Meeting Minutes Operating Committee (OC)

Transcription

1 Meeting Minutes Operating Committee (OC) December 13 14, 2011 Westin Buckhead Atlanta 3391 Peachtree Road NE Atlanta, Georgia The Planning Committee (PC) and the Operating Committee (OC) meetings were duly called to order in a collaborative meeting session by PC Chair Jeff Mitchell and OC Chair Tom Bowe on December 13, 2011 at 1:00 p.m. EST. John Moura, secretary of the PC, and Larry Kezele, secretary of the OC, declared a quorum present of their respective committees. Chair Tom Bowe led the collaborative meeting session. NERC Antitrust Compliance Guidelines and Notice of Public Meeting Mark Lauby, NERC vice president and director of reliability assessment and performance analysis, directed participants attention to the NERC Antitrust Compliance Guidelines included in the agenda and read the Notice of Public Meeting. Remarks by NERC President and CEO, Gerry Cauley Mr. Cauley welcomed the OC and PC to Atlanta, NERC s new headquarters location. He indicated the move will have a positive impact on NERC s ability to acquire needed staff as well as provide better access to its office for stakeholder meetings. Mr. Cauley noted that efficiencies are expected over the next year with the implementation of core strategic goals and new and improved tools such as the Find, Fix, Track, and Report (FFTR) proposal. He also identified four pillars of continued focus for NERC in the upcoming years: 1. Reliability Addressing real problems to improve the reliability of the grid 2. Accountability Being accountable to customers, the industry and government for the reliable performance of the grid 3. Learning Being an organization that continues to improve and adapt to changes in the dynamic electric industry 4. Risk based Focus Focusing actions and programs on issues most important to grid reliability Mr. Cauley directed the committees attention to NERC s Top Priority Issues for Bulk Power System (BPS) Reliability and rhetorically asked where the risks to reliability are occurring. How can the OC and PC study and identify these risks and how can the committees help NERC in preventing the next major bulk electric system outage.

2 Mr. Cauley highlighted three key priorities in his presentation: Relay misoperations Field Errors Unknown Risks cyber security/gmd Mr. Cauley stressed that those solutions, to help prevent a significant event in the future from occurring, lay within the NERC Technical Committees. Standards, Training, and Lessons Learned are the tools we have to identify where the risks are and what we can do to prevent them. Chair Bowe encouraged the OC and PC to consider these points when carrying out their respective strategic plans. Joint Session (OC/PC Information Items) 1. Review of Integrated Reliability Index Proposal David Robinson, Sandia National Laboratories, in support of the Reliability Metrics Working Group, reviewed the integrated reliability index concept proposal relative to the integrated risk components and their associated weighting factors (Presentation 2.f). Mr. Robinson stated that the goal of reliability metrics is to characterize and monitor the current state of bulk electric system (BES) reliability. He observed that, while the severity risk and Integrated reliability indices are valuable BES metrics, they are not BES reliability metrics since some initiating events (e.g., weather) are external to the BES. Mr. Robinson suggested that the OC and PC further investigate the Nuclear Regulatory Commission s reliability assessment methodology, referred to as Baseline Risk Index for Initiating Events. 2. Compliance Application Notices Mike Moon, NERC director of compliance operations, noted that the compliance application notice (CAN) process has evolved over the past year and will continue to evolve. In the future, he will be asking the technical committees to review the technical issues related to a proposed CAN and to provide guidance regarding reasonable boundaries for each CAN. Mr. Moon will initially engage the OC and PC leadership to begin discussion of incorporating the technical committees into the CAN development process with the expectation of bringing a proposal to the March 2012 standing committee meetings. 3. Adequate Level of Reliability Task Force Chair Bowe directed the committees attention to Allen Mosher s (chair of the ALR Task Force) presentation to the Joint Meeting of the OC/PC/CIPC. The ALRTF is requesting directional comments by January 6, Review of Geomagnetic Disturbance Task Force Report Don Watkins, chair of the GMD Task Force, provided a status report of task force activities and highlighted sections of the draft report (Presentation 2.d). Mr. Watkins requested directional comments and feedback on the draft report by January 6, Review of Severe Impact Resilience Task Force Report Chair Bowe, chair of the Severe Impact Resilience Task Force, directed the committees attention to his presentation to the Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

