Westar Energy Transmission Access Procedure

All new transmission service on the Westar Energy's Transmission system will be supplied under the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) Regional Tariff.  The following information is provided for reference information and for existing customers who have service granted under Westar Energy's tariff prior to the company's facilities being included in the regional tariff. SWPP OASIS

This document outlines the general information and procedures required for a Transmission Customer to reserve transmission service with Westar Energy under its Open Access Tariff. Westar Energy's  current Open Access tariff  was filed with FERC on July 9, 1997. The pricing in the tariff is subject to further commission orders. A current copy of the tariff can be downloaded by clicking on the hot link.

Types of Transmission Service:

• Non-Firm Point-to-Point Service
• Short Term Firm Point-to-Point Service
• Long Term Firm Point-to-Point Service
• Network Service

Registering as a Transmission Customer:

Information regarding requests for service or tariff information should be directed to:

Dennis Reed

Director, Transmission Services

Phone: (785)575-1633

Fax:     (785)575-1715

E-Mail: dennis_l_reed@wr.com

Non-Firm Point-to-Point Service

Beginning June 1, 1998 Westar Energy suspended all Non-Firm Service under its Open Access Tariff.  These services will be supplied through the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) and the SWPP regional transmission tariff.

Short Term Firm Point-to-Point Service

Beginning June 1, 1998 Westar Energy suspended all Short Term Firm Service under its Open Access Tariff.  These services will be supplied through the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) and the SWPP regional transmission tariff.

Long Term Firm Point-to-Point Service

Beginning April 1, 1999, Westar Energy suspended all Long Term Firm Service under its Open Access Tariff. These services will be supplied through the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) and the SWPP regional transmission tariff. Only requests to redirect existing long-term firm requests will be accepted by Westar Energy.

Customers with existing transmission agreements have the option to continue their service under the SWPP Regional Tariff.  Those customers have the right of first refusal, as defined in Section 2.2 of the SWPP Regional Tariff, if conflicting requests for long term Point-to-Point service are received.

Network Service:

Beginning February 1, 2000, Westar Energy suspended selling new Network service under its Open Access Tariff.  All new requests must be supplied through the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) regional tariff.  All requests for network service should be directed to the (SWPP).  Only requests for importing power to existing network customers will be accepted. 
   

OASIS Information

Westar Energy is a member of the SWPP OASIS which utilizes the ESCA/JTSIN OASIS software. To be able to access the Westar Energy OASIS page you must first obtain an X.509 compliant security certificate from DST Corp, OATI or Verisoft. This certificate is installed with your browser and will provide a secure link with the SWPP OASIS.  Your browser must support 132bit data increption.  If you already have a X.509 compliant certificate, then you will be activated as a customer on the Westar Energy OASIS as soon as your application for service has been approved and filed at FERC. For more information on obtaining a security certificate you can contact the Southwest Power Pool or:
 

Security Administrator:

Dennis Reed, (785)575-1633
 

Transmission Service Requests

All requests for service must be submitted over the OASIS. If the OASIS is not available, requests will be accepted by Facsimile or phone, however, the customer will be responsible for entering all requests for service requested while the OASIS was unavailable once the OASIS returns to operation.

Definitions for Service Time Frames

• Hourly service can be used for a clock hour.
• Daily service can be used as the calendar period from midnight to midnight of one day.
• Weekly service is any contiguous seven (7) day period going from mid-night the first day to mid-night the last day.
• Monthly service is for any calendar month.
• Annual service is for any contiguous twelve (12) month period.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, all times are for the Central Time zone (either Central Daylight or Central Standard time, depending on the time of year).

Transmission Pricing

All transmission pricing will be posted on the OASIS on a path basis. The prices can be found by querying the "Transmission Offerings" section of the OASIS. A summary of transmission pricing can be found on the Westar Energy web site.
 

Transmission Losses

All losses for transmission service must be supplied by the Transmission Customer. The losses are based upon the Point-of-Receipt (POR) and Point-of-Delivery (POD) of the transaction. A table of the loss factors can be found on the Westar Energy web site. The losses are applied against the POR energy.

Transmission Reservation Priority for Point-to-Point Service

Westar Energy will follow all NERC policies in regards to scheduling and reserving transmission service unless it conflicts with the transmission tariff, in which case the requirements of the tariff will be followed.

1. No request for service will be approved if it exceeds the path's ATC or if the transaction will exceed the thermal rating of the POR or POD interface. Once a request has been accepted, it will only be displaced if: 1) a request of a higher priority or price supplants it or 2) if Westar Energy is physically unable to receive or deliver the energy to the designated interface.
2. Requests for service will be accepted in accordance with the tariff. The normal order of the priority of the type and term of service will be:

• • Long Term Firm Point-to-Point (PTP)
  • Short Term Firm PTP
  • Import of energy for network customers.
  • Non-Firm PTP. (Service priority ranked by the duration of the request. The longer the duration, the higher the priority. See Section 14.2 of the tariff )
  • Non-Firm service over secondary points of receipt or delivery.

