Rule 4901:1-35-03 | Filing and contents of applications.
Each electric utility in this state filing an application for a standard service offer (SSO) in the form of an electric security plan (ESP), a market-rate offer (MRO), or both, complies with the requirements set forth in this rule.
(A) An application for an ESP or MRO is incomplete without a complete set of direct testimony of the electric utility personnel or other expert witnesses written in question and answer format supporting all schedules and significant issues identified by the electric utility.
(B) An SSO application that contains a proposal for an MRO, or an SSO application containing a proposal for a competitive bidding process (CBP), will comply with the applicable requirements set forth in this paragraph.
(1) The following electric utility components are to be demonstrated in a separate section of the SSO application proposing an MRO:
(a) It is the responsibility of the electric utility to show that it, or its transmission affiliate, belongs to at least one regional transmission organization (RTO) that has been approved by the federal energy regulatory commission in compliance with section 4928.12 of the Revised Code.
(b) The electric utility shall establish one of the following: its RTO retains an independent market-monitor function and has the ability to identify any potential for a market participant or the electric utility to exercise market power in any energy, capacity, and/or ancillary service markets by virtue of access to the RTO and the market participant's data and personnel and has the ability to effectively mitigate the conduct of the market participants so as to prevent or preclude the exercise of such market power by any market participant or the electric utility; or the electric utility shall demonstrate that an equivalent function exists which can monitor, identify, and mitigate conduct associated with the exercise of such market power.
(2) Prior to establishing an MRO under division (A) of section 4928.142 of the Revised Code, an electric utility shall file a plan for a CBP with the commission. An electric utility that files an MRO or an application containing a CBP plan provides justification of its proposed CBP plan, considering alternative possible methods of procurement. Each CBP plan will include the following components:
(a) A complete description of the CBP plan and testimony explaining and supporting each aspect of the CBP plan. The description includes a discussion of any relationship between the wholesale procurement process and the retail rate design that may be proposed in the CBP plan. The description includes a discussion of alternative methods of procurement that were considered and the rationale for selection of the CBP plan being presented. The description also includes an explanation of every proposed non-avoidable charge, if any, and why the charge is proposed to be non-avoidable.
(b) Projected generation, transmission, and distribution rate impacts by customer class and rate schedules for the duration of the CBP plan. The electric utility shall clearly indicate how projected bid clearing prices used for this purpose were derived.
(c) Detailed descriptions of how the CBP plan ensures an open, fair, and transparent competitive solicitation that is consistent with and advances the policy of this state as delineated in divisions (A) to (N) of section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(d) Detailed descriptions of the customer load(s) to be served by the winning bidder(s), and any known factors that may affect such customer loads. The descriptions include, but not be limited to, load subdivisions defined for bidding purposes, load and rate class descriptions, customer load profiles that include historical hourly load data for each load and rate class for at least the two most recent years, applicable tariffs, historical shopping data, and plans for meeting targets pertaining to load reductions, energy efficiency, renewable energy, advanced energy, and advanced energy technologies. Any fixed load proposed to be served by winning bidder(s) will be described.
(e) Detailed descriptions of the generation and related services that are to be provided by the winning bidder(s). The descriptions include, at a minimum, capacity, energy, transmission, ancillary and resource adequacy services, and the term during which generation and related services are to be provided. The descriptions clearly indicate which services are to be provided by the winning bidder(s) and which services are to be provided by the electric utility.
(f) Draft copies of all forms, contracts, or agreements that must be executed during or upon completion of the CBP.
(g) A clear description of the proposed methodology by which all bids would be evaluated, in sufficient detail so that bidders and other observers can ascertain the evaluated result of any bids or potential bids.
(h) The CBP plan includes a discussion of alternative retail rate options that were considered in the development of the CBP plan. A clear description of the rate structure ultimately chosen by the electric utility, the electric utility's rationale for selection of the chosen rate structure, and the methodology by which the electric utility proposes to convert the winning bid(s) to retail rates of the electric utility will be included in the CBP plan.
(i) The CBP plan provides for funding of a consultant that may be selected by the commission to assess and report to the commission on the design of the solicitation, the oversight of the bidding process, the clarity of the product definition, the fairness, openness, and transparency of the solicitation and bidding process, the market factors that could affect the solicitation, and other relevant criteria as directed by the commission. Recovery of the cost of such consultant(s) may be included by the electric utility in its CBP plan.
