[Editor’s note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that PRC-029-1, addressing IBR frequency and voltage ride-through requirements, passed a ballot round that concluded earlier this week. The standard that passed that ballot round was actually PRC-024-4 (Frequency and voltage protection settings for synchronous generators, type 1 and type 2 wind resources, and synchronous condensers). PRC-029-1 is undergoing a re-ballot that will end Oct. 4 at 8 p.m. ET. The text below has been updated to reflect this.]
NERC’s proposed reliability standard addressing ride-through protection for inverter-based resources (IBRs) is undergoing a re-ballot in hopes of gaining enough industry support for passage, as the ERO’s Board of Trustees prepares to meet next week to formally adopt the five proposed IBR standards needed to meet a FERC deadline.
The ballot for PRC-029-1 (Frequency and voltage ride-through requirements for IBRs) was originally scheduled to end on Sept. 30 but was extended to Oct. 4 to allow industry more time to review revisions, summarized in a memo on the project’s NERC webpage.
A ballot for the standard’s implementation plan will also close Oct. 4. The implementation plan also covers PRC-024-4 (Frequency and voltage protection settings for synchronous generators, Type 1 and Type 2 wind resources, and synchronous condensers), which was developed by the same drafting team as the ride-through standard.
PRC-024-4 did close its final ballot round Sept. 30, with industry stakeholders, voting by segment, casting 184 votes in favor of the standard, compared with 34 negative votes with comments, while 53 members of the ballot body either abstained or didn’t cast a vote. NERC weights its standards voting by segment participation so that industry segments with fewer voters will count less in the final tally. Therefore, the final segment-weighted value is 86.41% in favor, well over both the two-thirds majority needed for approval.
At its August meeting, NERC’s board exercised for the first time its authority to streamline the ERO’s regular stakeholder approval process, after PRC-029-1 did not receive industry approval after multiple ballot rounds. Board Chair Kenneth DeFontes warned this put the ERO in danger of failing to meet FERC’s deadline, imposed last year, to submit reliability standards addressing IBR performance requirements, disturbance monitoring data sharing and post-event performance validation by Nov. 4, 2024. (See NERC Board of Trustees/MRC Briefs: Aug. 15, 2024.)
The board ordered NERC’s Standards Committee to convene a technical conference to receive input from industry and other ERO stakeholders on the ride-through standard in order to shape a version palatable to enough ballot body members to get across the finish line. At the conference, which was held Sept. 4-5 in D.C., representatives from a range of industry segments — including NERC, original equipment manufacturers and utilities — discussed their issues with the proposed standard. (See NERC, Industry Discuss IBR Issues in Technical Conference.)
After the conference, NERC revised the standard to address attendees’ concerns, including the clarity of the definition of “ride-through,” criteria for frequency ride-through performance and exemptions to ride-through criteria for equipment with hardware limits.
If it passes this ballot round, PRC-029-1 will not be posted for the customary final ballot, another result of the streamlined process approved at the August board meeting. At their meeting Oct. 8, trustees will vote on PRC-029-1 and PRC-024-4, along with the other IBR standards that are subject to FERC’s November deadline and were approved in previous ballot rounds:
If PRC-029-1 does not receive a two-thirds segment-weighted vote in favor, the board may still consider it approved if it receives at least 60% of the vote. In that case, the board must solicit written public comment on the proposed standard and may convene an additional technical conference. If the board is satisfied that the standard is just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest, it may then file the standard with FERC for approval.
In the event that the standard does not receive at least a 60% segment-weighted majority, the board has other options available, including directing the Standards Committee or NERC management to prepare another draft standard, convening another technical conference, and approving the standard after a 45-day public comment period but without a formal ballot.
Also on the board’s agenda next week are revisions to the charter of NERC’s Reliability and Security Technical Committee (RSTC) that are intended to improve the balance of industry representation at meetings. The new rules will allow a sector to seek a special election to fill an open seat representing it, rather than have that seat convert to an at-large member as the current charter provides.
In addition, they will remove the numerical cap on the number of representatives from a sector that can serve as at-large members and will direct the RSTC Nominating Subcommittee to prioritize balanced sector representation.
