New York State Rural Electric Cooperative Association Raises Concerns Over Reliability Issues with NYSEG

Strategic Insights -

The New York State Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NYSRECA) has expressed significant concerns over reliability issues associated with the transmission service provided by the New York State Electric & Gas Corporation (NYSEG). The issues, which were identified as early as 2008, have been exacerbated by NYSEG's failure to acknowledge and address the problems. The cooperatives, which had intervened and participated in the merger case in 2008, had raised several key concerns, including the need for capital improvements, a transmission study, and implementation of guidelines and a penalty and enforcement protocol for NYSEG's failures.

Key Takeaways:

  • The NYSRECA has raised concerns over reliability issues associated with NYSEG's transmission service, affecting thousands of rural electric cooperative customers in New York State.
  • The issues were first identified in 2008, but NYSEG has failed to address them adequately, leading to a significant regression in the situation.
  • The cooperatives have participated in a joint task force with NYSEG, which led to initial progress, but the situation has regressed since then.
  • Outage response and outage response communications have been less than satisfactory, with NYSEG failing to follow established protocols and commitments made in 2008.
  • The cooperatives are aware of a new major rate case filed by NYSEG and have requested a meeting with senior NYSEG representatives to address the issues.
  • If NYSEG does not address the concerns, the cooperatives will take necessary steps to enforce their rights in New York State and at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

Statistics:

  • 3,000: The number of rural electric cooperative customers in New York State affected by NYSEG's reliability issues.
  • 2008: The year when the issues were first identified, with the cooperatives participating in a merger case to address them.
  • 11/17/08: The date when NYSEG completed a transmission study, which was a key step in addressing the issues.
  • 5: The number of key concerns raised by the cooperatives in 2008, including the need for capital improvements, a transmission study, and implementation of guidelines and a penalty and enforcement protocol.
  • 1: The number of New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) designations for the case, including the Honorable Erika Bergen and the Honorable Lindsey N. Overton as ALJs.

Sources:

1. Order Authorizing Acquisition Subject to Conditions, Case 07-M-0906, Joint Petition of Iberdrola, S.A., Energy East Corporation and RGS Energy Group, Inc., Green Acquisition Capital, Inc., New York State Electric & Gas Corporation and Rochester Gas and Electric Corporation for Approval of the Acquisition of Energy East Corporation for Approval of the Acquisition of Energy East Corporation by Iberdrola, S.A. (issued and effective January 6, 2009).

2. Case 22-E-0317 - Proceeding on Motion of the Commission as to the Rates, Charges, Rules and Regulations of New York State Electric & Gas Corporation for Electric Service.

3. Case 22-G-0318 - Proceeding on Motion of the Commission as to the Rates, Charges, Rules and Regulations of New York State Electric & Gas Corporation for Gas Service.

4. Case 22-E-0319 - Proceeding on Motion of the Commission as to the Rates, Charges, Rules and Regulations of Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation for Electric Service.

5. Case 22-G-0320 - Proceeding on Motion of the Commission as to the Rates, Charges, Rules and Regulations of Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation for Gas Service.

6. Comments of the New York State Rural Electric Cooperative Association on the Rate Case Filings of the New York State Electric & Gas Corporation.