By Shaun Rohret, Senior NERC Reliability Specialist
As discussed on the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) website,1,2 significant progress on the EOP-012-3 Reliability Standard, which focuses on extreme cold weather preparedness and operations has been made. This standard is a response to the severe impacts on the bulk power system observed during past winter storms, such as Winter Storms Uri in 2021 and Elliott in 2022. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the current version of the standard (EOP-012-2) in June 2024 and directed NERC to submit a revised version to address and clarify several aspects within nine months.
In consideration of FERC’s deadline and the importance of this standard, the Board invoked its authority under Section 321.5 of NERC’s Rules of Procedure. 1 Under this authority, the Board directed the Standards Committee, with the assistance of stakeholders and NERC staff, to prepare a responsive standard, which was then posted for a 45-day public comment period. This comment period concluded on March 12, 2025. Based on comments received, revisions have been made to the standard. The final documents that will be presented to the NERC Board of Trustees are now posted. 2
The revised EOP-012-3 standard includes a Compliance Abeyance provision in Section C, 1.4, regarding incorrect calculation of the Extreme Cold Weather Temperature. This provision does not alter the mandatory and enforceable elements of the proposed standard but aims to provide clarity and address specific concerns raised during the public comment period.
A special Board meeting is scheduled for April 2025 to review the standard and the complete record, including the comments submitted during the public comment period, to determine the next steps.