What is Order No. 698?
Order No. 698 was issued in response to concerns by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) that communication protocols between interstate pipelines and power plant operators and transmission owners and operators would help improve the scheduling of gas-fired power generators and enhance reliability.
Enbridge Inc. and Order No. 698
Enbridge Inc. serves over 65 GW of gas-fired electric generators along its pipeline network, and is continually evaluating its communication protocols to assist this class of customer. Natural gas is the fuel of choice for new generation that is needed to meet growing electric demand, and Enbridge Inc. understands the increasing focus on how the gas and electric generation industries are communicating and coordinating. Enbridge Inc. annually reviews and disseminates its detailed procedures regarding communication, coordination and information sharing as prompted by Order No. 698.
Order No. 698 requires that communication procedures be established to facilitate the sharing of information of hourly gas flows between the pipelines and their gas-fired power generator customers.
• Gas-fired power plant operators and pipelines are required to communicate material changes in circumstances that may affect hourly gas flows as required by the NAESB Standards. This communication ensures that pipelines will have relevant information to run their systems.
• Pipelines are required provide information to gas-fired power plant operators regarding whether hourly flow deviations can be honored.
• Electric transmission operators and gas-fired power plant operators are required to sign up with gas pipelines to receive critical notices and operational flow orders.
• Enbridge Inc. has identified those carefully selected circumstances where information sharing is critical and has waived any Order No. 698 requirements for gas-fired power plant and electric transmission operators to the extent those requirements exceed the applicable pipeline tariff requirements. For example, Enbridge Inc. recognizes that the communication of hourly flows per Order No. 698 is not necessary at all times, therefore, we enforce the Order No. 698 requirement only when necessary to maintain pipeline operations.
• Enbridge Inc. facilitates the collection of required Order No. 698 information through its LINK® system. To ease communication with the pipeline and to reduce paperwork, Enbridge Inc. has developed an Order No. 698 web page where operators can enter expected hourly flows. Enbridge Inc. has prepared a “698 Tutorial” to assist gas-fired power plant operators with providing the required information. The tutorial is available on LINK®.
• In addition, Enbridge Inc. requires gas-fired power plant operators and ISOs/RTOs to sign up/subscribe for connecting pipeline Critical and Non-Critical Notices.
Pipeline Informational Postings
• Enbridge Inc. pipelines provide easily accessible website postings of publicly available information. Examples of some of the information available on the Enbridge Inc. Link website are critical and non-critical notices, planned service outages, operational and unsubscribed capacity at points on the pipeline, gas quality on the mainline, pipeline tariffs and regulatory filings, and historical data.
• Enbridge Inc. provides publicly available notices to anyone who desires this information and signs up to receive it.
Enbridge Inc. seeks to identify and implement the best practices for its customers and is committed to meeting the needs of electric generation, as reflected in contractual commitments.
• Enbridge Inc. endeavors to be as flexible as possible. We provide nomination and take flexibility of the pipeline system on a non-discriminatory basis.
• Enbridge Inc. pipelines grant hourly flexibility within overall daily scheduled gas quantities. Enbridge Inc. permits shippers to submit nominations and reschedule flows outside the required NAESB nomination/scheduling timelines along with other enhanced nomination services and other types of service that allow flows throughout the day on a non-ratable basis.
• Enbridge Inc. has invested significantly into improvements to its LINK® System to accommodate the number of nominations Enbridge's firm customers demanded.
Planned Service Outages
• Enbridge Inc. endeavors to schedule maintenance to minimize disruptions in service to its customers and to provide accurate information about any such outage. Enbridge Inc. posts notices of planned service outages for the coming calendar year in November or December of the prior year. Enbridge Inc. updates the planned service outage postings as the year progresses. Notices of planned service outages for the coming calendar year are posted in November or December of the prior year and the postings are updated as the year progresses. The postings of planned service outages will include the dates of the maintenance activities necessitating the outage, affected points and locations, and the reason for the maintenance activity.
Enbridge Inc. seeks to be the “Best in Class” in communication and information sharing, going out of our way to share information with gas-fired electric generators and electric transmission operators when such information is available and permitted. If the gas-fired electric generators and/or electric system operators identify additional communication and coordination efforts that can be implemented to alleviate any deliverability concerns, Enbridge Inc. is eager to discuss how to implement those ideas.