GENERATION MAINTENANCE PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Introduction

Governor Davis signed SB 39xx into law on April 25, 2002. SB 39xx finds that it is in the public interest that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and the California Independent System Operator (ISO) work collaboratively to develop a uniform set of operating and maintenance practices and procedures to be known as the Generation Maintenance Program. SB39xx directs the CPUC to conduct inspections and investigations to undertake enforcement action where necessary to ensure compliance with theses standards. The program defines a generating asset's capabilities and what is required of the generating asset owner. The program outlines the following information:

· Comprehensive maintenance criteria to be met by generation facilities

· Performance measures to gauge effectiveness of generating facility maintenance programs

· Audit process to verify conduct of maintenance programs

The Generation Maintenance Program consists of several related, but distinct, parts.

Section 1 is the `Generation Maintenance Performance Standards and Assessment Guidelines'. These standards and guidelines provide a benchmark against which the generating asset owners and the CPUC can judge the adequacy of the maintenance programs being used at each generating facility.

Sections 2 and 3 are devoted to monitoring the effectiveness of maintenance programs. Section 2 presents the `Generating Unit Performance Metrics'. These metrics are the ultimate test of the effectiveness of a maintenance program, as related to the loss of generation capability. This is a lagging indicator, with a fairly long time constant. Hence, the CPUC needs a near term means to ensure that adequate maintenance programs are being applied to generating assets. Section 3, `Verification and Audits Process', describes the requirement of certification by generating asset owners that their programs do, with exceptions noted, comply with the standards established in Section 1, the Generator Maintenance Performance Standards and Assessment Guidelines. In addition, Section 3 describes the audit mechanisms available to CPUC for independent verification.

Failure to comply with or attain performance objectives or standards could subject generating asset owners to penalties. This process is described in Section 4, Penalties.


Section 5, `Glossary of Terms', is a glossary of definitions and explanation of acronyms related to these documents.

Appendix A is the `Maintenance Guidelines for Electric Generating Facilities'. These guidelines describe methods and means that a generating asset owner could use in developing or up-grading a maintenance program. These guidelines are supportive of Section 1, Generation Maintenance Performance Standards and Assessment Guidelines. While they are extremely comprehensive, they are amenable to scaling, as applicable, to meet the maintenance needs of any size generating facility.

Applicability

Note: It may be appropriate to have similar language in the document to keep the generators from having to refer to another document to determine applicability to them.

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The provisions of this program are fully applicable to generating facilities within California as defined in SB39xx. . .