FERC Addresses Geomagnetic Disturbances; Proposes To Direct NERC To Develop A Reliability Standard

In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking issued on October 18, 2012, FERC proposed to direct NERC to develop reliability standards addressing the risk posed by geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs). As a first stage, FERC proposed to direct NERC to develop a standard within 90 days of the final rule mandating that bulk-power system owners and operators develop operating procedures to mitigate the effects that GMDs have on reliability.

As a second stage, FERC proposed to direct NERC to develop a standard six months after the final rule requiring bulk-power system owners and operators to conduct assessments of GMD effects on the reliability of their systems. FERC proposed the following parameters for a standard governing these assessments:

The assessments should follow uniform evaluation criteria. The assessments should evaluate the primary and secondary effects from geomagnetically induced currents. The assessments should evaluate geomagnetically induced current effects on equipment, operations, and stability. The assessments should include wide-area or regional analyses. The assessments should be periodically updated. The owners and operators would then use these assessments to develop a...