Project 2008-18
Interpretation −TOP-005-1 and IRO-005-1 − Manitoba Hydro   

Status:
The interpretation was approved by the NERC Board of Trustees on November 5, 2009 and filed with FERC.

Summary:

Manitoba Hydro requests an interpretation of the meaning of the term “degraded/degradation” as used in NERC Standards TOP-005-1 and IRO-005-1 and specifically, whether a Special Protection System that is operating with only one communication channel in service would be considered “degraded” for the purposes of these standards.

Purpose/Industry Need:
In accordance with the Reliability Standards Development Procedure, the interpretation must be posted for a 30-day pre-ballot review, and then balloted.  There is no public comment period for an interpretation.  Balloting will be conducted following the same method used for balloting standards.  If the interpretation is approved by its ballot pool, then the interpretation will be appended to the standard and will become effective when adopted by the NERC Board of Trustees and approved by the applicable regulatory authorities.  The interpretation will remain appended to the standard until the standard is revised through the normal standards development process.  When the standard is revised, the clarifications provided by the interpretation will be incorporated into the revised standard.