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ND PSC adopts Otter Tail Power PURPA rate update; solar REC payment rises 50%
Summary
The North Dakota Public Service Commission adopted Otter Tail Power Company’s annual small power production and cogeneration rate update (PUD-25-63) on April 10, implementing a 5% increase to wind REC payments and a 50% increase to solar REC payments under federal PURPA rules.
Bismarck — The North Dakota Public Service Commission on April 10 adopted an order in Otter Tail Power Company’s small power production and cogeneration rate case, PUD-25-63, accepting the company’s annual update of rates and REC (renewable energy credit) payments required under the federal Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act (PURPA).
Otter Tail’s filing used averages for Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023, and proposed a 5% increase to wind REC payments and a 50% increase to solar REC payments. The company reported customer participation increasing modestly; the filing listed five wind and solar participants and described a total of 10 customers for certain delivery services. The filing also presented production figures described in the record; the transcript did not specify units for some production numbers reported during the hearing.
“Because of my opening comments, I’m gonna take the moment to rail on this program a little bit,” the presiding commissioner said in discussion; the commissioner criticized federal PURPA requirements as creating administrative burden for utilities and said, “It’s just an absurd program,” while noting the commission follows federal law.
Commissioner Hogan Hofer moved adoption of the order and the motion received a second; commissioners voted in favor and the order was adopted. The commission’s action implements the company’s updated REC payments under federal law and places the updated schedules into the regulatory record.
The order implements changes required by federal statute; commissioners discussed the limited scale of participation and administrative costs of verifying the filings as part of the record.
