News Release on NOPR in RM12-6/RM12-7

June 21, 2012

News Media Contact

Craig Cano | 202-502-8680

Docket Nos. RM12-6-000, RM12-7-000

FERC Proposes to Approve NERC’s Revised Definition for Bulk Electric System

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today issued a proposal that would approve the North American Electric Reliability Corporation’s (NERC) revisions to the definition of the bulk electric system to provide greater clarity and ensure consistency in identifying system elements across the nation’s reliability regions.

In response to a Commission directive, NERC in January 2012 filed revisions that:

• Establish a “core” definition that includes all transmission, real power and reactive power facilities operated or connected at 100 kilovolts or higher.

• Eliminate the discretion that Regional Entities now have to define the system in their region without any oversight from the Commission or NERC.

• Identify specific facility configurations that are included in or excluded from the definition.

Today’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) also proposes to approve NERC’s new rules of procedure for adding elements to and removing them from the definition on a case-by-case basis. While proposing to approve the revisions to the definition of bulk electric system, the NOPR also seeks comment on certain issues, including the exclusion of certain facility configurations from the definition.

Comments on the NOPR are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

R-12-23

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