PTI Local Government Energy Assurance Guidelines - Metropolitan ...

■ ■ Office of the Governor: Governors and governors’ offices have the ultimate responsibility for energy
emergency planning. In December 2006, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
released the Governors Guide to Energy Assurance to assist governors in protecting their States’ critical
energy infrastructure and effectively responding to energy emergencies. The level of involvement of a
governor’s office during an energy emergency varies from State to State based on the severity of the situation
and the roles assigned in the State’s emergency plan. Regardless of the hierarchy or degree of the problem, the
governor’s office will usually want to be informed expeditiously.
■ ■ State Department of Agriculture Division of Weights and Measures (ADWM): The ADWM inspects pumps
and meters used for measuring any type of liquid (gasoline, fuel oil, propane) fuel or solid commodities sold
in the State.
■ ■ State Department of Environmental Protection: Many States have an agency or department with the mission
to gather and provide information on energy conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy, in
addition to supplying information, statistics, and data on more traditional energy sources. The scope and reach
of topics that are addressed by environmental agencies varies widely from State to State. Many State-level
environmental agencies also regulate air pollutants often produced by energy generation and consumption,
such as carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen, and the like.
Federal Government Contacts
■ ■ U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) and the
Energy Information Administration (EIA) are the primary offices concerned with energy assurance within the
U.S. Department of Energy. OE is the primary DOE office that deals with energy emergency planning and
local government EAPs. EIA is the statistics arm of DOE. It has up-to-the-minute energy supply information
available on its website and excellent State energy background information for local EAPs. OE will be a good
resource during EAP development, and EIA may have useful information for this process as well. However,
response-oriented partnerships will be found primarily at the regional or State level. The reason for this is that
Federal resources are typically implemented at the State level.
■ ■ The Energy Emergency Assurance Coordinators (EEAC) Website: OE maintains a password-protected
EEAC website through which authorized (key) State and local energy emergency coordinators may access
valuable energy security information and resources, including daily news summaries, emergency situation
reports, lessons learned from other cities and States, links to outage and curtailment information, and the
ability to email messages to colleagues in other jurisdictions. The EEAC website is a cooperative effort
among a number of State and local government associations. Each State has designated at least one primary
and one secondary designee for three energy sources (electricity, natural gas, and petroleum) that local
planners may want to establish contact with. The EEAC bulletin board provides a great way for energy
assurance coordinators to share information and best practices. (See Appendix C for further information.)
■ ■ U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS): DHS leads the national effort to protect and secure the
country. Some States have developed their own homeland security agencies since September 11, 2001. The
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency within DHS that can provide emergency
response support to States, and processes requests for disaster reimbursement. During an energy emergency,
coordination will likely occur with FEMA through the State Emergency Operations Center.
54 | 3 – How to Develop or Enhance a Local Energy Assurance Plan