Related Files | Project 2007-05 - Balancing Authority Controls | Project 2007-18 - Reliability-based Control
Status
A final ballot for the recommended retirement of BAL-004-0 – Time Error Correction concluded 8 p.m. Eastern, Thursday, December 17, 2015. The voting results can be accessed via the links below. The standard will be submitted to the Board of Trustees for adoption and then filed with the appropriate regulatory authorities.
Background
The BARC 2 PRT was appointed by the Standards Committee on September 19, 2013 as part of NERC’s obligation to conduct periodic reviews of its standards. The BARC 2 PRT used background information on the standards and the questions set forth in the Periodic Review Template developed by NERC and approved by the Standards Committee, along with associated worksheets and reference documents, to determine whether BAL-004-0 should be: (1) affirmed as is (i.e., no changes needed); (2) revised (which may include revising or retiring one or more requirements); or (3) retired. During the development of the recommendation, the PRT also considered stakeholder recommendations for candidate Paragraph 81 requirements from Phase 1 of Paragraph 81, and applied the Paragraph 81 criteria to all of the requirements. The team also considered the Independent Expert Review Panel recommendations on the two standards.
After an extensive review, the BARC 2 PRT is recommending that Reliability Standard BAL-004-0 be retired and that manual Time Error Correction (TEC) be eliminated as a continent-wide NERC requirement. Once the current 30-day industry comment period concludes, the BARC 2 SDT will consider comments and finalize its recommendation, which will be presented to the Standards Committee.
The Balancing Authority Reliability-based Controls 2.2 Standard Drafting Team (BARC 2.2 SDT) reviewed the findings of the BARC 2 Primary Review Team. A survey was posted for comment August 12-25, 2015 to gain a better perspective as to any concerns the industry may have if the practice of manual Time Error Correction (TEC) was eliminated. The survey responses indicated support for retirement of manual TEC as a standard. Upon further review the BARC 2.2 SDT determined that manual TEC would not support the reliability of the BPS. Conducting manual TEC in any form directly contradicts NERC Reliability Principle 2: “The frequency and voltage of interconnected bulk power systems shall be controlled within defined limits through the balancing of real and reactive power supply and demand.” The practice of using manual TEC to place the Interconnection closer to the settings for automatic underfrequency load shedding does not support or enhance reliability. Therefore, BAL-004-0 should be retired.
The survey responses also indicated that the accompanying North American Energy Standard Board (NAESB) WEQ Manual Time Error Correction Business Practice Standard – WEQ-006, should be retired contemporaneously with BAL-004-0. The BARC 2.2 SDT’s recommendation for retirement of BAL-004-0 is contingent on simultaneous retirement of NAESB WEQ-006 to ensure clarity and to avoid inadvertent, uncoordinated, manual TEC. The BARC 2.2 SDT has been coordinating with NAESB on this issue. Upon retirement of BAL-004-0 and NAESB WEQ-006, currently or soon to be effective Reliability Standards BAL-003-1 and BAL-001-2 will incent continued adherence to a frequency approximating 60 Hz over long-term averages.
Standard(s) affected - BAL-004-0
Purpose/Industry Need:
N/A
