People who rely on electricity have an interest in whether protective grid systems introduce risks of their own. In a notice published February 8, FERC proposed approving a reliability standard for remedial action schemes. Its stated aim was to avoid unintended or unacceptable reliability risks to the bulk electric system, not to certify that outages had fallen. [2017-02331][2015-29971]

The proposed process would put reliability-coordinator review before a new or functionally modified scheme entered service. FERC also described analysis of each operation or misoperation, with results supplied to the reviewing coordinator. An identified deficiency would trigger a corrective-action plan that the responsible entity would submit, implement and update as needed. [2017-02331][2015-29971]

That sequence is more concrete than a general assurance that a system is protective. It asks both whether a scheme is ready to operate and what can be learned when it does operate. Testing would recur every six years for normal schemes and every twelve years for limited-impact schemes. The latter classification would not supersede the separate system-performance obligations discussed by FERC. [2017-02331][2015-29971]

Earlier history does not turn these proposals into current requirements. In its November 2015 Order 818, FERC approved a revised remedial-action-scheme definition and accepted retiring the older Special Protection System term once standards were fully updated. The February notice proposed a further lifecycle framework, with comments due April 10. As of February 12, the records support scrutiny of that design, not a claim that households had already received more reliable service. [2017-02331][2015-29971]

Source documents

  1. Remedial Action Schemes Reliability Standardhttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2017-02-08/html/2017-02331.htm
  2. Revisions to Emergency Operations Reliability Standards; Revisions to Undervoltage Load Shedding Reliability Standards; Revisions to the Definition of Remedial Action Scheme and Related Reliability Standardshttps://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-11-25/html/2015-29971.htm