DOE Form Instructions

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
OFFICE OF ELECTRICITY DELIVERY AND
ENERGY RELIABILITY
Washington, D.C. 20585

OMB No. 1901-0288
Expiration Date: 01/31/15
Burden Per Response: 2.03 hours
Revised January 2012

OE-417
ELECTRIC EMERGENCY INCIDENT
AND DISTURBANCE REPORT

...........................................................................................................................................................................................

QUESTIONS

INSTRUCTIONS

If you have any questions about Form OE-417 after reading the
instructions, please contact Brian Copeland at (202) 586-1178,
FAX
Number
(202)
586-2623
or
E-mail:
[email protected].

Copies in portable document format (PDF) and word format
(DOC) are available on OE’s website. You may access the
materials by following the steps:

For additional information write to the following address: Assistant
Secretary, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability
(OE-1)1000 Independence Ave, SW Washington, DC 20585
Emergency Contact: DOE Operations Center Telephone Number:
(202) 586-8100 FAX Number:
(202) 586-8485 E-mail:
[email protected].

PURPOSE
The Department of Energy (DOE), under its relevant authorities,
has established mandatory reporting requirements for electric
emergency incidents and disturbances in the United States.
DOE collects this information from the electric power industry on
Form OE-417 to meet its overall national security and
Department of Homeland Security’s National Response
Framework responsibilities. DOE will use the data from this form
to obtain current information regarding emergency situations on
U.S. electric energy supply systems. DOE’s Energy Information
Administration (EIA) will use the data for reporting on electric
power emergency incidents and disturbances in monthly EIA
reports. The data also may be used to develop legislative
recommendations, reports to the Congress and as a basis for
DOE investigations following severe, prolonged, or repeated
electric power reliability problems.

•
•

Go to OE’s Electric Emergency Incident And
Disturbance Report website at
http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/oe417.aspx.
Click on the hypertext link for the Form or for the Instructions.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
Form OE-417 is mandatory pursuant to Section 13(b) of the
Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law
93-275). The form is considered an emergency form filed only
when at least one of the criteria for filing the form, on page one
of the form, is met.
The Form OE-417 alerts the Department of Energy to electrical
emergency incidents and disruptions. The ability of DOE to
quickly respond to energy emergencies that may impact the
Nation’s infrastructure and to help alleviate or prevent further
disruptions depends on industry’s prompt response. As such,
the initial timely filing of this form is of paramount importance.
Many electric utilities have received approval to operate the
Balancing Authority and/or Reliability Coordinator functions from
the North American Electric Reliability Corportation (NERC). In
addition, electric utilities also have computer centers and
physical security departments. (Regional Transmission
Organizations (RTOs) and Independent System Operators
(ISOs) are established by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission and are considered electric utilities.)

HOW TO SUBMIT

WHO MUST SUBMIT

Online: An online form is now available at
http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/oe417.aspx. The online form is now
the preferred delivery method.

1. Balancing Authorities (BA), Reliability Coordinators
(RC), some Generating Entities, and Electric Utilities,
including those located Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam
or other U.S. possessions are responsible for completing all
relevant portions of the form when any of the criteria are met
requiring the filing of Form OE-417.

Instructions on how to report via e-mail, facsimile, or telephone
are printed on Schedule 1 of Form OE-417.
E-mail: If you experience problems using the online form, you
may submit your form via e-mail as an attachment to
[email protected].
Fax: If you experience problems submitting via the online
submission form or email, you may fax the form to the following
facsimile number. (202)586-8485.
Telephone: If you experience problems submitting via online,
email, or fax, please call and report the information to the
following telephone number: (202) 586-8100. This telephone
number is staffed 24/7.

COPIES OF SURVEY FORMS AND

a. All electric utilities must provide information to a BA when
necessary for their reporting obligations and file Form
OE-417 in cases where a BA will not be involved.
Note: this includes U.S. based utilities for whom
balancing authority oversight responsibilities are handled
by electrical systems located across an international
border.
b. Foreign utilities, handling U.S. balancing authority
responsibilities, may wish to file this information
voluntarily to the DOE. Any U.S.-based utility in this
international situation must inform DOE that these filings
will come from a foreign-based electric system.
2. Computer centers and physical security departments of
electric utilities may file directly with OE on the selected

OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

Page 1

areas identified in the Form OE-417instructions.
Note: This information does not have to flow directly into
the officials running the BA and RC and then be
forwarded to DOE.

are met
1.

