The business generator: the permit, the AEE endorsement and the five days

It is Chapter 9.5 of Joint Regulation No. 9473, inside the infrastructure and environment volume. It governs distributed generation systems with non-renewable energy sources: who designs them, what documents the recommendation request and the construction permit application require, how plans are amended and how the project is energised. This guide is about electricity; potable water and sanitary sewer go under different chapters and have their own guides. It is the non-renewable-sources one; renewable sources are in Chapter 9.2 and have their own guide. And it is the permit one: the duty of certain facilities to have a generator comes from Act 88-2018 and is covered by our guide to that act.

The chapter applies to non-renewable energy generation system projects. Designers must be Professional Engineers duly colegiados and licensed to practise; designs must match the site’s existing conditions and be made under the Joint Regulation’s applicable provisions, the AEE’s applicable regulations and the applicable laws and other codes and regulations. Where the generation system interconnects with the AEE’s electrical system, the recommendation request, the construction permit application — the endorsement — and the energising request are all filed by the means the AEE establishes and under the regulation it promulgates.

• That the system’s designer be a Professional Engineer duly colegiado and licensed to practise.Verified against the official source
• That the designs match the site’s existing conditions and be made under the Joint Regulation’s applicable provisions, the AEE’s applicable regulations and the applicable laws and other codes and regulations.Verified against the official source
• That the construction plans be sealed and signed by the designer, with the responsible professional’s signature and seal on each sheet; and, where more than one professional or designer participates, that each sheet show in original the compliance certification, electronic signature and professional seal of all those responsible.Verified against the official source
• Where the system interconnects with the AEE’s electrical system: filing the recommendation request, the construction permit application — the endorsement — and the energising request by the means the AEE establishes and under its regulation in force.Verified against the official source
• If a plan amendment includes changes in the endorsed capacity or others affecting connection conditions: filing a new Recommendation Request before the amendment, and not carrying out the alteration until OGPe approves it.Verified against the official source
• For the Permiso Único: the Designated Inspector’s certification that the project complies with the approved plans, regulations and applicable laws, and the system’s final description with its final capacity and technology type.Verified against the official source
• In non-residential projects: keeping a public liability policy covering property and personal damage of not less than one million dollars per occurrence and one million in the aggregate, in effect throughout construction and operation, with the AEE included as an insured if the system interconnects.Verified against the official source

• For the recommendation request: site plans including the project’s location, and an explanatory memorial with a general description of the project — technology type, nominal capacity in kilovolt-amperes, location or physical address, geographic aspects such as topography and a general description of the environment, and identification of whether it will be interconnected with the AEE’s electrical system or operate isolated.
• For the construction permit: a digital file of the plans to scale, north-oriented and in DXF format, with a polygon of the territorial extent georeferenced to NAD 83, stating whether the unit of measure is feet or metres and the NAD 83 revision used; files may be compressed.
• Construction plans sealed and signed by the designer, illustrating the existing conditions and installations, including electrical ones, in the works area; with complementary documents including the date of preparation, the responsible professional’s name, postal address and telephone numbers, the total number of sheets, a legend of every symbol, technical specifications and construction and equipment details.
• If the project proposes relocating an existing distribution, transmission or subtransmission line: one plan for the relocation design and another for the proposed system, with the proposed line’s profiles illustrated on the relocation plans.
• The notes the AEE requires, plus other necessary notes explaining the details in the drawings, applying design strategies to improve safety and facilitate construction, detailing the works the AEE will carry out for the project’s construction and connection, establishing the AEE’s easement requirements and describing the improvement works the AEE requests.
• Where the system’s purpose is exclusively selling energy to the AEE under a power purchase agreement (PPOA): plans including every requirement of the AEE’s evaluation process for the system’s adequate construction and operation.

1. 1

   Step 1: Who may design the system

   The chapter opens without preamble: designers of non-renewable energy generation systems must be Professional Engineers duly colegiados and licensed to practise. Designs must match the site’s existing conditions, and are made under this Regulation’s applicable provisions, the AEE’s applicable regulations, and the applicable laws and other codes and regulations. Worth noting a difference from the renewable-sources chapter: that one adds the DDEC’s PPPE regulation in force to the list of design standards; this one does not mention it. We report what each chapter says and do not carry requirements from one into the other.

2. 2

   Step 2: The recommendation request: two documents

   Every request for recommendations on non-renewable generation system works needs two things. Site plans including the project’s location. And an explanatory memorial with the project’s general description: the technology type; the nominal capacity in kilovolt-amperes; the location, that is, the physical address; the geographic aspects — topography, a general description of the environment, among others; and identification of whether it will be interconnected with the AEE’s electrical system, that is grid connected, or operate isolated, stand alone. And a channel rule: where the generation system interconnects with the AEE’s electrical system, the recommendation request must be filed by the means the AEE establishes and under the regulation it promulgates.

