NERC

[GLW]

Help me out if you can,...

How does a civilian nonprofit (NERC) have the legal authority to develop and enforce reliability standards with all U.S. users, owners, and operators of the bulk power system, and make compliance with those standards mandatory and enforceable.

Is this privatizing government functions?

I would have expected FERC to keep that authority to itself and I'm not sure how this plays out in practical application.

I understand these have been the groundrules since 2007, I am trying to play catch up with some project work I'm looking into and this strange partnership came to my attention.

Is ERO a division of NERC or synonymous with NERC?

I'm good with the basic rules setup, I'm unexperienced with how this plays out between NERC and FERC.

The bottom line is: are there NERC "employees" who carry badges and the authority those badges invest?

Or: is that authority reserved to FERC?

[HydroDave63]

Help me out if you can,...

How does a civilian nonprofit (NERC) have the legal authority to develop and enforce reliability standards with all U.S. users, owners, and operators of the bulk power system, and make compliance with those standards mandatory and enforceable.

Is this privatizing government functions?

I would have expected FERC to keep that authority to itself and I'm not sure how this plays out in practical application.

I understand these have been the groundrules since 2007, I am trying to play catch up with some project work I'm looking into and this strange partnership came to my attention.

Is ERO a division of NERC or synonymous with NERC?

I'm good with the basic rules setup, I'm unexperienced with how this plays out between NERC and FERC.

The bottom line is: are there NERC "employees" who carry badges and the authority those badges invest?

Or: is that authority reserved to FERC?

1. Congress let DOE delegate the authority to FERC, and FERC to NERC, under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, as a badly written knee-jerk reaction to the August 2003 Northeast blackout.

2. Sorta. Less like Blackwater, more like the COMEX. Long story in PolySci to explain.

3. They are too busy coming out with nebulous Orders that require literally years and thousands of FTE years to interpret and implement. If you have no idea what an electron is or does, this is the next $100K+ field for you and your descendents 

4. You should PM me on that issue.

5. It is a title that NERC happens to fit, but NAESB also makes a lot of market rules, so there is no guarantee what organization fits the description. It was a cool new legalese term to invent, since DC is all about process and pro-forma rules. Understanding is optional.

6. FERC is mostly legal staff with some engineers. NERC is mostly electrical engineers with some legal staff. Does that help?

7. Lots of them

8. NERC is tasked with the enforcement function. If FERC feels NERC isnt getting that done or spent too much on a holiday party, they have discussions. Otherwise, it is a fairly harmonious situation. When it comes to litigation and $400M+ fines, then you need FERC.