Technical Conference to Discuss Climate Change, Extreme Weather, & Electric System Reliability

Docket No. AD21-13-000

This event will be webcast.
Free Webcast available (Best viewed using Microsoft Edge)

Technical conference to discuss issues surrounding the threat to electric system reliability posed by climate change and extreme weather events. Commissioners may attend and participate in the technical conference.

This technical conference will address concerns that because extreme weather events are increasing in frequency, intensity, geographic expanse, and duration, the number and severity of weather-induced events in the electric power industry may also increase.

This technical conference will also address the specific challenges posed to electric system reliability by climate change and extreme weather, which may vary by region. For example, addressing the reliability challenges associated with wildfires may not be appropriate in a region where a different challenge, such as weather-driven fuel supply interruptions, is more likely to occur.

Comment on Docket No. AD21-13-000

Interested persons are invited to submit comments regarding the issues described below. Comments are due on or before April 15, 2021. Comments must refer to Docket No. AD21-13-000 and must include the commenter's name, the organization they represent, if applicable, and their address. Commenters need not answer all of the questions but are encouraged to organize responses using the numbering and order in the below:

What are the most significant near-, medium-, and long-term challenges posed to electric system reliability due to climate change and extreme weather events?
With respect to extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, extreme heat, extreme cold, drought, storm surges and other flooding events, or wildfires), have these issues impacted the electric system, either directly or indirectly, more frequently or seriously than in the past, and if so, how? Will extreme weather events require changes to the way generation, transmission, substation, or other facilities are designed, built, sited, and operated?
Climate change has a range of other impacts, such as long-term increases in ambient air or water temperatures that may impact cooling systems, changes in precipitation patterns that may impact such factors as reservoir levels or snowpack, and rising sea levels among others. Will these impacts require changes to the way generation, transmission, substation, or other facilities are designed, built, sited, and operated?
What are the electric system reliability challenges associated with “common mode failures” where, due to a climate change or extreme weather event, a large number of facilities critical to electric reliability (e.g., generation resources, transmission lines, substations, and natural gas pipelines) experience outages or significant operational limitations, either simultaneously or in close succession? How do these challenges differ across types of generation resources (e.g., natural gas, coal, hydro, nuclear, solar, wind)? To what extent does geographic diversity (i.e., sharing capacity from many resources across a large footprint) mitigate the risk of common mode failures?
Are there improvements to coordinated operations and planning between energy systems (e.g., the natural gas and electric power systems) that would help reduce risk factors related to common mode failures? What could those improved steps include?
How are relevant regulatory authorities (e.g., federal, state, and local regulators), individual utilities (including federal power marketing agencies), and regional planning authorities (e.g., RTOs/ISOs) evaluating and addressing challenges posed to electric system reliability due to climate change and extreme weather events and what potential future actions are they considering? What additional steps should be considered to ensure electric system reliability?
Are relevant regulatory authorities, individual utilities, or regional planning authorities considering changes to current modeling and planning assumptions used for transmission and resource adequacy planning? For example, is it still reasonable to base planning models on historic weather data and consumption trends if climate change is expected to result in extreme weather events that are both more frequent and more intense than historical data would suggest? If not, is a different approach to modeling and planning transmission and resource adequacy needs required? How should the benefits and constraints of alternative modeling and planning approaches be assessed?

