Resource Acquisition Strategy Selection

PURPOSE: This rule requires the utility to select a preferred resource plan, develop an implementation plan, and officially adopt a resource acquisition strategy. The rule also requires the utility to prepare contingency plans and evaluate the demand-side resources that are included in the resource acquisition strategy. (1) The utility shall select a preferred resource plan from among the alternative resource plans that have been analyzed pursuant to the requirements of 4 CSR 24022.060. The utility shall describe and document the process used to select the preferred resource plan, including the relative weights given to the various performance measures and the rationale used by utility decisionmakers to judge the appropriate tradeoffs between competing planning objectives and between expected performance and risk. The utility shall provide the names, titles, and roles of the utility decision–makers in the preferred resource plan selection process. The preferred resource plan shall satisfy at least the following conditions: (A) In the judgment of utility decisionmakers, strike an appropriate balance between the various planning objectives specified in 4 CSR 240-22.010(2); (B) Invest in advanced transmission and distribution technologies unless, in the judgment of the utility decision-makers, investing in those technologies to upgrade transmission and/or distribution networks is not in the public interest; (C) Utilize demand-side resources to the maximum amount that comply with legal mandates and, in the judgment of the utility decision-makers, are consistent with the public interest and achieve state energy policies; and (D) In the judgment of the utility decisionmakers, the preferred plan, in conjunction with the deployment of emergency demand response measures and access to short-term and emergency power supplies, has sufficient resources to serve load forecasted under extreme weather conditions pursuant to 4 CSR 240-22.030(8)(B) for the implementation period. If the utility cannot affirm the sufficiency of resources, it shall consider an alternative resource plan or modifications to its preferred resource plan that can meet extreme weather conditions. (2) The utility shall specify the ranges or combinations of outcomes for the critical uncertain factors that define the limits within which the preferred resource plan is judged to be appropriate and explain how these limits were determined. The utility shall also describe and document its assessment of whether, and under what circumstances, other uncertain factors associated with the preferred resource plan could materially affect the performance of the preferred resource plan relative to alternative resource plans. (3) The utility shall describe and document its quantification of the expected value of better information concerning at least the critical uncertain factors that affect the performance of the preferred resource plan, as measured by the present value of utility revenue requirements. The utility shall provide a tabulation of the key quantitative results of that analysis and a discussion of how those findings will be incorporated in ongoing research activities. (4) The utility shall describe and document its contingency resource plans in preparation for the possibility that the preferred resource plan should cease to be appropriate, whether due to the limits identified pursuant to 4 CSR 240-22.070(2) being exceeded or for any other reason. (A) The utility shall identify as contingency resource plans those alternative resource plans that become preferred if the critical uncertain factors exceed the limits developed pursuant to section (2). (B) The utility shall develop a process to pick among alternative resource plans, or to revise the alternative resource plans as necessary, to help ensure reliable and low cost service should the preferred resource plan no longer be appropriate for any reason. The utility may also use this process to confirm the viability of contingency resource plans identified pursuant to subsection (4)(A). (C) Each contingency resource plan shall satisfy the fundamental objective in 4 CSR 240-22.010(2) and the specific requirements pursuant to 4 CSR 240-22.070(1). (5) Analysis of Load-Building Programs. If the utility intends to continue existing loadbuilding programs or implement new ones, it shall analyze these programs in the context of one (1) or more of the alternative resource plans developed pursuant to 4 CSR 24022.060(3) of this rule, including the preferred resource plan selected pursuant to 4 CSR 240-22.070(1). This analysis shall use the same modeling procedure and assumptions described in 4 CSR 240-22.060(4). The utility shall describe and document— (A) Its analysis of load building programs, including the following elements: 1. Estimation of the impact of loadbuilding programs on the electric utility’s summer and winter peak demands and energy usage; 2. A comparison of annual average rates in each year of the planning horizon for the resource plan(s) with and without the loadbuilding program; 3. A comparison of the probable environmental costs of the resource plan(s) in each year of the planning horizon with and without the proposed load-building program; 4. A calculation of the performance measures and risk by year; and 5. An assessment of any other aspects of the proposed load-building programs that affect the public interest; and (B) All current and proposed load-building programs, a discussion of why these programs are judged to be in the public interest, and, for all resource plans that include these programs, plots of the following over the planning horizon: 1. Annual average rates with and without the load-building programs; and 2. Annual utility costs and probable environmental costs with and without the load-building programs. (6) The utility shall develop an implementation plan that specifies the major tasks, schedules, and milestones necessary to implement the preferred resource plan over the implementation period. The utility shall describe and document its implementation plan, which shall contain— (A) A schedule and description of ongoing and planned research activities to update and improve the quality of data used in load analysis and forecasting; (B) A schedule and description of ongoing and planned demand-side programs and demand-side rates, evaluations, and research activities to improve the quality of demandside resources; (C) A schedule and description of all supply-side resource research, engineering, retirement, acquisition, and