What is NERC Reliability Standards Development Plan?

Reliability and stability in the North American power grid don’t happen by chance. They’re the result of carefully designed standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The NERC Reliability Standards Development Plan is a critical framework that guides the creation and maintenance of these standards.

In this blog, we’ll take a closer look at this important annual update on grid reliability standards, what’s included, and why we need it.

What Is NERC?

The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is a not-for-profit organization that works to regulate electric grid reliability and security in the U.S., Canada, and a small part of Mexico.

NERC works with electrical industry stakeholders to:

• create standards for power system operation
• determine the adequacy of resources for electric grid reliability and security
• provide educational resources and training opportunities

All of these tasks are part of an accreditation program that maintains standards for power system operators and ensures each one remains proficient. NERC is also responsible for eliminating power disturbance events in power systems by examining and controlling for the causes of disturbances.

What Is the NERC Reliability Standards Development Plan (RSDP)?

Every year, NERC releases an updated Reliability Standards Development Plan (RSDP) document that provides an update on the work that it has done and plans to do on grid reliability standards.

NERC’s RSDP serves both to guide NERC standards development and provide a formal update to government agencies on its plans and progress.

Why Do We Need Electric Grid Reliability Standards?

To understand NERC standards development and why a document like the RSDP is necessary, you first need to understand why grid reliability standards exist.

The power systems that provide electricity in North America are complex and interconnected. A failure in one part of the system can affect electric grid reliability hundreds of miles away.

The U.S. discovered this the hard way in 1965 when high demand for electricity in Ontario created a chain reaction that blacked out the entire eastern seaboard.

Electric grid reliability isn’t just a matter of convenience or comfort. Both economic stability and public safety depend heavily on our ability to keep the power running. Food safety, access to clean water, safe indoor temperatures, outdoor lighting, and power to traffic lights, healthcare systems, and communications networks are all aspects of public safety facilitated by a reliable electric grid. Economically, grid reliability facilitates the on-schedule production of goods, their distribution, and the ability to provide all kinds of important services, and allows all non-cash purchases.

When the electrical grid can be counted on to meet demand, everything runs smoothly. When there are local or widespread interruptions, small inconveniences can domino into an expensive and dangerous breakdown of the invisible systems we rely on.

Thousands of entities, from commercial to non-profit, are involved in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The equipment, standard practices, and emergency protocols of each one have an impact on the available power supply.

The best way to ensure a smoothly functioning electrical grid is for someone to create minimum grid reliability standards, enforce them, and continuously revise them to keep up with evolving needs and technology.

What Are the Different Types of NERC Reliability Standards?

There are a few different types of grid reliability standards based on various ways to approach the topic.

NERC reliability standards include:

• Technical Standards, which set technical parameters for the provision, maintenance, operation, or state of bulk power systems
• Performance Standards, which set benchmarks for the actions of entities that impact the reliability of bulk power systems
• Preparedness Standards, which set requirements for entities to prepare for unlikely situations that are critical to electric grid reliability
• Organization Certification Standards, which are used to credential organizations as meeting certain essential capabilities

What Is NERC’s Standards Development Process?

In order to maintain an effective and up-to-date set of grid reliability standards, NERC has created an organized process for standards development based on the ANSI-approved standard development process.

It’s based on the principle that the process should:

• Be accessible to every individual affected directly or indirectly by the bulk power systems in North America
• Be accessible to the public at large
• Allow for shareholder interests to be balanced
• Allow opportunity for comments from all interested parties
• Ensure that standards are developed in a timely manner

To this end, the NERC standards development process includes steps like:

1. Requesting a standard or revision
2. Soliciting public comments on the request
3. Authorizing the drafting process
4. Appointing a standard drafting team
5. Soliciting public comments on the draft
6. Field testing the standard
7. Analyzing all comments and field test results
8. Balloting (voting on) standard approval
9. Adopting the standard and its implementation plan and determining how seriously a violation could affect grid reliability
10. Implementing the standard

After a standard is passed, there are options for revision requests or appeals, and every five years, the standard must undergo a systematic review to determine if the standard is improving electric grid reliability as expected. If it’s not, the standard is retired.

When you add up all the processes to track the lifetime of a standard and how many interested parties might want to keep up with revisions, it’s no wonder NERC needs to publish an annual report of the goings-on.

What’s Included in the NERC Reliability Standards Development Plan (RSDP)?

Each year, the RSDP outlines the anticipated NERC standards development work for the next three years. For example, the RSDP published in August 2024 describes the planned projects for 2025-2027.

The exact format changes from year to year, but generally the NERC RSDP includes:

• A progress report of completed standards development projects
• “Anticipated to be completed” projects that will be finished between publication and the end of the year
• The status and forecast for continuing projects
• Any official changes to the project management strategy itself

For an example of the last item, in the 2023 edition, NERC announced its intention to add a priority status to each outstanding project to help in the allocation of resources. As a result, all projects in the 2024 edition of the RSDP are sorted into high, medium, or low priority.

Get NERC Compliance Training Online

For every set of NERC reliability standards, there are employees who need to be trained and knowledgeable in the details so they understand what’s required and why.

Our NERC compliance training is an online, self-paced solution for power and utilities business training. Our courses are NERC-approved and count for continuing education hours. Our Power & Utilities business solutions include automatic SOCCED updates, bulk discounts, a powerful and flexible learning management system, system integrations designed for seamless access, and dedicated account management.

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