Reliability Standards Standing Committee (RSSC)
Minutes of Meeting #31
Sept 14th, 2015 | 9:30 AM – 3:00 PM | IESO’s Boardroom, 16th Floor, 120 Adelaide St. W., Toronto
Attendance
Participant Name
Company Name
Attendance Status
Andrew Burmaster
Ben Li
Cristian Dragnea
Dave Kwan
David Barrett
David Kiguel
David Ramkalawan
Esia Giaouris
Helen Lainis
Ioan Agavriloai
James Cook
Jay Jayaraman
Jennifer Jayapalan
Jian Zhang
John Falsey
Jon Veldhuizen
Karen Demos
Khaqan Khan
Laurie Reid
Luis Zaragoza
Mike Yealland
Norm Dang
Paul Malozewski
Paul Whitehead
Ralph Kothe
Ron J. Falsetti
Samin Salam
Scott Berry
Shahid khan
Soon Chua
Vlad Stanisic
Brookfield Renewable Power
IESO
MACD
OPG
IESO
Observer
OPG
Hydro One
IESO
IESO
Great Lakes Power (Transmission)
Enbridge
Portlands Energy Centre
Transalta
St. Clair Power, L.P.
Northland Power Inc.
NextEra
IESO
Ontario Energy Board
Pattern Energy
MYCON Inc.
IESO
Hydro One
Bruce Power
Bruce Power
AESI
IESO
IESO
Northland Power Inc.
Portlands Energy Centre
TransCanada
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present (on the phone)
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present
Present (on the phone)
Present (on the phone)
Present
Scribe: Adnan Jabbar, rssc@ieso.ca: Please report any corrections, additions or deletions to scribe.
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All meeting materials are available on the IESO’s RSSC webpage at:
http://www.ieso.ca/Pages/Participate/Stakeholder-Engagement/Standing-Committee/Reliability-StandardsStanding-Committee.aspx
References:
IESO MACD page: http://www.ieso.ca/Pages/Participate/Market-Oversight/Compliance-Enforcement.aspx
IESO Reliability Standards Compliance page: http://www.ieso.ca/Pages/Participate/ReliabilityRequirements/Reliability-Standards-Compliance.aspx
NERC Standards page: http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=2
NPCC Regional Standards/Criteria page: https://www.npcc.org/Standards/default.aspx
FERC Electric page: http://www.ferc.gov/industries/electric.asp
Action Item Summary as of the 31st Meeting
#
Date
Action
Status
1
Apr 29, 2015
Completed
2
Sept 14, 2015
IESO (A. Jabbar) to get clarity from NPCC on the Quarterly Mis-operation reporting
of system elements (whether BES or BPS elements).
OEB (L. Reid) to provide clarity on the Ontario Energy Board Reliability Standards
Review Process.
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Completed
1.
Welcome and Introductions
The thirty-first RSSC meeting commenced at 9:30 a.m. with brief introductions by each participant.
2.
Administrative Issues
a) The agenda for the meeting was reviewed and no new agenda items were added
b) The minutes of the last (thirtieth) RSSC meeting were reviewed (page by page). No major concerns
were raised. Motions to adopt the meeting minutes as final were made by K. Khan and R. Kothe
c)
Updates on the open action item were provided as follows:

Action item 1: IESO (A. Jabbar) to get clarity from NPCC on the Quarterly Mis-operation reporting of
system elements (whether BES or BPS elements).
This action item has been completed. There were no comments or questions from members.
d) RSSC Roster updates: A. Jabbar confirmed that some updates were made to the RSSC roster list that
are now reflected in version 52 (excel spreadsheet). The list was circulated amongst the committee
members by email prior to the face-to-face meeting.
3.
CIP Version 5 status update
NERC initiated a program in 2014 to help the industry transition directly from the currently enforceable
CIP Version 3 standards to CIP Version 5. The goal of the transition program was to improve industry’s
understanding of the technical security requirements for CIP Version 5, as well as the expectations for
compliance and enforcement. The CIP Version 5 transition program will be in place through the
implementation period of the CIP V5 standards and beyond.
