OAR 345-023-0030: System Reliability Rule for Electric Transmission Lines

The Council shall find that the applicant has demonstrated need for an electric transmission line that is an energy facility under the definition in ORS 469.300 if the Council finds that: (1) The facility is needed to enable the transmission system of which it is to be a part to meet firm capacity demands for electricity or firm annual electricity sales that are reasonably expected to occur within five years of the facility's proposed in-service date based on weather conditions that have at least a 5 percent chance of occurrence in any year in the area to be served by the facility; (2) The facility is consistent with the applicable mandatory and enforceable North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Reliability Standards as they apply either internally or externally to a utility system; and (3) Construction and operation of the facility is an economically reasonable method of meeting the requirements of sections (1) and (2) compared to the alternatives evaluated in the application for a site certificate. (4) If the applicant chooses to demonstrate need for a proposed electric transmission line under OAR 345-023-0030, they must submit the following additional information: (a) Load-resource balance tables for the area to be served by the proposed facility. In the tables, the applicant must include firm capacity demands and existing and committed firm resources for each of the years from the date of submission of the application to at least five years after the expected in-service date of the facility; (b) Within the tables described in (a), a forecast of firm capacity demands for electricity and firm annual electricity sales for the area to be served by the proposed facility. The applicant must separate firm capacity demands and firm annual electricity sales into loads of retail customers, system losses, reserve margins and each wholesale contract for firm sale. In the forecast, the applicant must include a discussion of how the forecast incorporates reductions in firm capacity demand and firm annual electricity sales resulting from: (A) Existing federal, state or local building codes, and equipment standards and conservation programs required by law for the area to be served by the proposed facility; (B) Conservation programs provided by the energy supplier, as defined in OAR 345-001-0010; (C) Conservation that results from responses to price; and (D) Retail customer fuel choice; (c) Within the tables described in (a), a forecast of existing and committed firm resources used to meet the demands described in (b). The applicant must include, as existing and committed firm resources, existing generation and transmission facilities, firm contract resources and committed new resources minus expected resource retirements or displacement. In the forecast, the applicant must list each resource separately; (d) A discussion of the reasons each resource is being retired or displaced if the forecast described in (c) includes expected retirements or displacements; (e) A discussion of the annual capacity factors assumed for any generating facilities listed in the forecast described in (c); (f) A discussion of the reliability criteria the applicant uses to demonstrate the proposed facility is needed, considering the load carrying capability of existing transmission system facilities supporting the area to be served by the proposed facility; (g) A discussion of reasons why the proposed facility is economically reasonable compared to the alternatives described below. In the discussion, the applicant must include a table showing the amounts of firm capacity and firm annual electricity available from the proposed facility and each alternative and the estimated direct cost, as defined in OAR 345-001-0010, of the proposed facility and each alternative. The applicant must include documentation of assumptions and calculations supporting the table. The applicant must evaluate alternatives to construction and operation of the proposed facility that include, but are not limited to: (A) Implementation of cost-effective conservation, peak load management and voluntary customer interruption as a substitute for the proposed facility; (B) Construction and operation of electric generating facilities as a substitute for the proposed facility; (C) Direct use of natural gas, solar or geothermal resources at retail loads as a substitute for use of electricity transmitted by the proposed facility; (D) Adding standard sized smaller or larger transmission line capacity; (h) The earliest and latest expected in-service dates of the facility and a discussion of the circumstances of the energy supplier, as defined in OAR 345-001-0010, that determine these dates.