(a)As a condition for receiving the certificate
required under section 2 of this chapter, the applicant shall file an
estimate of construction, purchase, or lease costs in such detail as the
commission may require.
(b)The commission shall hold a public hearing on each such
application. The commission may consider all relevant information
related to construction, purchase, or lease costs. The commission shall
issue an order granting or denying a certificate not later than two
hundred forty (240) days after the date the application for the
certificate and the applicant's case in chief are filed with the
commission. The commission may issue a general administrative order
establishing guidelines regarding the information to be included in the
applicant's case in chief. A certificate shall be
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(a) As a condition for receiving the certificate
required under section 2 of this chapter, the applicant shall file an
estimate of construction, purchase, or lease costs in such detail as the
commission may require.
(b) The commission shall hold a public hearing on each such
application. The commission may consider all relevant information
related to construction, purchase, or lease costs. The commission shall
issue an order granting or denying a certificate not later than two
hundred forty (240) days after the date the application for the
certificate and the applicant's case in chief are filed with the
commission. The commission may issue a general administrative order
establishing guidelines regarding the information to be included in the
applicant's case in chief. A certificate shall be granted only if the
commission has:
(1) made a finding as to the best estimate of construction,
purchase, or lease costs based on the evidence of record;
(2) made a finding that either:
(A) the construction, purchase, or lease will be consistent with
the commission's analysis (or such part of the analysis as may
then be developed, if any) for expansion of electric generating
capacity; or
(B) the construction, purchase, or lease is consistent with a
utility specific proposal submitted under section 3(e)(1) of this
chapter and approved under subsection (d). However, if the
commission has developed, in whole or in part, an analysis for
the expansion of electric generating capacity and the applicant
has filed and the commission has approved under subsection (d)
a utility specific proposal submitted under section 3(e)(1) of
this chapter, the commission shall make a finding under this
clause that the construction, purchase, or lease is consistent
with the commission's analysis, to the extent developed, and
that the construction, purchase, or lease is consistent with the
applicant's plan under section 3(e)(1) of this chapter, to the
extent the plan was approved by the commission;
(3) made a finding that the public convenience and necessity
require or will require the construction, purchase, or lease of the
facility;
(4) made a finding that the facility, if it is a coal-consuming
facility, utilizes Indiana coal or is justified, because of economic
considerations or governmental requirements, in using
non-Indiana coal; and
(5) made the findings under subsection (e), if applicable.
(c) If:
(1) the commission grants a certificate under this chapter based
upon a finding under subsection (b)(2) that the construction,
purchase, or lease of a generating facility is consistent with the
commission's analysis for the expansion of electric generating
capacity; and
(2) a court finally determines that the commission analysis is
invalid;
the certificate shall remain in full force and effect if the certificate was
also based upon a finding under subsection (b)(2) that the construction,
purchase, or lease of the facility was consistent with a utility specific
plan submitted under section 3(e)(1) of this chapter and approved
under subsection (d).
(d) The commission shall consider and approve, in whole or in part,
or disapprove a utility specific proposal or an amendment thereto
jointly with an application for a certificate under this chapter. However,
such an approval or disapproval shall be solely for the purpose of
acting upon the pending certificate for the construction, purchase, or
lease of a facility for the generation of electricity.
(e) This subsection applies if an applicant proposes to construct a
facility with a generating capacity of more than eighty (80) megawatts.
Before granting a certificate to the applicant, the commission:
(1) must, in addition to the findings required under subsection (b),
find that:
(A) the estimated costs of the proposed facility are, to the extent
commercially practicable, the result of competitively bid
engineering, procurement, or construction contracts, as
applicable; and
(B) if the applicant is an electricity supplier (as defined in IC 8-1-37-6), the applicant allowed or will allow third parties to
submit firm and binding bids for the construction of the
proposed facility on behalf of the applicant that met or meet all
of the technical, commercial, and other specifications required
by the applicant for the proposed facility so as to enable
ownership of the proposed facility to vest with the applicant not
later than the date on which the proposed facility becomes
commercially available; and
(2) shall also consider the following factors:
(A) Reliability.
(B) Solicitation by the applicant of competitive bids to obtain
purchased power capacity and energy from alternative
suppliers.
The applicant, including an affiliate of the applicant, may participate
in competitive bidding described in this subsection.