N. Dang provided members with an update, as he sits in the CIP Forum to discuss the actual CIP standards
and how they could be interpreted. N. Dang informed members that in February 2015 NERC had filed a
petition with FERC for the approval of proposed Critical Infrastructure Protection ("CIP") Reliability
Standards CIP-003-6, CIP-004-6, CIP-006-6, CIP-007-6, CIP-009-6, CIP-010-2, and CIP-012. In July 2015
FERC responded with a NOPR to approve and address the directives in Order No. 791 by: (1) eliminating
the “identify, assess, and correct” language in 17 of the CIP version 5 Standard requirements; (2)
providing enhanced security controls for Low Impact assets; (3) providing controls to address the risks
posed by transient electronic devices (e.g., thumb drives and laptop computers); and (4) addressing in an
equally effective and efficient manner the need for a NERC Glossary definition for the term
“communication networks.”
N. Dang mentioned that the next face-to-face CIP V5 meeting is to take place on October 01, 2015 in
Clarkson (IESO) and since there have been a lot of activities in the CIP transitional area, especially in parts
that have been identified as BES; any CIP related updates or information, can be accessed through NER’C
CIP V5 webpage.
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4.
Alignment of Transmission System Code (TSC) and NERC Standards
L. Reid presented updates on the alignment of Transmission System Code (TSC) and NERC Standards. She
mentioned that when the TSC was originally drafted and approved, NERC standards were not mandatory.
The model for reliability in Ontario at that time involved adopting language from the NERC Standards in to
the TSC; which subsequently were made mandatory under legislation and the Market Rules. However,
due to the continued evolution of reliability standards, certain portions of the TSC no longer align with the
NERC Reliability Standards. OEB has since initiated a task to revise the TSC and have assigned it to the
ministry operations committee (OEB internal committee) for oversight. L. Reid mentioned that the OEB
has already initiated a thorough review of the TSC and have identified sections that duplicate language
from the NERC Reliability Standards. The next steps are to identify and remove repetitions from the TSC.
There were numerous questions and discussions prompted by the participants related to the alignment of
TSC and NERC Standards. In addition to the deliberations several RSSC members had also requested for
more information on the OEB’s Reliability Standards review process. L. Reid had agreed to provide a
memo to explain the OEB’s statutory authority for review and the process it has developed to exercise
that authority (Action Item 2).
5.
PRC-005-2 Transition
H. Lainis presented updates on the newly Identified BES assets that require compliance with NERC
standards as of July 1, 2016. She mentioned that Standards like PRC-005-2 have associated phased-in
implementation/compliance dates that go beyond the mandated compliance date of July 1, 2016 so it is
unreasonable for market participants to be immediately compliant with PRC-005-2. Therefore,
compliance with PRC-005-2 for all newly identified BES elements will be based on the NERC
Implementation Plan for PRC-005-2; which means that the legacy standards (PRC-005-1, PRC-008-0, PRC011-0, and PRC-017-0) will be in effect throughout the phased implementation of PRC-005-2.
She then highlighted NERC’s implementation plan for PRC-005-2 which takes in to account:
•
The maintenance activities established under PRC-005-2 (may not be presently performed by
some entities).
•
The unrealistic intervals for entities to be immediately compliant with new activities.
•
The use of the current implementation plan to become compliant with PRC-005-2.
Lastly H. Lainis shared an example on a BES equipment to highlight the implementation periods for PRC005-2.
6.
