D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 15, r. 15-4007

Current through Register Vol. 71, No. 52, December 27, 2024

Rule 15-4007 - LEVEL 4 INTERCONNECTION REVIEWS

4007.1

The EDC shall use the Level 4 Interconnection Review procedures for evaluating Interconnection Requests when:

(a) The Interconnection Request was not approved under a Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 Interconnection Review and the Interconnection Customer has submitted a new Interconnection Request for consideration under a Level 4 Interconnection Review or requested that the rejected Interconnection Request be treated as a Level 4 Interconnection Request; and

(b) The Interconnection Request does not meet the criteria for qualifying for a review under Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 Interconnection Review procedures.

4007.2

The Level 4 Interconnection Review shall be conducted in accordance with the following process:

(a) Within five (5) business days from receipt of Part I of an Interconnection Request or transfer of an existing request to a Level 4 Interconnection Request, the EDC shall notify the Interconnection Customer whether the request is complete.

(1) If the EDC requires the construction of Distribution System Upgrades during the Interconnection Request process, the EDC shall provide a technical explanation that justifies the need for the identified facilities and/or upgrades. The EDC shall demonstrate that required functionalities are not satisfied by employing IEEE STD 1547 certified and UL 1741 SA listed equipment.

(b) When the Interconnection Request is deemed incomplete, the EDC shall provide the Interconnection Customer with a written list detailing information required to complete the Interconnection Request. The Interconnection Customer shall have twenty (20) business days to revise the Interconnection Request to include the requested information and resubmit the Interconnection Request, or the Interconnection Request shall be considered withdrawn. The Interconnection Customer and the EDC may agree to extend the time for receipt of the revised Interconnection Request. The EDC shall notify the Interconnection Customer within five (5) business days of receipt of the revised Interconnection Request whether the Interconnection Request is complete. The EDC may deem the Interconnection Request withdrawn if it remains incomplete.

(c) When an Interconnection Request is complete, the EDC shall assign a Queue Position.

(d) The following procedures shall be followed in performing a Level 4 Interconnection Review:

(1) By mutual agreement of the Interconnection Customer and the EDC, the Scoping Meeting, interconnection feasibility study, interconnection impact study, or Facilities Study provided for in a Level 4 Interconnection Review and discussed in this paragraph may be waived;

(2) If agreed to by the Interconnection Customer and the EDC, a Scoping Meeting shall be held within ten (10) business days, or other mutually agreed to time, after the EDC has notified the Interconnection Customer that the Interconnection Request is deemed complete, or the Interconnection Customer has requested that its Interconnection Request proceed after failing the requirements of a Level 2 Interconnection Review or Level 3 Interconnection Review. The Scoping Meeting shall take place in person, by telephone, or electronically by a means mutually agreeable to the Interconnection Customer and EDC. The purpose of the Scoping Meeting shall be to review the Interconnection Request; existing studies relevant to the Interconnection Request; the conditions at the proposed location including the available Fault Current at the proposed location, the existing peak loading on the lines in the general vicinity of the proposed Small Generator Facility, and the configuration of the distribution line at the proposed Point of Common Coupling; and the results of the Level 1, Level 2 or Level 3 Adverse System Impact screening criteria;

(3) When the Interconnection Customer and EDC agree at a Scoping Meeting that an interconnection feasibility study shall be performed, and if the Interconnection Customer and EDC do not waive the interconnection impact study, the EDC shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than five (5) business days after the Scoping Meeting, an Interconnection System Feasibility Study Agreement, including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost and time to perform the study;

(4) When the Interconnection Customer and EDC agree at a Scoping Meeting that an interconnection feasibility study is not required, and if the Interconnection Customer and EDC agree that an interconnection system impact study shall be performed, the EDC shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than five (5) business days after the Scoping Meeting, an Interconnection System Impact Study Agreement, including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study; and

(5) When the Interconnection Customer and EDC agree at the Scoping Meeting that an interconnection feasibility study and interconnection system impact study are not required, the EDC shall provide to the Interconnection Customer, no later than five (5) business days after the Scoping Meeting, an Interconnection Facilities Study Agreement including an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study.

(6) The EDC may elect to perform one or more of these studies concurrently.

(e) Any required Adverse System Impact studies shall be carried out using the following guidelines:

(1) An interconnection feasibility study shall include the following analyses and conditions for the purpose of identifying and addressing potential Adverse System Impact to the EDC's Electric Distribution System that would result from the interconnection:

(A) Initial identification of any circuit breaker short circuit capability limits exceeded as a result of the interconnection;

(B) Initial identification of any thermal overload or voltage limit violations resulting from the interconnection;

(C) Initial review of grounding requirements and system protection;

(D) Description and nonbinding estimated cost of facilities required to interconnect the Small Generator Facility to the EDC's Electric Distribution System in a safe and reliable manner; and

(E) Additional evaluations, at the expense of the Interconnection Customer, when an Interconnection Customer requests that the interconnection feasibility study evaluate multiple potential Points of Common Coupling.

(2) An interconnection system impact study shall evaluate the impacts of the proposed interconnection on both the safety and reliability of the EDC's Electric Distribution System. The study shall identify and detail the Adverse System Impacts that result when a Small Generator Facility is interconnected without project modifications or Distribution System Upgrades, focusing on the Adverse System Impacts identified in the interconnection feasibility study or potential impacts including those identified in the Scoping Meeting. The interconnection system impact study shall consider all Small Generator Facilities that, on the date the interconnection system impact study is commenced, are directly interconnected with the EDC's Electric Distribution System, have a pending higher Queue Position to interconnect to the system, or have a signed Interconnection Agreement.