If a request for a higher priority service is received that would cause Westar Energy to displace a lower priority reservation, Westar Energy will contact the customer of the lower priority service and give it first chance to upgrade its reservation to match or exceed the higher priority reservation. The customer must respond to this request within 15 minutes. If the lower priority customer does not wish to upgrade its reservation, it will be displaced in favor of the higher priority service. If the lower priority customer does decide to upgrade its service, it will submit a new OASIS request, referencing the old OASIS number and that it is upgrading its request. Westar Energy will displace the original request after receiving the upgraded request.

SCHEDULING

This section refers to the requirements a customer must follow to notify Westar Energy of the actual amount of energy that will flow in response to a previously approved transmission reservation. The customer will be responsible for following all applicable NERC, FERC and Westar Energy guidelines for scheduling and tagging a transaction. Failure to follow these policies can result in Westar Energy rejecting the schedule.

SWPP service

Schedules for all transmission service reserved through the SWPP must be sent to the SWPP via the NERC tag format.  No schedule will be accepted except through the SWPP for SWPP transmission reservations unless the customer is unable to submit the information to the SWPP due to technical problems.  If technical problems exist, the SWPP must give verbal or written approval of the schedule before it is implemented.

Firm PTP service (Long Term)

Schedules for firm transmission reservations, that have already been approved under Westar Energy's OATT, must be submitted by 1000 (10:00 AM CT) of the day prior to the day that service commences. After 1000, Westar Energy will accept additional daily and hourly non-firm service over any unused reservations (i.e. firm transmission service requests that have been approved, but for which a schedule has not been received or where a reservation has not been fully scheduled). Westar Energy will attempt to accommodate all late schedules and/or schedule changes.

Network imports

Schedules for Network import service, already approved, must be submitted by 1400 (2:00 PM CT) of the day prior to the day that service commences. After 1400, Westar Energy will accept additional daily and hourly Non-Firm service over any unused reservations (i.e. non-firm transmission service requests that have been approved, but for which no schedule has been received or where a reservation has not been fully scheduled). Westar Energy will attempt to accommodate all late schedules if the transmission capacity has not been previously sold to another customer.
 

General Scheduling Requirements

• Schedules for previously approved service will be accepted for any days or hours in which service has been approved.
• Schedule changes (including initial schedule changes from zero to the maximum amount reserved) for a previously approved service will be accepted up to 20 minutes before the start of an hour so that the Westar Energy Transmission Operator has time to verify the schedule with the other Control Area(s) involved and has time to implement the schedule. Exceptions to this minimum time requirement will be allowed only for reliability reasons.
• Schedules must be from the POR to the POD for which the transmission service was approved. Changes to the POR and POD may be made for firm reservations, on a firm or non-firm basis. All requests for changes shall be made over the OASIS with references in the comments field to the original OASIS request number. Failure to do this will cause Westar Energy to treat the OASIS request as a new reservation or refuse the request.
• Westar Energy will accept schedules for a reservation if the SOURCE and/or SINK has changed as long as the POR and/or POD have not changed. These changes must be communicated to the Westar Energy Transmission Operator at least twenty (20) minutes before the hour the change is to occur.

Scheduling Contact Numbers

Next day or longer scheduling: (785)575-6077

Next hour scheduling: (785)575-6050 or (785)575-6051
 
 

Billing

A customer will be billed for all approved transmission requests based on the currently approved transmission tariff. Bills will be issued during the first two weeks of the month for any service requested by the customer for the previous month.

A transmission reservation will be adjusted for billing only under the following circumstances:

If the customer's reservation was supplanted due to a higher priority request.

If Westar Energy curtailed the transaction due to system or equipment problems that directly affected the transaction (i.e. the loss of an interface).

A request for line loading relief was received from the Southwest Power Pool (SWPP) that affected the transaction.

Any questions regarding billing can be made to:

Westar Energy

Transmission Services

818 Kansas Avenue

Topeka, KS 66612

(785)575-1127

Redispatching of Generation

Network and Long Term Firm Point-to-Point Service

The service agreement will specify if the customer is responsible for any redispatching of generation that is necessary to supply service. When redispatching is required to continue service on the Westar Energy system, Westar Energy will make every attempt to continue service by redispatching its generation out of economic order and will recalculate and bill the customer appropriately. Westar Energy will not redispatch generation in support of imports from non designated network resources for network customers except as requested by the SWPP and agreed to by Westar Energy and the transmission customer.

Other Types of Transmission Service

Westar Energy will not redispatch its generation to provide non-firm service or firm service over secondary points of delivery or receipt except as requested by the SWPP and agreed to by Westar Energy and the transmission customer. If it becomes necessary to redispatch generation in order to keep the Westar Energy Transmission system functioning within first contingency limits, Westar Energy will curtail transmission schedules in accordance with its tariff and NERC guidelines.
 

Curtailment

Once a transmission request has been approved and has received the proper scheduling information, Westar Energy will allow the transaction to occur unless:

• The customer violates Westar Energy transmission criteria; or
• Equipment failure or other system problems keep Westar Energy from physically delivering the energy; or
• Changes in the base operating criteria of the transmission network such that continuing the transaction will keep Westar Energy from operating its transmission system within first contingency limits. (example: large, unscheduled, energy flows across the system); or
• Requests from the SWPP to freeze or curtail transaction(s) in response to a request for line loading relief.

If curtailment of service does occur, Westar Energy will institute the curtailments in accordance with its tariff and applicable SWPP and NERC guidelines.

Last revised: 10/2/03 D. Reed