Electricity Emergency Management Planning Guideline (Issued by ...

Electricity
Emergency
Management
Planning
Guideline
Issue No: 4
Prepared by the Tasmanian Jurisdictional System
Security Coordinator
May 2010
Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources

Issue 1 July 2005.
Issue 2 September 2005. Modified to reflect changes to Australian Electricity Law
Issue 3 June 2006. Modified to reflect emphasis on preparedness.
Issue 4 May 2010.
Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resources
10 Murray
Hobart TAS 7000
Ph: 1300 135 513
Email: info@dier.tas.gov.au
Website: www.dier.tas.gov.au
© Department of Infrastructure, Energy and Resources

Emergency Management Planning Guideline
CONTENTS
Glossary
1. Purpose, Objectives and Scope
1.1 Purpose
1.2 Objectives
1.3 Licence Obligations
1.4 Scope of Emergency Management Plans
1.5 Annual Review
2 Background
2.1 AEMO requirements
2.2 Jurisdictional requirements
2.3 NEM framework for management of emergencies
2.4 AEMO Power System Emergency Management Plan
2.5 Tasmanian Electricity Emergency Management Plan
3 Planning to Achieve Emergency Preparedness
3.1 General Requirements
3.2 Risk management Basis
3.3 Integration requirements
3.4 Ongoing Review
3.5 Documentation
3.6 Auditing
4. Independent Reporting of Entity Emergency Management Plans
5. Incident Reporting
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
GLOSSARY
Term
AEMO
Director of Energy Planning
Meaning within the context of this guideline
means the Australian Energy Market Operator
The person appointed by the Minister for Energy under Section 4 of the
Energy Co-ordination and Planning Act 1995
ESI Act Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995
JSSC
Jurisdiction
Licensee
NER
PSEMP
Registered Participant
The Jurisdictional System Security Co-ordinator appointed by the
Minister for Energy in accordance with the National Electricity Law
A state or territory government ‘participating jurisdiction’ under the
National Electricity Rules
A holder of a licence granted under the Electricity Supply Industry Act
1995
National Electricity Rules
Power System Emergency Management Plan of AEMO
A person who is registered with AEMO prescribed under the National
Electricity Rules
Regulator has the meaning given in the Electricity Supply Industry Act 1995
Responsible Officer
TEEMP
The person appointed by the jurisdiction in accordance with the
National Electricity Market Memorandum of Understanding on the
Use of Emergency Powers between AEMO and the participating states
The Tasmanian Electricity Emergency Management Plan
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
1 PURPOSE OF THE GUIDELINE
1.1 Purpose
This Guideline is issued by the Jurisdictional System Security Coordinator (JSSC) to detail
the responsibilities and obligations of certain electricity supply industry entities for
emergency management planning. It applies to Licensees that:
1.2 Objectives
• operate an electricity generating facility with an installed capacity greater than
15MW, excluding wind farms; or
• provide network services; or
• provide retail services to more than 200 customers whose annual consumption is
each less than 750 MWh.,
The objectives of the Guideline are:
• to ensure that Licensees develop and maintain a high level of emergency
preparedness to manage situations which impact on the normal supply of
electricity; and
• to ensure a cooperative and timely response from all industry stakeholders to
minimise the impact of an electricity supply emergency.
1.2 Licence Obligations
It is a condition of each licence issued by the Regulator under the Electricity Supply
Industry Act 1995, that the Licensee develop an emergency management plan as follows:
Emergency Management
The Licensee must develop and maintain an emergency management plan in
accordance with any guideline issued by the Jurisdictional System Security
Coordinator.
1.4 Scope of Emergency Management Plans
The scope of the emergency management plan required by the licence includes formal
plans, procedures and practices as well as the communication, training, exercising and
auditing elements inherent in a comprehensive planning process structured to achieve a
high level of emergency preparedness.
1.5 Frequency of Review
The JSSC will review the Guideline biennially in consultation with Licensees by 30 June in
the relevant year.
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
2 BACKGROUND
2.1 AEMO requirements
The National Electricity Rules (NER) establishes the Australian Energy Market Operator
(AEMO) as the body responsible for power system security for the National Electricity
Market (NEM).
In order to be able to operate the NEM satisfactorily, AEMO must have confidence that
there are satisfactory procedures in place to cover emergency situations and that the
relevant parties are practised in the use of these procedures.
To this end, AEMO regularly conducts training exercises designed to test the emergency
procedures in simulated situations.
