22102176D
HOUSE BILL NO. 414
Offered January 12, 2022
Prefiled January 11, 2022
A BILL to amend the Code of Virginia by adding in Chapter 23 of Title 56 a section numbered 56-596.4, relating to electric utilities; electric service reliability plan and report.
----------
Patron-- Herring (By Request)
----------
Committee Referral Pending
----------

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Chapter 23 of Title 56 a section numbered 56-594.4 as follows:

§56-596.4. Electric service reliability plan and report.

A. As used in this section, "electric utility" means each investor-owned electric utility and each electric cooperative utility.

B. Each electric utility shall file a plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability with the Commission for approval in accordance with the following:

1. The plan shall include standard reliability metrics used in accordance with industry-recognized electric reliability standards (IEEE 1366), including, at a minimum, System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI), Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI), and Customer Average Interruption Frequency Index (CAIFI). If an electric utility uses an alternative methodology not in accordance with IEEE 1366, the electric utility shall provide a detailed description for its use of an alternative and the methodology for its calculations;

2. An electric utility may report impacts of weather or short-duration events as a separate reliability metric insofar as the criteria for qualifying to be a weather or short-duration event includes specific definition and calculation methodology included in the electric utility's reliability monitoring and reporting plan;

3. The plan shall establish baseline standard reliability metrics to report to the Commission, and each electric utility shall establish and report baseline standard reliability metrics dating back to no later than calendar year 2015; and

4. The initial plan for monitoring and reporting electric service reliability information shall be filed with the Commission by January 1, 2023. Any modification to the plan shall be filed with the Commission before the modification is implemented.

C. Each electric utility shall file an annual electric service reliability report to the Commission for approval in accordance with the following:

1. The report shall be consistent with the filed and Commission-approved electric service reliability monitoring and reporting plan filed in accordance with subsection B;

2. A baseline for the standard electric reliability metrics shall be established and reported for Commission-approved baseline year;

3. New standard electric reliability metrics shall be compared to the baseline electric reliability metrics and to electric reliability metrics from all intervening years;

4. The electric utility shall maintain historical standard electric reliability metrics and information necessary to show trends for a minimum of seven years;

5. Commission-approved electric reliability metrics shall be reported to the Commission at a system-wide level;

6. Commission-approved electric reliability metrics shall be displayed on the Commission's website, listed by electric utility, and on the electric utility's website for public accessibility;

7. The report shall identify geographic areas of greatest reliability concern, explain causes and reasoning for such concerns, and identify investments or means of addressing such concerns according to Commission-approved investment plans;

8. The report shall identify the total number of customer complaints about electric reliability and power quality issues made to the electric utility during the year and shall distinguish between complaints about sustained interruptions and power quality, including those defined as chronic poor service; and

9. The report shall identify complaints that were made about major events and provide description of the causal nature of the major event's impact on electric reliability.

D. Each electric utility jurisdiction shall make available, upon request and within 15 days of the request, the Commission-approved electric reliability metrics as requested for the electric utility's entire system, a specific locality within its jurisdiction, and, to the requesting customer or with the consent of the customer, a specific customer.

E. Each electric utility shall include reporting of standard reporting metrics for any filed application to the Commission that includes investment in distribution or transmission infrastructure.