Fact Sheet February 2008

Transcription

1 i Meter Set Protection Workshop Fact Sheet February 2008 Program Agenda Meeting will occur at the AGA office, 400 North Capitol Street, NW, Washington, DC Union Station Room, 4 th Floor (Open to Full and Limited AGA Members) Program Description: The locating of meter sets must include an analysis of potential physical damage from outside forces. Damages to meter sets from outside forces include vehicular damage, damages from extreme weather conditions, e.g. heavy snow and ice, as well as damage from outdoor gardening heavy equipment, e.g. lawnmowers and weed whackers. PHMSA defines vehicular damage and damages caused by extreme weather conditions as other outside force damage, a subset of outside force damage. Other outside forces is one of the leading causes of serious pipeline incidents (leading to death or injuries). The key focus of PHMSA and the purpose of this workshop are to identify practices for protecting meter sets from outside forces. Wednesday, October 30, :00 am Event Registration and Continental Breakfast 9:00 am Welcome Address Dave McCurdy, President & CEO 9:05 am Introduction and Opening Remarks Christina Sames, VP, Operations & Engineering Review AGA Antitrust Compliance Guidelines Discuss objective of the workshop and review agenda 9:15 am PHMSA Opening Remarks Cynthia L. Quarterman, PHMSA Administrator 9:45 am Statistics on Meter Incidents Blaine Keener, CATS Coordinator U.S. Department of Transportation 10:30 am Break 10:45 am Open Forum Discussion PHMSA will participate in this open forum, the purpose of which is to help PHMSA in understanding what industry is doing to reduce incidents. For more information, contact: Nneka Assing, nassing@aga.org, Page 1 of 5

2 Wednesday, October 30, 2013 (continued) 10:45 am Open Forum Discussion Questions 12:00 pm Lunch 1. Are there guidelines you are following on the placement of meters to protect them from vehicular damage or heavy ice/snow? 2. Does your state dictate when you put barriers around meters? If so, what factors does your state require you to consider? 3. What is the leading threat that you see to above ground gas structures and meters, outside of bad drivers or drivers that are impaired? 4. Is there a set distance that should be considered as a proper setback to protect meters from vehicular incidents (a distance from the roadway/driveway where protection is not needed for meters)? 5. For strip malls, commercial areas and multi-family units, is the developer responsible for installing barricades around meters that could be hit as a condition of service? 6. How are you addressing these risks to meters and other above ground infrastructure? 12:50 pm Mitigating Risks Associated with Meter Sets Charlie Higgins Senior Advisor Distribution Operations Support Union Gas Limited A Spectra Energy Company Bollard Composition and Other Product Specifications Jeff Erickson Territory Manager, C.R. Wall & Co. Inc. Union Gas has recently completed year 2 of a 5 year program to mitigate the risk associated with approximately 23,000 meter-sets deemed to be at risk from vehicular damage. The Union Gas project team developed several innovative meter-protection methods and new tools that will be shared during this session. Approaches include a no-dig, live insertion of an EFV positioned in the riser below ground, and use of portable hydro-vac unit and compaction device to install barricade posts with no ground restoration required. Union Gas presentation will also discuss the bollards they use to protect their meters and how they install the bollards. CR Wall, the supplier, will display the bollards and explain their composition and other specific product details. For more information, contact: Nneka Assing, nassing@aga.org, Page 2 of 5

3 Wednesday, October 30, 2013 (continued) 1:40 pm Key Practices and Lessons Learned in Preventing Damage for Gas Meter Sets Paul Pirro, Technical Support Leader Business Development & Technical Services Public Service Electric and Gas Company 2:20 pm Break PSE&G will share current practices and lessons learned in providing damage protection for gas meter sets. This review will cover various ways of protecting gas meter assets from damage caused by vehicle collision, water infiltration, freezing conditions, and sediment particles from the gas distribution system. 2:30 pm Xcel Energy Meter Guard Lisa Kallberg, Gas Pipeline Compliance Consultant Xcel Energy In 2010 Xcel Energy performed a comprehensive review of its aboveground facility protect procedures and the design of the protection. Xcel Energy worked closely with Minnesota state regulators to revise the procedures and developed a plan to install protection at locations that had been identified using the new criteria. Xcel Energy will explain the field testing of various designs that were conducted, research of other codes and standards, and the revised procedures. Union Station 3:05 pm Overview of Breakout Group Roundtable Discussion Format Nneka Assing, Director, Engineering Services Discuss format and objectives of the breakout group roundtable discussions 3:15 pm Move to Session 1 Breakout Group Roundtable Discussions 3:20 pm Breakout Group Roundtable Discussions Session 1 Topic Vehicular Damage Other Outside Force Damages Meeting Room AGA Team Center Senate Room Facilitator Lisa Hurley, Pacific Gas Robert Hayden, Washington & Electric Gas Breakout Group Group 1 Group 2 Identify practices to address challenges and discuss benefits and considerations for implementation of practices. 5:10 pm Adjourn for the day; resumes the following day at 7:45 am 5:30 pm Cocktail Reception For more information, contact: Nneka Assing, nassing@aga.org, Page 3 of 5