2.2 Jurisdictional requirements
The Jurisdiction also needs to have confidence that there are comprehensive emergency
procedures in place and practised to cover those emergency responses which will be
managed by the Licensees themselves.
Such emergency responses may be required for emergency events, which do not necessarily
involve AEMO, but the appropriate responses will still need to be co-ordinated and
appropriate organisations informed if such events do occur.
For example, in the event of a power supply failure affecting the Central Business District
(CBD), procedures need to be in place to alert relevant services such as police, fire, State
Emergency Services (SES) and hospitals and keep them informed in regard to key details
such as the extent and likely duration of the failure. Such an event would also require
coordination between Licensees, including escalating management of the emergency if
necessary.
Under such circumstances the Jurisdiction needs to have confidence that it will be
adequately informed during these events and any public statements made during or after the
event by any of the Licensees affected are limited to the matters for which the specific
Licensee is responsible.
2.3 National Electricity Market framework for management of emergencies
The NEM Framework for management of emergencies is set out in the following
documents:
• the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between AEMO and the jurisdictions
participating in the NEM on the Use of Emergency Powers;
• The Emergency Management Protocol associated with the MOU; and
• AEMO’s Power System Emergency Management Plan (PSEMP).
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
The NEM Framework for management of emergencies defines five levels of emergencies as
described in the PSEMP and detailed in Section 2.4 of this Guideline.
The NER and the NEM Framework provide for each NEM jurisdiction to appoint a
Jurisdictional System Security Coordinator (JSSC) and a Responsible Officer to manage and
coordinate Level 4 and 5 emergencies. The following appointments have been made to
these positions, to take effect from the date of commencement of the NEM in Tasmania:
• Jurisdictional System Security Coordinator– Director of Energy Planning
• Responsible Officer – Chief Executive Officer of Transend Networks Pty Ltd
(Transend)
At all levels of emergencies, the relevant party which is managing the particular emergency
situation is responsible for:
• coordination of the immediate physical response to the emergency;
• notification of the emergency situation to affected parties;
• appropriate communication with the media; and
• escalation of the emergency response to the next level if the situation warrants it.
Coordination of the physical response and notification of the emergency situation to affected
parties would include informing Tasmania Police (who may request operational support
from SES) and the State Government, via the JSSC. Advice should also be provided to the
relevant Regional Controller/SES Regional Manager or the State Controller (Commissioner
of Tasmania Police)/Director SES to coordinate community wide consequence management
if necessary. These arrangements are explained in more detail in Section 3.3 Response of the
Tasmanian Emergency Management Plan.
Under these arrangements it is vital that Licensees have procedures in place to deal with
different types of emergencies at the different levels. Transend and Aurora (Network) will
be the Licensees primarily concerned in Tasmania with emergency events, which may affect
the operation of the NEM. However, Licensees that are generators will also need to ensure
that emergency procedures are in place dealing with specific events as some of these may
have implications for the NEM.
At the higher levels of emergencies, particularly where the Jurisdiction and AEMO are
involved, emergency management procedures must be established and subject to off-line
simulation on a regular basis to test their effectiveness.
2.4 AEMO Power System Emergency Management Plan
AEMO has prepared an emergency management plan, PSEMP, in accordance with its
obligations for power system security under Chapter 4 of the NER. The purpose of the
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
PSEMP and the frameworks it describes is to provide a response capability that enables the
participants in the electricity supply industry to minimise the impact of incidents by acting
in a coordinated matter.
The PSEMP provides a common framework for the integrated response and coordination of
critical incidents by all stakeholders in the NEM.
The PSEMP identifies five levels of emergency ranging from Level 1, which is defined as a
local incident, through to Level 5, which results in a high degree of jurisdictional command
and control. The PSEMP emergency levels are summarised as follows:
Level 1 – Local incident
This is primarily a physical incident that can be dealt with by local
resources without any additional assistance. A site or control room
supervisor normally manages this level of incident as part of their normal
job function.
Level 2 – Local emergency
This is an incident that is significant and noticeably affects the
participant’s ability to deliver service and impacts on the community. An
operational line manager based at or near the control room supporting the
emergency generally manages this type of incident. Dependent on
company procedures, this incident is likely to require notification to the
organisation’s executive management, who may elect to escalate the
situation to the next level.
Level 3 – Emergency
This is usually a single incident affecting a single industry participant that
has some potential for moderate impact on other industry participants.
This level of incident demands the attention and mobilisation of both
operational and executive management. An executive Emergency Manager
should be mobilised by the industry participant to manage a Level 3 event.