Physical attack that causes major interruptions or impacts to
critical infrastructure facilities or to operations

2.

Cyber event that causes interruptions of electrical system
operations

3.

Complete operational failure or shut-down of the
transmission and/or distribution electrical system

4.

Electrical System Separation (Islanding) where part or parts
of a power grid remain(s) operational in an otherwise
blacked out area or within the partial failure of an integrated
electrical system

FUNCTIONAL RESPONSIBLITY OF FILING
ENTITIES

5.

Uncontrolled loss of 300 Megawatts (MW) or more of firm
system loads for more than 15 minutes from a single
incident

All entities must file on all line items except for the following
exclusions:

6.

Load shedding of 100 MW or more implemented under
emergency operational policy

7.

System-wide voltage reductions of 3 percent or more

8.

Public appeal to reduce the use of electricity for purposes
of maintaining the continuity of the electric power system

3. Joint filing: BAs’ and RCs’ can file notifications for joint
filings. BAs can also file a combined report with electric
utilities under their electrical oversight or all information is
passed to the BA who then files a single report.
Note: OE requests that it be notified of those entities that
plan to file jointly and of those electric utilities that want to
file separately. (Notification can be done at the time of the
filing.)

•

Electric Utilities - There are no exclusions allowed, all
items need to be addressed.

•

Balancing Authority (BA) - Reporting on the count of
customers (and the amount of load, if the BA is based at a
Regional Transmission Organization or Independent
System Operator) is required only for the Final Report. A
BA located in vertically integrated utilities, a municipality,
federal utility, state-owned or cooperative will report the
amount of load and counts of customers.

Note: If the incident or disturbance is having a critical impact
on operational events, respondents must balance their
operational requirements with this mandatory reporting
requirement. In such instances, telephone notification to the
DOE Emergency Operations Center (202-586-8100) is
acceptable, pending a written submission of the completed
form.

•

Reliability Coordinators (RC) - Reporting on the count of
customers is excluded. If the RC has an agreement with
the Regional Transmission Organization to supply the
customer counts, the RC can supply this information.

Within Six Hours of Incident: Schedule 1 and lines 13-17 of
Schedule 2 must be filed if one or more of the following criteria
are met and none of the eight criteria above apply

•

•

•

Generating Entities - Entities who have 300 MW or more
of generation dedicated to one or more end-use customers
(e.g. retail or industrial customers) are required to file the
form under criterion number 5.
Local Utilities in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S.
Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Territories - If the local
electrical system is less than 300 MW, then only file if
criteria 1, 2, 3 or 4 are met.
Computer, telecommunication, and physical security
offices that support the BA, RC, and electric utility or are
located within the entity - These support centers or offices
can file information, in lieu of the emergency offices, on
criteria 1, 2, 9 or 10 in direct submissions to DOE. These
support centers or offices will address no other incident
types.

WHEN TO SUBMIT
Form OE-417 is considered an emergency form. Schedule 1
and lines 13-17 in Schedule 2 of the form must be submitted to
the DOE only when at least one of the twelve criteria on page
one of the form is met. Depending on the nature of the
situation, the Form OE-417 must be filed either within one hour
or six hours of the incident.

Criteria for Filing:
Within One Hour of Incident: Schedule 1 and lines 13-17 of
Schedule 2 must be filed if one or more of the following criteria

9.

Physical attack that could potentially impact electric power
system adequacy or reliability; or vandalism which targets
components of any security systems

10. Cyber event that could potentially impact electric power
system adequacy or reliability
11. Loss of electric service to more than 50,000 customers for
1 hour or more
12. Fuel supply emergencies that could impact electric power
system adequacy or reliability
Update Report – Schedule 1 and lines 13-17 in Schedule 2
should be re-submitted if significant information (or changes)
regarding a reported incident or disturbance becomes available
after the initial Emergency Alert or Normal Alert Report was
submitted. Add the new information and/or changes to the
original submission and resubmit the form, checking Update as
the Alert Status on line 1 of the form.
Within 72 hours of incident a Final Report must be filed. An
updated Form OE-417 Schedule 1 and all of Schedule 2 are
both due within 72 hours of the incident to provide complete
disruption information.
•

Complete and revise Schedule 1 as necessary and check
“Final” as Alert Status on line 1.

