Bal-002-wecc-3

WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

A. Introduction
1.

Title:

Contingency Reserve

2.

Number:

BAL-002-WECC-3

3.

Purpose:

To specify the quantity and types of Contingency Reserve required to
ensure reliability under normal and abnormal conditions.

4.

Applicability:
4.1. Functional Entities:
4.1.1 Balancing Authority
4.1.1.1

The Balancing Authority is the responsible entity unless the
Balancing Authority is a member of a Reserve Sharing Group, in
which case, the Reserve Sharing Group becomes the responsible
entity.

4.1.2 Reserve Sharing Group

5.

4.1.2.1

The Reserve Sharing Group when comprised of a Source Balancing
Authority becomes the source Reserve Sharing Group.

4.1.2.2

The Reserve Sharing Group when comprised of a Sink Balancing
Authority becomes the sink Reserve Sharing Group.

Effective Date:

Immediately upon receipt of regulatory approval.

B. Requirements and Measures
R1.

Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group shall maintain a minimum
amount of Contingency Reserve, except within the first sixty minutes following an
event requiring the activation of Contingency Reserve, that is: [Violation Risk Factor:
High] [Time Horizon: Real-time operations]
1.1. The greater of either:
•

The amount of Contingency Reserve equal to the loss of the most severe
single contingency;

•

The amount of Contingency Reserve equal to the sum of three percent of
hourly integrated Load plus three percent of hourly integrated generation.

1.2. Composed of any combination of the reserve types specified below:

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•

Operating Reserve—Spinning

•

Operating Reserve—Supplemental

•

Interchange Transactions designated by the Source Balancing Authority as
Operating Reserve—Supplemental

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

•

Reserve held by other entities by agreement that is deliverable on Firm
Transmission Service

•

A resource, other than generation or load, that can provide energy or reduce
energy consumption

•

Load, including demand response resources, Demand-Side Management
resources, Direct Control Load Management, Interruptible Load or
Interruptible Demand, or any other Load made available for curtailment by
the Balancing Authority or the Reserve Sharing Group via contract or
agreement.

•

All other load, not identified above, once the Reliability Coordinator has
declared an energy emergency alert signifying that firm load interruption is
imminent or in progress.

1.3. Based on real-time hourly load and generating energy values averaged over each
Clock Hour (excluding Qualifying Facilities covered in 18 C.F.R.§ 292.101, as
addressed in FERC Order 464).
1.4. An amount of capacity from a resource that is deployable within ten minutes.
M1. Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group will have documentation
demonstrating its Contingency Reserve was maintained, except within the first sixty
minutes following an event requiring the activation of Contingency Reserve.
Part 1.1
Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group will have dated
documentation that demonstrates its Contingency Reserve was maintained in
accordance with the amounts identified in Requirement R1, Part 1.1, except within the
first sixty minutes following an event requiring the activation of Contingency Reserve.
Attachment A is a practical illustration showing how the generation amount may be
calculated under Requirement R1.
•

•

Where Dynamic Schedules are used as part of the generation amount upon
which Contingency Reserve is predicated, additional evidence of compliance
with Requirement R1, Part 1.1 may include, but is not limited to,
documentation showing a reciprocal acknowledgement as to which entity is
carrying the reserves. This transfer may be all or some portion of the physical
generator and is not limited to the entire physical capability of the generator.
Where Pseudo-Ties are used as part of the generation amount upon which
Contingency Reserve is predicated, additional evidence of compliance with
Requirement R1, Part 1.1, may include, but is not limited to, documentation
accounting for the transfers included in the Pseudo-Ties.

