3.1 Task 1 – Project Team Management and Quality Control The IE must: 1. Schedule, attend, and participate in meetings as requested by Energy Safety. The majority of these meetings will be hosted via Microsoft Teams or other virtual meeting platforms. The IE must schedule and attend weekly meetings with Energy Safety beginning from the time of contact execution to the project report final delivery. 2. Develop and share agendas with Energy Safety at least one business day prior to each meeting and circulate meeting minutes no later than one business day after each meeting with Energy Safety. 3. Designate a single project manager. The project manager will act as the point of contact for this contract and will oversee the contractor’s team and ensure execution of deliverables according to the schedule. 4. Establish a Program Management Office (PMO) and develop all standard PMO processes and procedures, including but not limited to project charter, project plans, project tracking, governance plan, communication plan, forms and templates, deliverable timelines, cost tracking, project risk analysis and other project support functions as required by Energy Safety. 5. Develop procedures required to establish the IE’s audit and field inspection program, including process for coordinating audit and field inspections with ECs, audit and inspection scheduling, auditor or inspector assignments, guidelines for performing work in the field, documentation requirements, issue escalation and other supporting processes as required by Energy Safety. 6. Supervise and manage IE’s personnel, including daily management and tracking of all IE’s personnel location and work assignments. 7. Plan, organize, review, monitor, train and provide general directions to IE staff. 8. Confirm completion of the necessary technical and safety training necessary for evaluating work associated with the construction, operation, and maintenance of electrical lines and equipment in various environments. 9. Ensure IE personnel have the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment required by ECs and Energy Safety. 10. Ensure IE personnel have the appropriate inspection tools. 11. Monitor the health and safety of personnel working in a hazardous environment. 12. Ensure that all files and documentation adhere to Energy Safety standards of the Microsoft Suite of products including Microsoft Project, and, where appropriate, established geographical information system (GIS) products. 13. Coordinate with the ECs operating the electric infrastructure being inspected, Energy Safety, and anyone else as required by Energy Safety. 3.2 Task 2 – Wildfire Mitigation Plan Initiative Implementation Verification: Execution of WMP Goals and Targets To satisfy the requirement of PUC section 8386.3(c)(2)(B)(i), each EC must engage an IE from an individualized list of conflict free IEs to review and assess the ECs’ implementation of their 2025 targets in the latest approved version of the 2023-25 WMP. The IE must: 1. Use the most recent approved version of the WMP that covers the implementation year as the authoritative source for all initiatives, commitments, and targets to create a list of all initiatives with accompanying targets (hereinafter referred to as “Initiative List”). The independent evaluator should not rely fully on the self-reporting of the electrical corporation. 2. Work with Energy Safety and use all available information, including past and present WMPs, associated filings (e.g., Quarterly Data Reports (QDRs), WMP Progress Reports, etc.), and any relevant Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews to select 10 to 15 initiatives (hereinafter referred to as ‘Focus Initiatives’) for a more in-depth assessment. For ECs with fewer than 10 total initiatives, consider all initiatives to be Focus Initiatives. Focus Initiatives are intended to evaluate initiatives that contribute to the most risk-reduction, address the most consequential ignition risks, and/or assess initiatives with which an EC is or has been substantially non-compliant. Refer to IE AIR Outline for additional guidance on selecting Focus Initiatives. Energy Safety will have final approval over the list of Focus Initiatives. 3. Classify all other initiatives on the Initiative List as “Non-Focus Initiatives.” 4. Obtain from Energy Safety the Master List of Field Verifiable Initiatives (refer to Appendix A) and use the guidance in the second column of Table 2 to sub-divide Focus Initiatives and Non-Focus Initiatives into Field Verifiable and Non-Field Verifiable. 5. For each initiative on the Initiative List, determine sample size to verify using the 8 simplified version of Cochran's sample size formula with a finite population correction (refer to IE AIR Outline Section 2.3 for guidance), and adjust the inputs based on the initiative segment as outlined in the IE AIR Outline, Appendix B. Energy Safety will have final approval over sample size determination and sample selection. 6. On an as-needed basis, conduct field inspections, request documentation, and conduct SME interviews to verify implementation for each initiative with targets outlined in the WMP. 7. Extrapolate verification results across the entire sample population to confirm EC adherence to the targets outlined in the WMP. Refer to the third column of Table 2 for additional verifications to be performed by the IE for each segment. 8. Report to the EC any issues that pose an imminent safety hazard in a timely manner and include documentation of any such issues and reports in the IE AIR. 9. Structure IE AIR by WMP categories and include a summary section for each WMP category to discuss the IE’s assessment and findings as detailed in the IE AIR Outline. The IE must produce meeting minutes and interview notes for all interactions with the electrical corporations. The IE must then provide these materials to Energy Safety, separately from the IE AIR, using the inbox (IEinfo@energysafety.ca.gov) prior to or upon final delivery of its IE AIR.
