FERC gave its assent at this week’s open meeting to NERC’s 2025 Business Plan and Budget, along with those of the regional entities and the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body (WIRAB) (RR24-5).
The commission also granted a request by NERC and WECC to fund the Western Transmission Expansion Coalition’s (WestTEC) transmission planning study over the next two years by releasing $2.2 million in total from the Peak Reliability Donation Reserve and approved the REs’ use of penalties to grow its financial reserves and reduce its 2025 assessments.
The ERO submitted the budgets to the commission following their acceptance by the ERO’s Board of Trustees at its August meeting in Vancouver. (See “Budgets Headed to FERC,” NERC Board of Trustees/MRC Briefs: Aug. 15, 2024.) NERC CFO Andy Sharp said at the meeting that the final budgets are “materially consistent” with NERC’s three-year projection.
NERC’s 2025 budget is set to rise 8.2% over the previous year to $123 million, according to the ERO’s August filing. Drivers of the increase include an expected need to hire 13 new employees in reliability standards development, enforcement, the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and other areas; investments in the ERO’s technology strategy; and planned increases in meetings and travel costs. The E-ISAC’s budget is also set to grow from $41.1 million to $43.8 million.
The budgets for the REs and WIRAB are set to grow as follows:
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- Midwest Reliability Organization — from $24.9 million to $26.8 million
- Northeast Power Coordinating Council — $22.1 million to $25.7 million
- ReliabilityFirst — $31.3 million to $33.4 million
- SERC Reliability — $32 million to $35.4 million
- Texas Reliability Entity — $19.2 million to $20.3 million
- Western Electricity Coordinating Council — $35.4 million to $39.3 million
- WIRAB — $831,492 to $831,561
The ERO’s total assessment for 2025 is to rise to $270.9 million, up from $241.4 million in 2024. This includes $108.4 million for NERC and $128.3 million in combined assessments for the REs and WIRAB.
WECC and NERC’s requested funding for the WestTEC project will see progressive releases from the funds donated by Peak Reliability upon its dissolution in 2019, with $500,000 released in 2024, $1.5 million in 2025, and $200,000 in 2026. The WestTEC study is to take place over the next two years and is intended to produce transmission portfolios for 10- and 20-year planning horizons. (See WestTEC Seeks to Close $2.1M Funding Gap Despite DOE Boost.)
NERC said the withdrawals will leave a balance of just over $1 million in the Peak Reserve.
Commissioner Judy Chang spoke approvingly about the project at this week’s meeting, calling WestTEC “a collaborative, voluntary interregional planning initiative” that will help meet the long-term needs of the Western Interconnection.
“The Western markets [have been] evolving over the last few years and will continue to evolve in the future … [WestTEC] is very valuable, and I think it’s a good use of Peak Reliability funds to support reliability across the West,” Chang said. “I look forward to seeing the results of those efforts, which [are] also being supported by funds from the Department of Energy.”
