I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2244 

To establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve program, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 8, 2015 

Mrs. ELLMERS of North Carolina (for herself and Mr. MCNERNEY) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve program, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. STRATEGIC TRANSFORMER RESERVE PRO4 GRAM. 

5 (a) FINDING.—Congress finds that the storage of 

6 strategically located spare large power transformers will 

7 diminish the vulnerability of the United States to multiple 

8 risks facing electric grid reliability, including physical at9 tack, cyber attack, electromagnetic pulse, geomagnetic dis10 turbances, severe weather, and seismic events. 


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1 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

2 (1) BULK-POWER SYSTEM.—The term ‘‘bulk3 power system’’ has the meaning given such term in 

4 section 215(a) of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 

5 824o(a)). 

6 (2) CRITICALLY DAMAGED LARGE POWER

7 TRANSFORMER.—The term ‘‘critically damaged large 

8 power transformer’’ means a large power trans9 former that— 

10 (A) has sustained extensive damage such 

11 that— 

12 (i) repair or refurbishment is not eco13 nomically viable; or 

14 (ii) the extensive time to repair or re15 furbish the large power transformer would 

16 create an extended period of instability in 

17 the bulk-power system; and 

18 (B) prior to sustaining such damage was 

19 part of the bulk-power system. 

20 (3) LARGE POWER TRANSFORMER.—The term 

21 ‘‘large power transformer’’ means a power trans22 former, including related critical equipment, that is, 

23 or is intended to be, a part of the bulk-power sys24 tem, with a maximum nameplate rating of 100 

25 megavolt-amperes or higher. 


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1 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 (5) SPARE LARGE POWER TRANSFORMER.—The 

4 term ‘‘spare large power transformer’’ means a large 

5 power transformer that is stored within the Stra6 tegic Transformer Reserve to be available to tempo7 rarily replace a critically damaged large power trans8 former. 

9 (c) STRATEGIC TRANSFORMER RESERVE PLAN.— 

10 (1) PLAN.—Not later than one year after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, acting 

12 through the Office of Electricity Delivery and En13 ergy Reliability, shall prepare and submit to Con14 gress for approval a plan to establish a Strategic 

15 Transformer Reserve for the storage, in strategically 

16 located facilities, of spare large power transformers 

17 in sufficient numbers to temporarily replace criti18 cally damaged large power transformers. 

19 (2) INCLUSIONS.—The Strategic Transformer 

20 Reserve plan shall include a description of— 

21 (A) the appropriate number of spare large 

22 power transformers and total capacity in 

23 megawatts necessary in the Strategic Trans24 former Reserve to provide or restore sufficient 

25 resiliency to the bulk-power system to mitigate 


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1 significant impacts to the electric grid resulting 

2 from— 

3 (i) physical attack; 

4 (ii) cyber attack; 

5 (iii) electromagnetic pulse attack; 

6 (iv) geomagnetic disturbances; 

7 (v) severe weather; or 

8 (vi) seismic events; 

9 (B) the potential locations for, and feasi10 bility and appropriate number of, strategic stor11 age locations, including consideration of— 

12 (i) the physical security of such loca13 tions; 

14 (ii) the protection of the confiden15 tiality of such locations; and 

16 (iii) the proximity of such locations to 

17 sites of potentially critically damaged large 

18 power transformers, so as to enable effi19 cient delivery of spare large power trans20 formers to such sites; 

21 (C) the degree of flexibility of spare large 

22 power transformers in the Strategic Trans23 former Reserve to conform to different sub24 station configurations, including consideration 

25 of transformer— 


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1 (i) power and voltage rating for each 

2 winding; 

3 (ii) overload requirements; 

4 (iii) impedance between windings; 

5 (iv) configuration of windings; and 

6 (v) tap requirements; 

7 (D) an estimate of the direct cost of the 

8 Strategic Transformer Reserve, as proposed, in9 cluding— 

10 (i) the cost of storage facilities for the 

11 spare large power transformers; 

12 (ii) the cost of the spare large power 

13 transformers; and 

14 (iii) management, maintenance, and 

15 operation costs; 

16 (E) the funding options available to estab17 lish, stock, manage, and maintain the Strategic 

18 Transformer Reserve, including consideration of 

19 public-private cost-sharing options; 

20 (F) the ease and speed of transportation, 

21 installation, and energization of spare large 

22 power transformers, including consideration of 

23 factors such as— 

24 (i) transformer transportation weight; 

25 (ii) transformer size; 


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1 (iii) topology of critical substations; 

2 (iv) availability of appropriate trans3 former mounting pads; 

4 (v) flexibility of the spare large power 

5 transformers as described in subparagraph 

6 (C); and 

7 (vi) ability to rapidly transition a 

8 spare large power transformer from stor9 age to energization; 

10 (G) eligibility criteria for withdrawal of 

11 spare large power transformers from the Stra12 tegic Transformer Reserve to replace critically 

13 damaged large power transformers, including 

14 consideration of related existing industry pro15 grams; 

16 (H) the process by which owners of criti17 cally damaged large power transformers may 

18 apply for a withdrawal from the Strategic 

19 Transformer Reserve; 

20 (I) the process by which spare large power 

21 transformers withdrawn from the Strategic 

22 Transformer Reserve are returned to the Stra23 tegic Transformer Reserve; 

24 (J) any cost-share or rental fees deter25 mined appropriate for restocking returned spare 


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1 large power transformers to the Strategic 

2 Transformer Reserve to be paid by owners of 

3 critically damaged large power transformers 

4 that have withdrawn such spare large power 

5 transformers; and 

6 (K) other considerations for designing, 

7 constructing, stocking, and managing the Stra8 tegic Transformer Reserve. 

9 (d) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL OF STRATEGIC

10 TRANSFORMER RESERVE PLAN.—The Secretary may not 

11 establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve until Congress 

12 has approved the plan submitted pursuant to subsection 

13 (c). 

14 (e) RESTRICTION.—No funds may be used by the 

15 Secretary to establish a Strategic Transformer Reserve 

16 without prior Congressional approval of the plan sub17 mitted pursuant to subsection (c). 

Æ 


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