(j) The CBP plan includes a discussion of generation service procurement options that were considered in development of the CBP plan, including but not limited to, portfolio approaches, staggered procurement, forward procurement, electric utility participation in day-ahead and/or real-time balancing markets, and spot market purchases and sales. The CBP plan also includes the rationale for selection of any or all of the procurement options.
(k) The electric utility shall show, as a part of its CBP plan, any relationship between the CBP plan and the electric utility's plans to comply with alternative energy portfolio requirements of section 4928.64 of the Revised Code, and energy efficiency requirements and peak demand reduction requirements of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code. The initial filing of a CBP plan includes a detailed account of how the plan is consistent with and advances the policy of this state as delineated in divisions (A) to (N) of section 4928.02 of the Revised Code. Following the initial filing, subsequent filings include a discussion of how the state policy continues to be advanced by the plan.
(l) An explanation of known and anticipated obstacles that may create difficulties or barriers for the adoption of the proposed bidding process.
(3) The electric utility shall provide a description of its corporate separation plan, adopted pursuant to section 4928.17 of the Revised Code, including but not limited to, the current status of the corporate separation plan, a detailed list of all waivers previously issued by the commission to the electric utility regarding its corporate separation plan, and a timeline of any anticipated revisions or amendments to its current corporate separation plan on file with the commission pursuant to Chapter 4901:1-37 of the Administrative Code.
(4) A description of how the electric utility proposes to address governmental aggregation programs and implementation of divisions (I), (J), and (K) of section 4928.20 of the Revised Code.
(C) An SSO application that contains a proposal for an ESP will include the criteria set forth in this paragraph.
(1) A complete description of the ESP and testimony explaining and supporting each aspect of the ESP.
(2) Pro forma financial projections of the effect of the ESP's implementation upon the electric utility for the duration of the ESP, together with testimony and work papers sufficient to provide an understanding of the assumptions made and methodologies used in deriving the pro forma projections.
(3) Projected rate impacts by customer class/rate schedules for the duration of the ESP, including post-ESP impacts of deferrals, if any.
(4) The electric utility provides a description of its corporate separation plan, adopted pursuant to section 4928.17 of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, the current status of the corporate separation plan, a detailed list of all waivers previously issued by the commission to the electric utility regarding its corporate separation plan, and a timeline of any anticipated revisions or amendments to its current corporate separation plan on file with the commission pursuant to Chapter 4901:1-37 of the Administrative Code.
(5) Each electric utility provides a statement as to whether its operational support plan has been implemented and whether there are any outstanding problems with the implementation.
(6) A description of how the electric utility proposes to address governmental aggregation programs and implementation of divisions (I), (J), and (K) of section 4928.20 of the Revised Code.
(7) A description of the effect on large-scale governmental aggregation of any unavoidable charge proposed to be established in the ESP.
(8) The ESP application includes a detailed account of how the ESP is consistent with and advances the policy of this state as delineated in section 4928.02 of the Revised Code.
(9) Specific information
Division (B)(2) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes the provision or inclusion in an ESP of a number of features or mechanisms. To the extent that an electric utility includes any of these features in its ESP, it files the corresponding information in its application.
(a) Division (B)(2)(a) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions for the automatic recovery of fuel, purchased power, and certain other specified costs. An application including such provisions includes, at a minimum, the information described as follows:
(i) The type of cost the electric utility is seeking recovery for under division (B)(2) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code including a summary and detailed description of such cost. The description includes the plant(s) that the cost pertains to as well as a narrative pertaining to the electric utility's procurement policies and procedures regarding such cost.
(ii) The electric utility includes in the application any benefits available to the electric utility as a result of or in connection with such costs including but not limited to profits from emission allowance sales and profits from resold coal contracts.
(iii) The specific means by which these costs will be recovered by the electric utility. In this specification, the electric utility must clearly distinguish whether these costs are to be recovered from all distribution customers or only from the customers taking service under the ESP.
(iv) A complete set of work papers supporting the cost must be filed with the application. Work papers include, but are not limited to, all pertinent documents prepared by the electric utility for the application and a narrative and other support of assumptions made in completing the work papers.
(b) Divisions (B)(2)(b) and (B)(2)(c) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, authorize an electric utility to include unavoidable surcharges for construction, generation, or environmental expenditures for electric generation facilities owned or operated by the electric utility. Any plan which seeks to impose surcharge under these provisions shall include the following paragraphs, as appropriate:
(i) A description of the projected costs of the proposed facility and confirmation that the need for the proposed facility was reviewed and determined by the commission through an integrated resource planning process filed pursuant to rule 4901:5-5-05 of the Administrative Code.
