Page - BES Inclusion Guideline 1
Document name / BES Inclusion GuidelineCategory / ( ) Regional Reliability Standard
( ) Regional Criteria
( ) Policy
(X) Guideline
( ) Report or other
( ) Charter
Document date / 5/14/2014
Adopted/approved by / Planning Coordination Committee
Date adopted/approved / 7/16/2014
Custodian (entity responsible for maintenance and upkeep) / Reliability Subcommittee
Stored/filed / Physical location:
Web URL: URL:
Previous
name/number / (if any) BES Inclusion Guideline approved 7/16/2014
Status / (X)() in effect
(X ) usable, minor formatting/editing required
( ) modification needed
( ) superseded by ______
( ) other __In Draft Mode______
( ) obsolete/archived
BES Inclusion Guideline
May 14, 2014
Reasons for Consideration of Facilities for Inclusion
Introduction
WECC needs a process for identifying which non-BES facilities are material to the reliability of the Western Interconnection.
As a result of the approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on March 20, 2014 of the definition of “Bulk Electric System” (BES) in the Glossary of Terms Used in NERC Reliability Standards (NERC Glossary), the definition of BES will becomebecame effective on July 1, 2014 throughout the United States. However, FERC further recognized that additional non-BES facilities may be important to the reliability of an interconnection. These facilities are noted in FERC Order 773, related to the definition of BES in the NERC Glossary, and in the joint NERC and FERC staff report Arizona-Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011: Causes and Recommendations (Joint Report), particularly in Recommendation 17. As a result, WECC has determined that it needs a process for identifying which non-BES facilities are material to the reliability of the Western Interconnection. To that end, the Reliability Subcommittee has developed this WECC Guideline.
Guideline Criteria
Registered entities in the Western Interconnection are required to follow the new definition of BES. However, there are a number of contingencies where the reliability of the Western Interconnection may rely upon non-BES elements or facilities. If an entityIf an WECC member in its capacity as a Transmission Planner, Transmission Operator, Planning Coordinator, Balancing Authority, or Reliability Coordinator identifies non-BES element(s) upon which the reliability of the Western Interconnection depends, those elements may be included as part of the BES using the “Procedure for Requesting and Receiving an Exception from the Application of the NERC Definition of Bulk Electric System” (Exception Procedures) located at Appendix 5C of the NERC Rules of Procedure. The studies where the situations for consideration should include, but are not limited, to: actual operation, seasonal studies, near-term operational planning studies, annual Planning Assessments, and transmission rating studies.
The situations for consideration when conducting the studies above should include, but are not limited, to:
•Non-BES elements identified as a significant contributing causal factor in an event analysis report (e.g., disturbance report).
•Non-BES elements that are part of a monitored facility of a major transfer path.
•Non-BES elements identified as part of a blackstart cranking path or a Nuclear Plant Off-site Power Supply.
•Where a BES element’s single-contingency outage causes on any non-BES element:
1.A change in flow of more than 10 percent of the non-BES element’s continuous rating, and
2. A subsequent flow above 90 percent of the non-BES element’s continuous rating.
•Non-BES elements (e.g. generators, transformers, lines) where a single-contingency outage of that element causes a change in flow on any BES element that is more than 10 percent of the BES element’s continuous rating.
TheOnce a situation is identified, the WECC member’sevaluations should include but are not limited to:
•The extent to which the non-BES element is necessary for the reliable operation of the Western Interconnection – such as transfer capability, system stability, or voltage control – based on operating experience.
•The extent to which the non-BES element affects a System Operating Limit (SOL) or an Interconnection Reliability Operating Limit (IROL).
The time horizon for the WECC member’s evaluations should be the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon.
Reliability Subcommittee Process for BES Exception Requests
Background
In FERC Order 773, FERC accepted NERC’s assertion that given the nature of the BES Exception Procedures, it was not feasible to develop a single set of technical criteria that determine whether elements should be included in, or excluded from, the definition of BES for use in the Exception Procedures.[1] FERC indicated that a Regional Entity, Planning Authority, Reliability Coordinator, Transmission Operator, Transmission Planner, or Balancing Authority that has elements covered by an exception request within its scope of responsibility may submit an exception request for the inclusion of an element or elements owned by a registered entity.[2] FERC has also stated that NERC should not necessarily stop at 100 kV and should, through the development of the exception process, ensure that critical facilities operated at less than 100 kV, and that Regional Entities determine are necessary for operating the interconnected network, are included.[3]
FERC found reasonable NERC’s explanation that Regional Entities and owners and operators of system elements will include, through the exception process, facilities identified (1) in the course of performing planning assessments, (2) from day-to-day operating experience, or (3) through assessment of system events, that are not included by application of the definition, but are necessary for reliable operation of the interconnected transmission network.[4] FERC stated that it expects that these entities will submit such elements for inclusion through the exception process.[5]
In addition to the requirements imposed by FERC Order 773, NERC and FERC included Recommendation 17 in their Joint Report, which states:
WECC, as the RE, should lead other entities, including TOPs and BAs, to ensure that all facilities that can adversely impact BPS reliability are either designated as part of the BES or otherwise incorporated into planning and operations studies and actively monitored and alarmed in RTCA systems.
Process
This process applies to the following entities responsible for identifying facilities that affect the reliability of the Western Interconnection: Planning Authorities, Reliability Coordinators, Transmission Operators, Transmission Planners, Balancing Authorities, and owners of system facilities. Consistent with FERC Order 773 and Recommendation 17, each of these responsible entities should review its system planning and operations reliability assessments and should otherwise actively identify which of its non-BES facilities are necessary for the reliable operation of the Western Interconnection.
Once a responsible entity has identified which of its non-BES facilities should be included in the BES, the responsible entity should submit each identified facility for inclusion in the BES through the Exception Process using a BES Inclusion Exception Request in BESnet (the NERC BES exception request Web application).
Conclusion
Consistent with this Guideline, the WECC Reliability Subcommittee encourages all of the above responsible entities to determine which of their non-BES facilities are important to the reliable operation of the Western Interconnection and to follow the process outlined to include these facilities in the BES.
WESTERN ELECTRICITY COORDINATING COUNCIL •
155 NORTH 400 WEST • SUITE 200 • SALT LAKE CITY • UTAH • 84103-1114 • PH 801.582.0353 • FX 801.582.3918Western Electricity Coordinating Council
[1] Revisions to Electric Reliability Organization Definition of Bulk Electric System and Rules of Procedure, Order No. 773, 141 FERC ¶ 61,236 (2012) at P 253.
[2] Order No. 773 at P 27.
[3]Order No. 773 atP269.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.