PTI Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines - Metropolitan ...

Local Voices
Asheville, North Carolina
Getting to know and networking with your energy suppliers early in your planning process will help you
understand what your suppliers’ capabilities are, and help you know what you can expect from them
in terms of energy deliveries before an emergency strikes. By incorporating your key energy suppliers’
contact information into your plan, you have information available immediately if an emergency strikes,
and you have a relationship built on mutual trust.
3.6.1 Local Energy Suppliers/Infrastructure Operators and Contracts
Identifying energy suppliers is not as easy as it once was. It used to be possible to identify the energy supplier by
simply looking at the energy bill. It was most likely that the same company that sent the bill was also the one that
generated, transmitted, distributed, or otherwise delivered energy to the door step of the consumer.
After the utility industry began to restructure (almost 20 years ago), local governments in some States had the option
of opening up their systems to competition. Where they did, many local governments shopped around, comparing
electricity prices and services and buying from the supplier who best met their needs. Services could be bundled or
unbundled depending on how the State restructured. This competition brought new energy suppliers into the market,
and with that came many more players and possible combinations of power suppliers. The upshot is that localities
may now have multiple entities that provide energy, each delivering a different service.
How might this new energy delivery model impact the EAP? The process, as a result, is more difficult. It is more
important than ever to know who the key energy suppliers are, how they operate, what their capabilities and
limitations are, and how they can assist with the EAP.
Some of the energy suppliers to be aware of are: electric generating stations, owners/operators of related transmission
and distribution lines, natural gas pipeline owners/operators and their associated storage and distribution network
managers, and any local petroleum refinery and pipeline operators. Understanding renewable energy resources, smart
grid investments, energy efficiency programs, and other similar initiatives, if present in the local jurisdiction, can
also be an important part of energy assurance planning in an all-hazards environment.
Identifying energy suppliers goes hand-in-hand with the energy profile work referred to in Step Four. Ideally,
pertinent information has been entered into a user-friendly database that the energy assurance coordinator and
working group can access easily. If this information is not already at hand, it should be collected during this phase of
the planning process.
Sources of electricity are usually investor-owned utilities (IOUs) and electric cooperative utilities (co-ops).
Independent Power Producers (IPPs) are also key electricity suppliers to localities in some parts of the U.S. For most
localities these utilities supply electricity from natural gas, coal, nuclear, and in some cases renewable sources (wind,
geothermal, biomass, hydropower, and solar).
As noted earlier, electricity generation and transmission and distribution services are not always performed by the
same company. Electrical distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity to the locality. Therefore, getting
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