1. From Rochelle Newsleader Sunday June
26th 2016
Officials field questions about electrical
tariff
BY LORI TEPINSKI Staff Writer
ROCHELLE — Rochelle Municipal Utilities held a mandatory annual meeting last week in
regards to the transmission tariff enacted last year. City manager David Plyman explained the
meeting is a requirement for all electricity transmission owners and is intended to be a time for
interested parties to seek information and clarifications about the transmission rate update that
was fi led.
“The purpose of the meeting was to field questions from Com Ed customers — all served within
the Com Ed zone,” Plyman said. “We’ve always contributed into the region as part of the capacity
cost but never got anything back. Now we are getting money back, which is a big deal for us.”
The money Plyman is referring to amounts to over $1.8 million this year from the book value of
the transmission assets, depreciation expense, and administrative costs associated with
integration of the system with the rest of the grid — an increase from $1.2 million last year.
“That is actual cash that we would have sent out but we actually keep. We will book it as
revenue,” Plyman said.
Available options
The city is also exploring the option to build another transmission line along Twombly Road to
DeKalb. The multi-million dollar project would eventually pay for itself with an increased tariff,
giving the city a return on its investment.
Plyman said in the near future, he anticipates asking city council members to develop a strategy
for managing the new asset going forward.
“Particularly if we are successful at gaining approval from PJM and FERC (Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission) to build a transmission line to DeKalb,” Plyman added.
Tariff process at a glance
More than four decades ago, Rochelle attached to the grid. The Caron Road substation was
built, and a transmission line was built along Steward Road to another transmission line that was
owned by Com Ed
•
In 1995 a new substation was built and a second transmission line was built by the city. The two
substations became interconnected, which meant that grid power was able to flow through
Rochelle
•
In 2012, implementation of a GIS system allowed property assets to be documented into a
computer system
•
An engineering study was performed after the windstorm in November 2013, and the idea of
Rochelle being eligible for a transmission tariff surfaced
•
In December 2014 the Utility Advisory Board approved the recommendation from RMU staff to
proceed with a transmission tariff application to FERC
•
In 2015 RMU completed the integration with the regional transmission operator, PJM — the final
step required by FERC
•
In June 2015 RMU received its first tariff for the 20 miles of 138kV transmission assets that
before this tariff was paid for by customer rates