PROPOSED RULES
COMMISSION
Original Notice.
Preproposal statement of inquiry was filed as WSR 99-19-155.
Title of Rule: Chapter 480-100 WAC, Electric companies, new sections WAC 480-100-388 Electric service reliability definitions, 480-100-393 Electric service reliability monitoring and reporting plans, and 480-100-398 Electric service reliability reports.
Purpose: The objective of these rules is to generate and make available to the commission accurate and meaningful information about the reliability of electricity service to customers of electric utilities regulated by the commission. These rules will allow the commission to track trends in electric service reliability and to identify areas of special reliability concern, and will assist the commission in its assessments of the adequacy of electric service provided to customers.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 80.01.040 General powers and duties of commission.
Summary: See Explanation of Rule below.
Name of Agency Personnel Responsible for Drafting: Mark Anderson, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 664-1311; Implementation and Enforcement: Carole J. Washburn, Secretary, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504, (360) 664-1174.
Name of Proponent: Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, governmental.
Rule is not necessitated by federal law, federal or state court decision.
Explanation of Rule, its Purpose, and Anticipated Effects: New rules added to chapter 480-100 WAC: The objective of these rules is to generate and make available to the commission accurate and meaningful information about the reliability of electric service to customers of electric utilities regulated by the commission. Declining service quality in other regulated industries, and the commission's concerns that changes in the electric utility industry should not result in unreliable service triggered the development of these rules.
These rules will allow the commission to track trends in electric service reliability and to identify areas of special reliability concern, and will assist the commission in is assessments of the adequacy of electric service provided to customers.
These rules primarily address interruptions to electric service, and establish two key requirements for electric utilities, which must:
(a) File a reliability monitoring and reporting plan with the commission, and
(b) Make an annual reliability report to the commission.
Reliability monitoring and reporting plans will articulate what aspects of interruptions to service each utility will monitor and report to the commission. The rules set some specific requirements, for example, utilities must monitor and report on the reliability of their systems as a whole, yet must also identify areas of special reliability concern. The rules give significant discretion to utilities for defining and selecting reliability problems to monitor and report on. However, their plans must be reviewed for acceptance by the commission.
Annual reliability reports will be made by each utility on interruptions to service, in a manner consistent with the monitoring and reporting plans filed with the commission under the rule.
Proposal does not change existing rules.
No small business economic impact statement has been prepared under chapter 19.85 RCW. Commission staff contacted companies seeking data regarding whether the proposed rules would impose increased costs. The responses indicate that affected companies have not identified such increased costs. The commission analyzed the rules to identify those that impose requirements that are new or differ from current requirements. The commission analysis identified only minor costs.
RCW 34.05.328 does not apply to this rule adoption. The commission is not an agency to which RCW 34.05.328 applies.
Hearing Location: Commission Hearing Room 206, 2nd Floor, Chandler Plaza Building, 1300 South Evergreen Park Drive S.W., Olympia, WA 98504-7250, on March 14, 2001, at 9:30 a.m.
Assistance for Persons with Disabilities: Contact Pat Valentine by March 1, 2001, TDD (360) 586-8203, or (360) 664-1133.
Submit Written Comments to: Carole J. Washburn, Secretary, P.O. Box 47250, Olympia, WA 98504-7250, or e-mail to <records@wutc.wa.gov>, fax (360) 753-2629, by February 28, 2001. Please include Docket No. UE-991168 in your communication.
Date of Intended Adoption: March 14, 2001.
February 7, 2001
Carole J. Washburn
Secretary
OTS-4631.2
NEW SECTION
WAC 480-100-388
Electric service reliability definitions.
"Electric service reliability" means the continuity of electric
service experienced by retail customers.
"Reliability statistic" means a number, which may include multiple components (for example, service interruptions, customers, and hours), that measures electric service reliability.
"Baseline reliability statistic" means a number calculated by the utility measuring aspects of electric service reliability in a specified year that may be used as a comparison for measuring electric service reliability in subsequent years.
"Sustained interruption" means an interruption to electric service that has a length of duration specified by the electric utility, but in any case not less than one minute.
"Power quality" means characteristics of electricity, primarily voltage and frequency, that must meet certain specifications for safe, adequate and efficient operations.
"Full-system" means all equipment and lines necessary to serve retail customers whether for the purpose of generation, transmission, distribution or individual service.
"Major event" means an event, such as a storm, that causes serious reliability problems, and that meets criteria established by the utility for such an event.
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(2) When to file. The plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability information must be filed with the commission six months after the effective date of this rule, though utilities are encouraged to file the plan sooner. Any modification to the plan must be filed with the commission before the modification is implemented.
(3) What to file. The utility must file a plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability information to the commission. The plan, and any modification to it, must be accepted by the commission. The plan must include the following items:
(a) What reliability statistics and information the utility will report to the commission. The utility must select and define statistics that track full-system reliability, and information, which may include statistics, that tracks localized reliability and identifies areas of greatest reliability concern.
(b) When the utility will establish baseline reliability statistics to report to the commission. Prior to establishing baseline reliability statistics, the utility must report the best information available. The utility must establish baseline reliability statistics within three years of the effective date of this rule.
(c) When the utility will file its annual electric service reliability report to the commission.
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(1) The report must be consistent with the electric service reliability monitoring and reporting plan filed under WAC 480-100-393. As set forth in the plan, in an identified year, baseline reliability statistics must be established and reported. In subsequent years, new reliability statistics must be compared to the baseline reliability statistics and to reliability statistics from all intervening years. The utility must maintain historical reliability information necessary to show trends for a minimum of seven years.
(2) The report must address any changes that the utility may make in the collection of data and calculation of reliability information after initial baselines are set. The utility must explain why the changes occurred and explain how the change is expected to affect comparisons of the newer and older information. Additionally, to the extent practical, the utility must quantify the effect of such changes on the comparability of new reliability statistics to baseline reliability statistics.
(3) The report must identify the utility's geographic areas of greatest reliability concern, explain their causes, and explain how the utility plans to address them.
(4) The report must identify the total number of customer complaints about reliability and power quality made to the utility during the year, and must distinguish between complaints about sustained interruptions and power quality. The report must also identify complaints that were made about major events.
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