On Schedule 2 provide a narrative description of the event and
actions taken to resolve the incident. There are several specific
subject blocks of space shown on the Schedule that are provided
to gather the specific information. Include, as appropriate, the
cause of the incident or disturbance, change in frequency, the
equipment damaged, critical infrastructures interrupted, and

OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

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affect on other electrical systems. Equivalent documents
containing this information can be supplied to meet this
requirement; this includes the North American Electric Reliability
Corporation EOP-004 Disturbance Report.

submitting the form as either an Update or Final report.
•

Line 8 Estimate of Amount of Demand Involved (Peak
Megawatts), enter the amount of the peak demand involved
over the entire incident. In the Emergency or Normal alert, if
amount is unknown and you are unable to make an estimate,
then leave this blank. Provide the actual number or an
estimate in any Update notice or Final report.

•

Line 9 Estimate of Number of Customers Affected, enter
the total number of customers affected during the entire
incident or disturbance which could be more than the peak
number in the case of rolling blackouts. If this number cannot
be estimated when the form is initially submitted, check the
unknown box; when the number of customers can be
estimated, fill in this data on line 9 of the form and re-submit
the form, checking the Update or Final Alert Status box on
line 1, as applicable.

•

Line 10 Type of Emergency – check all options that apply:

SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS
Definitions of electric power industry terminology and other
terms are available on the EIA website and in Appendix B, the
Glossary for these instructions. Refer to the above for details
on accessing the EIA website. Please refer to these definitions
before completing the survey form.

Schedule 1
Criteria for filing Examine the Criteria for Filing on page 1 of
the form to determine if a form needs to be filled out. Check all
criteria (boxes 1–12) that apply to the situation or incident. If
any of criteria 1-8 apply to the incident, then a report must be
filed within one hour of the incident and respondents should
check the Emergency Alert box on Line 1. If any of the boxes
9-12 are checked AND none of the boxes 1-8 have been
checked, then the form must be filed within 6 hours of the
incident and respondents should check the Normal Alert box on
the Alert Status (line 1). An updated Schedule 1 also should be
submitted with all of Schedule 2 filled out as the Final Report,
72 hours after the incident.

•

Physical Attack: An attack on any part of your system
suspected of being a deliberate attack or sabotage that
disrupts system operations or had the intent to harm the
national security of the United States. Note: If burglary or
vandalism is suspected check Vandalism under Line 12
instead.

•

Cyber Event: A disruption on the electrical system and/or
communication system(s) caused by unauthorized
access to computer software and communications
systems or networks including hardware, software, and
data.

•

Major Transmission System Interruption: An event
has occurred that required action(s) to relieve voltage or
loading conditions; or transmission separation or
islanding has occurred.

•

Major Generation Inadequacy: Insufficient generation
exists to meet demand, or unexpected problems or
inadequacies develop that impact operational and/or
system reliability.

•

Major Distribution System Interruption: A significant
uncontrolled loss of load has occurred, or an unexpected
controlled loss of load is required.

•

Other: Check if the type of emergency is known, but not
one of those listed above or if the type of emergency is
unknown.

•

Additional Information/Comments: Include any
description of the type of emergency which can be
publically released.

Organization Filing section Lines 1 – 3
•

•

Line 1, Alert Status: check the Emergency Alert box if at
least one of criteria 1-8 apply; check Normal Alert box if
only one or more of criteria 9-12 apply; check Update box if
this filing is a re-submission due to important changes or
corrections from the prior submission; check Final box to
indicate this is the final report submitted for the incident,
which should be filed 72 hours after the incident or
disturbance was detected to have met one of the 12 criteria.
Lines 2 and 3: enter the name and address of the
organization filing the report.

