Voltage Reduction Test

ISO New England will be conducting its Fall system-wide voltage reduction test on Tuesday, October 25, 2016 with an alternate test date Thursday, October 27, 2016. This applies to all sub-transmission and distribution facilities only (35kV and below) and will allow ISO New England to assess compliance with ISO New England Operating Procedure No. 13, Standards for Voltage Reduction and Load Shedding Capability. The system-wide voltage will be reduced by 5% from normal voltage starting at 10 am and concluding at 10:30 am and again starting at 2 pm concluding at 2:30 pm on this date.

CMP conducts these tests as part of our federal compliance requirements (similar to the Emergency Broadcasting System tests you hear on radio and TV). These system-wide voltage reduction tests are conducted twice per year; once in the Spring prior to Summer peak loads, and once in the Fall prior to Winter peak loads. Most electricity users are unaware of the tests as the reduced voltage level is still within the normal operating range.

Additional Details
Date:  October 25, 2016
Alternate Date:  October 27, 2016

Implementation
The actual implementation of a 5% voltage reduction that is attainable within 10 minutes will be initiated at 10:00 a.m. and terminate at 10:30 a.m.

The actual implementation of a 5% voltage reduction requiring more than 10 minutes to implement will be initiated at 2:00 p.m. and terminate at 2:30 p.m.  Personnel responsible for this portion of the test should be in place prior to 2:00 p.m.  It is recognized that certain personnel must cover more than one location to implement this action.

Notification
All participants should consider this as the written advance notice of the test date.  All preparations for the test should be initiated.  If system conditions warrant cancellation of the test, an alternate date of October 27, 2016 has been set and this memo also serves as the advance notification for the alternate date.

Measurement
ISO New England and each Local Control Center will conduct separate measurements of load relief attained during the test.  In addition, each Participant must perform its own measurements and report back to the ISO on the appropriate form.

Constraints
Scheduled outages of computer or telemetry will not be allowed during the test.  All generation will be held at as near constant a level as possible during the actual voltage reductions.

Report
A report on the results of the test will be issued to the Reliability Committee and the Master/Local Control Center Heads.  All parties are expected to attain 100% compliance with the requirements of ISO New England Operating Procedure No.13