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The Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) covered a number of timely issues at its quarterly Board of Directors meeting, held via conference call on Thursday because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Protests, Racial Tensions Acknowledged MRO CEO Sara Patrick wasted no time addressing the protests in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.,...

FERC is seeking industry comments on a proposed incentive framework meant to encourage utilities to make cybersecurity investments above and beyond the requirements of NERC’s Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards (AD20-19). Limitations in CIP Standards Recognized In a white paper published Thursday, FERC described the proposed incentive framework as a...

Citing concerns over the adequacy of NERC’s critical infrastructure protection (CIP) standards, FERC on Thursday issued a notice of inquiry (NOI) seeking comments on potential gaps in the standards and what actions the commission may need to take to improve them (RM20-12). FERC positioned its NOI as a response to...

NERC has asked FERC to dismiss a complaint brought by security activist Michael Mabee against the ERO’s critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards — in particular, CIP-013-1 (Cyber security supply chain risk management) (EL20-46). CIP-013-1 is set to take effect Oct. 1, along with CIP-005-6 (Electronic security perimeter(s)) and CIP-010-3...

FERC last week accepted a settlement between ReliabilityFirst and an unnamed entity in the Eastern Interconnection for violations of NERC reliability standards (NP20-15). In a notice on Friday, the commission said it would not review the settlement, leaving the $450,000 penalty intact. In a Notice of Penalty submitted April 30,...

NERC has submitted the first of two compliance filings directed by FERC earlier this year, providing information about its oversight of regional entities, the development process for reliability guidelines and the role of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis Center (E-ISAC) in developing reliability standards (RR19-7). FERC ordered the filing...

NERC and the regional entities have temporarily expanded their self-logging program to allow registered entities to focus on their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The self-logging program was introduced in 2015 and allows utilities, with permission of their regional entities, to log instances of potential noncompliance with NERC reliability standards...

FERC this week approved a procedure for "critical" New England generators and transmission operators to obtain compensation for compliance with NERC rules but said it would not cover past expenses (ER20-739). The ruling allows owners of assets judged critical to the derivation of interconnection reliability operating limits (IROL) to seek...

Despite the growing threat of cyberattacks, utilities in many countries lack consistent regulatory frameworks for hardening their systems against malicious actors, according to a new report from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The groups produced Evaluating the Prudency of Cybersecurity Investments:...

SERC Reliability has seen no "significant issues" among its registered entities related to the COVID-19 pandemic, senior critical infrastructure protection compliance specialist Rick Dodd told attendees of the regional entity’s Q2 Open Forum. "It seems that the registered entities are doing a fabulous job. … Even with all the stay-at-home...