UTGIS Applauds Passing of New York State Gas Leak Reporting Bill A 467A: Recommends Similar Legislation for Reporting Stray Voltage Leaks
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., July 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- New York State utilities may soon be required to report to the Public Service Commission (PSC, Commission) specific information on individual gas leak locations under Bill A467A, which passed last month and is awaiting Governor Coumo to sign. Until this Bill was passed, only the total numbers of gas leaks were being reported to the PCS- not individual leak location data.
UTGIS suggests that a similar reporting requirement be applied to New York State's "electric leaks", called stray voltage, so the PSC can better evaluate the overall effectiveness of the Electrical Safety Rules under Case 04-M-0159.
"There is some evidence that the raw number of reported stray voltages being submitted to the PSC by the utilities may be artificially high," according to Mark Voigtsberger, President of Florida based UTGIS. "Too, there are indications that the same electrical leaks are being reported multiple times from one testing cycle to the next. Transparent access to this data would allow the Commission, lawmakers, public persons or researchers to examine the true effectiveness of this important safety program."
Voigtsberger points to one example where open stray voltage data would have been an asset to the Commission- a document called the "Rochester Benchmarking Report", filed in 2013. While the report was written by a third party and not Rochester Gas and Electric, RG&E had knowledge the Benchmarking report contained many factual errors, but declined to address them with the Commission. "If the Commission had open stray voltage data available in 2013, they would have been able to identify the errors in this report without waiting for input from RG&E," said Voigtsberger.
Organizations such as the Jodie S Lane Public Safety Foundation (JSLPSF, Foundation) would also benefit from open and individual stray voltage location data. The JSLPSF has significant influence with the Commission, and their stray voltage recommendations are often adopted. However, the Foundation has in the past made recommendations to the Commission where only partial data was available to them. Perhaps the most significant example of this shortcoming can be found in the Foundation's advocacy against any new stray voltage technological innovation in the State.
Open stray voltage data could also be incorporated into various apps, alerting pedestrians when they, or their pets, are coming in close proximity to an existing or previously repaired stray voltage fault location- especially during winter months when the risks for dog walkers is highest. Too, the app data could assist police, fire or EMS responders when responding to emergencies- the very premise of the PSC Electrical Safety Rules.
Contact: Mark Voigtsberger, President
(888) 788-8447
www.utgis.com
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SOURCE UTGIS
