Reliability Spotlight: Cold Weather Preparedness

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🔵 Completed  |  🟢 Progressing as Expected  |  🟡 More Progress Needed   

Freeze Protection

Electric Generation

Reliability Standards developed, approved
(Uri Report Key Recommendation 1)

• In August 2021, Commission approved first set of Reliability Standards requiring generator cold weather preparedness plans

• In February 2023, Commission approved cold weather preparedness Standard EOP-012-1 (effective October 1, 2024), aimed to address the first part of the Uri Report's key recommendation for Reliability Standards

• In February 2024, Commission approved Standards EOP-011-4 and TOP-002-5 addressing additional parts of the Uri Report's key recommendation for Standards

• Also, in February 2024, NERC submitted for approval proposed Standard EOP-012-2 aimed to address the remaining parts of the key recommendation for Reliability Standards from the Uri Report, along with Commission directives to modify approved Standard EOP-012-1

Generator cold weather reliability guidance and monitoring efforts to date
(Uri Report Recommendations 3, 4, 12, and 23; Elliott Report Recommendation 1)

• In April 2022, hosted joint FERC, NERC and Regional Entities Technical Conference: Improving Winter-Readiness of Generating Units

• In May 2023, NERC issued its first Level 3 Alert containing essential actions addressing cold weather preparedness for extreme weather events, with the overwhelming majority of Generator Owners responding that 91-100% of their capacity would be capable of operating at their Extreme Cold Weather Temperature as defined in Standard (EOP-012-1) by Winter 2023-2024

• Winter 2023-2024 - cold weather preparedness verification actions by NERC, focused on highest-risk generating units: 

  • Ongoing engagement with Generator Owners ahead of Winter 2023-2024 through meetings, webinars, workshops, on-site visits, surveys, and partnering with Reliability Coordinators

  • Ongoing evaluation of cold weather events:  FERC-NERC-Regional Entity joint review of the January 2024 Arctic Storms Gerri and Heather; results presented at April 2024 Commission Open Meeting

Natural Gas Facilities

Establish rules and practices for natural gas facilities' cold weather preparedness
(Uri Report Recommendations 5, 6, and 14; Elliott Report Recommendation 4)

• In August 2022, Texas Railroad Commission adopted rule to require critical natural gas facilities on the Texas Electricity Supply Chain Map to implement weather emergency preparation measures

Other state- and/or federal-level actions regarding establishing rules for natural gas facilities cold weather reliability

• State-level: Uri/Elliott recommendations tracking team is working with relevant state entities' staff to gain understanding of state-level progress

Gas-Electric Coordination (Regional and State-Level)

Identify Actions: Forums, Work Groups

August 2022 - NAESB Gas-Electric Harmonization Forum
(Uri Report Recommendation 7 and Further Study Recommendation 24)

• North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) convened a public Gas-Electric Harmonization Forum to develop concrete actions to improve reliability of the natural gas infrastructure system necessary to support the Bulk Electric System, final report issued July 2023

September 2022 - FERC-Led New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum
(Uri Report Recommendation 7 and Further Study Recommendation 24)

• The Commission hosted a New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum to discuss the electricity and natural gas challenges faced historically during New England winters to increase understanding

June 2023 - FERC-Led New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum
(Uri Report Recommendation 7 and Further Study Recommendation 24)

• The Commission hosted a second New England Winter Gas-Electric Forum to discuss solutions to the electric and gas challenges facing the New England region

Understanding Natural Gas Contract Risks
(Uri Report Recommendation 8)

• NERC's Electric Gas Working Group (EGWG) developed a Fuel Assurance Reliability Guideline to help registered entities fully understand fuel supply chain risks, and offer additional conditions and constraints, especially during extreme events, to consider when performing studies. Guideline issued September 2023

Develop and Implement Actions

November 2023 - NARUC Gas-Electric Alignment for Reliability (GEAR) Working Group
(Findings from NAESB Gas-Electric Harmonization Forum, the Reliability Alliance Report developed by NGSA, INGAA and EPSA, and the FERC/NERC analyses of Winter Storms Uri and Elliott)

• Convened by National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and chartered in November 2023 for 15 months to "bring together state regulators and industry representatives to develop solutions to better align the gas and electric industries to maintain and improve the reliability of the gas and electric energy system."