NERC Lessons Learned
S. Berry presented updates on the NERC Lessons Learned. He mentioned that the principal goal of the
Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) is to promote the reliability of the bulk power system in North
America. This goal is directly supported by evaluating bulk power system events, undertaking appropriate
levels of analysis to determine the causes of the events, promptly assuring tracking of corrective actions
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to prevent recurrence, and providing lessons learned to the industry. S. Berry briefly talked about the
lessons learned posted since the last RSSC meeting:
Operations Lessons
•
Real-Time Contingency Analysis Failure due to a Modeling Error (BA, RC, TOP, TO)
•
Generator Distributed Control System Impact on Automatic Voltage Regulators (RC, GO, GOP,
TOP)
•
Pre-Contingent Load Shed Event (BA, RC, TOP, DP, LSE)
•
EMS Recovery Strategy (RC, BA, TO, TOP)
CIP Version 5 Transition Program Lessons
7.
•
Identifying BES Cyber Assets
•
Communications to BES Cyber Systems and BES Cyber Assets: provide guidance when
connecting a BES Cyber System or BES Cyber Asset to a communication network external to the
BES Cyber System or BES Cyber Asset.
Standards Enforcement Dates Update
A. Jabbar presented updates on the NERC standards that have now been approved by FERC since the last
RSSC meeting in April 2015 and their determined Ontario enforcement dates:
•
PRC-004-3 (Protection System Misoperation Identification and Correction) – Enforceable on Jul. 1,
2016 will respectively supersede: PRC-004-2.1a, and PRC-003-1
•
CIP-014-2 (Physical Security Directives) – Enforceable on Oct. 2, 2015 will respectively supersede
CIP-014-1
•
PRC-001-1.1 (ii) (System Protection Coordination) – Enforceable on Jul. 16, 2015 will respectively
supersede PRC-001-1.1a, and PRC-001-1.1 (i)
•
PRC-004-2.1(i)a (Analysis and Mitigation of Transmission and Generation Protection System
Misoperations) – Enforceable on Jun. 14, 2015 will respectively supersede PRC-004-2.1a
•
PRC-004-4 (Protection System Misoperation Identification and Correction) – Enforceable on Jul. 1,
2016 will respectively supersede PRC-004-3
•
PRC-005-2(i) (Protection System Maintenance) – Enforceable on Jun. 14, 2015 will respectively
supersede PRC-005-2
•
PRC-005-3(i) (Protection System and Automatic Reclosing Maintenance) – Enforceable on Apr. 1,
2016 will respectively supersede PRC-005-2(i) and PRC-005-3
•
PRC-019-2 (Coordination of Generating Unit or Plant Capabilities, Voltage Regulating Controls,
and Protection) – Enforceable on Jul. 1, 2016 will respectively supersede PRC-019-1
•
PRC-024-2 (Generator Frequency and Voltage Protective Relay Settings) – Enforceable on Jul. 1,
2016 will respectively supersede PRC-024-1
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•
VAR-002-4 (Generator Operation for Maintaining Network Voltage Schedules) – Enforceable on
Jun. 14, 2015 will respectively supersede VAR-002-3
He informed members that all relevant Enforcement and Retirement dates are covered in version 6.0 of
the “Milestones in Reliability Standard Development and Lifecycle” spreadsheet (available on the IESO
public page). Participants were also encouraged to refer to the implementation plan (for each respective
standard), which consists of supplementary details regarding the enforcement dates of requirements and
sub-requirements.
8.
Ontario Reliability Compliance Program Updates
A. Jabbar presented the updates to the 2015 Ontario Reliability Compliance Program. At a high-level he
underlined some of the upcoming Self-certifications:
•
Emergency Preparedness/Restoration planning – Form 1608/1609; applicable to those market
participants identified by the IESO as Restoration Participants to be issued Dec 01 2015
Lastly, A. Jabbar (as an awareness piece) mentioned that a request for 2015 Q3 of Protection System
Operation/Misoperation reporting was issued on April 1st 2015, and is due on Nov 2nd 2015.
9.
Current NERC/NPCC/FERC Activities
9a) Update on Reliability Standards under Development and Coming into Effect in Ontario
H. Lainis presented updates on the current NERC/NPCC/FERC activities. She talked about the OEB process
and mentioned that the IESO is responsible for communicating any new or amended reliability standards
and criteria to market participants that may be subject to the Ontario Energy Board's (OEB) review. She
mentioned that there were no other significant details or updates in addition to what was already
covered in Item 7 (Standards Enforcement Dates Update).