Are relevant regulatory authorities, individual utilities, or regional planning authorities considering measures to harden facilities against extreme weather events (e.g., winterization requirements for generators, substations, transmission circuits, and interstate natural gas pipelines)? If so, what measures? Should additional measures be considered?
How have entities responsible for real-time operations (e.g. utilities, RTOs/ISOs, generator operators) changed their operating practices in light of the challenges posed by climate change and extreme weather events and what potential future actions are they considering? What additional steps should be considered to change operating practices to ensure electric system reliability?
Are seasonal resource adequacy assessments currently performed, and have they proven effective at identifying actual resource adequacy needs? If they are used, is there a process to improve the assessments to account for a rapidly changing risk environment such as that driven by climate change? If seasonal resource adequacy assessments are performed, are probabilistic methods used to evaluate a wider range of system conditions such as non-peak periods, including shoulder months and low load conditions?
Are any changes being considered to the resource outage planning process? For instance, should current practices of scheduling outages in perceived “non-peak” periods be re-evaluated, and should the consideration during planning of the reserve needs during non-peak outage periods be improved?
Mass public notification systems (e.g., cellphone texts, emails, smart thermostat notifications) are sometimes used in emergencies to solicit voluntary reductions in the demand for electricity. To what extent are such measures used when faced with emergencies related to climate change or extreme weather events, have they been effective in helping to address emergencies, and is there room for improvement?
What measures are being considered to improve recovery times following extreme weather event-related outages? For example, are there potential changes to operating procedures, spare equipment inventory, or mutual assistance networks under consideration? What additional steps should be considered to improve recovery times?

Given the key role blackstart resources play in recovering from large-scale events on the electric system, how is the sufficiency of existing blackstart capability assessed, and has that assessment been adjusted to account for factors associated with climate change or extreme weather events? For example, is the impact of potential common mode failures considered in the development of black start restoration plans (including but not limited to common mode failure impacts on generation resources, transmission lines, substations, and interstate natural gas pipelines)? Should these be addressed?
What actions should the Commission consider to help achieve an electric system that can better withstand, respond to, and recover from climate change and extreme weather events? In particular, are there changes to ratemaking practices or market design that the Commission should consider?
Are there opportunities to improve the Commission-approved NERC Reliability Standards in order to address vulnerabilities to the bulk power system due to climate change or extreme weather events in areas including but not limited to the following: transmission planning, bulk power system operations, bulk power system maintenance, emergency operations, and black start restoration? For example, should the Reliability Standards require transmission owners, operators or others to take additional steps to maintain reliability of the bulk power system in high wildfire or storm surge risk areas? Should the Reliability Standards require the application of new technologies to address vulnerabilities related to extreme weather events, such as to use new technologies to inspect the bulk power system remotely?
Where climate change and extreme weather events may implicate both federal and state issues, should the Commission consider conferring with the states, as permitted under FPA section 209(b), to collaborate on such issues?

The Commission encourages comments to be filed electronically via the eFiling link on the Commission's web site at http://www.ferc.gov. The Commission accepts most standard word processing formats. Documents created electronically using word processing software should be filed in native applications or print-to-PDF format and not in a scanned format. Commenters filing electronically do not need to make a paper filing.

Those unable to file electronically may mail comments via the U.S. Postal Service to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Secretary, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. Hand-delivered comments or comments sent via any other carrier should be delivered to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Office of the Secretary, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20852.
All comments will be placed in the Commission's public files and may be viewed, printed, or downloaded remotely. Commenters in this proceeding are not required to serve copies of their comments on other commenters.

Registration for the conference is not required and there is no fee for attendance. A supplemental notice will be issued seeking comments prior to the technical conference. Following comment submissions, an additional supplemental notice will be issued with further details regarding the technical conference agenda, as well as any changes in timing or logistics.

Individuals interested in participating as panelists should self-nominate through the WebEx registration form by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at: https://ferc.webex.com/ferc/onstage/g.php?MTID=eff91ed43b5be08b7808828631394b5c5.

For more information about this technical conference, please contact Rahim Amerkhail, 202-502-8266, rahim.amerkhail@ferc.gov for technical questions or Sarah McKinley, 202-502-8368, sarah.mckinley@ferc.gov for logistical issues.

