Reliability

Issue Summary

Overview

According to the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the organization tasked with ensuring the reliability of the North American bulk power system, “reliability” is defined as the ability to meet the electricity needs of end-use customers, even when unexpected equipment failures or other conditions reduce the amount of available power supply. 

Reliability is a measure of the capability of electricity networks to withstand sudden disturbances or unanticipated losses in system components, whether caused by natural or man-made events.  Reliability also means maintaining sufficient resources to provide end-use customers with round-the-clock delivery of electricity at the proper voltage and frequency.

Providing reliable electricity is an incredibly complicated challenge, even on the most routine of days.  It requires continuous control and coordination of thousands of generators, transmitting electricity across expansive networks of power lines, and ultimately delivering power to millions of end-use customers through local distribution systems.  A reliable power supply depends on the cyber communication networks used to monitor and control the grid every second of every day, as well as the physical integrity of this infrastructure.

August 2003 Blackout

The blackout of August 2003, which temporarily left an estimated 50 million people across the United States and Ontario in the dark, highlighted the considerable challenges utilities face in maintaining a reliable supply of electricity.  The blackout reinforced reliability as a principal priority for the North American electric utility industry, and added urgency to discussions at the time regarding the need for mandatory and enforceable standards for electric reliability.

A joint U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force was formed to investigate the causes of the blackout and to recommend actions to minimize the possibility of such incidents recurring in the future.  In response to the task force’s findings, the U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to provide for the establishment of an electric reliability organization (ERO).  The ERO was mandated with developing mandatory and enforceable reliability standards applicable to all users, owners and operators of the North American bulk power system. 

Ensuring Reliability through NERC Standards

In July 2006, NERC was certified as the ERO by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).  NERC is a self-regulatory organization, comprised of representatives from the electricity industry who oversee the development and implementation of standards to ensure the strongest possible degree of reliability for North America’s electric system.

NERC has taken steps to achieve recognition by the appropriate governmental authorities in Canada.  NERC’s relationship with these authorities differs from province to province, depending on the particular legislative and regulatory frameworks in place in each jurisdiction. Consistent across Canadian jurisdictions, however, is the understanding that developing standards is a core function of NERC and that NERC plays an indispensable role in ensuring system reliability.

NERC also relies on regional reliability organizations, known as “Regional Entities,” to assist in carrying out important reliability functions.  Through special agreements, NERC has delegated authority to the Regional Entities to propose and enforce reliability standards within their respective regional footprints.

Industry Response

Since the inception of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in 2006, CEA and its members have remained actively engaged in NERC activities and programs.
Along with U.S. trade associations, CEA maintains status as an Official Observer on the NERC Member Representatives Committee (MRC), one of the principal governing bodies of the organization.  Representatives of CEA member companies also participate in the business of the MRC, other NERC standing committees, and the NERC standards drafting teams which perform the complex technical work involved in developing reliability standards and modifying existing ones, when necessary.

Where appropriate, CEA also files comments and policy statements to NERC, as well as Canadian and U.S. governmental authorities, on reliability-related matters.  A collection of CEA’s previous filings is available for viewing and downloading at CEA’s online Reliability Resource Library.

CEA’s Transmission Council monitors developments in domestic and U.S. energy policy that could impact the international cooperation and compatibility necessary for establishing and implementing reliability standards.  CEA continues to engage in policy discussions in Canada and the U.S. regarding the evolving challenges in developing the optimal regulatory framework for reliability in the North American context.

Issue Management.

Resource Library

• CEA Comments for NERC’s Three-Year Performance Assessment (February 2009)
• CEA Comments Regarding FERC’s Order Certifying NERC as the ERO (August 2006)
• CEA Comments to NERC on the First Draft of the ERO Application (January 2006)

U.S. REGULATORY FILINGS

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

• North American Electric Reliability Corporation – Request of the Canadian Electricity Association For Clarification, or in the Alternative, Rehearing of the Commission’s December 19, 2008 Order  (January 2009)
• North American Electric Reliability Corporation – Comments of the Canadian Electricity Association  (August 2008)
• Mandatory Reliability Standards for Critical Infrastructure Protection – Comments of the Canadian Electricity Association  (October 2007)
• North American Electric Reliability Corporation – Request of the Canadian Electricity Association For Clarification of Order Clarifying Procedures  (July 2007)
• North American Electric Reliability Corporation – Request of the Canadian Electricity Association For Clarification, or in the Alternative, For Rehearing, of Order on Compliance Filing  (March 2007)
• Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System – Comments of the Canadian Electricity Association  (December 2006)
• Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System – Comments of the Canadian Electricity Association  (June 2006)
• Rules Concerning Certification of the Electric Reliability Organization; and Procedures for the Establishment, Approval and Enforcement of Electric Reliability Standards – Comments of the Canadian Electricity Association  (October 2005)
  

CEA Reliability Workshop
 

• Click here to access the presentations and speaker biographies from the October 20, 2004 CEA Reliability Workshop in Washington, DC.
  

MISCELLANEOUS 

• White Paper on the Need for Inter-Governmental Agreements for Cross-Border Investigations  (March 2009)
• CEA Backgrounder: Mandatory Reliability Standards (April 2004)

• Final Report on the Implementation of the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force Recommendations (September 2006)
• Principles for an Electric Reliability Organization That Can Function on an International Basis (August 2005)
• U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force – Final Report (April 2004)

• North American Electric Reliability Corporation
• Western Electricity Coordinating Council
• Midwest Reliability Organization
• Northeast Power Coordinating Council
• Natural Resources Canada – Energy Sector: Electricity
• U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission – Office of Electric Reliability
• U.S. Department of Energy – Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability