RULES AND REGULATIONS
Title 52--PUBLIC UTILITIES
PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
[L-950101]
[52 PA.CODE CH. 57]
[26 Pa.B. 3339]
Electric Energy Emergency Notification Procedures The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Commission) on February 22, 1996, adopted an order to promulgate the final regulation which adds subsection (c) to § 57.52 (relating to emergency load control and energy conservation by electric utilities) setting forth notification procedures and contact responsibilities for electric utilities in the event of either a load emergency situation or an emergency conservation situation, as defined under § 57.52(a). During energy-related emergencies, the affected utility must notify the Commission as soon as practical when a potential exists for widespread service disruptions which could adversely affect the public's health, safety or general well being. The regulation addresses the timing and method of initial notification and flow of information during the emergency. The contact persons are Blaine Loper, Bureau of Conservation, Economics, Energy and Planning, (717) 787-3810 and Patricia Krise Burket, Law Bureau, (717) 787-3464.
Executive Summary
As a result of the January 1994 electric energy emergency, by order dated February 3, 1994, at Docket No. M-00940031, the Commission established interim emergency notification requirements and contact responsibilities for electric utilities and directed staff to prepare a rulemaking that proposes appropriate amendments to § 57.52 to address issues of notification and information flow.
On March 16, 1995, the Commission adopted an order to promulgate this amendment. On May 22, 1995, a copy of the proposed rulemaking was submitted to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) and to the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. The proposed amendments were published at 25 Pa.B. 2186 (June 3, 1995) with a 60-day comment period.
On February 22, 1996, the Commission adopted an order which amends § 57.52 by adding subsection (c) establishing emergency notification procedures for electric utilities.
Regulatory Review
Under section 5(a) of the Regulatory Review Act (71 P. S. § 745.5(a)), the Commission submitted a copy of the final rulemaking, which was published as proposed at 25 Pa.B. 2186, and served on May 22, 1995, to IRRC and the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure for review and comment. In compliance with section 5(b.1) of the Regulatory Review Act, the Commission also provided IRRC and the Committees with copies of the comments received, as well as other documentation.
In preparing this final-form regulation, the Commission has considered the comments received from IRRC, the Committees and the public.
This final-form regulation was deemed approved by the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and was approved by the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, and was approved by IRRC on May 16, 1996, in accordance with section 5(c) of the Regulatory Review Act.
Commissioners present: John M. Quain, Chairperson; Lisa Crutchfield, Vice Chairperson; John Hanger; David W. Rolka; and Robert K. Bloom
Public Meeting held
February 22, 1996
Final Rulemaking Order By the Commission:
Following the January 1994 electric energy emergency, by order dated February 3, 1994, at Docket No. M-00940031, the Commission established interim emergency notification requirements and contact responsibilities for electric utilities and directed staff to prepare a rulemaking that proposes appropriate amendments to § 57.52 that address issues of notification and information flow.
On March 16, 1995, the Commission adopted an order to promulgate this amendment. On May 22, 1995, a copy of the proposed rulemaking was submitted to IRRC and to the Chairpersons of the House Committee on Consumer Affairs and the Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure. The proposed amendment was published at 25 Pa.B. 2186 with a 60-day comment period.
Comments were timely received from IRRC, the Honorable David R. Wright (Representative Wright), Pennsylvania Power Company (Penn Power), Pennsylvania Power & Light Company (PP&L), PECO Energy Company (PECO), UGI Utilities, Inc. (UGI) and the Pennsylvania Telephone Association (PTA). These comments constitute the record in this proceeding.
This order discusses the final-form amendment to § 57.52 set forth in Annex A which have resulted from the comments received.
Most of the comments focused on clarifying our notification requirements under subsection (c). In order to address these concerns, some provisions have been deleted and others have been rearranged in a more logical order.
IRRC believes that, although the Commission's points of contact must be made clear to the utilities, such designation is an internal Commission matter which, depending on circumstances, may need to be changed in the future. IRRC recommends a more general requirement for utilities to notify the Commission. A more detailed internal procedure would provide specific points of contact and emergency telephone numbers which could be distributed to the utilities on a regular basis. We agree with this recommendation and have revised the amendment by replacing ''Secretary or designee'' with ''the Commission'' consistently throughout the final-form regulation.
PECO, UGI and IRRC commented on a discrepancy between the proposed subsection (c), which refers to an emergency situation defined under subsection (a), and subsection (c)(1), which refers to widespread service disruptions. Although these emergency situations have the obvious potential for widespread service disruptions, in order to alleviate any perceived discrepancy and avoid confusion, we have deleted the proposed subsection (c)(1) and have renumbered the remaining paragraphs.
IRRC recommended that additional details be added to the requirement for notification of the implementation of emergency procedures and for the submittal of status reports. The new subsection (c)(1) sets forth Commission notification and utility reporting requirements during a load emergency situation. Initial and subsequent notices of the implementation of emergency procedures are to be provided by the affected utility to the Commission by telephone. Additional emergency related information is to be faxed to the Commission at least every 3 hours, commencing with the initial notification. In response to IRRC's suggestion, we have listed specific information which must be included in the written report, such as generating unit availability and reserve capacity. This is information similar to that which the utilities have provided to the Commission in the past during load emergency situations.
