3701.1 The Natural Gas Utility shall report to the Commission and the Office of the People's Counsel ("OPC") of the District of Columbia all Reportable, Limited Service Outages and gas Incidents.
3701.2 The Natural Gas Utility shall report Reportable Service Outages by telephone and e-mail to the Commission's Office of Compliance and Enforcement ("OCE") and OPC, at the earliest practicable time, but not later than one (1) hour after the Natural Gas Utility's dispatch has been informed of a Reportable Service Outage, with as much detailed information as possible. To the extent that all information required by Subsection 3701.3 is not available at the time of the initial communication, the Natural Gas Utility shall within two (2) hours of the dispatch, supplement its initial report with the additional information. This reporting requirement applies to business and non-business hours.
3701.3 During the course of each Reportable Service Outage, the Natural Gas Utility shall report periodically to OCE and OPC regarding the status of the service outage and the Natural Gas Utility's progress in restoration efforts. The frequency of such periodic updates to OCE shall be jointly determined by the Natural Gas Utility and OCE at the start of the service outage and/or as modified during the course of the service outage. The Natural Gas Utility shall update OCE and OPC if the originally estimated restoration time needs to be extended.
3701.4 Updated estimated restoration information, if available, shall be continuously provided to District of Columbia customers by the Natural Gas Utility's customer service representatives and by the Natural Gas Utility's automated voice response unit.
3701.5 The reporting requirements for Reportable Service Outage(s) are as follows:
(a) The Natural Gas Utility shall report Reportable Service Outage(s) affecting more than one hundred (100) customers and lasting more than eight (8) hours on the Natural Gas Utility's side of the gas pipeline or occurring at a Master-Metered Apartment Building affecting more than one hundred (100) residential units;(b) No report is required if the service outage is the result of the Natural Gas Utility's planned maintenance activities, provided that the customers were informed prior to the implementation of the maintenance activities;(c) Each telephone, text messaging, or email report concerning Reportable Service Outages shall state clearly, at a minimum the following information: (1) A description of the service outage(s);(2) The dates when the service outage(s) began and ended;(3) The location(s) of the service outage(s), including street addresses and intersections; the ward(s) and/or quadrant(s) where the service outage(s) occurred;(4) Pipe size, material, pressure and type of gas pipeline involved;(5) The estimated number of customers out of service, if known;(6) A preliminary assessment as to the cause(s) of the service outage(s), if known; and(7) The estimated repair and/or restoration time, if known.(d) The Natural Gas Utility shall file a written report concerning all Reportable Service Outages with the Commission and a copy to OPC within twenty-one (21) days following the end of a Reportable Service Outage.(e) Each written report concerning a Reportable Service Outage shall state clearly at a minimum, the following information:(1) The date(s) and times when the Reportable Service Outage began and ended;(2) The location(s) of the service outage(s), including street addresses and intersections, the ward(s) or quadrant(s) where the service outage occurred;(3) Pipe size, material, pressure and type of gas pipeline involved, if applicable;(4) The date(s) and time(s) the Natural Gas Utility received the first call regarding the outage(s) or became aware of the outage(s);(5) The dates and times when the restoration effort began and ended;(6) The date and time when the maximum number of customers experienced an outage and the total number of customers affected at that time for both the District of Columbia and system- wide;(7) The total number of customers that experienced an outage given in one-hour intervals throughout the outage for both the District of Columbia and system- wide;(8) The total number of customer interruption durations (converted into hours) during the outage for both the District of Columbia and system-wide;(9) Any information concerning requests made for outside assistance, including the organization(s) to which such requests were made, the date and time of the requests, and the resources requested;(10) Any information concerning outside assistance received through mutual aid agreements, including the organization(s) that provided personnel, the date(s) and time(s) of personnel arrivals and departures, all crew personnel with names, identification (ID) numbers and the type of work (covered tasks) performed with complete Operator Qualifications (OQ) records;(11) Any information on