RCA moving forward on ERO regulations

Alan Bailey

for Petroleum News

The Regulatory Commission of Alaska is moving steadily forward in the development of regulations for electric reliability organizations, or EROs, in Alaska. During a public meeting of the commission on Sept. 9 the commissioners approved the terms of regulations for mandating requirements for an ERO board of directors, for ERO certification by the commission and for ERO cost recovery. The next step for the commission will be to develop specific regulatory language, based on the board decisions - Commissioner Antony Scott said that he hopes that draft regulations will be available for publication at the end of September, depending on the various priorities for staff work.

The regulations will be designed to enable the implementation of Senate Bill 123, a bill passed earlier this year giving the RCA statutory authority to regulate an ERO. The immediate objective is the establishment of an ERO for the Alaska Railbelt electrical system, to enable a more unified approach to the management and operation of the system.

The commission has formed two other dockets for developing regulations associated with other components of SB 123. One docket is dealing with the regulation of integrated resource planning for the electrical system and of commission pre-approval for the construction of new major facilities for the system. The third docket will deal with regulations for the filing of reliability standards and the rules for ERO operation.

The six Alaska Railbelt electric utilities are in the process of forming the Railbelt Reliability Council, or RRC, an ERO for the Railbelt system. By first developing regulations required for ERO certification, the RCA anticipates establishing regulatory clarity for the RRC, as the organization moves towards applying for a certificate of public convenience and necessity from the commission.

The commission has also initiated work on the second of the dockets by inviting ideas for topics to discuss during a technical conference on potential regulations for integrated resource planning and large project pre-approval. The commission does not anticipate initiating work on the third docket until early next year.

- ALAN BAILEY