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Company Overview
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FAQ
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Fast Facts
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History
Becoming the New NERC
Following are key dates in the history and
evolution of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
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History |
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1962-1963
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The electricity industry created an informal, voluntary organization of
operating personnel to facilitate coordination of the bulk power system in
the United States and Canada. Four interconnected transmission systems
were connected to three more systems, forming the largest electricity grid
in the world.
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| 1960s |
Electricity industry operations followed: (a) criteria and guides for
reliable operations, developed by the North American Power Systems
Interconnection Committee (NAPSIC), a utility organization; and (b)
reliability planning guides in some regions. |
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November 9, 1965
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The largest blackout to this date in history occurred, as 30 million
people lost power in the northeastern United States and southeastern
Ontario, Canada. New York City and Toronto were among the affected
cities. Some customers were without power for 13 hours. |
| 1967 |
Legislation (U.S. Electric Power Reliability Act of 1967) proposed the
creation of a council on power coordination. Although not enacted, the
proposed legislation stimulated the development of an industry reliability
council. |
| 1967-1968
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Federal Power Commission (predecessor of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission) recommended the formation of a council on power coordination
made up of representatives from each of the nation’s regional coordinating
organizations, to exchange and disseminate information and to review,
discuss and assist in resolving interregional coordination matters. |
| June 1, 1968 |
National Electric Reliability Council (NERC) was established by the
electric utility industry, in response to the 1965 blackout. Nine
regional reliability organizations were formalized under NERC. Also
formalized were regional planning coordination guides, which NERC
maintained. NAPSIC operations criteria and guides continued to be
maintained and practiced voluntarily. |
| 1975 |
NERC incorporated as a non-profit corporation in New Jersey. |
| July 13-14, 1977 |
Blackout in New York City occurred. This led to the first, limited
reliability provision in federal legislation. The legislation enabled the
federal government to propose voluntary standards, an authority never
exercised. |
| 1980 |
NAPSIC became part of NERC, bringing the reliability roles of operations
and planning together in one organization. NERC adopted NAPSIC operations
criteria and guides. |
| 1981
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NERC changed its name to the North American Electric Reliability Council
in recognition of Canada’s participation. |
| 1987 |
NERC updated its operations criteria and guides, renamed them as operating
policies, and added requirement statements (“shall do this”) and guideline statements (“should do this”). |
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1987 |
NERC formed a committee to address terrorism and sabotage of the electricity
supply system, at the urging of the U.S. National Security Council and
Department of Energy. |
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1992 |
NERC Board of Trustees stated for the first time that conformance to NERC
and regional reliability policies, criteria and guides should be mandatory
to ensure reliability, in one of six Agreements in Principle adopted by the
Board. (NERC still had no authority to enforce compliance with the policies,
criteria and guides.) |
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1993 |
Building on the Agreements in Principle, NERC published "NERC 2000," a
four-part action plan for the future, which recommended mandatory compliance
with NERC policies, criteria and guides; and a process for addressing
violations. NERC 2000 encompassed policies for interconnected systems
operation; planning reliable bulk electric systems; membership
recommendations; and dispute resolution. |
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1995 |
NERC led on addressing the planning and operating reliability aspects of
FERC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on a more competitive wholesale
electric power market. |
| 1996 |
Two major blackouts in the western United States prompted some Western
Systems Coordinating Council members to enter into agreements to pay fines
if they violated certain reliability standards. (WSCC, a regional
reliability organization, is now the Western Electricity Coordinating
Council.) |
| 1997 |
Electric System Reliability Task Force established by the U.S. Department
of Energy, and an independent “blue ribbon” panel formed by NERC, both
determined grid reliability rules must be mandatory and enforceable in an
increasingly competitive marketplace. Both groups recommended the
creation of an independent, self-regulatory, electric reliability
organization to develop and enforce reliability standards throughout North
America. Both groups concluded that federal legislation in the United
States was necessary to accomplish this. |
| 1997 |
NERC set out to implement the blue-ribbon panel’s recommendation of a
self-regulatory reliability organization. NERC began work to convert its
planning guides into planning standards. |
| 1998 |
NERC led the effort to assess the electric industry’s readiness for Y2K,
at the request of the U.S. Department of Energy. |
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1999 |
Nine independent directors added to the NERC Board, joining the president
and 37 industry stakeholder interests, in anticipation of NERC becoming a
self-regulatory organization. |
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2000 |
NERC appointed as the electric utility industry’s primary point of contact
with the U.S. government for national security and critical infrastructure
protection issues. |
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2001 |
NERC governance changed. Board replaced with the 10-member independent
board. Stakeholders Committee created. (Today, the Stakeholders Committee is
called the Member Representative Committee.) |
| May 1, 2002 |
NERC operating policies and planning standards became mandatory and
enforceable in Ontario. |
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August 14, 2003 |
North America experienced its worst blackout ever, as 50 million people
lost power in the northeastern and midwestern U.S. and Ontario, Canada.
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| April 5, 2004 |
Final report of the U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force on the 2003
blackout concluded the single most important recommendation for preventing
future blackouts, and reducing the scope of those that occur, is for the
U.S. government to make reliability standards mandatory and enforceable. |
| 3Q 2004 |
Bilateral Electric Reliability Oversight Group (BEROG) established as a
forum for identifying and resolving reliability issues in an
international, government-to-government context. BEROG grew out of the
U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force. |
| November 12, 2004 |
NERC translated its operating policies, planning standards and compliance
requirements into an integrated and comprehensive set of 90 measurable
standards called “Version 0 Reliability Standards.”
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February 8, 2005 |
NERC Board of Trustees adopted the Version 0 standards. Stakeholders
overwhelmingly supported the standards. |
| April 1, 2005 |
Version 0 Reliability Standards became effective.
Voluntary compliance was expected as a matter of good utility practice. |
| August 8, 2005 |
U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized the creation of a
self-regulatory “electric reliability organization” that would span North
America, with FERC oversight in the U.S. The legislation stated that
compliance with reliability standards would be mandatory and enforceable.
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April 4, 2006 |
NERC filed an application with FERC to
become the “electric reliability organization” in the United States.
NERC filed with FERC 102 reliability standards – the 90 Version 0 standards
plus 12 additional standards developed in the interim.
NERC filed the same information with the Canadian provincial authorities in
Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario,
Quebec and Saskatchewan, and with the National Energy Board of Canada, for
recognition as the “electric reliability organization” in Canada.
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| July 20, 2006 |
FERC certified NERC as the “electric reliability organization” for the
United States. |
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September-December 2006 |
NERC signed Memorandums of Understanding with Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and the National Energy Board of Canada. |
| January 1, 2007 |
The North American Electric Reliability Council became the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation. The new entity has a large membership
base representing a cross-section of the industry. |
| March 15, 2007 |
FERC approved 83 NERC Reliability Standards, the first set of legally
enforceable standards for the U.S. bulk power system, effective June 4,
2007. FERC stated that voluntary compliance with NERC’s additional
standards should continue as good utility practice. |
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April 19, 2007
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FERC approved eight delegation agreements by which NERC will delegate its
authority to monitor and enforce compliance with NERC Reliability
Standards in the United States to eight Regional Entities, with NERC
continuing in an oversight role. |
| June 4, 2007 |
Compliance with approved NERC Reliability Standards becomes mandatory and
enforceable in the United States. |
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