Over four years after a major 2011 power outage in Southern California and parts of the Southwest, federal energy regulators have approved the sixth and final settlement of penalties for violations of law and reliability standards.
After the September 8, 2011 blackout left more than 5
million people in Southern California, Arizona and Baja California,
Mexico, without power for up to 12 hours, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began investigating what had happened. After conducting that investigation jointly with electric reliability organization North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), in an April 2012 report FERC found that the outage started when a 500-kilovolt transmission line owned by utility Arizona Public Service Company tripped.
The FERC continued its investigation into the 2011 Southwest blackout after its staff report was made public. It identified six entities believed to have been involved: Arizona Public Service Company, the California Independent System Operator, the Imperial Irrigation
District, Southern California Edison, the Western Area Power
Administration, and the Western
Electricity Coordinating Council Reliability Coordinator.
FERC's enforcement process typically offers the accused an opportunity to agree to a stipulation of facts (for example, that the utility violated a particular reliability standard) and to pay a civil penalty and perform mitigation measures. In its enforcement actions related to the 2011 Southwest blackout case, all six entities ultimately agreed to stipulations and penalties that were accepted by the Commission.
In July 2014, the FERC accepted Arizona Public Service's stipulation with NERC and FERC's Office of Enforcement, under which APS agreed to pay $3.25 million and improve its system reliability. In August 2014, California's Imperial Irrigation District agreed to a $12 million fine. Utility Southern California Edison agreed to a $650,000 fine in October. In December, FERC settled with federal power marketing agency Western Area Power Administration with no penalty. Grid operator California ISO agreed to pay $6 million.
This week the FERC announced a settlement with Western Electricity Coordinating Council. WECC promotes grid reliability in the Western Interconnection, a broad area of the western United States. According to the FERC order, FERC enforcement staff and NERC determined that WECC as the Reliability
Coordinator violated nine requirements of the Interconnection
Reliability Operations and Coordination (IRO) and the Facilities Design,
Connection and Maintenance (FAC) groups of Reliability Standards. Enforcement staff and NERC concluded that WECC failed to identify and
prevent violations of system operating limits and Interconnection
Reliability Operating Limits and was unaware of the impact of protection
systems, and used an inadequate system
operating limit methodology that exposed its area to cascading outages.
As a result, the settlement calls for WECC to pay a $16 million civil penalty. $3 million of this
will be split evenly between the U.S. Treasury and NERC, and $13 million
will be invested in reliability enhancement measures that go above and
beyond mitigation of the violations and the requirements of the
Reliability Standards. WECC and its successor as Reliability Coordinator, Peak Reliability, also agreed to mitigation and
reliability activities and to submit to compliance monitoring.
FERC has described the WECC settlement as marking "final resolution" of the investigation by FERC Enforcement staff
and NERC into the 2011 Southwest blackout.
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Showing posts with label WECC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WECC. Show all posts
4th California blackout FERC enforcement case settles
Friday, December 5, 2014
Federal regulators have approved a settlement with another federal agency over its role in a 2011 blackout in California, Arizona, and Mexico.
On September 8, 2011, the Southwest's electric grid was hit with a widespread power outage that left over 5 million people in California, Arizona and Baja California, Mexico, without power for up to 12 hours. Previous investigations by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that the blackout occurred when Arizona Public Service Company's 500-kilovolt Hassayampa-N.Gila transmission line tripped out of service, overloading the remaining elements of the regional grid.
Earlier this year, FERC approved stipulations and consent agreements among its Office of Enforcement, NERC, and three public utilities. Arizona Public Service agreed to pay $3.25 million in civil penalties, California's Imperial Irrigation District agreed to a $12 million settlement, and Southern California Edison Company agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty and undertake additional compliance actions.
FERC approved a fourth settlement on November 24, 2014, with the Western Area Power Administration – Desert Southwest Region (Western-DSW). One of four power marketing administrations within the United States Department of Energy, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) markets and transmits electricity to a fifteen-state region from hydroelectric power facilities at the Hoover, Parker, and Davis dams. Western-DSW is one of four regions carrying out this mission for WAPA, serving customers in Arizona, Southern California, and Southern Nevada. It sells more than ten billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power to approximately seventy municipalities, cooperatives, federal and state agencies, and irrigation districts. Western-DSW also operates and maintains more than forty substations and 3,100 miles of transmission lines.
