Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 1 of 50 H.O. Davey DOCKET NO. 46416 APPLICATION OF ENTERGY TEXAS, INC. FOR A CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY TO CONSTRUCT MONTGOMERY TEXAS COUNTY POWER STATION DIRECT TESTIMONY OF ELLEN LAPSON ON BEHALF OF ENTtRGY TEXAS, INC. OCTOBER 2016 00437 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 2 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas, Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 TABLE OF COITENTS Page I. Introduction 1 11. Purpose of Testimony 3 III. Overview of Report 4 IV. Recommendations and Conclusions 9 EXEIIBITS Exhibit EL-1 Professional Qualifications of Ellen Lapson, CFA Exhibit EL-2 Evaluating the Balance Sheet Impact of Entergy Texas, Inc. 2015 RFP PPA Proposals, July 27, 2016 00438 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 3 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas, Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 1 I. INTRODUCTION 2 Ql. PLEASE STATE YOUR NAME A_ND BUSINESS ADDRESS. 3 A. My name is Ellen Lapson, and my business address is 370 Riverside Drive, 4 New York, New York 10025. 5 6 Q2. BY WHOM ARE YOU EMPLOYED AND IN WHAT CAPACITY 7 A. I am the founder and lead consultant of Lapson Advisory, a division of Trade 8 Resources Analytics LLC, of which I am a member. Lapson Advisory provides 9 independent consulting and training services relating to the valuation and financial 10 analysis of utilities and infrastructure companies. 11 12 Q3.. PLEASE BRIEFLY DESCRIBE YOUR EDUCATIONAL AND PkOFESSIONAL 13 QUALIFICATIONS. 14 A. I earned a Bachelors of Arts degree from Barnard College in 1969 and a Masters in 15 Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from New York 16 University's Stem School of Business in 1975. 17 Since 1969, I have worked in finance with special focus On the financial 18 analysis of utility debt and equity securities. Prior to founding Lipson Advisory, 19 from 1994 through December 2011, I was a Managing Director of the utilities, power 20 and gas analytical team at Fitch Ratings, one of the three prominent credit rating 21 agencies in the U.S. market. During my seventeen years at Fitch, I evaluated, or 22 supervised other analysts evaluating the credit of hundreds of electriC, gas and water 23 utilities, primarily in the United States. From 2004 through 2011, I also supervised 1 00439 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 4 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas, Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 1 and wrote the credit rating criteria applied in the electric, gas, and water sector. My 2 responsibilities included keeping in contact with portfolio managers and debt and 3 equity securities analysts who followed the utility sector. 4 My prior position for 20 years from 1974 to 1994 was in commercial banking 5 and investment banking at a predecessor of J.P. Morgan, Inc. (Chemical Bank and 6 Chemical Securities, Inc.). For 15 years there I arranged funding and advised 7 companies in the utility sector and related sectors such as power generation and fuels. 8 For five years, I was a divisional controller and managed internal accounting and 9 financial controllership. 10 I started my career in the investment community as an equity,analyst at Argus 11 Research Corporation for six years, specializing in utilities. 12 A detailed listing of my professional qualifications, consulting assignments, 13 and expert testimony I have performed on behalf of Lapson Advisory is provided in 14 Exhibit EL-1. 15 16 Q4. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE DUTIES OF YOUR PRESENT POSITION. 17 A. My duties at Lapson Advisory include managing consulting assignments and advising 18 companies on how to improve their access to capital and debt markets. I develop and 19 conduct executive training programs for financial analysts- in corporate finance and 20 credit analysis for the electric and gas sector. I have frequently testified as an expert 21 witness on matters relating to utility finance and utility capital market matters. 2 00440 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 5 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas. Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 1 Q5. ON WHOSE BEHALF ARE YOU FILING THIS DIRECT TESTIMONY? 2 A. Irf this proceeding, I am an expert financial witness on behalf of Entergy Texas, Inc. 3 (ETI" or the "Company"). 