16 U.S.C. § 824a–2: Reliability

Summary

The Secretary of Energy, working with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, must do a study on how reliable the electric system should be to meet customers’ needs. The study must look at the best ways to reach that reliability and how much those ways cost. It must also look at what to do during an emergency power outage to keep people safe and reduce economic harm, and how much those emergency plans cost. The study must be finished and sent to the President and Congress not later than 18 months after November 9, 1978, and the public must be allowed to comment before it is sent. The study must consider the cost and environmental effects of spending on generation, transmission, distribution, and customer devices; different kinds of utility systems and the reliability each might need; options other than new power plants (including conservation); whether many small generators are cost-effective compared to a few large ones; and any industry reliability standards for equipment, operations, training, and outage measures. The Secretary may ask regional reliability councils or other agencies to examine issues and report back, and must include any recommendations and utilities’ actions in the annual report.

Title 16, §824a–2

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(a)Study

(1)The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, shall conduct a study with respect to—

(A)the level of reliability appropriate to adequately serve the needs of electric consumers, taking into account cost effectiveness and the need for energy conservation,

(B)the various methods which could be used in order to achieve such level of reliability and the cost effectiveness of such methods, and

(C)the various procedures that might be used in case of an emergency outage to minimize the public disruption and economic loss that might be caused by such an outage and the cost effectiveness of such procedures.

Such study shall be completed and submitted to the President and the Congress not later than 18 months after November 9, 1978. Before such submittal the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public comment on the results of such study.

(2)The study under paragraph (1) shall include consideration of the following:

(A)the cost effectiveness of investments in each of the components involved in providing adequate and reliable electric service, including generation, transmission, and distribution facilities, and devices available to the electric consumer;

(B)the environmental and other effects of the investments considered under subparagraph (A);

(C)various types of electric utility systems in terms of generation, transmission, distribution and customer mix, the extent to which differences in reliability levels may be desirable, and the cost-effectiveness of the various methods which could be used to decrease the number and severity of any outages among the various types of systems;

(D)alternatives to adding new generation facilities to achieve such desired levels of reliability (including conservation);

(E)the cost-effectiveness of adding a number of small, decentralized conventional and nonconventional generating units rather than a small number of large generating units with a similar total megawatt capacity for achieving the desired level of reliability; and

(F)any standards for electric utility reliability used by, or suggested for use by, the electric utility industry in terms of cost-effectiveness in achieving the desired level of reliability, including equipment standards, standards for operating procedures and training of personnel, and standards relating the number and severity of outages to periods of time.

(b)Examination of reliability issues by reliability councils

The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, may, from time to time, request the reliability councils established under section 202(a) of the Federal Power Act [16 U.S.C. 824a(a) of this title] or other appropriate persons (including Federal agencies) to examine and report to him concerning any electric utility reliability issue. The Secretary shall report to the Congress (in its annual report or in the report required under subsection (a) if appropriate) the results of any examination under the preceding sentence.

(c)Department of Energy recommendations

The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, and after opportunity for public comment, may recommend industry standards for reliability to the electric utility industry, including standards with respect to equipment, operating procedures and training of personnel, and standards relating to the level or levels of reliability appropriate to adequately and reliably serve the needs of electric consumers. The Secretary shall include in his annual report—

(1)any recommendations made under this subsection or any recommendations respecting electric utility reliability problems under any other provision of law, and

(2)a description of actions taken by electric utilities with respect to such recommendations.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, and not as part of the Federal Power Act which generally comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Definitions For definitions of terms used in this section, see section 2602 of this title.

§824a–2 Reliability

Summary

Title 16, §824a–2

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Citations & Metadata