ML19246B588
| ML19246B588 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 05/18/1979 |
| From: | Creitz W Metropolitan Edison Co |
| To: | US President's Commission on Three Mile Island (TMI) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19246B589 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7907180034 | |
| Download: ML19246B588 (6) | |
Text
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TESTIMONY AT MIDDLETOWN, PA., MAY 18, 1979 BY WALTER M. CREIT', PRESIDENT ON ME*ROPOLITAN EDISON CCMPANY ORGANIZATION SEFORE THE PRESIDEN~'S COMMISSION ON THE ACCIDENT AT "'HREE MILE ISLAND Mr. Chairman and Members of the Cc==ission:
I wish to thank you for this opportunity to appear here today.
I as Walter M. Creitz, President of Metropolitan Edison Co. (Met-Ed).
First, let =e state that we at Met-Ed do regret the inconveniences and fears that were created as a result of the unique March 28 accident at TMI.
We are comforted that no one was injured and that no property was da= aged.
My primary purpose today is to describe the cc=pany, who we are and where After I briefly discuss so=e of the general aspects of the company we serve.
and its operations, J. G. Herbein, the Vice President - Generation, will further describe the aspects of the operations of the Generation'Oivision and core specifically tha Three Mile Island (TMI) Nuclear Generation Station organization.
COMPANY BACKGROUND The mission of Me -Ed Company is to stpply the elec.tric energy needs of its consumers reliably and at a fair cost.
The chargos are subject to the approval of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commis sion for retail customers and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for wholesale customers.
Met-Ed, a wholly-owned subsidiary of General Public Utilities Corporation (GPU), is an electric public utility engaged in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity.
The present service area of the Ccepany resulted free the merger through the years of sece 300 small, local electric cecpanies, tha first of which was the Reading Electric Company forced in 1883 Met-Ed today serves core than 350,000 customers in 14 eastern and south-central Pennsylvania counties.
A population of cpprcximately 850,000 lives in Met-Ed's L
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3,274-square-mile service area which extends from near the New York line in eastern Pennsylvania to a few =iles west of Certysburg along the Mason-Dixon Line.
Included in this service area are the cities of Easton, Lebanon, Reading and York, 159 townships and 97 boroughs.
The "et-Ed service area consistently has an une= ploy =cr record a=cng the lowest in the nation.
It includes a broad range of =anufacturing industries, rich agricultural lands, and is noted for its recreation, touris and vacation facilities.
Abou t 40% of the Met-Ed area work force is engaged in manufacturing and so=e 51% of the work force is in service-related t.nd co==urcial activities.
Met-Ed, with Corporate headquarters near Reading, Pa., has 2,774 employee-as of April 30 and is organized along functional lines.
For operating purposes, other than generation, the co=pany is broken in_to four divisions with head-quarters at asading, Easton, Lebanon and York.
The divisions are further divided into 14 Districts.
ORGANIZAT!CN I report to the Met-Ed Board of Directors of which W. G. Kuhns is Chair =an.
He is also Chairman of the Boards of the other subsidiaries -- Jersey Central Power &
Light Cc=pany, Pennsylvania Electric Co. and CPU Service Corporation.
In addition, Mr. Kuhns is Chairman of the parent company, General Public Utili:1es Corporation.
Reporting to =e as President are:
Vice President - Financial Vice President - Enginecring Vice President - Generation Vice President - Consu=er Affairs Vice President - Operations Cc=ptroller Secretary and Staff Counsel Treaturer Operating Division Managers (Four)
Director - Hu=an Rescurces Director - Materials Manage =ent Manager - Corporate Projects Assistant to the President for Censu=er Relations
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The Vice President-Financial is also chief financial officer for all CPU subsidiaries es well as 'he parent Corporation.
So cuch for the Company and who operates it.
E"ERCT USE & SUPPLY Who uses the electric energy supplied by Met-Ed?
Cur residential custocers use about 30".; co==ercial approximately 20% and industrial approxicately 40%.
Comparing 1978 and 1977, custo=er usage increased approximately 7", yet the nu=ber of new customers only increased 27..
I should point out that this is a growth rate that, if continued, would double the use of electricity in a decade.
This occurred despite conservation, load =anage=ent and no promotional activi-ties.
More of the customer use and production figures are available in the attached 1973 Annual Report.
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What did the electric energy cost the Met-Ed consumer? When expressed in the ter=s of the cost per kilcwatt-hour for all Met-Ed customers, on the average in 1978, they paid 3.80d, or over 4 less than the 3 97d paid in 1977.
Focusing on residential custo=ers, in 1978 the average cost per kilowatt-hour was 4.64 also over 4% less ~" n the 4.Sd in 1977.
The 3.80d per kilowatt hour for all classes of customers is the third lowest among the 14 inveetor-owned electric utilities in the state.
