Topic:"Planned Outage" in M12619

NON-CONFIDENTIAL D005 - Unplanned Replace Deteriorated 2022 Actuals 2023 Actuals 2024 Actuals 2025 Actuals 2026 Budget Total Person Hours 66,136 76,808 82,403 61,742 67,571 Average Person Hour Cost ($) 270 315 320 348 332 Total Net Actuals...

AI summary The table presents actual and budget figures for 'Unplanned Replace Deteriorated' activities from 2022 to 2026, including total person hours, average person hour cost, and total net actuals in dollars. The data shows fluctuations in both hours and costs over the years.

1 3 5 (b) There are multiple reasons why overtime may be utilized for all distribution routines. 6 Those factors may include the complexity of the work involved, constraints around time of 7 day that work is able to take place for roads re...

AI summary The text discusses the use of overtime in distribution routines, citing factors such as work complexity, time-of-day constraints, and the need to meet service levels. It confirms that NS Power's overtime-based model is considered practical and cost-effective for ensuring resource availability.

1 1 Request IR-19: 18 explain why? 19 20 Response IR-21: 21 22 (a) NS Power allocates storm costs to both the D008 (Provincial Distribution Storm Routine) 23 and T001 (Unplanned Provincial Transmission Line Replacements) based on the 24 pr...

AI summary NS Power explains that storm costs are allocated between capital and operating expenses based on the nature of the restoration activities. Historical averages plus inflation are used to estimate storm costs, and reliability investments aim to improve overall system reliability and reduce outages, although the exact impact on storm-related outages is difficult to quantify.

2026 Annual Capital Expenditure (ACE) Plan (NSEB M12619) NSPI Responses to NSEB Information Requests 1 Request IR-100: 3 and help System Operators manage variability from wind generation. NS Power also 4 maintains the ability to source a l...

AI summary NS Power is addressing the 2026 Annual Capital Expenditure (ACE) Plan by responding to information requests regarding the CT-BGT2 engine refurbishment. They argue that refurbishing the existing FT4 engine is more cost-effective than purchasing a used engine, citing stable refurbishment costs and the high cost of major overhauls for LM6000 units.

2026 ACE Plan NSEB IR-128 Attachment 1 Page 1 of 2 REDACTED (CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION REMOVED) Year Adverse Weather 1,417 4,522 727 617 Defective Equipment 1,881 1,899 1,973 1,714 Foreign Interference 1,080 871 995 991 Human Element 11 11...

AI summary The document provides a breakdown of outage causes and their impact on customer interruptions from 2022 to 2025, including percentages of total customer hours of interrupts, customer interruptions, and event counts attributed to factors such as adverse weather, defective equipment, tree contacts, and scheduled outages.

NON-CONFIDENTIAL 1 Request IR-21: 2 3 Please refer to the Application Page 115-116 of 782, Figure 75: Detail on Outage Causes for 4 identified Event Days. 5 6 (a) Please explain how the 11,601 hours of scheduled interruptions breaks down b...

AI summary The document discusses responses to requests regarding outage causes and definitions. It explains that 99% of scheduled interruptions during the February 17 winter storm were due to specific feeders in Middleton and Glace Bay. It also clarifies that approximately 40% of Loss of Supply outages are related to tree contacts on transmission lines.

FOR PETROLEUM IMPACTED SITES IN ATLANTIC CANADA Pha III E SA Rep ort, Se ctio n 5 .4 se 12 13 T011 – Provincial Planned Transmission Line was underspent due to outage availability impacting 14 the ability of planned work to take place as w...

AI summary The text discusses issues related to the Provincial Planned Transmission Line (T011) being underspent due to outages and engineering delays. It also references a correction in the 2026 ACE Plan Application regarding the 2024 ACE Plan budget and actuals. Additionally, it addresses a request to review outage events and condition ratings for specific feeders listed in an application.

2026 ACE Plan U-18 Attachment 1 Page 2 of 2 1 Undertaking U-19: % Total Customer Hours of Interrupts (CHI) Adverse Environment 0.6% 0.4% 0.2% 0.3% 0.1% 7.6% 0.5% 0.0% 1 ( / Adverse Weather 36.3% 57.3% 23.7% 23.6% 47.3% 29.8% 14.6% 10.6% De...