3 Joint Meeting of the OC/PC/CIPC. The task force requests comments on its draft report by January 4, Joint Committee Actions 1. Phased Development of Integrated Reliability Indicators Bill Adams, chair of the Reliability Metrics Working Group, provided an overview of the working group s work plan and time line leading to the approval of the Integrated Reliability Indicators concept (Presentation 3.a.i). Don Watkins (OC) and Norman Williams (PC) moved to approve the phased development of Integrated Reliability Indicators. The OC and PC approved the motion. 2. Performance Analysis Subcommittee Scope Bill Adams, chair of the Performance Analysis Subcommittee (PAS), provided an overview of the subcommittee s scope and noted that the newly formed subcommittee will provide input to and support the objectives of the NERC Performance Analysis and Reliability Metrics program (Presentation 3.a.ii). Chair Adams reported that the PAS will provide status reports to the OC and the PC. Kevin Conway (OC) and Stuart Nelson (PC) moved to approve the scope of the Performance Analysis Subcommittee. The OC and PC approved the motion. 3. Event Analysis Working Group Jacquie Smith, chair of the Event Analysis Working Group (EAWG), began by noting that she is presenting the final draft of the Event Analysis Process for OC and PC approval (Presentation 3.a.iii). The working group s purpose is to develop a cohesive and coordinated event analysis process across North America in coordination with industry stakeholders. As a defined part of this process, the EAWG will deliver a mechanism to ensure that quality, timely, and actionable lessons learned are disseminated to registered entities. Chair Smith provided an overview of working group activities since its formation in June 2010 and highlighted the differences between version 2 and version 3 of the event analysis process. Meeting participants made the following observations or statements: Reliability standards EOP-004 and CIP-001 are currently under review by the Disturbance and Sabotage Reporting Standard Drafting Team There may be potential conflicts between 1) the Event Analysis Process, 2) the Rules of Procedure, and 3) results of the standard drafting team s work The committees discussed ownership of the Event Analysis Process documentation Jerry Rust (OC) and Dave Weaver (PC) moved to approve the Electric Reliability Organization Event Analysis Process, dated November The OC did not approve the motion. The PC approved the motion. Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

4 OC Meeting A regular meeting of the NERC OC was held on December 13 14, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting agenda and the attendance list are affixed as Exhibits A and B, respectively; and individual statements and minority opinions as Exhibits C and D, respectively. The meeting presentations are posted in a separate file at Following the PC and OC collaborative meeting session, Chair Bowe convened the meeting at 3:23 p.m. EST and welcomed OC members and guests. The secretary noted the following proxies: 1) Denise Ayers for James Meeting Highlights 1. Approved the phased development of the Integrated Reliability Indicators. 2. Approved the scope of the Performance Analysis Subcommittee. 3. Did not approve the ERO Event Analysis Process, dated November Approved the Balancing Authority Reliability-based Controls Standard Drafting Team request to continue the Balancing Authority ACE Limit field trial until after the final ballot of proposed standard BAL Approved the OC s Strategic Plan, as amended. 6. Did not reaffirm its December 7 8, 2010 motion that directed the Resources Subcommittee to develop a field trial to eliminate manual time error correction. 7. Tasked the Resources Subcommittee to investigate the causes of fast time (i.e., Interconnection operating above 60 Hz), to evaluate the reliability risks and to investigate other issues around reliability, including compliance risks. Thompson, 2) Don Watkins for Martin Huang, 3) Patti Metro for Keith Carman, 4) Charles Yeung for Bruce Rew (December 13, 2011 only), and 5) Bruce Wehner for Jean Nitz. Minutes of September 13 14, 2011 Meeting By consent, the committee approved the minutes of the September 13 14, 2011 meeting, as amended. Chairman s Remarks Chair Bowe provided a summary of the November 2 3, 2011 Member Representatives Committee and Board of Trustees meetings. He specifically noted that NERC staff is reviewing and revising existing Compliance Application Notices to ensure they provide clear, concise guidance for auditors to use consistently across the Regions. A process guide document also is being developed to provide more transparency to the effort. NERC is also developing an enhancement to its compliance enforcement initiative called Find, Fix, Track and Report. Operating Reliability Subcommittee Frank Koza, chair of the ORS, provided an overview of subcommittee activities. He stated that the subcommittee recommends the appointment of Colleen Frosch, ERCOT, as the subcommittee s chair effective January 1, 2012 and the appointment of Joel Wise, TVA, as the subcommittee s vice chair effective January 1, David Zwergel moved to approve the subcommittee s recommendations for chair and vice chair. The committee approved the motion, and, consistent with the ORS scope, Chair Bowe made the appointments official. In addition, Chair Koza noted that the subcommittee continues to work with the NAESB Business Practices Subcommittee on the Parallel Flow Visualization project and is addressing the notification Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

