Duquesne Light Company's Default Service Plan

SMA 00001

Question: Please confirm that PJM Line item 1100 (NITSs charges) will be the Company’s responsibility, not the DS Supplier’s.

Answer: Appendix D outlines the supplier's responsibilities.  PJM Line Items 1100 an 2100 (NITS Charges and Credits) will be Duquesne Lights responsibility. 

SMA 00002

Question: Is the Price location Duquesne Residual Aggregate?

Answer: The Market Price Hub is the Duquesne Residual Zonal Aggregate.  The P-node is specifically listed on the Attachment A.

SMA 00003

Question: Are the renewables requirements at the wholesale meter or retail meter?

Answer: The renewable requirements are at the retail meter.

SMA 00004

Question: Will the winning bidders need to complete Exhibit 3 and its Attachment A - Addendum given that the PJM Billing Line Items are now set forth in Appendix D?

Answer:

The Billing Line Item Transfer ("BLI") tool replaced the paper process of completing the Declaration of Authority form ("DOA") in May 2015.  As a result, the DOAs became void and PJM now relies on the information submitted in the BLI tool.  Duquesne does not require bidders to complete Exhibit 3 and its Attachment A – Addendum for Billing Line Item Transfers.  The DOAs will continue to be utilized for other PJM business matters if necessary and may be executed depending on the request of either party.  

SMA 00005

Question: According to Appendix E of the SMA, "For each compliance period during the Delivery Period, the number of (Alternative Energy Credits) AECs that a DS Supplier is obligated to provide may be reduced by a pre-determined number of AECs allocated to the DS Supplier (“Allocated AECs”). The number of Allocated AECs will be defined prior to the Transaction Date." Please advise when such allocation will be made.

Answer: No Alternative Energy Credits have been purchased or obtained by the Company for the Auction that is being conducted in March 2018.  There will be no assignment of AECs to the Suppliers.  As a result the bidders should expect to provide the AECs that are required. 

SMA 00006

Question: Appendix E of the SMA states that Suppliers may be allocated a pre-determined number of AECs for use in AEPS compliance, and that the number allocated will be defined prior to the Transaction Date. Will any AECs be allocated to Suppliers who are awarded load in the March 2017 auction? More specifically, does the DS Variable Payments provision fully compensate Suppliers for all charges assigned to DS Suppliers in Appendix D except 1365, 1375, 1376, and 1378 (ignoring all 1200-series charges, which we understand are partially recovered through the hourly pricing structure of the product)?

Answer: Suppliers will not be allocated any AECs for use in AEPS compliance for the RFP auction being conducted on March 23, 2017.  Suppliers should plan to procure the full AECs requirements that are associated with the load they serve.  DS Variable Payments provision is explained in the Transaction Confirmation and in Rider 9 of our tariff.  The company will remit payment to the suppliers based on the Rider 9 calculation.   

SMA 00007

Question: Please confirm that in addition to the ‘DS Fixed Price Adder For Hourly Price Service’ (auction clearing price), the winning supplier will receive all revenues collected as outlined in the Rider no. 9 tariff (with the exception of the gross receipts taxes and the fixed retail administrative charge - other than the DS Fixed Price Adder For Hourly Price Service). Some context for this question: the ‘DS Variable Payments’ is referenced in both the ‘Transaction Confirmation for Hourly Price Transactions’ and ‘Section 9.1 (a) Bill and Payment’. As defined the ‘DS Variable Payments’ refers to Appendix C, but Appendix C doesn’t point to Rider no. 9 or outline any payments to the winning supplier.

Answer: That is correct.

SMA 00008

Question: Please confirm that the COd in Rider 9 (capacity obligation in MW) represent the customer’s Unforced Capacity (UCAP) as determined by PJM.

Answer: The capacity obligation is determined by PJM.  In order to be consistent, the "Determination of Capacity Obligation" within Rider 9 needs to be applied. 

SMA 00009

Question: In the Supplier Master Agreement the definition of DS Variable Payments is as follows: “The variable supplier payments in dollars based on the Company’s Hourly Price Service formula rate, as set forth in Appendix C hereto, associated with serving the DS Supplier Responsibility Share of the DS Supply.” The referenced formula does not appear to be in appendix C; where is this formula set forth?

Answer: Please refer to Rider 9 for the formula rate and the Transaction Confirmation for Hourly Priced Service.   

SMA 00010

Question: Please list all the payment streams a winning Large C&I supplier would receive.

