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By Rich Heidorn Jr. WASHINGTON — Registered entities asked FERC on Thursday to clear the way for their use of cloud computing, which they said could improve system visibility, security and availability while saving money. Speaking at FERC’s annual reliability technical conference, representatives of the American Public Power Association, MISO,...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. WASHINGTON — Panelists at FERC’s annual reliability technical conference Thursday praised the Electric Reliability Organization’s maturation but acknowledged continuing challenges with the speed of standards development and the consistency of compliance determinations. Nick Brown | © ERO Insider SPP CEO Nick Brown said that while NERC...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC on Thursday expanded NERC’s cyber incident reporting requirements, closing what it said was a gap in the critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards. The new standard, CIP-008-6 (Cyber Security – Incident Reporting and Response Planning), revises the definitions of "cybersecurity incident" and "reportable cybersecurity incident."...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. PHILADELPHIA — Has weather become so extreme that utilities should end the universal service model and stop serving at-risk locations? It’s something that should be considered, Margaret Peloso, a partner in Vinson & Elkins’ Environmental & Natural Resources practice, told the Edison Electric Institute 2019 meeting...

PHILADELPHIA — Cybersecurity was the subject of two panels at the Edison Electric Institute’s 2019 conference this week. Here’s some highlights of what we heard. Connie Lau, CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries | © ERO Insider Hawaiian Electric Industries CEO Connie Lau, who moderated a June 10 panel on grid...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC Chairman Neil Chatterjee’s suggestion that incentives may be needed to encourage investments in infrastructure security received mixed reaction in comments filed with the commission this week (AD19-12). At a March 28 technical conference by FERC and the Department of Energy, Chatterjee said he wanted to...

FERC OKs SERC’s Expansion into Florida By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC on Wednesday approved the dissolution of the Florida Reliability Coordinating Council as a regional entity and SERC Reliability’s expansion into the Sunshine State (RR19-4). FRCC agreed in October 2018 to relinquish its role following NERC’s determination that its...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. A utility-funded study has concluded a high-altitude nuclear explosion could cause a multi-state electric outage but not the nationwide, months-long blackout some observers have warned of. The findings are contained in a three-year study by the Electric Power Research Institute on the impact of a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse...

FERC OKs NERC Violation Settlements By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC last week accepted settlements with Duquesne Light Co. and an unnamed municipal utility in the Western Electricity Coordinating Council for violations of NERC reliability standards. The commission filed a notice Friday that it would not review the penalties, leaving...

By Rich Heidorn Jr. FERC on Thursday proposed changes to NERC’s draft critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standard addressing the cybersecurity of real-time communications between control centers. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, which builds on a proposal by NERC, seeks comment on requiring the electric reliability organization to add protections on...