5 process for geomagnetic disturbances as identified in the Geomagnetic Disturbance Reference Document. Jim Case moved to recognize Mr. Koza s leadership of the ORS. By unanimous consent, the committee approved the motion. Resources Subcommittee Terry Bilke, chair of the RS, provided an overview of subcommittee activities. He stated that the subcommittee recommends the appointment of Don Badley, Northwest Power Pool, as the subcommittee s chair effective January 1, 2012 and the appointment of Gerry Beckerle, Ameren, as the subcommittee s vice chair effective January 1, Jerry Rust moved to approve the subcommittee s recommendations for chair and vice chair. The committee approved the motion, and, consistent with the RS scope, Chair Bowe made the appointments official. In addition, Chair Bilke noted that the subcommittee continues to work toward completion of the ACE Diversity Interchange white paper. He also noted that the subcommittee s role in implementing the manual time error correction elimination field trial and its work with the Frequency Response Standard Drafting Team to identify frequency events within each of the Interconnections. Jerry Rust moved to recognize Mr. Bilke s six years of leadership of the RS. By unanimous consent, the committee approved the motion. Personnel Subcommittee Chair Bowe noted that unforeseen circumstances prevented Neil Lindgren, the new chair of the PS, from attending. However, Mr. Lindgren did provide an updated subcommittee status report, which is attached as Exhibit E. Cyber Attack Task Force Chair Bowe noted that Mark Engels, chair of the CATF, was unable to attend the OC meeting. He directed the directed the committee s attention to Mr. Engels presentation to the Joint Meeting of the OC/PC/CIPC. The task force received very few comments in response to its initial request for comments on its draft report. Therefore, Chair Bowe encouraged the committee to review and comment on the task force s draft report. Status Report of Smart Grid Investment Grants and Demonstration Projects Deploying Synchrophasor Technology Alison Silverstein, the North American SynchroPhasor Initiative project manager, provided a NASPI update and technology roadmap (Presentation 9.a). Ms. Silverstein succinctly notes that NERC and its constituencies should care about phasor technology because it will help (and is already helping) to improve electric grid reliability by providing new solutions and insights for grid operators and planners. Her presentation also provided a review of Smart Grid Investment Grants for synchrophasor projects through 2013 and highlighted some of the more significant milestones regarding the use of phasor Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

