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From Notice:

The NWS Decision and Design Document created a Process Initiation Phase (Initiation Phase) for the NWS Process, which entailed soliciting and hiring an NWS Process Monitor (Process Monitor) as an extension of Authority staff to coordinate stakeholder engagement and to provide independent expertise throughout the NWS Process and developing key NWS Process materials. NWS Decision, p. 14. After a public solicitation process, the Authority selected NV5, Inc. (NV5) to serve as the Process Monitor.

The Process Monitor has managed a stakeholder process over the last year including numerous stakeholder working group meetings to develop the key NWS Process materials, which were filed on June 4, 2024. Motion No. 5. These materials were developed with input from all stakeholders.

Accordingly, the Authority requests written comments from docket Participants and interested stakeholders on the following:

1. The Process Initiation Phase Report, including each of the Process Monitor’s recommendations for Tasks one through seven;
2. The EDCs’ proposed confidentiality requirements for data points requested in the Annual EDC Data Filing and Grid Needs filing. Specifically, to what extent the data can be publicly available without compromising security;
3. The Benefit Cost Analysis Reference Manual + Methodologies (Exhibit 8) including but not limited to the following issues:
    a. Suggested modifications to the quantification of transmission capacity impacts;
    b. The methodology for determining Ancillary Services Impacts; and
    c. Alternative methodologies for determining the Reliability and Resilience components.
4. Solicitation Process and Timelines Memo (Exhibit 10);
5. Process Code of Conduct for EDC Affiliates Memo (Exhibit 13);
6. Process Monitor Memo on Market Engagement Activities in Other Jurisdictions (Exhibit 16); 7. Concerns with or suggested modifications to the EDC deliverables including:
    a. The Joint EDC NWS Developer NDA with Data Security Requirements;
    b. The NWS Program Contractor Qualifications Assessment;
    c. The NWS Program Security Control Requirements; d. The Contractors Checklist for       bidders; and
    e. The NWS Bid Form Questionnaire.
8. The NWS EPC Agreement Template, including suggested modifications to the NWS EPC Agreement Template;
9. The NWS Competitive Solicitation Template (RFI/RFP Template) including:
    a. Suggested modifications to the RFI/RFP Template;
    b. Whether and how the EDCs can improve the detail and specificity of the evaluation criteria, identify the process by which the evaluation occurs and provide scoring or weighting for the evaluation criteria;
    c. Whether in-service Distributed Energy Resources (DER) should be considered eligible NWS resources, the challenges that could arise from considering in-service DER as eligible NWS resources, and possible solutions to remedy those challenges;
    d. Whether the EDCs should provide preferential or accelerated interconnection treatment of NWS resources that are addressing a grid need, the challenges that could arise from this special interconnection treatment, and possible solutions to remedy those challenges; and
    e. To what extent the excluded projects identified by the EDCs could reasonably be included in the NWS process (See Eversource-UI Joint Presentation for June 20 Technical Meeting, June 18, 2024, Slide 4).
10.Responses to items discussed at the June 20, 2024 Technical Meeting 2; and
11.Comments on additional topics or areas of concern for stakeholders not covered in this Notice.

The Authority requests that participants and interested stakeholders file written comments on or before July 26, 2024, at 4:00 p.m.

Notice (07/02/2024)
24-08-08 (06/06/2023) 
(Non-Wires Solutions Process Initiation Phase)