Minutes (136)
Southwest Power Pool, Inc.
OPERATIONS TRAINING WORKING GROUP
Face-to-Face Meeting, Xcel / Amarillo, TX
October 23, 2014
• MINUTES •
OTWG Members in Attendance
Margaret Adams
SPP
Staff Secretary
Jay
Chase
GRDA
Chris
Dodds
WRI
Denney
Fales
KCPL
Chair
Michael
Gaunder
OG&E
Robert
Hirchak
CLECO Vice Chair
Mike
Hood
AECC
Sheldon
Hunter
SECI
Russell
Moore
CUS
Steve
Tegtmeier LES
Stanley
Winbush
AEP
OTWG Members Not in Attendance
Edgar
Rivera
LAFA
*Proxy: W. Lantier
Kim
Amy
Michael
Jennifer
Sherry
Allan
Becky
John
Danny
John
*William
Ron
John
Katie
Joshua
Gary
PJ
Leslie
Karen
Jimmy
Keeth
Attendees
Burnside
Casavechia
Daly
Farley
Farrow
George
Gifford
Gunter
Johnson
Kerr
Lantier
Losh
Mason
Mauldin
Monroe
Plummer
Rose
Sink
Thomas
Womack
Works
SPP
SPP
SPP
SPP
SPP
SECI
SPP
SPP
Xcel
SPP
LAFA
SPP
INDN
SPP
SPP
INDN
SPP
SPP
SPP
SPP
SPA
Agenda Item 1: Call to Order and Approval of Agenda
Denney Fales called the meeting to order at 1:05. Robert Hirchak made a motion to approve
the agenda. Mike Hood seconded the motion.
Agenda Item 2: Approval of 8/4/2014 Meeting Minutes
Motion to approve meeting minutes was made by Michael Gaunder and seconded by Robert
Hirchak.
Agenda Item 3: PER-005-2 (Support Personnel) – Ron Losh (SPP RTO Compliance)
stated he reached out to the OTWG to discuss this matter because he has recently received
a high volume of inquiries around the term ‘support personnel’ and to whom it applies.
Danny Johnson (Xcel) inquired about how far can this term go and what guidelines should
we use. Ron placed an emphasis on the term ‘real-time’. He stated that planning doesn’t
directly affect real-time so we can exclude them. An auditor may question this but planners
do not finish the study and affect real-time directly. Sheldon Hunter (SECI) inquired about
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the switching implications. Ron replied that the person performing the switching may be
excluded but the one writing the switching order may not. Ron consulted with the auditors
at the SPP RE, who maintain you do not need to include each functional entity listed but
that you need to justify excluding them, if applicable. Ron encouraged everyone to attend
their monthly meetings and their forum to discuss further. Allan George (SECI) asked if
Ron is implying we need to document the process; Ron agreed that it may be studies, op
guides, etc. Sheldon inquired about the list of standards Ron provided; Ron mentioned he
listed each of these as possibly linking to tasks that may be applicable to the term ‘support
personnel’. Denney Fales (KCPL) asked if the training is to be one-time or more; Ron
indicated it was up to each entity to determine and justify. There were questions pertaining
to the rationale for the definition and what that implies; Ron stated the rationale merely
gives insight into what the drafting team was thinking when they drafted the
definition/standard. It is not a part of the standard or audit process. It was reiterated that
entities need to identify tasks associated with Support Personnel and determine what
training needs to be done for them. Margaret Adams will send Ron’s summary information
to all those in attendance at the meeting.
Agenda Item 4: Review of Previous Action Item by Margaret Adams
Action Item
Date
Originated
Owner
Status
Meeting Comments
PER-005-2
information from
meetings with
Robert Rhodes
9/25/2014
Margaret
Adams
Completed
No additional comments during meeting.
Agenda Item 5: 2014 System Operations Conference (SOC) Update – John Gunter
took the opportunity to ask the group in attendance for feedback. Comments included: the
facility was the perfect size for discussion, great group, hospitality and food were excellent,
Wednesday evening event was well-attended and enjoyed by all, the ability to see the
equipment we were discussing was a tremendous bonus, being limited to only one mic
presented a challenge but Mike Harrison (Xcel) will address it before hosting again,
presenters did a wonderful job, wish an event had been hosted here before the 2015 SOC
location voting, SPS (Southwestern Public Service – Xcel) has a wonderful facility, trainers,
and training program.
