[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 138 (Tuesday, July 19, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 42534-42536]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-18066]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

18 CFR Part 40

[Docket Nos. RM10-15-001 and RM10-16-001; Order Nos. 748-A and 749-A]


Mandatory Reliability Standards for Interconnection Reliability 
Operating Limits; System Restoration Reliability Standards

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Order on Clarification.

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SUMMARY: On March 17, 2011, the Commission issued Order Nos. 748 and 
749, which approved new and revised Reliability Standards, including 
IRO-004-2 and EOP-001. In this order, we grant the North American 
Electric Reliability Corporation's (NERC) request for clarification of 
certain aspects of Order No. 748 including: The proper effective date 
language for Reliability Standard IRO-004-2; the correct version 
identification for the approval of EOP-001 intended by the Commission; 
and the proper effective date for Reliability Standard EOP-001-2. The 
Commission also grants NERC's request for clarification of Order No. 
749 with respect to the version EOP-001 the Commission intended to 
approve and its effective date.

DATES: Effective Date: This order on rehearing and clarification will 
become effective July 19, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Darrell Piatt (Technical Information), Office of Electric Reliability, 
Division of Reliability Standards, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: 
(202) 502-6687.
David O'Connor (Technical Information), Office of Electric Reliability, 
Division of Reliability Standards, Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission, 888 First Street, NE., Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-
6695.
William Edwards (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, Telephone: (202) 502-6669.
Terence Burke (Legal Information), Office of the General Counsel, 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6498.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

    Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; Marc Spitzer, 
Philip D. Moeller, John R. Norris, and Cheryl A. LaFleur.

Order on Clarification

Issued July 13, 2011

    1. On March 17, 2011, the Commission issued Order Nos. 748 and 749, 
which approved new and revised Reliability Standards, including IRO-
004-2 and EOP-001. In this order, we grant the North American Electric 
Reliability Corporation's (NERC) request for clarification of certain 
aspects of Order No. 748 including: (1) The proper effective date 
language for Reliability Standard IRO-004-2; (2) the correct version 
identification for the approval of EOP-001 intended by the Commission; 
and (3) the proper effective date for Reliability Standard EOP-001-2. 
The Commission also grants NERC's request for clarification of Order 
No. 749 with respect to the version EOP-001 the Commission intended to 
approve and its effective date.

[[Page 42535]]

I. Background

A. Order No. 748

    2. Order No. 748 \1\ approved three new Interconnection Reliability 
Operations and Coordination (IRO) Reliability Standards and seven 
revised Reliability Standards related to Emergency Operations and 
Preparedness (EOP), IRO, and Transmission Operations (TOP). The 
approved IRO Reliability Standards were designed to prevent 
instability, uncontrolled separation, or cascading outages that 
adversely impact the reliability of the interconnection by ensuring 
that the reliability coordinator has the data necessary to analyze and 
monitor Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits (IROL) within its 
Wide-Area .\2\ The Final Rule also approved the addition of two new 
terms to the NERC Glossary of Terms, ``Operational Planning Analysis'' 
and ``Real Time Assessment.''
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    \1\ Mandatory Reliability Standards for Interconnection 
Reliability Operating Limits, Order No. 748, 134 FERC ] 61,213 
(2011).
    \2\ The term ``Wide-Area'' is defined in the NERC Glossary of 
Terms Used in Reliability Standards (NERC Glossary), approved by the 
Commission. As defined, Wide-Area includes not only the reliability 
coordinators' area, but also critical flow and status information 
from adjacent reliability coordinator areas as determined by 
detailed system studies to allow the calculation of IROLs. See NERC 
Glossary available at http://www.nerc.com/docs/standards/rs/Glossary_of_Terms_2010April20.pdf.
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B. Order No. 749

    3. Order No. 749 \3\ approved three EOP Reliability Standards as 
well as the definition of the term ``Blackstart Resource.'' The 
approved Reliability Standards require transmission operators, 
generation operators, and certain transmission owners and distribution 
providers to ensure that plans, facilities, and personnel are prepared 
to enable system restoration from Blackstart Resources and require 
reliability coordinators to establish plans and prepare personnel to 
enable effective coordination of the system restoration process. The 
Commission also approved NERC's request to retire four effective and 
one pending Reliability Standards.
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    \3\ System Restoration Reliability Standards, Order No. 749, 134 
FERC ] 61,215 (2011).
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C. Requests for Clarification

