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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
November 25, 2014, at 9:30 A.M. CST
Room 413, Capitol Building
Pierre, South Dakota
NOTE: If you wish to join this meeting by conference call, please contact the Commission at 605-773-3201 by 5:00 p.m. CST on Monday, November 24, 2014. Lines are limited and are given out on a first come, first served basis, subject to possible reassignment to accommodate persons who must appear in a proceeding. Ultimately, if you wish to participate in the Commission Meeting and a line is not available, you may have to appear in person.
NOTE: To listen to the Commission Meeting live please go to the PUC's website www.puc.sd.gov and click on the LIVE link on the home page. The Commission requests persons who will only be listening to proceedings and not actively appearing in a case listen via the web cast to free phone lines for those who have to appear. The Commission meetings are archived on the PUC's website under the Commission Actions tab, Click on “Commission Meeting Archives,” to access the recordings.
NOTE: Notice is further given to persons with disabilities that this Commission meeting is being held in a physically accessible place. If you have special needs, please notify the Commission and we will make all necessary arrangements.
AGENDA OF COMMISSION MEETING
Administration
1. Approval of the Minutes of the Commission Meeting Held on November 12, 2014 (Staff: Joy Lashley)
Consumer Reports
1. Status Report on Consumer Utility Inquiries and Complaints Received by the Commission (Consumer Affairs: Deb Gregg)
Electric
On August 29, 2014, Otter Tail Power Company (Otter Tail) filed for Commission approval of an Environmental Quality Cost Recovery Tariff. The purpose of filing this request is to begin the recovery of Otter Tail's share of the costs of the required environmental retrofits to the Big Stone Plant, Big Stone, South Dakota, and the Hoot Lake Plant, located near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. Otter Tail anticipates the rate impact of this request (for both projects) will be approximately 7.1 percent on average in the first year of the rider. Once the construction of the Big Stone Plant environmental retrofit is complete in 2015, Otter Tail estimates the rate impact will be slightly less than 12 percent. Otter Tail proposes a November 1, 2014, effective date. On November 6, 2014, Otter Tail filed revised tariff pages reflecting a proposed effective date of December 1, 2014.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the establishment of the Environmental Quality Cost Recovery Tariff, revised tariff sheets, and proposed adjustment factor with an effective date of December 1, 2014?
On October 20, 2014, Commission Staff filed an Electric Service Territory Boundary Agreement between Beresford Municipal Electric and Clay-Union Electric Cooperative, Inc. This filing is made pursuant to current efforts of the PUC to verify electric territory mapping data for conversion to electronic format and use in a Geographic Information System (GIS) database. With the assistance of the above-referenced utilities, Commission Staff has confirmed the service territory boundary shared by these utilities and has prepared updated mapping information. Commission Staff asks for approval of the agreement to update official mapping data to properly reflect the service territory boundaries shared by the utilities in this docket.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the proposed electric service territory boundary agreement?
On October 24, 2014, Commission Staff filed an Electric Service Territory Boundary Agreement between Beresford Municipal Electric and Southeastern Electric Cooperative, Inc. This filing is made pursuant to current efforts of the PUC to verify electric territory mapping data for conversion to electronic format and use in a Geographic Information System (GIS) database. With the assistance of the above-referenced utilities, Commission Staff has confirmed the service territory boundary shared by these utilities and has prepared updated mapping information. Commission Staff asks for approval of the agreement to update official mapping data to properly reflect the service territory boundaries shared by the utilities in this docket.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the proposed electric service territory boundary agreement?
On November 6, 2014, the Commission received a joint request for service rights exception between Lake Region Electric Association, Inc. and Otter Tail Power Company. The purpose of the filing is to allow Lake Region Electric to extend a line to provide three-phase service in Otter Tail Power's assigned service territory.
TODAY, shall the commission approve the joint request for service rights exception between Lake Region Electric Association, Inc. and Otter Tail Power Company?
Telecommunications
1. In the Matter of the Failure of Certain Telecommunications Companies to Timely Pay their Gross Receipts Tax (Finance Manager: Cindy Kemnitz)
The following companies have failed to timely pay their gross receipts tax as required by SDCL 49-1A:
Local Exchange and Long Distance Providers:
Comtech 21, LLC
Momentum Telecom, Inc.
Long Distance Providers:
Legacy Long Distance International, Inc.
Telecare, Inc.
TODAY, shall the Commission issue an Order to Show Cause as to why the Commission should not fine, and/or suspend or revoke the Certificates of Authority of each of these companies for failure to pay the requisite gross receipts tax?
On October 20, 2014, the Commission received a Joint Application for Approval of Amended Certificates of Authority: 1) an Amendment to the Certificate of Authority of Roberts County Telephone Cooperative Association (Roberts County) to permit it to offer local exchange service in the RC Communications exchanges, and 2) an Amendment to the Certificate of Authority of RC Communications, to permit Roberts County to operate as a competitive local exchange carrier in the areas presently served by RC Communications. These amendments are in connection with the prospective merger of RC Communications into Roberts County on December 31, 2014. The application also requests for waiver of the requirements under A.R.S.D. 20:10:32:03: (6), (7), (8)(c), (10), (13), (14), (15), (18), (19), (20), and (22).
TODAY, shall the Commission grant the waiver of A.R.S.D. 20:10:32:03: (6), (7), (8)(c), (10), (13), (14), (15), (18), (19), (20), and (22)? AND, shall the Commission approve Roberts County's amended Certificate of Authority? AND, shall the Commission approve RC Communications' amended Certificate of Authority and its transfer to Roberts County?
Items for Commission Discussion
Announcements
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The PUC offices will be closed Thursday, November 27 and Friday, November 28, 2014, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
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Commissioners and staff will meet with representatives of MISO on Monday, December 1, 2014, at 1:30 p.m. CST in the Floyd Matthew Training Center, Joe Foss Building, 523 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, S.D. The agenda includes discussion of MISO's modeling response to the EPA's proposed plan to reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants.
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Commissioners and staff will meet with representatives of the South Dakota Electric Utility Companies on Wednesday, December 3, 2014, at Noon CST at the Associated General Contractors conference room, 300 E. Capitol Ave., Pierre, S.D. The agenda is to discuss company updates.
- Commissioners and staff will meet with representatives of NorthWestern Energy on Thursday, December 4, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. CST in Room 413 at the State Capitol, Pierre, S.D. The agenda is to discuss an update of NorthWestern Energy's operations, finance and customer service activities.
- The next regularly scheduled commission meeting will be Tuesday, December 9, 2014, at 9:30 a.m. CST in Room 413 at the State Capitol, Pierre, S.D.
- Commissioners and staff will attend the South Dakota Telecommunications Association/Public Utilities Commission biannual forum December 15-16, 2014, at the Sheraton Sioux Falls Hotel and Conference Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
- Commissioners and staff will meet with representatives of Xcel Energy on Tuesday, December 16, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. CST in the Fontelle Room, Sheraton Convention Center, Sioux Falls, S.D. The agenda includes a demonstration of energy efficient lighting products featured in Xcel Energy's demand side management program.
- Commission meetings are scheduled for December 23, 2014, and January 6, 2015.
/s/Cindy Kemnitz
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
November 18, 2014
