Spotlight Articles

Today's LiveWire Spotlight is the first of two articles exploring the definitions and NERC standards governing the derivation and communication of System Operating Limits (SOLs).   The topics of today’s issue are…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at NERC’s amendments to the draft revisions of the Rules of Procedure (ROP) regarding organization registration, organization certification, and BES Exceptions.  Some of the updates address…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines the latest seasonal assessment issued by NERC’s Reliability Assessment Subcommittee (RAS) addressing BES reliability and adequacy.  RAS has confirmed that twenty of the twenty-one North American assessment…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines the recently posted revisions to the Rules of Procedure (ROP) arising from FERC’s most recent five-year analysis of NERC’s performance as the Electric Reliability Organization.  FERC…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at the latest Standards Authorization Request (SAR) for Project 2019-04: Modifications to PRC-005-6.  The Draft 2 version expands the SAR's scope beyond Automatic Voltage Regulator protective…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight evaluates three Regional Standards which are unique to TexasRE and WECC, but which all Clients may find helpful: 1) BAL-001-TRE-2 has achieved FERC’s approval, closing out the updates to…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines NERC's 2021 Draft Business Plan and Budget outlining the strategic initiatives they expect take on in the next fiscal year requiring funding.  The ERO has proposed a very small…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at a presentation given to the Planning Committee regarding the final disposition of EPRI’s Geomagnetic Disturbance (GMD) Research Work Plan.  The Plan consisted of nine tasks conducted at…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight provides a summary of the descriptions, resolutions, and the penalties assessed for Reliability Standards’ violations from January 1 thru March 31, 2020.  The article explains the facts, risk…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines the second draft of MRO's Implementation Guidance document aimed at the owners of asynchronous dispersed power producing resources (renewables) who are attempting to comply with MOD-025-2.  The…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at a NERC project team's second attempt to include Electronic Access Control and Monitoring Systems (EACMS) and Physicals Access Control Systems (PACS) into the three supply…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight evaluates NERC's first quarter Reliability Standards report providing the latest status of the reliability requirements progressing through the standards development pipeline.  Twelve projects are discussed; some of which…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at the capabilities of the ERO Enterprise's Secure Evidence Locker (SEL), a new data management platform that will support the secure handling of sensitive files supplied during audits,…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines NERC’s recently released pandemic assessment, which reports on the industry’s handling of electric system reliability during the unprecedented challenges posed by the COVID-19 global health crises. …

Today's LiveWire Spotlight evaluates three NERC Lessons Learned - “teachable moments” where control and Protection System failures threatened electric system reliability.  The Lessons address scenarios where (1) differential relays protecting 3…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight evaluates NERC’s latest Directives Status Report; the tenth filing to FERC summarizing the latest status of open Commission rulings requiring the ERO to take action related to…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at the third draft of the Standards Authorization Request (SAR) for Project 2019-06: Cold Weather.  The SAR Drafting Team attempts to squelch the controversy which erupted while…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines a NERC White Paper explaining the increasing need to improve electric system fast frequency response (FFR) to offset the penetration of inverter-based resources.  This could very well require…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight looks at NERC’s GridEx V final report summarizing the findings from last November’s simulation of a large-scale coordinated cyber/physical attack on the BPS and the gas infrastructure.  Over 7,000 participants from…

Today's LiveWire Spotlight examines Draft 1 of the Standards Authorization Request (SAR) for Project 2020-04  - which acts on FERC’s directive to correct a reliability gap in CIP-012-1 that could…