4 Thursday, October 31, :00 am Continental Breakfast 7:45 am Meter Protection Practices at NiSource Gas Distribution Charlie Zambito, Standards Specialist NiSource Corporate Services Pipeline Safety & Compliance NiSource s presentation will discuss their company practices to protect meters from vehicular damages including methods to protect residential and small commercial meter settings from vehicular damages. NiSource s presentation will also discuss factors to consider when selecting a meter location, including snow and ice hazards. 8:20 am Break and Move to Session 2 Breakout Group Roundtable Discussions 8:25 am Breakout Group Roundtable Discussions Session 2 10:20 am Break Topic Vehicular Damage Other Outside Force Damages Meeting Room Union Station Room Senate Room Facilitator Lisa Hurley, Pacific Gas Robert Hayden, Washington & Electric Gas Breakout Group Group 2 Group 1 Identify practices to address challenges and discuss benefits and considerations for implementation of practices. 10:35 am Summary of Meter Protection Practices and Key Issues from Breakout Group Discussions 11:15 am Closing Remarks The roundtable facilitators for the two topic areas will review the practices utilized to address the shared challenges and unique practices implemented by some operators. Summary Presentation for Vehicular Damage: 10:35 10:55 am Summary Presentation for Other Outside Force Damages: 10:55 11:15 am Disclaimer: The information to be presented at the workshop represents unaudited information. Anyone using the workshop materials should rely on his or her own independent judgment or, as appropriate, seek the advice of a competent professional. The workshop materials are not intended to bind any company or state a company's official position. For more information, contact: Nneka Assing, nassing@aga.org, Page 4 of 5

5 AMERICAN GAS ASSOCIATION ANTITRUST COMPLIANCE GUIDELINES Introduction The and its member companies are committed to full compliance with all laws and regulations, and to maintaining the highest ethical standards in the way we conduct our operations and activities. Our commitment includes strict compliance with federal and state antitrust laws, which are designed to protect this country s free competitive economy. Responsibility for Antitrust Compliance Compliance with the antitrust laws is a serious business. Antitrust violations may result in heavy fines for corporations, and in fines and even imprisonment for individuals. While the General Counsel s Office provides guidance on antitrust matters, you bear the ultimate responsibility for assuring that your actions and the actions of any of those under your direction comply with the antitrust laws. Antitrust Guidelines In all AGA operations and activities, you must avoid any discussions or conduct that might violate the antitrust laws or even raise an appearance of impropriety. The following guidelines will help you do that: Do consult counsel about any documents that touch on sensitive antitrust subjects such as pricing, market allocations, refusals to deal with any company, and the like. Do consult with counsel on any non-routine correspondence that requests an AGA member company to participate in projects or programs, submit data for such activities, or otherwise join other member companies in AGA actions. Do use an agenda and take accurate minutes at every meeting. Have counsel review the agenda and minutes before they are put into final form and circulated and request counsel to attend meetings where sensitive antitrust subjects may arise. Do provide these guidelines to all meeting participants. Do not, without prior review by counsel, have discussions with other member companies about: your company s prices for products, assets or services, or prices charged by your competitors costs, discounts, terms of sale, profit margins or anything else that might affect those prices the resale prices your customers should charge for products or assets you sell them allocating markets, customers, territories products or assets with your competitors limiting production whether or not to deal with any other company any competitively sensitive information concerning your own company or a competitor s. Do not stay at a meeting, or any other gathering, if those kinds of discussions are taking place. Do not discuss any other sensitive antitrust subjects (such as price discrimination, reciprocal dealing, or exclusive dealing agreements) without first consulting counsel. Do not create any documents or other records that might be misinterpreted to suggest that AGA condones or is involved in anticompetitive behavior. We re Here to Help Whenever you have any question about whether particular AGA activities might raise antitrust concerns, contact the General Counsel s Office, Ph: (202) ; GCO@aga.org, or your legal counsel. Office of General Counsel Issued: December 1997 Revised: December 2008