WESTERN ELECTRICITY COORDINATING COUNCIL
DATA COLLECTION MANUAL
January 17, 2013
WESTERN ELECTRICITY COORDINATING COUNCIL • WWW.WECC.BIZ
155 NORTH 400 WEST • SUITE 200 • SALT LAKE CITY • UTAH • 84103-1114 • PH 801.582.0353 • FX 801.582.3918
WECC Data Collection Manual
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WECC Data Collection Manual
Table of Contents
Introduction and Overview 1
Attachment A: Excel Workbook 5
Attachment B: Existing and Planned Generation Reporting Instructions 11
Reporting Instructions for Existing Generation and Generation Additions Data 13
Existing Generation and Generation Additions Data: Facility Record Format 15
Correlation of NERC Class Codes and WECC Class Codes 22
Attachment C: Peak Demands, Energy Loads, Resource Outages, and Actual Transfers Instructions 25
Input Guide for Peak Demand Loads, DSM, Outages, and Transfers Data 27
Data Types and Codes 28
Actual Peak Demand Loads, DSM, Outages, and Transfers Data Code Definitions 31
60-Minute Peak Demand MW 31
Estimated Peak Demand Loads, DSM, Outages, and Transfers Data Code Definitions 33
Actual and Estimated Peak Demand Loads and Transfers Coding Data Record Format 35
Energy Loads Instructions 37
Actual and Estimated Energy Loads Coding Data Record Format 38
Attachment D: Reliability and Supply Assessments 41
Actual Generation 43
Transfer Path Capabilities 43
Load Temperature Sensitivity Data 44
Regulating Reserves 44
Energy Efficiency 44
Attachment E: Miscellaneous Data 47
Hourly Demand 49
Hourly Wind Production 49
Hourly Solar Production 50
Projected Transmission Line Additions 51
Projected Transformer Additions 55
Transmission Line Circuit Miles 57
Remote Resources 57
Demand-Side Management (DSM) Programs 58
Appendix A: Glossary for WECC Data Collection Manual 59
Appendix B: WECC Balancing Authorities and Abbreviations 67
WECC Balancing Authorities 69
State Abbreviations 70
Appendix C: List of Balancing Authorities and Load-Serving Entities by Power Areas 71
Canada Power Area 73
Basin Power Area 76
Rocky Mountain Power Area 78
Desert Southwest Power Area 80
Northern California Power Area 82
Southern California Power Area 84
Mexico Power Area 85
Appendix D: WECC Criteria for Uniform Reporting of Generator Ratings 87
Appendix E: Exhibit B – Collection and Review of Loads and Resources Data 91
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WECC Data Collection Manual
Introduction and Overview
Purpose
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Data Collection Manual (Manual) provides instructions for reporting various loads and resources (L&R) information that the WECC requests from all Balancing Authorities (BA) in the Western Interconnection. The information is used for a variety of analytic activities and reporting purposes. Portions of the WECC L&R information are used by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in its reliability assessment reports.[1] The information is also the basis for the resource adequacy evaluation contained in WECC’s Power Supply Assessment (PSA).[2]
Portions of the information are reported by NERC to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Information Administration (EIA) in satisfaction of its Form EIA-411 filing requirements.[3] Annual and seasonal filings are submitted to NERC under NERC’s Standards and Guides compliance templates, according to NERC Rules and Procedure Section 800.[4]
Data Submission Due Date
The data must be submitted to WECC by the first Friday of March.
Important Note to Member and Balancing Authority Representatives:
Information Reporting Responsibility
Planning Coordinating Committee (PCC) representatives are responsible for reporting L&R information for their organizations.[5]
PCC Representatives of Balancing Authorities
The PCC representatives of the organizations that operate the BAs in the Western Interconnection are responsible for reporting the requested information. The L&R information is for the entire BA area (both member and nonmember entity information) and is to include the BA’s information as well as the information for all non-BA entities within the BA’s area. The non-BA entity information includes planning information such as generation additions, load forecasts of LSEs, and scheduled maintenance outages. The PCC or Member representatives of the non-BA entities are responsible for reporting their organizations’ information to the BA and for developing appropriate data collection procedures to ensure that all requested information is provided to the appropriate non-BA entities and that there is no duplication or double reporting of the information. It is important to note that, in developing its actual and forecast demand values, each LSE shall count peak demand and energy load only one time on an aggregated and dispersed basis. The demand, net energy for load, and controllable Demand-Side Management (DSM) supplied for this WECC Data Collection request shall be consistent with the demand, net energy for load, and controllable DSM supplied in response to the eleven annual Power Flow Base Case data requests.
