2016 Operational Practices Survey Questions
Courtesy Copy – January 2016
Operational Studies
This section of the survey addresses aspects of next-day studies, next-day assessments, and seasonal
studies. Only questions applicable to your company’s registered function will appear on the online
survey form.
1. Which of the following do you include in your next-day studies? (Select all that apply.) –
Applicable to transmission functions
a. Transmission and generation outages
b. Forecasted system load specific to your Transmission Operator (TOP) area
c. Expected generator commitment and dispatch
d. Net interchange of electricity
e. Status of Remedial Action Schemes (RAS)
f. None of the above
2. Which of the following do you perform as part of your next-day studies? (Select all that apply.)
– Applicable to transmission functions
a. Steady-state analysis (N, N-1)
b. Credible N-2 steady-state analysis
c. Multiple time-point studies
d. Voltage stability studies
e. Transient stability studies
f. Transfer analysis
g. Sensitivity analysis
h. None of the above
3. Which of the following do you use to calculate input to next-day studies? (Select all that apply.)
– Applicable to transmission functions
a. Previous-day peak load state estimation
b. Generator maintenance activity
c. Historical load or performance records
d. A load-forecasting program
e. Historical interchange
f. None of the above
4. How often do you review neighboring TOPs’ next-day studies? (Select one.) – Applicable to
transmission functions
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a. Routinely
b. Only when requested
c. Never
5. How often do you update your next-day studies? (Select one.) – Applicable to transmission
functions
a. Daily
b. Seasonally
c. As needed, determined by comparison to a prior next-day study
d. As needed, determined by comparison to a master study (e.g., a seasonal study)
e. Other (explain)
6. How do you use Peak Reliability’s (Peak) Operational Planning Analysis (OPA) to validate the
results of your next-day studies? (Select one.) – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Compare our next-day studies to Peak’s OPA
b. Review Peak’s OPA, but do not compare it to our next-day studies
c. Have access to Peak’s OPA, but do not regularly review it
d. Do not have access to Peak’s OPA
7. Which of the following do you include in your next-day assessments? (Select all that apply.) –
Applicable to generation functions
a. Unit outages or derates
b. Transmission outages impacting generation or system availability
c. Forecasted generation one day ahead
d. Issues with Automatic Voltage Regulators or Power System Stabilizers
e. Issues with protection systems or Remedial Action Schemes (RAS)
f. Issues with fuel quality or supply
g. Drought or water-shortage conditions affecting generation or equipment cooling
h. Contingency analysis
i. None of the above
8. Which of the following do you use to calculate input to your next-day assessments? (Select all
that apply.) – Applicable to generation functions
a. Previous-day peak load
b. Generator maintenance activity
c. Historical load or performance records
d. A load forecasting program
e. Historical interchange
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f. Contingency analysis
g. None of the above
9. How do you validate the quality of the input to your next-day assessments? – Applicable to
generation functions
10. Do you routinely perform seasonal studies for shoulder periods? – Applicable to transmission
functions
a. Yes
b. No (explain)
11. How do you evaluate the impact of major transmission outages under heavy transfer conditions
in your seasonal studies? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Perform a single-contingency analysis
b. Evaluate contingencies with seasonal generation and high seasonal load
c. Use Peak’s system operating limit methodology
d. Coordinate with neighboring entities to evaluate the impact of major transmission
outages in the area
e. Do not perform seasonal studies
f. None of the above (explain)
12. Do you validate the results of your next-day or seasonal studies by benchmarking models
against real system conditions and events? – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Yes
b. No
13. How do you validate the quality of the input to your next-day studies? (Select all that apply.) –
Applicable to transmission functions
a. Compare projected load, interchange, and generation with actual values
b. Compare projected load with previous-day peak-load estimation
c. Compare hourly projected load with the sum of interchange and generation dispatch
d. Compare next-day study pre-contingency flows with current supervisory control and
data acquisition (SCADA) flows
e. Compare next-day study pre-contingency flows with trended historical flows
f. Compare study results to the Peak’s next-day OPA
g. Compare study results with neighboring systems’ next-day studies
h. Have studies reviewed by other internal organizations
i. Use the Coordinated Outage System to plan for upcoming outages
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None of the above
14. Do your next-day or seasonal studies account for changes external to your TOP area (e.g., load,
generation dispatch, transmission, and generation outages)? – Applicable to transmission
functions
a. Yes
b. No
Situational Awareness
This section of the survey addresses Situational Awareness. Only questions applicable to your
company’s registered function will appear on the online survey form.
15. Which of the following do you perform or have another entity perform on your behalf for
situational awareness? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission functions
We
perform
Another
entity
performs
on our
behalf
Both
Neither
a. Real-time contingency analysis
b. Real-time line outage
distribution factors
c. Real-time SCADA displays and
overviews
d. Real-time voltage stability
analysis
e. Real-time transient stability
analysis
f. State estimation
g. Alarm tools
h. Signal-error detection
i.
