{"operation":"document","citation":"CPF 52024026NOPV","title":"NRG ENERGY SERVICES — Notice of Probable Violation","source_type":"enforcement","agency":"Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration","status":"current","official":true,"published_on":"2024-12-10","effective_on":null,"summary":"OPEN notice of probable violation citing 191.17(a)(1), 191.29(a)(1), 192.199(h), 192.317(b), 192.465(d), 192.603(b), 192.605(a), 192.615(b)(2), 192.615(c), 192.616(d), 192.619(a).","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52024026nopv.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52024026nopv.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/phmsa-enforcement-52024026nopv","source_url":"https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-data/case/52024026NOPV","body":"Notice of Probable Violation involving NRG ENERGY SERVICES. PHMSA's enforcement data identifies the cited regulations as 191.17(a)(1),  191.29(a)(1),  192.199(h),  192.317(b),  192.465(d),  192.603(b),  192.605(a),  192.615(b)(2),  192.615(c),  192.616(d),  192.619(a). The case was opened on 2024-12-10 and is reported as open. Open the official case record for notices, responses, orders, and the latest status.\n\nOfficial case documents:\n\n52024026NOPV_Final Order_04022026_(23-265653).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52024026NOPV/52024026NOPV_Final%20Order_04022026_(23-265653).pdf\n\n52024026NOPV_Final Order_04022026_(23-265653)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52024026NOPV/52024026NOPV_Final%20Order_04022026_(23-265653)_text.pdf\n\n52024026NOPV_Operator Response to Notice_02042025_(23-265653).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52024026NOPV/52024026NOPV_Operator%20Response%20to%20Notice_02042025_(23-265653).pdf\n\n52024026NOPV_PCO_12102024_(23-265653).pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52024026NOPV/52024026NOPV_PCO_12102024_(23-265653).pdf\n\n52024026NOPV_PCO_12102024_(23-265653)_text.pdf: https://primis.phmsa.dot.gov/enforcement-documents/52024026NOPV/52024026NOPV_PCO_12102024_(23-265653)_text.pdf\n\n52024026NOPV_Final Order_04022026_(23-265653)_text.pdf\n\nU.S. Department\nof Transportation\nPipeline and Hazardous\nMaterials Safety\nAdministration\n1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.\nWashington, D.C. 20590\nApril 02, 2026\nVIA ELECTRONIC MAIL TO: mitch.samuelian@nrgenergy.com\nMr. Mitchell Samuelian\nGeneral Manager\nNRG Energy Services\n100302 Yates Well Rd.\nNipton, CA 92364\nRe: CPF No. 5-2024-026-NOPV\nDear Mr. Samuelian:\nEnclosed please find the Final Order issued in the above-referenced case. It makes findings of\nviolation and specifies actions that need to be taken by NRG Energy Services to comply with the\npipeline safety regulations. When the terms of the compliance order have been completed, as\ndetermined by the Director, Western Region, this enforcement action will be closed. Service of\nthe Final Order by e-mail is effective upon the date of transmission and acknowledgement of\nreceipt as provided under 49 CFR § 190.5.\nThank you for your cooperation in this matter.\nSincerely,\nLinda Daugherty\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety\nEnclosure\ncc: Dustin Hubbard, Director, Western Region, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA\nNicholas Volturno, Ivanpah General Manager, NRG Energy Services LLC,\nnicholas.volturno@nrg.com\nCONFIRMATION OF RECEIPT REQUESTED\n\n\n\nU.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION\nPIPELINE AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SAFETY ADMINISTRATION\nOFFICE OF PIPELINE SAFETY\nWASHINGTON, D.C. 20590\n____________________________________\nIn the Matter of )\nNRG Energy Services, ) CPF No. 5-2024-026-NOPV\n)\n)\n)\nRespondent. )\n____________________________________)\nFINAL ORDER\nOn October 12, 2023, pursuant to 49 U.S.C. § 60117, a representative of the Pipeline and\nHazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS), conducted\nan on-site pipeline safety inspection of the facilities and records of NRG Energy Services’ (NRG\nor Respondent) Ivanpah fuel gas line, which supplies fuel gas to the Ivanpah Solar Power Facility\nin Nipton, California.\nAs a result of the inspection, the Director, Western Region, OPS (Director), issued to Respondent,\nby letter dated December 10, 2024, a Notice of Probable Violation and Proposed Compliance\nOrder (Notice). In accordance with 49 CFR § 190.207, the Notice proposed finding that NRG had\ncommitted five violations of 49 CFR Parts 191 and 192 and proposed ordering Respondent to take\ncertain measures to correct the alleged violations. The Notice also included an additional six\nwarning items pursuant to 49 CFR § 190.205, which warned Respondent to correct the probable\nviolations or face possible future enforcement action.\nAfter requesting and receiving an extension of time to respond, NRG responded to the Notice by\nletter dated February 4, 2025 (Response). NRG contested all the allegations and offered additional\ninformation in response to the Notice. Respondent did not request a hearing and therefore has\nwaived its right to one.