State Energy Assurance Updates
These updates reflect State Energy
Assurance efforts completed or underway.
States not listed below are encouraged
to provide updates. Please sent
you update to
jpillon@naseo.org
June 2010
Update
Arizona Energy Office in the
Department of Commerce has reached
several key milestones through their
“Enhancing State Government Energy
Assurance Capabilities and Planning for
Smart Grid Resiliency” grant award.
After the initial approval of the grant
in August 2009, Arizona was able to ramp
up and prepare the Project Management
Plan and Workforce Development Plan;
submitting them to the U.S. Department
of Energy in October 2009 and November
2009 respectively. In March 2010,
Arizona hired a full time employee to
manage the program; partially satisfying
a grant requirement to create jobs
within the state government for energy
assurance planning and response
capabilities. In April 2010,
Arizona participated in the Palo Verde
Ingestion Pathway Exercise as well as
the Summer Energy Outlook and DOE Energy
Assurance Workshop. Arizona
continues to meeting with stakeholders
to leverage existing structures to
fulfill grant requirements; gather
outage data from utilities; and track
energy information. To date,
Arizona has received 20 percent
($159,282) of the total award ($796,410
over three years).
September
2010 Update
The State of Georgia has achieved a
number of key milestones with support
from the DOE energy assurance grant.
The Georgia Environmental Finance
Authority (GEFA) is the recipient of the
grant and the Georgia Emergency
Management Agency is working with GEFA
as a sub-recipient.
In May, Megha Young became GEMA’s new
Energy Assurance Planner and Leanora
Styles became GEMA’s GIS Coordinator.
In addition, GEFA hired a new
Energy Assurance Program Manager,
Kristofor Anderson, in June.
The new employees working on
energy assurance in Georgia help meet
the employment goals of the grant.
The State of Georgia is using the
grant funding to greatly improve
Georgia’s ability to track energy supply
disruptions. Notably,
Georgia is implementing a system called
the Georgia Online Disaster Awareness
Geospatial System (GoDAWGS).
GoDAWGS is a geospatial
visualization tool and disruption
tracking system that integrates
unconnected data sources for easier
analysis, organization, and sharing of
information. Its main forms of
communication will be through maps and
its web visualization interface. One
of the primary data feeds for the
GoDAWGS system will be E-Team, a data
management tool used by emergency
responders to record, track, and manage
incidents, both natural and man-made.
For example, if there is a disruption
to an energy source that significantly
impacts citizens, the incident will be
recorded in E-Team. GoDAWGS will be
able to pull the data on the back-end of
the E-Team database using Microsoft SQL
connection and parse it for display to
GoDAWGS. The integration of E-Team and
GoDAWGS will give emergency responders
and disaster planning partners a way to
spatially track critical incidents.
This integration will benefit state
energy providers and responders before
and after emergencies by enabling users
to share information and improve
incident response decision-making.
The supply disruption tracking system
portion of GoDAWGS is complete, but GEFA
and GEMA are currently working with
other state agency and private industry
stateholders to add significantly more
geospatial data to the system.
This will be an ongoing process
that allows for a very robust and
dynamic system for disruption tracking
and emergency response.
GEFA and GEMA are continuing the
energy assurance planning process as
well as workforce development.
Part of this process includes
educating new and existing employees on
Georgia’s energy picture as well as
energy data analysis skills.
Training and workshops for GEFA’s
and GEMA’s energy assurance personnel
will help Georgia have employees who are
extremely knowledgeable on a variety of
energy topics in Georgia, including
renewable energy and smart grid
technology.
Meetings on these topics will continue
into the fall, with participation from a
variety of public and private
stakeholders.
Additionally, GEFA will be sending staff
to the NASEO 2010 Annual Meeting in
Boston.
June 2010
Update
The Iowa Office of Energy
Independence (OIE) is administering
Iowa’s Energy Assurance grant. A
State Energy Planner (SEP) was hired in
November. The OEI is responsible
for energy assurance for petroleum
products, while the Iowa Utilities Board
(IUB) has responsibility for natural gas
and electricity. The Iowa Homeland
Security and Emergency Management
Division (HSEMD) provides coordination
between multiple entities during an
event. Due to the division of duties
between agencies, one of the key first
steps in the planning process has been
building relationships between agencies
to ensure smooth coordination.