Agenda Day 1

Tuesday, June 1, 2021
1:00pm – 1:10pm	Welcome and Opening Remarks
1:10pm – 1:30pm	Introductory Presentation– More Frequent and Expensive Extreme Weather Events *Adam Smith,* Applied Climatologist, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
1:30pm –3:20pm	Panel 1: Planning for a Future that Diverges from Historical Trends *Romany Webb,* Associate Research Scholar/Senior Fellow at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, Columbia University Law School *Derek Stenclik,* President, Telos Energy, Inc. *Susanne DesRoches,* Deputy Director of Infrastructure and Energy, New York City Mayor’s Offices of Resiliency and Sustainability *Lisa Barton,* Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, American Electric Power *Judy Chang,* Undersecretary of Energy, Massachusetts *Jessica Hogle,* Federal Affairs/Chief Sustainability Officer, Pacific Gas and Electric Corporation *David Easterling,* *Ph.D.,* Director, National Climate Assessment Technical Support Unit NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information This panel will explore the ways in which planning inputs and practices—including those used in resource adequacy planning, transmission planning, integrated resource planning, and asset development and management—should evolve to achieve outcomes that reflect consumer needs for reliable electricity in the face of patterns of climate change and extreme weather events that diverge from historical trends. The panel may include a discussion of the following topics and questions: With respect to typical inputs to planning, such as expected future load, weather, temperature, etc., how can such futures-based inputs be projected more accurately (or usefully) than simply extending historical trends forward? Are there best practices for developing probabilistic/stochastic methods for estimating these typical planning inputs, including through use of expert-developed climate scenarios such as the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios for baseline CO2 projections developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change? Are there best practices for conducting climate change and extreme weather vulnerability assessments? How should these assessments (and any resulting climate change resilience plans) interact with existing planning processes, e.g., transmission planning and resource adequacy planning? Are there expert-developed climate change scenarios, including “down-scaled” ones for smaller regions, that can be incorporated into planning processes at all relevant levels? What additional information, if any, do utilities need from government, academia, or other entities with expertise in climate change and meteorology to develop effective vulnerability assessments? How should climate vulnerability assessments be translated into actions that promote least-cost outcomes for consumers? What are the specific steps and considerations that lead from identification of a climate vulnerability to least-cost solution that addresses that vulnerability? What are the planning best practices that proactively protect the needs of vulnerable populations? What, if anything, should FERC consider to encourage or require jurisdictional utilities to better assess vulnerabilities to climate change or extreme weather and implement appropriate corrective action plans?
3:20pm – 3:45pm	Break
3:45pm – 5:45pm	Panel 2: Best Practices for Long-Term Planning: Assessing and Mitigating the Risk of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events *Judith Curry,* President, Climate Forecast Applications Network *Mark Rothleder,* Senior Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, California ISO *Mark Lauby,* Senior Vice President/ Chief Engineer, NERC *Devin Hartman,* Director of Energy and Environmental Policy, R Street Institute *Alison Silverstein,* Independent Consultant, Alison Silverstein Consulting *Richard Tabors,* President. Tabors Caramanis Rudkevich *Frederick Heinle,* Assistant People’s Counsel, Office of the People’s Counsel for the District of Columbia This panel will explore how well existing planning processes address climate change and extreme weather events and possible improvements to planning processes. This panel will engage in a broad ranging discussion of relevant best practices throughout the industry for assessing the risks posed by climate change and extreme weather and developing cost-effective mitigation. The panel may include a discussion of the following topics and questions: To what extent do existing resource adequacy processes (e.g., Loss of Load Expectation Analysis, Effective Load Carrying Capacity Analysis) assess the risk of common mode failures? How can these processes be improved? Given the increasing incidence of extreme weather events, is the existing 1-in-ten-year standard, commonly used as a benchmark for resource adequacy, still an appropriate resource adequacy standard or is a new approach needed? What role do existing, modified, or new Reliability Standards have to play in addressing planning issues associated with climate change and extreme weather? How should risks of climate change and extreme weather be incorporated into transmission planning processes? How does the appropriate approach change depending on specific threats most relevant to the region (e.g., extreme heat, drought, sea-level rise, etc.)? In light of the potential for increased instances of extreme weather, is a more probabilistic approach to transmission planning necessary? What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of such an approach? To what extent do existing transmission planning processes assess the benefits that transmission facilities provide during infrequent (e.g., one in twenty year) events? Should changes be considered to better assess the benefits of such facilities? If so, what should these changes look like? How do transmission planners evaluate the need for, and benefits of, increased inter-regional transfer capacity? In evaluating potential transmission projects that would increase regional import capability, do transmission planners consider the potential reliability benefits these projects would provide during extreme weather events? If not, should such benefits be considered and if so, how? Should the establishment and maintenance of some minimum amount of interregional transfer capability be required, and if so, how should the particular amount be determined and by whom? To what extent is the Value of Lost Load (VOLL) currently used as an input to resource adequacy processes and transmission planning processes? Would incorporating more accurate estimates of long-term and short-term VOLL into resource adequacy processes and transmission planning processes result in more cost-effective solutions to address the challenges of climate change and extreme weather? How can innovative mitigation strategies be incorporated in the various planning processes, such as planning for controlled sectionalization of parts of a grid to improve resilience? Are there potential rate incentives that rate regulators may consider to encourage investment in infrastructure to address the risks of climate change and extreme weather? What additional actions, if any, should FERC consider to encourage or require jurisdictional utilities to adopt robust planning practices that adequately consider climate change and extreme weather?
5:45pm – 6:00pm	Adjourn Day 1