AI summary This table presents the distribution of customer interruptions and events across various causes for the 2026 ACE Plan. It includes percentages for factors such as adverse weather, defective equipment, tree contacts, and loss of supply, providing insights into the primary causes of service interruptions.

2026 ACE Plan U-20 Attachment 1 Page 1 of 1 1 00 11 Scheduled Outage 29,579 50,696 36,753 37,049 39,790 74,258 105,051 152,555 Tree Contacts 247,746 276,518 157,884 159,800 466,022 375,838 165,741 241,373 Unknown 69 970 43 321 34 065 33 44...

AI summary The document discusses an undertaking related to vegetation management work on 23 feeders in 2024, providing an updated response to NSEB IR-132. It explains that specific costs per distribution feeder have not been fully recovered due to the 2025 cyber incident and refers to Attachment 1 for estimated costs based on the average cost per kilometer in 2024.

2.3.3 Routines D005 and D055 [57] The interplay between D005 and D055 is particularly important. The annual expenditure for D005, representing reactive or unplanned replacement, remains elevated. At the same time, D055, intended to capture...

AI summary The document discusses the interplay between D005 and D055 routines, noting that D005's annual expenditure for reactive replacement remains high, while D055's planned replacement budget increased significantly in 2026. The Board questions whether NS Power has a coherent replacement strategy, as both categories are expanding without clear tradeoff articulation.

gets in many of the years reviewed. [138] The DOE acknowledges that weather and changing operating conditions affect reliability but argues that sustained capital investment should eventually produce measurable improvements in baseline res...

AI summary The DOE acknowledges that weather and operating conditions impact reliability but argues that sustained investment should improve resilience over time. The IG criticizes NS Power's Five-Year Reliability Plan, stating it lacks oversight, performance evaluation, and cost-benefit analysis, and remains static without defined thresholds for reassessment.

1 C0062043 IT Sharepoint Technical Migration Section 10.0 Routine Capital Program pages 59 to 86 In reference to Figure 34 – Routine Capital Spending Project Breakdown Yr/Yr on page 59 to 60. Please describe the reasons for the significant...

AI summary The document requests explanations for increased 2026 spending on transmission line replacements, distribution upgrades, and work vehicles. It notes that routine capital expenditures remain high despite being labeled as 'like for like' replacements, and questions whether NS Power has achieved efficiency gains. The increase is attributed to higher-than-expected reactive outages due to asset failures.

lease provide a distribution study demonstrating that the proposed solution is the most effective option. If a study is not available, please explain why. T05: C0070586, L6536 Switch Replacements 1. Please provide the number and duration o...

AI summary The text requests information on outage data, procurement processes, transformer details, and environmental risk mitigation for various infrastructure projects. It includes specific questions about switch replacements, transformer replacement timelines, energy output, corrosion causes, and leak containment.

rative of how NS Power analyzes these underlying causes and include supporting documentation that exists of any such review processes. Request IR-25: With respect to Appendix G, Figures 3 and 4: 1. Please explain how and why the outage eve...

AI summary The text outlines two requests for information related to NS Power's reliability performance. It asks for an explanation of the discrepancy between the reduction in outage events and the smaller decrease in customer hours of interruption (CHI), as well as an elaboration on how the five-year reliability plan is expected to reduce both outage events and CHI.

2.2.4 C0080111 – 2026 RTU Deployment [28] This project will install 21 new Remote Terminal Units (RTU) in substations throughout Nova Scotia over the next three to four years. The RTU and telecom will be installed at substations that curre...

AI summary This section discusses the 2026 RTU Deployment project by NS Power, which involves installing 21 new Remote Terminal Units (RTU) in Nova Scotia substations to improve grid visibility and emergency response times. The project supports the Advanced Grid Modernization program and aims to enhance grid resilience and reliability by enabling faster fault detection and outage resolution.

gets in many of the years reviewed. [138] The DOE acknowledges that weather and changing operating conditions affect reliability but argues that sustained capital investment should eventually produce measurable improvements in baseline res...

AI summary The DOE acknowledges that weather and operating conditions impact reliability but emphasizes the need for sustained capital investment to improve resilience. The IG argues that the Five-Year Reliability Plan lacks oversight and has not been meaningfully reassessed, with no defined thresholds for adjusting investments or evaluating outcomes.

