Rate Matters

Except to the extent noted below, the circumstances set forth in Note 10 to the consolidated financial statements included in NSP-Wisconsin’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended Dec. 31, 2015, appropriately represent, in all material respects, the current status of other rate matters, and are incorporated herein by reference.

Pending Regulatory Proceedings — Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSCW)

Wisconsin 2017 Electric and Gas Rate Case — In April 2016, NSP-Wisconsin filed a request with the PSCW for an increase in annual electric rates of $17.4 million, or 2.4 percent, and an increase in natural gas rates by $4.8 million, or 3.9 percent, effective January 2017.

The following table outlines the filed request:



Electric Rate Request (Millions of Dollars)	Request
Rate base investments	$	11.0
Generation and transmission expenses (excluding fuel and purchased power)	6.8
Fuel and purchased power expenses	11.0
Subtotal	28.8
2015 fuel refund ^(a)	(9.5		)
Department of Energy settlement refund	(1.9		)
Total electric rate increase	$	17.4


^(a)	In July 2016, the PSCW required NSP-Wisconsin to return the 2015 fuel refund directly to customers, rather than using it to offset the proposed 2017 rate increase, as originally proposed by NSP-Wisconsin. This decision effectively increases NSP-Wisconsin’s requested electric rate increase to $26.9 million, or 3.8 percent.

The electric rate request is for the limited purpose of recovering increases in (1) generation and transmission fixed charges and fuel and purchased power expenses related to the interchange agreement with NSP-Minnesota, and (2) costs associated with forecasted average rate base of $1.188 billion in 2017.

The natural gas rate request is for the limited purpose of recovering expenses related to the ongoing environmental remediation of a former manufactured gas plant (MGP) site and adjacent area in Ashland, Wis.

No changes are being requested to the capital structure or the 10.0 percent return on equity (ROE) authorized by the PSCW in the 2016 rate case. As part of an agreement with stakeholders to limit the size and scope of the case, NSP-Wisconsin also agreed to an earnings cap, solely for 2017, in which 100 percent of the earnings in excess of the authorized ROE would be refunded to customers.

Key dates in the procedural schedule are as follows:


•	Staff and intervenor direct testimony — Aug. 12, 2016;


•	Rebuttal testimony — Aug. 26, 2016;


•	Surrebuttal testimony — Sept. 2, 2016;


•	Hearing — Sept. 7, 2016;


•	Initial brief due — Sept. 21, 2016;


•	Reply brief due — Sept. 28, 2016; and


•	A final PSCW decision is anticipated in the fourth quarter of 2016 with final rates effective in January 2017.

Recently Concluded Regulatory Proceedings — Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (MPUC)

Nuclear Project Prudence Investigation — In 2013, NSP-Minnesota completed the Monticello life cycle management (LCM)/extended power uprate (EPU) project. The multi-year project extended the life of the facility and increased the capacity from 600 to 671 megawatts (MW) in 2015. The Monticello LCM/EPU project expenditures were approximately $665 million. Total capitalized costs were approximately $748 million, which includes allowance for funds used during construction (AFUDC). In 2008, project expenditures were initially estimated at approximately $320 million, excluding AFUDC.

In 2013, the MPUC initiated an investigation to determine whether the final costs for the Monticello LCM/EPU project were prudent. In March 2015, the MPUC voted to allow for full recovery, including a return, on approximately $415 million of the total plant costs (inclusive of AFUDC), but only allow recovery of the remaining $333 million of costs with no return on this portion of the investment over the remaining life of the plant. Further, the MPUC determined that only 50 percent of the investment was considered used-and-useful for 2014. As a result of these determinations, Xcel Energy recorded an estimated pre-tax loss of $129 million in the first quarter of 2015, after which the remaining book value of the Monticello project represented the present value of the estimated future cash flows. As NSP-Wisconsin shares in the costs of the Monticello plant through the Interchange Agreement with NSP-Minnesota, the MPUC decision also affects NSP-Wisconsin. NSP-Wisconsin’s portion of the $129 million pre-tax loss, recorded in the first quarter of 2015, was approximately $5 million.

Pending Regulatory Proceedings — Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)

Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc. (MISO) ROE Complaints/ROE Adder — In November 2013, a group of customers filed a complaint at the FERC against MISO transmission owners (TOs), including NSP-Minnesota and NSP-Wisconsin. The complaint argued for a reduction in the ROE in transmission formula rates in the MISO region from 12.38 percent to 9.15 percent, a prohibition on capital structures in excess of 50 percent equity, and the removal of ROE adders (including those for regional transmission organization (RTO) membership and being an independent transmission company), effective Nov. 12, 2013.

In December 2015, an administrative law judge (ALJ) initial decision recommended the FERC approve a ROE of 10.32 percent. A FERC order is expected to be issued in late 2016 or in 2017.

In February 2015, a second complaint was filed seeking to reduce the MISO region ROE from 12.38 percent to 8.67 percent, prior to any adder. The FERC set the second complaint for hearings, and established a refund effective date of Feb. 12, 2015. The MPUC, the North Dakota Public Service Commission, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission and the Minnesota Department of Commerce (DOC) joined a joint complainant/intervenor initial brief recommending an ROE of either 8.82 percent or 8.81 percent. FERC staff recommended a ROE of 8.78 percent. The MISO TOs recommended a ROE of 10.92 percent. On June 30, 2016, the ALJ issued an initial decision recommending a ROE of 9.7 percent, the midpoint of the upper half of the discounted cash flow (DCF) range, with refunds for the 15 month period beginning Feb. 12, 2015. A FERC decision is expected in 2017.

FERC approved of a 50 basis point ROE adder for RTO membership, effective Jan. 6, 2015, subject to the outcome of the ROE complaint. Under FERC policy, the total ROE including the RTO membership adder cannot exceed the top of the DCF range.

NSP-Minnesota has recorded a current liability representing the best estimate of a refund obligation associated with the new ROE, including the RTO membership adder, as of June 30, 2016. The new FERC ROE methodology is estimated to reduce transmission revenue, net of expense, between $8 million and $10 million, annually, for the NSP System.