Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 38, September 21, 2024
(a) A
critical period exists when the NGDC declares an Operational Flow Order (OFO).
A critical period implies the need for heightened awareness and attention by
all parties.
(1) OFOs are issued to alleviate
stress, or potential stress, to the NGDC system that threatens safety or
reliability, or both.
(2) OFOs are
an action of last resort, are never issued lightly, and are only issued for
safety or reliability reasons.
(3)
OFOs are distinct from, and do not preclude, other types of flow orders which
an NGDC may issue to satisfy other obligations of the NGDC or the SOLR under
the code or this title, such as the obligation to fulfill the least cost fuel
procurement requirements of section 1318 of the act (relating to determination
of just and reasonable gas cost rates).
(b) The NGDC should describe in detail, in
its tariff, the actions it will take in advance of, and during a critical
period. At a minimum, those actions should include the following:
(1) Exercises wherein critical period
communications between, and the required responses of, the parties can be
tested.
(2) A protocol for issuing
and communicating system alerts that announce actual or pending events that, if
unchecked, may result in a critical period, and call for voluntary actions or
responses from NGSs and customers.
(3) A protocol for issuing and communicating
OFOs. The protocol should address how and when the OFOs will be announced, and
provide for disseminating periodic status reports during the period an OFO is
in effect. OFOs should state the actions required and the reasons for the
actions, be as localized as possible and be applied in a nondiscriminatory
manner.
This section cited in 52 Pa. Code §
69.11 (relating to definitions);
52 Pa. Code §
69.18 (relating to communications
protocols); and 52 Pa. Code §
69.19 (relating to operational and
capacity councils).
