Energy Assurance Planning (EAP)
On August 14, 2009, the Department of Energy awarded $288,765 in Recovery funding to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for Energy Assurance Planning.
The goal of this funding is for Montana to plan for energy supply disruption risks and vulnerabilities and lessen the impact that such incidents might have on the economy and the health and safety of the public.
The DEQ will be the lead agency to coordinate a Project Management Plan that meets the requirements of the grant and of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The state will use the grant funding to track energy emergencies and to assess the restoration and recovery times of any supply disruptions. Cyber security concerns will also be addressed. The state will also prepare for the challenges of integrating smart grid technologies and renewable energy sources into the transmission network.
The DEQ is coordinating with the Disaster and Emergency Services Division (DES), the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Department of Justice (DoJ) and other Montana Emergency Support Function-Energy (ESF-12) partners to prepare the plan. An initial draft of the plan was submitted to DOE in February 2011. A revised version of the draft plan was tested in a tabletop exercise in September 2011 with other state agencies. DEQ participated in a DOE-sponsored western states tabletop exercise in late November 2011. DEQ will hold additional conversations or exercises with the energy sector, after which a final revision of the plan will be completed and submitted to DOE in mid-2012.
(Last updated: 01/30/12)