6 measurements in a variety of technical applications. One such milestone is application of PMU data in wide-area visualization and voltage and frequency monitoring. Ms. Silverstein concluded her remarks by seeking Operating Committee support of the NASPI Visualization Workshop to be held on February 28, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. The NASPI Work Group meeting follows on February 29 and March 1. The visualization workshop will allow several software vendors to demonstrate their synchrophasor applications. In addition, however, she seeks two or three technical experts in human factors in visualization to participate as presenters at the NASPI workshop. Reliability Tools Transition of the IDC Frank Koza stated the Eastern Interconnection reliability coordinators are reviewing a draft consortium agreement. The agreement is being drafted such that the current NERC IDC agreement could be assigned to the consortium. He continues to address specific funding concerns with NERC and that the consortium may broaden its scope to include other reliability entities and other reliability tool applications. Balancing Authority Reliability-based Controls Standard Drafting Team Larry Akens, chair of the Balancing Authority Reliability-based Controls (BARC) Standard Drafting Team (SDT), provided a summary of drafting team activities (Presentation 8.a). The BARC SDT resulted from the combination of the Balancing Authority Controls SDT and the Reliability-based Controls SDT. The RBC SDT was the original sponsor of the Balancing Authority ACE Limit (BAAL) field trial. The current scope of the BARC SDT includes: 1. Proposed BAL-012 (Operating Reserves Planning Standard) 2. Modifications to BAL-001 (Real Power Balancing Control Performance) to retire CPS2 and add the proposed BAAL requirement 3. Modifications to BAL-002 (Disturbance Control Performance) to add several new definitions and to modify the DCS reporting threshold to be the lesser of 80 per cent of the most severe single contingency or 500 MW 4. Proposed BAL-013 (Large Loss of Load Standard) Chair Akens reported that the SDT anticipates posting the above standards for a 30-day comment period in January The committee briefly discussed the reference to 500 MWs in BAL-002 and to 300 MWs in BAL-013. Chair Akens also reported that the BARC SDT requests OC approval of continuance of the BAAL field trial until after the final ballot of proposed standard BAL He opined that the SDT believes that BAL will pass its initial ballot and will be available for BOT approval in October David Zwergel moved that the committee approve the request of the BARC SDT. The committee approved the motion. Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

7 Operating Committee Strategic Plan Vice Chair Jim Castle, chair of the OC s Strategic Plan Development Task Group, led the committee through a page-by-page review of the draft strategic plan, which was included in the agenda. Following this review, Chair Bowe announced that the committee would continue its discussion of the strategic plan, primarily focusing on the identified goals, on the following day. Adjourn and Reconvene The committee adjourned at 5:37 p.m. EST and reconvened the following morning at 8:00 a.m. Operating Committee Strategic Plan The committee continued its review and discussion of the draft strategic plan. Following this review and discussion, Jerry Rust moved to approve the Operating Committee Strategic Plan, as amended. The committee approved the motion. Manual Time Error Correction Elimination Field Trial Terry Bilke reviewed the results of the OC Manual TEC Correction Survey (Exhibit F). The majority of respondents indicated that the most important driver for the elimination of manual TECs is that TECs are a commercial service and not a reliability standard and most preferred to change TECs to an operating procedure rather than a standard and pursue ways to do fewer and less intrusive TECs. When asked if a staged test is conducted by starting in one Interconnection which Interconnection should that be, fifty percent responded that the field trial should begin in the Eastern Interconnection. The following is summary of the ensuing discussion: 1. The BARC SDT presentation reflects that offsetting system frequency below 60 Hz would negatively impact the proposed BAAL standard. 2. Moving Manual TEC to an OC approved procedure does not address the reliability issue 3. Reliability risk is not that great, in comparison to the possible adverse commercial and public impacts (e.g., NERC received inquiries from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the New York State Department of Transportation, and traffic light manufacturers) 4. Implementation of a broad based public awareness communications plan would likely be quite expensive 5. Can only determine actual impacts to reliability and commercial/public interests by conducting the field trial 6. In the hypothetical, what might be the significance of a TEC being associated with a major blackout Jerry Rust moved to reaffirm the committee s motion approved at its December 7 8, 2010 meeting. That motion was: that the Operating Committee direct the Resources Subcommittee to develop a Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