    4. On April 18, 2011, NERC submitted a request for clarification of 
certain aspects of Order No. 748 including: (1) The effective date of 
Reliability Standard IRO-004-2; (2) the version of EOP-001 approved by 
the Commission; and (3) the effective date of Reliability Standard EOP-
001-2. On the same day, NERC submitted a request for clarification of 
Order No. 749 similarly seeking clarification on the version of 
Reliability Standard EOP-001 approved by the Commission and its 
effective date.
    5. With respect to Reliability Standard IRO-004-2, NERC states that 
the effective date provision in Reliability Standard IRO-004-2 is 
inconsistent with the implementation of the three new IRO standards. 
NERC explains that it proposed, in its petition, to retire six of the 
seven requirements in the IRO-004-1 standard, and designated the one 
remaining requirement as IRO-004-2. The Commission approved IRO-004-2 
in the Final Rule, but the effective date provision in IRO-004-2 states 
that the entire Reliability Standard should be retired, even though one 
requirement remains in effect with Commission approval of revised 
Reliability Standard. NERC requests clarification from the Commission 
that the effective date language in the IRO-004-2 standard should be 
revised as ``the latter of either April 1, 2009 or the first day of the 
first calendar quarter, three months after applicable regulatory 
approval.''
    6. Second, NERC requests clarification regarding the Commission's 
approval of Reliability Standard EOP-001-1. NERC notes that at the same 
time NERC submitted a Petition in RM10-15-000, NERC filed a petition in 
Docket No. RM10-16-000 seeking approval of certain EOP Reliability 
Standards. Each Petition contained specific proposed changes to 
Reliability Standard EOP-001-0. NERC states in both Petitions that it 
requested that the Commission approve revised Reliability Standard EOP-
001-1 only if the concurrent petition is not previously (or 
concurrently) approved by the Commission and otherwise to approve 
Reliability Standard EOP-001-2, which reflected the changes in both 
Petitions, rather than EOP-001-1. NERC requests clarification that EOP-
001-2 is the approved Reliability Standard given the concurrent 
issuance of the Final Rules.
    7. Finally, NERC requests clarification regarding the effective 
date of Reliability Standard EOP-001-2. NERC states that it requested 
Reliability Standard EOP-001-1 to become effective ``the first day of 
the first calendar quarter, three months after applicable regulatory 
approval.'' However, NERC states that it also requested that if the 
Commission previously or concurrently approved Reliability Standard 
EOP-001-2, it should be made effective ``twenty-four months after the 
first day of the first calendar quarter following applicable regulatory 
approval.'' NERC seeks clarification that Reliability Standard EOP-001-
2 be made effective in accordance with the implementation schedule in 
the EOP-001-2 Reliability Standard given the concurrent issuance of the 
Final Rules.

II. Discussion

    8. The Commission grants NERC's request for clarification regarding 
Reliability Standard IRO-004-2. Consistent with our approval of IRO-
004-2, the Commission clarifies that the effective date provision in 
IRO-004-2 should be modified as requested by NERC to reflect the one 
requirement in IRO-004-2 that was not retired. NERC has included the 
modified effective date provision for IRO-004-2 as Exhibit A to its 
request for clarification. This clarification should alleviate 
confusion implementing Reliability Standard IRO-004-2.
    9. The Commission also clarifies that it approved Reliability 
Standard EOP-001-2. Each NERC Petition in Docket Nos. RM10-15-000 and 
RM10-16-000 proposed unique changes to EOP-001-0 not reflected in the 
other petition presenting a logistical problem with cross-references. 
Given the issuance of Order Nos. 748 and 749, both on March 17, 2011, 
Reliability Standard EOP-001-2 is the currently-operative version. 
Moreover, we clarify that Reliability Standard EOP-001-2 shall become 
effective according to the implementation schedule in that standard.

III. Document Availability

    10. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the 
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an 
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this document via the 
Internet through FERC's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's 
Public Reference Room during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. 
Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE., Room 2A, Washington, DC 20426.
    11. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is 
available on eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on 
eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft Word format for viewing, printing, and/or 
downloading. To access this document in eLibrary, type the docket 
number excluding the last three digits of this document in the docket 
number field.
    12. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC's Web 
site during normal business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 
502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-3676) or e-mail at 
[email protected], or the Public Reference Room at (202) 502-
8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the

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Public Reference Room at [email protected].

    By the Commission.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-18066 Filed 7-18-11; 8:45 am]
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