278.264 Commission's approval or denial of retirement of electric generating unit -
837 words·~4 min read·
/ky/278-264A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
- Rebuttable presumption against retiring fossil fuel-fired generating unit --
Evidence of costs -- Report -- Definitions.
(1)Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the commission shall have
the authority to approve or deny the retirement of an electric generating unit owned
by a utility. Prior to retiring an electric generating unit, a utility shall apply to the
commission for an order approving the retirement, and shall give the commission
thirty
(30)days' notice of the application. The application shall include a statement
certifying the applicant's compliance with the requirements of KRS 164.2807. The
commission shall enter an order approving, approving with conditions, or denying
the application within one hundred eighty
(180)days of receiving an
administratively complete application.
(2)There shall be a rebuttable presumption against the retirement of a fossil fuel-fired
electric generating unit. The commission shall not approve the retirement of an
electric generating unit, authorize a surcharge for the decommissioning of the unit,
or take any other action which authorizes or allows for the recovery of costs for the
retirement of an electric generating unit, including any stranded asset recovery,
unless the presumption created by this section is rebutted by evidence sufficient for
the commission to find that:
(a)The utility will replace the retired electric generating unit with new electric
generating capacity that:
1. Is dispatchable by either the utility or the regional transmission
organization or independent system operator responsible for balancing
load within the utility's service area;
2. Maintains or improves the reliability and resilience of the electric
transmission grid;
3. Maintains the minimum reserve capacity requirement established by the
utility's reliability coordinator; and
4. Has the same or higher capacity value and net capability, unless the
utility can demonstrate that such capacity value and net capability is not
necessary to provide reliable service;
(b)The retirement will not harm the utility's ratepayers by causing the utility to
incur any net incremental costs to be recovered from ratepayers that could be
avoided by continuing to operate the electric generating unit proposed for
retirement in compliance with applicable law;
(c)The decision to retire the fossil fuel-fired electric generating unit is not the
result of any financial incentives or benefits offered by any federal agency;
and
(d)The utility shall not commence retirement or decommissioning of the electric
generating unit until the replacement generating capacity meeting the
requirements of paragraph
(a)of this subsection is fully constructed,
permitted, and in operation, unless the utility can demonstrate that it is
necessary under the circumstances to commence retirement or
decommissioning of the existing unit earlier.
(3)The utility shall at a minimum provide the commission with evidence of all known
direct and indirect costs of retiring the electric generating unit and demonstrate that
cost savings will result to customers as a result of the retirement of the electric
generating unit.
(4)The commission shall prepare and submit an annual report to the Legislative
Research Commission by December 1 of each year detailing:
(a)The number of requests by utilities to retire electric generating units in the
Commonwealth, the nameplate capacity of each of those units, and whether
the request was approved or denied by the commission;
(b)The impact of any commission-approved retirement of an electric generating
unit on the:
1. Commonwealth's generation fuel mix;
2. Required capacity reserve margins for the utility;
3. Need for capacity additions or expansions at new or existing facilities as
a result of the retirement; and
4. Need for additional purchase power or capacity reserve arrangements;
and
(c)Whether the retirement resulted in stranded costs for the ratepayer that will be
recovered by the utility through a surcharge or some other separate charge on
the customer bill.
(5)As used in this section:
(a)"Dispatchable" means a source of electric power generation that is available
on demand, that is not intermittent, and that can be adjusted to increase or
decrease its power output upon request of a power grid operator or otherwise
upon demand or request, or that can have its power output adjusted in
response to market or system needs; and
(b)"Intermittent" means:
1. A source of electric power generation from a solar photovoltaic, solar
thermal heating, concentrating solar thermal collector, or other solar
energy collection or generation system;
2. A source of electric power that generates energy by harnessing wind
power or energy, whether through a turbine or other device;
3. Geothermal energy, biomass energy, anaerobic digestion, or combined
heat and power from solar, wind, geothermal, or anaerobic digestion
sources;
4. Any short duration energy storage, which includes any method of
storing generated electricity for later dispatch to the grid, whether alone
or in conjunction with any other intermittent sources described in this
paragraph, that is equivalent to less than forty-eight
(48)hours of the
average peak generation of the unit it is used to offset; or
5. Conventional hydropower and pumped storage hydropower, unless they
are capable of providing energy on demand, in which case they shall be
deemed to be dispatchable.