Penn Power objected to the requirement to notify the Commission at the time either voluntary or involuntary load curtailments are first anticipated during a load emergency situation. Penn Power has contracted with numerous interruptible industrial customers to interrupt for both economic and emergency reasons. Thus, Penn Power suggested that notification should be required only when firm customers are directly impacted. We agree, and have revised the language in the new subsection (c)(1) to accommodate this suggestion.
The new subsection (c)(2) sets forth similar requirements applicable during energy conservation emergencies. Emergency related information to be provided by fax to the Commission includes fuel inventories, fuel deliveries and burn rates.
PP&L and UGI objected to the proposed requirement to provide notice during energy conservation emergencies ''prior to the implementation of measures . . .''. Since circumstances may dictate immediate action by the utility, there may not be time to provide the Commission with advance notice. Certainly, we do not want to hinder utilities in their response to emergency situations. Furthermore, we do not expect utilities to seek and obtain our permission prior to the implementation of emergency measures. In order to alleviate this concern, we have revised the amendment to require notice to telephone at the time of initial implementation of conservation measures.
Subsection (c)(3) requires utilities to provide the Commission with up-to-date lists of emergency contacts. Thisrequirement was previously included in subsection (c)(3) of the proposed amendment.
Subsection (c)(4), which was paragraph (1)(iii) of our originally proposed amendment, requires notification on a pool-wide basis, if applicable. We have added the phrase ''or similarly integrated bulk power system with a single system operator'' to accommodate other existing or future tightly integrated multi-utility operating structures. The phrase ''in lieu of individual utility notification'' has also been added to clarify the point that individual utility notification is not required if pool-wide notification is applicable.
In our proposed revisions to § 67.1, we attempted to clarify the applicability of the reporting requirements contained therein. Judging from the comments, the proposed revisions do not achieve the intended result. Thus, we have deleted the proposed amendment to § 67.1 and have added a new subsection (c)(5) which simply states that the reporting requirements of § 67.1 do not apply to the two types of emergency situations addressed under § 57.52.
In its comments, IRRC discusses the flow of information between the Commission and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) or other representatives of the executive branch during an emergency. IRRC recommended that our final rule identify how the Commission will provide emergency information to PEMA and to whom informational requests from PEMA should be directed. We believe that IRRC's point with respect to the internality of the Commission's designated point of contact is equally valid here. The Commission's relationship with PEMA and other governmental agencies should not be the subject of regulations directed toward our jurisdictional utilities. Nevertheless, we have added subsection (c)(6) which states that the Commission will provide information to PEMA during emergency situations. Our originally proposed subsection (c)(4), which provided for an internal Commission energy monitoring team, has been deleted in the final rule. We have also added subsection (c)(7) indicating the Commission's intention to designate emergency contact individuals and provide the current list of contacts to the utilities and PEMA.
Representative Wright urges the Commission to incorporate recommendations contained in the House Consumer Affairs Committee's Report on the Energy Emergency During the Week of January 17, 1994 in the final rule. IRRC avered that these concerns were beyond the limited scope of the emergency notification procedures regulation. We agree. We also point out that a majority of the recommendations contained in the Committee's report were addressed in the Commission's Electric Energy Emergency Investigation at Docket No. I-00940031 and subsequently acted upon by the electric utilities.
In the event of either a load emergency situation or an emergency energy conservation situation, the Commission is obligated to be knowledgeable and to act as a source of advice and counsel to other civil authorities. The promulgation of final regulations establishing emergency notification procedures is in the public interest. Accordingly, under sections 501, 504 and 1501 of the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 501, 504 and 1501, and the Commonwealth Documents Law (45 P. S. § 1201 et seq.) and the regulations promulgated thereunder at 1 Pa. Code §§ 7.1--7.4, we amend § 57.52 as noted in this Preamble in the manner set forth in Annex A; Therefore,
It is Ordered That:
1. Section 57.52 is amended by adding subsection (c) establishing emergency notification procedures for electric utilities as set forth in Annex A.
2. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A to the Office of Attorney General for approval as to legality.
3. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A to the Governor's Budget Office for review of fiscal impact.
4. The Secretary shall submit this order and Annex A for formal review by the designated standing committees of both Houses of the General Assembly, and for formal review by IRRC.
5. The Secretary shall deposit this order and Annex A with the Legislative Reference Bureau for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
6. This amendment shall become effective upon publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
7. The interim emergency notification requirements set forth in the Commission's order dated February 3, 1994, at Docket No. M-00940031 are rescinded upon publication of this order in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
8. Copies of this order and Annex A be served upon all jurisdictional electric utilities, the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate and all other parties of record.
JOHN G. ALFORD,
Secretary(Editor's Note: The proposal to amend § 67.1, included in the proposal at 25 Pa.B. 2186 (June 3, 1995), has been withdrawn by the Commission.