Part 1.2
Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group will have dated
documentation that demonstrates compliance with Requirement R1, Part 1.2.
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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Evidence may include, but is not limited to, documentation that reserves were
comprised of the types listed in Requirement R1, Part 1.2 for purposes of meeting the
Contingency Reserve obligation of Requirement R1. Additionally, for purposes of the
last bullet of Requirement R1, Part 1.2, evidence of compliance may include, but is not
limited to, documentation that the reliability coordinator had issued an energy
emergency alert, indicating that firm Load interruption was imminent or was in
progress.
Part 1.3
Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group will have dated
documentation that demonstrates compliance with Requirement R1, Part 1.3.
Evidence of compliance with Requirement R1, Part 1.3 may include, but is not limited
to, documentation that Contingency Reserve amounts are based upon load and
generating data averaged over each Clock Hour and excludes Qualifying Facilities
covered in 18 C.F.R.§ 292.101, as addressed in FERC Order 464.
Part 1.4
Evidence of compliance with Requirement R1, Part 1.4 may include, but is not limited
to, documentation that the reserves maintained to comply with Requirement R1, Part
1.4 are fully deployable within ten minutes.
R2. Reserved.
M2. Reserved.
R3.

Each Sink Balancing Authority and each sink Reserve Sharing Group shall maintain an
amount of Operating Reserve, in addition to the minimum Contingency Reserve in
Requirement R1, equal to the amount of Operating Reserve–Supplemental for any
Interchange Transaction designated as part of the Source Balancing Authority’s
Operating Reserve–Supplemental or source Reserve Sharing Group’s Operating
Reserve–Supplemental, except within the first sixty minutes following an event
requiring the activation of Contingency Reserve. [Violation Risk Factor: High] [Time
Horizon: Real-time operations]

M3. Each Sink Balancing Authority and each sink Reserve Sharing Group will have dated
documentation demonstrating it maintained an amount of Operating Reserve, in
addition to the Contingency Reserve identified in Requirement R1, equal to the
amount of Operating Reserve–Supplemental for any Interchange Transaction
designated as part of the Source Balancing Authority’s Operating Reserve–
Supplemental or source Reserve Sharing Group’s Operating Reserve–Supplemental,
for the entire period of the transaction, except within the first sixty minutes following
an event requiring the activation of Contingency Reserves, in accordance with
Requirement 3.
R4.

Each Source Balancing Authority and each source Reserve Sharing Group shall
maintain an amount of Operating Reserve, in addition to the minimum Contingency
Reserve amounts identified in Requirement R1, equal to the amount and type of

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Operating Reserves for any Operating Reserve transactions for which it is the Source
Balancing Authority or source Reserve Sharing Group. [Violation Risk Factor: High]
[Time Horizon: Real-time operations]
M4. Each Source Balancing Authority and each source Reserve Sharing Group will have
dated documentation that demonstrates it maintained an amount of additional
Operating Reserves identified in Requirement R1, greater than or equal to the amount
and type of that identified in Requirement 4, for the entire period of the transaction.

C. Compliance
1.

Compliance Monitoring Process
1.1. Compliance Enforcement Authority:
For entities that do not work for the Regional Entity, the Regional Entity shall
serve as the Compliance Enforcement Authority.
For Reliability Coordinators and other functional entities that work for their
Regional Entity, the ERO or a Regional Entity approved by the ERO and FERC or
other applicable governmental authorities shall serve as the Compliance
Enforcement Authority.
For responsible entities that are also Regional Entities, the ERO or a Regional
Entity approved by the ERO and FERC or other applicable governmental
authorities shall serve as the Compliance Enforcement Authority.
1.2. Compliance Monitoring and Assessment Processes:
Compliance Audit
Self-Certification
Spot-Checking
Compliance Investigation
Self-Reporting
Complaint
1.3.

Evidence Retention:
The following evidence retention periods identify the period of time an entity is
required to retain specific evidence to demonstrate compliance. For instances
where the evidence retention period specified below is shorter than the time
since the last audit, the Compliance Enforcement Authority may ask an entity to
provide other evidence to show that it was compliant for the full-time period
since the last audit.
Each Balancing Authority and each Reserve Sharing Group shall keep evidence
for Requirement R1 through R4 for three years plus calendar current.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

