Committee reviews broad rewrite to link utilities' grid plans to rate cases, tables bill for further study

The Energy Utilities & Technology Committee reviewed a wide-ranging amendment to LD 2113 on Feb. 11 that would strengthen integrated grid planning and modernize aspects of electric regulation.

Analyst Lindsay Laxon told the committee the amendment's Part A would require covered transmission and distribution utilities (those with more than 50,000 customers) to make planning inputs, assumptions and methodologies publicly accessible in sufficient detail to permit independent technical review. It would also direct the Public Utilities Commission to open a consolidated docket to review the next set of integrated grid plans and report back to the committee within 90 days with findings and system investment priorities.

Part B would establish a 12-member, nonlegislative Electric Regulatory Structure Review Committee to develop a long-term integrated system plan for the state and to recommend institution-level changes and statutory or procedural steps to align integrated system planning with investment decisions. The amendment sets staffing to be provided by the Department of Energy Resources and included reporting deadlines: an interim technical memorandum within 12 months of the first meeting and a final report within 18 months.

Sponsor Representative Brante said the previous public hearing showed the original text could be interpreted in multiple ways and described the two-part approach as both a short-term correction to tie grid plans to rate cases and a longer-term system-level study. "Instead of looking at things on a piece-by-piece basis... we need a long-term vision for how this grid gets built out," Brante said, adding that the process should allow independent review and better consistency between planning and capital investments.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about first-meeting timing and report dates and noted risks that a report could arrive during a legislative recess if deadlines are not specified. Given the breadth of the rewrite and outstanding technical issues, Representative Warren moved to table LD 2113; the motion carried unanimously. The sponsor indicated he will circulate further clarifications and the committee signaled it expects additional technical detail before resuming work on the bill.

The committee also requested that agencies named in the amendment, including the Public Utilities Commission and Department of Energy Resources, prepare for the next session to respond to details about confidentiality, public accessibility and how the consolidated PUC docket would feed into rate cases and siting proceedings.