(ii) A proposed process, subject to modification and approval by the commission, for the competitive bidding of the construction of the facility unless the commission has previously approved a process for competitive bidding, which would be applicable to that specific facility.
(iii) An application which provides for the recovery of a reasonable allowance for construction work in progress, should include a detailed description of the actual costs as of a date certain for which the applicant seeks recovery, a detailed description of the impact upon rates of the proposed surcharge, and a demonstration that such a construction work in progress allowance is consistent with the applicable limitations of division (A) of section 4909.15 of the Revised Code.
(iv) An application which provides for recovery of a surcharge for an electric generation facility should include: a detailed description of the actual costs as of a date certain, for which the applicant seeks recovery, detailed description of the impaction upon rates of the proposed surcharge, the proposed terms for the capacity, energy, and associated rates for the life of the facility.
(c) Division (B)(2)(d) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include terms, conditions, or charges related to retail shopping by customers. Any application which includes such terms, conditions or charges, shall include, at a minimum, the following information:
(i) A listing of all components of the ESP which would have the effect of preventing, limiting, inhibiting, or promoting customer shopping for retail electric generation service. Such components would include, but are not limited to, terms and conditions relating to shopping or to returning to the standard service offer and any unavoidable charges. For each such component, an explanation of the component and a descriptive rationale and, to the extent possible, a quantitative justification shall be provided.
(ii) A description and quantification or estimation of any charges, other than those associated with generation expansion or environmental investment under divisions (B)(2)(b) and (B)(2)(c) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, which will be deferred for future recovery, together with the carrying costs, amortization periods, and avoidability of such charges.
(iii) A listing, description, and quantitative justification of any unavoidable charges for standby, back-up, or supplemental power.
(d) Division (B)(2)(e) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions for automatic increases or decreases in any component of the standard service offer price. Pursuant to this authority, if the ESP proposes automatic increases or decreases to be implemented during the life of the plan for any component of the standard service offer, other than those covered by division (B)(2)(a) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, the electric utility must provide in its application a description of the component, whether the component is bypassable or nonbypassable, the proposed means for changing the component, and the proposed means for verifying the reasonableness of the change.
(e) Division (B)(2)(f) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions for the securitization of authorized phase-in recovery of the standard service offer price. If a phase-in deferred asset is proposed to be securitized, the electric utility shall provide, at the time of an application for securitization, a description of the securitization instrument and an accounting of that securitization, including the deferred cash flow due to the phase-in, carrying charges, and the incremental cost of the securitization. The electric utility will also describe any efforts to minimize the incremental cost of the securitization. The electric utility provides all documentation associated with securitization, including but not limited to, a summary sheet of terms and conditionsand a comparison of costs associated with securitization to demonstrate that securitization is the least cost strategy.
(f) Division (B)(2)(g) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions relating to transmission and other specified related services. Moreover, division (A)(2) of section 4928.05 of the Revised Code states that, notwithstanding Chapters 4905. and 4909. of the Revised Code, commission authority under this chapter includes the authority to provide for the recovery, through a reconcilable rider on an electric distribution utility's distribution rates, of all transmission and transmission-related costs (net of transmission related revenues), including ancillary and net congestion costs, imposed on or charged to the utility by the federal energy regulatory commission or a regional transmission organization, independent system operator, or similar organization approved by the federal energy regulatory commission.
Any utility which seeks to create or modify its transmission cost recovery rider in its ESP shall file the rider in accordance with the requirements delineated in Chapter 4901:1-36 of the Administrative Code.
(g) Division (B)(2)(h) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions for alternative regulation mechanisms or programs, including infrastructure and modernization incentives, relating to distribution service as part of an ESP. While a number of mechanisms may be combined within a plan, for each specific mechanism or program, the electric utility provides a detailed description, with supporting data and information, to allow appropriate evaluation of each proposal, including a cost-benefit analysis, how the proposal addresses any cost savings to the electric utility and customers, avoids duplicative cost recovery, and aligns electric utility and consumer interests. In general, and to the extent applicable, the electric utility also includes, for each separate mechanism or program, quantification of the estimated impact on rates over the term of any proposed modernization plan. Any application for an infrastructure modernization plan shall include the following specific components:
(i) A description of the infrastructure modernization plan, including but not limited to, the electric utility's existing infrastructure, its existing asset management system and related capabilities, the type of technology and reason chosen, the portion of service territory affected, the percentage of customers directly impacted (non-rate impact), and the implementation schedule by geographic location and/or type of activity. A description of any communication infrastructure included in the infrastructure modernization plan and any metering, distribution automation, or other applications that may be supported by this communication infrastructure also shall be included.
