NERC’s Standards Committee approved a proposal to solicit one or two additional nominees for the Standard Authorization Request (SAR) drafting team responsible for cold weather standards (Project 2019-06), over the objection of Sean Bodkin, NERC compliance policy manager for Dominion Energy.

The solicitation is intended to add representation for small entities. Howard Gugel, NERC’s vice president of engineering and standards, said he had received emails from industry stakeholders expressing concern that this sector was underrepresented on the team. However, Bodkin pointed out that the drafting team already has a member from Ingleside Cogeneration in Texas, which he felt should satisfy the stakeholders.

“I guess I’m a little concerned about the disconnect. We already have a small entity on there, [do] we need more small entities, different small entities?” Bodkin asked during the committee’s conference call Wednesday, which replaced its scheduled in-person meeting.

In response, Gugel observed that NERC believes that a cogeneration facility like Ingleside will not bring the same perspective as a municipal or cooperative utility. But Bodkin continued to press the matter, reminding committee members that the SAR drafting team itself has raised no objections to its current membership through several rounds of revisions. (See Cold Weather Team Seeks More Time to Process Response.)

“It’s already got 10 members [and] there’s already a small entity on there,” Bodkin said. “[The] standard drafting team didn’t see a need to add that extra diversity or expertise. I’m not sure I can support going out and adding an eleventh member to a 10-member team that’s going out for a fourth try on a SAR.”

Despite the debate, the proposal passed with Bodkin and Linn Oelker, market compliance manager for Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, casting the only “no” votes. Neil Shockey, principal manager for Southern California Edison, and Venona Greaff, senior energy analyst for Occidental Chemical Corporation, abstained. Nominations for the small entity representatives are open through July 2. The Standards Committee will appoint the new members at its next meeting on July 22.

Blohm Touts Experience in SAR Candidate

A request to appoint members to the SAR drafting team for Project 2020-01 — modifications to MOD-032-1, governing data for power system modeling and analysis — prompted discussion as well. The proposed team would consist of 12 members, including the chair and vice chair.

Asked by Bodkin why the planned roster was larger than the normal team size of 10 members, NERC’s Manager of Standards Development Soo Jin Kim explained that in the last few months several standard drafting teams have reported scheduling issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic, as members have been pulled by their utilities into business continuity efforts. Adopting a larger team size is one way to reduce these impacts.

Robert Blohm, managing director of Keen Resources, also raised the possibility of replacing one nominee, who like the others was not identified by name during the proceedings, with another from the same company who was considered by NERC for nomination but not included in the final slate. Blohm acknowledged that both candidates were well-qualified but observed that the unselected candidate had both longer industry experience and previous experience serving on standard drafting teams, a quality that he worried was being overlooked by the committee.

“We want to encourage younger membership; you don’t want to institutionalize the past too much. But, on the other hand, you don’t want to de-emphasize it either,” Blohm said. “And in this case it’s not like there’s an excess or surplus of drafting team experience … In fact, [only] one-sixth of the selected [nominees] have had that experience.”

Blohm moved to switch the two nominees, though he admitted that the motion was unlikely to receive a second — which turned out to be the case. The original slate was approved unanimously with no changes.

SOL, Training Proposals Accepted

The committee approved the following items during the conference call:

• Project 2015–09, establish and communicate system operating limits: Authorize initial posting of proposed reliability standards IRO-008-3 and TOP-001-6 for a 45-day formal comment period, with a ballot pool formed in the first 30 days. In addition, conduct parallel initial ballots and non-binding pools on violation risk factors and violation severity levels during the last 10 days of the comment period.
• Endorse the Process Subcommittee’s proposal to identify and document relevant materials for orientation and/or training of Standards Committee members and recommend improvements where necessary.

The second measure was passed in modified form after Bodkin suggested that training processes be included, in addition to materials, to ensure that orientation can be done in a more consistent manner.