North American Electric Reliability
Corporation History and Developments
Rhaiza Villafranca
Reliability Assessment Performance Analysis
Technical Analyst
GRIDSCHOOL, Institute of Public Utilities, Richmond Virginia
December 8-9, 2009
What is NERC?
FERC has designated the North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the “Electric Reliability
Organization” (ERO) for the United States.
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Electric Power: Players, Drivers, Etc.
ENVIRONMENT
$ - FINANCE
POLICITAL
REALITIES &
OBJECTIVES
RELIABILITY
REGULATORS
ELECTRIC
POWER
CONSUMERS
NATIONAL
SECURITY
SOCIAL
CONCERNS
ENGINEERING
FEASIBILITY
POWER
INDUSTRY
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Fully Functioning ERO

Develop strong reliability standards

Strictly enforce compliance

Independent Reliability Assessment

Evaluate Past Performance & Root Cause Analysis

Promote excellence in planning and operations

Promote continuous improvement through analysis of
events and “Lessons Learned”

Training, education, and certification of personnel

Real-time situation awareness
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Primary Functions
Mission: Ensure the reliability of the Bulk
Power system (BPS)
 Assess the BPS operations & future reliability
 Collaboratively Set Standards for BPS
Performance
 Enforce requirements of these Standards
 Collaborate with the government
 Train and certify operators
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Evolution of Electricity Competition
 1978 – PURPA introduced competition
 1991 – DOE National Energy Strategy
• Allow independent power producers
• Encourage open access to transmission
 1992 – EPAct
• NERC action plan for the future
 1996 – FERC Orders on Open Access
• Put NERC on a course to become a self-regulatory
reliability organization and ERO
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Regulation of Electricity
 FERC
• Promoted wholesale competition, Order No. 888
• Entrants of ISOs and RTOs
 States
• Adequate, safe, reliable service
• Rates for retail power sales, T&D rates
• Facility certification and siting
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About NERC: Vitals
 Independent non-profit corporation
headquartered in Princeton, NJ
 Second office in Washington, DC
 NERC has over 112 employees
• Engineers, auditors, system operators, analysts,
trainers, accountants, policy specialists, lawyers, and
administrative assistants
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About NERC: 8 Regional Entities
 Delegated functions
• Compliance
• Regional standards
• Organization registration
• Reliability assessment
 Regional consistency is key
• Transparency
• Predictability
• Uniform outcomes
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NERC Reliability Coordinators
CMRC -California Mexico Reliability Coordinator
ERCOT - ERCOT ISO
FRCC -Florida Power & Light
TE - Hydro Quebec, TransEnergie
ICTE - Independent Coordinator Transmission – Entergy
ISNE - ISO New England Inc.
MISO - Midwest ISO
NBSO – New Brunswick System Operator
NYIS - New York Independent System Operator
ONT - Ontario - Independent Electricity System Operator
PNSC - Pacific Northwest Reliability Coordinator
PJM - PJM Interconnection
RDRC - Rocky Desert Reliability Coordinator
SPC - Saskatchewan Power Corporation –
SOCO - Southern Company Services, Inc.
SWPP - Southwest Power Pool
TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority
VACS - VACAR-South
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RTO/ISOs
(chart from IRC Council)
ISOs and RTOs
RTOs: MISO, ISO-NE, PJM, SPP
ISOs: AESO, CAISO, ERCOT, IESO, NYISO, NBSO
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Self Regulation Means…
 Regulation
• Mandatory compliance with standards
• Penalties for standards violations
 Self – Industry Stakeholders …
• Develop standards
• Elect independent board
• Approve changes to bylaws
 Audited
• Independent review of actions, first by board and then
by FERC
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Program Areas
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Program Areas (Revised Acc. To Gerry’s letter)
 Standards Development
 Compliance Enforcement
 Compliance Operations
 Reliability Assessments and Performance Analysis
 Critical Infrastructure Protection
 Engineering and Operations
 Situational Awareness
 Training, Education, and Personnel Certification
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Monitoring and Standards Implementation
 94 NERC standards mandatory in the U.S.
• 24 pending
 54 actively monitored
• Transitional phase in of CIP standards per
implementation plan
 Regional Entities perform compliance monitoring
activities on behalf of NERC (with NERC
oversight)
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Compliance Monitoring and
Enforcement Program (CMEP)
 Consistency and uniformity of CMEP
implementation
• RSAWs (Reliability Standards Audit Worksheets)
• Standardized CMEP process documents
 Self-Reporting Form
 Self-Certification Form
 Mitigation Plan submittal forms
• Formal direction and guidance
 e.g. Process Directives
• NERC training
 Auditor, CVI , & CIP training
• Audits of RE conformance to and performance of the Uniform CMEP
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Reliability Assessment 2009 Findings
 NERC Annual Completes A Long-Term Reliability
Assessment for a 10-year period
 For example, in 2009 analysis included:
• Monitor reserve margins
• Monitor performance of demand response
• Assess the natural gas supply/delivery and impacts
• Monitor transmission siting and planning delays
• Assess the challenges of technology demands for
integration of variable generation
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2009 Emerging Issues