Agenda Item 6: DTS update – PJ Rose stated the DTS is working well with the November
2013 model. Password change information has been sent out. PJ is ensuring everyone can
sign into the DTS at designated test times; he is including IT in these meetings to contend
with issues more efficiently. Continue to see improvements with one-lines. Chris Dodds
(WRI) asked if users should send in one-line discrepancies at this time; PJ asked users to
hold off until the next base case because we are still confirming the one-lines. Sheldon
Hunter (SECI) asked if he should still send discrepancies to PJ; PJ reminded everyone to use
the RMS process to submit these. John Gunter shared with everyone that all the collapses in
last week’s drill probably resulted from attendees being rusty after the summer break; only
a couple issues could be traced back to the new DTS vmware client. The rest were traced
back to actions taken by users. Allan George (SECI) emphasized that restoration isn’t an
everyday thing and that each trainer needs to address participants emphasizing that they
must take their time and be cautious; this much DTS collapse should not happen. John
asked for everyone planning to attend next week’s drill to register; PJ added that they
should let him know so he can set up a testing time. Margaret Adams asked about any DTS
2.5 updates to the DTS Users Guide, which is sent out to the facilitators before each drill; PJ
responded that these will be included in the update to the guide but he will be reviewing the
changes to ramping, etc., in the DTS facilitator sessions as well.
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Agenda Item 7: 2014 Registration Update/Waitlists – Kim Burnside stated the
upcoming November Regional Emergency Operations Classroom Simulation (REOPs) session
has 21 registered with 9 on the waitlist.
a. 2015 Registration Update – On November 4, the LMS will display an
announcement with links to the 2015 Course Catalog and a marketing email will be
sent. Registration will open as planned on Thursday, November 20, at ~8:00a.m.
CST. Another email will be sent when registration opens.
Agenda Item 8: Upcoming Regional Events: Margaret Adams noted the upcoming
training to include: next week’s System Restoration Drill October 28-29 and the drill
November 18-19; Voltage Control & Stability, AGC & Frequency Response, and Power
System Protection Net Conferences on November 4, 5, and 6, respectively; the November 6
Trainer Forum Net Conference; and the DTS Facilitator Training Course on November 14.
Agenda Item 9: Integrated Marketplace – Michael Daly shared that his team kicked off
the Long Term Congestion Rights training. There will be a dry run next week for the
upcoming Regulation Compensation training. The Market to Market CBT is also on track for
its upcoming due date. His team continues to work on planning for training sessions in
2015.
Agenda Item 10: Lessons Learned from Audits- No comments made for this item.
Agenda Item 11: Other Itemsa. New NERC Exam – Margaret Adams shared that Sheldon Hunter (SECI) had
requested this item be added to the agenda regarding the upcoming NERC
Certification exam changes. Margaret asked John Kerr (SPP) to share what he could
about upcoming changes. The new exam may not launch until after January, which
was the initial target date. There will be no study guide for this exam nor will the
content outline change as far as focus. Sheldon voiced concerns that vendors do not
have training material developed for the new test. John stressed that the focus areas
for the test have not changed just the types of questions. The new handbook should
post soon, but is currently in draft form. There will be big changes from the previous
test as far as cut scores. These will be in a range rather than an exact passing score
due to NERC using a modified Angoff scoring process. NERC’s new LOFT process will
ensure no one ever gets the same exam twice; this was a restriction of the previous
exam process where only 2 exams were available. The exam questions will be more
application based than recall; the intent is not to memorize the standards but to
know and apply operations concepts. When asked about representatives of the NERC
Exam Working Group (EWG), John Kerr emphasized that those individuals remain
anonymous due to the security of this process; all questions should be posed to the
NERC PCGC and/or Trion King (NERC Staff, Secretary).
i.
Screening Tests for Non-Certified System Operator Applicants –
Margaret Adams stated that John Mason (INDN) hoped the OTWG would
share their company’s testing process for hiring new system operators who
are not certified. Margaret launched a poll question to gauge the responses
from the group in attendance. Of the respondents, 4 indicated they are using
a test of some form and comments indicated standardized, in-house, and
NERC prep testing as being used. John Mason inquired as to any union issues
presenting road blocks for this required testing process; several indicated it
was negotiated with the union so there is no issue. John Mason asked if those
doing testing now used the tests specifically for system operators. Jay Chase
(GRDA) and Chris Dodds (WRI) indicated it was specifically for system
operators. Several shared they use Edison Electric Institute (EEI) testing.
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John Mason also asked if the testing was a condition for an interview; Jay
indicated it was concurrent with the interview process while Chris stated they
don’t interview if the test is not passed. Margaret will share the results of the
poll questions with John Mason and Danny Johnson (Xcel), as well as anyone
else interested.
b. ORWG Update - Drills – Robert Hirchak (CLECO) referred to the Operating
Reliability Working Group (ORWG) meeting of October 3. He stated a sub-group is
being headed up by Carla Fitzpatrick (OPPD) regarding possibly going back to legacy
BA in the event of a black start situation. For example, OPPD may have to reconnect
with MISO if they cannot reconnect with SPP first. Robert also referred to the EOP005 and EOP-006 standards and the requirements around neighboring RC areas and
BAs. The ORWG Staff Secretary, Jason Smith, is creating a task force to discuss
these concerns and possible processes. ORWG Chair, Jim Useldinger (KCPL),
suggested that the OTWG also get involved in this discussion. Robert suggested
those parties interested in getting involved reach out to Jason to be included in the
group communications. They should begin meeting around the 1st of next year.
c. SPP Training Budget Update – Leslie Sink (SPP) provided the update on the SPP
budget from a Customer Training perspective. She shared the company has worked
to cut $9 million from the entire SPP budget to ensure pricing for our members
remains optimal. This means the loss of any additional headcount to the Customer
Training team, which was proposed for 2015. The team is transitioning to ensure
quality in development based on current deliverables. Staff may have to deny
additional training requests, however. There will also no longer be any meals served
at the System Restoration and Emergency Response drills. REOPs and Train-theTrainer workshops will no longer serve breakfast; lunch will continue to be provided.