Since November, the SEP has taken
advantage of trainings provided by HSEMD
to get up to speed on emergency planning
issues and processes and to learn the
HSEMD vernacular. The State Energy
Planner has met multiple times with
HSEMD and IUB staff and private industry
stakeholders to discuss the energy
assurance planning and exercise process.
The State of Iowa currently has
an RFP out for bid to hire a contractor
to complete the Energy Assurance Plan
for the State and to help facilitate the
intra-state and regional emergency
exercises. A team made up of OEI’s
SEP, an emergency planning official from
HSEMD and the duty officer of the IUB
worked together to craft the RFP and
this team will review the submissions
and select the contractor. All
three agencies and representatives from
the electric, natural gas and petroleum
sectors will be part of a working group
that will be formed to undertake an
all-hazards analysis of potential energy
emergency risks in Iowa.
This analysis will be coordinated with
the National Response Framework and
National Infrastructure Protection Plan.
These same entities will participate in
the statewide emergency exercise in
2011, which will be planned a
facilitated using the Homeland Security
Emergency Exercise Program. The
OEI expects to have a contractor on
board by late July.
In the meantime, as a guard
against the propane emergency that
descended in the fall of 2009, OEI staff
is working with propane stakeholders,
from pipelines to retailers, to take
steps to become better prepared for the
annual fall propane demand rush.
The group has met twice, with two more
meetings planned in June to discuss the
follow-up items decided upon at the
first two meetings. One group will
include transporters, pipelines and
wholesalers and discuss current
scheduling processes and possible
improvements those processes when a
shortage is imminent or already
happening. The other group will
discuss how federal regulations
governing drivers’ hours of service
waivers might be improved and whether
there is a potential strategy for
advocating for those changes at the
federal level. Finally, the OEI
and the Iowa Department of Agriculture
and Land Stewardship will work together
to begin communications with the propane
industry before and during the crop
drying and heating season with crop,
weather and propane need projections.
June 2010
Update
Establishment of the
“Commonwealth Energy Assurance
Leadership Team”
The Team is charged with
providing overall energy assurance
project guidance and addressing high
level policy issues identified as the
Energy Assurance Plan is developed.
The Team is chaired by the Secretary of
Energy and Environmental Affairs with
participation by the Secretary of Public
Safety (the state’s Homeland Security
Director), Commissioners of the MA
Department of Energy Resources (MA
DOER), Department of Public Utilities
and the Department of Environmental
Protection and the Director of the MA
Emergency Management Agency.
Draft Vulnerability and
Risk Assessment
With the assistance of R.W.
Beck consulting firm, Massachusetts has
identified key, critical energy assets
and infrastructure in the state and
region and the various energy supply
distribution systems. We have just
begun to quantify, assess and evaluate
energy supply impacts of the various
energy asset/infrastructure losses on
the consuming sectors and on alternative
energy sources. With the
information from this report,
Massachusetts will determine and
prioritize energy assurance measures
that the state and energy industries can
implement to alleviate supply lost
impacts and/or obtain energy supplies.
The final report should be completed by
end of July.
Review of Existing
Energy Emergency Plans
In May, R.W. Beck started to
review existing MA energy emergency
plans including the state’s plan and the
electric and gas utility plans and other
state’s existing energy emergency plans.
With this information, Beck began a “gap
analysis” comparing the existing MA
plans against the NASEO Guidelines 3.1.
R.W. Beck has drafted the outline of a
revised, comprehensive Energy Assurance
Plan and has started to populate some of
the sections.
Draft of Energy Supply
Disruption Tracking Process
The state’s tracking effort is
not housed in one state agency.
Rather, it encompasses different
agencies and divisions within agencies,
various reporting regulations and
procedures, various communication
protocols and a tremendous amount of
information. The MA DOER has begun
drafting a report on the state’s
systems. The report describes the
purpose of the Tracking Process,
agencies’ roles and responsibilities,
the general approach to energy supply
data tracking, an overview of the
Tracking Process components by energy
type, data sources used to populate the
tracking systems, tools used, such as
the DOE’s ISERnet system, for gathering
and communicating outage and recovery
information. The report
shows how the supply tracking systems
coincides with the different phases of
an energy supply disruption -
Monitoring, Assess Impacts/Recommend
Actions, Implement Actions, and
Recover/Lessons Learned.