(A) A distribution interconnection system impact study shall be performed when a potential Electric Distribution System Adverse System Impact is identified in the interconnection feasibility study. The EDC shall send the Interconnection Customer an Interconnection System Impact Study Agreement within five (5) business days of transmittal of the interconnection feasibility study report. The agreement shall include an outline of the scope of the study and a good faith estimate of the cost to perform the study. The impact study shall include:

(i) A load flow study;

(ii) Identification of Affected Systems;

(iii) An analysis of equipment interrupting ratings;

(iv) A protection coordination study;

(v) Voltage drop and flicker studies;

(vi) Protection and set point coordination studies;

(vii) Grounding reviews; and

(viii) Impact on system operation.

(B) An interconnection system impact study shall consider the following criteria:

(i) A short circuit analysis;

(ii) A stability analysis;

(iii) Alternatives for mitigating Adverse System Impacts on Affected Systems;

(iv) Voltage drop and flicker studies;

(v) Protection and set point coordination studies; and

(vi) Grounding reviews.

(C) The final interconnection system impact study shall provide the following:

(i) The underlying assumptions of the study;

(ii) The results of the analyses;

(iii) A list of any potential impediments to providing the requested interconnection service;

(iv) Required Distribution System Upgrades; and

(v) A nonbinding good faith estimate of cost and time to construct any required Distribution System Upgrades.

(D) The Interconnection Customer and EDC shall use an Interconnection System Impact Study Agreement approved by the Commission.

(3) The Facilities Study shall be conducted as follows:

(A) Within five (5) business days of completion of the interconnection system impact study, the EDC shall transmit a report to the Interconnection Customer with an Interconnection Facilities Study Agreement, which includes an outline of the scope of the study and a nonbinding good faith estimate of the cost and time to perform the study;

(B) The Facilities Study shall estimate the cost of the equipment, engineering, procurement and construction work including overheads needed to implement the conclusions of the interconnection feasibility study and the interconnection system impact study to interconnect the Small Generator Facility. The Facilities Study shall identify:

(i) The electrical switching configuration of the equipment, including transformer, switchgear, meters and other station equipment;

(ii) The nature and estimated cost of the EDC's Interconnection Facilities and Distribution System Upgrades necessary to accomplish the interconnection; and

(iii) An estimate of the time required to complete the construction and installation of the facilities.

(C) The Interconnection Customer and EDC may agree to permit an Interconnection Customer to separately arrange for a third party to design and construct the required Interconnection Facilities. The EDC may review the design of the facilities under the Interconnection Facilities Study Agreement. When the Interconnection Customer and EDC agree to separately arrange for design and construction and to comply with security and confidentiality requirements, the EDC shall make all relevant information and required specifications available to the Interconnection Customer to permit the Interconnection Customer to obtain an independent design and cost estimate for the facilities, which shall be built in accordance with the specifications;

(D) Upon completion of the Facilities Study and with the agreement of the Interconnection Customer to pay for the Interconnection Facilities and Distribution System Upgrades identified in the Facilities Study, the EDC shall issue the Approval to Install; and

(E) The Interconnection Customer and EDC shall use an Interconnection Facilities Study Agreement approved by the Commission.

(f) Upon completion or waiver of procedures defined in Subsection 4007.2 (c) as mutually agreed by the Interconnection Customer and EDC and the EDC determines that the Small Generator Facility can be interconnected safely and reliably to the Electric Distribution System, the EDC shall provide the Interconnection Customer with an Approval to Install. If the Interconnection Request is denied, the EDC shall provide a written explanation.

(g) When Distribution System Upgrades are required, the interconnection of the Small Generator Facility shall proceed according to milestones agreed to by the Interconnection Customer and EDC in the Interconnection Agreement. The Authorization to Operate may not be issued until:

(1) The milestones agreed to in the Interconnection Agreement are satisfied;

(2) The Small Generator Facility is approved by electric code officials with jurisdiction over the interconnection;

(3) The Interconnection Customer provides a Certificate of Completion to the EDC. Completion of local inspections may be designated on inspection forms used by local inspecting authorities; and

(4) There is a successful completion of the Witness Test per the terms and conditions found in the Standard Agreement for Interconnection of Small Generator Facilities, unless waived.

(h) The EDC may require the submission photographs of the site, Small Generator Facility components, meters or any other aspect of the Interconnection Facilities as part of the Level 4 Interconnection Review process, provided that failure to provide a photo in a timely manner will not be a reason for the EDC to deem an Interconnection Request incomplete.

4007.3

An interconnection system impact study is not required when the interconnection feasibility study concludes there is no Adverse System Impact, or when the study identifies an Adverse System Impact, but the EDC is able to identify a remedy without the need for an interconnection system impact study.

4007.4

The Interconnection Customer and EDC shall use a form of Interconnection Feasibility Study Agreement approved by the Commission.

D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 15, r. 15-4007

As amended by Final Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 1415, 1418 (February 13, 2009); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 1132 (1/25/2019); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 68 DCR 8244 (8/20/2021)