HB 2316

N o later than January 1, 2027, this bill requires each electric utility or electric project developer, owner, or operator within this state, regardless of public or private ownership or jurisdiction under the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (" covered entity "") to conduct a technical assessment of all covered equipment to determine vulnerability to geomagnetically induced current s ("" GICs "") . The assessment must meet all of the following objectives:  Utilize the waveform in Figure A.5 of IEC 61000-2-9, Edition 2.0, modeling a peak magnetic field strength of 20, 000 nanotesla and corresponding electric field of 85 volts per kilometer .  Assume transformers are fully loaded during GIC exposure .  Account for transformer age and condition using ANSI/IEEE Standard C57.110 and IEEE Standard C57.91 .  Identify susceptibility to half-cycle saturation, GIC-induced harmonics, reactive power consumption, hot spot generation, and insulation degradation. This bill prohibits c overed entities from rely ing solely on operational procedures such as load shedding or reactive power supply to mitigate GIC risk. Such procedures are not considered sufficient protection under this bill. As used in this bill, ""covered equipment"" means any power transformer with a primary voltage of 100 kilovolts or greater and capacity of 25 megavolt ampere or greater, and any generator step-up transformer with a secondary voltage of 100 kilovolts or greater and capacity of 25 megavolt ampere or greater . REPORT No later than July 1, 2027, this bill requires each covered entity to submit a report on the assessment to the general assembly, the governor, the Tennessee board of utility regulation, and the Tennessee public utilities commission. The report must include, for each susceptible transformer and substation, all of the following:  The transformer (i) b rand; (ii) place of origin, including nation where manufactured; (iii) d esign specifications, including windings and core configuration; winding impedances; winding DC resistances, specifying whether assumed or measured; and phase type, either single-phase or 3-phase; (iv) c apacity in megavolt-amperes; (v) voltage level in kilovolts; (vi) a ge; (vii) site location, redacted for CEII; (viii) purpose, such as generator step-up, autotransformer, step-down, converter, redacted for CEII; (ix) replacement lead time; and (x) replacement cost .  Spreadsheet-formatted data and narrative analysis .  Recommended solutions to protect the grid against GIC by preventing or reducing the half-cycle saturation of transformers .  Total cost to implement GIC protection .  Priority list of transformers by damage risk and critical infrastructure impact .  Funding recommendations, including potential grant sources and rate recovery mechanisms. This bill requires CEII data, such as location and purpose, submitted under this bill to be handled in accordance with CEII protocols as defined in this bill . Location and purpose data must be redacted from public reports. As used in this bill, ""CEII"" means specific engineering, vulnerability, or detailed design protocols and procedures related to proposed or existing critical infrastructure, whether physical or virtual, that relate to the production, generation, transmission, transportation, or distribution of energy, the unauthorized disclosure of which could pose a risk to the security, reliability, or integrity of the infrastructure . S uch protocols are designated as confidential and exempt from public disclosure, as the ir release could be useful to a person planning an attack or otherwise causing harm to the infrastructure."