Valley-Wide LPC Capability Assessment

Valley-Wide LPC Capability
Assessment
DRAFT

TVA RGT VALLEY-WIDE LPC
ASSESSMENT [DRAFT]

Contents
Assessment Landing Page.............................................................................................................. 1
Assessment Questions.................................................................................................................... 2
Customer Engagement (10 questions) ........................................................................................ 2
Grid Operations (13 questions) .................................................................................................... 6
System Planning (8 questions) .................................................................................................. 10
Glossary .................................................................................................................................... 13

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Assessment Landing Page
Thank you for your participation in this Valley wide local power company (LPC) capability assessment. TVA
and the TVPPA R&D committee are working together to better understand each LPC’s plans for
modernizing their electric system. Your contribution and the contributions of the other local power
companies across the Valley will guide the timing of grid system investments as well as help prioritize
future R&D initiatives that support LPCs in the Valley.
Your responses will also help refine a Grid Modernization Roadmap being developed as part of a TVA
Regional Grid Transformation (RGT) initiative. This roadmap, once published, will help inform each
individual LPC on how the region-wide electric system is being transformed to support resiliency,
operational and customer needs of the future.
Following your participation in this assessment, your utility will receive a summary view of all LPC
responses and where your specific utility lies within that spectrum of results. Your individual responses
will be kept confidential, shared with TVA and a small team of TVPPA R&D committee members who are
supporting the roadmapping initiative. In reporting results, assessment responses or findings will not be
attributed to specific individuals or LPCs.

Taking this Assessment
This assessment consists of three sections, each with approximately 10 detailed questions. Utilities
participating in similar surveys found that survey completion is most effective when delegating entire
sections or sets of questions to handful of individuals knowledgeable in the following functional areas:
•

Customer Engagement (Customer Offerings & Engagement Tools)

•

Grid Operations (Systems, Practices and Data)

•

System Planning (Standards, Practices and Data)

Note that when assessment completion is divided between multiple respondents, each contributor can
submit a partially completed assessment (i.e., can respond to only the questions assigned to them) using
the assessment link provided to your utility. All partially completed assessments received from your utility
will be compiled into a single assessment response and processed.
In total, this assessment should take no more than 30 minutes for any single individual to complete (far
less time if assessment questions are delegated to multiple individuals).

Thank you for your organization’s participation in this assessment.

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Assessment Questions

CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT (10 questions)
1) In regard to Customer Insights, does your organization collect following types of customer data?

1. Customer demographics (e.g.,
industry classification data, housing
type, etc.)
2. Actual monthly peak demand
3. Projected energy consumption and/or
peak demand
4. Distributed energy resource (DER)
generated and consumed (i.e., solar,
wind, etc.)

YesResidential
(b)

No, but
plan to
in the
next 3
years
(c)

No, but
plan to in
the next
4-10
years
(d)

Not
planning
on it at all
(e)

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YesCommercial
and/or
industrial
(a)

2) In regard to Customer Offerings, does your organization provide its residential customers with the
following tools or data?

1. Online portal or mobile app to access account data
2. Energy usage or energy cost data
3. Customer reliability statistical data (e.g., reported
outages, Estimated Time of Restoration (ETRs), etc.)
4. Home energy management tools
5. Outage notifications (text or mobile app)

Yes
(a)

No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(b)

No, but
plan to in
the next
4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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3) Does your organization provide its commercial and industrial customers with the following tools or data?

1. Online portal or mobile app to access account data
2. Energy usage or energy cost data
3. Customer reliability statistical data (e.g., reported
outages, Estimated Time of Restoration (ETRs), etc.)
4. Home energy management tools
5. Outage notifications (text or mobile app)

Yes
(a)

No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(b)

No, but
plan to in
the next
4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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4) Do you offer any of the following programs to your residential customers?