NS POWER PANEL 99 Cr-ex, (Murphy) outages that were coded as a cause due to a tree. Q. Caused due to a tree, but it includes adverse weather. I guess A. (MacMullin) Yeah, I hear you. Q. Yeah. A. (MacMullin) So there's the way we look at ou...

AI summary The discussion revolves around outage coding practices, specifically how outages caused by trees are distinguished from those caused by adverse weather. The witness explains that outages are categorized based on cause codes, and while some are due to tree contact, others may be due to weather or other factors, and these are tracked separately.

NS POWER PANEL 103 Cr-ex, (Murphy) 1 our system to be understanding that a certain portion of 2 those, conservatively 40 percent of adverse weather coded 3 outages, are in fact due to trees. 4 I guess just to go back, though, Q. 5 is it po...

AI summary The discussion centers on the classification of power outages caused by tree contacts during adverse weather. It clarifies that tree contacts are only coded when the crew visually confirms the presence of a tree on the line during an outage, even if the tree was previously leaning on the line and no longer is when the crew arrives.

1 that's correct. Forty (40) percent of outages that would 2 have been coded as adverse weather would have been 3 subsequently updated to be shown to be reflecting a tree 4 contact cost code. 5 Q. So the adverse weather line would 6 be wit...

AI summary The discussion addresses the reclassification of outage causes, specifically moving 40% of adverse weather outages to tree contact causes. It also covers Nova Scotia Power's evaluation of a pooling arrangement for spare transformers, with the last assessment conducted in 2024.

- break, probably. 1 Regardless, Mr. Pickles, as it relates 11 it evaluates the conditions and the criticality of its 12 assets to evaluate and make recommendations in the Five 13 Year Reliability Plan. That's correct? 14 A. (MacMullin) Th...

AI summary The text discusses the evaluation of asset conditions and criticality in the context of the Five-Year Reliability Plan, with confirmation that the plan was reviewed within this context rather than through a standalone review.

NS POWER PANEL 299 Cr-ex, (Mahody) 1 looking at a feeder level, when you start looking at a 2 system level, there's so many puts and takes that that's 3 when we say things like that they can mask the input, that 4 to do a straight sum does...

AI summary The discussion addresses challenges in assessing the impact of asset replacement on system reliability. While Nova Scotia Power aims to measure improvements in asset performance, the complexity of system-level interactions makes it difficult to provide a single metric for reliability improvements.

NS POWER PANEL 319 Cr-ex, (Mahody) 1 this project. And the question I wanted to focus in on is 2 BY MR. MAHODY: 3 Witness panel, I'm headed to the Q. 4 Pennsylvania breaker issue. 5 If we could call up N-1, page 402, 6 please. 7 And so you...

AI summary The text references a regulatory proceeding involving Nova Scotia Power, focusing on the Pennsylvania breaker issue and the determination of risk levels associated with circuit breakers. It includes references to specific pages and Board IR-126.

NS POWER PANEL 353 Cr-ex, (Mahody) 1 units. 2 In terms of the specific criteria that 3 were used to select these, I wouldn't have the specifics, 4 but I could say that it does definitely include looking at 5 the ability to reduce that outa...

AI summary The discussion revolves around the selection criteria for outage response improvements and the need to update a capital spending forecast figure for 2025. The importance of RTU functionality in reducing response times and the need for updated financial data are highlighted.

1 that's included in the project cost amount right now, does 2 that incorporate a contingency for the feedback that you 3 have received from Department of Fisheries and Department 4 of Transport Canada? 5 A. (Drover) Yes, it does. 6 Q. The...

AI summary The discussion revolves around project scheduling and contingency planning for the Tufts Cove 3 project, including considerations for work during a planned outage and potential impacts on the outage timeline.

NS POWER PANEL 391 Questions, (Murphy) I don't know, for delay in this particular project. So if the outage was to start on October 2nd and this project didn't start on October 2nd and perhaps got delayed a little bit, then that could pres...

AI summary The discussion addresses concerns about potential delays in a shoreline refurbishment project and their impact on an outage schedule. Concerns are raised about the possibility of additional costs to ratepayers if the project causes the outage to extend beyond the proposed window, particularly if the contract lacks provisions for liquidated damages.