(ii) A description of the benefits of the infrastructure modernization plan (in total and by activity or type), including but not limited to the following as they may apply to the plan: quantitative and qualitative impacts of all reliability improvements, the number of circuits impacted, the number of customers impacted, the timing of impacts, whether the impact is on the frequency or duration of outages, whether the infrastructure modernization plan addresses primary outage causes, what problems are addressed by the infrastructure modernization plan, the resulting dollar savings and additional costs, the activities affected and related accounts, the timing of savings, other customer benefits, and societal benefits. Through metrics and milestones, the infrastructure modernization plan will include a description of how the performance and outcomes of the plan will be measured.
(iii) A detailed description of the costs of the infrastructure modernization plan, including a breakdown of capital costs and operating and maintenance expenses net of any related savings, the revenue requirement, including recovery of stranded investment related to replacement of un-depreciated plant with new technology, the impact on customer bills, service disruptions associated with plan implementation, and description of (and dollar value of) equipment being made obsolescent by the plan and reason for early plant retirement. The infrastructure modernization plan will also include a description of efforts made to mitigate such stranded investment.
(iv) A detailed description of any proposed cost recovery mechanism, including the components of any regulatory asset created by the infrastructure modernization plan, the reporting structure and schedule, and the proposed process for approval of cost recovery and increase in rates.
(v) A detailed explanation of how the infrastructure modernization plan aligns customer and electric utility reliability and power quality expectations by customer class.
(h) Division (B)(2)(i) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code authorizes an electric utility to include provisions for economic development, job retention, and energy efficiency programs. Pursuant to this paragraph, the electric utility provides a complete description of the proposal, together with cost-benefit analysis or other quantitative justification, and quantification of the program's projected impact on rates.
(10) Additional required information
Divisions (E) and (F) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code provide for tests of the ESP with respect to significantly excessive earnings. Division (E) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code is applicable only if an ESP has a term exceeding three years, and would require an earnings determination to be made in the fourth year. Division (F) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code applies to any ESP and examines earnings after each year. In each case, the burden of proof for demonstrating that the return on equity is not significantly excessive is borne by the electric utility.
(a) For the annual review pursuant to division (F) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, the electric utility provides testimony and analysis demonstrating the return on equity that was earned during the year and the returns on equity earned during the same period by publicly traded companies that face comparable business and financial risks as the electric utility. In addition, the electric utility provides capital budget requirements for future committed investments in Ohio for each annual period remaining in the ESP.
(b) For demonstration under division (E) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, the electric utility provides, in addition to the requirements under division (F) of section 4928.143 of the Revised Code, calculations of its projected return on equity for each remaining year of the ESP. The electric utility supports these calculations by providing projected balance sheet and income statement information for the remainder of the ESP, together with testimony and work papers detailing the methodologies, adjustments, and assumptions used in making these projections.
(D) Applications for an SSO may include an ESP and/or MRO; however, an ESP may not be proposed once the electric utility has implemented an MRO approved by the commission.
(E) The SSO application shall include a section demonstrating that its current corporate separation plan is in compliance with section 4928.17 of the Revised Code, Chapter 4901:1-37 of the Administrative Code, and consistent with the policy of the state as delineated in divisions (A) to (N) of section 4928.02 of the Revised Code. When any waivers of the corporate separation plan have been granted and are to be continued, the applicant justifies the continued need for those waivers.
(F) A complete set of work papers will be filed with the application. Work papers include, but are not limited to, all pertinent documents prepared by the electric utility for the application and a narrative or other support of assumptions made in the work papers. Work papers should be marked, organized, and indexed according to schedules to which they relate. Data contained in the work papers should be footnoted so as to identify the source document used.
(G) All schedules, tariff sheets, and work papers prepared by, or at the direction of, the electric utility for the application and included in the application should be available in spreadsheet, word processing, or an electronic non-image-based format, with formulas intact, compatible with personal computers. The electronic form does not have to be filed with the application but should be made available within two business days to staff and any intervening party that requests it.
Last updated June 20, 2023 at 9:12 AM
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