direct testimony of the capital expenditures, reliability, and - nyseg

Case 09-E-____; Case 09-G-____ (NYSEG)DIRECT TESTIMONY OF THE CAPITAL EXPENDITURES,RELIABILITY, AND OPERATIONS PANEL123456789101112131415161718192021cost estimates. It is not known how long FERC would give entities to bring newBES facilities into compliance, but there is likely to be a multi-year phase inperiod. If changes occur in the ERO standards at a later date, additional capitalprojects may be required. The operating and maintenance costs are annual coststhat would continue as long as the ERO standards are considered to be mandatoryby FERC.Q. Why are there differences between the previous estimates provided to theCommission and the current estimates?A. The original estimates assumed that the 100 kV bright line definition would haveno exceptions, thus more substations were included in the original estimates. Forexample, estimates for PRC standards compliance was based on upgrades at 113NYSEG substations. Current estimates are based on 45 to 82 NYSEGsubstations.In addition, compliance costs for the Vegetation Management Standard(FAC-003) have been reduced because this standard specifically applies totransmission lines over 200 kV. The new BES definition would not change theapplicability level for this standard. Finally, estimates for compliance withsystem redundancy requirements of the TPL (TPL-002-0 and TPL-003-0) aredifferent because of the change in the proposed BES definition, resulting in fewerprojects needed to come into compliance. However, the project capital estimateshave been updated, resulting in slightly higher estimates.52