1.4. Additional Compliance Information:
1.4.1 This Standard shall apply to each Balancing Authority and each Reserve
Sharing Group that has registered with WECC as provided in Part 1.4.2 of
Section C.
Each Balancing Authority identified in the registration with WECC as
provided in Part 1.4.2 of Section C shall be responsible for compliance with
this Standard through its participation in the Reserve Sharing Group and
not on an individual basis.
1.4.2 A Reserve Sharing Group may register as the Responsible Entity for
purposes of compliance with this Standard by providing written notice to
the WECC: 1) indicating that the Reserve Sharing Group is registering as the
Responsible Entity for purposes of compliance with this Standard, 2)
identifying each Balancing Authority that is a member of the Reserve
Sharing Group, and 3) identifying the person or organization that will serve
as agent on behalf of the Reserve Sharing Group for purposes of
communications and data submissions related to or required by this
Standard.
1.4.3 If an agent properly designated in accordance with Part 1.4.2 of Section C
identifies individual Balancing Authorities within the Reserve Sharing Group
responsible for noncompliance at the time of data submission, together
with the percentage of responsibility attributable to each identified
Balancing Authority, then, except as may otherwise be finally determined
through a duly conducted review or appeal of the initial finding of
noncompliance: 1) any penalties assessed for noncompliance by the
Reserve Sharing Group shall be allocated to the individual Balancing
Authorities identified in the applicable data submission in proportion to
their respective percentages of responsibility as specified in the data
submission, 2) each Balancing Authority shall be solely responsible for all
penalties allocated to it according to its percentage of responsibility as
provided in subsection 1) of this Part 1.4.3 of Section C, and 3) neither the
Reserve Sharing Group nor any member of the Reserve Sharing Group shall
be responsible for any portion of a penalty assessed against another
member of the Reserve Sharing Group in accordance with subsection 1) of
this Part 1.4.3 of Section C (even if the member of Reserve Sharing Group
against which the penalty is assessed is not subject to or otherwise fails to
pay its allocated share of the penalty).
1.4.4 If an agent properly designated in accordance with Part 1.4.2 of Section C
fails to identify individual Balancing Authorities within the Reserve Sharing
Group responsible for noncompliance at the time of data submission or
fails to specify percentages of responsibility attributable to each identified
Balancing Authority, any penalties for noncompliance shall be assessed
against the agent on behalf of the Reserve Sharing Group, and it shall be
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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

the responsibility of the members of the Reserve Sharing Group to allocate
responsibility for such noncompliance.
1.4.5 Any Balancing Authority that is a member of a Reserve Sharing Group that
has failed to register as provided in Part 1.4.2 of Section C shall be subject
to this Standard on an individual basis.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Violation Severity Levels
Violation Severity Levels

R#

Lower VSL

R1.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one Clock Hour,
during a calendar month, in
which Contingency Reserve
is less than 100% but greater
than or equal to 90% of the
required Contingency
Reserve amount, with the
characteristics specified in
Requirement R1.

R2.

Reserved.

R3.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which
Contingency Reserve is less
than 100% but greater than
or equal to 90% of the
required Operating Reserve
amount specified in
Requirement R3.
The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which

R4.

BAL-002-WECC-3
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Moderate VSL

High VSL

Severe VSL

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one Clock Hour,
during a calendar month, in
which Contingency Reserve
is less than 90% but greater
than or equal to 80% of the
required Contingency
Reserve amount, with the
characteristics specified in
Requirement R1.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one Clock Hour,
during a calendar month, in
which Contingency Reserve
is less than 80% but greater
than or equal to 70% of the
required Contingency
Reserve amount, with the
characteristics specified in
Requirement R1.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one Clock Hour,
during a calendar month, in
which Contingency Reserve
is less than 70% of the
required Contingency
Reserve amount, with the
characteristics specified in
Requirement R1.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which
Contingency Reserve is less
than 90% but greater than or
equal to 80% of the required
Operating Reserve amount
specified in Requirement R3.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which
Contingency Reserve is less
than 80% but greater than
or equal to 70% of the
required Operating Reserve
amount specified in
Requirement R3.
The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which
Contingency Reserve is less
than 70% of the required
Operating Reserve amount
specified in Requirement R3.

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which

The Balancing Authority or
the Reserve Sharing Group
that incurs one hour, during
a calendar month, in which
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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Contingency Reserve
Operating Reserve is less
than 100% but greater than
or equal to 90% of the
required Operating Reserve
amount specified in
Requirement R4.