In the FERC Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, the Commission notes that Western-DSW violated four Requirements of three Reliability Standards in the Transmission Operations (TOP) and Voltage and Reactive Control (VAR) categories. These groups of standards cover the responsibilities and decision making authority for reliable operations and maintenance of Bulk Power system facilities within voltage and reactive power limits to protect equipment and ensure reliable operation of the interconnection. In particular, FERC Enforcement staff and NERC found that Western-DSW failed to operate its portion of the transmission system within voltage system operating limits and to maintain sufficient situational awareness prior to and during the event, undermining reliable operation of the Bulk Power System.
Western-DSW stipulated to the facts in the agreement and agreed to implement compliance measures necessary to mitigate the violations and improve overall reliability, including improving its models, better coordination with neighboring entities, and improving its situational awareness by adding a real-time monitoring tool that analyzes and alerts operators to potential contingencies. Western-DSW also agreed to make semi-annual compliance reports to Enforcement staff and NERC for at least one year. Notably, the stipulation does not require Western-DSW to pay a civil penalty.
FERC's general investigative report on the incident identified six potential targets for enforcement action. With cases settled against Western-DSW, SoCal Edison, the Imperial Irrigation District, and Arizona Public Service, only the California Independent System Operator and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Reliability Coordinator have not yet been parties to a stipulation and consent agreement.
On September 8, 2011, the Southwest's electric grid was hit with a widespread power outage that left over 5 million people in California, Arizona and Baja California, Mexico, without power for up to 12 hours. Previous investigations by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) found that the blackout occurred when Arizona Public Service Company's 500-kilovolt Hassayampa-N.Gila transmission line tripped out of service, overloading the remaining elements of the regional grid.
Earlier this year, FERC approved stipulations and consent agreements among its Office of Enforcement, NERC, and three public utilities. Arizona Public Service agreed to pay $3.25 million in civil penalties, California's Imperial Irrigation District agreed to a $12 million settlement, and Southern California Edison Company agreed to pay a $650,000 civil penalty and undertake additional compliance actions.
FERC approved a fourth settlement on November 24, 2014, with the Western Area Power Administration – Desert Southwest Region (Western-DSW). One of four power marketing administrations within the United States Department of Energy, the Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) markets and transmits electricity to a fifteen-state region from hydroelectric power facilities at the Hoover, Parker, and Davis dams. Western-DSW is one of four regions carrying out this mission for WAPA, serving customers in Arizona, Southern California, and Southern Nevada. It sells more than ten billion kilowatt hours of hydroelectric power to approximately seventy municipalities, cooperatives, federal and state agencies, and irrigation districts. Western-DSW also operates and maintains more than forty substations and 3,100 miles of transmission lines.
In the FERC Order Approving Stipulation and Consent Agreement, the Commission notes that Western-DSW violated four Requirements of three Reliability Standards in the Transmission Operations (TOP) and Voltage and Reactive Control (VAR) categories. These groups of standards cover the responsibilities and decision making authority for reliable operations and maintenance of Bulk Power system facilities within voltage and reactive power limits to protect equipment and ensure reliable operation of the interconnection. In particular, FERC Enforcement staff and NERC found that Western-DSW failed to operate its portion of the transmission system within voltage system operating limits and to maintain sufficient situational awareness prior to and during the event, undermining reliable operation of the Bulk Power System.
Western-DSW stipulated to the facts in the agreement and agreed to implement compliance measures necessary to mitigate the violations and improve overall reliability, including improving its models, better coordination with neighboring entities, and improving its situational awareness by adding a real-time monitoring tool that analyzes and alerts operators to potential contingencies. Western-DSW also agreed to make semi-annual compliance reports to Enforcement staff and NERC for at least one year. Notably, the stipulation does not require Western-DSW to pay a civil penalty.
FERC's general investigative report on the incident identified six potential targets for enforcement action. With cases settled against Western-DSW, SoCal Edison, the Imperial Irrigation District, and Arizona Public Service, only the California Independent System Operator and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council Reliability Coordinator have not yet been parties to a stipulation and consent agreement.
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