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Community-based solar programs
Residential solar programs
Energy storage programs
Solar plus storage programs
Energy efficiency programs
Demand response programs
Electric vehicle charging programs
or rates
8. Time-of-use or other variable
pricing programs

Yes, full
program
(a)

Yes, pilot
program
(b)

No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(c)

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No, but
plan to in
the next 410 years
(d)

Not
planning
on it at all
(e)

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5) Do you offer any of the following programs to your commercial and/or industrial customers?

1. Community-based solar programs
2. Commercial and/or industrial solar
programs
3. Energy storage programs
4. Solar plus storage programs
5. Energy efficiency programs
6. Demand response programs
7. Electric vehicle charging programs
or rates
8. Time-of-use or other variable
pricing programs

Yes, full
program
(a)

Yes, pilot
program
(b)

No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(c)

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No, but
plan to in
the next 410 years
(d)

Not
planning
on it at all
(e)

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6) Does your organization provide broadband service to utility customers?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all
7) Is your organization engaged in any grid-edge technology initiatives (e.g., Connected Communities,
Building-to-Grid, etc.) to integrate solar, storage, electric vehicles, smart meters, and other distributed
devices?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to have a strategy in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to have a strategy in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all
8) In regard to Customer Insights, does your organization track ALL customer interactions recorded in a
Customer Information System (CIS)
a. Yes, all customer interactions are tracked in CIS
b. No, but plan to have track all customer interactions in CIS in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to have track all customer interactions in CIS in the next 4-10 years
d. No. Do not have a CIS or no plans to track all customer interactions in CIS (or do not have a CIS)

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9) In regard to Customer Engagement, does your organization have a customer engagement or
customer channel strategy? ("customer channels" include broadcast media, web, mobile, social media,
etc.)
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to have a strategy in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to have a strategy in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all
10) In regard to Customer Engagement, does your organization interface with any 3rd party behind-themeter devices (NEST, Ecobee, etc.) as part of any energy efficiency/demand response (EE/DR)
programs?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all

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GRID OPERATIONS (13 questions)
11) In regard to Grid Operations, does your organization use the following operational technology (OT)
systems?
Management Systems

1. Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
2. Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition SCADA
system
3. Distribution Management System (DMS)
4. Demand Response Management System (DRMS)
5. Distributed Energy Resources Management System
(DERMS)

Yes
(a)

No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(b)

No, but
plan to in
the next 410 years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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12) [SKIP if Question 11-1 is d] In regard to the use of GIS, does your organization use GIS in any of the
following ways?

1. To store all grid devices, conductors, and
structures
2. To store DER location, type, size, and ownership
data
3. As the source of system of record (e.g., for outage
management or planning)
4. To track interconnected distributed energy
resources (DER)
5. Integrated with other operational technology
systems (e.g., OMS, DMS, etc.)

Yes
(a)

No, but
plan to
have in
the next 3
years
(b)

No, but plan
to have in
the next 4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at
all
(d)

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13) To what degree has your organization deployed the following?

1. AMI deployed to its customers
2. Fiber optics deployed to its substations

0% but
planning
(a)

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Up to
50%
deployed
(b)

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50% to
90%
deployed
(c)

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Greater
than 90%
deployed
(d)

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Not
planning
on it at
all
(e)

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14) [SKIP if Question 13-1 is e] When does your organization anticipate a full deployment of AMI?
a. Within 1 year
b. Within 2-3 years
c. Within 3-4 years
d. Beyond 4 years

15) [SKIP if Question 13-1 is e] Does your organization use AMI data in the following ways?

1. Normal (blue sky) operations (e.g., ping/poll,
equipment health)
2. During outage restoration (e.g., last gasp)
3. For grid planning
4. For revenue protection

Yes
(a)

No, but plan
to have in the
next 3 years
(b)

No, but plan
to have in
the next 4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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16) [SKIP if Question 13-1 is e] Does your organization share AMI data across operational systems (DMS,
OMS, etc.)?
a. Yes, fully deployed
b. Yes, targeted areas
c. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
d. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
e. Not planning on it at all
17) Does your organization have a proactive vegetation management program?
a. Yes, fully deployed
b. Yes, targeted areas
c. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
d. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
e. Not planning on it at all

18) Do you perform proactive pre-storm resource staging and optimization?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all
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TVA RGT VALLEY-WIDE LPC
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19) Regarding asset management practices, does your organization incorporate any of the following?

