4724693 Public Service Commission - Notice of Proposed Rulemaking - Formal Case No. 945, In the Matter of the Investigation into Electric Services Market Competition and Regulatory Practices
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PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULEMAKING
FORMAL CASE NO. 945, IN THE MATTER OF THE INVESTIGATION INTO ELECTRIC SERVICES MARKET COMPETITION AND REGULATORY PRACTICES
1. The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (“Commission”) hereby gives notice, pursuant to Section 34-802 of the District of Columbia Official Code and in accordance with Section 2-505 of the District of Columbia Official Code,[1] of its intent to act upon the proposed tariff amendments of the Potomac Electric Power Company (“Pepco” or “Company”)[2] in not less than thirty (30) days from the date of publication of this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NOPR”) in the D.C. Register.
2. Pepco’s proposed tariff amendments revise the Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff, Schedule 2 (“Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff”) to update loss factors.[3] According to Pepco, the proposed loss factors have been revised to reflect the Company’s 2011 losses replacing the existing loss factors that were based on a study of Pepco’s 2000 losses.[4] Pepco states that the current loss factors were issued December 11, 2001 and placed into effect on January 1, 2002.[5]
3. According to Pepco, the Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff documents the requirements for interaction and coordination between the Company, as the Local Distribution Company, and electricity suppliers that are necessary to ensure the delivery of competitive power supply.[6] Pepco contends that the Supplier Tariff specifies system loss factors which are used by the Company in its load settlement calculations.[7] Pepco claims that in load settlement, an estimate of the total electricity required from each supplier is calculated by multiplying hourly kilowatt-hour (“kWh”) sales delivered to all customers by the applicable system loss factor. According to Pepco, the total estimated hourly loads are then reconciled to the Pepco Zone load as determined by the Independent System Operator, PJM.[8] Pepco states that it proposes to update loss factors currently in place, as specified in Schedule 2 of its Supplier Tariff, to reduce the amount of unaccounted for energy in the reconciliations of the energy supplied to the Pepco Zone load.[9] Pepco states that the existing loss factors were determined based on a loss study completed using 2000 data and that the proposed customer class level loss factors for demand and energy components are based on a 2012 analysis of 2011 loads.[10]
4. The Company asserts that the “loss factors are also used by Pepco to establish generation and transmission peak load contributions for supplier capacity obligations.”[11] The Company states that the revised energy loss factors are lower than those currently in the Supplier Tariff and the demand loss factors are higher than those in the current Supplier Tariff.[12] Pepco also states that because “energy loss factors represent the average demand losses for the entire year, and demand loss factors represent the demand loss at the hour of the system peak demand, it is expected that the peak losses would increase more than the average losses when energy growth is lower than peak growth over the same period.”[13] According to Pepco, it is assumed that the delivery system efficiency increased enough to overcome any increase in average demand but not enough to compensate for growth in peak demand.[14]
5. Specifically, Pepco proposes to amend the following five (5) tariff pages:
ELECTRIC SUPPLIER TARIFF, P.S.C.-D.C. No. 1
Second Revised Page No. i
Second Revised Page No. ii
Second Revised Page No. iii
Second Revised Page No. iv
Second Revised Page No. 40
6. Pepco’s filing may be reviewed at the Office of the Commission Secretary, 1333 H Street, N.W., Second Floor, West Tower, Washington, D.C. 20005, between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. A copy of the proposed tariff amendment is available upon request, at a per-page reproduction cost from the Office of the Commission Secretary or via the Commission’s website at www.dcpsc.org.
7. Comments on Pepco’s proposed tariff amendment must be made in writing to Brinda Westbrook-Sedgwick, Commission Secretary, at the above address. All comments and reply comments must be received within thirty (30) and forty-five (45) days, respectively, of the date of publication of this Notice in the D.C. Register. Once the comment period has expired, the Commission will take final rulemaking action on Pepco’s filing.
[1] D.C. Official Code § 34-802 (2001 ed.); D.C. Official Code § 2-505 (2001 ed.).
[2] Formal Case No. 945, In the Matter of the Investigation into Electric Services Market Competition and Regulatory Practices (“Formal Case No. 945”), Letter from Peter E. Meier, Vice President, Legal Services, Potomac Electric Power Company (“Pepco”), to Brinda Westbrook-Sedgwick, Commission Secretary, Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Aug. 30, 2013) (hereinafter referred to as “Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff”). Pepco originally filed its proposed tariff on April 29, 2013. On June 28, 2013, Pepco advised the Commission of its intent to re-file the tariff “by August 30, 2013 in order to prepare additional explanatory materials.” Formal Case No. 945, Letter from Peter E. Meier, Vice President, Legal Services, Pepco, to Brinda Westbrook-Sedgwick, Commission Secretary, Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (June 28, 2013).
[3] Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff at 1.
[4] Id. at 2.
[5] Id., n. 1.
[6] Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff at 3.
[7] Id.
[8] Id. at 3-4.
[9] Id. at 4.
[10] Id.
[11] Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff at 1.
[12] Id.
[13] Id. at 1.
[14] Electricity Supplier Coordination Tariff at 2.
