FERC Office of Energy Projects Director Terry Turpin (left) and Idaho National Laboratory Program Manager Virginia Wright. | Senate ENR Committee

April 12, 2024

Hello again from ERO Insider! We’re still thinking about the eclipse on Monday and how much cooler it turned out to be than we were expecting. This coming Monday, of course, is another important occasion, albeit quite a bit more taxing (we’re so sorry for the pun). If you haven’t finished your preparations for the big day, why not get on that? Finish everything up and enjoy your weekend without it hanging over your head. 

Of course, you absolutely can multitask with reading this week’s stories from the world of electric reliability, and we’ve got some good ones today. First up, James Downing reports on this week’s Senate hearing on the lack of cybersecurity protections at the nation’s hydroelectric dams, and the threat that might pose to the electric grid. Follow the link for details on why FERC says it needs help addressing the problem. (See Senate Energy Subcommittee Examines Cybersecurity Shortfalls at Dams.) 

NERC brought a new cybersecurity standard back up for industry vote this week as well. Holden Mann brings you an update on the latest revisions to the ERO’s internal network security monitoring standard and why it is accelerating the ballot process. (See NERC Tries Again with Revised INSM Standard.) 

The ERO is also pushing back on objections raised by the ISO/RTO Council to the cold weather standard that it filed with FERC in February. Click through to see why NERC says the IRC’s request for delay in approval are unreasonable. (See NERC Answers IRC Cold Weather Standard Objections.) 

Finally, NERC shared its draft performance assessment for comment this week, arguing that its record for the last five years means that FERC should recertify it as the ERO. We’ve got details after the link. (See NERC Makes Case for Recertification in Performance Assessment.) 

Thanks again for joining us today! We’ll be back with another weekly email on Friday, and don’t forget to check the website in the meantime for all the latest news from the ERO Enterprise and beyond. Have a great week! 

Upcoming Stakeholder Meetings:

• 4/15/24: Technical Talk with RF
• 4/15/24: Talk with Texas RE: Natural Gas & Power Industry Reliability Alliance
• 4/18/24: NERC Inverter-Based Resource Performance Subcommittee Meeting