PCC or Member Representatives of Non-Balancing Authority Entities
The PCC or Member representatives of non-BA entities are responsible for responding to BA requests for planning information such as generation additions, load forecasts, and scheduled maintenance outages.
PCC or Member representatives may designate reporting contacts within their organizations. The designated reporting contacts will be asked to provide the requested information to the WECC staff by the established due date and to answer questions that may arise concerning that information. However, the PCC or Member representatives are ultimately responsible for the quality and timeliness of the data reported for their organizations.
Information Requirements and Manual Overview
This Manual consists of five attachments and associated appendices. Attachment A consists of an explanation of pages and terms found in the Excel workbook used to collect data requested in Attachments B and C. Attachment B contains instructions for reporting existing and planned generation capacity. Attachment C is the instruction for reporting peak demands, energy loads, resource outages, and actual year transfers. Attachment D contains the reporting instruction for Power Supply Assessment data and Attachment E contains the instructions for several miscellaneous requests.
Long-Term Reliability Assessment (LTRA) and Season Assessment Information Requirements
The LTRA data is primarily gathered through the WECC data request and the season assessment information request. The LTRA incorporates the transfers between subregions that are derived during the development of the PSA. Additional information and/or narrative questions for the LTRA and the Seasonal Assessments will be requested from the BAs after WECC receives these instructions from NERC.
Data Confidentiality
Exhibit B of the WECC Reliability Information Sharing Policy addresses confidentiality procedures for L&R data. Exhibit B is presented in Appendix E of this Manual.
All data, except as specified in Exhibit B, will be considered non-confidential. Exhibit B, Section C.1 states: "The following information will be treated as confidential under the “WECC Reliability Information Sharing Policy, Section D – Protecting Confidential, Privileged, and Proprietary Information”[6] (approved by the Board on December 2005): first three years of future data on projected peak demand, energy load, and scheduled outages. These data will remain confidential for three years from the date of designation, after which the data will become non-confidential. Future year peak demands, future year energy load, and future year scheduled outages data beyond three years will not be deemed confidential."
Data Submission
The completed Excel workbook should be sent via email to on or before the Data Submission Due Date. Since BAs are responsible for reporting data from non-BA entities within their respective areas, BAs should establish earlier dates for collecting coordinated future year data from the non-BA entities. The LRS procedures specify that the LRS chair will contact the PCC representatives of reporting entities that have not submitted their data by the Data Submission Due Date. The LRS and PCC chairs will also contact the PCC representatives of reporting entities that have provided data that are incomplete or are inconsistent with these reporting instructions.
List of NERC Registered Load-Serving Entities within the WECC Region
It is requested that BAs review and update the List of NERC registered Load-Serving Entities that are located within their BA footprint (see Appendix C).
Comments on this Manual
Questions on data reporting, or suggestions for improving the Data Collection Manual, should be directed to WECC staff, Dick Simons or Layne Brown, at (801) 582-0353.
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WECC Data Collection Manual Attachment A
Attachment A: Excel Workbook
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WECC Data Collection Manual Attachment A
Excel Workbook
An Excel workbook is used for the L&R data reporting. The workbook contains L&R data that must be updated and, as needed, have projections added. There are also several reports and charts that show results related to the data submitted through the workbook, along with some data checking. The workbook is rather large and will work best if automatic calculation is turned off.
Workbook Structure
The following table is a summary of the worksheets in the workbook.
Worksheet / Description /Main / Used to hold pertinent information about the represented area.
Status / Explains data requirements and provides feedback regarding the status of the input data.
gen_exist / Data input sheet for existing generation information.
gen_add / Data input sheet for generation additions information.
peak_data / Data input sheet for the “peak” data, including peak loads, outages, and actual transfers.
energy_data / Data input sheet for energy load information
growth / A data checking form for load growth.
load_diff / A data checking form for month-to-month load differences.
load_chart / A series of charts representing the reported loads and load forecasts.
load_comp / Comparison sheet of previous and current energy load data.
LoadOut / Comparison sheet of previous and current peak demands data.