the Natural Gas Utility and its contractor's personnel and resources used in the restoration efforts with names, ID numbers and the type of work (covered tasks) performed with complete OQ records;(12) Any system- wide information concerning customer communications including the hourly call volumes (specifically identifying the total number of customer calls received and the total number of customer calls answered by the Natural Gas Utility during each hour of the service outage), the hourly staffing numbers (specifically identifying the total number of customer service representatives logged into the call center and supporting phone systems actively taking or waiting to take customer calls), and the telephone service factor provided on an hourly basis during the entire duration of the service outage (specifically identifying the percentage of answered calls that were answered within a 30-second timeframe);(13) The total number of customers interrupted and the customer interruption durations (converted into hours) along with the causes of the outages for both the District of Columbia and system-wide;(14) The detailed explanation of the work (covered tasks) performed as part of the emergency restoration efforts by mutual aid agreements and the Natural Gas Utility and its contractor's personnel and the resources used with names, ID numbers and the type of work (covered tasks) performed with complete OQ records for both the District of Columbia and system-wide;(15) Restoration efforts affected by the unavailability of materials and a description of the emergency measures taken to resolve such issues;(16) The total number of customers, and percent of all affected customers, restored, given in one- hour intervals throughout the Reportable Service Outage restoration effort for both the District of Columbia and system-wide;(17) An analysis, based upon the availability of the data and all other surrounding circumstances, of the Natural Gas Utility's performance in its current restoration efforts as compared to its past restoration efforts, taking into account all relevant factors, such as the severity of the current outage in terms of the number of customers affected for both the District of Columbia and system-wide; (18) A description of the service outage and provide a root cause analysis of the of the cause of the outage(s) and the steps the Natural Gas Utility will implement to prevent such an occurrence in the future;(19) Whether there were any safety issues associated with the natural gas service outage, if so, provide information on what actions the natural gas company took to address the safety issues and indicate if any customers were in danger at any time during the restoration; and(20) A self-assessment of the Natural Gas Utility's restoration efforts in the District of Columbia.3701.6 The Natural Gas Utility shall report Limited Service Outage(s) by telephone and e-mail to OCE and OPC at the earliest practicable time, but not more than one (1) hour after the Natural Gas Utility's dispatch has been informed of a Service Outage, with as much detailed information as possible. To the extent that all information required by Subsection 3701.9 is not available at the time of the initial communication, the Natural Gas Utility shall within two (2) hours of the dispatch supplement its initial report with the additional information. This reporting requirement applies to business and non-business hours.
3701.7 The reporting requirements for Limited Service Outage(s) are as follows:
(a) The Natural Gas Utility shall report Limited Service Outage(s) affecting twenty-five (25) to one hundred (100) customers and lasting more than eight (8) hours on the Natural Gas Utility's Pipeline distribution system prior to the meter;(b) No report needs to be filed if the customer service outage was caused by an event on the customer's side of the meter; and(c) No report is required if the service outage is the result of the Natural Gas Utility's planned maintenance activities, provided that the customer was informed prior to the implementation of the maintenance activities.(d) Each telephone and e-mail report concerning Limited Service Outage(s) shall state clearly, at a minimum, the following information: (1) A description of the service outage(s);(2) The dates when the service outage(s) began and ended;(3) The location(s) of the service outage(s), including street addresses and intersections, the ward(s) and/or quadrant(s) where the service outage(s) occurred;(4) Pipe size, material, pressure and type of gas pipeline involved;(5) The estimated number of customers out of service, if known;(6) A preliminary assessment as to the cause(s) of the service outage(s), if known; and(7) The estimated repair and/or restoration time, if known.(e) The Natural Gas Utility shall file a written report concerning all Limited Service Outage(s) with the Commission, and a copy to OPC, within ten (10) calendar days from the date of repair/restoration completion or within two (2) weeks of the event occurrence whichever comes first.