4 5 II. PURPOSE OF TESTIMONY 6 Q6. WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF YOUR TESTIMONY? 7 A. The purpose of my testimony is to provide my recommendations regarding the 8 appropriate methods to model the financial cost of capacity purchase agreements and 9 tolling contracts (collectively, the "RFP PPM") submitted in responše to ETI' s 2015 10 Request for Proposal s.1 11 Lapson Advisory was engaged in January 2016 to provide consulting advice 12 to personnel of ETI and Entergy Services, Inc. (Esr) (the administrator of the 2015 13 ETI RFP) for the purpose of assisting their evaluation of the expected effects of the 14 RFP PPAs, if selected by ETI, upon ETI's capital structure, future access to capital, 15 and cost of capital. Lapson Advisory studied the effects of such contracts upon ETI' s 16 future access to capital in the context of current and future financial reporting 17 standards and prudent accounting practices. My recommendations to ETI were 18 conveyed in an initial Summary Report dated February 21, 2.016 (attached to my 19 Exhibit EL-2) and explained in greater detail in a report dated July 27, 2016 entitled 20 "Evaluating the Balance Sheet Impact of Entergy Texas, Inc. 2015 ETI RFP PPA 21 ProposalS" (hereinafter, the "Report," Exhibit EL-2). 2015 Request for Proposals for Long-Term Combined Cycle Gas Turbine Capacity and Energy Resources and Limited-Term Capacity and Energy Resources for Entergy Texas, Inc." (the "2015 ETI RFP"). 3 00441 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 6 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas, Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 1 Q7. DO YOU SpONSOR ANY EXHIBITS? 2 A. I sponsor the exhibits listed in the Table of Contents to my testimony. 3 4 III. OVERVIEW OF REPORT 5 Q8. WHAT WAS THE NATURE OF YOUR ENGAGEMENT? 6 A. The 2015 ETI RFP solicited proposals for power purchase contr'acts and tolling 7 agreements and proposals from vendors to sell a pow-er 'unit or portion of a unit to 8 ETI. In addition to such proposals, ETI evaluated a self-build option. Lapson 9 Advisory researched the issues involved in measuring and comparing the financial 10 costs of RFP PPAs versus the financial costs of asset acquisition by ETI via either ihe 11 purchase of a unit from a third-party or self-build. Lapson Advisory prepared a 12 Summary Report in February 2016 providing its recommendations regarding how to 13 reflect the financial costs of RFP PPAs in the 2015 ETI RFP economic evaluation, in 14 order to support timely completion of that evaluation. The Summary Report is 15 included as an attachment to our final Report, Exhibit EL-2, which provides a 16 detailed discussion of the basis for the recommendations included in the Summary 17 Report. 4 00442 Eversource Energy, D.P.U. 20-16 National Grid, D.P.U. 20-17 Unitil, D.P.U. 20-18 Exhibit Att. AG 2-25(b) May 18, 2020 Page 7 of 50 H.O. Davey Entergy Texas, Inc. Direct Testimony of Ellen Lapson PUCT Docket No. 46416 1 Q9. IN RESEARCHING YOUR REPORT, WHAT DID YOU DE LERMINE 2 REGARDING THE COMPARABILITY OF THE FiNANCIAL COSTS 3 ASSOCIATED WITH THE VARIOUS RESOURCE OPTIONS CONTEMPLATED 4 BY THE RFP?, 5 A. A comprehensive comparison of options that entail asset ownership by ETI (either via 6 the purchase of a plant from a developer or by means of self-build) to those involving 7 a PPA must account for differences in the form of resource acquisition that would 8 affect ETI' s balance sheet, capital structure and cost of capital. If ETI were to 9 acquire outright ownership of a power facility by means of either self-build or asset 10 purchase, it is reasonable to assume that the utility will fund the asšet with a mix of 11 equity and debt funding that preserves a prudent capital structure. 12 On the other hand, if ETI satisfies its capacity and energy,needs by entering 13 into a long-term PPA requiring fixed payments over a period of twenty years or 14 longer, for example, there would be long-term impacts upon the utility's capital 15 structure and its cost of capital that can impose additional costs on utility operations. 16 PPAs that entail fixed periodic payments (capacity charges") oblige a utility (the 17 purchaser) to pay these charges, even if power from the contract is not needed or not 18 of economic benefit in future periods.
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