Actual Generation / Data input sheet for actual generation from Wind, Solar, Hydro, and Biomass resources.
Paths / Data input sheet for transmission paths between modeling areas.
Tsens / Data input sheet for temperature sensitivity information.
Regulating Reserves / Data input sheet for regulating reserves information.
Energy Efficiency / Data input sheet for energy efficiency information.
Hourly Demand / Data input sheet for hourly demand for actual year.
Hourly Wind / Data input sheet for actual hourly wind generation information. (Multiple sheets if required)
Hourly Solar / Data input sheet for actual hourly solar generation information. (Multiple sheets if required)
Projected Transmission / Data input sheet for projected transmission additions.
Projected Transformer / Data input sheet for projected transformer additions.
Transmission Miles / Data input sheet for existing transmission line circuit miles.
Remote Resources / Data input sheet for ownership percentages of generation resources located outside of generation owners BA.
DSM Programs / Voluntary data input sheet for DSM programs.
DVal / Data validation checks used in conjunction with the Status sheet of the workbook.
There are a few other worksheets in the workbook. These are hidden intentionally and should not be modified or disturbed. These are for WECC staff only.
Data Reporting
The data input sheets ({gen_exist}, {gen_add}, {peak_data}, and {energy_data}) must be updated and checked as part of the L&R data submittal process. The descriptions of the data input sheets are presented below (see Attachments B and C for detailed instructions). There should not be any blank rows in the final versions of the data input sheets. When adding, copying, or deleting rows, it is recommended that row-level editing be used (i.e., click on the row heading(s) to select). Also, data that needs to be deleted should be deleted, not lined through. Lined through data are not excluded when a spreadsheet sums numerical values.
The existing generation {gen_exist} worksheet is a detailed list of the generating units in the BA area with in-service dates up to the end of the actual year. Check the data provided in the data request spreadsheet for accuracy and update as necessary, including updating actual retirement dates. If there are older existing units missing from the list, or new units that need to be added, insert a new row and provide the information requested.
The generation additions {gen_add} worksheet is a detailed list of the generating units in a BA’s area that represent anticipated increases or decreases in generating capacity during future years. This includes retirements, up-rates and derates to existing plants, and new generation construction. Update the provided list per the instructions and add rows as necessary to provide information for new additions and other changes.
The {peak_data} worksheet is a listing of BA loads, outages, actual transfers, and other miscellaneous data.
The {energy_data} worksheet contains the actual and projected energy load data for the BA.
Data Checking
One of the goals of this workbook is to improve the accuracy of the data submittals. This should help to meet the NERC deadlines for forwarding the WECC information. The following data checks should be used to validate the data and locate data inconsistencies.
1. Load Growth – the {growth} worksheet lists the annual changes in peak demands and energy loads (% Growth rows) and highlights in yellow year-to-year load growth changes that exceed ± 1% (% Difference rows). An explanation is required for each of the highlighted ‘% Difference’ load growths. The purpose of this data check is to identify the causes of unusual patterns in BA load forecasts that may be the result of the addition or deletion of major loads (e.g., startup or shutdown of a large industrial facility). Explanations regarding load changes from the prior actual year load to the current actual year load and from the current actual year load to the first future year forecast load should include references to the actual weather conditions experienced during the prior actual year and the current actual year. The charts in the {load_chart} worksheet can also be helpful for locating inconsistent and/or erroneous data.
2. Load Differences – the peak demand and energy load pattern is expected to repeat each year, with some growth from year to year. The differences in the monthly loads from year to year are presented in the {load_diff} worksheet. Charts in the {load_chart} worksheet show the patterns from year to year. A chart is also provided that presents a comparison of the actual peak demands and energy loads to the Hourly Demand data.
Calculation
The calculation mode should be set to manual to avoid long calculation delays each time data is entered. The workbook may require several minutes to calculate.
With the calculation mode set to manual, the formulas are not calculated and cell results are not automatically updated. Pressing function key F9 will initiate a manual calculation of the entire workbook. Once the calculation is completed, the word ‘Ready’ will be displayed at the left of the status bar. The calculation progress display is generally not indicative of the actual progress. Typing or clicking with the mouse will often interrupt the calculation process, so it is important to be patient. If the word ‘calculate’ is displayed on the status bar, then a change has been made to the workbook that may or may not be reflected in the results.