METROPOLITAN EDISON COMPANY - Pennsylvania Public Utility ...

provide additional details to the Commission in the annual reliability report regardingeach deficiency and major deficiency and provide their reasons that each majordeficiency is not repaired within seven days.Exhibit VI-5FirstEnergy Pennsylvania CompaniesNumber of Deficiencies and Major DeficienciesFound and Not Fixed in a Timely Manner2008-2010Met-Ed Penelec Penn PowerFoundNotNotNotFoundFoundFixedFixedFixedMajor Deficiency 3 3 5 5 0 0Deficiency 19 11 36 22 7 4Source: Data Request ER-33The infrared scan information is of particular significance because temperature isamong the first indicators for determining the condition of equipment. Thermalirregularities occur when there’s a temperature differential between the equipment andambient air. Infrared thermography is an integral part of predictive and preventivemaintenance programs and is by far the most efficient and effective technologyavailable for locating thermal anomalies. FirstEnergy management indicated that thetime delay between the detection of a hot spot and when the schedule corrective actionis taken depends on the type and criticality of the equipment and the magnitude of themeasured temperature rise.Some of the reasons provided by the FE-PA Companies for not fixing thedeficiencies in a timely manner include unavailability of parts needed for repairs,inability to get the line out of service during summer peak conditions and inability to getoutage authorization from the PJM Interconnection (PJM). FirstEnergy managementindicated that it is not an easy task to take the problem equipment out of serviceimmediately because other parties involved, such as PJM, large industrial customersetc., will not let the EDCs take the devices out of service to get fixed during certaintimes of the year.The average cost of downtime across all industries associated with a failedsubstation could be as high as $950,000 per hour. 7 For utilities, the hourly downtimecost was approximately $650,000. Hence, in order to avoid drastic financial andoperational losses, the FE-PA Companies should strive to fix identified thermalanomalies within a reasonable time frame. The FE-PA Companies should considerperforming thermal scans of substations during the winter and early spring monthsrather than during the summer when loading is the highest. This would enable them to7According to the Information Technology (IT) Performance Engineering and Measurement Strategies:Quantifying Performance and Loss, Meta Group, October 2000 found athttp://www.acp-wa-state.org/resourcedoc/Downtime_Costs.pdf- 39 -