By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Hearings on the Currant Creek plant are scheduled to
begin next week.
Those hearings mean the plan to build a 525-megawatt,
natural gas fired plant near Mona still have a few snags to
overcome in the hearing process.
In addition to the hearings, proposed legislation
governing competitive bidding procedures for electric
generation in the state is being considered by the
legislature.
PacifiCorp chose itself last November to build the
nearly $350 million power plant, called the Currant Creek
project, from among 79 individual bids.
The power plant must still receive regulatory approval
from the Utah Public Service Commission before it can
actually be built.
Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo has introduced, SB198,
granting rule making authority to the Public Service
Commission in establishing new parameters for competitive
bidding on electric generation.
"Right now all the utility has to do is consider other
proposals, and once they've considered them, then they can
make whatever selection they want," Bramble said.
He said current regulations don't require the utility
to require choose the lowest cost provider.
The most important condition among the new rules would
be an independent evaluator.
That evaluator would be chosen by the Public Service
Commission to oversee competitive bidding against a utility
self-build option.
For the Currant Creek process, the outside evaluator
was chosen by PacifiCorp.
Prevailing rules are such that utilities only make a
return based on their capital investment. The new bill
builds in an incentive mechanism, allowing the utility a
rate of return on power purchase contracts.
PacifiCorp operates as Utah Power in Utah.
The utility opposes the bill.
"It would effectively force Utah Power out of the
power plant building business," said Dave Eskelsen, a
spokesman for Utah Power.
Bramble disagreed. He said, under the current system,
a utility has no incentive to select an outside bidder.
"They're the ones that have to build the power plants,
because that's where they get the return for their
shareholders," said Bramble.
Considering the shareholder did not mean Utah
taxpayers or Utah ratepayers would receive either the lowest
cost or the best options.
PacifiCorp maintains its self-build option for Currant
Creek was $320 million less expensive (over the life of the
plant) than the next-best cost alternative bid it
received.
"We believe that our process was eminently fair and
that Currant Creek was selected because it was the lowest
cost option and best value for customers," Eskelsen said.
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