Section 411.10  Purpose

a)         The Commission's policies for reliability of facilities and service have been developed from the following basic principles incorporated in the Public Utilities Act.

1)         Reliability encompasses more than statistical data, and the simple absence or occurrence of outages alone may not reflect the true system reliability. The risks of future outages, as indicated by the age, condition, design, and performance of transmission and distribution facilities and by a jurisdictional entity's investment in the maintenance, repair, replacement, and upgrade of its facilities and equipment, are no less important than the past occurrence of outages in assessing system reliability.

2)         Potential service reliability improvements should be evaluated considering the costs and benefits of the improvements to the jurisdictional entity and to customers.

3)         Reliable electric service is essential to the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the State of Illinois.

b)         Accordingly, this Part is adopted for the purposes stated herein and should be interpreted in a manner consistent with the policies stated herein and in a manner that accomplishes the specific objectives set out in this Part. Ends to be served by this Part are listed below.

1)         To define clearly the Commission's process of assessing electric service reliability.

2)         To assure the reliable delivery of electricity to all customers in this State.

3)         To assure the effective implementation of amendments to the Public Utilities Act relating to the reliable provision of transmission and distribution or delivery services in a competitive environment.

4)         To adopt, as required by law, rules and regulations for assessing, and assuring, the reliability of the transmission and distribution systems and facilities that are under the Commission's jurisdiction.

5)         To establish uniform measurements to assess transmission, distribution and delivery service and to establish reporting requirements that routinely and periodically inform the Commission about the reliability of transmission and distribution systems under its jurisdiction.

6)         To allow the Commission to monitor more effectively the reliability of the transmission and distribution systems over which power and energy from all electric suppliers will be transported to consumers in the State.

7)         To provide adequate information for the Commission to monitor aspects of reliability in addition to interruptions.