# Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Facilities

- **operation:** document
- **citation:** 4 CCR 723-4 Rule 4102
- **title:** Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity for Facilities
- **source type:** regulation
- **agency:** Colorado Public Utilities Commission
- **status:** current
- **official:** true
- **published on:** Not available
- **effective on:** Not available
- **summary:** (a) A utility seeking authority to construct and to operate a facility, or an extension or expansion of a facility, pursuant to § 40-5-101, C.R.S., shall file an application in accordance with this rule. The utility shall apply to the Commission for issuance of a certificate of public convenience an
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- **app url:** https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/co-ccr-4-723-4-4102
- **source url:** https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/DisplayRule.do?action=ruleinfo&ruleId=2260&deptID=18&agencyID=96&deptName=Department%20of%20Regulatory%20Agencies&agencyName=Public%20Utilities%20Commission&seriesNum=4%20CCR%20723-4
**body:**

(a) A utility seeking authority to construct and to operate a facility, or an extension or
expansion of a facility, pursuant to § 40-5-101, C.R.S., shall file an application in
accordance with this rule. The utility shall apply to the Commission for issuance
of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for approval of construction
and operation of a facility, or an extension or expansion of a facility, which is not
in the ordinary course of business.
(b) For a utility with 500,000 full-service customers or more, the utility shall apply to
the Commission for issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity
for construction and operation of a facility, or an extension or expansion of a
facility, where the total utility capital investment value is greater than $12 million
in 2020 dollars, unless the utility has already received approval by the
Commission pursuant to paragraph 4555(c).
(c) For a utility with more than 50,000 full-service customers but less than 500,000
customers, the utility shall apply to the Commission for issuance of a certificate of
public convenience and necessity for construction and operation of a facility, or
an extension or expansion of a facility where the total utility capital investment
value is greater than $10 million in 2020 dollars, unless the utility has already
received approval by the Commission pursuant to paragraph 4555(c).
(d) For any utility with less than 50,000 full-service customers, the utility shall apply
to the Commission for issuance of a certificate of public convenience and
necessity for construction and operation of a facility, or an extension or
expansion of a facility where the total utility capital investment value is greater
than $5 million in 2020 dollars, unless the utility has already received approval by
the Commission pursuant to paragraph 4555(c).

(e) The cost thresholds set forth in paragraphs (b) through (d) above shall be
adjusted for inflation annually on March 1 of each year, based upon the annual
percentage change in the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer
Price Index - Denver-Aurora-Lakewood as published by the Colorado
Department of Local Affairs for the immediately preceding calendar year. These
adjustments shall be compounded annually. For reference, the Commission will
post a notice on its website, https://puc.colorado.gov/, by March 15 of each year
reporting the annual inflation adjustments applicable pursuant to this paragraph.
(f) An application for issuance of a certificate of public convenience and necessity to
construct and to operate facilities, or an extension or expansion of a facility,
pursuant to § 40-5-101, C.R.S., shall include, in the following order and
specifically identified, the following information, either in the application or in
appropriately identified attachments:
(I) the information required in rule 4002;
(II) a statement of the facts (not conclusory statements) relied upon by the
applying utility to show that the public convenience and necessity require
the granting of the application or citation to any Commission decision that
is relevant to the proposed facilities;
(III) the project category, consistent with the categories defined in
subparagraph 4553(a)(III), or otherwise identified and justified by the
utility;
(IV) a description of the general scope of work and an explanation of the need
for the proposed facilities, including any applicable U.S. Department of
Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
code requirements for the facilities;
(V) the projected life of the proposed facilities;
(VI) the anticipated construction start date, construction period, with any
phases indicated, and the expected in-service date for the proposed
facilities;
(VII) relevant technical details, such as physical equipment characteristics of
the proposed facilities, pipeline length, pipeline diameter, project
material(s), and maximum allowable operating pressure;
(VIII) the estimated total cost and annual incremental revenue requirements of
the proposed facilities, assuming both conventional depreciation and
accelerated depreciation as applicable;

