Why NERC Standards Matter: Ensuring Grid Reliability With the Right Training

For your average citizen, the electrical grid isn’t something that requires a lot of thought. It just works, and when it goes down, it’s usually back up and running in a matter of hours.

Of course, energy industry professionals know it’s a bit more complicated than most people think. The fact that the U.S. is able to maintain a consistent electrical supply is largely due to compliance with NERC standards and training in its best practices. Below, we’ll talk about the role of NERC, its key standards, and how compliance helps the U.S. maintain public safety and economic power.

What Is NERC?

NERC stands for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation. NERC is a not-for-profit international regulatory body responsible for the security and reliability of the power grid in Canada, the contiguous U.S., and the northern edge of Baja, Mexico.

It was conceived after high electric demand in Ontario started a chain of events that led to the 1965 blackout of the U.S. eastern seaboard. That event illustrated the interconnectedness and fragility of the North American electrical grid and the importance of grid reliability in economic stability and public safety.

Today, the organization ensures grid reliability and security by establishing standards that apply to electricity providers, operators, and other industry stakeholders. Compliance with NERC standards is then monitored and enforced by NERC and six Regional Entities.

Key NERC Standards

You can divide NERC Reliability standards into various categories; each focused on a specific objective in protecting grid reliability, resilience, and security.

These include:

• Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) standards focus on the protection and security of critical cyber assets that control the electrical grid.
• Operations and Planning (O&P) standards regulate the day-to-day function of the power grid, as well as long-term planning.
• Bulk Electric System (BES) Reliability standards address equipment and system performance, emergency operations, and other critical aspects to ensure the BES’s reliability and resilience.
• Interconnection Reliability Operations and Coordination (IRO) standards ensure coordination.
• Balancing Authority and Transmission Operator (BA/TO) standards address the responsibilities of balancing authorities and transmission operators in maintaining grid reliability and coordination.
• Energy Market and System Operator (EOP) standards deal with the functioning of the energy market and the management of the bulk electric system.
• Protection and Control (PRC) standards ensure that power systems equipment operates safely and efficiently.
• Reliability Standards for Generating Units (MOD and FAC) address issues related to the modeling, data exchange, and facility rating of generating units.

The Importance of Grid Reliability

The dependability of our electrical grid has long had a crucial role in societal stability, but the integration of computers and connectivity into fundamental processes has made it only more so.

We often take grid reliability for granted in North America. Other regions experience blackouts and power interruptions on a fairly regular basis, whereas here, it is the exception instead of the rule. In fact, between 2013 and 2021, grid reliability in the U.S. was 99.95%, meaning the average customer experienced only 1.3 electric interruptions of 5 hours each year.

Because we’re used to grid reliability, our infrastructure systems rely heavily on a consistently powered grid. Our economic system is able to run 24/7, but doing so depends on a predictable and regular energy supply to the industrial and commercial sectors. Even the extremely low baseline occurrence of outages we currently have is calculated by the Congressional Research Service to cost the economy $25 to $70 billion a year.

Then there’s public safety. The average citizen probably doesn’t consider how much safer their life is with a reliable and resilient electrical grid, but it:

• Keeps indoor environments well-ventilated and within safe temperature ranges
• Enables outdoor public areas to be well-lit for safety
• Allows us to constantly regulate traffic in congested areas, decreasing car accidents and facilitating the flow of critical resources
• Keeps food stocked and stored at safe, controlled temperatures
• Provides constant access to clean water, which is crucial for hygiene and sanitation
• Powers life-saving medical equipment and healthcare facilities 24/7
• Keeps public safety networks and emergency services connected and coordinated
• Facilitates all non-cash purchases
• Enables us to reach loved ones in an emergency

These are just a few of the ways that grid reliability supports everyone’s safety on a daily basis.

The Importance of NERC Compliance

The reason why North America has an incredibly reliable electrical grid is no secret – it’s due to compliance with ever-evolving NERC standards. NERC standards are all designed to improve grid reliability – the capacity to avoid disruptions – and resilience – the ability to minimize damage during outages and recovery as quickly as possible.

Businesses of all kinds largely base their decisions on the bottom line. The energy industry, with all its varied and competing players, can’t be expected to plan for the long-term well-being of the electrical grid and its ability to withstand unlikely disasters. This is a particularly big ask when it involves cooperating and coordinating with rivals.

That’s why it’s important for an outside party to develop and impose requirements that take a long view, consider factors beyond the financial, and account for events that may or may not happen.

To this end, NERC standards require all players in the energy industry to take actions that:

• Reduce the risk of blackouts and interruptions
• Minimize downtime when disruptions occur
• Ensure electrical supply is prioritized for critical infrastructure
• Establish measures to protect the grid from physical threats
• Secure the grid against cyber threats
• Maintain the integrity of the grid
• Follow guidelines for risk assessment and mitigation

As new challenges and technologies appear, NERC standards evolve to account for changing best practices.

Of course, NERC standards are only as helpful as the energy industry’s compliance with them. This is why NERC’s Regional Entities monitor local organizations, audit their compliance with NERC requirements, review and approve risk mitigation plans, and assign penalties for compliance failures.

An important part of NERC compliance is ensuring that all operators undergo both initial training and continuing education.

The Role of Training in NERC Compliance

The electrical grid is a complicated system, so it’s no surprise that NERC compliance is even more complex. To ensure compliance, it’s important that individual workers understand why it’s important to comply with NERC standards and how to do so.

Initial training is often referred to as NERC Certification because it prepares you for a certification exam that you must pass to become qualified in a role. Individual NERC certification guarantees you have minimum levels of knowledge mastery in the areas where you’ll be working.

There are NERC certification exams for several roles or combinations of roles, namely:

• Reliability Coordinator Operator
• Transmission Operator
• Balancing and Interchange Operator
• Balancing, Interchange, and Transmission Operator

 To maintain certification, energy industry workers are required to take NERC Continuing Education (CE) courses that refresh and update their knowledge.

Exact requirements vary by role, but each certified operator needs to complete a specific number of CE hours within a specified period to stay on track for the NERC’s mandatory 3-year certification renewal. Operators need to be able to prove that they completed coursework with an approved training provider in order to get credit.

Get NERC Certification & CE Training Online

As a NERC-approved training provider, we have a full catalog of certification prep courses, as well as your necessary continuing education.

Our Transmission System Operator training series will cover all the concepts and standards needed to pass the NERC Transmission Operator Certification Exam, and we have similar options for distribution and generation roles.

Courses are online, mobile-friendly, and self-paced, so you can work through the material whenever and wherever it’s convenient for you, revisiting topics as needed. For more assistance, check out our exam prep course!

Enroll today to get started!