NS POWER PANEL 437 Questions, (Murphy) 1 So as a part of this capital 12 13 14 15 16 Please provide the number of outage events, by year, for each feeder listed in attachment 1. MEMBER MURPHY: And if you scroll 17 down, Rob? 18 BY MEMBER M...

AI summary The document outlines a regulatory proceeding involving NS Power, where specific questions are raised regarding outage events and condition ratings for feeders listed in Attachment 1, as well as the review of an IR response to a revised IR-19. The discussion centers on compliance and accuracy of data provided.

1 average duration, there's not really an improvement from 2 2021 to 2024 and there was $57 million spent. 3 A. (MacMullin) So it is absolutely 4 the intent of the investment program, the $45 million last 5 year and the $45 million this ye...

AI summary The discussion highlights NS Power's investment in vegetation management to reduce outage duration and frequency, with a 19% reduction in tree-related outages from 2024 to 2025. The focus is on prioritizing high-risk feeders, and the speaker requests detailed data on customer interruptions and hours of interruption for lines where vegetation management was performed from 2020 to 2025.

relates to those figures, that the numbers in those figures exclude any impacts from MEDs and the EEDs. A. (MacMullin) That's correct. Q. Thank you. MEMBER MURPHY: Rob, can you call up Exhibit N-7, PDF page 30? That's the response to the S...

AI summary The discussion addresses discrepancies between figures showing customer interruptions in 2022, with one figure showing 714,000 and another 810,000. The difference is explained by the exclusion of planned outages and significant events in the performance standards figure, which is used for regulatory reporting.

NS POWER PANEL 465 Questions, (Murphy) 1 or the figure in your in the I believe the response 2 to the CA, that is just major and extreme events. So I 3 would expect the Figure 3 to have a lower value in some 4 cases due to the planned outa...

AI summary Member Murphy questions the discrepancy in figures related to planned outages and customer hours of interruption, noting an increasing trend in spending and interruptions despite previous decreasing trends. The response highlights the importance of context, particularly events in 2022 and 2023, in understanding the figures.

NS POWER PANEL 469 Questions, (Murphy) 1 doing are showing benefits. We are seeing we 2 absolutely are seeing a reduction in the duration and 3 frequency of outages due to trees. It has it is 4 evidenced in the data and in the evidence tha...

AI summary The text discusses improvements in the Vegetation Management Program, noting a reduction in outage duration and frequency due to tree-related issues. It also mentions changes in how the program is presented, adapting to higher wind exposure and involving customers in tree management.

NS POWER PANEL 475 Questions, (Murphy) 1 MEMBER MURPHY: Rob, can you to N-1, 8 compared to 2023. But based on the updated figure, would 9 you agree with me that the reduction is only really 6 10 percent now? 11 (MacMullin) It's correct. Th...

AI summary Member Murphy questions Rob about the reduction in N-1 compared to 2023 and notes that the reduction is only 6 percent. Rob confirms the initial numbers were year-to-date end of October, and the reduction was lessened by year-end. Murphy also points out that 2025 numbers are similar to 2021 and worse than 2020. Rob agrees and reiterates the goal of the Five-Year Reliability Plan to reduce outage durations and meet performance standards by 2029.

1 finish your questions and move on with Mr. Wilson, if 2 that's okay with everyone. 3 THE CHAIR: So break now and then 4 yeah, let's do that. Let's do that. 5 So let's come back at 1:30. 6 Upon recessing at 12:21 p.m. 7 Upon resuming at 1...

AI summary The proceeding involves a discussion about the D055 Planned Replacement of Deteriorated Equipment Routine, with a focus on a discrepancy between projected and actual spending, leading to a $15 million adjustment. The Chair is asking questions regarding this adjustment and its implications.

NS POWER PANEL 517 Questions, (Chair) 1 Q. If we can is there sort of a 2 reflexivity between D005, which is the planned, and the 3 D055 which is planned and D005, which is the unplanned? 4 Is there reflexivity between the two? In other wo...

AI summary The discussion focuses on the relationship between planned (D005) and unplanned outages, noting that increasing planned replacements could reduce unplanned ones over time. It also highlights potential increased operational costs from reactive responses to unplanned outages, such as overtime labor.