Power flow
16. Do you notify Peak or the neighboring TOPs in case of the loss of real-time tools? (Select all
that apply.) – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Peak
b. Neighboring TOPs
c. Neither
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17. Can you determine standing angles following a major transmission outage? (Select one.) –
Applicable to transmission functions
a. Can determine both pre- and post-contingency standing angles in Real-time
b. Can determine only pre-contingency standing angles in Real-time
c. Cannot determine standing angles in Real-time
d. Not applicable
18. Can you reduce standing angles to within sync-check relay settings to allow reclosing of lines? –
Applicable to transmission functions
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not applicable
19. Which of the following do your pre- or post-contingency measures consider? (Select all that
apply.) – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Adjusting generation to ensure acceptable system performance
b. Adjusting generation and interchange schedules to ensure adequate reserves and
regulating margins are maintained
c. Requesting reserves from Reserve Sharing Group
d. Determining whether a manual load shed is needed
e. Resynchronizing and reconnecting to the Interconnection
f. Returning the system to a secure state
g. No pre- or post-contingency measures in place
h. None of the above (explain)
20. About how often do you provide operator training on pre- or post-contingency measures?
(Select one.) – Applicable to transmission functions
a. Seasonally
b. Annually
c. Only when new measures are implemented
d. Never
e. Other (explain)
21. Do your operators have access to real-time tools to anticipate the arming of RAS? – Applicable
to transmission functions
a. Yes
b. No
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c. Not applicable
22. How does your company use synchrophasor data? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to
transmission functions
a. Real-time viewing
b. Analyzing system events
c. Benchmarking models
d. None of the above
e. Not applicable
Protection Systems
This section of the survey addresses Protection Systems. Only questions applicable to your company’s
registered function will appear on the online survey form.
23. Do you perform regularly scheduled reviews of your relay settings? (Select one.) – Applicable
to transmission and generation functions
a. Yes, every one-to-three years
b. Yes, every three-or-more years
c. No procedure in place
d. Not applicable
24. Which of the following do you use to verify relay settings? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to
transmission functions
a. Peer review
b. Coordination with neighboring entities
c. Provide training to relay engineers when new equipment is introduced
d. Provide training to relay technicians when new equipment is introduced
e. Perform fault studies when facilities are added or removed from service
f. None of the above
25. With whom do you share your RAS settings? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission
functions
a. Neighboring TOPs
b. Peak
c. Neither
d. Not applicable
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26. For what types of voltage regulation equipment do you share overload trip settings with Peak
or neighboring TOPs? – Applicable to transmission functions
27. Do you have a procedure in place to regularly verify sync-check relay settings? (Select one.) –
Applicable to transmission functions
a. Yes, every one-to-five years
b. Yes, every five-or-more years
c. No procedure in place
d. Not applicable
28. Do you share your overload trip settings with both Peak and neighboring TOPs for the following
equipment? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission and generation functions
Yes
No
Not
applicable
a. Transformers
b. Transmission lines
c. Generators
29. With whom do you share your generator protection settings? (Select all that apply.) –
Applicable to generation functions
a. Peak Reliability (Peak)
b. Transmission Operators (TOP)
c. Neither
30. Have you reviewed your generator droop and deadband settings to ensure they do not
adversely impact frequency response? – Applicable to generation functions
a. Yes
b. No (explain)
31. With whom do you share your current generator droop and deadband settings? (Select all that
apply.) – Applicable to generation functions
a. Balancing Authority
b. Transmission Planning Authority
c. Neither
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Energy Management Systems
This section of the survey addresses Energy Management Systems. Only questions applicable to your
company’s registered function will appear on the online survey form.
32. Which of the following do you use to prepare operators for Energy Management System (EMS)
issues? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission and generation functions
a. Training
b. Certification
c. Awareness programs
d. Established procedures
e. Operator access to EMS support staff
f. None of the above
33. With whom do you share your Emergency Operations Procedure for loss of Energy
Management System? (Select all that apply.) – Applicable to transmission and generation
functions
a. Peak
b. Neighboring entities
c. Neither (Explain.)
Other
This section of the survey addresses other questions. Only questions applicable to your company’s
registered function will appear on the online survey form.
34. Has your company incorporated practices from the following guidelines? (Select all that apply.)
– Applicable to transmission and generation functions
Yes
No
Not
applicable
Next-Day Studies Guideline (link)
WECC Pre/Post-Contingency Plan Guideline (link)
Guideline for Protection System Loadability (link)
Guideline for WECC Operations Network Node: Responsibilities
and Procedures (link)
Real-time Tools Guideline (link)
BES Inclusion Guideline (link)
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35. Have you reviewed NERC’s Essential Reliability Services Task Force Measures Framework Report
(link)? – Applicable to transmission and generation functions
a. Yes
b. No
c. Not applicable
36. Briefly describe your measures for the loss of fuel for your natural gas plants. – Applicable to
generation functions
37. How could WECC improve the Operational Practices Survey? – Applicable to transmission and
generation functions
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