Incident and Disturbance Data -- Completely fill out all parts
of Lines 4-13 that apply
•

•

•

•

Line 4 Geographic Area(s) Affected, enter the name of the
State(s) and political subdivision(s) (i.e., city, town, county,
etc.) affected by the incident. Please identify in general
terms the largest area affected by the incident. (This does
not represent a requirement to list all the cities and towns in a
region or State.) If you are unsure what geographic areas
are affected at the time of the initial submission of Schedule
1 of the form, check the unknown box; when the geographic
locations are determined fill in this data on line 4 of the form
and re-submit the form, checking the Update or Final Alert
Status box on line 1, as applicable.
Line 5 Date/Time Incident Began (mm-dd-yy/hh:mm),
enter the month, day, and year, the time, in 24-hour time
format, and check the appropriate time zone when that the
incident began.
Line 6 Date/Time Incident Ended (mm-dd-yy/hh:mm),
enter the month, day, and year, the time, in 24-hour time
format, and check the appropriate time zone when the event
no longer met any of the 12 criteria.
Line 7 Did the incident/disturbance originate in your
system/area?
If known, check the Yes or No box;
otherwise check the unknown box. If the unknown box is
checked at the time of initial submission, and later this is
determined, check the Yes or No box as applicable when re-

•

Line 11, Cause of Incident, check all of options that apply:
•

Complete Electrical System Failure: check if total
system failure occurred.

•

Electrical System Separation – Islanding: check if
Islanding has occurred.

•

Inadequate Electric Resources to Serve Load: check
if resource constraints have been identified or are
expected to happen that limit the availability of power
sources to serve load or if electric resources are not
available.

•

Actual or Potential Attack/Event: check if there was an
actual attack or reason to suspect that the disruption was

OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

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intentionally caused (or that there was an attempt), check
all of the following that may apply:
Physical Attack: for disruption of the system caused
by physical means such as destruction of property or an
attack on any security system.
Cyber Event: for disruption of the electrical system
and/or communication system caused by unauthorized
access to computer software and communications
systems or networks including hardware, software, and
data.
Vandalism -- the criteria for reporting of vandalism
have been separated into two parts. The primary
requirement is defined by the severity of impact.
i. Report incidents that include vandalism or threat
actions which attempt to or circumvent significant
security systems which protect key components used to
operate the Nation’s electric power systems have to be
reported at all times.
ii. A secondary reporting requirement on vandalism will
not be activated for much/all of the three-year clearance
cycle. This secondary requirement would be imposed
on reporting of all other types of attempts or damage
inflicted upon security protection within the electric
power industry (e.g., cutting of locks and fences), but
the obligation to report at this level and the duration of
time period for which these reports have to be will be
reviewed by DOE. If this becomes a reporting
requirement, DOE will notify the respondents that the
reporting threshold has to be met and will identify the
reporting population for the duration of reporting at that
level. The notification will be done by e-mail to the
respondents and by an alert to critical energy
infrastructure protection centers. The threat or other
determination that obligates’ DOE to activate this lower
reporting level is directly linked to national security
concerns.
•

Transmission Equipment: check if failure of or damage
to transmission equipment occurred, causing disruption to
service or reliability.

•

Loss of Part or All of a High Voltage Substation or
Switchyard: check if substations or switchyards (230+
kV AC or 200+ kV DC) were adversely affected, causing
disruption to service or reliability.

•

Weather or Natural Disaster: check if severe weather
(thunderstorms, ice storms, etc.) or natural disasters
(hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, solar activity, etc.) have
caused service disruption.

•

Operator Action(s): check if service or reliability
disruption is attributable to operator action.

•

Fuel Supply Deficiency: check if an existing or
anticipated fuel supply emergency situation occurred.

•

Unknown Cause: check if the cause of the disruption is
unknown.

•

Other: Check if the cause of the disruption is known, but
not one of those listed above.

•

•

Additional Information/Comments: Include any
description of the cause of the incident which can be
publically released.

Line 12, Actions Taken, check all of options that apply:

•

•

Shed Firm Load: check if, in order to maintain the bulk
power system, system operators called for load shedding
of 100 MW or greater of firm-load customers’ demand, or
if firm load customers were disconnected from the bulk
power system during emergency conditions.

•

Reduced Voltage: check if system wide voltage
reductions of 3 percent or greater were implemented.

•

Made Public Appeals: check if public appeals to reduce
the use of electricity for purposes of maintaining the
continuity of the bulk electric power system were issued.
Check only if appeals were issued during emergency
conditions. Do not check if appeals were energy
conservation related.

•

Implemented a Warning, Alert, or Contingency Plan:
check if existing short-term contingency plans were
implemented to reduce demand, maximize generation to
maintain the bulk power system, and/or address other
reliability issues.

