ST. PAUL, Minn. — Below is a summary of actions taken at the Midwest Reliability Organization’s (MRO) Annual Member and Board of Directors Meeting last week.

Approvals and Appointments

The members:

• Endorsed NERC’s revised ERO Enterprise Long-Term Strategy as shared at the Member Representative Committee in November. (See Strategy Plan Prompts ‘Cost-benefit’ Discussion at MRC.)
• Revised the name of the Organizational Group and NERC Representative Oversight Committee to Organizational Group Oversight Committee.
• Updated Policy and Procedure 1 regarding MRO Independent Directors’ removal of outdated language. It also raises the annual retainer from $56,500 to $79,625 while eliminating the $6,000 annual retainer per committee.
• Revised MRO’s General Finance Policies to define intangible assets and the procedure for carrying them on the balance sheet. The change was suggested to all regional entities by NERC, with the goal of encouraging a low debt-to-asset ratio.

In addition, members voted to appoint Lam Chung — currently vice president and engineer of strategy, innovation and finance – as treasurer, thrift savings plan trustee and corporate compliance officer effective Dec. 5, replacing Ken Gartner. The Board of Directors agreed to elevate current Vice Chair Thomas Kent from Nebraska Public Power District to Chair effective Jan. 1, replacing Silvia Mitchell of NextEra Energy. Kent’s role will be filled by Brad Cox of Tenaska Power Services.

MRO Praised for Security Work

NERC Chair Roy Thilly praised MRO for taking a proactive approach to security, singling out the Security Advisory Council (SAC), established this year, as a particularly valuable resource. The SAC advises MRO’s Board of Directors, staff and registered entities on cybersecurity; physical security; and SCADA, EMS, substation and generation control systems; and promotes awareness of these subjects.

The SAC’s information-sharing functions are of particular interest to NERC, given the decision earlier this year to merge NERC’s Operating, Planning and Critical Infrastructure Protection committees into a new panel, tentatively called the Reliability and Security Technical Committee (RSTC). (See NERC Board OKs Committees Merger.) A group like the SAC can help to fill any gaps left by the dissolution of the existing committees while the new group starts up, Thilly said.

“I get feedback from [NERC CEO Jim Robb] and from the [Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center] that they really like that model as a way of engaging the regions on the cyber issue, which has been difficult,” said Thilly. “I know Jim would like to see [that model] replicated in the other regions. So, thank you for that, and help us do that because with CIPC going away, there’s a forum function and information sharing function … that need to be captured.”

McMullen Honored on Retirement

MRO CEO Sara Patrick called on members to recognize Michael McMullen, the director of regional operations at MISO, who will retire this year after 13 years of service. McMullen was the inaugural chair of MRO’s operating committee and currently serves on the Reliability Advisory Council, formed earlier this year. In addition, he has served on several technical committees and groups at NERC.

“He was instrumental in standing up the operating committee and remained a committee member, providing leadership and technical guidance, for its eight-plus years of existence,” Patrick said. “We sincerely appreciate Mike’s dedication and contributions to the success of MRO and reliability of the bulk power system.”

Thanking the members for their recognition, McMullen said it was a pleasure to have served in MRO and he was confident in the organization’s work going forward.

“I think my biggest vote of confidence is that in my next stage, I do not own a generator and I do not plan on getting one,” McMullen said. “I know that we’ll remain reliable.”

MRO’s next board meeting will be held in St. Paul on April 1-2.

— Holden Mann