Active Dockets

UD-21-03: In Re: Resolution and Order Establishing A Docket and Procedural Schedule With Respect To System Resiliency And Storm Hardening

Council Docket UD-21-03, established via Resolution R-21-401, is a proceeding establishing a procedural schedule directing interested parties to submit to the Council a system resiliency and storm hardening plan.  In recent years, the frequency and intensity of severe weather events has increased dramatically.  As a result, ratepayers are asked to cover the costs associated with repairing damage to infrastructure.  In 2020 alone, New Orleans was impacted by three hurricanes resulting in an estimated $38.5 million in damage and on August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida struck the City as a category 4 causing damage in excess of $120 million.  In response, the Council decided to open Council Docket UD-21-03 to increase resiliency and storm hardening on ENO’s system, with a particular focus on reducing weather-related power outages as well as direct stakeholders to propose an infrastructure resiliency and storm hardening plan. 

Pertinent Hurricane Zeta Storm Certification docket deadline dates are/were as follows:

• November 29, 2021 – Stakeholder Intervention deadline;
   
• July 1, 2022 – Parties are directed to submit to the Council a system resiliency and storm hardening plan.  Such plans should include:
   
1. A detailed explanation of the specific investments to be made under the plans including a proposed timeframe for such investments;
2. A detailed explanation and, as appropriate, calculations of the benefits to be achieved through each investment; and
3. A detailed explanation of the estimated costs of the plans along with proposed cost recovery mechanisms and rate impact calculations. (Per Judge Gulin’s 3/1/22 Order extending deadline date)
    
• July 1, 2022 – Discovery period commences on a rolling basis and due within 15 days of receipt.  Objections to data requests shall be filed within 5 days of receipt.  The discovery deadline shall be 15 days prior to the deadline for the submission of the Advisors’ Report to the Council. (Per Judge Gulin’s 3/4/22 Order extending deadline date)
   
• August 18, 2022 – CURO convened a technical conference to discuss the various resiliency proposals filed to date.
   
• September 15, 2022 – Council adopted Resolution R-22-411 providing additional procedural deadlines to advance the development of an energy resiliency master plan.
   
• November 7, 2022 – Parties to file comments regarding the resiliency proposals filed by all Parties.
   
• December 7, 2022 – Parties reply comments regarding the resiliency proposals due.
   
• January 17, 2023 – January 27, 2023 – Parties shall convene a second technical conference to discuss the filed proposals.
   
• February 16, 2023 – Council adopted Resolution R-23-74 establishing a modified procedural schedule for the parties to work together with ENO in continuing to develop a Master System Resiliency and Storm Hardening Plan;
   
• April 17, 2023 – ENO shall make a filing which includes: (a) a narrowed list of distribution and transmission projects based on those expected to result in the highest level of resiliency and storm hardening throughout the City over the next five (5) years, considering the system’s current level of vulnerability, the costs and benefits of each of the proposed projects, including the prioritization of project implementation based on benefits vs. cost or other criteria, and the lowest reasonable impact on customers’ rates that should be considered in the Master System Resiliency and Storm Hardening Plan; (b) a reasonably detailed annual budget for each project, the projected timeline for completion, and the total estimated cost of the projects; and (c) a proposed cost recovery mechanism, including a supportable basis for cost allocation by customer class;
   
• April 17, 2023 – Together New Orleans shall make a filing no later than April 17, 2023 that includes: (a) a list of the specific resilience hubs in Orleans Parish that it proposes to construct for grid resilience which specifically identifies what, if any, support or assistance is needed from ENO including to successfully interconnect its proposed resilience hubs to ENO’s electric system, and (b) a reasonable estimate of the costs associated with the support and/or assistance required, if any, as well as the total estimated costs for the project and proposed cost recovery mechanism(s);
   
• May 25, 2023 – The Parties shall convene a third public technical conference to: (a) identify and define each of the substantive issues on which the Parties have reached consensus, and those substantive issues on which the Parties have not yet reached consensus; (b) provide an updated status of any additional (non-ratepayer-related) funding, either committed or anticipated, to mitigate the estimated costs of the Master System Resiliency and Storm Hardening Plan, and a proposal identifying the projects to which such mitigation would be applicable; (c) discuss the appropriate benefits calculations and estimated costs, i.e. net benefits, of each proposed investment throughout the City over the next 5 years; (d) discuss each party’s assessment of which of the resiliency proposals are likely to provide the greatest benefits to ratepayers and the community and how the proposals should be prioritized over the next 5 years; (e) address the extent that proposed benefits that are determined from the value of outage duration to customers should be based on data that is New Orleans-centric; (f) discuss whether benefit to cost ratios of some proposed projects may have to be greater than 1.0 to recognize the higher level of uncertainty in quantifying certain customer-related benefits; (g) address to what extent the costs of the proposals should be ratepayer-funded and a customer cost cap provision be included in the Master System Resiliency and Storm Hardening Plan; and (h) discuss a proposed cost recovery mechanism to be included in the Master System Resiliency and Storm Hardening Plan;
   
• July 21, 2023 – Parties shall file their final comments regarding the resiliency proposals as revised in their April 17, 2023 filings.
   
• August 17, 2023 – Administrative Records Chart filed by CURO; 
   
• February 22, 2024 – Council adopted Resolution R-24-73 in response to ENO’s Resiliency Plan Application, TNO’s request for recovery of costs related to its Community Lighthouse Proposal, and instructed parties to convene a fourth technical conference between July 22, 2024 – August 30, 2024; 
   
• July 24, 2024 – Fourth Technical Conference: Parties convened a fourth public technical conference to identify the framework for prioritization and potential approval of additional distribution and transmission hardening projects.
   
• October 24, 2024 – The Council adopted Resolution R-24-625 providing limited approval and guidance with respect to proposed system resiliency and storm hardening expenditures which included several deadlines for CURO, Council Advisors, and ENO to develop continued reporting to the Council on the progress of the approved projects in ENO’s Two Year Plan (expenditure of $100 million over two years, a subset of projects proposed in ENO’s Three Year Plan);
   
• November 24, 2024 – Deadline for ENO to file with the Council a revised Rider RSHCR consistent with Resolution R-24-625;
   
• December 9, 2024 – Deadline for ENO to provide Council the subset of projects proposed (within 45 days of adoption of R-24-625);
   
• January 22, 2025 – Deadline for CURO to develop a reporting format to provide Council with timely reporting format to inform Council on the status and cost of approved projects (within 90 days of adoption of Resolution R-24-625);
   
• January 22, 2025 – Deadline for CURO to modify and finalize ENO’s proposed Pole Performance Metric and to develop an audit and enforcement mechanism (within 90 days of adoption of Resolution R-24-625);
   

• Annual reporting – ENO is directed to collect and report to CURO annually the metrics data recommended by AAE for “Participation, Resilience, Cost Effectiveness, and Affordability” to develop a baseline to evaluate future resilience investments and performance enforcement per Resolution R-24-625.