WestConnect Regional Transmission Service Tariff

March 16, 2015

WestConnect Regional Transmission Service - Status

• Began two-year experiment on July 1, 2009• Extended for second two-year term on

July 1, 2011.• Participants had filed to amend the Regional

Tariff to eliminate date certain termination.– Essentially making the Regional Tariff

permanent until termination is approved by the providers.

WestConnect Regional Transmission Service - Background

• Eliminates transmission rate pancaking for non-firm transactions– Continues to pancake ancillary services and losses– Retains participants’ posted OATT rates

• Implemented through wesTTrans platform on OASIS.

• Did not require FERC filing for non-jurisdictionals • No state approvals required• Fail-safe clause for non-jurisdictionals• Revenue distributed pro-rata based on posted rates

Transmission Service Price Components

• The Regional Rate is the highest posted OATT rate in the path

• Ancillary Service 1 (scheduling) remains pancaked• Ancillary Service 2 (reactive) assessed only at sink• Losses remain pancaked

– Monetized at Palo Verde Index price for date of transaction

• Administrative charge is a pass through of OATI charges on behalf of the transmission providers

WestConnect Regional Transmission Service - Participants

Arizona Public Service

Black Hills Colorado

BH/BE Common Use System- Basin Electric Power Coop. - Black Hills Power, Inc.- Powder River Energy

El Paso Electric

Public Service New Mexico

Southwest Transmission Cooperative

Tri-State G & T Association

Tucson Electric Power

Western Area Power Administration- Rocky Mountain Region - Desert Southwest Region

- CRSP Management Office

Xcel Energy/Public Service Colorado

Original Experiment Parameters• Risk: Without an increased number of

transactions, non-firm transmission revenues could decrease for the affected Regional Participants.

• Performance has not dispelled the risk, but transmission providers are comfortable with offering regional transmission service.

Contacts and Information• WestConnect (www.westconnect.com)

• Doug Reese – Pricing Mgmt. Comm. Chair• dreese@tristategt.org • 303-254-3676

• Charles Reinhold – Project Manager• reinhold@ctcweb.net • 208-253-6916