Request Summary
Transmission Lines for Capacity, Resource Adequacy
Co-sponsors
Description Of Issue
As currently designed, the WRAP program only values transmission insofar as it enables deliverability of Qualifying Resources to satisfy the FS Capacity Requirement as described in the FS Transmission Requirement (BPM 108, 3.1.4). Qualifying Resources sufficient for inclusion in the FS Capacity Requirements so far only include assets traditionally classified or treated as generators (e.g. hydro, wind, solar, gas, coal, storage, DR, BTM; BPM 105). We find certain transmission lines provide substantially equivalent, quantifiable capacity benefits for purposes of WRAP in virtue of participants’ access to the load and resource diversity enabled by these transmission lines.
Proposed Solution
Allow for the inclusion of certain transmission lines as a qualifying resource to be attributed capacity value sufficient for inclusion in participant(s) FS Capacity Requirement.
Specific Document And Language
We defer to the WRAP on what BPM or tariff changes are necessary to affect this change, though we reference certain BPM sections in our cover letter.
Suggested Language Update
Any language which would allow for inclusion of certain transmission lines as a qualifying resource, as described above and in the attached, would be adequate.
Benefits
Appropriately attributing a resource adequacy value to certain transmission lines themselves more accurately reflects utilities’ utilization of the transmission system, the value of transmission to the region, the realities of real-world operations, and utility resource modeling best practice.
Data Or Information
See cover letter attachments.
Casey Baker, GridLab, casey@gridlab.org, 775-815-2010
Ben Fitch-Fleischmann, Interwest Energy Alliance, ben@interwest.org, 406-381-1922