1. Collection and storage of asset data
2. Basic assessment of asset data trends (e.g., health
monitoring)
3. Advanced analytics of asset data (e.g., predictive
maintenance)

Yes
(a)

No, but plan
to have in
next 3 years
(b)

No, but plan
to have in
next 4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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20) In regard to Grid Operations, does your organization have the following grid automation capabilities:

1. Targeted grid automation
2. System-wide grid automation
3. Substation Automation
4. Distribution (feeder) automation for reliability
5. Grid automation for voltage optimization

Yes
(a)

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No, but
plan to in
the next 3
years
(b)

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No, but
plan to in
the next 410 years
(c)

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Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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21) In regard to Grid Operations, does your organization operate (actively or passively “set and forget”
operate) any 3rd party distributed energy resources (DER)?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all
22) In regard to Grid Operations, does your organization have a distribution control center that meet your
present and future needs?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all

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TVA RGT VALLEY-WIDE LPC
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23) In regard to your organization’s workforce, does your organization have the following?

1. A sufficiently trained workforce to meet
operational needs of today
2. A sufficient number of staff to support the
deployment of new systems or technologies
3. A trainable workforce to meet operational
needs of tomorrow
4. Access to workforce resources to meet
operational needs of tomorrow
5. Access to workforce development tools or
programs for building skills needed for grid
operations in the future

Yes
(a)

No, but have a
well-defined
plan for this
(b)

No, but
beginning to
plan for this
(c)

No, not a
priority at
this time
(d)

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SYSTEM PLANNING (8 questions)
24) In regard to System Planning, does your organization observe the following basic planning practices?

1. Maintain a current model of the entire system
2. Apply a consistent set of planning criteria and
objectives
3. Track reliability metrics (e.g., reliability
performance indicators.) at the system-wide
level
4. Track reliability metrics or KPIs at a subsystem
level (e.g., feeder or substation level)
5. Collect data about critical loads by
location/feeder (e.g., to support community
resiliency or critical return-to-service insights)
6. Apply a consistent set of planning criteria and
objectives

Yes
(a)

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No, but plan to No, but plan to
have in the
have in the next Not planning
next 3 years
4-10 years
on it at all
(b)
(c)
(d)

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25) In regard to System Planning, does your organization observe the following advanced planning
practices?

1. Conduct system-wide analysis for different
scenarios (load, DER, etc..)
2. Conduct system-wide hosting capacity
assessments (for load or generation)
3. Evaluate different mitigation options (e.g.,
reconductor/transformer compared to nonwires alternatives
4. Consider resilience (storm hardening) into
feeder/substation/structure design

Yes
(a)

No, but plan to No, but plan to
have in the
have in the next
next 3 years
4-10 years
(b)
(c)

Not planning
on it at all
(d)

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26) [SKIP if Question 24-1 is d] How frequently does your organization update its system planning model?
a. Annually or more frequently
b. Every 1 to 3 years
c. Every 3 to 5 years
d. Every 5 to 10 years
e. Every 10 years or less frequently (as needed)

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27) In regard to Forecasting, does your organization develop the following types of forecasts?

1. Load forecasts at a system-wide level
2. Load forecast at a sub-system level (e.g., by
feeder or zone)
3. DER adoption forecasts at a system wide
level
4. DER adoption forecasts at a sub-system level
(e.g., by feeder or zone)
5. Hourly (8760) load forecasts
6. Hourly (8760) DER production forecasts

Yes
(a)

No, but plan
to have in the
next 3 years
(b)

No, but plan
to have in the
next 4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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28) In regard to System Planning Data, does your organization observe the following practices?

