NERC is set to begin training registered entities on its new Align software project and Secure Evidence Locker (SEL) by the end of the year. Training will follow a staggered schedule, with the Midwest Reliability Organization and Texas Reliability Entity going first. Align — formerly known as the CMEP (Compliance...

Cyber hygiene and poor-quality modeling continue to head the list of major risks to the stability of the bulk power system, according to NERC’s 2021 ERO Enterprise Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program (CMEP) Implementation Plan. NERC prepares the list of risk elements annually to help regional entities and utilities plan...

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...

By Holden Mann NERC’s Align software project is now set to be released in the first quarter of 2021, after the rollout date for the tool was revised last year from September 2019 to the second or third quarter of this year. (See Align Rollout Delayed to 2020.) Align —...

By Tom Kleckner SPP last week reiterated its plans to recover the costs of a NERC penalty for reliability violations by dipping into its employee compensation pool (ER19-97). In a heavily redacted filing shared with SPP stakeholders at 4:47 p.m. on July 3 — just before the Independence Day holiday...

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...

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. NERC has recommended a $10 million fine on an unidentified utility for repeated violations of critical infrastructure protection (CIP) reliability standards over more than three years that exposed a "lack of management engagement, support and accountability." Energywire and The Wall Street Journal reported that the unnamed...