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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
September 15, 2015, at 9:30 A.M. CDT
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. CDT on Monday, September 14, 2015. 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
Consumer Reports
1. Status Report on Consumer Utility Inquiries and Complaints Received by the Commission (Consumer Affairs: Deb Gregg)
Pipeline Safety
On August 13, 2015, Staff filed a Complaint alleging violations discovered during a March 2015 inspection of Humboldt Municipal Gas Utilities (Humboldt). In the Complaint, Staff sought penalties for the violations. The deadline to answer the Complaint was September 2, 2015. Humboldt did not file an answer to the Complaint.
TODAY, how shall the Commission proceed?
Electric
1. EL15-029 In the Matter of the Petition of Otter Tail Power Company for Approval of the Environmental Cost Recovery Rider Charge (Staff Analyst: Brittany Mehlhaff; Staff Attorney: Adam de Hueck)
On August 31, 2015, the Commission received an application by Otter Tail Power Company (Otter Tail) for approval of its annual update to the Environmental Cost Recovery Rate under Otter Tail’s Environmental Cost Recovery Rider, Rate Schedule 13.08, for the actual and forecasted cost and revenue through the recovery period of November 2015 through October 2016 for Big Stone Plant’s Air Quality Control System (AQCS) and Hoot Lake Plant’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS). Otter Tail states the rate impact of this request (for both projects) will increase the ECR Rider Rate from $.00487 per kWh to $.00643 per kWh. Otter Tail anticipates the rate impact of this update will be just over 9 percent of a customer’s bill on average.
TODAY, shall the Commission assess a filing fee for actual expenses related to the Environmental Cost Recovery Rider not to exceed $50,000?
On September 1, 2015, the Commission received a petition from Northern States Power Company dba Xcel Energy (Xcel) for approval of its 2016 Transmission Cost Recovery (TCR) Rider, TCR rate factor, and tracker account report. For 2016, Xcel proposes recovery of the South Dakota jurisdictional portion of the revenue requirements related to 18 transmission projects located throughout its service territory, three of which are new projects being added at this time. Xcel proposes to recover $5.76 million associated with these projects for the 2016 calendar year. Included in the $5.76 million figure is the 2015 over-collection balance of $375,746. The total of the transmission investment costs and the tracker balance results in an average bill impact of $2.04 per month for a typical residential electric customer using 750 kWh per month. This is an increase of $0.23 per month from the current TCR Rider recovery. The Company proposes to implement a rate of $0.002715 per kWh applied to all energy billed to each customer class beginning January 1, 2016, through December 31, 2016. This represents an increase of $0.000298 from the existing rate of $0.002417 per kWh.
TODAY, shall the Commission assess a filing fee in the amount of up to $50,000 to account for actual expenses incurred in review of this filing commencing from the filing date?
Gas and Electric
On July 6, 2015, NorthWestern Corporation, dba NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern), filed with the Commission a report on the first year of activity under NorthWestern’s two-year South Dakota Demand Side Management (SDDSM) plan. The report outlines the SDDSM plan’s Year 1 activities and expenses; provides program and budget updates for the Year 2 plan proposed for July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016; and requests changes to the tariffs to true up the Energy Efficiency Adjustment rates based upon Year 1 results and the Year 2 proposed budget.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the SDDSM plan’s Year 1 report? AND approve the SDDSM plan’s Year 2 program changes and proposed budget? AND approve the updated Energy Efficiency Adjustment rates and tariff sheets?
Telecommunications
On August 17, 2015, NextGen Communications, Inc. (NextGen) filed an application for a Certificate of Authority to provide local exchange services and interexchange long distance services throughout South Dakota. Specifically, NextGen seeks to provide VPC and MPC services that involve the aggregation and transport of emergency local, VoIP, telemetric, PBX, and mobile E9-1-1 traffic, the management and transmission of location and calling number data, and the provision of call routing management for the delivery of emergency calls to Public Service Answering Points (PSAPs) throughout South Dakota. On September 1, 2015, the South Dakota Telecommunications Association filed a Petition to Intervene.
TODAY, shall the Commission grant intervention to any party that may have filed?
On September 18, 2015, Midcontinent Communications (Midcontinent) filed an Application for an Amended Certificate of Authority. In this application, Midcontinent seeks to provide competitive local exchange services in the exchange areas of Bowdle and Roslyn. On September 4, 2015, the South Dakota Telecommunications Association and Venture Communications Cooperative each filed a Petition to Intervene.
TODAY, shall the Commission grant intervention to any party that may have filed?
3. In the Matter of Request for Certification Regarding the Use of Federal Universal Service Support in Dockets TC15-027, TC15-042, TC15-043, TC15-046, TC15-048 and TC15-052.
On June 26, 2015, the Commission received an application from Faith Municipal Telephone Company requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On July 14, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
On June 30, 2015, the Commission received an application from RC Technologies requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On July 21, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
On June 30, 2015, the Commission received an application from West River Cooperative Telephone Company requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On August 5, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
On June 30, 2015, the Commission received an application from Valley Telephone Company requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On July 31, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
On June 30, 2015, the Commission received an application from Midstate Communications, Inc. requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On August 4, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
On July 1, 2015, the Commission received an application from Jefferson Telephone Company requesting the Commission to issue a certification to the FCC and USAC indicating it is in compliance with 47 U.S.C. Section 254(e) and should receive all federal universal service support determined for distribution to the Company. On August 27, 2015, the Company responded to Staff’s data request.
TODAY, shall the Commission provide a certification to the Federal Communications Commission and to the Universal Service Administration Company regarding the use of Federal Universal Service Support in each of the above dockets?
Items for Commission Discussion
Announcements
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Commissioners and staff will meet with representatives of the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and the Organization of MISO States on Monday, September 14, 2015, at 3:00 p.m. CDT in Room 413 of the State Capitol Building, Pierre, S.D. The agenda is to discuss an update from both organizations.
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The next regularly scheduled commission meeting will be Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at 9:30 a.m. CDT in Room 413 at the State Capitol Building, Pierre, S.D.
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An evidentiary hearing for Docket HP14-002 – In the Matter of the Application of Dakota Access, LLC for an Energy Facility Permit to Construct the Dakota Access Pipeline will be held September 29 – October 2, October 6-9, 2015, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CDT Tuesday, September 29, and 8:00 a.m. thereafter in Room 414 at the State Capitol, Pierre, S.D.
- Commission meetings are scheduled for October 13 and 27, 2015.
/s/Cindy Kemnitz
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
September 9, 2015
