[Federal Register: May 5, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 87)]
[Notices]
[Page 24592-24594]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr05my08-473]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Western Area Power Administration
2015 Resource Pool
AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE.
ACTION: Notice of Proposed 2015 Resource Pool Size and Revised
Eligibility Criteria.
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SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal
power marketing administration of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE),
published its 2004 Power Marketing Plan (Marketing Plan) for Western's
Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region (SNR) in the Federal Register on
June 25, 1999 (64 FR 34417). The Marketing Plan specifies the terms and
conditions under which Western will market power from the Central
Valley Project (CVP) and the Washoe Project beginning January 1, 2005,
and continuing through December 31, 2024. The Marketing Plan provides
for a 2015 Resource Pool of up to 2 percent of SNR's marketable power
resources. The 2015 Resource Pool will be available for power
allocations to preference entities that meet the Eligibility Criteria.
This notice begins the public process to establish the resources
available and to revise the Eligibility Criteria provided in the
Marketing Plan for the 2015 Resource Pool. Once Western establishes the
final amount of power to be made available under the 2015 Resource Pool
and the associated Eligibility Criteria, preference entities who wish
to apply for an allocation of power from SNR must submit formal
applications in response to Western's Call for 2015 Resource Pool
Applications to be published under a separate notice.
DATES: Entities interested in submitting comments on Western's Proposed
2015 Resource Pool size and revised Eligibility Criteria must submit
comments to the SNR office at the address below. To ensure
consideration, comments must be received by the end of the comment
period which closes at 4 p.m. PST on July 7, 2008. The public comment
forum date is: May 21, 2008, 1 p.m. PST, Folsom, CA. Please refer to
Western's Web page http://www.wapa.gov/sn/marketing/
2015ResourcePool.asp for additional information including updates to
the date, time, and location of the forum.
ADDRESSES: Western will hold the public comment forum at the Lake
Natoma Inn, 702 Gold Lake Drive, Folsom, CA. Written comments can be
mailed to Ms. Sonja A. Anderson, Power Marketing Manager, Sierra Nevada
Region, Western Area Power Administration, 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom,
CA 95630-4710, e-mail sanderso@wapa.gov. Oral comments must be
presented at the public comment forum which will be held on May 21,
2008.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Jeanne Haas, Power Contracts and
Energy Services Manager, Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region, Western
Area Power Administration, 114 Parkshore Drive, Folsom, CA 95630-4710,
telephone (916) 353-4438, e-mail haas@wapa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
The Marketing Plan provides that, effective January 1, 2015,
Western will reduce all Customers' allocations by up to 2 percent to
establish a 2015 Resource Pool. In addition, the Marketing Plan
explains that as a result of a settlement, the Sacramento Municipal
Utility District (SMUD) did not contribute to the 2005 Resource Pool.
Beginning in 2015, SMUD's percentage will be adjusted pursuant to the
Marketing Plan to be consistent with all other Existing Customers, and
the percentage it did not provide to the 2005 Resource Pool will be
included in the 2015 Resource Pool. Western is starting the public
process for the allocation of the 2015 Resource Pool now to ensure that
Customers have adequate time to secure power and delivery arrangements
to start on January 1, 2015.
CVP power facilities include 11 powerplants with a maximum
operating capability of about 2,044 megawatts (MW) and an estimated
average annual generation of 4.6 million megawatthours (MWh). Western
markets and transmits the power available from the CVP.
The Washoe Project's Stampede Powerplant has a maximum operating
capability of 3.65 MW with an estimated annual generation of 10,000
MWh. The Sierra Pacific Power Company owns and operates the only
transmission system available for access to the Stampede Powerplant.
Western owns the 94 circuit-mile Malin-Round Mountain, 500-kilovolt
(kV) Transmission Line (an integral section of the Pacific Northwest-
Pacific Southwest Alternating Current Intertie), 803 circuit miles of
230-kV transmission line, 7 circuit miles of 115-kV transmission line,
and 44 circuit miles of 69-kV and below transmission line. Western also
has part ownership in the 342-mile California-Oregon Transmission
Project and owns the 84-mile Path 15 Upgrade Project. Many of Western's
Customers have no direct
[[Page 24593]]
access to Western's transmission lines and receive service over
transmission lines owned by other utilities.
The Marketing Plan describes how SNR will market its power
resources beginning January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2024. The
Marketing Plan requires Western to establish a Resource Pool and to
reallocate an amount of power for the period of January 1, 2015,
through December 31, 2024. This public process will determine the exact
amount of power Western will reallocate and revises the Eligibility
Criteria the entities must meet to qualify for an allocation of power
from Western during this period. After or simultaneous to publishing
its final decision on the 2015 Resource Pool size and revised
Eligibility Criteria, Western will publish a Call for 2015 Resource
Pool Applications in this Federal Register notice which will begin the
formal allocation process. The Marketing Plan will continue in full
force and effect and will govern the formal allocation process.
However, Western will apply the revised Eligibility Criteria developed
through this process for the 2015 Resource Pool. Entities interested in
an allocation of power from SNR must apply pursuant to the Call for
2015 Resource Pool Applications.
Acronyms and Definitions
CRD: Contract Rate of Delivery: The maximum amount of capacity made
available to a Customer for a period specified under a contract.
Customer: A preference customer who has a contract to purchase
power under the Marketing Plan.
Eligibility Criteria: Conditions that must be met to qualify for an
allocation.
