(c) Resiliency Plan. An electric utility may
file a plan to prevent, withstand, mitigate, or more promptly recover from the
risks posed by resiliency events to its transmission and distributions systems.
A resiliency plan may be updated, but the updated plan must not take effect
earlier than three years from the date of approval of the electric utility's
most recently approved resiliency plan.
(1)
Resiliency measures. A resiliency plan is comprised of one or more measures
designed to prevent, withstand, mitigate, or more promptly recover from the
risks posed to the electric utility's transmission and distribution systems by
resiliency events, as described in subsection (d) of this section. Each measure
must utilize one or more of the following methods:
(A) hardening electric transmission and
distribution facilities;
(B)
modernizing electric transmission and distribution facilities;
(C) undergrounding certain electric
distribution lines;
(D) lightning
mitigation measures;
(E) flood
mitigation measures;
(F)
information technology;
(G)
cybersecurity measures;
(H)
physical security measures;
(I)
vegetation management; or
(J)
wildfire mitigation and response.
(2) Contents of the resiliency plan. The
resiliency plan must be organized by measure, including a description of any
activities, actions, standards, services, procedures, practices, structures, or
equipment associated with each measure.
(A)
The resiliency plan must identify, for each measure, one or more risks posed by
resiliency events that the measure is intended to prevent, withstand, mitigate,
or more promptly recover from.
(i) The
resiliency plan must explain the electric utility's prioritization of the
identified resiliency event and, if applicable, the prioritization of the
particular geographic area, system, or facilities where the measure will be
implemented.
(ii) The resiliency
plan must include evidence of the effectiveness of the measure in preventing,
withstanding, mitigating, or more promptly recovering from the risks posed by
the identified resiliency event. The commission will give greater weight to
evidence that is quantitative, performance-based, or provided by an independent
entity with relevant expertise.
(iii) A resiliency plan must explain the
expected benefits of the resiliency measures including, as applicable, reduced
system restoration costs, reduction in the frequency or duration of outages for
customers. and any improvement in the overall service reliability for
customers, including the classes of customers served and any critical load
designations.
(iv) The electric
utility must identify if a resiliency measure is a coordinated effort with
federal, state, or local government programs or may benefit from any federal,
state, or local government funding opportunities.
(v) The resiliency plan must explain the
selection of each measure over any reasonable and readily-identifiable
alternatives. The resiliency plan must contain sufficient analysis and
evidence, such as cost or performance comparisons, to support the selection of
each measure. In selecting between measures, whether a measure would support
the plan's systematic approach may be considered.
(vi) The resiliency plan must identify any
measures that may require a transmission system outage to implement. The
electric utility must coordinate with its independent system operator before
implementing these measures. Upon request, the electric utility must provide
its independent system operator, using mutually-agreed to transfer and data
security procedures, a complete copy of its resiliency plan.
(B) Resiliency events.
(i) A resiliency plan must define identify
and describe each type of resiliency event and any associated
resiliency-related risks the plan is designed to prevent, withstand, mitigate,
or more promptly recover from. A resiliency event may be defined using an
established definition (e.g., a hurricane) or a plan- or measure-specific
definition based on the risks posed by that type of event to the electric
utility's systems (e.g. flooding of a specified depth). Each type of resiliency
event must be defined with sufficient detail to allow the electric utility or
commission to determine whether an actual set of circumstances qualifies as a
resiliency event of that type.
(ii)
If appropriate, one or more magnitude thresholds must be included in the
definition of a resiliency event type based on the risks posed to the electric
utility's systems by that type of event. A resiliency plan may establish
multiple magnitude thresholds for a single type of resiliency event (e.g.,
categories of hurricanes) when necessary to conduct a more granular analysis of
the risks posed by the event and the options available to prevent, withstand,
mitigate, or more promptly recover from them.
(iii) The resiliency plan must include a
description of the system characteristics that make the electric utility's
transmission and distribution systems susceptible to each identified resiliency
event type.
(iv) A resiliency plan
must provide sufficient evidence to support the presence of and risk posed by
each identified resiliency event. The resiliency plan must provide historical
evidence of the electric utility's experience with, if applicable, and
forecasted risk of the identified event type, including whether the forecasted
risk is specific to a particular system or geographic area. In assessing the
presence and risk posed by each resiliency event, the commission will give
great weight to any studies conducted by an independent system operator or
independent entity with relevant expertise.
(C) Evaluation metric or criteria. Each
measure in the resiliency plan must include a proposed metric or criteria for
evaluating the effectiveness of that measure in preventing, withstanding,
mitigating, or more promptly recovering from the risks associated with the
resiliency event it is designed to address.
(i) The resiliency plan must explain the
appropriateness of the selected evaluation metric or criteria.
(ii) For an evaluation metric or criteria
that is not quantitative, the resiliency plan must explain why quantitative
evaluation of the effectiveness of that measure is not possible.
(iii) The resiliency plan must also include
an estimate or analysis of the expected effectiveness of each measure using the
selected evaluation metric or criteria.
(D) If a resiliency plan includes measures
that are similar to other existing programs or measures, such as a storm
hardening plan under §
25.95 of this title (relating to
Electric Utility Infrastructure Storm Hardening) or a vegetation management
plan under §
25.96 of this title (relating to
Vegetation Management), or programs or measures otherwise required by law, the
electric utility must distinguish the measures in the resiliency plan from
these programs and measures and, if appropriate, explain how the related items
work in conjunction with one another.
(E) A resiliency plan must be implemented
using a systematic approach over a period of at least three years. The
resiliency plan must explain this systematic approach and provide
implementation details for each of the plan's measures, including estimated
capital costs, estimated operations and maintenance expenses, an estimated
timeline for completion, and, when practicable and appropriate, estimated net
salvage value (value of the retired asset less depreciation and cost of
removal) and remaining service lives of any assets expected to be retired or
replaced by resiliency-related investments. The resiliency plan should identify
relevant cost drivers (e.g., line miles, frequency of inspections, frequency of
trim cycles, etc.) that would affect the estimates.
(F) A utility may deviate from the
implementation schedule specified in an approved plan if its independent system
operator has not approved an outage that would be required to timely implement
the plan.
(G) The resiliency plan
must include an executive summary or comprehensive chart that explains the plan
objectives, the resiliency events or related risks the plan is designed to
address, the plan's proposed resiliency measures, the proposed metrics or
criteria for evaluating the plans' effectiveness, the plan's cost and benefits,
and how the overall plan is in the public interest.
(3) An electric utility may designate
portions of the resiliency plan as critical energy infrastructure information,
as defined by applicable law, and file such portions confidentially.