Trustees Hold First Hybrid Meeting in DC Office

NERC’s Board of Trustees on Thursday approved the organization’s first-ever Level 3 alert — its highest-level action, indicating specific steps deemed essential for certain stakeholders to ensure reliable operation of the grid — at its quarterly meeting.

The alert, which concerns preparations for extreme cold weather, will be issued May 15.

The trustees — along with the Member Representatives Committee — gathered in person at NERC’s recently renovated offices in D.C. on Wednesday and Thursday, with other attendees observing via teleconference. The arrangement was announced at NERC’s November MRC meeting in New Orleans. (See “Board Makes Meeting Changes Official,” NERC Board of Trustees/MRC Briefs: Nov. 15-16, 2022.)

NERC’s next board and MRC meetings will be held in Ottawa, Ontario, Aug. 16-17 and will be fully in person, while the November meetings will be entirely virtual.

Board Chair Kenneth DeFontes thanked attendees for their willingness to adapt to the new format, saying the hybrid meeting schedule “opened the door to a new way … to engage [that is] going to be very beneficial.”

NERC CEO Jim Robb called the hybrid format the ERO’s “last major experiment in how to structure a board and MRC meeting” that seemed to be “a success so far.” He also praised the new office as a space for “more direct and … more intimate conversations” by the board and other stakeholders.

ERO to Issue First Level 3 Alert May 15

At the meeting, Darrell Moore, NERC’s director of bulk power system awareness, said the ERO needs the Level 3 alert in order “to understand how entities are taking steps to prepare for extreme cold weather conditions.”

Moore pointed out that the grid’s ability to withstand cold weather has been a major concern for the ERO and FERC over the past few years because of events such as the winter storms of 2021 and 2022. The commission recently approved new winter weather-focused reliability standards. (See FERC Orders New Reliability Standards in Response to Uri.)

Under the alert, responsible entities will be required to provide the following information by midnight ET Oct. 6:

• for generator owners (GOs), their total net winter capacity megawatts, defined as the maximum output that generating equipment can supply to system load at the time of peak winter demand;
• whether the entity has calculated an extreme cold weather temperature (ECWT) for some or all generating units;
• the percent of net winter capacity megawatts capable of operating at the ECWT, along with the percent that have an ECWT above 32 degrees Fahrenheit and at various temperature ranges;
• the percent of net winter capacity megawatts for which the GO has identified the generator cold weather critical component that could lead to forced derate or failure to start under freezing conditions;
• whether any units experienced generator cold weather reliability events in the winter of 2022/23, and whether any units are believed to be at risk of the same event in the coming winter; and
• for transmission operators and balancing authorities, whether they have updated their operating plans for cold weather emergencies, as described in the alert, or plan to before the next winter.

The alert also identifies eight “essential actions” for registered entities to take to prepare for cold weather. Unlike providing solicited information, implementing the essential actions is not mandatory. However, entities are required to acknowledge receipt of the alert and urged to follow the actions. After NERC receives entities’ responses, the ERO will analyze the results and report them to FERC by Nov. 3.

Board Approves INSM Data Request

The trustees also approved the issuance of a data request to responsible entities to help NERC meet FERC’s directive to develop a new standard requiring internal network security monitoring (INSM) on certain cyber systems.

At its January open meeting, the commission ordered NERC to submit new standards requiring INSM in all high-impact cyber systems, as well as in all medium-impact cyber systems with external routable connectivity (ERC). (See FERC Orders Internal Cyber Monitoring in Response to SolarWinds Hack.)

FERC also ordered the ERO to study the risks of not implementing INSM and the feasibility of requiring it for other cyber systems not subject to the proposed standards, like low- and medium-impact systems without ERC. The study must be submitted to the commission by Jan. 18.

NERC’s data request will seek information from entities regarding the number of substations and generation locations containing medium-impact cyber systems, with or without ERC; the number of locations with low-impact systems; potential logistical, technological or other challenges involved in extending INSM to additional cyber systems; and possible alternative actions to lessen these systems’ risks without INSM. Responses must be submitted within 60 days of the request’s issuance.

In addition, the board accepted the Texas Reliability Entity’s revised regional standards development process, which the RE’s Board of Directors approved in February. The revisions are intended to clarify the document and improve the efficiency of the standards development process; promote consistency with other RE materials and with NERC’s Standard Processes Manual; and promote stakeholder participation.

Leadership Changes; Thomas Honored

Robb announced the elevation of Howard Gugel, previously NERC’s vice president of engineering and standards, as the new vice president of compliance assurance and registration. While Gugel has been informally filling the role since February because of Mechelle Thomas’ long illness, he officially assumed it Thursday.

Thomas died May 1. She worked at NERC for nearly 11 years, initially as senior director of internal audit and corporate risk management and for the last four years in the compliance assurance position.

Robb led a moment of silence for her and was one of several during the meetings to pay tribute to her. While Robb discussed Thomas’ multiple accomplishments at NERC, such as launching the organization’s employee resource groups and promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the organization, SERC Reliability CEO Jason Blake remembered her as “a true partner” to the REs who was “always involved with and collaborating” with RE staff.

MRC Chair Jennifer Flandermeyer on Wednesday called Thomas “a very special lady with a wide impact on the industry” and called her passing “a hard loss” for her colleagues.

“She was just a wonderful teammate; she was an adviser and a friend to me personally, and to … many of you,” Robb said. “She made an impact on people in both big and small ways, and we’re only starting to realize the magnitude of the shadow that she cast over the last couple of weeks. So to say that we’ve been devastated by this is an understatement.”

Soo Jin Kim, a 10-year veteran at NERC who most recently headed the organization’s Power Risk Issues and Strategic Management group, was approved to succeed Gugel as vice president of engineering and standards. Kim will begin her new role next week.