\nFINDINGS OF VIOLATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR Parts 191 and 192, as follows:\nItem 2: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 191.29(a)(1), which states:\n\n\n\n2\n§ 191.29 National Pipeline Mapping System\n(a) Each operator of a gas transmission pipeline or liquefied\nnatural gas facility must provide the following geospatial data to\nPHMSA for that pipeline or facility:\n(1) Geospatial data, attributes, metadata and transmittal letter\nappropriate for use in the National Pipeline Mapping System.\nAcceptable formats and additional information are specified in the\nNPMS Operator Standards Manual available at\nwww.npms.phmsa.dot.gov or by contacting the PHMSA Geographic\nInformation Systems Manager at (202) 366-4595.\n(2) . . . .\n(b) The information required in paragraph (a) of this section must\nbe submitted each year, on or before March 15, representing assets as\nof December 31 of the previous year. If no changes have occurred\nsince the previous year's submission, the operator must comply with\nthe guidance provided in the NPMS Operator Standards manual\navailable at www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov or contact the PHMSA\nGeographic Information Systems Manager at (202) 366-4595.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 191.29(a)(1) by failing to provide accurate\ngeospatial data to PHMSA appropriate for the use of the National Pipeline Mapping System\n(NPMS) since commissioning of the Ivanpah pipeline system in 2014. Specifically, the Notice\nalleged that NRG submitted data that contained inaccuracies regarding the location of the\npipeline’s diameter change.\nIn its Response, NRG stated that it filed a supplemental submittal to NPMS correcting the\ndiscrepancies described in the Notice on July 22, 2024.\nIn a recommendation for final action submitted pursuant to section 190.209(b)(7), Western\nRegion acknowledged the submission of the information but stated that it had not yet been\nloaded into NPMS and the display remained inaccurate.\nAlthough Respondent has submitted corrections of the information to NPMS, Respondent did not\ndispute the Notice’s allegation that it had failed to comply with section 191.29(a)(1) prior\nto its supplemental submission on July 22, 2024, after the inspection during which the\nnoncompliance was discovered. In addition, because Respondent did not provide in its\nResponse a copy of the corrected NPMS data itself, it is not possible to ascertain whether the\nsubmitted data satisfies the requirements of the PCO for this Item.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 CFR\n§ 191.29(a)(1) by failing to provide accurate geospatial data to PHMSA appropriate for the use of\nthe National Pipeline Mapping System (NPMS).\nItem 8: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.615(b)(2), which states:\n§ 192.615 Emergency plans\n\n\n\n3\n(a) . . . .\n(b) Each operator shall:\n(1) . . . .\n(2) Train the appropriate operating personnel to assure that they\nare knowledgeable of the emergency procedures and verify that the\ntraining is effective.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.615(b)(2) by failing to train emergency\nresponse personnel, as required. Specifically, the Notice alleged that NRG failed to provide any\ndocumentation of training for emergency response personnel after the Emergency Tabletop\nDrill on August 15, 2017.\nIn its Response, NRG provided documentation of drills performed in 2019, 2022, and 2024, and\nstated that it will ensure that drills are conducted with applicable personnel on an annual basis.\nIn a recommendation for final action submitted pursuant to section 190.209(b)(7), Western Region\nstated that the documentation provided did not demonstrate compliance with the regulation.\nWestern Region stated that the documentation for the drills conducted in 2019, 2022, and\n2024 did not contain a list of individuals who participated in the drill, and the\ndocumentation for the drill conducted in 2019 did not include any information in the “Drill\nEvaluation Checklist” besides the evaluator’s name and the prior date of the training.\nSection 192.615(b)(2) requires that operators provide training to “appropriate operating\npersonnel.” The documentation provided in its Response does not establish that Respondent\nprovided training to “appropriate operating personnel,” and therefore does not establish its\ncompliance with the regulation.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 CFR\n§ 192.615(b)(2) by failing to train emergency response personnel, as required.\nItem 9: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.615(c), which states:\n§ 192.615 Emergency plans\n(a) . . . .\n(c) Each operator must establish and maintain liaison with the\nappropriate public safety answering point (i.e., 9-1-1 emergency call\ncenter) where direct access to a 9-1-1 emergency call center is\navailable from the location of the pipeline, as well as fire, police, and\nother public officials, to:\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.615(c) by failing to establish and\nmaintain a liaison with appropriate fire, police, public officials, and utility owners, as required.\nSpecifically, the Notice alleged that NRG failed to produce any records of communications,\nmeetings, drills, or any other type of liaison with appropriate emergency responders within the\npast five years.