•

Shed Interruptible Load: check if, in order to maintain
the bulk electric system, system operators called for load
shedding of 100 MW or greater of pre-selected
interruptible load customers’ demand, or if those
interruptible customers were disconnected from the bulk
power system during emergency conditions. Do not
check if terminations were under contract agreements
during normal operations.

•

Repaired/Restored: check if system was repaired or
restored.

•

Mitigation(s) Implemented: check if mitigations for the
event were implemented

•

Other: check if other actions were taken

•

Additional Information/Comments: Include any
description of the actions taken that which be publically
released.

For items that are unknown, check the “unknown” box,
and update that Line when the information becomes
available in as an update filing or final report.

Schedule 2
When to File: Lines 13-17 of Schedule 2 must be filed 1 or 6
hours after the incident. All of Schedule 2 must be filed within 72
hours of the incident along with an updated Schedule 1.
•

Lines 13-17 Name of Official that needs to be contacted for
follow up. Fill in contact information on official to contact for
follow up.

•

Line 18 Narrative: Provide a description of the incident and
actions to resolve it.

•

Provide an estimate when restoration of customers who are
able to receive power will be complete.

•

Provide the information on generators, lines system
reference, substations, system separation, etc causing or
impacted by the event.

•

Provide details of any unit, process, system or critical
component failures. Use additional sheets if necessary

SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS
Under its authorities, DOE may instigate a special investigation

OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

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into incidents affecting the electric power industry that involve
more than BAs and Reliability Coordinators. DOE may address
any energy concern or may contact any utility or business entity
that participates in the electric power industry for technical
information concerning a particular incident. These special
investigations are infrequent.

PROVISIONS REGARDING CONFIDENTIALITY
OF INFORMATION
The information reported on Schedule 1 will be considered
“public information” and may be publicly released in company
or individually identifiable form, and will not be protected from
disclosure in identifiable form.
All information on Schedule 2 of the form will be protected and
will not be disclosed to the public to the extent that it satisfies
the criteria for exemption under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA), 5 U.S.C. §552, the DOE regulations, 10 C.F.R.
§1004.11, implementing the FOIA, and the Trade Secrets Act,
18 U.S.C. §1905. The DOE will protect the information in
accordance with its confidentiality and security policies and
procedures.

FILING FORMS WITH THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT AND ESTIMATED REPORTING
BURDEN
Respondents are not required to file or reply to any Federal
collection of information unless it has a valid OMB control
number. The public reporting burden for Schedule 1 is
estimated to average 10 minutes per response and 2 hours for
Schedule 2, including reviewing the form and instructions,
gathering information, and submitting the form during an
emergency situation. In addition DOE estimates there will be
additional burden for refresher training of approximately 2 hour
annually for each entity subject to reporting on Form OE-417.
The burden per response has been calculated to be 2.03 hours
on average. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or
any other aspect of this collection of information including
suggestions for reducing this burden to: Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability, OE-30, Infrastructure Security
and Energy Restoration Division, 1000 Independence Avenue,
S.W., Washington, D.C. 20585; and to the Office of Information
and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget,
Washington, D.C. 20503.

The Federal Energy Administration Act requires the DOE to
provide company-specific protected data to other Federal
agencies when requested for official use. The information
reported on this form may also be made available, upon request,
to another component of DOE; to any Committee of Congress,
the General Accountability Office, or other Federal agencies
authorized by law to receive such information. A court of
competent jurisdiction may obtain this information in response to
an order. The information may be used for any nonstatistical
purposes such as administrative, regulatory, law enforcement, or
adjudicatory purposes.
Disclosure limitation procedures are applied to the statistical data
published from OE-417 survey information to ensure that the risk
of disclosure of identifiable information is very small.
The data collected on Form OE-417, Electric Emergency
Incident and disturbance Report will be used by DOE to meet its
overall national security and Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s National Response Framework responsibilities.

