(a) An electric distribution company must conduct its business to conform with the standards of conduct specified in subsections (b) through (e).
(b) (1) Except as provided in subsection (b)(2) and as authorized by the commission pursuant to § 39-1-27(g), the employees of the electric distribution company engaged in distribution-system operations must function independently of its employees, or the employees of any of its affiliates, who are engaged in the business of a nonregulated power producer.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section, in emergency circumstances affecting system reliability, electric distribution companies may take whatever steps are necessary to keep the system in operation. Electric distribution companies must report to the commission each emergency that resulted in any deviation from the standards of conduct, within twenty-four (24) hours of such deviation.
(c) (1) Any employee of any affiliate of an electric distribution company who is engaged in the business of a nonregulated power producer is prohibited from: conducting distribution-system operations or reliability functions; and having access to the system control center or similar facilities used for distribution operations or reliability functions that differs in any way from the access available to other nonregulated power producers.
(2) Employees engaged in either an affiliated nonregulated power producer function or an electric distribution function are not precluded from transferring between such functions as long as such transfer is not used as a means to circumvent the standards of conduct of this section. Notices of any employee transfer to or from electric distribution company operation or reliability functions must be reported to the commission. The information to be reported must include: the name of the transferring employee; the respective titles held while performing each function (i.e., on behalf of the electric distribution company and the nonregulated power producer); and the effective date of the transfer.
(3) Any employee of any affiliate of an electric distribution company who is engaged in the nonregulated power producer function must not have preferential access to any information about the electric distribution company's distribution system that is not available to all nonregulated power producers.
(4) An electric distribution company is responsible for ensuring that any employee of the electric distribution company may not disclose to employees of any affiliate engaged in a nonregulated power producer function any information concerning the distribution system of the electric distribution company or the distribution system of another (including information received from nonaffiliates or information about distribution-system operations, capability, price, curtailments, auxiliary services, and the like) through nonpublic communications that is not at the same time available to all nonregulated power producers without restriction. If an employee of the electric distribution company engaged in distribution-system operations or reliability functions discloses information in a manner contrary to the requirements of the standards of conduct, the electric distribution company must immediately report that information to the commission. An electric distribution company may not share any market information acquired from nonaffiliated, nonregulated power producers or developed in the course of responding to requests for distribution service with any employee of an affiliate engaged in a nonregulated power producer function.
(5) All employees of the electric distribution company must apply all tariff provisions in a fair and impartial manner that treats all customers (including those of an affiliated nonregulated power producer) in a nondiscriminatory manner. The electric distribution company may not offer a discount on purchases of distribution service where this discount is conditioned upon customers purchasing power from a nonregulated power producer that is affiliated with the electric distribution company, nor shall an electric distribution company give preferences of any type in the provision of distribution service for customers purchasing power supply from a nonregulated power producer that is affiliated with the electric distribution company.
(d) An electric distribution company must maintain its books of accounts and records separately from those of its affiliates and these must be available for commission inspection.
(e) The electric distribution company must maintain in a public place, and file with the commission, current written procedures implementing the standards of conduct in such detail as will enable customers and the commission to determine that the electric distribution company is in compliance with the requirements of this section.
History of Section.
P.L. 1996, ch. 316, § 1; P.L. 2002, ch. 144, § 1.