FERC

FERC Accepts NERC Supplemental Budget True-Up Filing - August 19 - FERC issued a letter order accepting NERC's revised filing comparing actual costs to budgeted costs for NERC and the Regional Entities for 2015.  

FERC Approves Retirement of NPCC Disturbance Monitoring Reliability Standard - August 16 - FERC issued a letter order approving the joint petition of NERC and the Northeast Power Coordination Council, Inc. (NPCC) for the retirement of NPCC Regional Reliability Standard PRC-002-NPCC-01 (Disturbance Monitoring), as well as two related NPCC regional definitions for Current Zero Time and Generating Plant.  NERC and NPCC state that the primary purpose for PRC-002-NPCC-01 is fully addressed in continent-wide Reliability Standard PRC-002-2 (Disturbance Monitoring and Reporting Requirements) and, along with the definitions, are now redundant and unnecessary for reliability.  

NERC

NERC Submits 2017 Business Plan and Budget Filing - August 23 - NERC submitted to FERC a request for acceptance of the NERC 2017 Business Plan and Budget as well as the proposed Business Plan and Budgets for the eight Regional Entities, the proposed budget for the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body, and NERC's proposed assessments to the load-serving entities to fund the 2017 budgets.  NERC requests that FERC issue an order of acceptance by November 2, 2016.

NERC Submits Comments on CEII Protections and FAST Act Implementation - August 19 - NERC provided comments to a FERC notice proposing to adopt regulations to implement the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) to protect against the disclosure of critical electric infrastructure information.  In its comments, NERC stated that expanding the scope of Critical Electric Infrastructure Information (CEII) protections would "materially improve security" of the bulk power system, while providing further revisions to FERC regulations that would provide a framework to review requests for access to CEII. 

NERC Submits Petition to Approve Communications Reliability Standard - August 15 - NERC submitted a petition to approve proposed Reliability Standard COM-001-3, which reflects revisions developed under Project 2015-07 Internal Communications Capabilities.  The revisions address concerns regarding ensuring the adequacy of internal communications capability when internal communications could affect the operation of the BPS.  NERC also requested the retirement of Reliability Standard COM-001-2.1 prior to the new standard becoming effective.  

NERC Submits Petition for Approval of Rules of Procedure - August 15 - NERC submitted to FERC a request for approval of proposed revisions to the NERC Rules of Procedure.  The revisions incorporate the definitions of Frequency Response Sharing Group and Regulation Reserve Sharing Group consistent with how they are defined in the Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability Standards.  NERC requests the proposed revisions be made effective by October 31, 2016.

NERC Submits Budgetary Compliance Filing - August 15 - NERC submitted to FERC a compliance filing pursuant to a January 16, 2013 FERC Order approving a Settlement Agreement between the Office of Enforcement and NERC.  The compliance filing included an unaudited report of NERC’s budget-to-actual variance information for the second quarter of 2016.  Through June 30, 2016 NERC reported to be $1.5 million under budget, but expects to be approximately on budget at year end.

Other Developments

Secretary Moniz Calls for Increased Investment in Emergency Response Capabilities - August 16 - At a field hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz discussed the need for increased investments in United States emergency response capabilities.  He also highlighted the importance of emergency preparedness in the event a future disaster occurs.  DOE also announced $34 million in funding for twelve projects to harden energy systems against external attacks.  That funding is subject to Congressional appropriations.