(a) Application. This section applies to an electric
utility's (utility) distribution assets.
(b) Definitions. The following terms when used in this
section shall have the following meaning, unless the context indicates
otherwise.
(1) Distribution assets--The utility's facilities operating
at less than 60 kilovolts (kV), excluding substations, underground
facilities, and service drops, for which the utility needs to perform
vegetation maintenance.
(2) Right-of-way (ROW)--Land on which electric lines
are located and that the utility has the right to access for the purpose
of maintaining its distribution system and managing vegetation.
(3) Scheduled vegetation maintenance--The anticipated
vegetation management activities a utility expects to conduct during
a particular budget cycle, including trimming, spraying, and removal
activities.
(4) Tree risk management--Planning for, assessing,
monitoring, and mitigating structurally unsound trees that could threaten
a utility's distribution assets.
(5) Unscheduled vegetation maintenance--Responsive
vegetation maintenance that can include, but is not limited to, customer-requested
and utility-requested maintenance.
(c) Vegetation management requirements under other
provisions. Compliance with this section fully satisfies the vegetation
management planning and reporting requirements of §25.94(c)(2)
of this title (relating to Report on Infrastructure Improvement and
Maintenance) and §25.95(e)(2) of this title (relating to Electric
Utility Infrastructure Storm Hardening).
(d) Utility conformance to standards of the industry.
For any mandatory provision of any standard specified in paragraphs
(1) - (3) of this subsection to which a utility's vegetation management
policies do not conform, the utility shall provide a brief explanation
for the deviation in its Vegetation Management Report:
(1) American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Standard
Z133.1, Arboricultural Operations - Pruning, or
successor standard;
(2) ANSI Standard A300 (Part 1) - Tree, Shrub, and Other Woody Plant Management -
Standard Practices (Pruning); (Part 7) -
Integrated Vegetation Management a. Utility Rights-of-way practices; and
(Part 9) - Tree Risk Assessment a. Tree Structure
Assessment; or successor standards; and
(3) National Electrical Safety Code Section 218, or
successor standard.
(e) Vegetation Management Plan. Each utility shall
maintain a Vegetation Management Plan (Plan) that describes the utility's
objectives, practices, procedures, and work specifications for its
distribution assets. A full copy of the Plan shall be provided to
the commission or commission staff within ten days of receipt of the
request. A utility shall review and update its Plan by December 31
of each year. The Plan shall include, at a minimum, a description
of the utility's:
(1) tree pruning methodology, trimming clearances,
and scheduling approach;
(2) methods used to mitigate threats posed by vegetation
to applicable distribution assets;
(3) tree risk management program;
(4) participation in continuing education by the utility's
internal vegetation management personnel;
(5) estimate of the miles of circuits along which vegetation
is to be trimmed or method for planning trimming work for the coming
year;
(6) plan to remediate vegetation-caused issues on feeders
which are on the worst vegetation-caused performing feeder list for
the preceding calendar year's System Average Interruption Duration
Index (SAIDI) and System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI);
and
(7) customer education, notification, and outreach
practices related to vegetation management.
(f) Vegetation Management Report. A utility shall file
with the commission by May 1 of each year a Vegetation Management
Report (Report) summarizing its Vegetation Management Plan for the
current calendar year and its progress in implementing its Plan for
the preceding calendar year. The Report filed May 1, 2013 does not
need to contain the information required by paragraph (2) of this
subsection. The Report shall include, at a minimum, the following
components:
(1) A Vegetation Management Plan summary including,
at a minimum, a summary of the utility's:
(A) vegetation maintenance goals and the method the
utility employs to measure its progress;
(B) trimming clearances and scheduling approach;
(C) plan to remediate vegetation-caused issues on feeders
that are on the vegetation-caused, worst performing feeder list for
the preceding calendar year's SAIDI and SAIFI;
(D) tree risk management program;
(E) approach to monitoring, preparing for, and responding
to adverse environmental conditions such as drought and wildfire danger
that may impact its vegetation management policies and practices;
(F) total overhead distribution miles in its system,
excluding service drops;
(G) total number of electric points of delivery;
(H) amount of vegetation-related work it plans to accomplish
in the current calendar year to achieve its vegetation management
goals described in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph; and
(I) vegetation management budget, divided into the
categories listed in clauses (i) - (iv) of this subparagraph. The
utility should, within the confines of its own budgeting practices,
assign subcategories and list them under these categories where appropriate.
If a utility does not budget amounts under any specific category,
the utility shall provide a brief explanation of why it does not do
so. The utility shall title the budget with the dates it covers and
provide a total for each category or subcategory.
(i) scheduled vegetation maintenance;
(ii) unscheduled vegetation maintenance;
(iii) tree risk management; and
(iv) emergency and post-storm activities.
(2) An implementation summary for the preceding calendar
year including, at a minimum, a description of:
(A) whether the utility met its vegetation maintenance
goals and how its goals have changed for the coming calendar year
based on the results;
(B) successes and challenges with the utility's strategy,
including obstacles faced, such as property owner interference, and
methods employed to overcome them;
(C) the progress and obstacles to remediating issues
on the vegetation-caused, worst performing feeders list as submitted
in the preceding year's Report;
(D) the number of continuing education hours logged
for the utility's internal vegetation management personnel, if applicable;
(E) the amount of vegetation management work the utility
accomplished to achieve its vegetation management goals described
in paragraph (1)(A) of this subsection;
(F) the separate SAIDI and SAIFI scores for vegetation-caused
interruptions for each month and as reported for the calendar year
in its Service Quality Report filed pursuant to §25.52 of this
title (relating to Reliability and Continuity of Service) and §25.81
of this title (relating to Service Quality Reports), at both the feeder
and company level;
(G) the vegetation management budget, including, at
a minimum:
(i) a single table with columns representing:
(I) the budget for each category and subcategory that
the utility provided in the preceding year pursuant to paragraph (1)(I)
of this subsection, with totals for each category and subcategory;
(II) the actual expenditures for each category and
subcategory listed pursuant to subclause (I) of this clause, with
totals for each category or subcategory;
(III) the percentage of actual expenditures over or
under the budget for each category or subcategory listed pursuant
to subclause (I) of this clause; and
(IV) the actual expenditures for the preceding reporting
year for each category and subcategory listed pursuant to subclause
(I) of this clause, with totals for each category or subcategory;
(ii) an explanation of the variation from the preceding
year's vegetation management budget where actual expenditures in any
category or subcategory fell below 98 percent or increased above 110
percent of the budget for that category;
(iii) the total vegetation management expenditures
divided by the number of electric points of delivery on the utility's
system, excluding service drops;
(iv) the total vegetation management expenditures,
including expenditures from the storm reserve, divided by the number
of customers the utility served; and
(v) the vegetation management budget from the utility's
last base-rate case.
|