Representing members facing new regulatory compliance obligations

The 2005 Federal Power Act placed new regulatory obligations on utilities of all sizes in the Northwest and across the country by creating mandatory reliability standards. Any Northwest electric utility with a peak-load greater than 25 MW and that is connected at 100 kV or higher are required to register with the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as a “Distribution Provider and a Load-Serving Entity.” This includes many of Bonneville Power Administration’s preference customers and PNGC Power members.

Once registered, utilities are required to comply with applicable Reliability Standards. This process began in earnest in 2007. WECC and NERC are determined to integrate a new mindset into the industry, one of compliance. Compliance touches almost every aspect of electric utility operations. The sheer range and all-encompassing nature of these new obligations is daunting. An electric utility can be registered for up to ten different functions; each function has a whole set of Reliability Standards associated with it. Many of the new regulations are ambiguous; standards and the compliance enforcement effort continue to evolve.

PNGC Power member cooperatives and other Northwest electric utilities are working with WECC to clearly define the Bulk Electric System (BES) and a clear understanding of which facilities are subject to the mandatory reliability standards.