[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 16USC824a-2]
TITLE 16--CONSERVATION
CHAPTER 12--FEDERAL REGULATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF POWER
SUBCHAPTER II--REGULATION OF ELECTRIC UTILITY COMPANIES ENGAGED IN
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
Sec. 824a-2. Reliability
(a) Study
(1) The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, shall
conduct a study with respect to--
(A) the level of reliability appropriate to adequately serve the
needs of electric consumers, taking into account cost effectiveness
and the need for energy conservation,
(B) the various methods which could be used in order to achieve
such level of reliability and the cost effectiveness of such
methods, and
(C) the various procedures that might be used in case of an
emergency outage to minimize the public disruption and economic loss
that might be caused by such an outage and the cost effectiveness of
such procedures.
Such study shall be completed and submitted to the President and the
Congress not later than 18 months after November 9, 1978. Before such
submittal the Secretary shall provide an opportunity for public comment
on the results of such study.
(2) The study under paragraph (1) shall include consideration of the
following:
(A) the cost effectiveness of investments in each of the
components involved in providing adequate and reliable electric
service, including generation, transmission, and distribution
facilities, and devices available to the electric consumer;
(B) the environmental and other effects of the investments
considered under subparagraph (A);
(C) various types of electric utility systems in terms of
generation, transmission, distribution and customer mix, the extent
to which differences in reliability levels may be desirable, and the
cost-effectiveness of the various methods which could be used to
decrease the number and severity of any outages among the various
types of systems;
(D) alternatives to adding new generation facilities to achieve
such desired levels of reliability (including conservation);
(E) the cost-effectiveness of adding a number of small,
decentralized conventional and nonconventional generating units
rather than a small number of large generating units with a similar
total megawatt capacity for achieving the desired level of
reliability; and
(F) any standards for electric utility reliability used by, or
suggested for use by, the electric utility industry in terms of
cost-effectiveness in achieving the desired level of reliability,
including equipment standards, standards for operating procedures
and training of personnel, and standards relating the number and
severity of outages to periods of time.
(b) Examination of reliability issues by reliability councils
The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, may, from time
to time, request the reliability councils established under section
202(a) of the Federal Power Act [16 U.S.C. 824a(a) of this title] or
other appropriate persons (including Federal agencies) to examine and
report to him concerning any electric utility reliability issue. The
Secretary shall report to the Congress (in its annual report or in the
report required under subsection (a) of this section if appropriate) the
results of any examination under the preceding sentence.
(c) Department of Energy recommendations
The Secretary, in consultation with the Commission, and after
opportunity for public comment, may recommend industry standards for
reliability to the electric utility industry, including standards with
respect to equipment, operating procedures and training of personnel,
and standards relating to the level or levels of reliability appropriate
to adequately and reliably serve the needs of electric consumers. The
Secretary shall include in his annual report--
(1) any recommendations made under this subsection or any
recommendations respecting electric utility reliability problems
under any other provision of law, and
(2) a description of actions taken by electric utilities with
re
