Project2010-07_GOTO_Project

 

Status:
FAC-001-1 and PRC-004-2.1a were adopted by the BOT on February 9, 2012. PRC-005-1.1b and FAC-003-3 were adopted by the BOT on May 9, 2012. The legal petition, which incorporated all of the standards, was filed with FERC on July 30, 2012.

Purpose/Industry Need:
The proposed changes to the requirements and the addition of new requirements will add significant clarity to Generator Owners and Generator Operators regarding their reliability standard obligations at the interface with the interconnected grid.

Background of Ad Hoc Group for Generator Requirements at the Transmission Interface:
Prompted by FERC’s ruling on the Harquahala registration appeal as a Transmission Owner and Transmission Operator and with considerable industry support to clarify the issue in NERC’s Reliability Standards, NERC conducted a survey in the fall of 2008 to collect stakeholder input regarding the issues surrounding the interconnection facilities between the generating plants and the bulk electric system. The specific focus of the survey was to gain information on the appropriateness of extending all, some, or none of the existing Transmission Owner and Transmission Operator standards requirements to the Generator Owner and Generator Operator.

There were over 100 respondents to the request for input with strong opinions on both sides of this highly important and sensitive issue. Upon reflection of the large number of comments, NERC agrees with many of the commenter’s that an appropriate next step is to perform a more thorough vetting of the issues at the interconnection between generators and the transmission grid through a technical study group comprising industry participants. This group would be charged with evaluating the existing body of NERC Reliability Standard requirements applicable to Generator Owners and Generator Operators to identify gaps in reliability coverage, determine how best to address those deficiencies using the compendium of comments as a guide to this effort, and offer its recommendations in the form of a standards authorization request that could then be forwarded to the Standards Committee for consideration.

Objective:
The objective of this project, which preceded and provided the foundation for Project 2010-07, was to e valuate existing NERC Reliability Standard requirements and develop a recommendation and possible standards authorization request to address gaps in reliability for interconnection facilities of the Generator Owner and expectations for the Generator Operator in operating those facilities. The group also proposed strategies to address or resolve other related issues as appropriate.