(IX) a cost estimate classification using the utility’s or an industry-accepted
cost estimate classification index, and explanation and support of
methodology;
(X) the project location and an illustrative map of the proposed facilities
(subject to necessary and appropriate confidentiality provisions), which
includes:
(A) the pressure district or geographic area that requires the proposed
facilities;
(B) the existing and proposed regulator stations and existing and
proposed distribution piping and higher capacity pipelines served
by or representing the proposed facilities;
(C) whether the facilities will be located in any disproportionately
impacted community;
(D) identification of the electric utility service provider(s); and
(E) any other information necessary to allow the Commission to make
a thorough evaluation of the application.
(XI) to the extent practicable, the number of customers, annual sales, and
design peak demand requirements, by customer class, directly impacted
or served by the proposed facilities;
(XII) the application shall include information about Best Value Employment
metrics consistent with paragraph 4211(a) or, in the alternative,
information to demonstrate that the project qualifies for an exemption
under paragraph 4211(e). If the information required in paragraph 4211(a)
is not available at the time an application is filed because relevant
contracts have not yet been entered into, the applicant shall file a status
report in the proceeding within 45 days after the last contract has been
entered into that identifies how selected contractor(s) meet Best Value
Employment metrics;
(XIII) the application shall address whether it includes one or more projects that
are also ESPW projects, and if so, the applicant shall further attest that
material contract terms that comply with paragraph 4211(b) have been or
will be included in any relevant contracts and that such terms will be
required to be included in any relevant subcontracts;
(XIV) if the proposed facilities are located in a disproportionately impacted
community, a description of:
(A) the nature of the utility’s outreach to members of that
disproportionately impacted community, as appropriate to the filing;

(B) the communications and materials employed; and
(C) the findings from those outreach efforts.
(XV) identification of any permit(s) required to begin work;
(XVI) a description of the environmental requirements associated with
completion of the proposed facilities, if any;
(XVII) the change in projected utility-wide greenhouse gas emissions due to the
proposed facilities, as calculated relative to the utility’s most recently
approved clean heat plan greenhouse gas emission forecast or
subsequent interim-year update, in accordance with subparagraphs
4731(a)(I) and 4731(c)(I) or 4733(a)(VI), as applicable; and
(XVIII) for proposed facilities meeting the definition of a new business project or a
capacity expansion project, as defined in subparagraphs 4553(a)(III)(B)
and (C), the utility shall also present an analysis of alternatives including
non-pipeline alternatives, costs for those alternatives, and criteria used to
rank or eliminate such alternatives.
(A) An analysis of alternatives shall consider, at a minimum:
(i) one or more applicable clean heat resources consistent with
the utility’s most recently approved clean heat plan, pursuant
to rule 4732, demand side management plan, pursuant to
rule 4753, or beneficial electrification plan, as applicable;
(ii) a cost-benefit analysis including the costs of direct
investment and the social costs of carbon and methane for
emissions due to or avoided by the alternative, and other
costs determined appropriate by the Commission; and

(iii) available Best Value Employment metrics associated with
each alternative, as defined in paragraph 4211(a), including
a projection of gas distribution jobs affected by the
alternative and jobs made available through the alternative,
opportunities to transition any affected gas distribution jobs
to the alternative, pay and benefit levels of the affected gas
distribution jobs and the jobs available through a transition
opportunity, and how employment impacts associated with
each alternative could affect disproportionately impacted
communities.
(B) An analysis of alternatives shall include, at a minimum:
(i) the technologies or approaches evaluated;
(ii) the technologies or approaches proposed, if applicable;
(iii) the projected timeline and annual implementation rate for the
technology or approaches evaluated;
(iv) the technical feasibility of the alternative assuming full
adoption of the technologies and approaches evaluated; and
(v) the utility’s strategy to implement the technologies or
approaches evaluated.
(XIX) For proposed facilities meeting the definition of a system safety and
integrity project, as defined in subparagraph 4553(a)(III)(A), the utility shall
provide the risk ranking and detailed information regarding the utility’s risk
ranking methodology including, but not limited to, the material, age,
maximum allowable operating pressure, density of surrounding residences
and businesses, and any other physical and operating characteristics
relevant to the risk ranking of the proposed facilities and the risk ranking
methodology. The utility must also identify, explain, and provide the output
to any risk-related models developed or employed by the utility in
conducting risk analyses to support planned system safety and integrity
projects.
(g) A separate certificate of public convenience and necessity is not required for
mandatory relocations of a utility’s gas infrastructure.
(h) In accordance with subparagraph 4552(d)(II), the utility may satisfy the
requirements of rule 4102 in an application submitted pursuant to the Gas
Infrastructure Planning Rules.
(i) Within 30 days of final Commission approval of an application pursuant to this
rule, or after the last contract has been entered into that includes one or more

ESPW projects, the applicant or its subcontractor(s) shall notify the Department
of Labor Standards and Statistics within the Colorado Department of Labor and
Employment about the project to facilitate the collection of craft labor
certification(s).
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