(a) An application to the Commission by the electric company and DDOT for approval of the biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvement Projects Plan shall include:

(1) The ranking reliability performance of individual feeders as follows:

(A) A measurement and ranking of the reliability performance of each of the electric company’s overhead and combined overhead-underground mainline primary and lateral feeders in the District since January 1, 2010 through the most recently completed calendar year, using the primary selection criteria set forth in paragraph (2) of this subsection; and

(B) On the basis of the foregoing rankings, an identification of the electric company’s recommended selection of mainline primary and lateral feeders that will utilize DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements identified in the plan;

(2) Primary selection criteria as follows: With respect to all sustained interruptions that affect the public welfare (inclusive of major service outages and District major event days) occurring on each overhead and combined overhead-underground mainline primary and lateral feeder circuits in the District since January 1, 2010 through the most recently completed calendar year, averaged using the following data, weighted equally:

(A) Number of outages per feeder;

(B) Duration of the outages occurring on the feeder; and

(C) Customer minutes of interruption per cost of undergrounding on the feeder; and

(3) Additional content to be included in the plan by the electric company or DDOT, as applicable, as follows:

(A) In addition to the measurements, rankings, and selections required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection, the Underground Infrastructure Improvements Projects Plan shall include for each mainline primary and lateral feeder recommended by the electric company to be placed underground an identification and description of the feeder number and the feeder location (by street address, ward, and neighborhood);

(B) Overhead electrical cables, fuses, switches, transformers, and ancillary equipment, including poles, to be relocated underground or removed;

(C) Overhead primary and lateral feeders that are currently located parallel to the selected primary and lateral feeders that the electric company recommends to be placed underground;

(D) Overhead secondary feeder circuits and ancillary facilities, and telecommunications and cable television cables and ancillary aboveground equipment, including poles, that will not be relocated underground or removed;

(E) Proposed Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements and DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements funded by the Underground Project Charge and DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Charges;

(F) New distribution automation devices and segmentation capability to be obtained thereby;

(G) Interties that will enable the feeder to receive power from multiple directions or sources;

(H) The capability to meet current load and future load projections; and

(I) A status report and an explanation of the reasons why DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity or Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity associated with projects contained in a biennial Underground Infrastructure Projects Plan previously approved by the Commission have not been completed and the dates upon which the projects are expected to be completed.

(b) Within 90 days after the biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvements Projects Plan is approved by the Commission, the electric company and DDOT shall identify the estimated start date and projected end date for each project approved in the plan. In determining the construction start date and projected end date, the electric company and DDOT shall consider the following secondary criteria:

(1) The ability to coordinate the DDOT Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activities with DDOT roadwork and other projects that involve disruption to and subsequent restoration of road surface or that otherwise impede the flow of traffic along the roadway where the undergrounding work is to occur;

(2) The estimated economic value or other benefits to be gained by the electric company’s customers from the projected reductions in outage frequencies and durations when the Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements are completed;

(3) For Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity involving a cross-jurisdictional feeder circuit, a showing of the means by which the electric company has storm-hardened its distribution system or has otherwise improved the resilience of service to its District customers on the cross-jurisdictional feeder with respect to major service outage events occurring outside the District’s boundaries on the portion of the cross-jurisdictional feeder located outside of the District; and

(4) The ability to complete and place in service the feeder circuits to be undergrounded pursuant to the biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvement Projects Plan from funding generated by the DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Charges and the Underground Project Charge for the corresponding plan period.

(c) The electric company and DDOT shall include the following information for the biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvements Project Plan in the application:

(1) An itemized estimate of the project plan’s Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Costs and the proposed Underground Project Charges for the costs that correspond with an itemized list of the Electric Company Infrastructure Investment Activity shown;

(2) An itemized estimate of the DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Costs that correspond with an itemized list of the DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity;

(3) An assessment of potential obstacles to the timely completion of a project, including, but not limited to, the need to obtain environmental or other permits or private easements, the existence of historically sensitive sites, required tree removal, and significant traffic disruptions;

(4) A description of the efforts taken to identify District residents to be employed by the electric company and DDOT contractors during the construction of the DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements and the Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements contained in the biennial Underground Infrastructure Improvement Projects Plan;

(5) An explanation of the availability of alternate funding sources, if any, for relocation of the overhead equipment and ancillary facilities that will utilize DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvements, such as contributions in aid of construction, the grant of federal highway or economic development funds, and other sources;

(6)(A) An exhibit setting forth the proposed Underground Project Charges, work papers calculating the derivation of these charges, the proposed allocation of billing responsibility among the electric company’s distribution service customer classes for the Underground Project Charges, and a worksheet depicting the:

(i) Projected total expenses;

(ii) Capital costs;

(iii) Depreciation expenses;

(iv) Annual revenue requirement, including the rate of return on equity, as set by the Commission in the most recently decided base rate case; and

(v) Allocation of billing responsibility utilized in these calculations.

(B) This exhibit shall include the proposed accounting treatment for the costs to be recovered through these charges, which shall provide that no costs recovered through Underground Project Charges shall also be afforded rate base or other treatment that would incorporate recovery of Underground Project Charges into the design of the electric company’s base tariff rates until such time as the electric company shall request the transfer of these costs into rate base and the discontinuance of the costs being recovered in the Underground Project Charge;

(7) Other information the electric company or DDOT considers material to the Commission’s consideration of the application;

(8) Identification and contact information of one or more individuals who may be contacted by the Commission with formal or informal requests for clarification of any material set forth in the application or requests for additional information;

(9) A proposed form of public notice of the application suitable for publication by the Commission; and

(10) A protocol to be followed by the electric company and DDOT to provide notice and to coordinate engineering, design, and construction work performed pursuant to this chapter with the gas company, water utility, and other utilities that own or plan to construct, as approved by the Commission where applicable, facilities that may be affected by DDOT Underground Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity or Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Activity.

(d) Notwithstanding the primary selection criteria set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the Commission may, on its own motion or upon request by the electric company, OPC, or any other party, waive the application of these criteria as to the selection of a particular mainline primary and lateral feeder when to do so is required to relieve an emergency or to correct or forestall a gross inequity or disparity in the impacts associated with past, current, or anticipated electric distribution service outages or when actual field conditions or coordination with other projects or such other considerations as the Commission may find reasonably justifies modification of the selection criteria.

(e) Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this section shall require the electric company to obtain Commission authorization to construct and operate a new underground electric plant or impair the Commission’s authority to determine just and reasonable rates with respect to the electric company’s recovery of costs associated with the construction and operation of the underground electric plant, including capital costs, when such costs are to be recovered through rates, as approved by the Commission pursuant to § 34-901 and not through the DDOT Underground Electric Utility Infrastructure Improvement Charges or Underground Project Charges.

(May 3, 2014, D.C. Law 20-102, § 308, 61 DCR 1882; July 11, 2017, D.C. Law 22-5, § 2(i), 64 DCR 4943.)

This section is referenced in § 34-1313.10, § 34-1313.12, § 34-1313.13, and § 34-1313.19.

For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(i) of Electric Company Infrastructure Improvement Financing Emergency Amendment Act of 2017 (D.C. Act 22-56, May 17, 2017, 64 DCR 4909).