2019 -- S 0810

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LC002460

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2019

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- UTILITY SERVICE

RESTORATION ACT

     Introduced By: Senator Roger Picard

     Date Introduced: April 25, 2019

     Referred To: Senate Commerce

     (Lieutenant Governor)

It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Title 39 of the General Laws entitled "PUBLIC UTILITIES AND

CARRIERS" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter:

CHAPTER 2.2

UTILITY SERVICE RESTORATION ACT

     39-2.2-1. Purpose.

     The purpose of this chapter is to ensure that each investor-owned electric and gas

distribution company has in place emergency preparation plans designed to bring about the

prompt restoration of service in the event of widespread outages occurring in the service area of

each company.

     39-2.2-2. Definitions.

     As used in this chapter:

     (1) “Commission” means the public utilities commission.

     (2) “Company” means an investor-owned electric or gas distribution company.

     (3) “Division” means the division of public utilities and carriers.

     (4) “Emergency event” means an event where significant and/or widespread outages or

service interruptions occurred in the service area of a company.

     (5) “Emergency response plan” or “plan” means a company's plan which prepares the

company to restore service in a safe and reasonably prompt manner in the case of an emergency

event.

     (6) “Life support customers” means medical priority customers who have provided

documentation to the electric distribution company of their medical conditions necessitating

electric service.

     (7) “Municipal liaison” means a liaison designated by a company to communicate with a

municipality during an emergency event.

     (8) “Mutual assistance agreement” means an agreement among a company and other

utilities, both inside and outside of Rhode Island, that details specifics for obtaining or lending

resources, including, but not limited to, material, equipment, and trained personnel, when internal

resources are not sufficient to ensure the safe and reasonably prompt restoration of service during

an emergency event.

     39-2.2-3. Emergency response plans required.

     (a) Each electric distribution company and natural gas distribution company conducting

business in the state shall, on or before June 1, 2020, submit to the division an emergency

response plan that shall be designed to achieve a prompt restoration of service after an emergency

event. Such plans shall be filed annually with the division by the first Monday in June. After

review of an electric distribution or natural gas distribution company’s emergency response plan,

the division may request that the company amend the plan. The division may open an

investigation and conduct hearings on any plan and order modifications if deemed necessary by

the division.

     (b) Any company that fails to file its emergency response plan may be fined five hundred

dollars ($500) for each day during which such failure continues. Any fines levied by the division

shall be returned to ratepayers through distribution rates in a manner determined by the

commission.

     (c) Plans shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

     (1) Identification of management staff responsible for company operations, including a

description of their specific duties; identification of the number of workers available to respond

within twenty-four (24) hours of an emergency event; and an estimation of the number of crews

and full-time equivalents available to respond within twenty-four (24) hours of an emergency

event;

     (2) A communications process with customers that provides continuous access to staff

assistance, including, but not limited to, maintaining a website with estimated times of restoration

that shall be prominently displayed and updated at least three (3) times per day. The

communications process shall also provide estimated times of restoration at least three (3) times

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per day through at least one other form of media outreach, and when requested by customers via

telephone;

     (3) For electric distribution companies, procedures for maintaining an updated list of life

support customers, including a process to immediately update a company's life support customer

list when a customer notifies the company of a medical need for electric service, communicating

with life support customers before, during and after an emergency event, providing information to

public safety officials regarding the status of electric service to life support customers' homes, and

procedures for prioritizing power restoration to life support customers;

     (4) Designation of staff to communicate with local officials, including public safety

officials, relevant regulatory agencies, and designated municipal liaisons, and designation of staff

to be posted at the Rhode Island emergency management agency’s emergency operations center,

and in the event of a virtual activation of the emergency activation center, designation of an

employee or employees to participate in the virtual activation;

     (5) Provisions regarding how the company will assure the safety of its employees,

contractors and the public;

     (6) Procedures for deploying company and contractor crews, and crews acquired through

mutual assistance agreements to work assignment areas;

     (7) Identification of additional supplies and equipment needed during an emergency and

the means of obtaining additional supplies and equipment;

     (8) Designation of a continuously staffed call center in Rhode Island that is sufficiently

staffed to handle all customer calls for service assistance for the duration of an emergency event

or until full service is restored, whichever occurs first. If the call center is unable to operate

during an emergency event, the company shall provide for a call center within fifty (50) miles of

Rhode Island; and

     (9) Designation of an employee or employees to serve as municipal liaisons for each

affected municipality within its service territory. The plan shall provide that each municipal

liaison has the necessary feeder map or maps outlining municipal substations and distribution

networks and up-to-date customer outage reports at the time of the designation as municipal

liaison. The plan shall provide that each municipal liaison has three (3) daily customer outage

report updates for the municipal liaison's respective municipality and that each municipal liaison

shall use the maps and outage reports to respond to inquiries from state and local officials and

relevant regulatory agencies.

