Active Dockets

UD-17-04: Electric Service Disruptions, Remediation Of Electric Service Dispruptions And Complaints, Miniumum Electric Reliability Performance Standards, And Financial Penalty Mechanisms

Council Docket UD-17-04, established via Resolution R-17-427, directs Entergy New Orleans (“ENO”) to investigate and remediate electric service disruptions, complaints, stablish minimum electric reliability performance standards, and financial penalty mechanisms for failure to meet minimum reliability performance standards in response to continued customer complaints related to ongoing outages and reliability issues (the “Distribution System Reliability Docket”).  In addition, the Council expressed concern with the overall level of ENO’s distribution system reliability throughout ENO’s service territory.  As a result, ENO was directed to provide detailed information to explain specific problems, cause of the outages, remediation activities, future short-term plans, costs, a time-frame to reduce outage problems, as well as ENO’s System Average Interruption Frequency Index (“SAIFI”) and System Average Interruption Duration Index (“SAIDI”) reliability indices. The Council continued to further investigate and review the information provided by ENO.    

Resolution R-18-98 (dated April 5, 2018) was amended by an Order of the Hearing Officer on May 7, 2018; as a result, the Parties agreed to amend the procedural schedule due to ENO retaining the services of Quanta Technology, LLC to perform an evaluation report of certain aspects of ENO’s distribution system as it relates to reliability.

On November 7, 2019, after having reviewed the full record in this proceeding, as well as the independent analysis performed by the Council Advisors, the City Council adopted Resolution R-19-442 resulting in settlement of Docket UD-17-04.  In Resolution R-19-442, the Council approved a $1 million fine against ENO as a result of declining distribution performance and long-running system reliability problems responsible for numerous electric outages in the city from the years 2014 through 2017.

• August 18, 2022 – the Council adopted Resolution R-22-372 which included a proposed set of standards and penalties to address the distribution reliability and performance standards and financial penalty phase of Council Docket UD-17-04 (Electric System Distribution Reliability Standards (“ESDRS”); 
   
• February 16, 2023 – the City Council adopted Resolution R-23-73 approving the Electric System Distribution Reliability Standards (“ESDRS”) and establishing the deadline for the ESDRS Annual Compliance Filing to April 15 every year;  
   
• April 15, 2023 - ENO is directed to develop and provide CURO and the Advisors with a consistent method for identifying capital and operation and maintenance expenditures for achieving distribution system reliability, above and beyond nominal operations; 
   
• April 30, 2023 - ENO is directed to make a filing which includes: (a) a categorized schedule of its historic capital and operation and maintenance expenditures for achieving distribution system reliability, annually, for 2016 through 2022; (b) a schedule, in the same format, of the historic data presenting ENO’s plan of capital and operation and maintenance expenditures for achieving the ESDRS, annually, for 2023 through 2027; (c) a schedule, in the same format, of the historic data presenting ENO’s plan of capital and operation and maintenance expenditures for achieving the ESDRS using ENO’s alternative minimum annual performance level for a distribution system SAIFI of 1.79 and a distribution system SAIDI of 196, annually, for 2023 through 2027; 
   
• April 15, 2024 (Annually thereafter on April 15^th) - ENO in its first ESDRS Annual Compliance Filing, in addition to the identification of poor performing feeders (lowest 5% of feeders based on annual SAIFI), shall provide: (a) a proposed alternative methodology for identifying poor performing 15 feeders; (b) a list of poor performing feeders using the Company’s proposed alternative methodology which includes approximately 5% of ENO’s feeders; and (c) ENO’s plan, budget, and schedule to improve the performance of each of the poor performing feeders identified by the Company’s proposed alternative methodology.

Penalty Mechanisms

• April 20, 2023 – Council adopted R-23-150 (Resolution adopting a Procedural Schedule) for the submission of additional evidence regarding financial penalties;
   
• May 22, 2023 – Deadline for additional/new interventions to be filed; 
   
• August 10, 2023 – Council adopted Resolution R-23-348 extending the procedural schedule to allow for the submission of additional evidence regarding the penalty imposed per Resolution R-19-442;
   
• August 31, 2023 – Intervention deadline for any interested person that are not existing parties to this docket may file a petition for intervention to participate in this phase of the docket;
   
• January 17, 2024 – Deadline for Council advisors to submit testimony, reports, data, or other evidence regarding the penalty resulting from ENO’s imprudence, including the advisors’ recommendation;
   
• March 13, 2024 – ENO and the Intervenors shall submit their responses to the advisors’ January 17, 2024 filing;
   
• April 15, 2024 – The advisors shall submit a response to the March 13, 2024 filings by ENO and the Intervenors;
   
• April 30, 2024 – The Hearing Officer shall certify the supplemental record on or before April 30, 2024.