PacifiCorp 2007 Integrated Resource Plan (May 30, 2007)

PacifiCorp – 2007 IRPChapter 3 – The Planning EnvironmentBy December 31, 2007, the Governor must report to the Legislature the potential benefits of creatingtax incentives to encourage base load electric facilities to upgrade their equipment to reduceCO 2 emissions, the nature and level of tax incentives likely to produce the greatest benefits,and the cost of providing such incentives.Oregon Examination of Treatment of CO 2 Policy Risk within IRP PlanningOn January 8, 2007, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission issued an order within the IntegratedResource Planning docket UM 1056. 16 As part of the Order, the Commission announced itwas opening an investigation to review the treatment of carbon dioxide risk in Integrated ResourcePlans (per footnote 11, this will apply to future Requests for Proposals), which will ultimatelyreplace the analysis required in Order 93-695. Next, the Commission noted in footnotefive that it had committed to explore a carbon dioxide emissions performance standard for longtermpower supplies in adopting the Joint Action Framework on Climate Change, and that thisinvestigation would follow the proceeding on carbon dioxide risk in Integrated Resource Plans.On February 8, 2007, the Oregon Public Utilities Commission announced it would begin workunder docket UM-1302 17 investigating the treatment of carbon dioxide risk in Integrated ResourcePlans.Corporate Greenhouse Gas Mitigation StrategyPacifiCorp is committed to engage proactively with policymaking focused on GHG emissionsissues through a strategy that includes the following elements.● Policy – PacifiCorp has established a Global Climate Change Working Group, meant to examinebest utility practices for addressing carbon risk. The company has also supported legislationthat enables GHG reductions while addressing core customer requirements. PacifiCorpwill continue to work with regulators, legislators, and other stakeholders to identify viabletools for GHG emissions reductions.● Planning – PacifiCorp has incorporated a reasonable range of values for the cost of CO 2 inthe 2007 IRP in concert with numerous alternative future scenarios to reflect the risk of futureregulations that can affect relative resource costs. Additional voluntary actions to mitigategreenhouse gas emissions could increase customer rates and represent key public policydecisions that the company will not undertake without prior consultation with regulators andlawmakers at state and federal levels.● Procurement – PacifiCorp recognizes the potential for future CO 2 costs in requests for proposal(RFPs), consistent with its treatment in the IRP. Commercially available carboncapturingand storage technologies at a utility scale do not exist today. Carbon-capturingtechnologies are under development for both pulverized coal plant designs and for coal gasificationplant designs, but require research to increase their scale for electric utility use.● Accounting – PacifiCorp has adopted transparent accounting of GHG emissions by joiningthe California Climate Action Registry. The Registry applies rigorous accounting standards,16 See, http://apps.puc.state.or.us/edockets/orders.asp?ordernumber=07-00217 See, http://apps.puc.state.or.us/edockets/docket.asp?DocketID=1389641