8 field trial to eliminate manual time error correction. Specifically the Resources Subcommittee should draft the following deliverables: Full scope Start and Stop time Measurement for success and failure Coordination with NERC staff regarding the development of a communication package to inform the consumer The draft scope should be available for OC review, as soon as practicable, but no later than, at its March 2011 meeting. The committee further discussed: 1. RS may have to review other ways of doing TECs 2. Potential unintended consequences to commercial and consumer interests, which may be challenging to respond to 3. Likely electric industry impacts (e.g., demand meters) 4. Potential industry liability issues Following the committee s discussion, the motion was not approved. Jim Case moved to task the Resources Subcommittee to investigate the causes of fast time (i.e., Interconnection operating above 60 Hz), to evaluate the reliability risk and to investigate other issues around reliability, including compliance risks. The committee approved the motion. NERC Vision, Goal and Priorities Related to Human Performance, Training and Accreditation Pete Knoetgen, NERC director of training, provided a summary of NERC s training strategy (Presentation 9.c.i). The mission of the training strategy is to promote reliability of the bulk electric system by 1) providing the Electric Reliability Organization and entity workforce with knowledge and skills for reliability, accountability, risk management and learning and 2) improving performance to address industry reliability/risk issues. Mr. Knoetgen also summarized the training area s goals for 2012 and noted that he would be engaging the Personnel Subcommittee, the Personnel Certification and Governance Committee and the ERO training and education group to achieve these goals. James Merlo, NERC manager of human performance, reviewed how the OC s goals (as identified in its strategic plan) are directly linked to NERC s top priority issues. He noted that NERC published over 25 lessons learned and the report titled Cause Analysis Methods for NERC, Regional Entities, and Registered Entities. In addition, NERC developed and delivered a Cause Analysis course. Mr. Merlo stated that NERC will sponsor a conference and workshop in March 2012 related to Improving Human Performance on the Grid. Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

9 Draft Compliance Process Directive #2011-CAG-001 (Directive Regarding Generator Transission Leads) Chair Bowe directed the committee s attention to the draft compliance process directive #2011-CAG- 001 (Directive Regarding Generator Transmission Leads). He rhetorically asked what reliability gap was intended to be addressed by the directive. The Executive Committee will draft a letter for review by the committee. Event Analysis Process Chair Bowe noted that the committee did not approve the draft ERO Event Analysis (EA) Process, dated November He asked for further discussion related to the committee s decision. The committee noted the following: 1. Potential for data collection differences between EOP-004 and the EA Process 2. The EA Process should identify a uniform list of causal factors 3. Governance of the EA Process document 4. Is the EA Process a mandatory or voluntary program 5. Concern with linkages to other documents 6. Completeness of EA Process document (e.g., consider including an Introduction, outline the history and background of the document) 7. What was the charge to the EAWG and is the EA Process responsive to the working group s scope 8. Clarify that this is a guidance document and not a quasi-standard. 9. Is this just another layer of documents and does the EA Process consider other Regional documents 10. Perhaps model after FAA or INPO, where compliance is not involved 11. Suggest not including in Rules of Procedure NERC Events Analysis Update Drift Concept While time did not allow for Earl Shockley, NERC director of events analysis and investigations, to discuss his presentation titled February 2011 Cold Snap Event Recommendations (Presentation 9.d); Chair Bowe directed the committee s attention to his presentation. Beginning on slide 17, the reliability risk management concept models and highlights of the Drifting to Failure Concept is presented. Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

10 Next Meeting The next meeting of the Operating Committee will be on March 6 7, 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. Adjourn There being no further business before the Operating Committee, Chair Bowe adjourned the meeting on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 at 11:56 a.m. EST. Larry Kezele Larry Kezele Secretary Operating Committee Meeting Minutes December 13-14,

11 Exhibit A Agenda Operating Committee (OC) December 13, :00 5:00 p.m. (EST) December 14, :00 a.m. noon (EST) Westin Buckhead Atlanta 3391 Peachstreet Road NE Atlanta, GA Administrative a. Welcome and Introductions Tom Bowe b. NERC Antitrust Guidelines Secretary c. Notice of Public Meeting Secretary Participants are reminded that this meeting is public. Notice of the meeting was posted on the NERC website and widely distributed. Participants should keep in mind that the audience may include members of the press and representatives of various governmental authorities, in addition to the expected participation by industry stakeholders. d. Parliamentary Procedures Secretary e. Announcement of Quorum Secretary Agenda 1. Remarks by NERC President and CEO, Gerry Cauley 2. Joint Session (OC/PC Information Items) a. Compliance Application Notices Val Agnew, NERC i. Focused on specific technical issues and potential boundaries of acceptable compliance b. NERC Events Analysis Update Drift Concept Earl Shockley, NERC c. Adequate Level of Reliability Task Force Allen Mosher i. Directional comments by January 6, 2012

