OAR 860-025-0030: Petitions for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Construction of Overhead Transmission Lines

(1) Petitions under ORS 758.015, for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct an overhead transmission line that will necessitate a condemnation of land or an interest therein, must be filed in accordance with OAR 860-001-0170. (2) Petitions under ORS 758.015 must contain the following information: (a) The information required under ORS 758.015 and the additional information set forth in this rule; (b) A thorough description of the information listed in subsection (c) of this rule, including but not limited to the proposed route, voltage and capacity of the line. The description must include a comprehensive narrative that provides sufficient detail to enable a full understanding of the public convenience, necessity and justification in the public interest for the proposed transmission line and the benefits to be derived therefrom, and to enable a determination of its safety and practicability under normal and emergency conditions, as well as the foreseeable or potential consequences of not building the proposed transmission line; (c) A map or maps that are drawn to appropriate scale and show appropriate distinguishing colors and symbols to depict the following information: (A) A general location and boundaries of petitioner's service area to be connected or served by the proposed transmission line; (B) Proposed route, voltage and capacity of the proposed transmission line; (C) Available alternate transmission line routes analyzed by petitioner, if any; (D) Other transmission lines and substations of petitioner connecting, serving or capable of being adopted to connect or serve the areas covered by the proposed transmission line, if any; (E) The terminals, substations, sources of energy, and load centers, existing or proposed, related to the proposed transmission line and its intended operation, including the proposed transmission line itself; (F) Each parcel of land that the petitioner has either acquired or has determined it should acquire an interest in to construct and operate the transmission line. The parcels of land that the petitioner has determined it should acquire an interest in must be clearly marked, and must clearly show the general contour, uses, and improvements along that portion of the proposed route, inclusive of structures and agricultural uses; (d) An estimate of both already incurred and forecasted costs of developing the transmission line project, including: (A) Parcels of land that petitioner determines it should obtain an interest in for which condemnation is assumed to be necessary at the time of the petition; (B) Other parcels of land and any interests therein acquired or to be acquired; (C) Transmission facilities, including but not limited to, poles, lines, substations, accessory and miscellaneous labor, plant, and equipment inclusive of any communication apparatus and environmental mitigations; (D) Indirect and overhead costs including engineering, legal expense, taxes, interest during construction, and itemized administrative and general expenses; (E) Any other costs, direct or indirect, relating to the transmission line project including but not limited to operating and maintenance costs of the project; (F) Explanation of the foregoing cost estimates as needed to enable a full understanding of their basis and derivation; (e) An explanation of the financial feasibility of the proposed transmission line, including any expected costs, revenues, and financing tools; (f) A description of the parcels of land that petitioner determines it should obtain an interest in and for which condemnation is assumed to be necessary at the time of the petition, a full explanation of the intended use, and the specific necessity and convenience of each. The description must be accompanied by the names and addresses of all persons who have interests, known or of record, in the land to be physically impacted or traversed by the proposed route from whom petitioner has not yet acquired the interest, rights of way or option therefor. Petitioner must include with the petition certification verifying that notice of the petition has been mailed to said persons; (g) A statement and explanation with supporting data comparable to that described in subsections (d) and (e) of this section for possible alternative routes analyzed by petitioner; (h) Such additional information as petitioner determines is necessary for a full understanding of the petition; (i) A summary of petitioner's plan to ensure compliance with applicable Commission rules, including but not limited to OAR Chapter 860, Division 24, and other safety standards for the safe construction, operation and maintenance of the transmission line. Petitioner must include a certificate executed by an authorized representative of petitioner affirming that it will adhere to the applicable Commission rules and other applicable safety standards for construction operation and maintenance of the transmission line. The representative's certificate must be a sworn statement under ORS 162.055 attesting to the truth of the certification; (j) Estimated revenue requirement impact. At a minimum, petitioner must include an estimate of the levelized, annual revenue requirement of the transmission line as a percentage of its estimated annual revenue requirement. A revenue requirement estimate provided under this rule may be used solely for the purposes of evaluating the petition; (k) Public benefits and costs of the transmission line, if any, that are reasonably