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South Dakota Public Utilities Commission Meeting
September 26, 2017, at 9:30 A.M. CDT
Room 414, 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 25, 2017. 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 September 12, 2017 (Staff: Joy Lashley)
Consumer Reports
1. Status Report on Consumer Utility Inquiries and Complaints Received by the Commission (Consumer Affairs: Deb Gregg)
Electric
1. EL17-028 In the Matter of the Application by Crocker Wind Farm, LLC for a permit of a Wind Energy Facility and a 345 kV Transmission Line in Clark County, South Dakota, for Crocker Wind Farm (Staff Analysts: Jon Thurber, Darren Kearney; Staff Attorneys: Kristen Edwards, Amanda Reiss)
On July 25, 2017, Crocker Wind Farm LLC (Crocker) filed an Application for a Wind Energy Facility and a 345 kV Transmission Line in Clark County (Project). The proposed Project is a 400 megawatt nameplate capacity wind energy facility located on approximately 29,331 acres of privately owned land in Clark County, South Dakota, approximately 8 miles north of Clark, South Dakota. The proposed Project includes up to 200 wind turbines, associated access roads, a new collector substation, an operations and maintenance facility and associated 345 kilovolt transmission in Clark County, South Dakota. The Project will result in the installation of approximately 6.5 miles of overhead transmission that will be wholly located within the Wind Farm’s boundary. The Transmission Line Route will run from a substation in Section 30 of Township 119N, Range 58W to the Point-of-Interconnect (POI), which is located approximately 2 miles north of the town of Crocker in Section 9 of Township 119N, Range 58W. Two routing options from the substation in Section 30 are under consideration. At the POI, the power will transfer to the Basin Electric Groton-to-Watertown 345 kV transmission line, part of the Southwest Power Pool, Inc./Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) Transmission line portfolio in Clark County, South Dakota. Applications for party status were due to the Commission by September 25, 2017. Applications received may be viewed on the Commission’s website at http://puc.sd.gov/Dockets/Electric/2017/el17-028partystatus.aspx.
TODAY, shall the Commission grant party status to those who have filed? AND, shall the Commission issue a procedural schedule? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?
2. EL17-034 In the Matter of the Filing by NorthWestern Corporation dba NorthWestern Energy for Approval of a Contract with Deviations (Staff Analysts: Patrick Steffensen, Joseph Rezac; Staff Attorney: Kristen Edwards)
On August 17, 2017, the Commission received a filing from NorthWestern Corporation dba NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern), for approval of a Contract with Deviations. In this filing, NorthWestern seeks approval of an Electric Distribution Service Agreement with Ag Processing Inc. and the associated tariff revisions, effective October 1, 2017. On September 14, 2017, NorthWestern responded to Staff’s data request.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the Contract with Deviations and the associated tariff revisions, effective October 1, 2017?
3. EL17-037 In the Matter of the Request for Approval of an Electric Service Territory Boundary Agreement between Watertown Municipal Utilities and NorthWestern Corporation dba NorthWestern Energy (Staff Analyst: Darren Kearney; Staff Attorney: Kristen Edwards)
On September 6, 2017, Commission Staff filed an Electric Service Territory Boundary Agreement between NorthWestern Energy and Watertown Municipal Utilities. 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?
4. EL17-038 In the Matter of the Filing by Northern States Power Company dba Xcel Energy for Approval to Adjust the Fuel Adjustment Clause Rider Rate from October 2017 through February 2018 (Staff Analysts: Jon Thurber, Patrick Steffensen; Staff Attorney: Amanda Reiss)
On September 15, 2017, Northern States Power Company (Xcel Energy) filed with the Public Utilities Commission (Commission) a request for approval on less than 30 days notice to vary from its Fuel Clause Rider (FCR) tariff, Sheet Nos. 64-64.2, effective October 1, 2017. Xcel Energy makes this filing in compliance with the Commission’s order in Docket EL16-037 that required a proposal to mitigate the potential FCR rate volatility associated with the unrecovered amount in the balancing account. Xcel Energy proposes to amortize the unrecovered balance over a period of five months from October 2017 through February 2018.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve Xcel Energy’s proposal to vary from their established FCR tariff on less than 30 days’ notice, effective October 1, 2017? AND, shall the Commission approve the proposed proxy pricing methodology to recover the energy costs associated with the Aurora project? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?
Natural Gas
1. NG17-012 In the Matter of the Filing by NorthWestern Corporation dba NorthWestern Energy for Approval of its Gas Transportation Tariff Revisions Regarding Fuel Retention Percentage (Staff Analyst: Eric Paulson; Staff Attorney: Kristen Edwards)
On August 28, 2017, the Commission received a filing from NorthWestern Corporation dba NorthWestern Energy (NorthWestern). This filing proposes to update Sheet No. 6.2 in Section No. 5 of NorthWestern’s filed natural gas tariff. NorthWestern’s tariff provides that the Fuel Retention Percentage is to be updated annually and be effective October 1 each year. NorthWestern also proposes to update the fuel rate for customers with an average daily therm usage greater than 30,000. NorthWestern states that customers who fit this high usage criterion are primarily direct connect customers whose gas system is not subject to the normal losses in a distribution system. NorthWestern seeks an effective date of October 1, 2017.
TODAY, shall the Commission approve the proposed tariff revisions effective October 1, 2017?
Telecommunications
1. TC17-044 In the Matter of the Request of Clarity Telecom, LLC dba Vast Broadband Study Area: ILEC–391652 and CLEC–399006 for Certification Regarding its Use of Federal Universal Service Support (Staff Analyst: Lorena Reichert; Staff Attorney: Kristen Edwards)
On June 30, 2017, the Commission received an application from Clarity Telecom, LLC dba Vast Broadband 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 11, 2017, the Company responded to Staff’s data requests. The Commission deferred the matter at the August 29 and September 12, 2017, meetings.
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 for Clarity Telecom, LLC? OR, how shall the Commission proceed?
Items for Commission Discussion
Announcements
- Commissioners will attend the South Dakota Municipal League Annual Conference on October 3-6, 2017, at the Ramkota Hotel & Conference Center, Sioux Falls, S.D.
- The PUC office will be closed Monday, October 9, 2017, in observance of the Native American Day holiday.
- The next regularly scheduled commission meeting will be Tuesday, October 11, 2017, at 1:30 p.m. CDT in Room 413 at the State Capitol Building, Pierre, S.D.
- Commission meetings are scheduled for October 24 and November 7, 2017.
/s/Cindy Kemnitz .
Cindy Kemnitz
Finance Manager
PUC Email
September 19, 2017