Existing Customer: A preference customer who had a contract to
purchase firm power offered under a previous allocation process or
Marketing Plan that extended through December 31, 2004. Note: the
definition includes those entities who succeeded in interest to an
Existing Customer; e.g., if Western approved the assignment of an
Existing Customer's Federal power allocation to another preference
customer, the assigned Federal power falls within the definition.
Extension CRD: An Existing Customer's CRD exclusive of diversity
and curtailable power and peaking/excess capacity, as it may be
adjusted in accordance with the Marketing Plan.
2015 Resource Pool Size
As described in the Marketing Plan, effective January 1, 2015,
Western will recalculate the percentages of all Customers. For the
period of January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2024, Western will
derive each Customer's new percentage in the manner described below.
Pursuant to the procedures established in the Marketing Plan,
Western will determine the amount of Federal resources available for
the 2015 Resource Pool in the following steps:
1. Western will adjust SMUD's allocation to be consistent with the
other Existing Customers. In other words, the Marketing Plan requires
Western to adjust SMUD's Base Resource percentages to equal what SMUD
would have been required to contribute to the 2005 Resource Pool.
Western will then adjust the ratio of each Existing Customer's
Extension CRD to the total of all Existing Customers' Extension CRD.
This step reflects what each Existing Customer's allocation percentage
would have been beginning January 1, 2005, if not for the Settlement
Agreement with SMUD. Beginning January 1, 2015, SMUD will be treated
as, and included with, all of the Existing Customers.
2. Once the Existing Customers' allocation percentages have been
adjusted as indicated in paragraph 1 above, Western will then reduce
each Existing Customer's right to purchase the Base Resource by 4
percent. This step reflects the amount that the Existing Customers
would have been required to contribute to the 2005 Resource Pool if not
for the Settlement Agreement with SMUD.
3. Finally, Western proposes to reduce all Customers' right to
purchase the Base Resource by an additional 2 percent to create the
2015 Resource Pool. To clarify, this 2 percent reduction applies to all
Customers, including those that received an allocation under the
Marketing Plan through the 2005 Resource Pool.
The Marketing Plan provides for Western to reduce all Customers'
allocations by up to 2 percent. Western is proposing to reduce all
Customers' Base Resource percentage by 2 percent to provide for a 2015
Resource Pool sufficient to promote wide-spread use of Federal power.
Through this Federal Register notice, Western is seeking comments on
the proposed 2 percent reduction in its Customers' allocations.
Revised Eligibility Criteria
The Marketing Plan established Eligibility Criteria to apply to all
applicants seeking a resource pool allocation, including the following:
Existing Customers may apply for a resource pool allocation if
their Extension CRD, set forth in Appendix A [of the Marketing Plan
Federal Register 64 FR 34417], is not more than 15 percent of their
peak load in the calendar year prior to the Call for Applications,
and not more than 10 MW.
Western is proposing to delete the paragraph above from its
Eligibility Criteria. Western believes that this criterion may be too
restrictive to ensure full subscription of its resources. Further, the
2015 Resource Pool is based on a percentage of the Base Resource. The
2005 Resource Pool was determined from an Extension CRD which is no
longer applicable. Western seeks comments on the change it is proposing
to the Eligibility Criteria applicable under the Marketing Plan for
applicants seeking an allocation of the 2015 Resource Pool.
Proposed 2015 Resource Pool Size and Revised Eligibility Criteria
The proposed 2015 Resource Pool size and revised Eligibility
Criteria are preliminary and may be changed based on comments received.
This Federal Register notice formally requests comments related to
Western's proposals. Western will respond to comments received on the
2015 Resource Pool size and revised Eligibility Criteria and publish
its final decision on the 2015 Resource Pool size and revised
Eligibility Criteria after the end of the public comment period. After,
or simultaneous to, publishing its final decision on the 2015 Resource
Pool size and revised Eligibility Criteria, Western will publish a Call
for Application in the Federal Register which will begin the formal
allocation process. The Marketing Plan will continue in full force and
effect and will govern the formal allocation process. However, Western
will apply the revised Eligibility Criteria developed through this
process for the 2015 Resource Pool.
Authorities
The Marketing Plan for marketing power by SNR after 2004, published
in the Federal Register (64 FR 34417) on June 25, 1999, was established
pursuant to the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7101-
7352); the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902 (ch. 1093, 32 Stat. 388),
as amended and supplemented by subsequent enactments, particularly
section 9(c) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 (43 U.S.C. 485(c));
and other acts specifically applicable to the projects involved. This
action falls within the Marketing Plan and, thus, is covered by the
same authority.
[[Page 24594]]
Regulatory Procedure Requirements
Environmental Compliance
In compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321, et seq.); the Council on Environmental Quality
Regulations for implementing NEPA (40 CFR parts 1500-1508); and DOE
NEPA implementing regulations (10 CFR part 1021), Western completed an
environmental impact statement (EIS) on its Energy Planning and
Management Program. The Record of Decision was published in the Federal
Register (60 FR 53181, October 12, 1995). Western also completed the
2004 Power Marketing Program EIS (2004 EIS), and the Record of Decision
was published in the Federal Register (62 FR 22934, April 28, 1997).
The Marketing Plan falls within the range of alternatives considered in
the 2004 EIS. This NEPA review identified and analyzed environmental
effects related to the Marketing Plan. This action falls within the
Marketing Plan and, thus, is covered by the 2004 EIS.
Determination Under Executive Order 12866
Western has an exemption from centralized regulatory review under
Executive Order 12866; accordingly, no clearance of this notice by the
Office of Management and Budget is required.
Dated: April 22, 2008.
Timothy J. Meeks,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. E8-9816 Filed 5-2-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P