known to petitioner, including but not limited to: (A) Costs and benefits to petitioner's Oregon customers and customers of other Oregon utilities and to Oregonians in general; (B) Costs and benefits that the proposed transmission line will provide related to connection to regional and inter-regional grids; (l) A review of and reference to regulatory approvals and reviews that concern, analyze or otherwise discuss the proposed transmission line, such as an integrated resource plan acknowledgement, other short- or long-term planning documents, construction work plans filed with a regulatory body, and any relevant site certificate issued by the Energy Facility Siting Council; (m) The most recent load forecasts available to petitioner supporting need for the line. The load forecasts shall, when feasible, include a load forecast of at least 10 years, and an accompanying narrative explaining the kind, nature, extent, and estimated growth of the energy requirements or reasonably anticipated need, load or demand, as relevant to the proposed transmission line; (n) An evaluation of available alternatives to construction of the transmission line, including but not limited to conservation measures, non-wires alternatives, and construction of one or more lower-voltage single or multi-circuit lines. The petitioner may make reference to relevant sections of its most recent integrated resource plan (IRP) filed under OAR 860-027-0400, local transmission plans, or a planning document substantially equivalent to an IRP; (o) All electrical engineering studies and reliability or resiliency analyses known to the petitioner at the time the petition is submitted, whether performed by the petitioner or other entities supporting the necessity of the transmission line when relevant, including those addressing single and multiple contingencies; (p) A narrative that identifies all land use approvals and permits required for construction of the transmission line. This narrative must include information on whether petitioner has submitted an application for each approval or permit, the status of all such applications, and an explanation as to why petitioner did not obtain any pending or outstanding approvals or permits before submitting a petition under this rule as applicable, including anticipated timelines for issuance of any pending or outstanding approvals and permits, and the section of OAR 860-025-0040 under which the petitioner seeks to demonstrate compliance with that rule; (q) When filing a petition, a petitioner must also certify that it has concurrently submitted its responses to the most recent version of the Standard Data Requests for Petitions for Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity, developed by Staff and available on the Commission’s website. (3) A petition may not be filed under this rule unless the petitioner includes with the petition all necessary documentation to support a finding under OAR 860-025-0040(2) or (7), or files a request for a waiver as described in OAR 860-025-0030(4). (4) If the petitioner cannot obtain, or has not yet obtained all necessary documentation to support a finding under OAR 860-025-0040(2) or (7), the petitioner must submit a request for a waiver of section (3) of this rule in advance of or concurrent with the petition. If filed concurrently, the petitioner will provide notice that the petition includes a request for waiver at the time of filing. The OAR 860-025-0030(3) waiver request must include: (a) The identification of whether the waiver request pertains to OAR 860-025-0040(2) or (7), and a list of all necessary documentation that the petitioner cannot obtain, or has not yet obtained at the time of filing; (b) An explanation that clearly and comprehensively explains the grounds for the waiver, including a narrative of why the required documentation cannot be obtained, or has not yet been obtained, along with any reliable evidence to support and verify the petitioner’s claim that such documentation cannot be obtained or demonstrates when the petitioner expects to obtain all land use approvals, permits or equivalent before the Commission makes its final decision on the petition, and that the petitioner is requesting that the Commission consider the petition concurrently with the identified approval and permit processes; (c) In the event that the petitioner seeks a waiver for OAR 860-025-0040(2); the petitioner shall indicate clearly whether it requests that the Commission make its findings under OAR 860-025-0040(2) or (6); (d) In the event that the petitioner requests that the Commission make its finding under OAR 860-025-0040(7), the petitioner will provide information from the relevant, pending Energy Facilities Siting Council (EFSC) proceeding to demonstrate that EFSC approval is being sought; (e) A case management proposal for conducting the CPCN process before the conclusion of any land use approval or permitting processes that will promote efficient use of Commission resources and avoid duplicative or wasted effort. (5) Staff will promptly review the waiver request: (a) If Staff finds the waiver request is reasonable and adequately supported, Staff will recommend the Commission approve the waiver request at a public meeting; or (b) If Staff finds the waiver request is not supported by good cause, Staff will recommend the Commission deny the request at a public meeting. Staff will further recommend the Commission make a finding that the petition is incomplete without the inclusion of identified information and that it will not be considered by the Commission, pursuant to OAR 860-025-0030(3).