Overview of WECC and Regulatory Structure Matthew Moore

Overview of WECC and Regulatory Structure Matthew Moore Manager of Enforcement

2 WECC Profile The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization corporation that exists to assure a reliable bulk electric system in the geographic area of the Western Interconnection. This area includes all or parts of the 14 western United States, two Canadian provinces, and the northern portion of Baja California, Mexico.

3 WECC History • Incorporated in 2002 • Predecessor, WSCC formed in 1967 • Largest geographic area of the eight Regional Entities o Entire Western Interconnection (1. 8 million square miles) includes all or part of 14 U. S. states, 2 Canadian provinces and a portion of Baja California Norte, Mexico • Non-Governmental • Industry participants join together to promote system reliability • Bifurcation in February 2014 changed functions

4 WECC Coverage Service Area 1. 8 million square miles 126, 285 miles of transmission Population of 78 million

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6 WECC Organization • Independent Board of Directors o 9 members o Committees • Members Advisory Committee • Members • Grid owners, operators, users • Stakeholders • State and Provincial

7 WECC Services • Transmission expansion planning o Management of a comprehensive planning database o Provide coordination of sub-regional planning processes o Analyses and modeling • Studies o Model the system and perform studies under a variety of scenarios to set operating policies and limits

8 WECC Services • Loads and Resources Assessments o Perform annual assessment of 10 -year loads and resources o Maintain 10 -year coordinated plan of system growth o Provide information to NERC for summer and winter assessments of the reliability and adequacy of the bulk-power system • Operator Training o Provide training sessions for operators, schedulers and dispatchers • WREGIS o Hosts the Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System, which creates and tracks renewable energy certificates

9 WECC Services Delegation Agreement o Perform functions delegated to WECC as a Regional Entity under Delegation Agreement with NERC, including; o facilitating development of western interconnection reliability standards o conducting reliability assessments and event analysis o regulating entities subject to mandatory Reliability Standards

10 Mandatory Reliability Regulation • Northeast Blackout of 2003 – 10 Million people in Ontario, Canada – 45 million people in eight U. S. states

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12 Task Force Report • Final report of the U. S. - Canada Power System Outage Task Force on the 2003 blackout concluded: the single most important recommendation for preventing future blackouts, and reducing the scope of those that occur, is for the U. S. government to make reliability standards mandatory and enforceable.

13 Task Force Findings Inadequate System Understanding Inadequate Situational Awareness Inadequate Tree Trimming Inadequate Reliability Center Diagnostic Support

Congressional Action • Energy Policy Act of 2005 On August 8, 2005, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct 2005) was signed into law. • “Section 215” Section 215 of the EPAct 2005 directed FERC to certify an Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) and develop procedures for establishing, approving and enforcing electric reliability standards.

15 Authority for Compliance Monitoring • FERC Order 672 (Implementing Rule 18 CFR 39) – Responsibility and oversight assigned to FERC – FERC designated NERC as Electric Reliability Organization – NERC has delegation agreement with WECC and seven other regions

Implementing Section 215 SECTION 215 Regional Entities Delegation Agreement • Creates Electrical Reliability Organization (ERO) • FERC names NERC as ERO • NERC selects 8 regional entities • WECC is selected for Western Interconnection • NERC and WECC sign agreements • WECC oversight begins in Western Interconnection

17 Order 693 & Order 706 Standards • Order 693 (Operations and Planning) includes: – – Resource and Demand Balancing (BAL) Emergency Preparedness & Operations (EOP) Facilities Design, Connection & Mtnce. (FAC) Protection and Control (PRC) • Order 706 (CIP) includes: – Critical Cyber Asset Identification – Personnel & Training – Electronic Security Perimeters

18 WECC Compliance • Recommends Registrations for Entities o Register users, owners, operators according to function • Monitors Compliance with Standards o Monitor compliance by users, owners and operators of the bulk power system in the United States • Enforces Compliance o Violation mitigation and settlement negotiation o Representation of WECC in any hearing or appeal process • Administration o Audit coordination o Reporting systems o web. CDMS and EFT

Authority CMEP Reliability Standards Delegation Agreement Federal Power Act 2005

Registration Authority

Monitoring Registration r he t O s n tio a c tr ifi e C lf Se lf e S ts r po e R A its d u Authority

Monitoring Registration Enforcement on M ti a g iti ue m s s ce o Pr D Authority t en tle t e S s Ri A ns o i ct s A k ss e s m ts n e

23 Reference Documents • Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program (CMEP) & WECC’s annual implementation plan • Delegation Agreement • Rules of Procedure • NERC Reliability Standards • NERC Guidance, Bulletins, Directives and Compliance Application Notices (CANs) • FERC Orders