Agenda Day 2

Wednesday, June 2, 2021
1:00pm – 1:15pm	Opening Remarks, Day 2
1:15pm – 3:00pm	Panel 3: Operating Practices for Addressing Climate Change and Extreme Weather *David Patton,* President, Potomac Economics *Amanda Frazier,* Senior Vice President of Regulatory Policy, Vistra Corp *Daniel Brooks,* Vice President of Integrated Grid and Energy Systems, Electric Power Research Institute *Renuka Chatterjee,* Executive Director of Systems Operations, Midcontinent ISO *Wesley Yeomans,* Vice President of Operations, New York ISO *Anne Hoskins,* Chief Policy Officer, Sunrun, Inc This panel will explore the ways in which existing operating practices—including but not limited to those pertaining to seasonal assessments, outage planning and coordination, reserve procurement, demand-side management, unit commitment and dispatch, short-term asset management, and emergency operating procedures—may necessitate updated techniques and approaches in light of increasing instances of extreme weather and longer-term threats posed by climate change. This panel may include a discussion of the following topics and questions: How can market structures or rules be reformed to give generators and other resources stronger incentive to be prepared for the challenges of climate change or extreme weather that they may face? Can new market products (e.g., seasonal products), or enhancements to existing market structures, be designed based on defined reliability/resilience needs in order to address the challenges of climate change and extreme weather? What current practices exist with respect to recalling or cancelling non-critical generation and transmission maintenance outages during a reliability event; are these practices sufficient to ensure that all possible resources and infrastructure needed to address an extreme weather event are available when such events happen unexpectedly? Given the dependence of electric system reliability on other systems (gas, water, etc.), what situational information related to those other systems is critical to electric system operator awareness during extreme weather events? Should electric system operators consider modifications to their control rooms or software to enhance their situational awareness related to these other systems? Can the use of market-based congestion management tools such as redispatch, seams coordination, and market-to-market processes, be expanded to more areas of the country in order to help address the challenges of climate change and extreme weather? In particular, are there opportunities to improve coordination between RTOs/ISOs and neighboring non-market areas so that RTOs/ISOs will no longer have to rely on the traditional Transmission Loading Relief (TLR) process to manage excessive transmission congestion at those borders instead of the market-based approaches RTOs/ISOs use internally? If so, would this type of market-to-non-market coordination require the negotiation of joint operating agreements (or other arrangements), and what are the tradeoffs with replacing the TLR process in this scenario? What best practices exist in the use of innovative mitigation strategies (such as controlled sectionalization, microgrids) in operations to reduce loss of load and improve resilience during extreme weather events? What are the most effective means of engaging flexible demand to mitigate emergency conditions? Are there methods to improve the use of flexible demand in addition to the solicitation of voluntary load reductions through mass communications during extreme weather events? Do existing interoperability and communications standards enable robust participation of flexible demand resources to address climate change and extreme weather challenges, or is more consensus-based standards development work needed by relevant stakeholders?
3:00pm – 3:20pm	Break