SANCTIONS
DOE is authorized to collect the information on Form OE-417
under the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Pub. L.
No. 93-275, 15 U.S.C. 761 et seq.) as amended, the Federal
Power Act (16 U.S.C 791a et seq.), the DOE Organization Act
(Public Law No. 95-91, 42 U.S.C. 7101 et seq.) as amended,
and the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, Sect. 209
(Public Law No. 95-317, 92 stat. 3117, 16 U.S.C. 824a-2). The
timely submission of Form OE-417 by those required to report is
mandatory under Section 13(b) of the Federal Energy
Administration Act of 1974 as amended. Failure to respond may
result in a penalty of not more than $2,750 per day for each civil
violation or a fine of not more than $5,000 per day for each
criminal violation. The government may bring a civil action to
prohibit reporting violations, which may result in a temporary
restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction without
bond. In such civil action, the court may also issue mandatory
injunctions commanding any person to comply with these
reporting requirements. Title 18 U.S.C. 1001 makes it a
criminal offense for any person knowingly and willingly to
make to any Agency or Department of the United States any
false, fictitious, or fraudulent statements as to any matter
within its jurisdiction.
OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

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U.S. Department of Energy
Electricity Delivery and Energy
Reliability
Form OE-417

ELECTRIC EMERGENCY
INCIDENT AND DISTURBANCE
REPORT

APPENDIX A

Form Approved
OMB No. 1901-0288
Approval Expires 01/31/15
Burden Per Response: 2.03 hours

QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE

WHEN TO REPORT
Incident

File if Meet Criteria

1. Physical attack

If causes major interruption or major negative impact on critical infrastructure facilities or to operations.

2. Cyber event

If causes interruptions of electrical system operations.

3. Complete operational failure of
electrical system
4. Electrical System Separation
(Islanding)

If isolated or interconnected electrical systems (transmission or distribution) suffer electrical system
collapse.
If part or parts of a power grid remain(s) operational in an otherwise blacked out area or within the
partial failure of an integrated electrical system.

5. Uncontrolled loss of firm system load

If 300 MW or more for greater than 15 minutes from a single incident.

6. Load shedding

If 100 MW or more implemented under emergency operational policy.

7. Voltage reductions

3 percent or more applied system-wide to maintaining the continuity of bulk electric system

8. Public appeal to reduce use of
electricity
9. Physical attack which targets any
security system or could impacts electric
power system reliability
10. Cyber event which could impact
electric power system reliability

If in emergency condition only to reduce demand.
If any component of any physical security system is damaged by an attack or is suspected to have
been altered or vandalism which targets components of any security systems.
If the attempt occurred or was mitigated before causing an interruption or impact.

11. Loss of electric service

If greater than 50,000 customers for 1 hour or more.

12. Fuel supply emergencies

Fuel inventories or hydro project water storage levels at 50 percent or less of normal, with projected
continued downward trend; emergency generation requiring abnormal use of a particular fuel.

WHO MUST REPORT
Entity – Functional Responsibility
Electric Utilities

What is Excluded
There are no exclusions allowed. All items need to be addressed.

Balancing Authority (BA)
Reliability Coordinators (RC)
Generating Entities
Local Utilities in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the U.S. Territories
Computer, telecommunication, and physical
security offices that support the BA, RC, and
electric utility or located within the entity

Reporting on the count of customers (and the amount of load, if the BA is based at a Regional
Transmission Organization (RTO) or Independent System Operator) is required only for the
Final Report. A BA located in vertically integrated utilities, a municipality, federal utility, stateowned or cooperative will report the amount of load and counts of customers.
Reporting on the count of customers is excluded. If the RC has an agreement with the RTO to
supply the customer counts, the RC can supply this information
Entities who have 300MW or more of generation detected to one or more end-use customers
are required to file the form under criterion #5.
If the local electrical system is less than 300 MW, then only file if criteria 1, 2, 3 or 4 are met.
These support centers or offices can file information, in lieu of the emergency offices, on
incident types 1, 2, 9 or 10 in direct submissions to DOE. These support centers or offices will
address no other incident types.

WHEN TO SUBMIT
Schedule

Time Limit

Submit Emergency Alert - Schedule 1 and
lines 13-17 of Schedule 2
Submit Normal Alert - Schedule 1 and lines
13-17 of Schedule 2
Submit Update - Schedule 1 and lines 13-17
of Schedule 2
Submit Final - Schedule 1 and Schedule 2

Within 1 hour after the incident if any of criteria 1-8 is met.
Within 6 hours after the incident if any of criteria 9-12 is met and criteria 1-8 has not been met.
As applicable after initial submission if significant new information is available or if significant
changes occurred since submission.
Within 72 hours after incident.

