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NPC Welcomes Back Bates Szakos as Director of Strategic Growth & Operations
Team, We are excited to announce that Bates Szakos is rejoining NAES Power Contractors as the Director of Strategic Growth and Operations, effective immediately. After three years away, Bates’s return underscores our dedication to strategic growth at NPC. Bates first...
Natural Gas Supply Key to Reliability this Winter
By Leland McMillan, Supervisor NERC Services and Carl Curry, NERC Reliability Specialist NERC Standards are aimed to increase electric reliability, but the one major component that is outside NERC’s jurisdiction is natural gas supply. NERC issued a statement in September 2024 indicating that fuel supply was a contributing factor for past winter events.
Growing Threats to Renewable Energy Infrastructure: A Cyber Moment
By Eddie Aveitia, NERC CIP Reliability Specialist As the renewable energy sector continues to expand rapidly in 2024, it faces an increasingly complex and dangerous cybersecurity landscape. Wind farms, solar power plants, and other green energy infrastructure have become prime targets for malicious actors seeking to disrupt operations, steal sensitive
U.S. Effective Dates for Future Reliability Standards
By Shaun Rohret, Senior Reliability Specialist, NERC Services The following standards are currently subject to recent and future enforcement on NERC’s site: EOP 11-4 Emergency Operations and EOP 12-2 Extreme Cold Weather Preparedness Applicable Entities · Balancing Authority · Generator Operator · Generator Owner · Reliability Coordinator ·Transmission Operator · Transmission Owner · Distribution Provider Effective on October 1, 2024, the purpose of
NERC Inverter Based Resource Registration Initiative Update
By Stefano Schnitger, NERC Reliability Specialist Phase 2 of NERC’s inverter-based resource (IBR) registration initiative is in full swing. This phase will focus on the complete identification of Category 2 Generator Owner and Generator Operator candidates. The ERO Enterprise (NERC and the six Regional Entities) has already begun identifying potential registration
EOP-012-2 Things We Have Learned
By Richard Schlottmann, Project Manager, NERC Services We have learned some things about EOP-012-2 the closer we get to the implementation date. First, there are currently three SARS out concerning various aspects of the standard. Also, the concerns of ECWT and the 32 degrees F and what constitutes a cold
Reminder: NAES Spotlight Service Offering
By John Schmoker, Compliance Testing Services Project Manager As many of you know, NAES NERC Services has been actively engaged in the Reliability Industry since NERC’s inception. Our growing team of nearly 30 reliability professionals keeps vigilant watch over industry trends and best practices to ensure we provide the best
NERC 2024 State of Reliability (SOR) Report
By Carl Curry, NERC Reliability Specialist NERC released the 2024 State of Reliability (SOR) report and SOR Overview in June, 2024, which provides an assessment of the Bulk Power System (BPS) based on performance of the grid for the entire year of 2023. Data for the report was taken from
Protect Yourself Online: Essential Tips for Safe Web Browsing
By Leonard Wills, NERC CIP Reliability Specialist In today’s digital age, the internet remains an indispensable resource, providing users with numerous sources of information, goods, job opportunities, and other services. As of April 2024, 5.35 billion people use the internet, which equals sixty-six percent (66%) of the world’s total population.
Cold Weather Generator Data Collection – Request for Data or Information
By Laura Christensen, Senior NERC Reliability Specialist NERC, in accordance with its regulatory obligations under the Federal Power Act, has initiated a draft data request concerning the operation of generators during cold weather. The draft is in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directive to develop a plan
FERC Order Approves Extreme Cold Weather Reliability Standard EOP-012-2 and Directs Modification Extreme Cold Weather Grid Operations
By Shaun Rohret, Senior NERC Reliability Specialist There is still a lot of activity at FERC and NERC based around Extreme Cold Weather Grid Operations, Preparedness and Coordination. On June 27, 2024, FERC released an order approving EOP-012-2 and directing NERC to make modifications within 9 months. Here is the