Regulations in Power Generation 1

Regulations in Power Generation Facilities

By Jenniffer Zillmer

Lakeland College

BA770 Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business

December 2, 2018
Regulations in Power Generation 2

Table of Contents

History…………………………………………………………………………….……...3

Regulations in the Power Generation………………………………………………..…...6

Inspections and Penalties……………………………………………………………..…..8

Employee training…………………………………………………………….…………..9

Sierra Club v. Wisconsin Power & Light……………………………………………….11

Summary…………………………………………………………………………

References………………………………………………………………………..

Appendix 1: Alliant Energy OHSA Inspection Report One…………………..…

Appendix 2: Alliant Energy OSHA Inspection Report Two……………………..

Appendix 3: Interview with Anonymous…………………………………………

Regulations in Power Generation 3

It seems so simple, that a light switch turns on the lights. A remote turns on the

television. A simple airwave signal now transmits silly memes across the nation to another

family member or friend. Yet without electricity, none of it would happen, the country would

literally sit at a standstill until alternative sources of energy could be found. Power generation

comes in many facets from hydroelectric, coal-fired, wind, solar and natural gas and new energy

technologies are being developed every day.

History

Depending on which history you choose to believe or which you hear, there were

numerous variations of electric motor generators developed from approximately 1740 through

the 1870’s, but from then on the industrialized world has relied on power to light on run almost

everything (Harvey, Larson and Patel, 2017). It is a long history that has been tied to Wisconsin

since prior to 1919 and the development of the Oneida Street Station that utilized an advanced

technology of pulverized coal to create a more efficient boiler (Harvey, Larson and Patel, 2017).

This development of technology and advancement of new strategy has continued in Wisconsin

with numerous companies with Wisconsin Power & Light, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy.

The new emission control technology implemented at Edgewater Generating Station, a

state-of-the-art air quality control system was anticipated to cost over $413 Million, but proper

planning, engineering and modern technology choices allowed the project to close much closer

to $235 Million (Harvey, 2017). This has also reduced the plant SO2 by at least 90 percent and 60

ton of particulate matter per year (Harvey, 2017). Unfortunately, not all of the new technology is

by choice and in some cases it causes decisions to be made that may appear to place the cost of

regulations ahead of employee health.

Regulations in the Power Generation

Regulations in Power Generation 4

Inspections and Penalties

Serious violation “The floor of each workroom is maintained in a clean and, to the extent

feasible, in a dry condition. When wet processes are used, drainage must be maintained and, to

the extent feasible, dry standing places, such as false floors, platforms, and mats must be

provided.” (Walking working surfaces, 2018).

Other violation “Conductors entering cutout boxes, cabinets, or fittings shall be protected from

abrasion, and openings through which conductors enter shall be effectively closed.” (Wiring

methods, components, and equipment for general use, 2018).

Employee training

Sierra Club v. Wisconsin Power & Light

Summary
Regulations in Power Generation 5

References

Anonymous. (2018, November 28). Interview by Jenniffer Lynn Zillmer. Senior Generation

Safety Specialist. Occupational health and safety regulations in power generation

facilities.

Harvey, A. (2017). A breath of cleaner air on the Lake Michigan shore. Retrieved December 2,

2018 from

https://www.powermag.com/a-breath-of-cleaner-air-on-the-lake-michigan-shore

Harvey, A., Larson, A. and Patel, S. (2017). History of power: the evolution of the electric

generation industry. Power Magazine. Retrieved December 2, 2018 from

https://www.powermag.com/history-of-power-the-evolution-of-the-electric-generation-in

dustry/

Jennings, M. (2015). Business: Its legal, ethical, and global environment (10th ed.). Stamford,

CT: Cengage Learning.

Power. (2017). Award-winning coal-fired power plants. Retrieved December 2, 2018 from

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/power-magazine-announces-award-winning-

coal-fired-power-plants-300528108.html

Sierra Club v. Wisconsin Power & Light. (2010). 13-cv-00266/265. Retrieved December 2, 2018

from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/wisconsinpower-cd.pdf

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Alliant Energy (US DL

1115824.015). Retrieved December 2, 2018 from:

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1115824.015
Regulations in Power Generation 6

U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2016). Alliant Energy (US DL

1116185.015). Retrieved December 2, 2018 from:

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/establishment.inspection_detail?id=1116185.015

U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (2018).

Implementation of the 2018 annual adjustment pursuant to the Federal Civil Penalties

Inflation Adjustment Act Improvement Act of 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2018 from

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/standardinterpretations/2018-01-03

“Walking working surfaces”. Code of Federal Regulations, title 29 (2018): 1910.22(a)(2).