HOW TO SUBMIT
How

Website/E-mail Address/Phone Number

Online

http://www.oe.netl.doe.gov/oe417.aspx

E-mail

[email protected]

Telephone (Staffed 24/7)

(202) 586-8100

Fax

(202) 586-8485 (only when other methods are not available)
OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

Page 6

APPENDIX B
GLOSSARY

Balancing Authority (BA): The responsible entity that integrates resource plans ahead of time, maintains load-interchange-generation
balance within a Balancing Authority Area, and supports Interconnection frequency in real time.
Complete Operational Failure: An emergency event where an electrically isolated or interconnected electrical system suffers total
system collapse that results in the shutdown of the transmission and/or distribution electrical system. If communications are affected,
then reporting is done as soon as practical after restoration of an operational control center.
Cyber Event: A disruption on the electrical system and/or communication system(s) caused by unauthorized access to computer
software and communications systems or networks including hardware, software, and data.
Cyber/computer/telecom: Cyber/computer systems are those used in a power entity organization for electric power operations, power
marketing or corporate IT (information technology) functions.
Electric Utility: A corporation, person, agency, authority, or other legal entity or instrumentality aligned with distribution facilities for
delivery of electric energy for use primarily by the public. Included are investor-owned electric utilities, municipal and State utilities,
Federal electric utilities, and rural electric cooperatives. A few entities that are tariff based and corporately aligned with companies that
own distribution facilities are also included
Electrical System Separation – Islanding: Part or parts of the utility grid remain(s) operational in an otherwise blacked out area.
Firm Load: Power provided to customers that is continuously available on demand and which is subject to interruption only under
extreme circumstances.
Fuel Supply Emergency: Existing or anticipated fuel supply situations that could threaten continuity of the bulk electric power supply
system, including:
1.

Fuel inventories or hydro project water storage levels at 50 percent or less of normal, with a projected continued downward
trend.

2.

Emergency generation requiring abnormal use of a particular fuel with the potential to reduce supply or stocks to a level that
threatens the reliability or adequacy of electric service.

Generating Entity: Any combination of physically connected generators, reactors, boilers, combustion turbines, and other prime
movers operated together to produce electric power.
Independent System Operator (ISO): An independent entity that coordinates regional transmission in a manner that is nondiscriminatory against any transmission owners, operators or users, and ensures a safe and reliable electric system.
Interruptible Load: This Demand-Side Management category represents the consumer load that, in accordance with contractual
arrangements, can be interrupted at the time of annual peak load by the action of the consumer at the direct request of the system
operator. Reporting on the Form OE-417 is limited to those interruptions implemented under emergency operational policy or
contingency plans.
Major Distribution System Interruption: Loss of load has occurred in a controlled or uncontrolled fashion that exceeds the reporting
thresholds.
Major Generation Inadequacy: When there is insufficient generation to meet demand, forcing a service interruption or disruption.
Major Transmission Interruption: The disruption of the movement or transfer of electric energy over an interconnected group of lines
and associated equipment between points of supply and points at which it is transformed for delivery to other electric systems that will
deliver it in their distribution systems to end-use consumers. Major interruptions are those disruptions that impact the reliability of the
electrical system that cannot be addressed by use of alternate transmission paths or cause the potential of additional system disabling
contingencies. These transmission events require action(s) to relieve voltage or loading conditions, or transmission separation or
islanding has occurred.
Regional Transmission Organization (RTO): Independent entities that control and operate regional electric transmission grids free
of any discriminatory practices.
Reliability Coordinators: The entity that is the highest level of authority who is responsible for the reliable operation of the Bulk
Electric System, has the Wide Area view of the Bulk Electric System, and has the operating tools, processes and procedures, including
the authority to prevent or mitigate emergency operating situations in both next-day analysis and real-time operations.
Telecommunications: Critical telecommunications are those systems that are essential for the power industry system operation
including wireline and wireless, both voice and data.
Transmission Operator: The entity responsible for the reliability of its “local” transmission system, and that operates or directs the
operations of the transmission facilities.
Voltage Reduction: Any intentional reduction of system voltage for reasons of maintaining the continuity of service of the bulk electric
system.

OE-417, Electric Emergency Incident and Disturbance Report

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