STATE OF MAINE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION |
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MARK A. VANNOY CHAIRMAN
CARLISLE J. T. MCLEAN H. BRUCE WILLIAMSON COMMISSIONERS |
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HARRY LANPHEAR ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR |
Contact Protocol for All Public Utilities
As of April 20, 2023
Note: Confidential Material Attached*
This protocol is to update the notice procedure and contact list last issued on November 8, 2022, to be used by utilities making immediate or prompt notifications pursuant to Chapters 130, 200, and 895 of the Commission’s Rules and Chapter 2 of the rules of the Emergency Services Communication Bureau (ESCB). The effective date for this protocol is April 20, 2023, and supersedes all previous notification instructions. Please distribute this information to all personnel in your utility that are responsible for notifying the Commission about emergencies, accidents, safety or security issues, underground facility damage, or service-related failures or outages.
Chapter 130 of the Commission’s Rules, in Section 3(1), requires all public utilities to provide immediate notice to the Commission of:
• any serious accident involving the loss of human life, and
• any event occurring upon a utility’s premises or directly or indirectly arising from or connected with the maintenance or operation of its physical facilities or equipment that:
- requires evacuation of the general public, or
- results in, or is likely to result in, disruption of utility service to more than 500 customers or 1% of a utility’s customers, whichever is greater, or to critical facilities identified by other public utilities, for a period of longer than 30 minutes.
Chapter 130 requires that such notice be made “where such information has not already been reported pursuant to another Commission rule” (e.g., Chapter 200). Chapter 130 Section 3(1) also requires utilities to provide the immediate notice even if all of the information required for the notice is not yet available. PLEASE NOTE: vehicle accidents that involve utility poles do not require immediate notice unless the accident result in a “serious accident” or an “electric contact” as defined in Chapter 130. Pursuant to Ch. 130, §3(4), as part of its annual report to the Commission, each utility shall provide the number of known accidents in which motor vehicles struck and damaged or destroyed utility facilities or equipment, such as poles, guys, equipment cabinets, pedestals, pumping stations and hydrants.
In addition, Section 3(2) of Chapter 130 requires utilities to file a follow-up written report within 30 days of any serious accident or electrical contact that results in the loss of human life; personal injury requiring inpatient hospital admission; more than seven days’ lost work time of a utility employee or independent contractor; or property damage of $50,000 or more, including the cost of lost gas in the case of gas and natural gas pipeline utilities. The utility shall address the written report to the Administrative Director and shall provide a copy to the appropriate primary and alternate Staff contacts listed on the attached MPUC Contact List. Pursuant to Chapter 130, if information required by this section is not available to the utility at the time of the immediate notice, the utility shall make the report with whatever information it has available and shall supply missing information in an amended report to the Commission as soon as it becomes available.
Chapter 200 of the Commission’s Rules requires telecommunications carriers to notify the Commission of scheduled outages, unscheduled outages, and service restoration.
Section 6(C)(1) of Chapter 895 of the Commission’s Rules requires underground facility operators that experience a “serious damage prevention incident as defined in Section 2(S-1)” of that Rule, to “provide notice to the Commission immediately, after all urgent safety matters have been addressed, in a manner consistent with the most recent notification procedures provided by the Commission.” This document provides those procedures.
Chapter 2 of the Rules of the Emergency Services Communication Bureau (ESCB) requires that the Consolidated Emergency 9-1-1 Center be notified, on the ESCB’s behalf, of any unplanned E9-1-1 network service outage within 30 minutes of the outage. The Enhanced 9-1-1 Network includes any E9-1-1 circuit or facility such as a Central Office to an E9-1-1 tandem trunk. Additionally, the ESCB requests that telecommunications carriers notify the Consolidated Emergency 9-1-1 Center of any failure of a Remote or Central Office that causes the loss of 9-1-1 service as the result of isolation.
INCIDENT NOTIFICATION
Notice of all incidents that require immediate or prompt notice to the Commission, including major facilities failures, outages, security incidents, accidents, and serious damage prevention incidents, should be transmitted to the Commission by e-mail. See the attached Confidential MPUC Contact List for details.
If an emergency exists for which prompt Commission or Staff action is likely to be needed, if required by Commission Rules, or if an incident attracts significant interest from other government agencies or from the media, or if specifically requested by a Staff contact identified on the attached MPUC Contact List, utilities shall also provide prompt telephone notification to the primary Staff contact (or alternate if the primary is not immediately available) at the Commission’s offices (tel: 207-287-3831) or at the telephone number indicated on the attached MPUC Contact List if the Staff contact cannot be reached at the Commission’s offices. Telephone notification should establish personal contact with appropriate Staff members and should not rely on voicemail messaging.
The e-mail notices should include all available information required by Section 3(1) of Chapter 130, and also Section 3 of Chapter 200 if applicable. As general guidance, the notice should include concise descriptions of what happened, where, and when. For outages, initial estimates of the number of customer accounts, specific services, and major facilities affected should be included. Preliminary estimates for restoration of services, and causes of the incident, to the extent known, should be provided.
Unless otherwise specified in a Commission Rule, immediate notice should be submitted as soon as the utility becomes aware of a reportable incident (within one hour) and should not be delayed until all details can be confirmed or restoration estimates can be developed. The Commission recognizes that such notices are preliminary in nature and are likely to be revised as more information becomes available but needs to know about such incidents as soon as practicable.
With regard to outages, as further details about an incident become known and as more precise restoration estimates are developed, utilities should provide updated notices following the same procedures described above, at approximately eight-hour intervals, until restoration has been completed to all but one percent of the number of customer accounts affected by the incident, or 100 customer accounts, whichever is greater. Utilities should also report the clearing of an incident (e.g., when a facility is restored to service or at the end of an extended outage).
Copies of utility news releases related to major outages or other reportable events should also be provided via e-mail when issued.
Harry Lanphear
Administrative Director
*ViaData Note: This list is not publicly available. Please contact the Maine Public Utilities Commission for this document.