     39-2.2-4. Standards for acceptable performance.

     (a) As part of its preparation for emergency events, electric distribution and gas

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distribution companies shall also adhere to certain minimum standards of acceptable

performance. These standards are designed to buttress each company’s emergency response plan

and to further ensure that each company is sufficiently prepared to restore service to its customers

in a safe and reasonably prompt manner after an emergency event. The following minimum

performance standards shall apply:

     (1) For electric distribution companies,

     (i) Conducting the following on at least an annual basis:

     (A) Meetings with state and local officials to ensure effective and efficient flow of

information and substantial and frequent coordination between the company and local public

safety officials, including coordination with local officials with respect to vegetation

management; and

     (B) Training and drills and/or exercises to ensure effective and efficient performance of

personnel during emergency events, and to ensure that each company has the ability to restore

service to its customers in a safe and reasonably prompt manner; and

     (ii) Maintaining updated lists of local elected and appointed officials, state and local

public safety officials, life support customers, and all internal personnel and external entities

involved in the company's restoration efforts.

     (2) For gas companies, the standards shall include, at a minimum, preparing and

following written procedures consistent with those required by 49 U.S.C. §§ 60101 through

60125; 49 CFR Part 192: Transportation of Natural and Other Gas by Pipeline: Minimum Federal

Safety Standards; and all applicable division rules and regulations. Each gas company shall

include these written procedures in their respective manuals for conducting operations and

maintenance activities and for emergency response, and, where appropriate, in their manuals of

written procedures to minimize hazards resulting from gas pipeline emergencies, as required by

49 CFR Part 192; and all applicable division rules and regulations.

     (b) Each company shall comply with the following reporting requirements:

     (1) Submit a report with supporting documentation to the division on its preparation for

emergency events that details each meeting, training, and drill and or exercise held pursuant to §

39-2.2-4(a)(1);

     (2) During an emergency event, each company shall provide periodic reports to the

division, Rhode Island emergency management agency representatives and municipal emergency

managers, or designees, that contain detailed information related to emergency conditions and

restoration performance for each affected city and town;

     (3) Following an emergency event, each company shall submit a detailed report with

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supporting documentation to the division on the company’s restoration performance, including

lessons learned; and

     (4) Before, during, and after an emergency event, track, maintain, and ensure the

accuracy of all emergency event related data that the company collects.

     (c) The division shall have the authority to open a docket and establish additional

standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of service for

each investor-owned electric and gas distribution company doing business in the state.

     39-2.2-5. Division review of company performance.

     (a) Notwithstanding any existing power or authority, the division may open an

investigation to review the performance of any company in restoring service during an emergency

event. If, after evidentiary hearings or other investigatory proceedings, the division finds that, as a

result of the failure of the company to follow its approved emergency response plan or any other

negligent actions or omissions by the company, the length of the outages were materially longer

than they would have been but for the company's failure, the division shall recommend that the

commission enter an order denying the recovery of all, or any part of, the service restoration costs

through distribution rates, commensurate with the degree and impact of the service outage.

     (b) In addition, if the division determines, after investigation and hearing, that the

company has violated any of the prescribed standards of acceptable performance, the division

shall have the authority to levy a penalty not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)

for each day that the violation of the standards persist; provided, however, that the maximum

penalty shall not exceed seven million five hundred thousand dollars ($7,500,000) for any related

series of violations. In determining the amount of the penalty, the division shall consider, among

other factors, the following:

     (1) The gravity of the violation(s);

     (2) The appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the company;

     (3) The good faith of the company in attempting to achieve compliance; and

     (4) The degree of control that the company had over the circumstances that led to the

violation(s).

     (c) Any penalty levied by the division against a company for any violation of the

division's standards of acceptable performance for emergency preparation and restoration of

service for electric and gas distribution companies shall be credited back to the company's

customers in a manner determined by the commission.

     (d) Nothing herein shall prohibit any affected city or town from filing a complaint with

the division regarding a violation of the division's standards of acceptable performance by a

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company; provided, however, that said petition shall be filed with the division no later than ninety

(90) days after the violation has been remedied. After an initial review of the complaint, the

division shall make a determination as to whether to open a full investigation.

     SECTION 2. Section 39-4-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-4 entitled "Hearings

and Investigations" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     39-4-22. Penalties for violations.

