Policy & Regulation

FERC orders further modifications to cold weather standard for generators

NERC standard EOP-012-2 would increase requirements for generators during cold weather events.
FERC orders further modifications to cold weather standard for generators
(Source: PXhere.com.)

At its monthly meeting, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved an extreme cold weather reliability standard for generator owners and operators but directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to submit further changes to the standard in the next nine months.

NERC standard EOP-012-2 would increase requirements for generators during cold weather events, introducing new definitions, clarifications and requirements to ensure effective planning for generators in these types of conditions.

FERC directed NERC to submit modifications to EOP-012-2, including:

  • Clarify ambiguity of the term “Generator Cold Weather Constraint” with objective and detailed criteria so affected entities understand what is required of them. This includes removing subjective terms like “reasonable cost,” “unreasonable cost,” “cost,” and “good business practices.”
  • Ensure NERC reviews and confirms each Generator Cold Weather Constraint declaration promptly to prevent avoiding compliance with the proposed reliability Standard or obligations in a corrective action plan.
  • Shorten and clarify the timelines for corrective action plan implementation.
  • Require pre-approval from NERC for any extension of corrective action plans beyond the standard timeframe and ensure generator owners notify relevant entities of any operational limits in extreme cold weather during the extension.
  • Implement more frequent reviews of Generator Cold Weather Constraint declarations to verify their validity.

Reduced renewable availability, combined with inadequate freeze protection in some U.S. regions has caused rolling blackouts and even long-term power outages during periods of extreme cold weather in recent years.

In November 2023 FERC-NERC released their final report on Winter Storm Elliott, the Christmas 2022 storm that caused widespread power outages for millions of customers in the Eastern U.S.

With Winter fast approaching, the report recommended completion of cold weather reliability standard revisions initially identified after 2021’s Winter Storm Uri and robust monitoring of how the industry is implementing these standards.

During Elliott, which took place December 21-26, 2022, 1,702 generating units experienced 3,565 outages, derates or failures to start. 825 of the units were natural gas-fired generators.

Outside of this week’s action on EOP-012-2, FERC announced a dashboard that will track the status of recommendations from past FERC-NERC-Regional Entity analyses of performance during winter storms.

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