1. Share distribution system data, periodically or
upon request, with TVA (e.g., for bulk power
system planning or resource planning)
2. Maintain a plan for data exchange with third
parties such as TVA (e.g., for forecasting,
planning, and settlement data; frequency of
sharing, etc.) as appropriate
3. Maintain a plan for grid data ownership,
stewardship, and governance
4. Maintain plan for data security, privacy,
archive, and retention

Yes
(a)

No, but plan
to have in the
next 3 years
(b)

No, but plan
to have in the
next 4-10
years
(c)

Not
planning
on it at all
(d)

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29) In regard to your Communication Architecture, has your organization deployed the following?

1. Distribution Automation (DA)
2. Automation Meter Infrastructure (AMI)
3. Distribution Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition (DSCADA)

900 MHz
(a)

Cellular
(b)

Fiber Optics
(c)

Other
(d)

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30) Does your organization have a network operations center (NOC)?
a. Yes
b. No, but plan to in the next 3 years
c. No, but plan to in the next 4-10 years
d. Not planning on it at all

31) In regard to Cybersecurity, does your organization have the following?

Yes
(a)

No, but plan
No, but plan to in the
to in the
next 4-10 Not planning
next 3 years
years
on it at all
(b)
(c)
(d)

1.

A designated cybersecurity group or personnel

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2.

A plan for cyber intrusion, response, and recovery

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3.

An approach for incorporating cybersecurity
considerations into infrastructure design

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GLOSSARY
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) – Integrated system of digital electric power meters, field
communication devices and communication network systems that enables two-way communication
between electric metering endpoints and the corresponding utility service provider. Typically, AMI
metering enables interval metering and supports automatic meter data transmission on a defined
schedule directly to the utility service provider.
Demand Response Management System (DRMS) – An information management system that
provides an ability to control, operate, and monitor remote energy consuming assets. It connects
the flow of information to the Demand Response (DR) devices to/from the utility leveraging the AMI
network.
Distributed Energy Resources Management System (DERMS) – A software platform used to
manage a group of Distributed Energy resources (DER).
Distribution Management System (DMS) – Software applications designed to support Distribution
Operators in monitoring and controlling the electric distribution network efficiently and reliably.
(When DMS is equipped with functions that automate outage restoration and optimize distribution
system switching schemes for performance, the system is referred to as an Advanced Distribution
Management System (ADMS)).
Grid Automation (Distribution Automation) – Automatic control of the electric power system via
instrumentation and control devices. Substation automation refers to using data from intelligent
electronic devices (IED), control and automation capabilities within the substation, and control
commands from remote users to control power-system devices. Feeder automation is the use of
IEDs and automation capabilities on the portion of the distribution network outside the substation.
Grid-Edge Technology – Varying hardware, software, and business innovations that are
increasingly smart, connected infrastructure to be installed at or near the “edge” of the electric
power grid, closer in proximity to the “end-use customer”. Grid-edge hardware may include
advanced metering infrastructure, solar panels, smart appliances. Grid-edge software may include
automated price-responsive demand response, real-time grid optimization, and data analytics.
Hosting Capacity (or Hosting Capacity Assessment) – An assessment to determine the amount of
distributed energy and other resources that can be interconnected to or integrated with the
distribution system before control changes or systems upgrades are required in order to maintain
safe and reliable operations. As technology and capability upgrades are implemented, the hosting
capacity of the system typically improves, allowing more resources to interconnect.
Network Operations Center (NOC) – A centralized location (or center of operations) where a utility
service provider’s servers and networking equipment is stationed. This operations center may be
co-located with other utility central operations or housed at an external/offsite location

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Non-Wires Alternatives (NWA) – The use of distributed energy resources (DER) and microgrids in
replacement of traditional “wires and poles” infrastructure, often to defer major capacity expansion
construction projects or to increase electric network flexibility and reliability.
Pre-storm Staging and Optimization – The application of technology or statistical modeling
(machine learning, AI, etc.) to pre-determine and pre-stage human resources and equipment in
advance of major weather events in order to optimize system repair and service restoration.

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