SOC meals will continue to be served as they always have been. We will no longer
provide binders at the SOCs and REOPs classes; many are wasted and left behind. In
their place, we will provide some sort of handout/reference guide. If it can be
accommodate, the plan is for the SOC material to no longer be provided on a thumb
drive but to be accessible by attendees via the LMS. These efforts are predicted to
provide an estimated savings of $30,000. In the future, we will likely begin charging
a no-call/no-show penalty charge; Leslie pointed out that each no show at an SOC
quantifies a waste of $200 including meals, materials, etc. We will introduce
eCommerce to the LMS so that we can better facilitate charging for non-members
and also recoup of no-call/no-show. Robert Hirchak (CLECO) agreed this effort is not
unlike hotels charging for not cancelling in time. Allan George (SECI) asked about
the future SOC materials being more like 10 outlines for 10 subjects, for example;
John Gunter agreed and shared we are just beginning to work on the ideas and how
this product will look. Denney Fales (KCPL) asked how many seats were no-shows at
this SOC; there were several. He suggested there be different no-show penalty
deadlines for an SOC vs. another course since changes to catering, etc., cannot be
made at the last moment for an SOC. Leslie agreed and stated we will work out
those details together and communicate this information well in advance of
execution.
d. 2015 OTWG Meeting Dates – Denney Fales (KCPL) stated this item was added so
that we can avoid scheduling OTWG meetings right between other meetings in 2015.
In the past, we always set them up then waited to cancel. Margaret displayed the list
of meeting dates, which was previously sent out to the OTWG. This year the goal is
to strategize these meeting dates better and ahead of time. It was pointed out that
some of the meetings in the summer lasted less than 30 minutes. Denney asked if
there was a requirement to have a certain number or monthly meetings; Leslie Sink
(SPP) indicated that each working group should have as many meetings as they
deem necessary and there is no requirement. After the OTWG discussed the current
draft schedule of meeting dates, a motion was made by Chris Dodds (WRI) to cancel
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the April 6, May 4, July 6, and October 5 meetings, and to shift the June 1 meeting
to June 15. Russell Moore (CUS) seconded this motion. The motion passed
unanimously. Margaret Adams will update the OTWG (non-public) 2015 Customer
Training Calendar to include these revisions and send it back out to the OTWG. She
will also ensure these meetings are posted soon to the SPP website and open for
registration.
e. 2015 SOC Brainstorming – John Gunter facilitated a discussion around suggested
topics and a possible theme for our 2015 SOCs. John and others shared items of
interest that they were aware of, which included: NERC-led exercises, Human
Performance Improvement (HPI), situational awareness, EOP-004-2, upcoming
standards changes, resets of scenarios, standard-driven scenarios, contests for
recognition of pertinent standards during scenario exercises, leadership scenarios. A
question was raised around budgets, travel, and the impact on facilitator availability.
The option to consider larger groups was raised; the concern is this would negatively
impact the groups’ interaction and discussion. In order to continue scenario-based
collaborative discussion/assessments instead of tests, the group must strive to
maintain the groups and facilitators at the current ratio. John refined the discussion
points and suggested a theme of Polar Vortex to include items such as: geomagnetic
disturbance (GMD) implications, TOP-004, Control Performance Standards/Balancing
Authority Ace Limit, generator contingencies (reporting), abnormal/emergency
operations, grid security, EOP-004 and Department of Energy (DOE) reporting, HPI,
Standard changes, Crew exercise (leadership) scenarios, transmission outages,
planned outage/contingency analysis, analyze alarm data, event/cause analysis,
relay data. John Gunter will send the proposed 2015 SOC outline to the OTWG and
SOC facilitators once it’s drafted.
Agenda Item 12: Summary of new Action Items
1. Margaret Adams will forward Ron Losh’ PER-005-2 (Support Personnel) summary
information to all those in attendance at the meeting.
2. Margaret will share the results of the poll questions with John Mason and Danny
Johnson (Xcel), as well as anyone else interested.
3. Margaret Adams will update the OTWG (non-public) 2015 Customer Training
Calendar to include the revisions to the OTWG meeting dates then send it back out
to the OTWG.
4. John Gunter will send the proposed 2015 SOC outline to the OTWG and SOC
facilitators once it’s drafted.
Agenda Item 13: Future Meetings
November 3, 2014 Teleconference 1:30 – 3:00 CST
To register, click here.
Agenda Item 14: Adjournment
Denney Fales adjourned the meeting at 3:36.
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