Rule 515-3-4-.10 - Filing Requirements for a Demand-Side Resource Certificate Amendment(1) The Utility shall submit an amended application for certification (as the certificate is described under Rule 515-3-4-.09) of a full-scale demand-side program in the event that: (a) The implementation schedule has significantly changed;(b) The total cost estimate has been revised, for reasons other than variances in projected participation levels, such that the costs are over the estimates in the approved certificate by more than five percent or some other variation tolerance as specified by the Commission in the approved certificate;(c) Major program design features have changed;(d) The results obtained through program monitoring, process or impact evaluation indicate a necessary change;(e) The load forecast has changed sufficiently such that the need for a resource of the type/size previously approved may or may not be warranted or sufficient; and(f) Any sufficient change in conditions under which the original certificate was approved.(2) The Utility shall file with the Commission twenty-five copies of the certificate amendment application.(3) The application for review and approval of the certificate amendment shall clearly identify: (a) The name of the applicant(s) and address(es) of the principal place of business of the applicant;(b) The name, title, address, voice phone, and facsimile phone number of the person authorized to receive notices and communications with respect to the application;(c) The location(s) that the public may inspect a copy of the application; and(d) Requests by the utility that any information utilized in the plan which the utility deems trade secret be filed in accordance with the Commission's Trade Secret Rule 515-3-1-.11.(4) Hearing and Review of Demand-Side Resource Certificate Amendments. (a) Proceedings. The Commission shall commence a hearing within no sooner than thirty days after receipt of fees related to a utility's completed certificate amendment application;(b) Completeness of the Utility Certificate Amendment Application. The Commission shall determine whether the utility certificate amendment application filing is complete within thirty days following the initial submission of the certificate amendment application by the utility. The Commission will inform the utility of substantive defects in the content of the certificate amendment application filing which would materially affect the Commission's ability to continue the certificate amendment application review process. If the Commission finds as a matter of fact that the utility certificate amendment application is not complete, by Order of the Commission the review process may be stayed until the utility has submitted a complete certificate amendment application.(c) Fees. Within sixty days after receipt of the complete certificate amendment application, the Commission shall establish a fee therefor and notify the applicant. Upon receipt of the fee from the applicant, the Commission shall continue its review of the certificate amendment application.(d) Waiver of Information. If, after a good-faith effort, the utility cannot provide the data required by these rules, the utility must request a waiver, in writing. This request must be filed no less than 60 days prior to the filing of the amendment. The utility must publish in appropriate media of mass dissemination that it has applied for a waiver. The request shall include: 1. Reference to the requirement for information that is the subject of the waiver request;2. An explanation of the reasons the required information was impractical to supply; and3. Proposed substitute information, if applicable; If no waiver is granted, materials must be filed as required by the rules.
(e) Standard for Approval. Based upon the evidence of record presented at the hearing on the certificate amendment application, the Commission shall render a decision either approving the certificate amendment, approving it subject to stated conditions, approving it in part and rejecting it in part, or rejecting it, or providing an alternate capacity resource certificate amendment within one-hundred eighty days of receipt of fees related to the utility's completed certificate amendment application. A utility's certificate amendment shall be approved if found to be in the public interest and to substantially comply with these regulations.(5) The amendment application itself shall contain at a minimum the following information: (a) A statement of how the proposed application is consistent with the most-currently approved Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). If a revised IRP is available, it shall be filed also;(b) A copy of the originally approved certificate, as well as any already approved amendments;(c) A narrative explanation of the circumstances requiring amendment of the certificate;(d) Updated information, as applicable, regarding the demand-side resource, as required by Rule 515-3-4-.09;(e) Updated information, as applicable, regarding the progress of construction or implementation, as required by Rule 515-3-4-.09(3)(e)5; and(f) A cost-benefit analysis covering the estimated useful life of the amended demand-side resource as well as the useful life of the energy efficiency and energy management measures which comprise the demand-side resource, along with a summary comparison of the benefits and costs of other alternatives considered in the preparation of the applicant's IRP, sufficient to demonstrate that the amended resource is economic and reliable.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 515-3-4-.10
Ga. L. 1878-79 p. 125; 1907, pp. 72-81; 1922 pp. 142-147; 1975 pp. 404-412; 1991 pp. 1696-1705.
Original Rule entitled "Filing Requirements for a Demand-Side Resource Certificate Amendment" adopted. F. Dec. 10, 1991; eff. Dec. 30, 1991.Amended: F. Oct. 27, 1997; eff. Nov. 16, 1997.