implementation of contingency resource
plans when the specified limits for uncertain factors are exceeded;
and
(G) A process for monitoring
the progress made implementing the preferred resource plan in accordance with
the schedules and milestones set out in the implementation plan and for
reporting significant deviations in a timely fashion to those managers or
officers who have the authority to initiate corrective actions to ensure the
resources are implemented as scheduled.
(7) The utility shall develop, describe and
document, officially adopt, and implement a resource acquisition strategy. This
means that the utility's resource acquisition strategy shall be formally
approved by an officer of the utility who has been duly delegated the authority
to commit the utility to the course of action described in the resource
acquisition strategy. The officially adopted resource acquisition strategy
shall consist of the following components:
(A) A preferred resource plan selected
pursuant to the requirements of section (1) of this rule;
(B) An implementation plan developed pursuant
to the requirements of section (6) of this rule; and
(C) A set of contingency resource plans
developed pursuant to the requirements of section (4) of this rule and
identification of the point at which the critical uncertain factors would
trigger the utility to move to each contingency resource plan as the preferred
resource plan.
(8)
Evaluation of Demand-Side Programs and Demand-Side Rates. The utility shall
describe and document its evaluation plans for all demand-side programs and
demand-side rates that are included in the preferred resource plan selected
pursuant to 4 CSR
240-22.070(1). Evaluation plans
required by this section are for planning purposes and are separate and
distinct from the evaluation, measurement, and verification reports required by
4 CSR
240-3.163(7) and
4 CSR
240-20.093(7); nonetheless, the
evaluation plan should, in addition to the requirements of this section,
include the proposed evaluation schedule and the proposed approach to achieving
the evaluation goals pursuant to
4 CSR
240-3.163(7) and
4 CSR
240-20.093(7). The evaluation plans
for each program and rate shall be developed before the program or rate is
implemented and shall be filed when the utility files for approval of
demand-side programs or demand-side program plans with the tariff application
for the program or rate as described in
4 CSR
240-20.094(3). The purpose of these
evaluations shall be to develop the information necessary to evaluate the
cost-effectiveness and improve the design of existing and future demand-side
programs and demand-side rates, to improve the forecasts of customer energy
consumption and responsiveness to demand-side programs and demand-side rates,
and to gather data on the implementation costs and load impacts of demand-side
programs and demand-side rates for use in future cost-effectiveness screening
and integrated resource analysis.
(A) Process
Evaluation. Each demand-side program and demand-side rate that is part of the
utility's preferred resource plan shall be subjected to an ongoing evaluation
process which addresses at least the following questions about program design.
1. What are the primary market imperfections
that are common to the target market segment?
2. Is the target market segment appropriately
defined, or should it be further subdivided or merged with other market
segments?
3. Does the mix of
end-use measures included in the program appropriately reflect the diversity of
end-use energy service needs and existing end-use technologies within the
target market segment?
4. Are the
communication channels and delivery mechanisms appropriate for the target
market segment?
5. What can be done
to more effectively overcome the identified market imperfections and to
increase the rate of customer acceptance and implementation of each end-use
measure included in the program?
(B) Impact Evaluation. The utility shall
develop methods of estimating the actual load impacts of each demand-side
program and demand-side rate included in the utility's preferred resource plan
to a reasonable degree of accuracy.
1. Impact
evaluation methods. At a minimum, comparisons of one (1) or both of the
following types shall be used to measure program and rate impacts in a manner
that is based on sound statistical principles:
A. Comparisons of pre-adoption and
post-adoption loads of program or demand-side rate participants, corrected for
the effects of weather and other intertemporal differences; and
B. Comparisons between program and
demand-side rate participants' loads and those of an appropriate control group
over the same time period.
2. The utility shall develop load-impact
measurement protocols that are designed to make the most cost-effective use of
the following types of measurements, either individually or in combination:
A. Monthly billing data, hourly load data,
load research data, end-use load metered data, building and equipment
simulation models, and survey responses; or
B. Audit and survey data on appliance and
equipment type, size and efficiency levels, household or business
characteristics, or energy-related building characteristics.
(C) The utility shall
develop protocols to collect data regarding demand-side program and demand-side
rate market potential, participation rates, utility costs, participant costs,
and total costs.
*Original authority: 386.040, RSMo 1939; 386.250, RSMo
1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996;
386.610, RSMo 1939; and 393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949,
1967.