12 d. Review of Geomagnetic Disturbance Task Force Report Don Watkins, BPA i. Directional Comments will be requested by January 6, 2012 ii. Scheduling for Approval Phone Call early February 2012 e. Review of Severe Impact Resilience Task Force Draft Report Tom Bowe i. Comments on Draft Report Due by January 4, 2012 f. Review of Integrated Reliability Index Proposal David Robinson, Sandia National Laboratories 3. Joint Committee Actions a. Vote for Approval OC Meeting i. Phased Development of Integrated Reliability Indicators (IRIs)* Bill Adams, Georgia Power ii. Performance Analysis Subcommittee Scope* Bill Adams, Georgia Power iii. Event Analysis Working Group For BOT Consideration, final Event Analysis Process Electric Reliability Organization Event Analysis Process* Jacquie Smith, RFC 4. Administrative a. Welcome and Introductions Chair Tom Bowe b. Background Information* Secretary i. Operating Committee Membership ( ) ii. Operating Committee Roster iii. Operating Committee Organizational Chart iv. Operating Committee Charter c. Arrangements* Secretary i. Schedule of Events d. Future Meetings Secretary i. March 6 7, 2012 Phoenix, AZ (confirmed) ii. June 19 21, 2012 Toronto, ON (confirmed) iii. September 18 19, 2012 St. Louis, MO iv. December 11 12, 2012 Atlanta, GA Operating Committee Draft Agenda December 13-14,

13 5. Consent Agenda* a. September 13 14, 2011 Draft Operating Committee Meeting Minutes Secretary 6. Chairman s Remarks a. Report on November 2 3, 2011 Member Representatives Committee and Board of Trustees Meetings Chair Bowe 7. Subgroup Reports OC Action Presentation a. Operating Reliability Subcommittee b. Resources Subcommittee c. Interchange Subcommittee d. Personnel Subcommittee e. Cyber Attack Task Force f. Reliability Assessment Subcommittee Status Report* 1. RS Officers Approve 2. Status Report* Status Report* Status Report* CATF Report Approve* 2011 Special Reliability Assessment: A Primer of the Natural Gas and Reliability Electric Power Interdependency in the United States Discuss Chair Frank Koza Chair Terry Bilke Chair Joe Gardner Chair Neil Lindgren Chair Mark Engels John Moura 8. Committee Matters a. Balancing Authority Reliability-based Controls Standard Drafting Team Chair Larry Akens Discuss b. Manual Time Error Correction Elimination Field Trial Implementation Plan Andy Rodriquez and Terry Bilke Approve i. Operating Committee Survey Results Discuss ii. Manual Time Error Correction Elimination Field Test Options Discussion Document* Approve Operating Committee Draft Agenda December 13-14,

14 iii. Communication Plan* Approve c. Operating Committee Strategic Plan* Vice Chair Castle Approve d. Draft NERC Compliance Process Directive #2011-CAG-001 Directive Regarding Generator Transmission Leads* Tom Bowe Discussion 9. Information Only a. Status Report of Smart Grid Investment Grants and Demonstration Projects Deploying Synchrophasor Technology Alison Silverstein, on behalf of the North American SynchroPhasor Initiative b. Reliability Tools Transition of the IDC Frank Koza c. NERC Vision, Goal and Priorities Related to Human Performance, Training, and Accreditation James Merlo, Manager of Human Performance and Peter Knoetgen, Director of Training *Background materials included. Operating Committee Draft Agenda December 13-14,

