-
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
FORMAL CASE NO. 766, IN THE MATTER OF THE COMMISSION’S FUEL ADJUSTMENT CLAUSE AUDIT AND REVIEW PROGRAM;
FORMAL CASE NO. 982, IN THE MATTER OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY REGARDING INTERRUPTION TO ELECTRIC ENERGY SERVICE;
FORMAL CASE NO. 991, IN THE MATTER OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO EXPLOSIONS OCCURRING IN OR AROUND THE UNDERGROUND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS OF THE POTOMAC ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY;
AND
FORMAL CASE NO. 1002, IN THE MATTER OF THE JOINT APPLICATION OF PEPCO AND THE NEW RC, INC. FOR AUTHORIZATION AND APPROVAL OF MERGER TRANSACTION
1. The Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (Commission) hereby gives notice, pursuant to section 34-802 of the District of Columbia Official Code and in accordance with section 2-505 of the District of Columbia Official Code,[1] of its final rulemaking action to amend chapter 36 of title 15 of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR). The rules as proposed herein were published in the D.C. Register on April 27, 2012.[2] Comments were received from Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco), the Office of the People’s Counsel (OPC), and AARP. Reply comments were received from Pepco and OPC. Except for reserving certain provisions for future rulemaking action, no changes have been made to the rules as published on April 27, 2012. This amendment will be effective upon publication of this Notice of Final Rulemaking in the D.C. Register. This Chapter establishes electric utility reliability performance standards.
2. The final rule reserves subsections 3603.18 and 3603.19, and adds new subsections 3603.20 and 3603.21 of section 3603, Reliability Standards, chapter 36, Electricity Quality of Service Standards, of title 15, of the DCMR to require Pepco to establish and follow a Major Service Outage Restoration Plan, and prescribes the minimum content of such a Plan. The final rule reserves subsections 3603.18 and 3603.19 and adds new subsections 3603.20 and 3603.21 to read as follows:
3603.18 –
3603.19 [Reserved]
3603.20 Within sixty (60) days of the effective date of this subsection, the utility shall file with the Commission a Major Service Outage Restoration Plan. The utility shall comply with its Major Service Outage Restoration Plan when preparing for and responding to a Major Service Outage. The Major Service Outage Restoration Plan shall provide a description of and procedures for the utility’s response to Major Service Outage events, including, but not limited to, the following topics and issues:
(a) Major Service Outage restoration preparation, training, and drills;
(b) Early storm detection, storm tracking, and internal and external warnings;
(c) Activation, mobilization, and deployment of internal and external resources, including both staffing levels and equipment;
(d) Materials management and logistics;
(e) Major Service Outage restoration priorities, taking into account, among other priorities, the electric power needs of emergency responders and their associated dispatching systems, hospitals, water and sewer pumping stations, natural gas utility and telecommunications service providers, national security and other essential agencies of the federal and District governments, and other essential services. In addition, the utility shall describe:
(1) How it prioritizes power restoration between the various priority classifications adopted by the utility;
(2) How it prioritizes power restoration among electric customers falling within the same priority classification; and
(3) How the utility prioritizes restoration of power for, and communicates with, customers, including residential customers, that have demonstrated to the utility a medical need for electricity;
(f) Damage assessment and inspections;
(g) Public safety, including wire down response in situations in which downed wires are guarded by fire or police responders and situations in which downed wires are not guarded by fire or police responders;
(h) Deployment and supervision of, and communications with, field crews, whether composed of the utility’s employees, employees of third party contractors, or composed of temporary personnel obtained through a mutual assistance agreement, or otherwise;
(i) Pruning and trimming of vegetation, removal of downed trees and tree limbs, and removal of storm debris other than vegetation;
(j) Replacement of downed poles and wires;
(k) External communications, including communications with the:
(1) Utility’s customers, the public at large, and other interested persons;
(2) District’s emergency responders, emergency management and communication officials, and transportation officials;
(3) Commission’s members and designated staff;
(4) District’s elected officials;
(5) District Advisory Neighborhood Commission members;
(6) District’s Office of the People’s Counsel;
(7) Telecommunication or cable service providers owning overhead wires or antennae attached to the utility’s poles located in the District; and
(8) District’s Urban Forestry Administration;
(l) Internal communications;
(m) Communications technology use, including high call volume capability and capacity; use of social media; use of radio, television, and the print media; and use and functionality of the utility’s website;
(n) Development and communication of estimated times of restoration and assessment of estimated times of restoration accuracy, both during and subsequent to the Major Service Outage;
(o) Ramp-down and post-event inspection and reporting; and
(p) A Major Service Outage Restoration Plan performance assessment model describing the manner in which the utility shall, within sixty (60) days following the completion of its power restoration following a Major Service Outage, evaluate and report upon its performance under each of the criteria included in its Major Service Outage Restoration Plan.
3603.21 The utility shall file with the Commission any material change to its Major Service Outage Restoration Plan at least sixty (60) days prior to implementation, unless such timing will delay implementation of the change in a manner inconsistent with restoring service in the shortest time practicable, in which case the change shall be filed no later than thirty (30) days after implementing the change.