Retrieved December 2, 2018 from

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.22

“Wiring methods, components, and equipment for general use”. Code of Federal Regulations,

title 29 (2018): 1910.305(b)(1). Retrieved from

https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs/regulations/standardnumber/1910/1910.305
Regulations in Power Generation 7

Appendix One:

Alliant Energy Inspection Report 1115824.015

Inspection Detail

Case Status: CLOSED

Inspection: 1115824.015 - Alliant Energy - Edgewater Generation Station

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton

Open Date:
Nr: 1115824.015 Report ID: 0521100
01/06/2016

Alliant Energy - Edgewater Generation Station

3739 Lakeshore Dr.

Union Status: Union
Sheboygan, WI 53081

SIC:

NAICS: 221112/Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation

Mailing: 3739 Lakeshore Dr., Sheboygan, WI 53081

Inspection Type: Complaint

Regulations in Power Generation 8

Scope: Partial Advanced Notice: N

Ownership: Private

Safety/Health: Health Close Conference: 01/27/2016

Emphasis: N:Dustexpl Close Case: 05/27/2016

Related Activity: Type ID Safety Health

Complaint 1047592 Yes

Complaint 1047592 Yes

Case Status: CLOSED

Violation Summary

Serious Willful Repeat Other Unclass Total

Initial Violations 2 2

Current Violations 2 2

Initial Penalty $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

Current Penalty $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0

FTA Amount $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Regulations in Power Generation 9

Violation Items

LastEven
# ID Type Standard Issuance Abate Curr$ Init$ Fta$ Contest
t

1. 01001 Other 19100146 C02 03/15/2016 04/21/2016 $0 $0 $0 Z - Issued

2. 01002 Other 19101200 F06 03/15/2016 04/21/2016 $0 $0 $0 Z - Issued

Regulations in Power Generation 10

Appendix Two:

Alliant Energy Inspection Report 1115824.015

Inspection Detail

Case Status: CLOSED

Inspection: 1116185.015 - Alliant Energy - Edgewater

Generation Station

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton

Open Date:
Nr: 1116185.015 Report ID: 0521100
01/06/2016

Alliant Energy - Edgewater Generation Station

3739 Lakeshore Dr.

Union Status: Union
Sheboygan, WI 53081

SIC:

NAICS: 221112/Fossil Fuel Electric Power Generation

Mailing: 3739 Lakeshore Dr., Sheboygan, WI 53081

Regulations in Power Generation 11

Inspection Type: Complaint

Scope: Partial Advanced Notice: N

Ownership: Private

Safety/Health: Safety Close Conference: 01/27/2016

Emphasis: L:Fall Close Case: 04/07/2016

Related Activity: Type ID Safety Health

Complaint 1047592 Yes

Complaint 1047592 Yes

Case Status: CLOSED

Violation Summary

Serious Willful Repeat Other Unclass Total

Initial Violations 1 1 2

Current Violations 1 1 2

Initial Penalty $3,060 $0 $0 $0 $0 $3,060

Current Penalty $2,142 $0 $0 $0 $0 $2,142

FTA Amount $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Regulations in Power Generation 12

Violation Items

Abat Ft
# ID Type Standard Issuance Curr$ Init$ Contest LastEvent
e a$

1 04/12 I - Informal
01001 Serious 19100022 A02 03/15/2016 $2,142 $3,060 $0
. /2016 Settlement

2 19100305 B01 I - Informal

02001 Other 03/15/2016 $0 $0 $0
. II Settlement
Regulations in Power Generation 13

Appendix Three:

Interview with Anonymous

1. How long have you been employed with the company?

6 ½ years.

2. What is your company title?

Maintenance Manager.

3. What are your main job responsibilities?

I oversee the mechanical, electrical, controls and instrumentation, planning and scheduling,

janitorial, and storeroom functions at the Edgewater Generating Station. Our Plant

Engineer, Senior Safety Coordinator, and an intern also report to me.

4. How does OSHA affect the way in which your facility operates?

OSHA, obviously, is the law of the land. Wisconsin falls under the federal OSHA program

and, generally speaking, we work under their General Industry standard. We also at times

fall under their Construction standards.

That answer, however, really doesn’t get to the heart of the question. First among our six

company values, principles that guide our business and interactions with each other and our

customers, is “Live safety. Everyone. Always.”

5. What are some common causes of injuries at your facility?

It seems that our major source of injuries over the past few years is stress- and strain-related.

The cause of these injuries, however… that’s a good question. Some claim that this is an

aging workforce issue, as if workers will inevitably suffer this sort of injury. That seems

pretty fatalistic, as if we have no control over our results. That doesn’t set well with me. I’m
Regulations in Power Generation 14

aware of heavy manufacturing facilities that have gone 1M+ work-hours without a

recordable injury. I think that we can do better than what our recent safety records show.

