The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Feb. 14 approved a pair of North American Electric Reliability Corporation reliability standards for cold weather operations and preparedness.
FERC took the action at its monthly open meeting in Washington, D.C. As FERC celebrates Black History Month, the open meeting was held at the Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C. FERC’s first African-American Chairman Willie Phillips is a graduate of Howard University School of Law.
In October 2023, NERC submitted a petition seeking approval of proposed Reliability Standards EOP-011-4 (Emergency Operations) and TOP-002-5 (Operations Planning).
“It is essential to the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System to protect critical natural gas infrastructure loads that serve gas-fired generation,” FERC said in its order.
It noted that a November 2021 report from FERC, NERC and NERC Regional Entities on the February 2021 cold weather outages in Texas and the South Central United States found that natural gas fuel issues were the second largest cause of generation outages during Winter Storm Uri.
The proposed Reliability Standards EOP-011-4 and TOP-002-5 address concerns raised by the November 2021 Report.
“Accordingly, we approve proposed reliability standards EOP-011-4 and TOP-002-5 as just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest,” FERC said.
“It is no secret that recent weather challenges have put the reliability of the grid to the test,” Phillips said. “While we successfully navigated the winter storms that occurred several weeks ago, it also underscores the ongoing need for vigilance and continued improvement in our preparations for extreme weather events.”
The order “approves reliability standards regarding energy operations and planning. It is essential to the reliable operation of the bulk power system to protect critical natural gas infrastructure that serves gas-fired generation,” he said.
“As I’ve stated before, utilities that can comply early with the mandatory implementation date – please, I implore you, do so. It is important to all Americans that we protect the system as best we can from the effects of extreme weather,” Phillips said.
“These standards represent forward movement in addressing lessons learned from Winter Storm Uri,” said FERC Commissioner Allison Clements.
“I do want to note, however, that some of these improvements are not required to be implemented until over three years from now, so the grid and its customers won’t experience the full extent of these protections for at least three more winters,” she said.
“I appreciate that NERC has worked hard to improve reliability standards and that the implementation timeline here is responsive to some concerns from the stakeholder process, which is important. But as I’ve stated at past open meetings, waiting years for new reliability standards to kick in – whether they be cold weather or cybersecurity requirements – is not reflective of the urgency these issues demand,” said Clements.
“I echo the order’s call for affected entities to voluntarily implement the updated requirements as quickly as possible ahead of next winter, when practicable.”