(f) Each written report concerning Limited Service Outage(s) shall state clearly, at a minimum, the following information as applicable to the given outage(s): (1) The dates and times when the Limited Service Outage began and ended;(2) The location(s) of the service outage(s), including street addresses and intersections, the ward(s) and/or quadrants where the service outage occurred;(3) Pipe size, material, pressure, and type of gas pipeline involved, if applicable;(4) The date(s) and time(s) the Natural Gas Utility received the first call regarding the outage(s) or became aware of the outage(s);(5) The dates and times when the restoration effort began and ended;(6) The total number of customer interruption durations (converted into hours) during the outage(s);(7) The estimated number of customers affected by the service outage(s);(8) The steps taken to minimize and/or control the service outage(s);(9) Any information on the Natural Gas Utility and its contractor's personnel and resources used in the restoration efforts with names, ID numbers and the type of work (covered tasks) performed with complete OQ; and(10) A description of the service outage(s) and provide a root cause analysis of the cause of the outage(s) and the steps the Natural Gas Utility will implement to prevent such an occurrence in the future, if any.3701.8 The Natural Gas Utility shall report by telephone and e-mail all Incidents to OCE and OPC at the earliest practicable time, but not later than one (1) hour after the Natural Gas Utility's dispatch has been informed of the Incident, with as much detailed information as possible. To the extent that all information required by Subsection 3701.11 is not available at the time of the initial communication, the Natural Gas Utility shall, within two (2) hours of the dispatch, supplement its initial report with the additional information. The Natural Gas Utility shall continue providing updates to the Commission and OPC on all Incidents as information becomes available or is requested by the pipeline safety inspector. This reporting requirement applies to business and non-business hours.
3701.9 The reporting requirements for gas Incidents are as follows:
(a) Each telephone and e-mail report concerning, all Incident(s) shall state clearly, at a minimum, the following information: (1) A description of the Incident(s);(2) The date(s) and time(s) when the Incident began and ended;(3) The location(s) of the Incident(s), including street addresses and intersections, the ward(s) and/or quadrant(s);(4) Pipe size, material, pressure and type of gas pipeline involved;(5) A preliminary assessment as to the cause(s) of the Incident(s), if known; and(6) The estimated number of customers and/or persons affected, if known.3701.10 The Natural Gas Utility shall file an initial written report concerning all Incidents with the Commission, and a copy to OPC, within five (5) days of the event occurrence.
3701.11 Each written report concerning all Incidents shall state clearly, at a minimum, the following information:
(a) The date(s) and time(s) when the Incident(s) began and ended;(b) The location(s) of the incident(s), including street addresses and intersections, the ward(s) and/or quadrant(s);(c) Pipe size, material, pressure and type of gas pipeline involved;(d) The date(s) and time(s) the Natural Gas Utility received the first call regarding the incident(s) or became aware of the incident(s);(e) The date(s) and time(s) when the Incident began and ended;(f) The estimated number of customers and/or persons affected, and street shutdowns;(g) The steps the Natural Gas Utility took to provide assistance;(h) The amount of time it took for assistance to arrive;(i) The date(s) and time(s) of arrival of the first Natural Gas Utility responder to the scene of the incident; (j) The date and time the area was made safe;(k) The total number of injuries, hospitalizations, and fatalities;(l) An estimated total dollar amount of damage and loss to the Natural Gas Utility caused by the incident(s) if known; and (m) A description of the Incident(s) and provide a root causes analysis of the Incident(s) and steps the Natural Gas Utility will implement to prevent such an occurrence in the future.3701.12 The Natural Gas Utility shall update the initial written report and shall file same with the Commission, and a copy to OPC, within thirty (30) days of the event occurrence.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 15, r. 15-3701
Notice of Final Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 7646 (September 25, 2009), incorporating text of Proposed Rulemaking published at 56 DCR 1827, 1828 (February 27, 2009); amended by Final Rulemaking published at 66 DCR 14960 (11/22/2019)Authority: D. C. Official Code § 2 -505 (2001 Ed.)