15 EXHIBIT B ATTENDEES Operating Committee Meeting December 13 14, 2011 OFFICERS Chair Vice Chair Secretary and Staff Coordinator Tom Bowe Jim Castle Larry Kezele MEMBERS VOTING MEMBERS VOTING MEMBERS (cont d) Cooperative Electricity Marketer Chris Bolick Patti Metro proxy for Keith Carman Nick Wehner proxy for Jean Nitz Small End-use Customer TRE FRCC Kevin Conway Ron Donahey Federal/Provincial Investor-Owned Utility Tom Irvine Bob Dalrymple Don Watkins proxy for Martin Huang Pierre Paquet Paul Johnson Jim Case MRO NPCC RFC SERC WECC Lloyd Linke Jerry Mosier Jacquie Smith Gerry Beckerle Jerry Rust ISO/RTO Charles Yeung proxy for Bruce Rew (12/13/11) Bruce Rew David Zwergel SPP NON-VOTING MEMBER Large End-use Customer U.S. Federal Eddy Lim State/Municipal Doug Peterchuck Transmission Dependent Utility Merchant Generator State Government Ray Phillips Dennis Florom Denise Ayers proxy for James Thompson Jerome Murray

16 ATTENDEES Operating Committee Meeting (cont d) December 13 14, 2011 Regional Entity ERCOT FRCC FRCC MRO RFC SERC SERC SPP TRE WECC Jim Brenton Eric Senkowicz Hassan Hamdar Dan Schoenecker Larry Bugh John Troha John Johnson Charles Yeung Mark He Steve Ashbaker NERC STAFF Jordan Erwin Gerry Cauley Andy Rodriquez James Merlo Peter Knoetgen Stuart Brindley Bob Cummings Earl Shockley GUESTS Donald Roberts Larry Akens Marc Butts Peter Brandien Frank Koza David Robinson Terry Bilke Ted Heller Don Badley Stephen Diebold Ben Fink Marshall Bissonnette Darrel Yohnk Tony Jankowski Sharla Artz Bill Adams Southern Company TVA Southern Company ISO-NE PJM Sandia National Laboratories Midwest ISO U.S. Department of Defense NWPP KCPL Open Systems International, Inc. Open Systems International, Inc. ITC Holdings WE Energies SEL, Inc Georgia Power 2

17 Exhibit C Individual Statements Operating Committee Meeting December 13 14, 2011 There were none.

18 Exhibit D Minority Opinions Operating Committee Meeting December 13 14, 2011 No minority opinions were offered for the record.

19 Exhibit D NERC Operating Committee Sub-group Status Report Report Date: November 28, 2011 Group: Personnel Subcommittee Purpose: Governance of the NERC Continuing Edcuation Program Last Meeting: 10/18/2011 Location: San Francisco, CA Duration: 2 days Next Meeting: 12/8/2011 Location: Orlando, FL Duration: 2 days Chair: Neil Lindgren Vice-Chair: Laurel Hennebury NERC Staff: John Taylor Pending OC Approval Items: none Key issues for OC Resolution: none Key Issues for OC Information: none Current Initiatives / Deliverables: Second Quarter 2011 course audits are targeted to be completed December 15, A total of 62 courses are being audited. Audits of courses delivered in the third quarter of 2011 have also begun to get the audits on schedule. CE audits should follow the schedule below: Auditing CE Program approved courses is approached from the perspective of a partnership between the auditor and the provider being audited. The intent is to ensure that system operator certificates are being renewed with quality training. Every effort is made to work with providers to get a course to the level of quality training that is worthy of maintaining a system operator certification. Courses delivered in the second and third quarters of 2011 were randomly selected by SOCCED are being audited simultaneously to get the audits on schedule (see audit schedule in the report above). There are 62 course audits for courses delivered in the second quarter of 2011, and 60 course audits for courses delivered in the third quarter of 2011 being audited. No results are available as the audits have just begun. The target date for completion of the second quarter 2011 audits is December 15, 2011, and February 15, 2012 for the third quarter 2011 audits. Future Initiatives/ Deliverables: White Paper on the Systematic Approach to Training is being drafted. This will be part of meeting a commitment NERC made to FERC when FERC approved PER-005. The commitment was to provide training to the industry on implementing the standard PER_005. The Personnel Subcommittee has developed a strategic plan that should achieve the committment to FERC (Attachment 2) External requests to group: none

