Okla. Admin. Code § 165:45-23-4

Current through Vol. 42, No. 4, November 1, 2024

Section 165:45-23-4 - Demand portfolio submission and implementation

(a) All natural gas utilities under rate regulation of the Commission having more than 25,000 meters in the state of Oklahoma shall propose, at least once every three years, and be responsible for the administration and implementation of a Demand Portfolio of Demand Programs within their service territories. Such proposals shall be made by filing an application with the Commission on or before May 1 of the year the programs will be effective. The application shall describe the Demand Portfolio and contain the following information:

(1) A description of the intent of the Demand Portfolio as a whole;

(2) A description of the intent of each Demand Program;

(3) A description and quantification of the target market of each Demand Program, differentiated by customer sectors;

(4) A base line describing the state of the market that each program is intended to address, taking into account applicable building energy codes and appliance and equipment energy standards;

(5) A description of the barriers to investment in energy efficiency in the absence of each Demand Program and the ways each Demand Program will reduce or eliminate these barriers;

(6) A description of research and public input that contributed to the development of the content of each Demand Program;

(7) A report of the cost-effectiveness of each Demand Program and the Demand Portfolio, including program and measure-level supporting data which shall include, but not be limited to, cost-effectiveness screening assumptions of gross and net energy savings, participation and/or measure unit numbers, inducement levels, measure cost, and other non-inducement program costs;

(8) A detailed description of the derivation of the energy, generation, and transmission and distribution avoided costs, retail cost projections, reserve margins, discount rates, and average and peak line loss assumptions used in the cost-effectiveness calculations;

(9) A description of how each Demand Program is expected to change over its course to reflect expected changes in market penetration, technology, and other market information, as well as lessons learned;

(10) A plan for evaluation, measurement, and verification of performance and results of the Demand Portfolio and each program, including a plan for the use of deemed savings, if applicable, or the use of statistical sampling, if applicable, or the use of metering, where appropriate; provided that costs associated with the EM&V plan shall not exceed five percent (5%) of the total three-year Demand Portfolio budget;

(11) A plan for evaluation of the market effects of each Demand Program or applicable group of programs;

(12) A plan for evaluation of administration and implementation of each Demand Program or applicable group of programs;

(13) A plan for ending a Demand Program, if applicable;

(14) A process for amending a Demand Program;

(15) An annual budget for each Demand Program, providing detail for program costs, and differentiating evaluation, measurement, and verification costs from other program costs;

(16) A report on how the Demand Portfolio is expected to affect rates, sales, average bills and total revenue requirement for each customer sector;

(17) A report on how the Demand Portfolio will meet savings goals that may be in place at the time of filing and or that are otherwise proposed in the filing;

(18) An estimate of the expected savings in natural gas usage, with location information about the source of savings, if savings are not expected to be evenly distributed throughout the utility system;

(19) A detailed explanation of the utility's request for recovery of prudently incurred program costs, recoupment of lost net revenue, and any additional incentives the utility proposes it requires to make the programs workable;

(20) Identification of the Demand Portfolio administrator, including name, job title, business postal address, business electronic mail address, and business telephone number; and

(b) Demand Portfolios shall:

(1) Contain Demand Programs for all customer sectors;

(2) Strike a balance among procuring natural gas savings, educating the public, and transforming markets for energy efficiency;

(3) Include standard offers to customers and trade allies to encourage simple ways to participate, where appropriate;

(4) Contain customized opportunities for energy efficiency among larger customers;

(5) Not include programs or measures that promote fuel switching, with the exception of :

(A) programs or measures that promote renewable technologies such as biomass-derived methane, geothermal, solar and other renewable resources; or

(B) in the event after notice and hearing, such programs or measures are shown to promote the goals of the Commission pursuant to this Subchapter and/or otherwise to be in the public interest;

(6) Have an implementation schedule of no more than three years;

(7) Address opportunities presented by new construction and renovation;

(8) Promote comprehensive energy efficiency in buildings; and

(9) Address programs for low-income customers and hard-to-reach customers to assure proportionate Demand Programs are deployed in these customer groups despite higher barriers to energy efficiency investments. Programs targeted to low-income or hard-to-reach customers may have lower threshold cost-effectiveness results than other programs.

(c) Demand portfolios may:

(1) Include research and development and pilot programs that would lead to effective Demand Programs or other energy end use efficiency for Oklahoma so long as the total budget for such programs does not exceed five percent of the total budget for Demand Programs and the Commission finds the cost-effectiveness for the Demand Portfolio remains sufficient;

(2) Encourage utility cooperation in state, regional and national programs that have the potential to save natural gas in Oklahoma;

(3) Encourage utility cooperation in state, regional and national programs to take advantage of economies of scale, provide consistent mass media messages, or otherwise improve program administration or customer acceptance ; and

(4) Encourage utility cooperation in state, regional and national efforts to accelerate the development and improve the enforcement of building energy codes and product efficiency standards.

(d) Natural gas utilities having fewer than 25,000 meters in this state are exempt from filing application requirements in subsections (a) through (c); however, each qualifying natural gas utility shall submit to the director of the Public Utility Division for review, evidence of why it is not economically feasible to file the application requirements in subsections (a) through (c), and shall submit the following as evidence to further the goals of this Subchapter:

(1) A description of the Demand Programs that are economically feasible to implement; and

(2) The target market of each Demand Program.

(e) Transportation customers shall not be subject to Demand Programsand related Program costs implemented pursuant to this Subchapter.

Okla. Admin. Code § 165:45-23-4

Added at 26 Ok Reg 1856, eff 6-25-09

Amended by Oklahoma Register, Volume 31, Issue 24, September 2, 2014, eff. 1/1/2017