Current through all regulations passed and filed through March 18, 2024
(A) This rule applies to the inspection,
maintenance, repair, and replacement of utility transmission and distribution
system facilities (circuits and equipment). The rebuttable presumption that an
electric utility and/or transmission owner is providing adequate service
pursuant to paragraph (F) of rule
4901:1-10-02 of
the Administrative Code, does not apply to this rule.
(B) Distribution system performance
assessment. For electric distribution circuits, the electric utility shall
comply with rule
4901:1-10-11
of the Administrative Code.
(C)
Transmission system performance assessment. Every five years each electric
utility and transmission owner shall file with the commission a report setting
forth its methodology used to assess the reliability of its transmission
circuits. That methodology shall be subject to review and acceptance by the
director of the rates and analysis department.
(1) Each electric utility or transmission
owner shall submit a method to assess circuit reliability based on the total
number of sustained outages per circuit per calendar year and other factors
proposed by the electric utility, or required by the electric reliability
organization (ERO), the regional reliability organization (RRO), or the
regional transmission operator, which affect circuit performance, together with
supporting justification for that method.
(a)
If the electric utility and/or transmission owner and the director of the
rates and
analysis department can not agree on a method to assess transmission
circuit reliability, the electric utility and/or transmission owner shall
apply, within ninety calendar days after the submission of its proposal, to the
commission for a hearing and shall file a written report along with
documentation supporting its methodology.
(b) Revisions to a previously accepted
methodology for assessing the reliability of its transmission circuits, shall
be submitted for review and acceptance along with supporting justification to
the director of the utilities department, no later than ninety calendar days
prior to the beginning of the next succeeding calendar year.
(2) Each electric utility or
transmission owner shall submit a report on electronic media in a format
prescribed by the commission on or before March thirty-first of each year, that
identifies the performance of each transmission circuit for the previous
calendar year. Each annual report shall, at a minimum, provide the following
information for each transmission circuit:
(a)
The circuit identification number.
(b) The circuit name (if different from the
origin terminus).
(c) The circuit
origin and terminus.
(d) The
circuit voltage level (KV).
(e) The
circuit mileage.
(f) The circuit
in-service date, where available.
(g) The number of unplanned outages
(sustained and momentary if available) and their causes by circuit.
(h) The substation(s) and/or distribution
circuit(s) affected by each of the outages reported for paragraph (C)(2)(g) of
this rule, by circuit.
(i) A
description of and the rationale for any remedial action taken or planned to
improve circuit performance or for taking no remedial action.
(j) The start and completion dates of any
remedial action taken or planned.
(k) The applicable ERO standard
requirement.
(l) The applicable ERO
standard violation.
(3)
The annual report shall be submitted in a form prescribed by the commission or
its staff.
(D)
Transmission and distribution facilities inspections.
Unless otherwise determined by the commission, each electric
utility and transmission owner shall, at a minimum, inspect its electric
transmission and distribution facilities (circuits and equipment) to maintain
quality, safe, and reliable service on the following scheduled basis:
(1) Distribution - all distribution circuits
and equipment, including above-ground facilities
associated with the operation of underground circuits, shall be inspected
at least once every five years.
(2)
Transmission - all transmission circuits and equipment shall be inspected at
least once every year.
(3)
Substations - all transmission and distribution substations and equipment shall
be inspected twelve times annually, with no inspection interval exceeding forty
calendar days between inspections.
(4) On or before March thirty-first of each
year, each electric utility and transmission owner shall submit a report in an
electronic medium, in a format prescribed by the commission or its staff, of
the electric utility's and/or transmission owner's compliance with the
inspection schedule in paragraphs (D)(1) to (D)(3) of this rule for the
preceding calendar year. The annual report of inspection compliance shall
include:
(a) A listing of distribution
circuits inspected during the year and, for each listed circuit, the date(s)
such inspection was performed.
(b)
A listing of transmission circuits inspected during the year and, for each
listed circuit, the date(s) such inspections were performed.
(c)
A listing of all substations
and the date of each inspection during the year.
(d) The date(s) when any circuits or
substations were added or retired during the reporting year.
(E) Transmission and
distribution inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement programs.
(1) Each electric utility and transmission
owner shall establish, maintain, and comply with written programs, policies,
procedures, and schedules for the inspection, maintenance, repair, and
replacement of its transmission and distribution circuits and equipment. These
programs shall establish preventative requirements for the electric utility to
maintain safe and reliable service. Programs shall include, but are not limited
to, the following facilities:
(a) Poles and
towers.
(b) Circuit and line
inspections.
(c) Primary enclosures
(e.g., pad-mounted transformers and pad-mounted switch gear) and secondary
enclosures (e.g., pedestals and handholes).
(d) Line reclosers.
(e) Line capacitors.
(f) Right-of-way vegetation
control.
(g) Substations.
(2) Each electric utility shall
file its inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement programs, instituted
pursuant to paragraph (E)(1) of this rule, with the commission, and
simultaneously provide a copy of the filing to the director of the service
monitoring and enforcement department. The electric utility's filing shall
include supporting justification and rationale based upon generally accepted
industry practices and procedures.
(3) If a filing to establish the electric
utility's inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement programs is not
acted upon by the commission within forty-five calendar days after it is filed,
the inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement programs shall be deemed
approved on the forty-sixth day after filing.
(4) Each electric utility and transmission
owner shall maintain records sufficient to demonstrate compliance with its
transmission and distribution facilities inspection, maintenance, repair, and
replacement programs as required by this rule. Each electric utility and
transmission owner shall record all deficiencies revealed by inspections or
tests and all actions taken to correct those deficiencies. Lines and equipment
with recorded defects that could reasonably be expected to endanger life or
property shall be promptly repaired, disconnected, or isolated. All remaining
deficiencies shall be corrected by the end of the calendar year following the year of the inspection or
testing that originally revealed such deficiencies was
completed. The electric utility shall document all deficiencies that are
not corrected within the designated time, including the reason for not taking
corrective action.
(F)
Inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement program revisions and
amendments.
(1) All revisions or amendments
(including modification to a current program, addition of a new program, or
elimination of an existing program) requested by an electric utility shall be
filed with the commission as outlined in paragraph (E)(2) of this
rule.
(2) If a filing to revise or
amend the electric utility's inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement
programs is not acted upon by the commission within forty-five days after it is
filed, the inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement programs shall be
deemed approved on the forty-sixth day after filing.