ATLANTA — NERC Chairman Roy Thilly told the Member Representatives Committee on Tuesday that he has asked CEO Jim Robb to develop a plan to reduce the Board of Trustees’ quarterly meetings to three gatherings per year.
The board experimented with an abbreviated open meeting immediately after the MRC meeting, rather than the normal schedule of a half-day meeting the day after the MRC. The open board meeting was mostly action items, with committee meetings done last week through conference calls. (See related story, NERC Board of Trustees Briefs: Nov. 5, 2019.)
Thilly had said in August that the new schedule would be a trial run that could be used for future fourth-quarter meetings, which he said had fewer “essential” items on the agenda.
But on Tuesday, Thilly said reviews of the new format were not positive.
“NERC always strived for consensus, and I think we’ve achieved it, or nearly: The schedule we’ve chosen this time around didn’t work,” he said. “So, I don’t think you’ll see this particular schedule again.”
Thilly said he hoped to have a plan for the new schedule next year.
Trustee George Hawkins said the effort was not in vain. “Innovative organizations try new things,” he said. “I applaud the effort.”
Sterling Named Chair; Choudhury Vice Chair
Jennifer Sterling of Exelon and Paul Choudhury of BC Hydro were named MRC chair and vice chair, respectively, for 2020. The committee will be accepting nominations for sector representatives until Friday, with the election scheduled for Dec. 9-19. Sterling will replace Greg Ford of Georgia System Operations. The current sector representatives’ terms expire in February.
Changes to ERO Enterprise Effectiveness Survey
NERC management is planning to simplify the organization’s next ERO Enterprise Effectiveness Survey, to be issued next year, to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
The most recent survey, in 2018, included 76 questions and resulted in almost 5,000 raw comments. “The time and effort for stakeholders to complete the survey and for staff to review and condense this information is substantial,” NERC said. The new survey will be designed to balance “the need for stakeholder feedback with a more effective and efficient approach to the questions, results and action plans,” it said.
Kristin Iwanechko, associate director of regional and stakeholder relations, said NERC will present its proposed changes at the February 2020 MRC meeting.
MRC Governance Guidelines Approved
The MRC approved revised Governance Guidelines to replace the Approved Policy on Minutes of MRC Meetings, the Framework for the Operation of the MRC and the MRC Reference Document. The change reduces the number of documents guiding the committee to two: the guidelines and the NERC Bylaws.
E-ISAC Performance Metrics
Trustee Suzanne Keenan, chair of the board’s Technology and Security Committee, said the committee endorsed 2020 performance metrics for the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center at its Nov. 1 meeting.
The performance metrics, intended to align the E-ISAC’s Long-Term Strategic Plan, were previously endorsed by the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council’s Member Executive Committee.
The metrics will be incorporated in NERC’s overall corporate performance metrics after final approval by the board’s Corporate Governance and Human Resources Committee.
– Rich Heidorn Jr.
