Writing your Electric Cooperative Chapter July 7, 2011

Project Background and Purpose  Partnership through MACOG between SEMA, regional planning commissions, and the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives.  Purpose of this project is to make all rural electric cooperatives (REC’s) eligible for funding through PDM, HMGP, and the 406 Stafford Act.

How is this similar to county- level HM plans?  The same requirements still apply.  Planning process  Public involvement  Documentation  Risk Assessments  Mitigation strategies  Must include “brick and mortar” projects  Plan maintenance

How is this different from county-level HM plans?  The plan has been developed in two sections:  Statewide information  REC-specific chapters with local data, information, and mitigation actions.  Each RPC has been assigned RECs which generally correspond to their geographic service area.  REC chapters will NOT meet the requirements by themselves.

How is this different from county-level HM plans?  All chapters will be identical in layout and formatting.  The process has been standardized across the state for:  Public Involvement  Risk Assessments  Implementation and Maintenance

Section 1  The first section is a statewide plan which includes:  Introduction  Planning Process  Public Involvement Process  Risk Assessment  Hazard profiles  Generalized Mitigation Strategies  Plan Implementation and Maintenance

Section 2  Series of 47 REC chapters following the same format.  Cooperative-specific information including:  Asset inventory by type  Standardized Local Risk Assessment  Historical hazard events  Non-historical hazard event  Mitigation Strategies

What’s the deadline?  Chapters must be completed by December 1, Includes time for quality control and review by the lead RPC.  Project Schedule:  Mapping and data collection: July/August 2011  Meeting 1: Early August 2011  Meeting 2: Late August 2011  Meeting 3: Early September 2011  Chapter composition: September-October 2011  First draft due October 15, 2011

How do I get started?

Step 1: Make contact  Initial contacts between the RPCs and RECs were established during meetings in January/February  During the month of July, re-establish contact via or telephone.  Schedule your first meeting as soon as possible.  Follow public involvement process.  Invite other local jurisdictions, critical facilities, non-profits, higher education, large industrial facilities, etc.  Public review and commentary of plan.

Step 2: Mapping Preparation  Work to complete generalized mapping for the REC.  Identify cooperative boundaries.  Use selected sources for information.  Maps must coordinate with the identified hazards.

Step 2: Mapping, continued  USGS Quadrangle Maps  Population Density within the cooperative boundary  Hazard-specific mapping by cooperative  Tornadoes  Floodplain  Levee networks  Dam Network  Sinkhole occurrences/soil types  Earthquake zones, fault lines, etc.

Step 3: Meeting preparation  Prior to your first meeting, gather data related to the following:  Hazard types for the REC area  Hazard event records for the REC area  Sources to utilize:  NCDC and NOAA  CERI  DNR  MO State Hazard mitigation plan  County-level plans

Step 4: Meeting 1  During your first meeting, explain the purpose to all participants.  Learn about the structure of your REC  Business structure  General customer information  Critical facilities which receive service  Review natural hazards which affect your REC. These will vary widely based on geographic location.

Step 4: Meeting 1(cont.)  Request help from your REC with gathering data related to the following:  Asset inventory (see worksheet)  Damage estimates by hazard event  Outage estimates by hazard event  Ask each committee member to consider ongoing and potential mitigation actions for their REC.

Step 4: Meeting 1(cont.)  Set a date for your 2 nd meeting.  The 2 nd meeting will be your deadline for:  REC data collection  Identification of ongoing and potential mitigation actions.

Step 5: Meeting 2  Collect information requested.  Asset data, hazard event information, etc.  Discuss the ongoing and potential hazard mitigation actions which were identified by the committee.  Provide suggestions for potential actions if you feel the list is lacking.  Create groups of actions which have similar characteristics, purposes, or intentions.

Step 5: Meeting 2  Use these groups to identify overarching goals and objectives.  Analyze each action for placement within the goals and objectives.  Many actions may fit into more than one goal and/or objective!!  Set date for meeting #3.

Step 6: Meeting 3  Prioritization of actions is the goal of meeting #3.  The prioritization process has been standardized for all RECs.

Prioritization Process  All action should be divided into three groups:  Tier 1 Actions: Focus on physical infrastructure protection and improvements which ensure continued, quality service to reduce power outages.  Tier 2 Actions: Create and maintain working relationship to reduce and prevent the impact of power outages.  Tier 3 Actions: Potential projects for other system improvements.

Cost-benefit analysis  Ask group members to assign a cost ranking and benefit ranking to each of the identified actions.  Include a short narrative concerning the capabilities of your REC.  Do they have in-house engineering or GIS?  What does their overall budget look like?

