Section 411.140  Reliability Review

 

a)         Beginning in the year 1999 and at least every three years thereafter, the Commission shall assess the annual report of each jurisdictional entity and evaluate its reliability performance. Within thirty days after receiving the Commission's final report on such assessment, the jurisdictional entity may prepare a response to such report. Both the Commission's final report and the jurisdictional entity's response shall be filed with the Chief Clerk of the Commission.

 

1)         The Commission recognizes that circumstances and events beyond a jurisdictional entity's control can affect reliability statistics and the interruptions experienced by customers. The Commission shall consider such circumstances and events when evaluating a jurisdictional entity's reliability performance.

 

2)         The Commission evaluation shall:

 

A)        Assess the jurisdictional entity's historical performance relative to established reliability targets.

 

B)        Identify trends in the jurisdictional entity's reliability performance.

 

C)        Evaluate the jurisdictional entity's plan to maintain or improve reliability.

 

D)        Include specific identification, assessment, and recommendations pertaining to any potential reliability problems and risks that the Commission has identified as a result of its evaluation.

 

E)        Include a review of the jurisdictional entity's implementation of its plan for the previous reporting period.

 

b)         Annual report assessment and reliability performance evaluation criteria.

 

1)         When assessing a jurisdictional entity's annual report, the Commission shall consider the information listed below.

 

A)        Information that this Part requires a jurisdictional entity to include in annual reports.

 

B)        The relevant characteristics of the area served, including but not limited to system configuration, population density, and geographical constraints.

 

C)        The age and condition of the system's equipment and facilities.

 

D)        Generally accepted engineering practices.

 

E)        The costs of potential actions.

 

F)         The benefits of avoiding the risks of service disruptions.

 

G)        The reliability effects of severe weather events and other events and circumstances that may be beyond the jurisdictional entity's control.

 

2)         Criteria for Commission assessment of a jurisdictional entity's annual report.

 

A)        The report must comply with the requirements of this Part.

 

B)        The report must contain a plan, as required by Section 411.120(b)(3)(A).

 

3)         When assessing a jurisdictional entity's reliability performance, the Commission shall consider the information listed below.

 

A)        Controllable interruptions.

 

B)        Statistical measures of interruptions.

 

C)        The number of interruptions experienced by individual customers.

 

D)        The cumulative hours of interruption experienced by individual customers.

 

E)        The jurisdictional entity's actions to prevent interruptions.

 

F)         The jurisdictional entity's responses to interruptions and to the customers affected by interruptions.

 

G)        The extent to which the jurisdictional entity has restored interruptions of service to customers on a non-discriminatory basis without regard to whether a customer has chosen the jurisdictional entity or another provider of electric power and energy.

 

H)        The number and substance of informal inquiries, requests for assistance, and complaints directed by customers to the jurisdictional entity and to the Commission.

 

I)         The results of customer satisfaction surveys that include customer perceptions of service reliability.

 

J)         Generally accepted engineering practices.

 

K)        The costs of potential actions.

 

L)        The benefits of avoiding the risks of service disruptions.

 

M)       The reliability effects of severe weather events and other events and circumstances that may be beyond the jurisdictional entity's control.

 

N)        Previous Commission reports and the jurisdictional entity's responses to those reports.

 

O)        Information that this Part requires a jurisdictional entity to include in annual reports.

 

P)         The relevant characteristics of the area served, including but not limited to system configuration, population density, and geographical constraints.

 

Q)        The age and condition of the system's equipment and facilities.

 

4)         The jurisdictional entity shall strive to provide electric service to its customers that complies with the targets listed below.

 

A)        Customers whose immediate primary source of service operates at 69,000 volts or above should not have experienced:

 

i)          More than three  controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

ii)         More than nine  hours of total interruption duration due to controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

B)        Customers whose immediate primary source of service operates at more than 15,000 volts, but less than 69,000 volts, should not have experienced:

 

i)          More than four controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

ii)         More than twelve hours of total interruption duration due to controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

C)        Customers whose immediate primary source of service operates at 15,000 volts or below should not have experienced:

 

i)          More than six controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

ii)         More than eighteen hours of total interruption duration due to controllable interruptions in each of the last three consecutive years.

 

D)        Exceeding the service reliability targets is not, in and of itself, an indication of unreliable service, nor does it constitute a violation of the Act or any Commission order, rule, direction, or requirement. The Commission's assessment shall determine if the jurisdictional entity has a process in place to identify, analyze, and correct service reliability for customers who experience a number or duration of interruptions that exceeds the targets.