Phase I: Non-Federal Power Supply Exploration
NRU Consulting Services, L.L.C. (NRU LLC) was founded in 2007 as a
subsidiary of NRU and provides bi-lateral consulting services to NRU
members. Strategic objectives of NRU LLC include:
-
providing a
range of analytical and support services so NRU members feel they
have sufficient information in making future power supply and
contract choices;
-
providing
quality services that the members value and that are potentially
less expensive than relying on the market for consulting support;
and
-
providing
advice that has no direct economic interest in the outcome.
NRU LLC will initially focus on providing consulting services to
allow NRU members to effectively plan for resource choices in the
post FY2011 period. Activities of NRU LLC will include:
-
providing analytical services to members on a fee basis to consider
non-BPA resource development projects marketed to members by other
entities;
-
bringing together subgroups of members that might collectively be
interested in buying a portion of the output of a generation
facility owned by a third party, providing services such as
negotiations with a third party, contract drafting and review, and
more;
-
providing analysis of BPA Tier 2 rates and non-federal resources in
light of utility’s future needs;
-
providing informational and educational support for members
regarding requirements of resource diversification;
-
providing advice in meeting renewable portfolio standards and
reliability requirements;
-
helping to achieve operational efficiencies for non-federal
purchases based on economies of scale through joint purchases;
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providing analysis of available transmission capacity on the
transmission system for additional network resources; and
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negotiating transmission agreements for integration of new resources
and the delivery of
federal or non-federal resources to cover load growth.
NRU LLC’s existence stems directly from NRU’s core mission of
providing services to its members.
Formation of an LLC to offer bi-lateral consulting services
to members provides NRU with a legally permissible and financially
efficient mechanism to deliver supplemental services to assist
utilities in responding to power supply and transmission issues for
the post FY2011 period.