Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 11, 2023
(A) General. This rule prescribes the
measurement of each electric utility's service reliability, the development of
minimum performance standards for such reliability, and the reporting of
performance against the established standards.
(B) Service reliability indices and minimum
performance standards.
(1) The service
reliability indices are as follows:
"CAIDI," or the customer average interruption duration index,
represents the average interruption duration or average time to restore service
per interrupted customer. CAIDI is expressed by the following formula:
CAIDI equals sum of customer interruption durations divided by
total number of customer interruptions
"SAIFI," or the system average interruption frequency index,
represents the average number of interruptions per customer. SAIFI is expressed
by the following formula:
SAIFI equals total number of customer interruptions divided by
total number of customers served
(2) Each electric utility in this state shall
file with the commission an application to establish company-specific minimum
reliability performance standards.
(3) Applications for approval of a
reliability performance standard shall include:
(a) A proposed methodology for establishing
reliability standards.
(b) A
proposed company-specific reliability performance standard for each service
reliability index based on the proposed methodology.
(c) Supporting justification for the proposed
methodology and each resulting performance standard.
(4) Supporting justification for the proposed
methodology and each resulting performance standard.
(a) Performance standards should reflect
historical system performance, system design, technological advancements,
service area geography, customer perception survey results as defined in
paragraph (B)(4)(b) of this rule, and other relevant factors.
(b) Each electric utility shall periodically
(no less than every three years) conduct a customer perception survey. The
survey results shall also be used as an input to the methodology for
calculating new performance standards. The survey shall be paid for by the
electric utility and shall be conducted under staff oversight. The objective of
the survey is to measure customer perceptions, including, but not limited to
expectations of electric service reliability in terms of the service
reliability indices defined in paragraph (B)(1) of this rule.
(c) Performance data during major events and
transmission outages shall be excluded from the calculation of the indices,
proposed standards, and any revised performance standards, as set forth in
paragraph (B) of this rule.
(5) A complete set of work papers must be
filed with the application. Work papers must include, but are not limited to,
any and all documents prepared by the electric utility for the application, a
list of assumptions used in establishing its proposed methodology, and a
narrative or other justification for its proposed methodology and each
resulting performance standard.
(6)
Unless otherwise ordered by the commission, legal director, deputy legal
director, or attorney examiner, the following procedural schedule shall apply:
(a) Upon the filing of an application, the
commission, legal director, deputy legal director, or an attorney examiner will
schedule a technical conference. The purpose of the technical conference is to
allow interested persons an opportunity to better understand the electric
utility's application. The electric utility will have the necessary personnel
in attendance at this conference so as to explain, among other things, the
filing, the work papers and the manner in which methodologies and resulting
performance standards were devised. The conference will be held at the
commission offices.
(b) Within
twenty calendar days after the technical conference, any person may file
comments.
(c) Within thirty
calendar days after the technical conference, the commission's staff may file
comments.
(d) Within fifty calendar
days after the technical conference, any person may file a response to the
comments.
(e) If it appears to the
commission that the proposals in the application may be unjust or unreasonable,
the commission shall set the matter for hearing and shall publish notice of the
hearing in accordance with section
4909.10
of the Revised Code. At such hearing, the burden of proof to show that the
proposals in the application are just and reasonable shall be upon the electric
utility.
(f) Interested persons
wishing to participate in the hearing shall file a motion to intervene no later
than thirty calendar days after the issuance of the entry scheduling the
hearing, unless ordered otherwise by the commission, legal director, deputy
legal director, or attorney examiner. This rule does not prohibit the filing of
a motion to intervene and conducting discovery prior to the issuance of an
entry scheduling a hearing.
(7) An electric utility may request to revise
its authorized performance standards by filing its revisions and
supporting justification for such revisions with the commission for approval
pursuant to paragraph (B)(6) of this rule, unless otherwise ordered by the
commission, legal director, deputy legal director, or attorney
examiner.
(8)
The authorized performance standards approved for an
electric utility shall remain in place until superseded by revised standards as
approved by the commission.
(C) Annual report. Each electric utility
shall file with the commission an annual report by March thirty-first of each
year. That annual report shall include the following information regarding the
previous calendar year:
(1) Annual performance
and supporting data for each service reliability index set forth in paragraph
(B) of this rule both with and without exclusions for major events and
transmission outages. Supporting data includes, for example, the number of
customers served, the number of customer interruptions, the number of customer
minutes interrupted, SAIFI data for a major event, CAIDI data for a major
event, information concerning a transmission interruption, and a listing of
distribution circuits interrupted during a transmission interruption.
(2) Performance on the same indices during
major events and transmission outages, reported in separate categories with
their respective supporting data.
(3) Data for the total number of sustained
outages, customers interrupted, and customer minutes interrupted for each
outage cause code, all of which shall be reported in the following versions:
(a) Data excluding major events and
transmission outages.
(b) Data for
major events only.
(c) Data for
transmission outages only.
(4) Data for the total number of momentary
interruptions on the electric utility's system where practicable.
(5) Each electric utility shall file the
annual report required by paragraph (C) of this rule in an electronic form
prescribed by the commission or its staff.
(D) If the annual performance of an electric
utility does not meet the electric utility's performance standard for any
index, the electric utility shall
file with the commission an action
plan, by March thirty-first of the year following the year when the
standard was missed.
(1) The action plan shall
include the following:
(a) Factors which
contributed to the actual performance level for that index.
(b) A proposal for improving performance to a
level that meets or exceeds the performance standards authorized for each
missed reliability index, including each action taken or planned to be taken,
and the anticipated completion date.
(2) The action plan shall be
filed in an electronic form prescribed by the
commission or its staff.
(3) A
status report on each action included in the action plan shall be submitted to
the director of the service monitoring and enforcement department upon request
of the staff.
(E) Failure
to meet the same performance standard for two consecutive years shall
constitute a violation of this rule.