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Additional Resources

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NERC - North American Electric Reliability Council:

Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) - See Texas Regional Entity below.

Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (FRCC) - The FRCC is a not-for-profit company incorporated in the State of Florida. The purpose of the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council is to ensure and enhance the reliability and adequacy of bulk electricity supply in Florida, now and into the future. FRCC serves as a regional entity with delegated authority from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) for the purpose of proposing and enforcing reliability standards within the FRCC Region. The area of the State of Florida that is within the FRCC Region is peninsular Florida east of the Apalachicola River. Areas west of the Apalachicola River are within the SERC Region. The entire FRCC Region is within the Eastern Interconnection and is under the direction of the FRCC Reliability Coordinator.  Website.

Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) - The Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) is a voluntary association committed to safeguarding reliability of the bulk electric power system in the north central region of North America. In addition to being a member organization, the MRO is a Cross Border Regional Entity under the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (United States) and applicable jurisdiction in Canada.  The essential purposes of the MRO are: (1) the development and implementation of regional reliability standards, (2) determining and enforcing compliance with those standards, including enforcement mechanisms, and (3) providing seasonal and long-term assessments of bulk electric system reliability. The MRO also provides other services consistent with its reliability charter.  The MRO region includes more than forty organizations supplying approximately 280,000,000 megawatt-hours to more than twenty million people. The MRO membership includes municipal utilities, cooperatives, investor-owned utilities, a federal power marketing agency, Canadian Crown Corporations, and independent power producers. The MRO region spans nine states and two Canadian provinces covering roughly one million square miles.

Locations: Roseville, Minnesota.

Website:  http://www.midwestreliability.org/

North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC)  - mission is to improve the reliability and security of the bulk power system in North America. To achieve that, NERC develops and enforces reliability standards; monitors the bulk power system; assesses future adequacy; audits owners, operators, and users for preparedness; and educates and trains industry personnel. NERC is a self-regulatory organization that relies on the diverse and collective expertise of industry participants. As the Electric Reliability Organization, NERC is subject to audit by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and governmental authorities in Canada.  Website.  NERC Maps - Webpage.  NERC 101 - history, role, program areas - PDF of Presentation. Regional Standards: In general, Regions are only supposed to be generating standards when there is something physically unique about the Region that dictates the need, or if the members agree to have something more stringent than NERC.  Some Regions are using this process to codify their prior guides.  To be enforceable under the Electric Reliability Organization (NERC) with the enforcement authority of FERC, the Region must develop a standard in an open process and submit the standard to NERC.  NERC then asks the industry if there are reliability issues caused by the standard, and if not, they are balloted.  The results of the industry ballot will guide the decision by the NERC Board to send the standard to FERC for approval. Regional standards that have not gone through all the steps above are still considered good utility practice, and members of the Region have an obligation (though not sanction-able) to abide by them.  Link to Regional Standards.

NERC Maps: http://www.nerc.com/page.php?cid=1|9|119

NERC “2007 Long-Term Reliability Assessment” report (PDF) 

Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) - NPCC mission to promote and enhance the reliable and efficient operation of the international, interconnected bulk power system in Northeastern North America through (i) the development of regional reliability standards and compliance assessment and enforcement of continent-wide and regional reliability standards, coordination of system planning, design and operations, and assessment of reliability, pursuant to an agreement with the Electric Reliability Organization ("ERO") which designates NPCC as a regional entity and delegates authority from the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC"), and by Memoranda of Understanding with applicable Canadian Provincial regulatory and/or governmental authorities (collectively, "statutory activities"), and (ii) the establishment of regionally-specific criteria, and monitoring and enforcement of compliance with such criteria (collectively, "non-statutory criteria services"). In the development of regionally-specific reliability criteria and standards, NPCC, to the extent possible, facilitates attainment of fair, effective and efficient competitive electric markets.  Website.

Northwest Power Pool (NWPP) - serves as a forum in the electrical industry for reliability and operational adequacy issues in the Northwest, through both the transition period of restructuring and the future. NWPP promotes cooperation among its members in order to achieve reliable operation of the electrical power system, coordinate power system planning, and assist in transmission planning in the Northwest Interconnected Area. It is a voluntary organization comprised of major generating utilities serving the Northwestern U.S., British Columbia and Alberta. Smaller, principally non-generating utilities in the region participate indirectly through the member system with which they are interconnected.

Locations: Portland, Oregon.

Website: http://www.nwpp.org/

ReliabilityFirst Corporation (RFC) - The purpose of ReliabilityFirst is to preserve and enhance electric service reliability and security of the interconnected electric system and to be a regional entity under the framework of NERC (or other entity established under the recently signed U.S. federal energy legislation).  RFC’s key functions are the development of regional standards for reliable planning and operation of the bulk electric systems and non-discriminatory compliance monitoring and enforcement of both NERC and regional standards. RFC is designed to be flexible and adaptable in order to foster the broadest possible participation and meet the changing needs of the industry.  Website.

SERC Reliability Corporation (SERC) - is a nonprofit corporation responsible for promoting and improving the reliability, adequacy, and critical infrastructure of the bulk power supply systems in all or portions of 16 central and southeastern states. Owners, operators, and users of the bulk power system in these states cover an area of approximately 560,000 square miles and comprise what is known as the SERC Region.  Website.

States: Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.

Website: http://www.serc1.org

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) - is a Regional Transmission Organization, mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure reliable supplies of power, adequate transmission infrastructure, and competitive wholesale prices of electricity. As a Regional Entity, SPP oversees compliance enforcement and reliability standards development. SPP has members in 8 Southwestern states.  Website.  Website.

Texas Regional Entity (TRE) - The mission of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is to direct and ensure reliable and cost-effective operation of the electric grid and to enable fair and efficient market-driven solutions to meet customers’ electric service needs.
Website.

Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) - region encompasses a vast area of nearly 1.8 million square miles. It is the largest and most diverse of the eight regional councils of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC). WECC's service territory extends from Canada to Mexico. It includes the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the northern portion of Baja California, Mexico, and all or portions of the 14 western states in between. Transmission lines span long distances connecting the verdant Pacific Northwest with its abundant hydroelectric resources to the arid Southwest with its large coal-fired and nuclear resources. WECC and the nine other regional reliability councils were formed due to national concern regarding the reliability of the interconnected bulk power systems, the ability to operate these systems without widespread failures in electric service, and the need to foster the preservation of reliability through a formal organization.

Locations: Salt Lake City, Utah; Fort Collins, Colorado; Vancouver, Washington.

Website: http://www.wecc.biz

WECC Page.

(The) Western Interconnection Compliance Forum (WICF) - is emerging as a new organization within the Western Interconnection that is run by and on behalf of entities subject to WECC and NERC Requirements.  The purpose of WICF is to provide registered functional entities within the Western Interconnection a venue to share knowledge and lessons learned regarding compliance matters, and to collectively develop best practices.  Membership is free and is open to NERC registered entities and their designees.

Website: http://www.wicf.biz/

Reports of Interest:

Reliability Impacts of Climate Change Initiatives - reliability impacts of climate initiatives on the network.”

Link to NERC report: http://www.nerc.com/files/2008-Climate-Initiatives-Report.pdf

Tracking the Reliability of the U.S. Electric Power System - An assessment of publicly available information reported to State Public Utility Commissions - October 2008, 52 Pages.

http://www.energycollection.com/Energy-Reliability/Tracking-The-Reliability-Of-The-US-Electric-Power-System.pdf

Additional Resources

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Paul J. Feldman