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FERC and NERC have published a joint white paper sharing techniques that utilities can use to identify the manufacturers of equipment used in their computer networks, a response to concerns that systems could be vulnerable to cyberattacks by foreign intelligence services. The paper focused on network interface controllers (NICs), components...

FERC has accepted settlements totaling $175,000 between SERC and Ameren, along with Ameren Missouri, for violations of NERC’s FAC-009-1 and FAC-008-3 reliability standards for establishing and communicating facility ratings (NP20-19). SERC reported the settlements in a spreadsheet Notice of Penalty on June 30. The commission indicated in a notice on...

PJM’s consumer advocates on Thursday proposed changing the venue for discussions on NERC’s reliability standard on critical transmission facilities, saying the current process is moving too slowly. Greg Poulos, executive director of the Consumer Advocates of the PJM States (CAPS), told the Markets and Reliability Committee that his organization will...

Government efforts to ensure the security of the bulk power system run the risk of hampering utilities’ ability to operate effectively, industry representatives warned at the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners’ Summer Policy Summit on Tuesday. "I think it would be one thing if we get a blacklist. ‘Here...

Industry respondents criticized the team working on revisions to NERC’s standard for protection functions in automatic voltage regulators (AVR) for expanding the scope of the project beyond its initial mandate. Comments on the proposed standard authorization request (SAR) for Project 2019-04 — modifications to reliability standard PRC-005-6 — opened June 2...

FERC approved NERC reliability standard PRC-024-3 last week, capping a nearly two-year effort to ensure that inverter-based resources (IBR) — particularly solar panels — can "continue to support grid stability during defined system voltage and frequency excursions" (RD20-7). Work on the new standard, which replaces the existing standard PRC-024-2, began...

System operators in the WECC footprint were too quick to declare energy emergency alerts (EEAs) during several recent events, resulting in unnecessary load sheds on two occasions, according to a new NERC "lessons learned" notice. The notice detailed five incidents in which software glitches, communication lapses and generator malfunctions contributed...

NERC issued its second Level 2 alert of the year on Wednesday to gather data on the bulk power system’s exposure to "foreign adversaries," at the same time the Department of Energy published a request for information on the industry’s practices for identifying and mitigating supply chain vulnerabilities for BPS...

NERC is requesting comments from stakeholders on changes to several reliability standards proposed by the team updating the requirements for determining and communicating system operating limits (SOLs), as well as on the team’s implementation plan (Project 2015-09). The posting was approved by NERC’s Standards Committee at its previous meeting in...

FERC on Friday accepted a slew of settlements for violations of NERC reliability standards, with American Electric Power, DTE Energy, Eversource Energy, Portland General Electric and Exelon among the utilities hit with monetary penalties by their regional entities. AEP’s violation carried the largest penalty at $1 million, followed by DTE...