Which NERC Reliability Standards Apply to Your Cooperative?

Do you have your Sabotage Response guidelines in place?  Is your Critical Cyber Asset information in order?

Maybe you need to get busy…….or maybe not.  It all depends on when the reliability standards become effective for cooperatives and the entity classification of your cooperative. But, one thing is for sure; NERC’s compliance authority will apply to all bulk power system owners, operators, and users.

And, NERC now has the authority to assess penalties for failure to comply with its reliability standards.  While it must consider an entities’ “financial ability to pay” (e.g. entity size, structure, financial position), FERC mandates that no penalty is to be inconsequential when it is assessed.

The standards approved by FERC are scheduled to become enforceable effective June 2007.  There still is a question whether this will be the actual date on which enforcement commences, and whether NERC penalties will be real or simulated for a period of time.  In any case, enforcement and penalties will soon become a reality.

In the interim, it would be prudent to determine which standards would apply to your cooperative.  The majority of distribution cooperatives would likely fall into one of three categories:  1) distribution provider (DP); 2) load-serving entity (LSE); or 3) purchasing-selling entity (PSE).

A distribution provider (DP) is an entity that provides and operates the “wires” between the transmission system and the end-use customer.  The distribution provider is not defined by a specific voltage but rather as performing the distribution function at any voltage. 

A load-serving entity (LSE) is an entity that secures energy and transmission service (and related Interconnected Operations Services) to serve the electrical demand and energy requirements of its end-use customers.

A purchasing-selling entity (PSE) is an entity that purchases or sells, and takes title to, energy, capacity and Interconnected Operations Services.

EnerVision can help your cooperative determine which of the NERC Reliability Standards apply to you and to what extent.  “We have followed the actions of NERC and FERC since the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 was enacted.  The standards that apply to cooperatives are still evolving and compliance issues will be upon us in the near future,” cites Tom Siegrist, Vice President of EnerVision.

It will be very important to develop your compliance plan and to get the guidelines and procedures in place which implement that plan.

EnerVision can assist your cooperative with all of these endeavors.  In addition, we can conduct an audit of your compliance procedures and records, and provide a “report card” on your level of compliance with the NERC standards.

If you would like to know more about how EnerVision can help you with NERC Reliability Standards compliance, please contact Tom Siegrist at (888) 999-8840 or e-mail at tom.siegrist @enervision-inc.com.