By Tom Kleckner and Rich Heidorn Jr.
The certification process for SPP’s reliability coordination function in the Western Interconnection began last week with an on-site visit by nearly two dozen industry representatives.
“They spent the better part of three days talking with our staff,” C.J. Brown, SPP’s director of systems operations, told the RTO’s Western Reliability Executive Committee on Friday. “Overall, I think it went very well.”
As is the case in certification visits, the team left behind issues to be resolved in three buckets: items that prove the RC is not ready; items to be addressed before going live; and suggestions or recommendations. SPP had no items in the first bucket, but several in the second, “none of which aren’t already in our project plan,” Brown said.
He said the team made numerous recommendations in the third bucket.
“That’s good, because that gives you a chance to look at best practices,” Brown said.
The 23-person certification team was led by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and composed of staff from WECC, FERC, NERC, the Midwest Reliability Organization and other industry representatives.
“It’s a very diverse and subject matter-rich team,” WECC CEO Melanie Frye told the NERC Board of Trustees at its meeting in Quebec City on Thursday.
Frye also disclosed that Gridforce Energy Management, a Houston-based control center, has reached an agreement to use CAISO’s RC West services through at least April 2021. The company had intended to begin providing RC services to serve several small generation-only balancing authority areas in Arizona, Oregon and Washington in December.
“This is an interim step,” Frye said. “We see this as a very positive move to ensure a smooth transition to these new RCs. That will be part of the certification process as RC West goes through their Phase 2.”
Gridforce did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its change in plans.
SPP’s Schedule
SPP expects to receive a final certification report in mid-September. That will set the stage for shadow operations with WECC’s incumbent RC, Peak Reliability, in October. SPP is scheduled to go live with its RC services Dec. 3.
Peak said last year that it would wind down operations at the end of 2019. SPP and CAISO both jumped at the opportunity to provide RC services to Peak’s customers, with SPP signing up about 12% of the Western Interconnection’s load. (See CAISO RC Wins Most of the West.)
SPP is also working with CAISO and Peak to gather the data necessary to coordinate reliability. Brown said staff have gathered about 30% of the necessary data points, using CAISO as its primary contact.
“Everywhere we can use the CAISO data, the better,” he said, noting the ISO is transitioning to a new energy management system. “As the system gets closer and closer to production for shadow operations, that’s when they’ll be able to transfer all the data. We’ve already done the pre-work. … Our systems will be able to accept [the data] immediately.”
Brown said SPP’s system model is “aligning well” with the Peak model, except for a lack of real-time data in the Northwest and from the Bonneville Power Administration.
Peak Wind-down
In her briefing to the NERC board, Frye praised Peak CEO Marie Jordan and her staff for helping with an orderly transition.
“You can imagine what it’s like to work at Peak right now,” she said. “They have done a fantastic job of communicating with their members and the general public. … They’ve really demonstrated a desire to make sure this transition goes smoothly.”
Frye said Peak’s employee attrition is “as expected.” The last planned attrition date was in July following the go-live for RC West; the next planned reduction is in October. Some Peak employees have been offered jobs at the new RCs, and one is being hired by WECC.
“There’s tremendous talent there,” she said.
As for Jordan’s plans? “I think she’s going to be enjoying a beach [after Peak ceases operations], but I think she’ll consider what options are out there as well,” Frye said.
