East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc.
Standards of Conduct for Transmission Providers
Separation of Transmission and Merchant Functions
Pursuant to Section 358.1-5 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s regulations,
East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. (“EKPC”) has separated its transmission and
wholesale merchant functions so that employees engaged in transmission system
operations will function independently of employees engaged in wholesale merchant
functions. EKPC’s wholesale merchant function, defined by FERC as “the sale for resale
of electric energy in interstate commerce,” is performed by the Alliance for Cooperative
Energy Services Power Marketing (ACES Power Marketing), which is responsible for all
off-system purchases and sales on behalf of EKPC. ACES Power Marketing, whose
contract is overseen by EKPC’s Finance and Planning group, is located in Indianapolis,
Indiana and has no access to any preferential information concerning EKPC’s
transmission system that is not available to all users of the OASIS.
EKPC’s transmission function is overseen by its Transmission System Operations Team,
which is part of its Power Delivery Operations Group. The Transmission System
Operations Team is responsible for the OASIS functions, including data maintenance,
acknowledgment and reporting, receiving and responding to transmission service
requests, and determining Available Transmission Capacity (ATC) and Total
Transmission Capability (TTC), as well as transmission system control and reliability
functions. The Transmission Operations Team, as part of the Power Delivery Operations
Group, reports to the Vice President for Power Delivery. The work area of the
Transmission System Operations Group is a security-card-controlled access area and
access is given only to those personnel who have significant need to enter these facilities.
Personnel who engage in the wholesale merchant function do not have access to this work
area. Appropriate organizational charts and job descriptions are posted on the OASIS.
In emergency circumstances affecting system reliability, EKPC will take whatever steps it
deems necessary to maintain system reliability. However, EKPC will report to the
Commission and on the Open Access Same-Time Information System (OASIS) each
emergency that resulted in any deviation from the Standards of Conduct set forth in
Section 358.1-5 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regulations, within 24
hours of such deviation.
Employee Conduct
All EKPC employees affected by these procedures will adhere to the following rules
governing employee conduct:
1
Any employee of EKPC engaged in wholesale merchant functions will not
conduct transmission system operations or transmission reliability functions.
2
Any employee of EKPC engaged in wholesale merchant functions will not have
access to transmission system control equipment or similar facilities used for
transmission operations or transmission reliability functions.
3
An employee transfer between the wholesale merchant function and transmission
system operation function cannot be used to circumvent the standards of conduct
set forth in Section 358.1-5 of the Commission’s regulations.
4
Notices of any employee transfer to or from the Power Delivery Operations Group
and ACES Power Marketing will be posted on the OASIS utilized by EKPC. The
information to be posted on OASIS will include: (a) the name of the transferring
employee, (b) respective titles held while performing each function on behalf of
EKPC, and (c) the effective date of the transfer.
5
No employee of EKPC or ACES Power Marketing engaged in the wholesale
merchant function will have access to any information or to preferential
information concerning EKPC’s transmission system that is not available to all
users of the OASIS.
6
No employee of EKPC or ACES Power Marketing engaged in the wholesale
merchant function will obtain information regarding EKPC’s transmission system
(including information regarding available transmission capability, price,
curtailments, ancillary services and other similar information) through access to
information not posted on the OASIS that is not otherwise also available to the
general public without restriction, or through information through the OASIS that
is not also publicly available to all OASIS users (such as E-Mail).
7
No employee of EKPC engaged in transmission system operations or reliability
functions will disclose to employees of EKPC or ACES Power Marketing
engaged in the wholesale merchant function any information concerning EKPC’s
transmission system or the transmission system of another (including information
received from non-affiliates or information about available transmission
capability, price, curtailments, ancillary services, etc.) through non-public
communications conducted off the OASIS, through access to information not
posted on the OASIS that is not concurrently available to the general public
without restriction, or through information on the OASIS that is not at the same
time publicly available to all OASIS users (such as E-Mail).
8
If an employee of EKPC engaged in transmission system operations or reliability
functions discloses information not posted on the OASIS in a manner contrary to
the requirements of the standards of conduct set forth in Section 358.1-5 of the
Commission’s regulations, EKPC will immediately post such information on the
OASIS.
9
EKPC will not share any market information acquired from non-affiliated
transmission customers or potential non-affiliated transmission customers, or
developed in the course of responding to requests for transmission ancillary
service on the OASIS with any of its employees engaged in the merchant
functions, except to the limited extent information is required to be posted on the
OASIS in response to a request for transmission service or ancillary services.
10
All employees of EKPC engaged in transmission system operations or reliability
functions will strictly enforce all tariff provisions relating to the sale or purchase
of open access transmission service, if these provisions do not provide for the use
of discretion.
11
All employees of EKPC engaged in transmission system operations or reliability
functions will apply all tariff provisions relating to the sale or purchase of open
access transmission service in a fair and impartial manner that treats all customers
(including EKPC) in a non-discriminatory manner, if these provisions involve the
use of discretion.
12
EKPC will keep a log, available for audit by the Commission, which will provide
details regarding the circumstances and manner in which it exercised its discretion
under any terms of its open access transmission tariff. The information contained
in this log will be posted on the OASIS.
13
EKPC will not, through its tariffs or otherwise, give preference to sales for resale
made by EKPC’s wholesale merchant function over the interest of any other
wholesale customer in matters relating to the sale or purchase of transmission
service (including issues of price, curtailments, scheduling, priority, ancillary
services, etc.).
Employee Training and Instruction
1
East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. (EKPC) will provide training and
instruction to all employees in the Transmission System Operations Team
regarding the Standards of Conduct. EKPC will also distribute this document to
all employees of ACES Power Marketing involved in the Wholesale Merchant
Function on EKPC’s behalf, and to all EKPC employees who provide services to
both the Transmission System Operations Team and ACES Power Marketing. All
employees receiving training on these procedures will be required to sign the
affidavit at the end of this document stating they have been trained in, and fully
understand, these procedures.
2
The Chief Compliance Officer for East Kentucky Power Cooperative, Inc. is
George Carruba. Mr. Carruba is responsible for training all board officers and
employees in the Transmission System Operations Team in the Standards of
Conduct and for distributing the Standards of Conduct document to all employees
of ACES Power Marketing involved in the Wholesale Merchant Function on
EKPC’s behalf and to all EKPC employees who provide services to both the
Transmission System Operations Team and ACES Power Marketing. Mr. Carruba
can be contacted at george.carruba@ekpc.coop, or by mail at 4775 Lexington
Road, Winchester, KY 40392.