\n\n\n\n4\nIn its Response, NRG stated that it provided a liaison packet by mail to local emergency responders\nin August 2024, that it was scheduling an in-person meeting with the local fire department, and\nthat it would follow up with PHMSA when the meeting took place.\nIn a recommendation for final action submitted pursuant to section 190.209(b)(7), Western\nRegion recommended finding Respondent in violation of section 192.615(c) but not including the\nPCO for Item 9 because Respondent had completed the proposed remedial actions.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 CFR\n§ 192.615(c) by failing to establish and maintain a liaison with appropriate fire, police, public\nofficials, and utility owners, as required.\nItem 10: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.616(d), which states:\n§ 192.616 Public awareness\n(a) . . . .\n(d) The operator's program must specifically include provisions to\neducate the public, appropriate government organizations, and\npersons engaged in excavation related activities on:\n(1) Use of a one-call notification system prior to excavation and\nother damage prevention activities;\n(2) Possible hazards associated with unintended releases from a\ngas pipeline facility;\n(3) Physical indications that such a release may have occurred;\n(4) Steps that should be taken for public safety in the event of a\ngas pipeline release; and\n(5) Procedures for reporting such an event.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.616(d) by failing to educate the public,\nappropriate government organizations, and persons engaged in excavation activities, in multiple\ninstances, as required. Specifically, the Notice alleged that Respondent failed to specify to\nemergency responders the type of equipment required to respond to a fire and failed to clearly\neducate the public about the Ivanpah pipeline.\nIn its Response, NRG stated that it had revised its public awareness mailer to correct grammatical\nerrors, to insert language indicating that the gas was odorized, and to eliminate confusing\ninformation on how to extinguish a fire.\nIn a recommendation for final action submitted pursuant to section 190.209(b)(7), Western\nRegion recommended finding Respondent in violation of section 192.616(d) but not including the\nPCO for Item 10 because Respondent had completed the proposed remedial actions.\nAccordingly, after considering all of the evidence, I find that Respondent violated 49 CFR\n§ 192.616(d) by failing to educate the public, appropriate government organizations, and persons\nengaged in excavation activities, in multiple instances, as required.\n\n\n\n5\nThese findings of violation will be considered prior offenses in any subsequent enforcement\naction taken against Respondent.\nWITHDRAWAL OF ALLEGATION\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR Part 192, as follows:\nItem 7: The Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.605(a), which states:\n§ 192.605 Procedural manual for operations, maintenance, and emergencies.\n(a) General. Each operator shall prepare and follow for each\npipeline, a manual of written procedures for conducting operations\nand maintenance activities and for emergency response. For\ntransmission lines, the manual must also include procedures for\nhandling abnormal operations. This manual must be reviewed and\nupdated by the operator at intervals not exceeding 15 months, but at\nleast once each calendar year. This manual must be prepared before\noperations of a pipeline system commence. Appropriate parts of the\nmanual must be kept at locations where operations and maintenance\nactivities are conducted.\nThe Notice alleged that Respondent violated 49 CFR § 192.605(a) by failing to conduct annual\nreviews of its emergency response procedures at intervals not exceeding 15 months, as\nrequired. Specifically, the Notice alleged that NRG had failed to review its control room\nprocedures regarding emergency response on an annual basis in 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023.\nIn its Response, NRG stated that it reviews its emergency procedures semi-annually and provided\nrecords demonstrating that it had performed reviews for each of the last five years.\nIn a recommendation for final action submitted pursuant to section 190.209(b)(7), the\nDirector recommended withdrawing the alleged violation of section 192.605(a).\nBased upon the foregoing, I hereby order that Item 7 be withdrawn.\nCOMPLIANCE ORDER\nThe Notice proposed a compliance order with respect to Items 2, 7, 8, 9, and 10 in the Notice for\nviolations of 49 CFR §§ 191.29(a)(1), 192.605(a), 192.615(b)(2), 192.615(c), and 192.616(d),\nrespectively. Under 49 U.S.C. § 60118(a), each person who engages in the transportation of gas or\nwho owns or operates a pipeline facility is required to comply with the applicable safety standards\nestablished under chapter 601. As discussed above, Item 7 has been withdrawn. Therefore, the\ncompliance terms proposed in the Notice for that Item are not included in this Order. The Director\n\n\n\n6\nhas indicated that Respondent has taken the following actions to address some of the cited\nviolations:\n1. With respect to the violation of section 192.615(c) (Item 9), Respondent\nprovided documentation that it provided a liaison packet by mail to local\nemergency responders in August 2024, that it was scheduling an in-person\nmeeting with the local fire department, and that it would follow up with PHMSA\nwhen the meeting took place.