Biofuels Supply
Reliability Assessment
MA DOER is assessing the supply
availability of qualified advanced
biofuels (specified in state law as 50%
better lifecycle GHG) and the supply
reliability of distributing the blended
biofuels into heating oil and diesel
fuel for sale in Massachusetts.
With some of the energy assurance grant
money, DOER hired a consultant,
Petrohedge, to assist DOER. The
consultant held several stakeholder
meetings with representatives from the
oil industry and the biofuel industry to
identify key issues surrounding supply
availability and product distribution.
The consultant also identified obligated
sellers of the blended products and
proposed program forms and a system for
tracking and monitoring sales of the
covered petroleum products and biofuels.
July 2010 Update
The support provided by the
Department of Energy through the Energy
Assurance Grant has enabled the State of
Michigan
to improve its energy emergency
preparedness, enhance security, and
protect critical energy infrastructure
and key assets. Because the
reliability of
Michigan’s energy
infrastructure is vital for all parts of
the economy, these efforts will help
support and strengthen
Michigan’s
economic resilience.
Through the first year of the
grant,
Michigan
has made significant progress. It
has facilitated collaboration with other
Midwest
states by holding regional conference
calls on energy emergency preparedness
and response. Michigan is also strengthening collaboration
between key players at the federal,
state, local, and tribal level along
with key private sector actors to
facilitate an effective and coordinated
response during energy disruptions. Michigan has redoubled its efforts through an Energy
Sector Committee comprised of key energy
industry partners including: the
Michigan Public Service Commission,
Michigan State Police, Intelligence Fusion
Center, electric utilities
and others. This Committee
facilitates open communication and
cooperation on energy issues facing Michigan and provides a
forum for collectively addressing them
with contributions from all affected
participants.
Michigan
has had in place for many years a well
developed capability to track energy
disruptions. Additional efforts
supported by this grant will result in a
supply disruption tracking process that
offers substantial enhancement and
expanded capability and will contribute
to the advancement of our workforce
capacity in this area.
Understanding the overall energy picture
provides the state with a more
comprehensive situational awareness that
enables more rapid and effective
decision-making during a crisis.
Michigan
has sought to enhance our tracking
ability by creating new initiatives and
strengthening existing monitoring and
analysis activities.
Michigan
has accomplished this by updating
statistical analysis software and by
increasing training opportunities for
energy forecasting and modeling.
Further, Michigan
is utilizing the Geospatial Information
Systems iCAV and ACAMS, available
through the Department of Homeland
Security, to visualize key energy
infrastructure and interdependencies
impacting Michigan.
Lastly, the Michigan Public
Service Commission was awarded a
National Association of Regulatory
Utility Commissioners tabletop exercise,
making Michigan one of only four awards granted
nationally. This exercise will
test the state’s newly developed
emergency plans, enabling Michigan to enhance our planning and response
for a wide range of energy emergencies.
June 2010
Update
In the first year of funding
under the ARRA Energy Assurance grant,
New York completed several key
milestones. In late 2009, it
completed and submitted its Project
Management and Workforce Development
Plans. At that time, New York
established an interagency working group
consisting of its Homeland Security
(OHS), Emergency Management (SEMO),
Cyber Security and Critical
Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC),
State Energy Office (NYSERDA), and
Department of Public Service (DPS)
offices. Coordination has been
ongoing within this group. A
New York representative participated in
the Denver Summer Energy Outlook and
Energy Assurance Workshop. Staff
at NYSERDA, in cooperation with partner
agencies, are developing the Energy
Disruption Tracking Process deliverable.
When completed, this report will be a
broad summary of the multiple layers of
data and information that are currently
tracked in New York government with
regards to energy supply as well as
current systems for tracking outages and
supply disruptions and responses.
New York will be issuing a competitive
solicitation in the near future for
contracted support to assist in the
completion of its Energy Assurance Plan.
As a complement to the Plan, NYSERDA has
commenced a special fuel study examining
propane supply infrastructure with the
State and region. NYSERDA is
completing the terms of a Memorandum of
Agreement with partner agencies (OHS and
CSCIC) to fund contracted support and
new staff within their offices to
improve critical infrastructure data and
vulnerability/interdependency analysis.
