MISO’s stakeholder committee chairs last week resuscitated a stakeholder group dedicated to emergency preparedness and system restoration training.

Steering Committee members voted at a May 10 teleconference to morph the System Restoration and Reliability Training Working Group into an Operators Training User Group (OTUG).

MISO said the sunsetted working group was effectively functioning as a user group because it did not make policy recommendations to the Reliability Subcommittee. It said policy decisions on power restoration processes have largely been handled through the subcommittee and the nonpublic Reliable Operations Working Group.

The OTUG will still serve as an outlet for discussions on operator training, system resilience, emergency preparedness exercises and restoration drills. When appropriate, the group will advise MISO and stakeholders on mitigating reliability risks through improved training.

User groups are not defined in MISO’s Stakeholder Governance Guide and therefore aren’t bound by the usual committee guidelines. User groups do not have to elect leadership. The grid operator said the new group will allow it to exert the same influence while having greater flexibility.

The OTUG will continue to report to the Reliability Subcommittee. Members will present a new mission statement, meeting dates and management plan to the subcommittee during its May 23 meeting.