construction activities, including research to meet expected environmental regulations; (D) Identification of critical paths and major milestones for implementation of each demand-side resource and each supply-side resource, including decision points for committing to major expenditures; (E) A description of adequate competitive procurement policies to be used in the acquisition and development of supply-side resources; (F) A process for monitoring the critical uncertain factors on a continuous basis and reporting significant changes in a timely fashion to those managers or officers who have the authority to direct the implementation of contingency resource plans when the specified limits for uncertain factors are exceeded; and (G) A process for monitoring the progress made implementing the preferred resource plan in accordance with the schedules and milestones set out in the implementation plan and for reporting significant deviations in a timely fashion to those managers or officers who have the authority to initiate corrective actions to ensure the resources are implemented as scheduled. (7) The utility shall develop, describe and document, officially adopt, and implement a resource acquisition strategy. This means that the utility’s resource acquisition strategy shall be formally approved by an officer of the utility who has been duly delegated the authority to commit the utility to the course of action described in the resource acquisition strategy. The officially adopted resource acquisition strategy shall consist of the following components: (A) A preferred resource plan selected pursuant to the requirements of section (1) of this rule; (B) An implementation plan developed pursuant to the requirements of section (6) of this rule; and (C) A set of contingency resource plans developed pursuant to the requirements of section (4) of this rule and identification of the point at which the critical uncertain factors would trigger the utility to move to each contingency resource plan as the preferred resource plan. (8) Evaluation of Demand-Side Programs and Demand–Side Rates. The utility shall describe and document its evaluation plans for all demand-side programs and demand-side rates that are included in the preferred resource plan selected pursuant to 4 CSR 24022.070(1). Evaluation plans required by this section are for planning purposes and are separate and distinct from the evaluation, measurement, and verification reports required by 4 CSR 240-3.163(7) and 4 CSR 24020.093(7); nonetheless, the evaluation plan should, in addition to the requirements of this section, include the proposed evaluation schedule and the proposed approach to achieving the evaluation goals pursuant to 4 CSR 240-3.163(7) and 4 CSR 240-20.093(7). The evaluation plans for each program and rate shall be developed before the program or rate is implemented and shall be filed when the utility files for approval of demand-side programs or demand-side program plans with the tariff application for the program or rate as described in 4 CSR 240-20.094(3). The purpose of these evaluations shall be to develop the information necessary to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and improve the design of existing and future demand-side programs and demand-side rates, to improve the forecasts of customer energy consumption and responsiveness to demand-side programs and demand-side rates, and to gather data on the implementation costs and load impacts of demand-side programs and demand-side rates for use in future cost-effectiveness screening and integrated resource analysis. (A) Process Evaluation. Each demand-side program and demand-side rate that is part of the utility’s preferred resource plan shall be subjected to an ongoing evaluation process which addresses at least the following questions about program design. 1. What are the primary market imperfections that are common to the target market segment? 2. Is the target market segment appropriately defined, or should it be further subdivided or merged with other market segments? 3. Does the mix of end-use measures included in the program appropriately reflect the diversity of end-use energy service needs and existing end-use technologies within the target market segment? 4. Are the communication channels and delivery mechanisms appropriate for the target market segment? 5. What can be done to more effectively overcome the identified market imperfections and to increase the rate of customer acceptance and implementation of each enduse measure included in the program? (B) Impact Evaluation. The utility shall develop methods of estimating the actual load impacts of each demand-side program and demand-side rate included in the utility’s preferred resource plan to a reasonable degree of accuracy. 1. Impact evaluation methods. At a minimum, comparisons of one (1) or both of the following types shall be used to measure program and rate impacts in a manner that is based on sound statistical principles: A. Comparisons of pre-adoption and post-adoption loads of program or demandside rate participants, corrected for the effects of weather and other intertemporal differences; and B. Comparisons between program and demand-side rate participants’ loads and those of an appropriate control group over the same time period. 2. The utility shall develop load-impact measurement protocols that are designed to make the most cost-effective use of the following types of measurements, either individually or in combination: A. Monthly billing data, hourly load data, load research data, end-use load metered data, building and equipment simulation models, and survey responses; or B. Audit and survey data on appliance and equipment type, size and efficiency levels, household or business characteristics, or energy-related building characteristics. (C) The utility shall develop protocols to collect data regarding demand-side program and demand-side rate market potential, participation rates, utility costs, participant costs, and total costs. AUTHORITY: sections 386.040, 386.250, 386.610, and 393.140, RSMo 2000.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240-22.070. Original rule filed June 12, 1992, effective May 6, 1993. Amended: Filed Oct. 25, 2010, effective June 30, 2011. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-22.070, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 386.040, RSMo 1939; 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996; 386.610, RSMo 1939; and 393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949, 1967.