Planning efforts are underway to develop
the tabletop exercise for 2011 and
participation in regional exercises in
2012.
July 2010
Update
North Carolina
hired two professionals, Bob Mielish and
Karl Pepple, to perform duties
associated with the State Energy
Assurance Plan Grant. Since their
arrival they have drafted an outline for
an updated State Energy Assurance Plan
and started to collect data on the
location, use and throughput of
North Carolina’s
critical infrastructure,
interoperability and dependence. The
team has opened lines of communication
with the utility providers, petroleum
suppliers and other state agencies with
similar interests in Energy Assurance.
Work is underway to build bridges to
North Carolina
state agencies that are already
collecting much of the needed data, but
for other purposes. The Energy Assurance
team has made positive communications
with the surrounding states to foster a
regional approach to Energy Assurance.
Bob and Karl are currently
collecting data on the throughput of
resources that create the state’s
energy, how that energy is distributed
and ultimately utilized. The team will
soon be able to determine critical
vulnerabilities and risk factors
associated with the
North Carolina
infrastructure. The Energy Assurance
team is also in the process of
developing an Energy Supply Disruption
Tracking Process that incorporates
weather data, fuel pricing, supply line
interruptions, service interruptions,
and other necessary data. The Energy
Assurance team attended a SMART grid
demonstration and is developing
relationships with the potential
implementers.
October 2010 Update
To fulfill the “Oregon Energy
Assurance Initiative” grant award, the
State of Oregon formed a partnership
between the Oregon Department of Energy,
the Oregon Public Utilities Commission
(PUC), and the Oregon Department of
Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI).
This state agency partnership approach
is intended to tackle deliverables
independently based on department
expertise and then knit the results
together into a unified Energy Assurance
plan.
The Oregon Department of Energy
engaged petroleum industry partners
servicing Oregon to facilitate emergency
response coordination to fuel shortages
or disruptions impacting the state.
Activities included identifying and
resolving issues of joint concern,
conducting onsite inspections, and
acquiring copies of emergency plans from
petroleum distribution terminals and
pipeline companies. The state
Department of Energy reviewed industry
plans and will revise Oregon’s Petroleum
Contingency Plan to ensure consistent
response strategies with petroleum
industry partners. The
Department is also is overseeing the
completion of a targeted distributed
energy resilience study that will index
and analyze opportunities for renewable
energy facilities, smart grid
applications, and biofuels to supply
essential electricity and transportation
fuels under an all-hazards approach.
This study will be complete by the end
of 2010.
The PUC engaged Oregon utilities and
service providers as well as employed
new staff to write the natural gas and
electric components of the state Energy
Assurance Plan. The PUC also
oversees the work of a state geologist
in identifying seismic risk to critical
energy infrastructure in the Cascadia
subduction zone. A summary study
and recommendations for prioritized
actions will be incorporated into the
EAP update in Q2 2011; the extended
study will be complete at the end of the
grant term.
To date, the state partnership has
successfully completed its Project
Management Plan, Workforce Development
Plan, and Energy Supply Disruption
Tracking Process on mark with its
published schedule. In planning
for the tabletop exercises, the state
partnership will have to ramp up
activities to prepare for the regional
workshop in mid to late 2011.
April 2011 Update
The Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Office
of Energy and Technology Deployment,
Bureau of Energy Innovations and
Technology Deployment (i.e., State
Energy Office) is overseeing the
Enhancing State Government Energy
Assurance Capabilities and Planning for
Smart Grid Resiliency grant. This grant
supports Pennsylvania’s development of
energy assurance and resiliency plans
that the Commonwealth will use during
energy emergencies and supply
disruptions, and will strengthen energy
assurance capacity. The grant helps
Pennsylvania address energy supply
disruption risks and vulnerabilities in
its plans. This will lessen the
devastating impact such incidents can
have on the economy and on the health
and safety of its citizens. DEP
contracted with CRA, Inc. to assist in
plan development and exercise
facilitation.
Pennsylvania DEP partnered with the
Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission
(PUC) and the Pennsylvania Emergency
Management Office (PEMA) to develop the
Project Management Plan. The Plan was
completed and submitted to the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) in December,
2009.