Cost-benefit of actions Low Cost Mitigation actions which are included in regular business practice and do not require outside funding or resources. - Inspections - Minor system improvements (replacement and repair) - Vegetation management - Public education - Cooperative agreements with outside agencies - Research on potential system improvements Medium Cost Mitigation actions which would require additional budgeting by local cooperatives in conjunction with outside funding. - Intermediate system improvements (alternate source wiring, line conversion, back-up generators, etc.) - Planning tools (GIS, mapping, etc.) - Implementation of research High Cost Mitigation actions which are beyond the internal capabilities of the cooperative OR require sizeable costs upfront which the cooperative cannot achieve fiscally without outside funding. - Major system improvements (system wide pole and wiring upgrades, etc.) - Work which requires contracting with outside sources or firms - Implementation of new technology

Benefit of actions Low Benefit - Actions which do not directly impact system preservation or improvements. - Actions which do not improve customer service and reduce outages. Medium Benefit - Actions which directly impact system preservation, but may not address improvements. - Actions which improve customer service and reduce response time to outages. High Benefit - Actions which directly impact system preservation and improvement. - Actions which prevent further asset loss or damage. - Actions which reduce system-wide outages.

Writing your chapter  All REC chapters will utilize the same template in order to ensure continuity.  7 sections  Introduction  Planning process  Asset inventory  Hazards and Risk Assessment Methodology  Risk Assessment  Mitigation Strategies  Plan Implementation and Maintenance

Sections 1-3  Introduction: Includes basic business information (customers, business policy, etc.)  Planning process: Information on participants and meeting summaries  Asset Inventory: Overview of all cooperative assets.

Sections 4-5: Hazards and Risk Assessment Methodology  Identifies hazards specific to the cooperative.  Hazards divided into two types:  Historical hazards: those with measurable previous impact upon the service area.  Non-historical hazards: those with no previous record of impact.

Sections 4-5: Hazards and Risk Assessment Methodology  The risk for each Historical Hazard is based on two characteristics:  Probability of occurrence  Potential extent of damage

Historical Hazards  Probability of Occurrence:  Formula 1: Total # of events/number of years of record = potential frequency  Formula 2: Number of damage-causing events/total number of events = percentage of occurrences which cause damage

Historical Hazards  Potential Extent of Damage  Formula 1- Total cost of damages / total number of events = Average damage cost per event  Formula 2: Average cost per event / total assets affected = Percentage of infrastructure damaged.  Formula 3: Number of outages reported / total number of customers services = percentage of customers affected.

Sections 4-5: Hazards and Risk Assessment Methodology  The risk for each Non-Historical Hazard is based on two characteristics:  Probability of Occurrence Assumes less than 1% in any given year based on lack of data.  Potential Extent of Damage – Base upon research or note data insufficiency.

Chart examples Table 1.9AHEC Thunderstorm/High Wind Event Summary Event date Damage estimates Outages Reported Event date Damage estimates Outages Reported 7/19/96 $1, /15/03 $50 6 6/21/97 $1, /19/03 $50 8 7/23/97 $2, /22/04 $ /14/98 $1, /12/04 $ /15/98 $ /25/04 $1, /20/98 $1, /26/04 $1, /5/99 $1, /28/05 $50 5 4/8/99 $2, /30/06 $1, /27/99 $1, /8/07 $ /30/99 $2, /25/08 $ /13/00 $ /5/08 $2, /23/00 $ /1/09 $50 7 8/19/00 $ /4/09 $ /11/01 $1, /9/09 $50 4 5/10/01 $ /18/10 $ /18/01 $ /31/10 $1, /17/02 $ Data provided based on internal AHEC records which reflect cost from the referenced event year.

Chart examples Table 1.10 Atchison-Holt Electric Cooperative Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment Matrix Hazard: Thunderstorm/High Wind/Hail Probability of Hazard Occurrence Less than 1% in any given year 1-10% chance in any given year % chance in any given year Near 100% probability in any given year Potential Extent of Damage Less than 10% of damage to system 10-25% damage of system 26-50% damage of system More than 50% damage of system

Chart examples Table 1.5 Sample Atchison-Holt Electric Cooperative Service Interruption Vulnerability Assessment Matrix Hazard: _____________ Probability of Hazard Occurrence Less than 1% in any given year 1-10% chance in any given year % chance in any given year > Near 100% probability in any given year Potential Extent of Impact Less than 10% of customers report outages 10-25% of customers report outages 26-50% of customers report outages More than 50% of customers report outages

Section 6: Mitigation Strategies  Section 6: Tiered actions, goals and objectives spelled out in this section.  Cost-benefit score determines priority of the action.  9 is high; 1 is low Cost Ranking Benefit Ranking Scoring matrix LMH L321 M654 H987

Section 7: Implementation and Maintenance  Section 7: Statewide processes established in the first section.  Exception in Other Local Planning Mechanisms  Be sure to include any and all planning mechanisms relevant to your REC!

Documentation  Documentation is required for REC chapters as well.  Sign-in sheets for each meeting.  Meeting minutes or summaries for each meeting.  Timesheets for all participants.  Wage approval form for all participants.  Participation letters and list of all solicited parties or jurisdictions.

Questions?