Md. Code Regs. 20.50.12.13

Current through Register Vol. 51, No. 22, November 1, 2024

Section 20.50.12.13 - Major Outage Event Reporting

A. Written Reports. Each utility shall file a written report with the Commission within 35 calendar days of the end of a major outage event.

B. Contents. The written report shall contain:

(1) The total number of Maryland customers served by the utility;

(2) The date and time when the major outage event started;

(3) The date and time when all sustained interruptions in Maryland related to the major outage event were restored;

(4) The total number of Maryland customers who experienced a sustained interruption of service related to the major outage event;

(5) The total number of customer interruption hours experienced by customers reported under §B(4) of this regulation;

(6) The average duration of customer service interruption, expressed in hours, and calculated by dividing the total number of customer interruption hours reported in §B(5) of this regulation by the total number of Maryland customers who experienced an interruption reported in §B(4) of this regulation;

(7) The maximum number of Maryland customers who concurrently experienced a sustained interruption related to the major outage event and the date and time this occurred;

(8) The number of Maryland customers who experienced a sustained interruption recorded at a maximum of 6-hour intervals throughout the major outage event;

(9) Information about requests for outside assistance, including the:

(a) Name of the organization to which the request was made;

(b) Date and time of the request; and

(c) Resources requested;

(10) Information about outside assistance received, including the:

(a) Name of the organization providing crews and the nature of the assistance, i.e., mutual assistance, third-party contractor crew normally dedicated to the utility, additional third-party contractor crew, or other (explain in report);

(b) Date and time of crew arrivals and departures;

(c) Number and types of vehicles;

(d) Total number of personnel;

(e) Number of personnel on primary overhead line crews;

(f) Number of personnel on secondary overhead line crews;

(g) Number of personnel on tree trimming crews; and

(h) Number of other personnel.

(11) Information about electric utility crews working on restoration, including the following:

(a) Number and types of vehicles;

(b) Total number of personnel;

(c) Number of personnel on primary overhead line crews;

(d) Number of personnel on secondary overhead line crews;

(e) Number of personnel on damage assessment crews;

(f) Number of personnel on tree trimming crews; and

(g) Number of other personnel.

(12) The following information about communications with customers:

(a) The total number of calls received by the utility during each hour of the major outage event;

(b) The total number of calls answered by the utility's voice response system, customer service representatives, and any high volume call systems during each hour of the major outage event;

(c) The total number of customer service representatives logged into the call center and supporting phone systems actively taking or waiting to take customer calls on an hourly basis during the major outage event; and

(d) On a daily basis during the length of the outage and for the entire major outage event, the percentage of all calls that were offered and answered by the utility's voice response system, customer service representatives, and any high volume call systems within a 30-second timeframe and within a 60-second timeframe.

(13) With regard to system damage, the number of each of the following occurring during restoration:

(a) Poles replaced as a percentage of total utility owned or partially owned poles;

(b) Distribution transformers replaced;

(c) Fuses replaced;

(d) Downed wires;

(e) Substations with damaged equipment and substations outages due to loss of one or multiple supplies;

(f) State highways blocked due to electric utility wires that are referred to the utility for remediation; and

(g) Traffic signals reported out of service by government agencies that are referred to the utility for remediation;

(14) Any issues concerning the availability of materials or equipment that affected restoration progress, including a description of how any unavailability affected restoration, and a description of the emergency measures taken to resolve the issues;

(15) A self-assessment, including lessons learned and future plans to improve service restoration efforts during major outage events;

(16) A description of the manner in which customers were informed of the status of the outages in their geographic area by means of the customer call center or by other means of customer communications;

(17) A description of the manner in which the utility informed elected officials, government officials, and members of the public of the status of the outage and restoration efforts;

(18) A description of the manner in which the utility estimated restoration times;

(19) A description of any areas where the utility did not comply with its major outage event response plan;

(20) The number of customer service interruptions under §B(4) of this regulation and the number of customer service interruption hours under §B(5) of this regulation categorized by outage caused by each one of the following:

(a) All outage causes typically provided in annual performance reports pursuant to Regulation .11 of this chapter;

(b) A description of the outage causes due to physical security or cybersecurity attacks;

(c) A description of any outage causes due to transmission or energy supply disruptions;

(d) A description of any other outage causes due to natural weather phenomena not typically encountered;

(e) Ice accumulation on conductors; and

(f) Each other direct cause of interruption of service to 5 percent or more of total customers interrupted, listing and providing a descriptive name for each cause;

(21) For each interruption to normal expected information technology systems used to manage a major outage event, details on deficiencies experienced in these systems including dates, time, and duration of any interruptions to normal expected functionality for the following:

(a) Real time operating systems used to monitor and control the event including, but not limited to, distribution automation systems, energy management systems, and outage management systems;

(b) Advanced meter infrastructure systems;

(c) Web-based outage reporting systems;

(d) Web-based outage information systems such as outage maps;

(e) Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems;

(f) Phone systems;

(g) Mobile data systems used to receive information from field crews;

(h) The data interface that provides outage information to the Maryland Department of Emergency Management outage map application; and

(i) Any utility business systems directly impacted by the major outage event;

(22) The percentage of total Maryland customers who had service restored in 50 hours pursuant to Regulation .06B of this chapter;

(23) If the company could not safely work due to high wind conditions for the major outage event, an explanation of the company policy and how this impacted restoration;

(24) The percentage of calls that are answered within 30 seconds, the abandoned call percentage rate, and the average speed of answer pursuant to Regulation .08D of this chapter, except measured only for the duration of the major outage event;

(25) The average amount of time customers were put on hold for every hour during the major outage event after the customer selected the option to talk to a call center representative in the electric company's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system:

(a) Before talking to a call center representative; and

(b) Before dropping off the call after waiting unsuccessfully to reach a call center representative.

(26) For the duration of the major outage event, the number of customers experiencing multiple sustained interruptions, categorized by the number of multiple sustained interruptions, such as the number of customers experiencing "n" sustained interruptions, where n= 1, 2, 3, etc.;

(27) The downed wire response performance to a government emergency responder guarded downed electric utility wire within 3 hours after notification by a fire department, police department, or 911 emergency dispatcher pursuant to Regulation .07A of this chapter, except measured only for this major outage event;

(28) The number of peak sustained interruptions restored by county and municipal jurisdiction for the duration of the major outage event;

(29) The number of customers sustained interruptions caused by off-right-of-way trees;

(30) All press releases, if any, issued and details on the date, time, location, and company participants in all press conferences held, if any;

(31) The date and time centralized and regional emergency operations centers, district headquarters, and mutual assistance staging areas activated for the major outage event were operational completed;

(32) Electric system infrastructure that was damage assessed and how this damage assessment information was used to establish a Global ETR;

(33) The number of Maryland critical facilities who experienced a sustained interruption recorded at a maximum of 6-hour intervals throughout the major outage event; and

(34) The percentage critical facility sustained interruptions restored within 24 hours and 48 hours of the start of the major outage event.

C. The Commission may designate a specific report format for the information required to be included in the written report mandated under this regulation.

Md. Code Regs. 20.50.12.13

Regulation .13 amended effective 50:16 Md. R. 728, eff. 8/21/2023