An essential element of the Energy
Assurance Plan is the Workforce
Development Plan (WDP), which outlines
the State Energy Office’s current and
proposed organizational structure.
The WDP recommends State Energy Program
positions and their responsibilities.
It also identifies staff training
requirements, including specific IT
systems, classroom training,
correspondence and independent study
courses, and on the job training
requirements. The WDP calls for
exercises following Homeland Security
Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP)
guidelines for its validation. The WDP
was completed and filed with U.S. DOE in
August 2010.
The first draft of the Energy Supply
Disruption Tracking Process, completed
in August 2010, was revised and updated
in February 2011. It is currently going
through a final review before submission
to U.S. DOE. The SEO purchased the
GEMWorX FlowModeler® analysis tool to
generate process diagrams and reports.
These diagrams capture disruption
information by specific energy sector.
This helps the SEO, PUC and PEMA
identify the key procedural tasks
required to resolve specific energy
events and to communicate more
effectively between departments,
agencies, energy companies, and the
general public. Training sessions on the
software have been conducted, and
procedures to record disruption
information are under development.
As part of the planning effort, the
Emergency Support Function 12 (ESF 12)
Annex to the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania’s State Emergency
Operations Plan (SEOP) was also reviewed
and updated.
A vulnerability assessment report was
developed in the fall of 2010 to clarify
the relationship between Pennsylvania’s
various energy profiles by identifying
vulnerabilities and risks. The
Vulnerability Assessment Analysis of
Pennsylvania’s Energy Markets
Vulnerabilities and Risks report
focuses on energy sources and sectors,
including electricity, coal, nuclear
power, natural gas, petroleum, and
alternate/renewable energy. This
assessment framework sets up processes
for profiling energy use and the
vulnerability of systems, networks, and
functions. It also helps identify
fuel-related response measures.
The first draft of the Energy
Assurance Plan (EA Plan), completed in
January 2011, has been shared with the
Energy Delivery Technologies Division of
U.S. DOE. In compliance with grant
requirements, the intrastate exercise is
scheduled for April 27, 2010, at PEMA.
Participants from over 20 governmental
agencies and private organizations are
expected. The exercise will foster a
comprehensive understanding of the new
draft of the EA Plan. It will also
train and familiarize State Emergency
Operations Center (SEOC) staff on their
roles and responsibilities in an energy
emergency. The exercise will also
evaluate individual response plans and
test the Commonwealth’s ability to
create an action plan during a terrorist
incident and a severe fuel and oil
shortage in Pennsylvania.
The Commonwealth has made energy
development a cornerstone of
Pennsylvania’s economic development
strategy, with a focus across the entire
energy spectrum. The Governor and DEP
have emphasized alternative energy and
energy efficiency to create a positive
circle of economic development and
environmental improvement that
encourages greater investments and
commitment for clean energy. This
strategy creates a progressive policy
environment favorable to the adoption of
alternative energy and energy
efficiency. It also creates
financial tools and advanced
technologies to support clean energy,
and continues the implementation since
2008 of a specific sector-based energy
efficiency and energy conservation
strategy for Pennsylvania.
September
2010 Update
The Public Utility Commission of
Texas (PUC) has been moving forward on a
variety of energy assurance fronts.
We have been fully staffed since
May and have sent our new hires to an
array of educational opportunities on
the subjects of cyber security,
hurricane/disaster preparedness,
electric vehicles, renewable power,
disaster management and copper theft.
We have completed workshops on
storm hardening, cyber security, smart
grid/energy assurance and electric
vehicles and are gearing up for one on
best practices in vegetation management.
In June 2010, we completed
our first grant-related rulemaking
focusing on electric utility storm
hardening requiring, among other things,
that utilities file storm hardening
plans with the Commission. Recently,
the PUC and Railroad Commission (RRC)
combined efforts to produce our first
state energy tabletop exercise that
included a set of cyber issues.
The Energy Assurance Plan is on
track and coming together nicely.
That process has begun with our
updates to the energy annex to the State
Emergency Management Plan—also in
conjunction with the RRC—and will end
with a collection of documents from both
of our agencies. Our
energy disruption tracking plan was
completed and has taken the form of a
very useful outage database to which
utilities send their outage and
restoration statistics.