3. 3

   Step 3: The construction permit and the AEE endorsement

   Here the list grows long and is written for the responsible professional. A digital file of the plans to scale, north-oriented and in DXF format, including a polygon of the project’s territorial extent georeferenced to the NAD 83 coordinate system, stating whether the unit of measure used is feet or metres and the NAD 83 revision; files may be compressed. Construction plans sealed and signed by the designer, illustrating the existing conditions and installations, including electrical ones, in the works area. Complementary documents with the date of preparation, the responsible professional’s name, postal address and telephone numbers, their signature and seal on each sheet — and, where more than one professional or designer participates, each sheet showing in original the compliance certification, electronic signature and professional seal of all of them — the total number of sheets and a legend identifying every symbol; those documents include technical specifications and construction and equipment details. The plans must clearly specify any proposed relocation of existing lines: if relocating a distribution, transmission or subtransmission line is proposed, one plan for the relocation design and another for the proposed system are required, illustrating the proposed line’s profiles. And in addition to all of the above, where the system interconnects with the AEE’s electrical system, the construction permit application — the endorsement — must be filed by the means the AEE establishes.

4. 4

   Step 4: The AEE’s notes and who does which work

   The plans must include the notes the AEE requires, plus other necessary notes explaining the details in the drawings; applying design strategies to improve the project’s safety and facilitate construction; detailing the works the AEE will carry out for the project’s construction and connection; establishing the AEE’s easement requirements; and describing the improvement works the AEE requests. A useful comparison: in the public-road access chapter, the ACT’s notes establish the project owner’s contribution to the agency; here the notes detail the works the AEE will carry out. We report each chapter’s own wording without harmonising them.

5. 5

   Step 5: Amending plans and the endorsed capacity

   Construction plans previously certified under the regulation’s provisions may be amended before or after the works have begun, provided the professional files the corresponding amendment request through OGPe’s electronic filing system. The plans must meet the same requirements and the same procedure as the original construction application is followed. And here the condition that decides: if the amendments include changes in the endorsed capacity or others affecting connection conditions, a new Recommendation Request must be filed before filing the requested amendment. The particular alteration or change proposed may not be carried out until OGPe approves the amendment.

6. 6

   Step 6: Energising: the Permiso Único and the five days

   Once the project is built, acceptance tests are run and the non-renewable system’s installation is inspected and certified, as applicable, under the AEE’s regulation in force. To that end, the owner or their authorised representative may ask OGPe, or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality, for the corresponding Permiso Único, delivering the Designated Inspector’s certification that the project complies with the approved plans, regulations and applicable laws, and the system’s final description with its final capacity and technology type. Where the system interconnects with the AEE, the energising request is filed by the means it establishes; and if the purpose is exclusively selling energy under a PPOA, the AEE verifies compliance with every requirement of its plan evaluation and certification process before energising. The deadline: once OGPe or the municipality issues a Permiso Único, where the system connects to the AEE’s electrical system, the AEE shall permit interconnection within a maximum of five days after the permit is issued, unless it finds the built work has deficiencies or departs from the certified plans approved by OGPe, regulations or applicable laws, and those deficiencies and irregularities put life, safety or property at risk. In every case where the AEE finds the work departs, it must initiate the corresponding administrative process and immediately refer the case to OGPe. A note from the source: the renewable-sources chapter orders the case referred to OGPe and to the Planning Board; this one names only OGPe.

7. 7

   Step 7: The public liability insurance

   Every owner or operator of non-renewable energy generation systems in non-residential projects must keep a public liability policy covering property and personal damage of not less than one million dollars per occurrence and one million in the aggregate. That cover shall be in effect throughout the system’s construction and operation. Evidence of the cover is required before construction or use permits are issued under the regulation, but not as a prerequisite to filing a permit application. And if the system will be interconnected with the AEE’s electrical system, that public corporation shall be included as an insured in the policy, which must meet the requirements of the AEE’s applicable regulation. Two honest warnings. One about placement: in the document, these insurance provisions are printed as a sub-item inside the paragraph dealing with what the AEE does when it finds the work departs from the plans; we reproduce the substance and flag where it sits. And one about scope: unlike the wind energy chapter, this one establishes no exemption for inverter-based systems under three hundred kilowatts or up to one megawatt, and we do not carry that exemption from one chapter to the other.

The construction permit application and its amendments are filed with OGPe — the amendments through the electronic filing system — and OGPe or the hierarchy I-III autonomous municipality issues the Permiso Único. Where the system interconnects with the AEE’s electrical system, the recommendation request, the construction permit application — the endorsement — and the energising request are also filed by the means the AEE establishes and under its regulation in force. Interconnection and acceptance tests are governed by the AEE’s regulation.

• Having the design made by someone who is not a colegiado, licensed Professional Engineer.
• Filing only with OGPe where the system will interconnect: the AEE has its own filing means.
• Omitting from the memorial the nominal capacity in kVA or whether the system will be grid connected or stand alone.
• Delivering the plan file without the polygon georeferenced to NAD 83 or the revision used.
• Amending the endorsed capacity without first filing a new Recommendation Request.
• Carrying out an amendment’s change before OGPe approves it.
• Relocating an existing line with a single plan, without the proposed system’s plan or the profiles.
• Leaving the insurance until after the permit: evidence is required before it issues in non-residential projects.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Oficina de Gerencia de Permisos (OGPe)

  OGPe

  docs.pr.gov

• Permit Management Office

  ogpe

  ogpe.pr.gov