Charter: Data Subcommittee 1

Establishment and Authority

The Data Subcommittee (DS) was established by the Board of Directors in December 2016 as part of the Reliability Assessment Committee (RAC).

Purpose/Responsibilities

The purpose of the DS is to provide overall guidance for gathering, refining and applying data to WECC’s models and stand-alone data sets.

The DS shall:

  1. Develop and maintain reliability assessment data for the Western Interconnection. Reliability assessment data includes data that is needed for power flow, dynamics, production cost, short circuit, and geomagnetic-induced current modeling. Reliability assessment data also includes other data sets such as environmental and cultural data.
  2. Develop and maintain processes for data development, collection, verification and resolution.
  3. Provide a forum for data submitters to discuss and address any issues. This may include data conversion issues between various modeling tools.
  4. Collaborate with other RAC subcommittees, work groups, and others in the broader stakeholder community to ensure that all needed expertise is available to support each work product.
  5. Draft an annual work plan and schedule that aligns with the RAC work plan.
  6. Perform such other functions as may be delegated by the RAC.
  7. Review each task force that reports to the DS biennially to determine whether the task force is still necessary or should be dissolved.
  8. Review each work group that reports to the DS every five years (or less) to determine whether the work group is still necessary or should be dissolved.

The DS may create a work group or task force by approving a charter describing its membership, leadership, responsibilities and decision-making processes.

Committee Composition and Governance

  1. Membership
  1. DS membership consists of those individuals designated by each WECC Member’s RAC Voting Representative as a member of the DS.
  2. RAC Voting Representatives may designate, by written notice to the chair (or designee), one individual to vote on behalf of that WECC Member and one individual to serve as an alternate.
  1. Leadership
  1. The Governing Body shall consist of the following designated members:
  2. The DS Chair;
  3. The Modeling Subcommittee (MS) Vice Chair;
  4. A Peak Reliability Representative;
  5. A Canadian Representative;
  6. A Mexican Representative;
  7. A State[1] Representative;
  8. A Power Flow Data Expertise Representative;
  9. A Production Cost Model Data Expertise Representative;
  10. A Capital Cost Data Expertise Representative;
  11. A Loads and Resources Data Expertise Representative;
  12. The Chair of each work group reporting to the DS.
  13. All Governing Body members shall:
  14. be WECC Members;
  15. serve staggered terms of three years;
  16. be eligible for re-election; and
  17. not serve in more than one governing body role.
  18. The Governing Body will establish a nominating committee annually. The nominating committee shall be selected from among WECC Members and select its own chair from among its members. The nominating committee will request and review nominations of qualified candidates, who must be WECC Members, to fill expiring Governing Body positions (other than the chair). The nominating committee will make a recommendation for each expiring position. The DS will then select the Governing Body members by consensus or by a vote if consensus is not possible. In case of a tie vote, the nominating committee chair will cast the deciding vote.
  1. The vice chair will be a WECC Member selected from among the DS Governing Body members through self-nomination and by consensus or a vote of the DS to serve a two-year term staggered with the term of the chair.
  2. The chair shall manage the committee and its meetings.
  3. The vice chair shall perform the duties of the chair in the chair’s absence or in the event of a vacancy in the office of chair.
  4. The Governing Body members shall assist with reports to the RAC, meeting facilitation, work plans and action recommendations.
  1. Meetings
  1. The DS shall determine the frequency of its meetings, provided it shall meet at least three times per year. Meetings will be held in accordance with the WECC Meeting Policy.
  1. The DS shall determine the procedures for its meetings, subject to the requirements of this charter.
  2. Any stakeholder may request to receive notifications and participate in meetings.
  3. All decisions of the DS shall be made during noticed meetings. A quorum shall be a simple majority of Governing Body members and at least one voting representative per Member Class from half of the WECC Member Classes (or more) that have three or more designated DS members.
  4. The DS shall strive to make all decisions by consensus (the decision is one that all present can agree to accept, even if their preference would be for a different decision). If consensus is not possible, the decision shall be made by DS vote with the votes allocated as follows:
  5. The DS Governing Body members shall each have one vote, . The Governing Body Members may not vote as a representative of an entity described in paragraphs 2, 3 or 4 below, but and their organizations may still have another individual designated as the voting representative. Governing Body members may relinquish their Governing Body vote on a specific decision item to vote instead as described in paragraph 2, 3, or 4, if designated by their organization.
  6. Each WECC Member Class shall have one vote. Each Class vote shall be determined by the majority vote of appointed voting representatives (or the appointed Alternate in the absence of the primary) from that Class attending the meeting.
  7. The Western Planning Regions[2] shall have one vote. The Western Planning Region vote shall be determined by the majority vote of appointed Western Planning Region voting representatives (or the appointed Alternate in the absence of the primary) attending the meeting.
  8. The International Planning Regions[3] shall have one vote. The International Planning Region vote shall be determined by the majority vote of appointed International Planning Region voting representatives (or the appointed Alternate in the absence of the primary) attending the meeting.
  9. Voting may occur by any means appropriate (voice, placard, roll call, electronic, etc.), at the discretion of the chair.
  10. DS meetings may be in person or by conference call, as determined by the chair.
  11. The chair (or designee) shall provide notice of the time and place of all meetings by email to each voting representative and shall post notice of all meetings on the WECC website, no later than ten (10) calendar days prior to each meeting. In person meetings should be noticed at least thirty (30) days in advance. An agenda, including identification of the items for which action may be taken, shall be provided no later than ten (10) calendar days prior to the meeting.
  12. Any person who wishes to receive notice of DS meetings may do so by notifying the chair (or designee) in writing. Upon receiving such a notice, the DS chair (or designee) shall provide a copy of the notice and agenda of future meetings to that person at the time the notice and agenda are provided to voting representatives and posted on the WECC website.
  13. The chair shall assign a WECC designee to prepare minutes of DS meetings for the committee’s approval and to perform other duties assigned by the DS chair.

Reporting

The DS shall report to the RAC on its activities and any recommendations.

Review and Changes to the Charter

The DS shall review this charter biennially and recommend any changes to the RAC.

Approved by the DS: ______May 16, 2017______

Approved by the RAC: ______

Initially approved by the Board: ______June 21, 2017______

Western Electricity Coordinating Council

[1] Members or staff of public utility commissions, governors’ energy offices, or other state energy agencies.

[2] Those entities with FERC Order 1000 obligations.

[3] Entities in Canada and Mexico with obligations similar to those of the Western Planning Regions.