COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Grid
Assurance™ today filed its second petition with the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) seeking additional
declarations that will provide regulatory clarity to further enable
transmission-owning entities to participate in and subscribe to the
service to strengthen transmission grid resiliency.
Eight electric utilities and energy companies announced
June 10 that they had signed a
memorandum of understanding to pursue development of Grid
Assurance™, a limited liability company that expects to offer
subscribers cost-effective solutions for enhancing transmission
grid resiliency and protecting customers from prolonged
transmission outages. In an Aug. 7
order, FERC recognized the benefits of Grid Assurance™. The
consortium has since developed a Subscription Agreement and now is
seeking additional regulatory clarity from FERC to enable broader
transmission owner participation.
In today's petition, Grid Assurance™ is asking FERC to
confirm:
- the prudence of subscriber decisions to contract with Grid
Assurance™ for sparing service, and the prudence of purchasing
spare equipment from Grid Assurance™ following a qualifying
event;
- the availability of single-issue ratemaking to recover the
costs of purchasing sparing service and spare equipment from Grid
Assurance™; and
- that Grid Assurance™'s pricing complies with FERC's affiliate
pricing restrictions related to the purchase of non-power goods,
or, alternatively, to grant a waiver from these affiliate pricing
restrictions for Grid Assurance™ subscribers.
Grid Assurance™ has requested a declaratory order on this
petition by early February.
Grid Assurance™ expects to begin accepting subscribers and
identifying inventory in 2016. Grid Assurance™ will own and
maintain critical, long lead-time equipment at secure,
strategically located regional warehouses and offer logistics
support to facilitate equipment being placed in service following
qualifying events. Qualifying events include physical attacks,
cyberattacks, electromagnetic pulses, catastrophic events,
solar storms, earthquakes, and severe weather events. Grid
Assurance™ services are intended to complement transmission owners'
existing programs as well as established industry initiatives.
Affiliates of American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP), Berkshire
Hathaway Energy, Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), Edison International
(NYSE: EIX), Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES), Exelon (NYSE: EXC),
Great Plains Energy (NYSE: GXP), and Southern Company (NYSE: SO)
are pursuing development of Grid Assurance™, a limited liability
company, to offer subscribers cost-effective solutions for
enhancing transmission grid resiliency. Recovery of the
transmission grid can be hampered by long lead times required to
build and deliver critical replacement equipment including large
transformers, circuit breakers and other specialized electrical
equipment. Grid Assurance™ will give subscribers economical access
to critical equipment faster than traditionally possible.
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SOURCE American Electric Power