Our Emergency Management Response
Team can sort the data by utility, zip
code or county in the State Operations
Center. The database
also maps outage areas and posts outage
data onto the PUC website for public
use. The system went
live on the first of June and was
promptly tested by Hurricane Alex.
We are happy to report that it
was a tremendous success, and it
provided us with a wish list for future
versions with expanded mapping features
and more automated data acquisition.
The Railroad Commission of Texas
(RRC) has been focused on three major
projects as part of the energy assurance
program. They include
preparation of a geospatial map, a
Supply Disruption Tracking Plan and a
tabletop exercise.
The geospatial map involves working with
several existing databases and with our
IT group. The
completed map will show the location and
information for wells, pipelines, gas
plants, LPG, CNG and LNG facilities, gas
and liquid underground and above ground
storage, compressors, gas distribution
areas, jurisdictional offshore platforms
and lignite mines.
The attributes that may be accessed for
each item will include emergency contact
information, location information,
description information and volumetric
information. This
project culminated in the Critical
Infrastructure Program Definition and
Requirements Plan that provides a
framework for the IT group.
The Supply Disruption Tracking
Plan consists of three separate systems
to track natural gas utilities,
intrastate natural gas pipelines, gas
processing plants, crude oil pipelines
and refineries. The
Supply Disruption Tracking Plan provides
a statistical overview of Texas
consumption, production, pricing and
imports of natural gas and the various
petroleum products regulated by the RRC.
The Plan also describes the major
causes of supply disruption in the
State. The Public
Utilities Commission of Texas invited
the RRC to participate in a Tabletop
Exercise they are hosting with National
Association of Regulatory Commissioners
(NARUC). We have been
working to provide requested information
regarding the exercise and to line up
ten participants from the RRC, private
companies and trade associations.
We are starting to shift our
focus to the preparation of the Energy
Assurance Plan. We
are also charged with the
responsibility, working with the PUC, to
rewrite the Energy portion of the State
Emergency Management Plan.
June 2010
Update
In January, 2009, the COE’s
Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River in
King County suffered sufficient failure
during a storm that the COE declared an
increased risk (1 in 4 chances) of
flooding because the reservoir could not
be filled to flood control levels.
In September, 2009, Governor Gregoire
created the Green River Subcabinet and
directed the Washington Department of
Commerce to convene an Energy Working
Group. In the process of planning
with the energy industry to address
flooding issues related to energy
infrastructure, Commerce was able to
educate the 25 members of the group in
the State Energy Assurance Plan and
share a video on State Response to
Energy Emergencies. Members
include state agencies, electric and
natural gas transmission and
distribution utilities, oil refiners,
gas and diesel distributors, oil and
natural gas pipeline operators, energy
associations, and federal agencies.
Washington State Department of
Commerce has been working on its Energy
Supply Disruption Tracking Process;
proposed development of a map based
energy disruption tracking tool. A
contractor was hired in March 2010 to do
a feasibility study and a Technical
Advisory Team was established to advise
Commerce made up of energy industry
representatives and state agencies. From
April through June 2010 meetings were
held with the Technical Advisory Team,
all 60 utilities in the state were
surveyed, and all 50 states were
contacted about any work they may have
done in this area. The feasibility study
is expected to be completed by the end
of June.
The first draft of a state
Energy Sector Specific Plan for Critical
Infrastructure Protection is expected to
be completed by a state Energy
Coordinating Council in July 2010
initiating a review process for
attachment to and updating of the state
Energy Assurance Plan.
In 2010, as part of its work
force development efforts, 7 State
Energy Office staff members have
participated in one or more of the
following training opportunities:
- Summer Fuels
Outlook Conference and
Energy Assurance and
Data Workshop;
- Energy
Emergency Assurance
Coordinator Training
webcast;
- On site State
Emergency Operation
Center Orientation
Training;
- Trained in St.
Lake City attending the
Utah Private Sector
Homeland Security
Coordinating Council and
Steering Committee
meeting and earthquake
exercise; and
- Completed the
following FEMA on line
courses:
-
Introduction
to
Incident
Command
System
(ICS
100.a);
-
ICS for
Single
Resources
and
Initial
Action
Incidents
(ICS
200.a);
-
National
Incident
Management
System,
an
Introduction
(IS-700.a);
and
-
The NRP
Awareness
Course,
“National
Response
Plan, an
Introduction”
(IS-800.b).