Level 4 – AEMO coordinated response
The impact of this incident goes well beyond a single industry participant
or jurisdiction. The overall system safety and integrity is in jeopardy and
the impacts are such that they require the coordinated response of multiple
industry participants.
Level 5 Jurisdictional direction
The real or potential impact of the incident escalates to the point that a
jurisdiction decides to intervene in normal market operations.
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
It is expected that Licensees will manage Level 1, 2 and 3 emergencies with little
jurisdictional involvement. It is essential however that the planning for, and management
of, Level 4 and 5 emergencies be coordinated on a jurisdictional basis.
2.5 Tasmanian Electricity Emergency Management Plan
The Tasmanian Electricity Emergency Management Plan (TEEMP) documents the practices
and procedures employed to manage major electricity industry emergencies in Tasmania.
The TEEMP is recognised as a sub-plan of the Energy Supply Emergency Plan under the
Emergency Management Act 2008.
The TEEMP provides a process by which those involved in managing such emergencies are
able to guide their actions and to clarify accountabilities, roles and responsibilities during an
emergency.
In particular, the TEEMP:
• sets out the framework for managing major electricity emergencies;
• describes the roles and responsibilities of those locally involved in managing such
emergencies;
• details the procedures and processes for declaring, managing and revoking voluntary
restrictions and mandatory restriction orders; and
• provides detailed guidance on ensuring effective communication with stakeholders
during such emergencies.
The TEEMP covers all electricity emergencies that require intervention by the Tasmanian
jurisdiction. It recognises that defining precisely when such intervention is required is
difficult, and that a cooperative and consultative approach is necessary.
The TEEMP reflects the requirements of the NEM and in particular the expected demand
reductions resulting from voluntary or mandatory restrictions on electricity use. Licensees’
plans, procedures and practices must be consistent with the TEEMP.
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
3 PLANNING TO ACHIEVE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
3.1 General requirements
It is recognised that Licensees will approach the development and maintenance of emergency
preparedness in different ways. However, the following fundamental elements are seen as
common to successful processes:
• the development of plans, processes and practices is supported by communication,
training and staff motivation programs;
• the maintenance of emergency preparedness is supported by regular exercises and
audits; and
• a high level of energy preparedness is supported by an appropriate corporate culture,
supported by management, and preferably initiated as a function of corporate
governance.
The following paragraphs (3.2 to 3.5) in this section of the guideline set out the mandatory
elements of the development and maintenance process.
3.2 Risk management basis
A Licensee’s emergency preparedness shall reflect good electricity industry practice and be
developed as an integral part of a formal emergency risk management process based on
appropriate standards, such as the Critical Infrastructure Emergency Risk Management and
Assurance Handbook published by Emergency Management Australia.
3.3 Integration requirements
Plans, procedures and practices developed by a Licensee shall be consistent and compatible
with those prepared by other Licensees, and with overall jurisdictional emergency
management plans, processes and statutory requirements and with the Tasmanian Emergency
Management Plan and its related processes and statutory requirements. The plans must
outline how interactions with other emergency service providers are coordinated and how
they are effectively tested.
3.4 Ongoing Review
Licensees shall ensure the maintenance of emergency preparedness through the regular
review of their plans, procedures and practices and ongoing communication, training and
exercises.
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Emergency Management Planning Guideline
3.5 Documentation
Documentation of the development and maintenance of emergency preparedness shall be
maintained to enable the independent appraisal of the level of emergency preparedness as
required by Section 4.
3.6 Auditing
It is strongly recommended that Licensees have internal audit processes to ensure the
maintenance of emergency preparedness including the currency of emergency management
plans, procedures and practices and familiarity of staff involved in their application. Such an
audit process is likely to contribute largely to the requirements of section 3.5.
4 INDEPENDENT APPRAISAL OF LICENSEES’ EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT PLANS
Licensees’ plans shall be reviewed by an independent appraiser, approved by the Regulator
and engaged by the entity. This review should occur at least every two years, but may occur
sooner if requested by the Regulator or JSSC.
The Review will be undertaken in accordance with the Tasmanian Economic Regulator’s
Regulatory Reporting Guideline, and Terms of Reference approved by the Jurisdictional
System Security Coordinator and the Regulator.
5 INCIDENT REPORTING
Incidents shall be reported in accordance with the Tasmanian Economic Regulator’s
Guideline on incident reporting for the Tasmanian electricity supply industry as amended
from time to time.
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