Summary of Improvements to Grid Reliability Resulting from 2003 Blackout
In the aftermath the August 14, 2003 blackout in portions of the mid-west, northeast and Ontario, a comprehensive investigation identified the root causes that initiated and propagated the event.1 Since then, a series of steps have been taken --- and continue to be taken --- to address the root causes of the blackout and further strengthen the reliability and resiliency of the grid.
The following is a summary of the steps taken by NPCC to address those identified root causes in terms of reorganization, development of mandatory and enforceable standards, and improved situational awareness of system events for the NPCC region of the United States and Canada.2
Reorganization
Creation of an Electric Reliability Organization
The blackout investigation found that violations of the then existing voluntary NERC reliability standards contributed directly to the blackout. As a result of this event, Congress passed legislation enabling the creation of an Electric Reliability Organization (ERO). NERC, as the ERO, along with the NPCC and other regions and the industry established a range of mandatory Reliability Standards as well as a framework to independently monitor and enforce compliance through fines and other penalties.
Development of Mandatory and Enforceable Standards
Compliance
NPCC comprehensively monitors and enforces compliance with the ERO Reliability Standards3 and NPCC’s Regional Standards among all users, owners and operators of the bulk-power system in the NPCC Region. Since the 2003 Blackout, the industry created a set of enforceable Reliability Standards and a program to monitor and assess compliance with these Reliability Standards. The industry is now taking advantage of the experiences it has had in implementing this compliance program to further revise and enhance the program and introduce a more-risk based approach without sacrificing the major goal of the compliance program – maintaining the reliability of the bulk electric system.
NPCC Regional Reliability Standards
NPCC has established an Automatic Underfrequency Load Shedding (UFLS) Regional Reliability Standard.4 This regional standard outlines requirements for a coordinated region-wide program to effectively mitigate a widespread cascading outage due to frequency decline, reliability arrest such a decline and bring the system to a stable state to ease and expedite restoration efforts.
The regional reliability standard’s requirements were developed through a coordinated study with adjoining regions and add detail to the continent wide ERO UFLS standard requirements. The regional standard also promotes uniformity of potential UFLS operation across the NPCC Regional footprint.
NPCC has also established a Disturbance Monitoring Regional Reliability Standard5 to be able to satisfactorily measure any disturbances on the power system. This standard outlines the basic requirements for the type, location and capability of equipment to be placed on the power system to enable the effective analysis of grid disturbances effectively and efficiently.
Situational Awareness
Enhanced Communications
NPCC has reinforced its ability to communicate with other NERC regions following a major emergency. A backup satellite communications telephone network has been established among its system operators to ensure the continuity of communications following a major event during which normal communication mechanisms may be slowed or disrupted. In addition, a near real-time operating display has been developed to monitor operating conditions on the power system that provide system operators with timely awareness of situations that may have the potential to impact the reliability of the grid.
Event Analysis
An expansive Event Analysis program is in-place within NPCC, coordinated with the development and implementation of an ERO continent-wide program to focus on both cause of events, as well as, the lessons learned they generate. The increased awareness and analysis from small inconsequential events collectively lead to a more reliable system. That’s because by remediating the cause of small events, the exposure to possible cascading events such as occurred in 2003 can be either eliminated or significantly minimized.
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1 http://www.nerc.com/docs/docs/blackout/BOARD_APPROVED_BLACKOUT_RECOMMENDATIONS_021004.pdf
2 The NPCC geographic region includes the State of New York and the six New England states as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario, Québec and the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Overall, NPCC covers an area of nearly 1.2 million square miles, populated by more than 55 million people. In total, from a net energy for load perspective, NPCC is approximately 45% U.S. and 55% Canadian. With regard to Canada, approximately 70% of Canadian net energy for load is within the NPCC Region.
3 http://www.nerc.com/pa/Stand/Pages/Default.aspx
4 http://www.nerc.com/files/PRC-006-NPCC-1.pdf
5 http://www.nerc.com/files/PRC-002-NPCC-01.pdf
NPCC is dedicated to the continued reliability of the bulk power system in Northeastern North America