For the text of the order of the Independent Regulatory Review Commission relating to this document, see 26 Pa.B. 2669 (June 1, 1996).)
Fiscal Note: Fiscal Note 57-157 remains valid for the final adoption of the subject regulation.
Annex A
TITLE 52. PUBLIC UTILITIES
PART I. PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION
Subpart C. FIXED SERVICE UTILITIES
CHAPTER 57. ELECTRIC SERVICE
Subchapter E. EMERGENCY REGULATIONS § 57.52. Emergency load control and energy conservation by electric utilities.
(a) An electric public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission shall include in its electric tariff rules and regulations filed with the Commission the following provision:
(1) RULE _____ EMERGENCY LOAD CONTROL.
(i) A load emergency situation exists whenever:
(A) The demands for power on all or part of the utility's system exceed or threaten to exceed the capacity then actually and lawfully available to supply the demands.
(B) System instability or cascading outages could result from actual or expected transmission overloads or other contingencies.
(C) The conditions exist in the system or another public utility or power pool with which the utility's system is interconnected and cause a reduction in the capacity available to the utility from that source or threaten the integrity of the utility's system.
(ii) In this case, the utility shall take the reasonable steps as the time available permits to bring the demands within the then-available capacity or to otherwise control load. The steps shall include, but are not limited to, reduction or interruption of service to one or more customers, in accordance with the utility's procedures for controlling load.
(2) RULE _____ EMERGENCY ENERGY CONSERVATION. An emergency energy conservation situation exists whenever events result or, in the judgment of the utility, threaten to result in a restriction of the fuel supplies available to the utility or its energy vendors, so that the amount of electric energy which the utility is able to supply is or will be adversely affected. In the event of an emergency energy conservation situation, the utility shall take reasonable measures that it believes necessary and proper to conserve available fuel supplies. The measures may include, but are not limited to, reduction, interruption or suspension of service to one or more of its customers or classes of customers in accordance with the utility's procedure for emergency energy conservation.
(b) A utility shall establish procedures for controlling load and emergency conservation.
(1) These procedures shall include schedules of load shedding priorities to be followed in compliance with subsection (a).
(2) These procedures may be revised by the utility, and shall be revised if required by the Commission.
(3) A copy of the procedures or of the revision currently in effect shall be kept available for public inspection at the office at which the utility maintains a copy of its tariff for public inspection, and another copy shall be kept on file with the Commission's Bureau of Conservation, Economics and Energy Planning.
(c) In the event of either a load emergency situation or an emergency energy conservation situation, as defined under subsection (a), the following emergency notification procedures apply:
(1) During load emergencies, initial notice shall be provided by telephone to the Commission no later than the time a voltage reduction warning is issued on the electric system. If a utility does not have the capability to implement system-wide automatic voltage reductions, notice shall be provided to the Commission prior to the implementation of emergency measures which would have a direct impact on firm customers. Notification shall be provided to the Commission as each subsequent load control procedure is either implemented or cancelled. During the course of the load emergency situation, the affected utility shall provide other emergency related information to the Commission that the Commission determines to be necessary. Information shall be provided by fax at a minimum of every 3 hours commencing with initial notification of an emergency situation and shall include the following:
(i) System operating capacity.
(ii) Current system load.
(iii) Projected system peak load and hour.
(iv) System operating reserve capacity.
(v) Capacity transactions.
(vi) Unavailable generating units.
(vii) Status of implementation of emergency operating procedures.
(viii) Customers and loads affected by manual load shedding, if applicable.
(2) During energy conservation emergencies, notice shall be provided by telephone to the Commission at the time of initial implementation of measures which the utility determines to be necessary to conserve available fuel supplies and which would have a direct impact on firm customers. Notification shall be provided to the Commission as each subsequent emergency conservation procedure is either implemented or cancelled. During the course of the emergency energy conservation situation, the affected utility shall provide other emergency related information to the Commission that the Commission determines to be necessary. Information shall be provided by fax at a minimum of every 3 hours commencing with initial notification of an emergency situation and shall include the following:
(i) Fuel inventories.
(ii) Fuel deliveries.
(iii) Burn rates.
(iv) Curtailment schedules, if applicable.
(3) The utility shall designate emergency contact individuals from which emergency information may be obtained and provide the Commission with a current list of contacts.
(4) Utilities which operate within a power pool or similarly integrated bulk power system with a single system operator shall provide notification and other emergency related information to the Commission through their designated representative if the emergency situation affects the entire integrated system, in lieu of individual utility notification.
(5) Section 67.1 (relating to general provisions) does not apply to either load emergency situations or emergency energy conservation situations.
(6) The Commission will provide information to the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency during emergency situations.
(7) The Commission will designate emergency contact individuals to be contacted by the utilities to meet the requirements of this section. The Commission will provide the current list of Commission contacts to the utilities and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 96-1136. Filed for public inspection July 12, 1996, 9:00 a.m.]
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