3:20pm – 4:20pm	Panel 4: Recovery and Restoration *Kevin Geraghty,* Senior Vice President of Electric Operations, San Diego Gas and Electric *Laura Fischer,* Research Scientist, Electric Power Research Institute *Charles Long,* Vice President of Transmission Planning and Strategy, Entergy *Michael Bryson,* Senior Vice President of Operations, PJM Interconnection *Brian Slocum,* Vice President of Operations, ITC Holdings This panel will center on the recovery period following an extreme weather event—including but not limited to topics such as restoration practices and prioritization; mutual assistance agreements; and spare parts inventory and sharing. This panel may include a discussion of the following topics and questions: What are best practices for restoration, including for determining appropriate prioritization of load restoration, mutual assistance agreements, and spare parts inventory and sharing? How should these best practices evolve given the increasing frequency of severe weather? How can asset management practices and facility design requirements be leveraged to reduce restoration times following a severe weather event? Should restoration capabilities be improved by encouraging planners, governmental authorities, and utilities to require dual fuel capability at all black-start units? Do the states and other stakeholders who make decisions that impact restoration priority or techniques need to engage in greater coordination to establish a consistent means to determine restoration priorities? Can innovative mitigation strategies (such as controlled sectionalization or islanding), employed during the operating day to improve resilience and reduce the loss of load, also help ensure more timely restoration of service to loads that are lost in an extreme weather event? Are there currently any cost-recovery concerns or regulatory barriers to the implementation of practices that would ensure timely system restoration, such as membership and investment in spare equipment banks and mutual assistance programs, or maintenance of dual-fuel capability at Black Start Units?
4:20pm – 4:40pm	Break
4:40pm – 5:40pm	Panel 5: Coordination *Karen Wayland,* Chief Executive Officer, GridWise Alliance *Randy Howard,* General Manager, Northern California Power Agency *Dan Scripps,* Chairman, Michigan Public Service Commission *Letha Tawney,* Commissioner, Oregon Public Utilities Commission *David Terry,* Executive Director, National Association of State Energy Officials *Carolyn Barbash,* Vice President of Transmission and Development Policy, NV Energy *Patricia A. Hoffman,* Acting Assistant Secretary, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Electricity, U.S. Department of Energy This panel will explore the role that coordination and cooperation across jurisdictions—including but not limited to coordination with retail regulators (including states, municipalities and cooperatives), utilities, and other federal agencies—could play in long-term planning, operations, and recovery practices to address climate change and extreme weather events. This panel may include a discussion of the following topics and questions: Should the Commission pursue ongoing formal or informal means of coordination with retail regulators on matters related to addressing climate change and extreme weather challenges addressed in this proceeding? If so, what should be the goals of this coordination? Given that climate change impacts will not be limited to a single jurisdiction, how can industry standards best evolve on a coordinated basis? Should some type of formal or informal collaboration by regions be pursued, in order to focus on region-specific climate change and extreme weather needs? Are there opportunities to beneficially coordinate with other federal agencies on climate change and extreme weather?
5:40pm – 6:00pm	Closing Remarks

Event Details

Date and Time

Tuesday, Jun 1, 2021 , 1:00 pm - Wednesday, Jun 2, 2021 , 5:00 pm EDT
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Location

Via teleconference (over WebEx)

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Upcoming Events

Technical Conference to Discuss Climate Change, Extreme Weather, & Electric System Reliability

This event will be webcast.
Free Webcast available (Best viewed using Microsoft Edge)

Event Details

Recent News

FERC Staff Issues Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Ridgeline Expansion Project proposed by East Tennessee Natural Gas, LLC (East Tennessee) (CP23-516-000, CP23-516-001)

Summaries | December 2024 Commission Meeting

FERC Proposes to Approve First Standards to Protect Grid for Clean Energy Transition

Upcoming Events

This event will be webcast. Free Webcast available (Best viewed using Microsoft Edge)

Event Details

This event will be webcast.
Free Webcast available (Best viewed using Microsoft Edge)