December 2023 - NAESB gas-electric coordination business practice standards development
(Elliott Report Recommendation 5)

• Participants prepared multiple work papers, some of which include proposed revisions to the NAESB Wholesale Gas Quadrant Business Practice Standards. Proposals for consideration include communication protocols to provide notice of weather conditions that could impact or are impacting upstream natural gas production, processing, and gathering; enhanced granularity of locational information provided in critical notices; and centralized posting of gas-electric coordination information by interstate pipelines

Grid Operations

Perform bi-directional seasonal transfer studies
(Uri Report Recommendation 20)

• 2023: NERC's Reliability Assessment Subcommittee (RAS) completed survey of relevant entities to gain additional insight; 2024: bi-directional seasonal transfer studies for training is included in NERC's Real Time Operations Subcommittee (RTOS) workplan

Load shed coordination and training
(Uri Report Recommendations 10, 21, and 22)

• September 2022: Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) approved additional underfrequency load shed stage (anti-stall stage) to provide time for system operators to respond to grid conditions; Western Interconnection also incorporated anti-stall load shed stage

• 2023: Operator training rotational firm load shed simulations - completed through NERC RTOS

• Planned for 2023-2024: RTOS; workplan includes review and improve rotational load shed plans as needed, in collaboration with NERC RAS

Load forecasting and operational planning
(Uri Report Recommendations 9, 16, and 17; Elliott Report Recommendations 8, 9, and 10)

• Winter 2021-2022: NERC modified its Winter Reliability Assessment to incorporate expanded risk analyses for the assessment regions to capture additional extreme condition scenarios to better predict reserve levels that could be expected during upcoming winter peak conditions

• 2022-2023: ERCOT, Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) made responsive changes based on the Uri report's associated recommendations to improve winter peak load forecasts and reserve margin calculations

• June 2022: NERC Energy Reliability Assessment Task Force/Working Group (ERAWG) requested development of Reliability Standards to require entities to perform energy reliability assessments to evaluate energy assurance and develop Corrective Action Plan(s) to address the identified risks for both planning and operations time horizons associated with unassured energy supplies, including the timing an inconsistent output from variable energy resources, fuel location, and volatility in forecasted load, which can result in insufficient amounts of energy on the system to serve electrical demand. March 2023, white paper completed

State-Level 

Energy Efficiency Improvement Incentives
(Uri Report Recommendation 19)

Enhance Emergency Response Centers
(Uri Report Recommendation 15)

Additional Deployable Demand Response
(Uri Report Recommendation 18)

• Uri/Elliott recommendations tracking team is working with relevant state entities' staff to gain understanding of progress related to state-level related recommendations

Further Studies

ERCOT - Additional Interconnection Links
(Uri Report Recommendation 25)

• December 2023: ERCOT published Report on Existing and Potential Electric System Constraints and Needs which describes two high voltage direct current (HVDC) ties currently proposed: a 3,000 MW tie to Eastern Interconnection, and a 1,500 MW transmission line that would connect ERCOT to the Western Interconnection

Blackstart cold weather reliability
(Uri Report Recommendation 26; Elliott Report Recommendation 3)

• ERCOT Interconnection: April 2022 - FERC, NERC and Regional Entity Staff evaluated the availability of blackstart resources in the ERCOT Interconnection during extreme cold weather conditions and published their report December 2023
• Eastern and Western Interconnections: March 2024 - NERC and Regional Entity team formed to study the overall availability and readiness of blackstart units to operate during cold weather conditions

Low frequency effects-generation
(Uri Report Recommendation 13 and 27)

• 2022-2023: NERC staff began review of relevant information from Eastern Interconnection, and identified boiler control contributions to frequency response; additional statistics are being gathered to determine next steps

Critical natural gas infrastructure identification
(Uri Report Recommendation 28)

• Texas adopted an electricity supply chain map of critical interdependent natural gas and electric infrastructure in April 2022 
• February 2024: Commission approved Reliability Standard EOP-011-4 which requires prioritization of identified critical natural gas infrastructure loads from load shed

Technical review of generator mechanical/electrical-caused outages during cold weather
(Elliot Report Recommendation 2)

• NERC is in the process of contracting with a third party to perform technical review

Natural gas reliability for grid support
(Uri Report Further Study Recommendation 24, Elliott Report Recommendation 7)

• Department of Energy (DOE) is conducting analyses regarding how single points of failure in natural gas infrastructure could potentially impact the electric grid
• November 2023 - Northeast Power Coordinating Council launched a northeastern regional gas infrastructure study to evaluate fuel supply to the region's electric generation. The study will consider the gas supply and pipeline constraints that may occur during extreme and protracted winter weather events during the winter peak heating season (December through February 2024-2025, 2027-28, and 2032-33)
• Also, for Uri Further Study Recommendation 24, see Gas-Electric Coordination category

Examine dynamic stability of Eastern Interconnection during Winter Storm Elliott event
(Elliot Report Recommendation 11)

• January 2024 - Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative (EIPC) began review

This information was prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in consultation with staff from the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Commission.