20 Internal requests to group: none Group s recurring deliverables: Review and approval of CE courses - as needed Review and approval of NERC Approved CE Providers - as needed Audit of CE Courses for selected quarter - audits are performed each quarter by CERP and PS members. Quarterly report of CE Program to PCGC and OC. The report for a quarter that is 2 quarters back is due for the OC meeting in the last month of the current quarter. Weekly CE Program report to the NERC Director of Training Any NERC Programs Oversight Responsibility for the Group: Governance of CE Program Any NERC Document (non-reliability Standard) Responsibility for the Group: CE Program Adminitrative Manual CE Program Provider's Guide C E Program Audit Guide Guide to Bulk Upload of transcripts into SOCCED SOCCED User's Guide for System Operators Quarterly CE Program report to PCGC and OC Quarterly Audit report to PCGC and OC Guide to Writing Learning Objectives Guide to Selecting and Developing Learning Assessments Individual Learning Activity (ILA) Guide White Paper on the Systematic Approach to Training

21 Quarterly CE Program and Certification Program Report for Quarters 1-3, 2011 Transcripts Reported Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Number of Transcripts 10,571 18,877 37,630 44,649 35,050 28,101 9,852 13,277 18,023 25, ,062 CE Hours 18,797 28,512 46,426 44,135 52,915 35,952 14,597 20,283 23,274 40, ,055 Standards Hours 9,195 14,362 21,087 20,653 31,079 22,438 8,090 11,717 10,549 19, ,042 Simulation Hours 5,634 8,424 15,562 16,775 18,411 17,409 4,255 7,181 6,126 15, , Credentials with Transcripts 1,416 1,859 2,693 2,424 2,951 2,435 1,100 1,473 1,762 2,539 20,652 Transcripts First Second Third Fourth New Courses Added to System Transcripts by Quarter 67, ,800 41,152 By Qtr First Second Third Fourth YTD Total CE Hours 93, ,003 58,154 New: ,167 Standards Hours 44,645 74,170 30,355 Renewals: Simulation Hours 29,621 52,596 17,563 Expedited: Status (11/28/201 1) CEH Standar ds Simula tion CE Hours Added Total ,969 APPROVED 2,965 2,960 2,959 DE- ACTIVATED By Qtr First Second Third Fourth YTD Total EXPIRED 15,779 15,193 15,206 New: 3,587 3,476 2,827 9,891 PENDING Renewals: 1,196 1,319 1,183 3,698 UNDER AUDIT Expedited: Provider Fees (period) $300 CEH Fee - $ Total 4,831 4,823 4,020 13,675 New Providers 11 $3,300 Expedite Fee - $ Renewals 27 $6,900 Total 38 $10,200 Fees Collected By Qtr First Second Third Fourth YTD Total Credential Status (quarters New: $163,710 $158,062 $127,251 $449,023

22 1-3) Active Credentials 6,322 Renewals: $54,090 $59,355 $53,235 $166,680 Active Sys Operators 6,256 Expedited: $ $100 $200 $700 SO with Multiple Credentials 62 Total Fees $218,200 $217,517 $180,686 $616,403 Total number of "unique" credenti als with CE Hours: Year ,900 4, ,554 Standards Simulation Avg. CEH per SO ,620 4, ,378 34,436 53, ,408 5, , , , ,955 5,618 1,189, , , ,471 5,778 1,587, , , , , Avg Nbr of Courses Taken System Operat or Certific ation For Period Sold Used Fees Authorization to Test (ATT) $700 Total Tot Cer PJM ATT $150 $877,100 Total $71,400 $948,500

23 Exhibit F NERC OC Manual Time Error Correction Survey Summary Responses (22) Tom Bowe Keith Carman Kevin Conway Denise Ayers Lloyd Linke Ray Phillips Asher Steed Jim Case Paul Kiernan Dave Stanford Jim Useldinger Dennis Florom Chris Bolick Jim Castle Sam Holeman Matt Greek Jean Nitz No Response (1) Dave Devereaux Rich Kinas Paul Johnson Doug Peterchuck 1

24 NERC OC Manual Time Error Correction Survey Summary 2

25 NERC OC Manual Time Error Correction Survey Summary 3