Contingency Reserve
Operating Reserve is less
than 90% but greater than or
equal to 80% of the required
Operating Reserve amount
specified in Requirement R4.

Contingency Reserve
Operating Reserve is less
than 80% but greater than
or equal to 70% of the
required Operating Reserve
amount specified in
Requirement R4.

Contingency Reserve
Operating Reserve is less
than 70% of the required
Operating Reserve amount
specified in Requirement R4.

D. Regional Variances
None.

E. Interpretations
None.

F. Associated Documents
None.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Version History
Version

1
1
2

Date

October 29, 2008
October 21, 2010
November 7, 2012

2
November 21, 2013
2a

Action

Adopted by NERC Board
of Trustees
Order issued remanding
BAL-002-WECC-1
Adopted by NERC Board
of Trustees
FERC Order issued
approving BAL-002WECC-2. (Order becomes
effective 1/28/14.)

December 1, 2015

Approved by WECC Board
of Directors

January 24, 2017

FERC approved

2a

3

TBD

BAL-002-WECC-3
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TBD

Change Tracking

Clarified resources
available for use in
Requirement R2
The Interpretation
provides clarification
regarding the types of
resources that may be
used to satisfy
Contingency Reserve.
The Interpretation was
removed. Requirement
R2 was deleted.
Template and
formatting were
updated. Syntax and
verb tense in Guideline
section were
corrected.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Standard Attachments

Attachment A

Attachment A is illustrative only; it is not a requirement. Requirement R1 calls for an amount of
Contingency Reserve to be maintained, predicated on an amount of generation and load
required in Requirement R1, Part 1.1., specifically:
“1.1

The greater of either:
•

The amount of Contingency Reserve equal to the loss of the most severe
single contingency;

•

The amount of Contingency Reserve equal to the sum of three percent of
hourly integrated Load plus three percent of hourly integrated generation.”

Attachment A illustrates one possible way to account for and calculate the amount of
generation upon which the Contingency Reserve amount is predicated.
Below is a practical illustration showing how the generation amount may be calculated under
Requirement R1 for Balancing Authorities (BA) and Reserve Sharing Groups (RSG).
BA1 / RSG 1
Generator 1
Generator 2
Generator 3 (Pseudo-Tied out to BA2)
Generator 4 QF (has backup contract)
Generator 5 QF in EMS
Generator 6

Generation
300 MWs online
200 MWs online
100 MWs online
10 MWs online
10 MWs online
0 MWs online

Dynamic Schedule to BA2 from BA1 1

(50 MWs)

Generation
BA generation (EMS)
Generation to use Under BAL-002-WECC-1

620 MWs
510 MWs
460 MWs**

Part of Generator
Yes
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes
(The sum of gen 1–6)
(The sum of gen 1, 2, and 5)
(The sum of gen 1, 2, and 5
minus Dynamic Schedule)

** Assumes BA1 and BA2 agree on Dynamic Schedule treatment. If no agreement, BA1 would
maintain reserves based on 510 MWs Generation.
BA2 / RSG2
Generator 11
Generator 12
Generator 3 (Pseudo-Tied in from BA1)
Dynamic Schedule from BA1 to BA2
Generation
BA generation (EMS)

1

Generation

Part of Generator

100 MWs
100 MWs
100 MWs

Yes
Yes
Yes

50 MWs

Yes

300 MWs
300 MWs

(The sum of gen 11, 12 and 3.)
(The sum of gen 11, 12 and 3)

Note: This Dynamic Schedule is not the same as the Generator 3 Pseudo-Tie.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve

Generation to use Under BAL-002-WECC-1

350 MWs**

(The sum of gen 11, 12 and 3
plus Dynamic Schedule)

** Assumes BA1 and BA2 agree on Dynamic Schedule treatment. If no agreement, BA1 would
have to maintain reserves based on 510MWs Generation and BA2 would determine its
generation to be 300 MWs.

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WECC Standard BAL-002-WECC-3—Contingency Reserve (Attachment C)—Supplemental Material

Guideline and Technical Basis
A Guidance Document addressing implementation of this standard was filed with Version 2.

Draft Number of Standard
Month Year

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