     Every public utility or water supplier pursuant to title 46, chapter 15.4 and all officers and

agents thereof shall obey, observe, and comply with every order of the division made under the

authority of chapters 1 -- 5 of this title as long as the order shall be and remain in force. Every

public utility or water supplier which shall violate any of the provisions of the chapters or which

fails, omits, or neglects to obey, observe, or comply with, any order of the division, shall be

subject to a penalty of not less than two hundred dollars ($200), nor more than one thousand

dollars ($1,000) for each and every offense. Every violation of the order shall be a separate and

distinct offense and, in case of a continuing violation, every day's continuance thereof shall be,

and be deemed to be, a separate and distinct offense.

     (a) Every officer, agent, or employee of a public utility or water supplier who shall

violate fail to obey, observe, and comply with any of the provisions of the chapters 1 through 5 of

this title, or any division rule, regulation or order, or who procures, aids, or abets any violation by

any public utility, or water supplier or who shall fail to obey, observe, or comply with, any order

of the division, or any provision of an order of the division, or who procures, aids, or abets any

public utility or water supplier in its failure to obey, observe, or comply with, any order or

provision, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars

($100) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) one thousand dollars ($1,000). In construing

and enforcing the provisions of this section, the act, omission, or failure of any officer, agent, or

other person acting for or employed by any public utility or water supplier, acting within the

scope of his or her employment, shall in every case be deemed to be also the act, omission, or

failure of the public utility or water supplier.

     (b) The administrator may, in his or her discretion, in lieu of seeking criminal sanctions

provided in subsection (a) of this section, impose upon each public utility an administrative civil

penalty (fine) for the failure to obey, observe, and comply with any of the provisions of chapters

1 through 5 of this title, or division rule, regulation or order.

     (1) In determining the amount of any penalty to be assessed pursuant to this section, the

division shall consider: 

     (i) The seriousness of the violation for which a penalty is sought;

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     (ii) The nature and extent of any previous violations for which penalties have been

assessed against the public utility or officer; 

     (iii) Whether there was knowledge of the violation; 

     (iv) The gross revenues and financial status of the public utility; and

     (v) Such other factors as the division may deem appropriate and relevant.

     (2) Whenever the division has reason to believe that a public utility should be subject to

imposition of a civil penalty as set forth in this section, it shall notify such public utility. Such

notice shall include, but shall not be limited to:

     (i) The date and a brief description of the facts and nature of each act or failure to act for

which such penalty is proposed;

     (ii) A list of each provision of chapters 1 through 5 of this title, or division rule,

regulation or order that the division alleges has been violated; and

     (iii) The amount of each penalty that the division proposes to assess.

     (3) Whenever the division has reason to believe that a public utility should be subject to

imposition of a civil penalty or penalties as set forth in this section, the division shall hold an

evidentiary hearing to demonstrate why the proposed penalty or penalties should be assessed

against such public utility.

     (4) Any public utility determined by the division to have failed to reasonably comply as

shown by a preponderance of the evidence with any provision of chapters 1 through 5 of this title,

or division rule, regulation or order, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding the greater of two hundred

thousand dollars ($200,000) or two one-hundredths of one percent (0.02%) of the annual

intrastate gross operating revenue of the public utility, not including taxes paid to and revenues

collected on behalf of government entities, constituting a civil penalty for each and every offense

and, in the case of a continuing violation, each day shall be deemed a separate and distinct

offense.

     (5) Any payment made by a public utility as a result of an assessment as provided in this

section, and the cost of litigation and investigation related to any such assessment, shall not be

recoverable from ratepayers. All monies recovered pursuant to subsection (b) of this section,

together with the costs thereof, shall be remitted to, or for the benefit of, the ratepayers in a

manner to be determined by the division.

     (6) In construing and enforcing the provisions of this section relating to penalties, the act

of any director, officer, agent or employee of a public utility acting within the scope of his or her

official duties or employment shall be deemed to be the act of such public utility.

     (7) The penalties provided by this section are in addition to any other penalties or

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remedies provided in law.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC002460

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- UTILITY SERVICE

RESTORATION ACT

***

     This act would require every electric distribution company and natural gas distribution

company conducting business in the state on or before June 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, to

submit to the division of public utilities and carriers (DPUC) an emergency response plan to

address service restoration in the event of outages for review and approval. The act would also

authorize the assessment of monetary penalties to each investor-owned electric and gas

distribution company doing business in the state when the company does not comply with the

division's requirements for responding to and restoring utility service to customers.

     This act would establish a process for the DPUC to assess administrative penalties

against a public utility for the failure to comply with any order or regulation of the division.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC002460

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