The electric and natural gas industries need to strengthen their winterization and cold weather preparedness and coordination to prevent a recurrence of the unprecedented February 2021 power outages to millions of people during the February 2021 freeze in Texas and the Midwest.

That is the assessment of a preliminary report presented at today’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) meeting by a joint inquiry team of staff from FERC and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and its regional entities. The report reviews what happened during the freeze and outlines a series of recommendations, including mandatory electric reliability standards, to prevent its recurrence.

https://www.nerc.com/news/Headlines%20DL/2021%20Winter%20Freeze%20092321.pdf 

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions staff released an electric reliability primer that provides an overview of FERC’s role in overseeing the reliable operation of the nation’s bulk power system.

The primer outlines the basic structure of how the bulk power system operates with an explanation of fundamental concepts and functions related to power system operations. The document also discusses FERC’s authority under section 215 of the Federal Power Act with regard to reliability and how FERC has implemented that authority, primarily focusing on the oversight of the development and enforcement of mandatory Reliability Standards. Reliability Standards impose requirements on the users, owners and operators of the bulk power system to assure that they fulfill their responsibilities in reliable grid operations, consistent with the basic engineering functions and concepts discussed in the primer.

Also highlighted is the role of the NERC as the Electric Reliability Organization and the relationship to FERC and industry stakeholders.

FERC Reliability Primer

Docket Nos. RM15-25-000, RM15-4-000, RM15-9-000, and RM15-8-000

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on September 17, 2015 proposed to require the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to provide the Commission with access to NERC’s transmission availability data system, generating availability data system (GADS) and protection system misoperations databases.

The proposed access would be limited to data regarding U.S. facilities only and would not require NERC to collect any additional data. The intent is to inform FERC more quickly, directly and comprehensively about reliability trends or reliability gaps that might require development of new or modified Reliability Standards. Access to the databases also would provide FERC with more information to better understand the reliability and adequacy assessments periodically submitted by NERC.

Comments on the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.