2007 Wholesale Power Rate Case Final Proposal : Section 7(b)(2) Rate Test Study and Documentation.
Section 7(b)(2) of the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act (Northwest Power Act), 16 U.S.C. {section} 839e(b)(2), directs the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to conduct, after July 1, 1985, a comparison of the projected rates to be charged its preference and Federal agency customers for their firm power requirements, over the rate test period plus the ensuing 4 years, with the costs of power (hereafter called rates) to those customers for the same time period if certain assumptions are made. The effect of this rate test is to protect BPA's preference and Federal agency customers wholesale firm power rates from certain specified costs resulting from certain provisions of the Northwest Power Act. The rate test can result in a reallocation of costs from the general requirements loads of preference and Federal agency customers to other BPA loads. The rate test involves the projection and comparison of two sets of wholesale power rates for the general requirement loads of BPA's public body, cooperative, and Federal agency customers (collectively, the 7(b)(2) Customers). The two sets of rates are: (1) a set for the test period and the ensuing four years assuming that Section 7(b)(2) is not in effect (known as Program Case rates); and (2) a set for the same period taking into account the five assumptions listed in section 7(b)(2) (known as 7(b)(2) Case rates). Certain specified costs allocated pursuant to section 7(g) of the Northwest Power Act are subtracted from the Program Case rates. Next, each nominal rate is discounted to the beginning of the test period of the relevant rate case. The discounted Program Case rates are averaged, as are the 7(b)(2) Case rates. Both averages are rounded to the nearest tenth of a mill for comparison. If the average of the Program Case rates is greater than the average of the 7(b)(2) Case rates, the rate test triggers. The difference between the average of the Program Case rates and the average of the 7(b)(2) Case rates determines the amount to be reallocated from the 7(b)(2) Customers to other BPA loads in the rate test period. The purpose of this Study is to describe the application of the ''Section 7(b)(2) Implementation Methodology (Implementation Methodology)'' and the results of such application. The accompanying Section 7(b)(2) Rate Test Study Documentation, WP-07-FS-BPA-06A, contains the documentation of the computer models and data used to perform the 7(b)(2) rate test. This Study is organized into three major sections. The first section provides an introduction to the study, as well as a summary of the section ''7(b)(2) Legal Interpretation and Implementation Methodology''. The second section describes the methodology used in conducting the rate test. It provides a discussion of the calculations performed to project the two sets of power rates that are compared in the rate test. The third section presents a summary of the results of the rate test for the WP-07 Final Rate Proposal.
- Research Organization:
- Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), Portland, OR (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- WP-07-FS-BPA-06; WP-07-FS-BPA-06A
- OSTI ID:
- 899504
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BP-3727; TRN: US200709%%95
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Section 7(b)(2) rate test study -- Section 7(b)(2) rate test study documentation.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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