II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1405 

To require a coordinated response to coal fuel supply emergencies that could 

impact electric power system adequacy or reliability. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 20, 2015 

Mr. FRANKEN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require a coordinated response to coal fuel supply emergencies that could impact electric power system adequacy 

or reliability. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Severe Fuel Supply 

5 Emergency Response Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. SEVERE FUEL SUPPLY EMERGENCY RESPONSE. 

7 The Federal Power Act is amended by inserting after 

8 section 215 (16 U.S.C. 824o) the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 215A. EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO COAL SUPPLY DEFI2 CIENCIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

4 ‘‘(1) electric utilities operating coal-fired gener5 ating units seek to maintain target levels of coal in6 ventories in order to meet forecasted demand; 

7 ‘‘(2) by coordinating generator actions and coal 

8 levels with Reliability Coordinators, electric utilities 

9 seek to ensure adequacy and reliability for the Bulk 

10 Power System; 

11 ‘‘(3) rail service issues have resulted in critically 

12 low coal inventory levels at numerous utilities; 

13 ‘‘(4) coal shortages can threaten the adequacy 

14 and reliability of electricity supplies, and may jeop15 ardize the health and safety of electricity consumers; 

16 ‘‘(5) when faced with declining coal inventories, 

17 electric utilities have taken actions to curtail coal18 fired electricity production, including by closing elec19 tric generating units, in order to preserve coal stock20 piles; 

21 ‘‘(6) under the Federal Energy Administration 

22 Act of 1974 (15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.), electric utilities 

23 are required to file a mandatory Electric Emergency 

24 Incident and Disturbance Report with the Depart25 ment of Energy regarding fuel supply emergencies 


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1 that could impact electric power system adequacy or 

2 reliability; and 

3 ‘‘(7) the depletion of coal inventories due to rail 

4 service issues may constitute a fuel supply emer5 gency. 

6 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) BOARD.—The term ‘Board’ means the 

8 Surface Transportation Board. 

9 ‘‘(2) BULK-POWER SYSTEM.—The term ‘bulk10 power system’ has the meaning given the term in 

11 section 215. 

12 ‘‘(3) ELECTRIC RELIABILITY ORGANIZATION.— 

13 The term ‘Electric Reliability Organization’ has the 

14 meaning given the term in section 215. 

15 ‘‘(4) FORM OE-417.—The term ‘Form OE-417’ 

16 means the form entitled ‘Electric Emergency Inci17 dent and Disturbance Report’ and filed in accord18 ance with the Federal Energy Administration Act of 

19 1974 (15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.). 

20 ‘‘(5) REGIONAL ENTITY.—The term ‘Regional 

21 Entity’ means an entity delegated authority by the 

22 Electric Reliability Organization to propose and en23 force reliability standards in the region of the entity. 

24 ‘‘(6) RELIABILITY COORDINATOR.—The term 

25 ‘Reliability Coordinator’ means an entity recognized 


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1 by the Electric Reliability Organization as respon2 sible for continually assessing transmission reliability 

3 and coordinating emergency operations to ensure the 

4 reliable operation of the bulk-power system. 

5 ‘‘(7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ means 

6 the Secretary of Energy. 

7 ‘‘(8) SEVERE FUEL SUPPLY EMERGENCY.—The 

8 term ‘severe fuel supply emergency’ means a coal 

9 supply deficiency reported to the Department of En10 ergy on Form OE-417 that has the potential to af11 fect at least 500 MW of electricity generation or 

12 100,000 electricity customers. 

13 ‘‘(c) COORDINATED RESPONSE TO EMERGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall lead 

15 the Federal response to severe fuel supply emer16 gencies. 

17 ‘‘(2) DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY.—On the fil18 ing of a Form OE-417 that reports a severe fuel 

19 supply emergency, the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) promptly investigate the cir21 cumstances of the severe fuel supply emergency; 

22 ‘‘(B) notify the Board and the Federal En23 ergy Regulatory Commission of the existence of 

24 the severe fuel supply emergency; 


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1 ‘‘(C) convene a meeting with the Board, 

2 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

3 and, as appropriate, the Electric Reliability Or4 ganization and affected Regional Entities and 

5 Reliability Coordinators; and 

6 ‘‘(D) submit in writing to the Board and 

7 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 

8 and post publicly on the website of the Depart9 ment of Energy, recommendations for actions 

10 the Board or Federal Energy Regulatory Com11 mission should consider to alleviate the severe 

12 fuel supply emergency and prevent recurrences 

13 of the severe fuel supply emergency. 

14 ‘‘(d) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec15 tion limits any existing authority of any Federal agency.’’. 

Æ 


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