FERC

FERC Clarifies Effective and Compliance Dates for Access to NERC Databases - July 7 – FERC issued an order clarifying the effective date and compliance date for Order No. 824, requiring NERC to provide FERC with access to certain NERC databases.  To conform with Federal Register guidelines, FERC clarified that the rule will become effective upon publication in the Federal Register, and the compliance date will be based on issuance of the final rule in Docket No. RM16-15-000.

FERC Clarifies Peak Reliability’s Ability to Access Gas Pipeline Data - July 1 - FERC issued on order granting Peak Reliability ‘s( Peak’s) request for clarification that Order No. 787 does not prohibit interstate natural gas pipelines from sharing non-public operational information in connection with Peak’s performance of its Reliability Coordinator duties.  FERC provided the requested clarification, stating that continuing coordination between the electric and natural gas industries is critical to ensuring reliable operations.

NERC

NERC Makes Supplemental Filing for Proposed Geomagnetic Disturbance Standard - June 28 - NERC recently identified the need for a revision to Figure 1 of the Screening Criterion for Transformation Thermal Impact white paper which supports proposed Reliability Standard TPL-007-1 (Transmission System Planned Performance for Geomagnetic Disturbance Events). The error resulted in incorrect plotting of simulated power transformer peak hot-spot heating from the Benchmark GMD Event; NERC made its Supplemental Filing to correct the error and maintain a complete and accurate record.

NERC Files 2015 Annual Find, Fix, Track and Report and Compliance Exception Sampling Findings - June 20 - NERC Enforcement staff conducted an annual review to determine whether the Regional Entities were following the NERC Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program and properly implementing the Find, Fix, Track and Report(FFT)  and Compliance Exception programs. NERC concluded from its sampling that Regional Entities were in fact properly executing FFTs and Compliance Exceptions. The full annual report will be filed with FERC in November.

20 New NERC Standards Become Effective - July 1 - The following NERC Reliability Standards have a July 1st enforcement date:

• BAL-001-2 – Real Power Balancing Control Performance;
• CIP-002-5.1 – Cyber Security – BES Cyber System Categorization;
• CIP-003-6 – Cyber Security – Security Management Controls;
• CIP-004-6 – Cyber Security – Personnel & Training;
• CIP-005-5 – Cyber Security – Electronic Security Perimeter(s);
• CIP-006-6 – Cyber Security – Physical Security of BES Cyber Systems;
• CIP-007-6 – Cyber Security – System Security Management;
• CIP-008-5 – Cyber Security – Incident Reporting and Response Planning;
• CIP-009-6 – Cyber Security – Recovery Plans for BES Cyber Systems;
• CIP-010-2 – Cyber Security – Configuration Change Management and Vulnerability Assessments;
• CIP-011-2 – Cyber Security – Information Protection
• COM-002-4 – Operating Personnel Communications Protocols;
• MOD-025-2 – Verification and Data Reporting of Generator Real and Reactive Power Capability and Synchronous Condenser Reactive Power Capability;
• MOD-031-1 – Demand and Energy Data;
• MOD-032-1 – Data for Power System Modeling and Analysis (Requirements 2–4)
• PER-005-2 – Operations Personnel Training;
• PRC-002-2 – Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements
• PRC-004-4(i) – Protection System Misoperation Identification and Correction;
• PRC-019-2 – Coordination of Generating Unit or Plant Capabilities, Voltage Regulating Controls, and Protection;
• PRC-024-2 – Generator Frequency and Voltage Protective Relay Settings

Other Developments

E-ISAC Releases Information Sharing Document - June 30 - The Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) developed the Understanding Your E-ISAC guide to highlight the benefits of shared information between bulk power system owners and operators.  The guide details services available to E-ISAC members and outlines roles and responsibilities in helping to identify cyber and physical security threats.

DOE Announces $16 Million for 54 Projects to Help Commercialize Promising Energy Technologies - June 21 - In an effort to move promising energy technologies from DOE’s National Laboratories to the consumer marketplace, DOE has announced that nearly $16 in funding will support 54 projects at 12 national labs involving 52 private-sector partners, including $290,000 to CAISO and AWS Truepower for Commercialization of Uncertainty Prediction Tools for Wind and Solar Energy for Probabilistic Electric Power Grid Operations.  DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions (OTT) has received 104 applications from across the laboratory systems. All projects selected for the Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) will receive an equal amount of non-federal funds to the match the federal investment.

DOE Releases 2015 Report on Energy Infrastructure Events and Expansions - DOE released its year-in-review report on 2015 Energy Infrastructure and Expansions.  The report draws on information reported in "Energy Assurance Daily" between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2015, and covers major events, energy disruptions, infrastructure changes, and international events.  DOE identified 10 major events that disrupted energy service in 2015, compared to 12  in 2014, and 12 large-scale electricity outage events that resulted in a loss of power to 250,000 or more customers, compared with 15 such events in 2014.   

The Van Ness Feldman Electric Reliability Update is published by Malcolm McLellan, Ilan Gutherz, Van Smith, Gabe Tabak, Darsh Singh, Tyler Elliott, and Michael Weiner.  Van Ness Feldman counsels, advises and trains a wide range of clients on reliability matters.  Please email us or call us at 206.829.1814 or 202.298.1800 for additional information.  Click here to sign up for the Reliability Update. 

Follow us on Twitter @VANNESSFELDMAN