News Release

January 16, 2014
News Media Contact
Craig Cano | 202-502-8680
Docket Nos. RM14-1-000

FERC Proposes Reliability Standard on Geomagnetic Disturbances
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today proposed to adopt a new reliability standard intended to
mitigate the impacts of geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs) that can have potentially severe, widespread effects on
reliable operation of the nation’s Bulk-Power System.
Today’s proposal takes the first step in implementing a May 2013 final rule in which FERC directed the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation to develop new mandatory reliability standards to address GMD vulnerabilities, and it
directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to develop new standards in two stages. This
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) pertains to a standard offered by NERC to address implementation of operating
plans and operating procedures or processes to mitigate effects of GMD.
NERC’s proposed standard would apply to reliability coordinators and transmission operators with an operator area that
includes certain power transformers with terminal voltage greater than 200 kV. The standard has three requirements:
•
•
•

Reliability coordinators must develop, maintain and implement a GMD operating plan that coordinates the GMD
operating procedures or processes within the reliability coordinator area.
Reliability coordinators must disseminate space weather information.
Transmission operators must develop operating procedures or processes to address GMD events.

Under the May 2013 final rule, NERC is required to file the second stage reliability standards in January 2015. Those
standards would identify “benchmark GMD events” that specify the severity of GMD events that owners and operators
must assess for potential impacts on the Bulk-Power System. Responsible entities would be required to conduct initial
and ongoing assessments of the potential impact of these events on equipment and the system, and to develop and
implement plans to protect against instability, uncontrolled separation or cascading failures.
Comments on today’s NOPR are due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
R-14-09

(30)