Commenters generally back FERC’s proposal to approve new standards for electric transmission but urged the commission to reject two replacement rules that they said could lead to less efficient use of the grid. In July, FERC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to approve Version 003.3 of the North American...

The clock is ticking for compliance with NERC’s cybersecurity supply chain risk management standard. After a three-month delay because of the coronavirus pandemic, CIP-013-1 took effect on Oct. 1, starting the 18-month compliance period for balancing authorities, reliability coordinators, generator owners and operators, transmission owners and operators, and some distribution...

FERC has accepted proposed revisions to seven NERC reliability standards submitted earlier this year under Project 2017-07 (Standards alignment with registration) (RD20-4). The commission on Monday also approved the 2021 business plans and budgets for NERC, the regional entities and the Western Interconnection Regional Advisory Body (WIRAB) (RR20-6). NERC CEO...

FERC last week approved a settlement between SERC Reliability and Associated Electric Cooperative Inc. (AECI) for violations of NERC reliability standards. The ERO notified the commission of the settlement, which carries a penalty of $430,000, in a Notice of Penalty (NOP) on Sept. 30 (NP20-22); FERC indicated in a notice...

The Department of Justice has brought criminal charges against six Russian military intelligence officers believed to be involved in multiple cyberattacks against targets around the world, including online assaults against the Ukrainian power grid in 2015 and 2017. The indictment last week by a grand jury in Pittsburgh named Yuriy...

FERC staff expressed confidence Thursday that the North American bulk power system has sufficient reserves to make it through the winter comfortably. But they also said utilities must be prepared for further impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic and constraints on the availability of natural gas and fuel oil. Winter 2020/2021...

FERC on Thursday gave NERC and WECC the go-ahead to introduce regional reliability standard BAL-002-WECC-3, but it also ordered the organizations to return in 2023 with a progress report on its effects on the bulk power system (RM19-20). The new standard takes the place of BAL-002-WECC-2a, approved by FERC in...

This year’s official actions on supply chain risk management are only the beginning of the collective changes needed to grapple with foreign cyber threats to the utility sector, industry insiders at the Energy Bar Association’s Fall Conference said Tuesday. Those actions included President Trump’s declaration of emergency in May; information...

In its latest round of Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) audits, FERC noted registered entities have made significant progress in meeting or exceeding the reliability standards’ mandatory requirements. However, the commission still noted several "potential compliance infractions" and other areas for improvement. FERC’s "Lessons Learned from Commission-Led CIP Reliability Audits" report...

FERC on Friday rejected a challenge by security activist Michael Mabee against NERC’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) reliability standards (EL20-46). Mabee filed his complaint May 12, focusing primarily on CIP-013-1 (Cybersecurity — Supply chain risk management) and its supposed deficiencies relating to President Trump’s executive order of May 1 declaring...