In its last meeting of the year on Dec. 10, NERC’s Board of Trustees voted to adopt a number of new reliability standards, along with taking action on multiple organizational items, capping off what Chair Kenneth DeFontes called “an extraordinary year” for the ERO Enterprise.

Standards Approved for FERC Submission

Trustees first accepted CIP-003-11 (Cybersecurity — security management controls), produced by Project 2023-04 (Modifications to CIP-003). The new standard addresses the risk of grid-connected distributed cyber systems being targeted by malicious actors for use in a coordinated attack. It requires entities to implement controls on inbound and outbound electronic access, detection of suspicious or malicious communications, user authentication and disabling vendor electronic access.

Next, the board approved TPL-008-1 (Transmission system planning performance requirements for extreme temperature events). NERC developed the standard in response to FERC’s Order 896, which directed the ERO to develop a standard to require entities to plan for extreme heat and cold weather events. (See FERC Approves More Extreme Weather Rules.) The board’s approval means the standard can be submitted in time to meet FERC’s deadline of Dec. 23, 2024.

Trustees then moved to CIP-002-8 (Cybersecurity — BES cyber system categorization), which is intended to improve risk identification by ensuring transmission owner control centers that perform the functions of a transmission operator are identified correctly. Members approved this standard unanimously, as they did with the other proposed standards.

Finally, the board accepted BAL-007-1 (Near-term energy reliability assessments) and TOP-003-7 (Transmission operator and balancing authority data and information specification and collection). The standards will require entities to evaluate energy assurance through energy reliability assessments and develop corrective action plans or take other actions to address identified risks in the appropriate time horizons.

After the standards actions, the board approved NERC’s 2025-2027 Reliability Standards Development Plan (page 40 in the agenda). The RSDP lays out time frames and resources available for projects under development or expected to begin by the end of 2024.

Organizational Items Endorsed

The board next agreed to authorize a data request to assess the cold weather performance of generating units. The request will be issued under Section 1600 of NERC’s Rules of Procedure, initially in 2025 and annually thereafter; relevant entities must submit the required information by May 15 of each year.

Trustees also approved the ERO Enterprise Long-term Strategy, a document outlining key focus areas to guide NERC and the regional entities’ business planning practices starting in 2026, and 2025 Work Plan Priorities. The latter document lists the highest-priority items for 2025 as outlined in its 2023-2025 strategic plan.

Board members then approved a set of proposed compensation changes resulting from a market study performed earlier this year by Meridian Compensation Partners at the direction of NERC’s management. The ERO’s governance guidelines require NERC to perform such a study every three years, along with an annual review of trustee compensation.

As explained by Trustee George Hawkins, Meridian’s study found that NERC’s average trustee pay of $141,000 is “in the bottom half of the competitive pay range” and that “an increase in trustee compensation is warranted.” NERC’s Corporate Governance and Human Resources Committee recommended that compensation be adjusted over the next three years as follows:

• • Annual board retainer: from $135,000 currently to $150,000 in 2025, $160,000 in 2026 and $170,000 in 2027.
  • Committee chair fee: from $10,000 now to $15,000 in all three years.
  • Board chair retainer: from $47,500 to $55,000 in all three years.
  • Vice chair retainer: from $10,000 to $15,000 in all three years.

Board advisory and liaison support fees would remain unchanged at $5,000 per year.

Board to Trial New Meeting Schedule

Chair elect Suzanne Keenan finished the meeting by presenting attendees with an updated schedule for board meetings that will see trustees gather in person more often.

For the past two years, NERC’s board has been holding two in-person meetings per year, in February and August. The May meeting has followed a hybrid format in which trustees and Member Representatives Committee members meet in person while other attendees join remotely, with the MRC and board’s final meetings of the year held entirely online.

Keenan said trustees have received feedback over the past two years indicating “a clear concern” among industry stakeholders about “the length of time without an in-person meeting between August and February.” As a result, the board decided on a new “cadence” of meetings that will debut in 2026.

Under the new schedule, Keenan said, the board will hold three in-person meetings each year, in February, June and October. The February meeting will be held at a hotel in the U.S., while the June meetings will alternate annually between NERC’s D.C. office and a hotel in Canada. For the October meeting, in years when the board meets in Canada, trustees and the MRC will gather at NERC’s D.C. office; in other years they will meet at a U.S. hotel.

Keenan said the board will consider 2026 and 2027 a “trial period” for the new schedule, with a review planned for December of both years to determine if any further adjustments are needed. She expressed hope that the schedule will “deconflict with some of the larger industry conferences” such as the annual CAMPUT conference of Canadian utility regulators held in May.