January 2012
Update
The West Virginia Division of Energy
(WVDOE) continues to work with the West
Virginia Department of Military Affairs
and Public Safety (WVDMAPS) and West
Virginia University’s National Research
Center for Coal and Energy (NRCCE), on
revisions and enhancements to the
State’s current energy emergency
operations plan. Additional
collaborative efforts to develop and
deliver training courses under the
Workforce Development Plan outlined in
Task 2 of the state energy assurance
plan also continue. The development of
an Energy Supply Disruption Tracking
Process (Task 4) and Intra-State and
Inter-State Exercises (Tasks 5a & b)
along with the required reporting has
been completed.
In collaboration with WVDOE and
WVDMAPS, NRCCE has developed an Energy
Supply Disruption Tracking System and
Emergency Contact Database tool. The
tool was developed using Microsoft
Access 2010 and is designed with the
capability of being run on a SharePoint
Server to provide access from any
electronic device capable of running a
web browser. This design feature
would allow users to access emergency
contacts and energy information as well
as track energy supply disruption for
remote locations. The database assists
emergency officials in their efforts to
track energy supply disruptions and
provide quick access to information to
assist in minimizing service restoration
times. Links to online data
sources along with tables containing
emergency contact information for energy
prime suppliers, marketers,
federal/state/local emergency officials
and others are readily accessible from
the main page of the database. The tool
also includes a knowledge base with
links to energy information and data
sources to assist users in their ability
to address energy supply disruptions and
facilitate the restoration process.
A report center with pre-constructed
reports is also provided to assist users
with the generation of reports on supply
disruption issues by assigned user,
category, opening user, and status.
The tool includes procedures for easy
maintenance and updating and a fully
documented user’s guide with screen
shots and examples.
The NRCCE team is in the final stages
of revising the current energy emergency
component of the West Virginia Emergency
Operations Plan (WVEOP), (Annex V) and
developing an energy assurance addendum.
A preliminary draft of the revisions to
Annex V was uploaded to the USDOE report
submissions site on February 12, 2011.
Comments received on the submitted
version are currently being addressed.
As part of the workforce development
required under the SEAP, NRCCE has
developed a series of courses for state
and local emergency personnel on energy
issues that were identified in the
inter-state and intra-state exercises.
A course on Energy Assurance Issues in
WV was provided at the 2011 WV State
Emergency Response Commission and Local
Emergency Planning Committees
Conference held at Canaan Valley State
Park on September 13, 2011.
Four undergraduate students were
hired to assist with the task assigned
to NRCCE. All of these students
remain actively engaged in the project
and they continue to receive instruction
and develop marketable skills related to
energy assurance and state and regional
energy markets. These students continue
to receive the equivalent of on-the-job
training. A Graduate Assistant has
also joined the project and is assisting
with the development of training
materials and courses.
WVDMAPS and WVDOE along with
petroleum industry officials assisted
NRCCE in the development and
presentation of the interstate exercise.
Development of the exercise and the
supporting material was completed and
the exercise was held on May 4, 2011, in
Charleston, WV. The WV State
Energy Assurance Exercise was organized
and facilitated by NRCCE. Participants
included representatives from the WVDOE,
the WV Division of Homeland Security and
Emergency Management (WVDHSEM) , WV
Department of Military Affairs and
Public Safety(WVDMAPS) , the WV State
Police, the City of Charleston, the WV
Department of Environmental Protection ,
the US Department of Transportation,
USDOE, the National Energy Technology
Laboratory (USDOE NETL), WV Commerce, WV
Commerce Communications Division,
Marathon Petroleum, WV Petroleum
Association, WV Oil Marketers and
Grocers Association, the Kanawha County
Commission. The After Action
Report was prepared and submitted by
NRCCE in conjunction with the WVDOE with
input provided by the WVDHSEM and
WVDMAPS.
Finally, NRCCE and WVDOE
representatives also attended and
participated in the USDOE’s Northeast
Regional Exercise as an informal “State
Team” on June 16 and 17 in Boston, MA,
and participated in breakout sessions at
the exercise.
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