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PSC reduces CCBC distribution‑interruption penalty by 60% after staff review
Summary
After reviewing CCBC's January 20–23, 2025 interruption, staff recommended a 60% reduction of a $47,400 distribution‑interruption penalty to $18,960; CCBC's representative said the college ran out of fuel and accepted the staff recommendation and commissioners approved the reduction unanimously.
Commission staff (Evan Thomas) explained that CCBC operated on dual fuel during a January 20–23, 2025 distribution interruption but exhausted its on‑site fuel supply on January 22 and resumed gas use approximately 2.5 hours on January 23 to restore heat. Staff said CCBC had dual‑fuel capability but did not accurately determine whether its fuel inventory would last the full 72‑hour interruption and recommended a 60% reduction of the distribution‑interruption penalty, leaving a remaining $18,960 to emphasize preparation obligations; the commodity penalty ($2,825) is not waivable and must be paid.
Tim Burton, assistant vice president of facilities management at CCBC, told commissioners the college miscalculated prior outages and ran out of fuel, saying: “We calculated wrong based upon prior outages that we had.” Burton said CCBC accepted staff’s recommendation. Commissioners discussed concerns about repeat waiver requests under the interruptible tariff; Commissioner Suchman said the pattern of waivers raised systemic reliability questions. The commission voted to reduce the distribution‑interruption penalty by 60% (motion carries unanimously).
