Part 1 of 2

The following is being provided by Dominion Virginia Power in response to the request by Mr. Stephens on July 22, 2002 for information regarding data outlined in SB 684 that is currently collected and reported.

The table below focuses mainly on items to which the System Operations Center (SOC) supplies information as the control area operator. In addition to the data filings with federal agencies, Dominion Virginia Power’s Fossil & Hydro Operations files pertinent information on the generation side with the Virginia State Corporation Commission in the monthly Fuel Monitoring Report. While there are data sources for virtually all data fields proposed, some would require considerable effort to extract and compile.

The following information may be compiled from existing regulatory reports and company records. Additional information on the existing FERC reports, showing public availability of the data, may be found at the following Internet URL:

We also want to underscore our concerns that the proposed data collection requirements appear to assume that Control Area data can directly translate into data within the state boundaries. This assumption is not valid when there are network constraints internal to the control area.

SENATE BILL 684 – REFERENCE / DATA SOURCE(S) / COMMENTS
§ 1.A.i
An inventory of generating units located within the control area of the utility, including size, location, fuel type, heat rates, and megawatts of each unit. / FERC Form 1 has all of this information for VAP plants at the total plant level – not at the individual unit level.
DOE Form 714 has unit MW information and includes NUGs.
The requested data is also reported to the SCC on the monthly Fuel Monitoring Report. / This information can be compiled from the two reports, plus internal records on heat rates and the Fuel Monitoring Report.
The Fuel Monitoring Report addresses all DVP regulated generating assets but not NUGs.
§ 1.A.ii
The historical generating capabilities of each unit compared to actual operating parameters, including hours a unit was offline and reasons therefor, forced and planned curtailment levels, and hourly generation by unit. / Records of hourly generation data by unit are stored in the mainframe on the Corporate Energy Database (CED).
This data is reported monthly to the SCC on the Fuel Monitoring Report. / This information requirement is not readily available and would require internal software development to produce reports from the CED data
§ 1.A.iii
Total hourly load in the control area compared to total hourly load in Virginia. / Total hourly Control Area load is reported in DOE Form 714.
Total MWh load for the state is reported in Form EIA-826.
Total MWh load for the Dominion Virginia Power control area is available in FERC Form 1.
These values could be used to extrapolate hourly load for the state. / Total hourly load is measured at the control area level that includes North Carolina load. Virginia load is not specifically recorded and would be approximated using the information from the three data sources. The calculation would be:
(Form 714 data) X [ (EIA 826 data) / (FERC Form 1 data) ]
as calculated for each hour.
This calculation assumes a static ratio of load between our Virginia and North Carolina service areas.
§ 1.B.i
Individual line transfer capabilities at control area interfaces. / VAP tie line transfer capabilities are available for winter and summer from Interconnection Planning. / This information is not in report form and would need to be compiled.
NOTE: This data requirement assumes that the transfer capabilities at the control area interfaces equal the transfer capabilities for the state. This assumption is not valid since it ignores potential constraints within the control area.
§ 1.B.ii
Aggregate transfer capabilities, including the degree to which the capabilities were reserved and the actual use of such capabilities. / Current and future ATC information is available on OASIS or from Operations Planning group. Historical ATC data is available back to 1997 from Operations Planning. Historical capability usage data (reservations and schedules) is available starting 8/1/1999 from Transmission Access Management System (TAMS) records. NERC’s E-TAG system can yield additional information on transmission reservations and energy transactions. / This information would require internal development efforts to extract the data and to produce the reports.
§ 1.B.iii
Hours during which bulk transmission facilities were offline and the reasons therefor. / All records of transmission outages are available for the current year plus the previous 5 years. For dates after January 1999, the data is available in electronic format through the Advanced Switching Request database. Outage records for dates prior to January 1999 are not in electronic format and must be compiled manually using hard copy switching records. Unscheduled outages are available through the Disturbance Report. / This information is not reported and would require development to produce the report to satisfy the reporting requirements.
§ 1.B.iv
Actions taken to relieve transmission overload. / All records of TLR/LLR actions initiated by VAP are kept in SOC. / This information is kept manually and would need to be transcribed into an electronic format.
§ 1.B.v
Hourly flows into and out of the control areas. / This data is available through the Dominion Corporate Energy Database. It is available hourly for each tie line and as a total by Control Area. / This information exists, but would require internal development to produce the necessary reports.
NOTE: Again, the control area measurements may not be representative of the capabilities at the state border.

August 5, 2002