Bill for electric reliability organization

Alan Bailey

Petroleum News

House Bill 151, a bill that would ensure Regulatory Commission of Alaska authority over an electric reliability organization, has been introduced in the Alaska Legislature. The bill was referred to the House Energy Committee and was discussed during a May 9 meeting of the committee. During the meeting, RCA Commissioner Robert Pickett reviewed the issues that the bill is intended to address. The bill will be picked up again in January in the next legislative session.

The commission sees the establishment of an ERO, to oversee the operation of the Alaska Railbelt electrical system and to mandate the use of a consistent set of reliability standards, as the cornerstone of moves toward a more unified approach to system operation. And the Railbelt electric utilities have proposed the formation of the Railbelt Reliability Council, an entity that would act as an ERO.

But the commission worries about its statutory authority to regulate an ERO and has floated potential statutory language to deal with this problem. HB 151 is based on that language. In particular, the commission is concerned about its authority to regulate an entity that would, in turn, have authority over multiple utilities. In addition, the commission, although having ultimate authority over reliability standards, would delegate the management and enforcement of those standards to the ERO. The commission also seeks statutory authority over resource planning in the grid and over the pre-approval of major additions to the electrical system.

The potential statutory language has been discussed during recent RCA public meetings - it appears that there are still some definitional issues that need to be clarified, presumably leading to some further work on any bill designed to address the commission’s concerns.

- ALAN BAILEY