FERC on Friday granted NERC’s request for more time to submit changes to its Rules of Procedure (ROP) ordered by the commission in January (RR19-7).
The revisions demanded by FERC on Jan. 23 in response to the ERO’s five-year performance assessment include updating terminology regarding the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center; providing greater transparency in its sanction guidelines; and making various improvements to its certification program. (See NERC Wins Another 5 Years as ERO.) FERC ordered NERC to make a compliance filing by July 21 confirming the changes.
On Feb. 21, NERC asked the commission to extend the deadline for the compliance filing to Aug. 28, a delay of more than a month. Moving the deadline would “ensure transparency in developing revisions to the ROP,” NERC said, by allowing it to follow a “more feasible” schedule for its review process, which requires a 45-day stakeholder comment period and review by the Board of Trustees before its next meeting. Under the extended timetable, the board will have until the Aug. 20 meeting to review the changes, rather than May 13.
NERC said the extension will also let it perform FERC’s changes in conjunction with an ongoing project to revise the ROP regarding the registration and certification program, with input from regional entities, stakeholders and the Compliance and Certification Committee. The organization said a longer deadline would let it “present a complete set of registration and certification ROP revisions” that are also in compliance with the commission’s order.
In its response, FERC accepted the organization’s reasoning and said NERC would be “granted an extension of time to and including Aug. 28, 2020,” to comply with the order.
FERC’s January order also required NERC to make a compliance filing by April 22 providing any audits it has conducted of the REs during the five-year period or a plan for performing them within the next 18 months. (See NERC Seeks More Time on Rule Changes.)
— Holden Mann
