Contro l Number: 35113
Item Number: 31
Addendum StartPage: 0
MWV Packaging
MeadWestvaco Corporation
299 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10171
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+1 212 688 5000 r
+1 212 318.5695 F
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January 14,2009 M
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Mr . James Galloway , Filing Clerk
Public Utility Commission of Texas
1701 N. Congress Ave.
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P.O. Box 13326
Austin, TX 78711-3326
Re: Proj ect No. 3 5113, Industrial Customers' Notifications Under PURA § 3 9.904 (m-1)
Mr. James Galloway,
On December 21, 2007, MeadWestvaco (MWV) filed a letter noticing its intent to opt out
of the renewable portfolio standards (RPS) program pursuant to PURA § 39.904(m-1).
Subsequent to that filing, the Commission adopted revisions to Substantive Rule 25.173 that
impose additional requirements for such opt-out notice letters. Subsection (j) of the new rule
allows companies that filed a notice letter prior to the 2008 compliance period to amend their
letters by January 15, 2009 to ensure conformity with the new rule. Accordingly, MWV has
attached a revised version of its original notice letter as Exhibit A. The following changes have
been made to the letter:
•
the word "prospectively" was struck from the first sentence
•"Entergy Gulf States Inc." was changed to "Entergy Texas, Inc." in the first sentence
•
the last sentence of the first paragraph was added
These changes were necessary to satisfy the requirements under Rule 25.173 that the letter must
state a term for which it is effective (up to two years), and identify the utility that serves each
facility subject to the opt-out notice. With these revisions, MWV's notice letter is now
compliant with Rule 25.173. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very Truly Yours,
Irene Kowalczyk
Director Energy Policy & Supply
cc: Entergy Texas, Inc.
^ ^
EXHIBIT A
MWV Packaging
MeadWestvaco Corporation
299 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10171
V
+1 212.688 5000 r
+1 212.318.5695 F
meadwestvaco.com
December 21, 2007
Mr. James Galloway, Filing Clerk
Public Utility Commission of Texas
1701 N. Congress Ave.
P.O. Box 13326
Austin, TX 78711-3326
Re: Project No. 35113, Industrial Customers' Notifications Under PURA §39.904 (m-1)
Mr. James Galloway,
Pursuant to PURA Section 39.904(m-1), MeadWestvaco (MWV) hereby submits the
following written notice to become exempt from participating in the requirements of the Texas
renewable portfolio standard program for the electric power purchases made by MWV's pulp
and paper mill in Evadale, TX from Entergy Texas, Inc. MWV's facility at Evadale Texas is
served at transmission level voltage and is eligible for the exemption contained in HB 1090,
which was passed in the 2007 legislative session. This notice is effective for the 2008 and 2009
compliance periods.
The pulp and paper industry, MWV and our mill in Evadale Texas are, ardent supporters
of renewable energy as a valuable resource in our nation's energy mix. During calendar year
2006, 24,314,550 MMBtu out of 28,625,294 total MMBtu or 84.9% of the total energy used at
MWV's pulp and paper mill in Evadale came from renewable resources. The renewable
resources used to produce energy needed to produce steam and power to run a modem mill such
as the Evadale mill come from two primary sources. The first is the unused lignin portion of the
tree which is available for combustion after the cellulose is extracted from the wood for
papermaking purposes. The second comes from self generated wood waste (bark) and other
purchased wood waste from areas in close proximity to the mill. These resources are combusted
in a cogeneration facility at the mill which includes multiple recovery and wood based power
boilers and multiple steam turbine generators.
In addition, we cogenerated approximately 60 MW .of power for every hour of 58% of
our total electric power requirements at the mill using these renewable resources as the fuel
source. Essentially all of the power we self produce at the mill is renewable power. Because of
our wide use of renewable resources to meet the energy requirements of the mill, the direct CO2
emissions from the mill during 2006 were only 219,921 Metric Tons. This represents a
relatively small carbon footprint for a facility as large and energy intensive as this mill.
Given MWV's extensive use of renewable energy resources at the pulp and paper mill at
Evadale Texas, we do not believe that we should be required to further support the renewable
energy requirements of the Texas renewable portfolio standard program. Purchased power rates
2
EXHIBIT A
at Evadale are currently almost 100% higher than the rates at any of the other mills within this
division of the company. Therefore MWV is interested in securing this exemption in order to
reduce our purchased power costs so that this mill can try to compete for capital with other mills
in its division. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Very Truly Yours,
Irene Kowalczyk
Director Energy Policy & Supply
3