\n2. With respect to the violation of section 192.616(d) (Item 10), Respondent\nprovided documentation of its revised mailers for its public awareness program.\nAccordingly, I find that compliance has been achieved with respect to these violations. Therefore,\nthe compliance terms proposed in the Notice for Items 9 and 10 are not included in this Order.\nAs for the remaining compliance terms, pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. § 60118(b) and 49\nCFR § 190.217, Respondent is ordered to take the following actions to ensure compliance with the\npipeline safety regulations applicable to its operations:\n1. With respect to the violation of section 191.29(a)(1) (Item 2), Respondent must\nresubmit its 2024 NPMS geospatial data to accurately reflect the Ivanpah fuel gas\ntransmission pipeline system within 180 days of receipt of the Final Order and submit\ndocumentation demonstrating that this action was completed to the Western Region\nDirector.\n2. With respect to the violation of section 192.615(b)(2) (Item 8), Respondent\nmust demonstrate emergency response personnel are knowledgeable regarding\nemergency procedures as well as provide documentation verifying the training was\neffective within 90 days of receipt of the Final Order. Submit documentation\ndemonstrating that these actions were completed to the Western Region Director.\nThe Director may grant an extension of time to comply with any of the required items upon a\nwritten request timely submitted by the Respondent and demonstrating good cause for an\nextension.\nPHMSA requests that Respondent maintain documentation of the safety improvement costs\nassociated with fulfilling this Compliance Order and submit the total to the Director. It is requested\nthat these costs be reported in two categories: (1) total cost associated with preparation/revision of\nplans, procedures, studies and analyses; and (2) total cost associated with replacements, additions\nand other changes to pipeline infrastructure.\nFailure to comply with this Order may result in administrative assessment of civil penalties\nexceeding $200,000, as adjusted for inflation (see 49 CFR § 190.223 for adjusted amounts), for\neach violation for each day the violation continues or in referral to the Attorney General for\nappropriate relief in a district court of the United States.\nWARNING ITEMS\n\n\n\n7\nWith respect to Items 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 11, the Notice alleged probable violations of Parts 191 and\n192 but identified them as warning items pursuant to section 190.205. The warnings were for:\n49 CFR § 191.17(a)(1) (Item 1) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to provide an\naccurate DOT Form PHMSA F 7100.2-1 since the commissioning of the Ivanpah\nsystem in 2014;\n49 CFR § 192.199(h) (Item 3) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to prevent possible\nunauthorized operation of a valve affecting its emergency shut-down (ESD) valve;\n49 CFR § 192.317(b) (Item 4) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to protect the\naboveground portion of the Ivanpah transmission line from accidental damage by\nvehicular traffic or other similar causes;\n49 CFR § 192.465(d) (Item 5) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to take action to\ncorrect identified deficiencies within the cathodic protection (CP) system;\n49 CFR § 192.603(b) (Item 6) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to provide accurate\nconstruction records, maps, or drawings demonstrating valve locations along the\nIvanpah pipeline; and\n49 CFR § 192.619(a) (Item 11) ─ Respondent’s alleged failure to establish a\nMaximum Allowable Operating Pressure (MAOP), for the Ivanpah pipeline, by\nmeans consistent with the pipeline safety regulations.\nIf OPS finds a violation of any of these items in a subsequent inspection, Respondent may be\nsubject to future enforcement action.\nUnder 49 CFR § 190.243, Respondent may submit a Petition for Reconsideration of this Final\nOrder to the Associate Administrator, Office of Pipeline Safety, PHMSA, 1200 New\nJersey Avenue, SE, East Building, 2nd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20590, with a copy sent to the\nOffice of Chief Counsel, PHMSA, at the same address. The written petition must be received\nno later than 20 days after receipt of the Final Order by Respondent. Any petition submitted\nmust contain a statement of the issue(s) and meet all other requirements of 49 CFR § 190.243.\nThe terms of the order, including corrective action, remain in effect unless the Associate\nAdministrator, upon request, grants a stay. The terms and conditions of this Final Order are\neffective upon service in accordance with 49 CFR § 190.5.\n___________________________________ __________________________\nLinda Daugherty Date Issued\nActing Associate Administrator\nfor Pipeline Safety","truncated":false,"body_characters":19706}