Alaska Administrative Code
Title 3 - Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
Part 7 - Regulatory Commission of Alaska
Chapter 46 - Electric Reliability Organizations and Integrated Resource Planning
Article 3 - Electric Reliability Organization Tariffs and Rules
3 AAC 46.470 - Review and approval of electric reliability organization rules

(a) An electric reliability organization shall file all rules, or revisions to rules, developed in compliance with, or developed with the intent to comply with, AS 42.05.762(3) by means of a consecutively numbered electric reliability organization rule letter. Every rule letter must contain the applicable information set out in (b) of this section, unless waived by the commission on a showing of good cause. All elements of an electric reliability organization's compliance monitoring and enforcement program not specifically identified as part of the electric reliability organization's tariff under 3 AAC 46.360 shall be filed under this subsection, except that filings made under this subsection do not include budget filings made under 3 AAC 46.160(b).

(b) Each electric reliability organization rule filing under this section must be transmitted to the commission by a consecutively numbered letter designated as "ER[number]" followed by a hyphen and the number of the electric reliability organization's certificate. A letter may be on either letterhead or plain paper but must be formatted to print eight and one-half inches by 11 inches in size, must contain the name and return address of the filing electric reliability organization, and must contain the name, return address, and electronic mail address of the filing electric reliability organization's representative authorized to issue rules.

(c) An electric reliability organization rule letter filed under this section is an initiating petition for purposes of AS 42.05.175(i).

(d) Each rule filing must be submitted to the commission not later than 45 days before the filing may take effect, unless the commission by order authorizes the filing to take effect in less than 45 days after the date of filing. An electric reliability organization rule letter must

(e) A rule filing may be filed electronically or physically with the commission. A rule filing made before 5:00 p.m. on a regular business day will be considered filed with the commission for the purpose of determining the regulatory notice period. The day after the filing is submitted with the commission will be counted as the first day of the period of notice to the commission and public in accordance with AS 01.10.080. The regulatory notice period set out in (d) of this section shall be determined in the same manner prescribed under 3 AAC 48.090. If a notice period ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or state legal holiday, the notice period will be extended to the end of the commission's next regular business day. In computing the regulatory notice period, consideration will not be given to notice by telephone, electronic mail, or facsimile transmission.

(f) If the commission does not issue a letter rejecting a rule filing or enter an order suspending a rule filing, in whole or in part, the part of the filing that is not rejected or suspended takes effect after the 45-day review period has expired, or at a later date designated by the electric reliability organization in its rule filing. The commission may suspend for investigation any electric reliability organization proposed rule or rule revision. In an order suspending a proposed rule or rule revision, the commission may establish a temporary rule or rule revision identical to the rule or rule revision contained in suspended filing for use by the electric reliability organization until the final disposition of the suspension. During the suspension period, an electric reliability organization may supplement or amend its rule filing or make additional filings. However, if the supplementary or additional filings represent or make a significant or material change in the original filing, the commission may suspend the filing again up to the full regulatory period and renotice the supplemented or amended filing to the public. An order of the commission under this subsection suspending a rule filing, in whole or in part, may later be vacated, in whole or in part, by means of an order in the same formal proceeding.

(g) The commission may, upon complaint or on its own motion, open a docket of investigation to propose a rule or rule revision for an electric reliability organization. If the commission finds, after notice and the opportunity for public comment, that a change to the electric reliability organization's rule or rule revision is just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest,

(h) The commission may extend the timelines in this subsection on its own motion or for good cause shown.

(i) After approval, the commission will validate each effective rule, form, or other document required by commission order, by placing the commission's date-of-receipt stamp on the upper right corner of each rule, form, and other document and by entering the appropriate effective date on the bottom right corner of each rule, form, and other document. The commission will return a copy of each effective rule, form, and other document required by commission order to the electric reliability organization after the effective date of the filing.

(j) Each effective set of an electric reliability organization's rules on file with the commission is lawful until revised in accordance with the procedures established under law and this section.