It is also the second lowest a=ong the companies in the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (?JM) Interconnection.
The powe'r pool covers cost of Pennsylvania, all of New Jersey, Delaware, and "ashington, D. C., plus parts of Maryland and Virginia.
Met-Ed, as well as sister operating co=panies, is a member of the PJM Interconnection and as such benefits from the increased reliability and availability of power.
. The Cc=pany's installed generating capacity at the end of 1978 was 2,021,000 kilowatts (su==er ratings ), about 26% over 1977 which reflects the addition of Met-Ed's 50% ownership of TMI-2.
Met-Ed owns the following generating facilities:
Station Su==er Cacabilitv Ener:v Sour:e
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Portland 404,000 KW )
Coal Titus 234,000 KW )
45 Coal
- Cone =augh 280,000 KW )
Coal
- York Haven 19,000 KW l
Hydro
- Three Mile Island 828,000 KW 41 Nuclear Combustion Turbines 266.000 KW 13 011 Total 2,031,000 KW 100
- The ownership of these stations is shared by others.
The capabilities shown are the Met-Ed portions.
- York Haven is owned by the York Haven Power Co=pany, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Met-Ed.
The generation =ix by energy type for 1978 was:
58% coal; 38% nuclear;
- % cil and 2% hydro.
TMI OVERVIEW Directing =y attention to TMI, I have three pri=ary sources for overview.
The first is through the Vice President-Generation who has the responsibility to keep =e aware of his functions and the activities of our generating stations.
The second one is the Nuclear Plant Manage =ent Review which Her=an Dieckamp descrioed in his testi=any and of which I a= a =e=ber.
Finally I have repor:ing to =e a group called the Three Mile Island General Office Review Board (GOR 3).
I thought it vould be helpful for =e to tell you = ore about GOR 3.
The primary responsibility of GOR 3 is to advise me of potentially significant nuclear and radiation safety proble=s of TMI.
The Board is a senior =anagement level review tea =, whose me=bers represent various disciplines and areas of understanding of nuclear genera:1on.
Consultants are co==only and censistently utili:ed both as advisors and te=bers to provide the 3 card with additional expertise.
To assure objectivity, no = ore than a =inority of the co==1ttee
. is directly responsible for line canage=ent of the unit.
The Soard neets on a regular basis, a =ini=u= of once each six =onths, and usually = ore frequently, to collectively review and discuss =atters of i=portance to nuclear safety and rad 4ation protection.
They review company generated data such as changes to technical specificatiens and Licensee Event Reports.
Further they have both the freedo= and the obligation to initiate reviews of issues they deem to be per-tinent to nuclear or radiation safety.
The Board's initiations have range frc=
staffing considerations to radiation protection practices during work on reactor internals.
It is also the responsibility of GOR 3 to periodically review the generation division audit report and assure that audits are being performed in accordance with the technical specifications.
I =ediately following each meeting, the Chairman discusses with =e the agenda items covered.
Further, detailed minutes of each GOR 3 =eeting are prepared, reviewed by each me=ber and subcitted to me to provide a continuing update and to serve as a basis for specific actions as required.
At each =eeting the group determines w: ether anything discussed was of a nature serious enough to warrant a separate written report to the President.
PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS There is one other i=portant, long-standing Company position I would like to e=phasize, that is our cot =unications practicer.
It has alwa/s been the intent of the Ccepany, starting with =y office, to co==unicate openly and ccepletely with our various publics.
On March 28, vnen the unprecendented accident occurred at TMI, we atte=pted to carry out that practice; but we could not be expected to have a staff capable of acco==cdating the crush of worldwide =edia queries.
But, I assure you and everyone, in every instance, we tried to tell the public, as well as the state and SRC about significant events as they accurred.
At first, we atte pted to 9
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. tell and explain the events to the nedia.
But, the fluidity of this type of developing accident changed facts a nu=ber of ti=es, resulting in what was interpreted to be cenflicting ec==ents.
All the time, we were fully aware of the consequences to the public of either overstating or understating the seriousnesa cf the accident.
Like Gov.
Thornburgh, we realized that it was critically important that the best evaluations of infor=ation be =ade available to =inimi:e the impact on fa=111es surrcunding the TMI area.
We told the facts as we saw them at the time.
The final record should show the citizens of this Cc==onwealth and the nation that the Met-Ed people were straightforward.
000 Next, Met-Ed's Vice President-Generation, J. G. Herbein, will describe to you in sc=e detail the organi:ation of the administration, engineering,
=aintenance, operations, quality assurance and support activities associated with the generating stations owned and operated by Met-Ed.
He will provide special enphasis to the TF~. organi:ation and its related support groups includ-ing the Plant Operations Review Co==1ttee and the Generation Review Cc==ittee.
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