9b) Update on NERC Standards Committee Activities
B. Li presented updates on the NERC Standards Committee Activities. He mentioned that there had been
one face to face meeting and five conference calls since the Apr 2015 RSSC meeting. He also highlighted
some of the major issues:
•
Standards postings increased; where most projects are initiated to address directives and for
periodic reviews.
•
Developing revisions to the Standard Processes Manual, Section 11, and its resource document
on posting and approving documents referenced by standards
•
Proposing revisions to forma ‘effective date’ language used in Reliability Standards’
implementation plans
•
SC Officers election to be held at its September 23rd meeting to fill Segment 4 and Segment 7
roles.
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B. Li talked briefly about two sub-committees that report to the standards committee; one being the
Process Sub-committee (SCPS), which focuses on maintaining the documents that support the standards
development process. He mentioned that the SCPS Subcommittee:
•
Developed a process for consensus building and SAR development, which is in the informal
stage. This is prior to the official launch of a standard development project to enhance
effectiveness and formality of standards development. The current status is stalemate.
•
May revisit Quality review process under new NERC leadership
•
•
Initiated new project to develop cost/benefits for standard projects
Is collecting users’ views on the new Standards Balloting System (SBS)
The other subcommittee B. Li briefly talked about was the Project Management and Oversight
Subcommittee (PMOS), which works with NERC staff to support industry subject matter experts (SMEs) in
all aspects of standard development. He mentioned that the PMOS Subcommittee Continues to provide
oversight on standard development projects.
9c) NERC Standards Development
On the next item, B. Li shared numerous updates on Reliability Standards recently posted for
Comment/Ballot, a select few of which are highlighted below:
•
Physical Security Standard CIP-014-2, where FERC approved the CIP-014-1 standard, but directed
NERC to revise the standard to remove the word “widespread”. The IESO assessed that this
removal had no material impacts on the standard’s intent or applicable entities’ obligations.
•
Proposed revisions to PRC-005 where applicability expanded to include Supervisory relay(s) and
Voltage sensing devices associated with the supervisory relay(s).
•
Phase 3 Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) - PRC-012-2 intended to address all aspects of Remedial
Action Schemes (RAS) and Special Protection Systems (SPS) contained in the RAS/SPS-related
Reliability Standards: PRC-012-1, PRC-013-1, PRC-014-1, PRC-015-1, and PRC-016-1; and to
replace fill-in-the-blank requirements
•
System Protection Coordination - PRC-027 and TOP-009 balloted several times to improve
alignment with previous versions of the standards
9d) NPCC Standards/Criteria Development
Lastly B. Li presented an overview of the proposed revisions to NPCC Directories 1, 4 and 8. He mentioned
that the IESO supports the proposed revisions and that at present has no major concerns. Any or all
changes to Directories #1, 4 and 8 are intended to add clarity without any material impacts on the current
criteria.
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10.
Other Items - Feedback on Ontario Risk-Based CMEP
Towards the end of the meeting C. Dragnea shared some information regarding feedback on Ontario RiskBased CMEP. He mentioned that the feedback he had received was in favour of the Risk Based Approach
framework which is very similar to the ORCP with regards to monitoring and enforcement. He shared
some preliminary details on the 2016 ORCP schedule and asked the RSSC participants to think about any
other elements in addition to NERC’s RB-CMEP that should be adopted by MACD to enhance the CMEP in
Ontario.
11.
Next Meeting
The 32nd RSSC meeting (Q4 for 2015) is scheduled for Wednesday December 16, 2015 at 120 Adelaide
Street West (downtown Toronto).
No further items were brought up and the meeting ended at 02:30 PM. Motion to adjourn was made by J.
Jayaraman and P. Malozewski.
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