Our company’s focusing on pre-job stretching, hazard awareness, and other efforts to get to

the root of these injuries. I think that these initiatives are having a positive impact. And still

we have more work remaining.

6. What are some actions your company takes to prevent injuries?

In addition to the efforts mentioned above, we’ve:

● Deployed a “wrenching gym” to train workers to position themselves so that they’re

“in the power zone” when performing actions that could result in stress or strain.

● Initiated a “tools at height” program to protect personnel from items dropped from

scaffolds, elevated platforms, etc.

● Replaced several aged and failure-prone tools, such as our largest all-terrain

personnel lift, mobile crane, all-terrain fork lift, boom truck, etc.

● Implemented a “Top 10 Safety Work Orders” process to prioritize and work off our

backlog of industrial safety-related Work Orders.

● Implemented a Safety Management System (SMS), a process for collecting and

responding to employee safety suggestions, near misses, good catches, and safety

observations.

● Gotten employees more involved with our Lock Out / Tag Out program via periodic

program audits.

● Gotten employees and our safety committee involved in our monthly safety

walkdowns.
Regulations in Power Generation 15

● Of course, also included are all sorts of regulatory-required and job-specific safety

training.

7. What types of training does the average employee participate in?

In addition to that mentioned above, each trade or craft has safety training specific to their

role. For example, there’s training on hand tools, power tools, fall protection, asbestos,

electrical safety, forklift operations, combustible gases, confined spaces, rescue team, fire

extinguisher, first aid, CPR, etc., etc.

8. What are some of the safety training topics covered?

In addition to the above, we’ve put a fair bit of effort into training folks on hazard

recognition. I realize that this seems kind of basic, but the choices a person makes to protect

themselves from hazards depends almost entirely on effectively recognizing hazards in the

first place.

9. How do you know if your safety training program is successful or not?

There are, of course, backward-looking measures such as we see on the OSHA 300 log, and

we’re seeing improvements there. We also track preventative vehicle accidents, another

backward-looking measure; we’re seeing improvements here, too. We also have a number of

forward-looking measures, such as SMS (Safety Management System) items initiated,

industrial safety-related Work Orders completed, and so on. We’re making good progress on

these fronts, too.

Consider SMS items as an example. We went from a little-used paper-based safety suggestion

process to a new digital system. We previously had only a handful of safety suggestions

annually. Today, with SMS, we’re collecting literally hundreds of near misses, good catches,
Regulations in Power Generation 16

and safety observations. I feel that we’re really starting to get to the base of the safety

pyramid.

That said, I think that there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Off-the-job safety, for

example, is an area where we could improve. We still have employees getting hurt, severely

hurt, in off-the-job safety incidents. A person who’s hurt at home is just as hurt, just as

unavailable for work, and has just as many long-term consequences as if they were hurt at

work.

A further way I recognize the success of a safety program is by watching the organization’s

leaders. Do they walk the talk?

10. How does your company protect itself from a lawsuit in the event of a major accident?

Follow our corporate values of “Do the right thing.” and “Care for others.” Understand

and follow the regulations – at a minimum – but don’t necessarily stop there. Document your

efforts. And if it gets to that point, we work with our risk management and legal teams.

11. Have you ever had an experience of a company that willfully did not comply with an OSHA

standard?

OSHA standard, no. Department of Natural Resources standard, yes – several times.

12. What do you feel is the best practice in working with OSHA if a violation has occurred?

On the company’s part, honesty, transparency, and a sense of urgency to correct whatever

problem the inspector’s identified. Work with the regulators / investigators. It’s very likely

that their input will help us get better. In any event, dishonesty, opaqueness, and

foot-dragging will eventually be discovered and these will result in a far worse outcome than

the original violation.

13. Are there standards that your company finds difficult to comply with?
Regulations in Power Generation 17

The combustible dust standard comes to mind. Ours is one of the cleanest coal-fired power

plants I’ve ever seen. And still we have challenges, especially in freezing weather when it’s

difficult to safely wash coal dust in some of our coal handling areas. To that end our

corrective coal dust-related Work Orders are always a top priority. We’re also performing a

number of equipment and process improvements to address the root cause of those chronic

coal dust issues that remain.

Otherwise, I’m not aware of OSHA standards that we’re having trouble meeting. This would

be a good topic for me to discuss with our Senior Safety Specialist, I’d probably learn of

some issues that we can work on together.

14. Are there standards that your company goes above and beyond OSHA, if so why?

Again, I’m not aware of any such situation; maybe that’s simply due to my belief that OSHA

standards are a “cost of doing business.” This, too, would be another good topic for me to

discuss with our Senior Safety Specialist.