Economic Recession– Demand Uncertainty

Transmission Siting

Energy Storage

Workforce Issues

Cyber Security
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2009 Emerging & Standing Issues
Higher
Emerging Issues Risk Evolution:
High
Likelihood
Likelihood
Greenhouse Gas
Regulations
Economy
Issues
Workforce
Issues
Variable Generation
Issues
Smart Grid
& AMI Reactive Power
1-5 Years
6-10
Years
Energy
Storage
Low
Lower
Transmission
Siting
Cyber Security
Consequence
Consequence
Higher
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Standing Issues (Ongoing work)
 Variable Generation Integration
 Greenhouse Gas Initiatives
 Reactive Power
 Smart Grid and AMI
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Critical Infrastructure Protection
 Cyber-security
 Determine High-Impact, Low-Frequency Events
and risks involved
 NERC Secure Alert System in deployment
 Modification of Reliability Standards for CIP
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NERC’s Sample of Task Forces
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New Renewable Capacity
2018 Variable Generation Capacity
(Includes Existing, Future, and Conceptual Generation Resources
45,700 MW
49,039 MW
18,125 MW
12,392 MW
62,041 MW
2,000 MW of Solar Generation
2,000 MW 1.
of Solar Generation
Less than 2,000 MW of Solar Generation
2,000 MW of Wind Generation
Less than 2,000 MW of Wind Generation
46,268 MW
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IVGTF – Integration of Variable Generation
Task Force
Areas of Further Study & Effort
 High levels of variable generation will require significant
transmission additions and reinforcements. Barriers to
transmission development should be addressed
 Additional flexible resources, such as demand
response, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and energy
storage may help balance steep “ramps”
 Improved measurement, forecasting, and modeling of
variable generation output is needed
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2010 All Electric Chevrolet Volt
Courtesy of General Motors
Areas of Further Study & Effort
continued
 More comprehensive planning approaches and
operational practices are needed, including probabilistic
planning approaches
 In aggregate, variable generation connected at the distribution
level (i.e. local wind generation and rooftop solar panels)
may impact bulk power system reliability
 Deploying complementary types of variable generation
(e.g. wind and solar), leveraging fuel diversity over large
geographic regions, and advanced control technologies
show promise in managing unique operating characteristics
 Greater access to larger pools of generation and demand
may facilitate the large-scale integration of variable resources
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RMWG - Reliability Metrics Working Group
 Scope
• Identify reliability indicator trends over a period of time
• Assessing metrics through continuous communication
and data validation from regions
• Informing the industry and the public of lessons
learned
• Develop a performance metric to benchmark
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Smart Grid – Everybody has a vision…
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SGTF - Smart Grid Task Force Objectives
 Identify the technologies and its contribution to
reliability of BPS
 Determine the implications of cyber security and
protection implications on critical infrastructure
 Determine the standards in effect
 Provide recommendations
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Summary
 NERC’s History and Developments
 Regulatory Engagement FERC & DOE
 8 Regional Entities/ Interconnections/ ISOs & RTOs
 Program Areas: Standards, CMEP, RAPA, and CIP
 Task Forces: IVGTF, RMWG, and SGTF
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Question & Answer
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