FERC-725N, Mandatory Reliability Standards: TPL Reliability Standards

RD20-3-000: Reliability Standard TPL-007-4 requires owners and operators of the Bulk-Power System (BPS) to conduct initial and on-going vulnerability assessments of the potential impact of defined geomagnetic disturbance (GMD) events on BPS equipment and the BPS as a whole. The modifications in the proposed standard address the Commission’s directives in Order No. 851 related to requirements for Corrective Action Plans. Final Rule in Docket RM19-10. Pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of the Federal Power Act (FPA), the Commission approves Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 (Transmission System Planning Performance Requirements). The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability Organization (ERO), submitted Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 for Commission approval in response to directives in Order No. 786. As discussed in this final rule, we determine that Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 improves upon currently-effective Reliability Standard TPL-001-4 by addressing: (1) the study of single points of failure of protection systems; and (2) planned maintenance outages and stability analysis for spare equipment strategies. The improvements in Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 are responsive to the directives in Order No. 786 regarding planned maintenance outages and stability analysis for spare equipment strategies. Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 is responsive in that it requires each planning coordinator and transmission planner to perform an annual planning assessment of its portion of the bulk electric system considering a number of system conditions and contingencies with a risk-based approach. The improvements in Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 are also responsive to the concerns identified in Order No. 754 regarding the study of a single point of failure on protection systems. Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 contains revisions to the planning events (Category P5) and extreme events (Stability 2.a-h) identified in Table 1 (Steady State and Stability Performance Planning Events and Steady State and Stability Performance Extreme Events), as well as the associated footnote 13, to provide for a more comprehensive study of the potential impacts of protection system single points of failure. For more common scenarios (i.e., planning events), the planning entity must develop a corrective action plan if it determines through studies that its system would experience performance issues. For less common scenarios that could result in potentially severe impacts such as cascading (i.e., extreme events), the planning entity must conduct a comprehensive analysis to understand both the potential impacts on its system and the types of actions that could reduce or mitigate those impacts. Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 is also responsive to Order No. 786 by modifying the requirements for stability analysis to require an entity to assess the impact of the possible unavailability of long lead time equipment, consistent with the entity’s spare equipment strategy. Accordingly, pursuant to section 215(d)(2) of the FPA, the Commission approves Reliability Standard TPL-001-5 as just, reasonable, not unduly discriminatory or preferential, and in the public interest.

The latest form for FERC-725N, Mandatory Reliability Standards: TPL Reliability Standards expires 2023-03-31 and can be found here.

Burden from RM12-11/RM13-9 Final Rule (one-time and ongoing)

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