§ 158-784. Collaborative working groups.

(a)

A collaborative working group shall be formed to address issues pertaining to each utility. Initially, the working groups shall be composed of representatives of the utilities, the city council's regulatory staff and consultants, a representative of the traditional providers of demand-side service and a representative from the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors as approved by the city council. The initial members may, with city council approval, accept representatives of other interested groups who agree to regularly attend meetings and actively participate.

(b)

All meetings of the working groups shall be open to the public, with time allotted for public input and/or comment.

(c)

The utilities and regulatory staff shall co-chair the working groups and schedule meetings accordingly.

(d)

The working groups shall meet on a regular schedule before, during and after the city council's formal approval process. The working groups shall begin meeting monthly, but may set a different regular schedule. The working groups shall schedule additional meetings, as necessary.

(e)

The long-term purpose of the meetings is to:

(1)

Learn of utility progress in developing plans and plan amendments;

(2)

Learn of utility progress in implementing the three-year action plans and preparing applications for authority to implement resource options;

(3)

Discuss and assess whether key assumptions are reasonable and are being applied in a consistent manner;

(4)

Discuss and assess whether models and modeling techniques are reasonable and consistent;

(5)

Discuss and assess whether key results are reasonable;

(6)

Identify and discuss technical and policy alternatives proposed by various members of the working groups for consideration by the utilities in its resource plans, including alternative resource options, plans, programs and design objectives;

(7)

Offering recommendations and suggestions as appropriate.

(f)

The working groups shall address and provide written recommendations no later than March 1, 1992, to the utilities and the city council pertaining to the least-cost planning issues listed below. The purpose of this task is to supplement the provisions of this article, and to develop detailed procedures, methods, and data to facilitate the implementation of least-cost planning in the parish. The issues to be addressed by the working groups are:

(1)

Development of principles and procedures for collaborative planning and program design efforts;

(2)

Development of the appropriate resource selection criteria, and processes for their application, consistent with the screening test;

(3)

Determination of the values which appropriately reflect avoided costs and the analytical framework necessary to properly apply them, including consideration of:

a.

What constitutes cost reductions in the context of LCP;

b.

What constitutes and maximizes value creation; and

c.

Whether cost transfers to or from other jurisdictions are properly excluded from the avoided cost calculation;

(4)

Determination of a mechanism to allow the utilities to recover prudent and reasonable costs incurred, and recommend policy alternatives regarding treatment of lost contributions and utility financial incentives in implementing demand-side programs;

(5)

Determination of the appropriate components and measure of risk for inclusion in the development of the discount rate;

(6)

Development of pilot demand-side programs for implementation prior to the filing of the initial plan;

(7)

Development of a workplan and timetables for addressing all-source bidding the role of contractors, equipment and materials suppliers, and design professionals in demand-side program implementation, and such other issues as may be identified by the working groups in their initial meetings;

(8)

Determination of the appropriate percentage of demand-side programs which shall be implemented by socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprises which qualify for registry under article II of chapter 46 of the Code, and development of appropriate mechanisms to foster such qualified socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprises.

(g)

The working groups shall prepare a summary of the agendas and the conclusions reached by the working groups, if any, at each meeting. The summaries shall be filed with the utilities' plans.

(Code 1956, § 52-357(b))