Answer: The supplier will receive all monies billed to the customer with the exception of the GRT and Duquesne Lights portion of the Fixed Retail Administrative Charge (FRA).  Please refer to Rider 9 and previous answers provided on this question for more information. 

SMA 00011

Question: Is "Reactive Supply and Voltage Control" supplier's responsibilities? If yes, can you please provide the current level for it?

Answer: Appendix D of the SMA outlines the suppliers responsibilities.  Reactive Supply and Voltage Control from Generation & OSS, Billing Line Item 1330 is an ancillary charge that is the supplier's responsibility.  Please refer to the Customer Guide to PJM Billing, and/or the OATT Schedule2, Manual 27, section 3 for more information on this charge.  PJM routinely publishes this information on their Billing, Settlements and Credits are of their website.                                                                              

SMA 00012

Question: Are suppliers of the Hourly Price Service for the Large Commercial and Industrial Class fully compensated via DS Variable Payments for all line items listed in Appendix D, with exception for items relating to balancing energy costs? More specifically, does the DS Variable Payments provision fully compensate Suppliers for all charges assigned to DS Suppliers in Appendix D except 1365, 1375, 1376, and 1378 (ignoring all 1200-series charges, which we understand are partially recovered through the hourly pricing structure of the product)?

Answer: Duquesne will be remitting to the DS Supplier the amounts that are billed to the customer in Rider 9, with the exception of GRT and the utilities portion of the FRA.

SMA 00013

Question: Can you explain why in the Information Session PowerPoint it says that transmission is the responsibility of the default service supplier; however, on earlier slides you say NITS are not?

Answer: Suppliers must deliver a sufficient energy to cover the needs of the default service customers of The Duquesne Light Company which would include energy to cover distribution losses.  Suppliers are, however, paid the auction price for all MWh delivered to the delivery point.  Suppliers are not paid for losses that occur up to the delivery point.  The MSA includes the details of PJM charges that are the responsibility of the supplier and the EDU.

Supply Master Agreement SMA Reference Appendix D

 

SMA 00014

Question: Per SMA Exhibit JP-3, references REC obligations can be reduced if the utility transfers RECs to the DS supplier. Please confirm that for the current bid, no alternative energy credits have been purchased or will be purchased for the delivery periods in this procurement cycle.

Answer: There are no reductions to the Wholesale suppliers AEPS obligations for the delivery periods that are being procured at this auction.  Duquesne Light will not be reducing the DS suppliers AEPS obligations for any delivery periods.     

SMA 00015

Question: On the Duquesne website there is a Default Service Rate Calculation for each product/segment, which shows the average winning bid price for the segment and then adds line losses to the price along with other components which makeup the retail supply rate. Should line losses be included in the bid we are submitting? Example of the calculation, this is the link for the Small C&I Tariff Rate - https://www.duquesnelight.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/actual---default-service-rate-calculation-model---small59e7c60262c1670a862eff320080324a.pdf?sfvrsn=ce26a142_0

Answer: Please refer to the Supplier Master Agreement posted to the Information Website for the definition of "DS Supply".  

DS Supply includes all necessary Energy, Capacity, AECs for AEPS Act compliance, Ancillary Services, all transmission and distribution losses and congestion and imbalance costs associated with the provision of such services, and such other services or products that the DS Supplier may be required, by PJM or any governmental body having jurisdiction, to provide in order to meet the DS Supplier Responsibility Share for serving DS Load.

The DS supplier will be paid in association with the provisions of DS Supply as detailed in Article 9 of the Supplier Master Agreement. 

SMA 00017

Question: Does the 8% AEPS Tier 1 requirement for 20/21 include solar? i.e. is the 0.5% SRECs part of the 8% tier 1? or they are totally separate?

Answer: The 0.5% Solar is part of the 8% Tier 1. The 0.5% is the minimum.

SMA 00018

Question: If we are a winning bidder in the upcoming auction and are a current supplier who has executed the SMA in a previous auction, do we execute a new SMA or do we receive transaction confirmation under the previously executed SMA?

Answer: Once the results of the Auction have been approved, the winning bidders are expected to sign the SMA. During DSP-VIII, Duquesne Light introduced a generic version of the Supplier Master Agreement. The generic SMA only needs to be signed once during the DSP-IX auction cycle.

Two types of winning bidders for the upcoming auction:

• Bidders that previously signed the generic SMA

− Will receive a transaction confirmation from Duquesne

− Do not need to sign a new SMA

• Bidders that have not signed the generic SMA

− Will sign the generic SMA

− Will receive a transaction confirmation from Duquesne for future winning bids.