Proposed OC Structure1

Proposed Operating Committee Structure

Organizational Structure Review Task Force

May17, 2016

155 North 400 West, Suite 200

Salt Lake City, Utah 84103-1114

Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Proposed OC Structure1

Table of Contents

Introduction

ORSTF Review Approach

Timeline and Goals

Preliminary Findings

Ground-Up Approach

How do existing groups fit into in to the identified functions/activities?

External Forums

User Group Concept (type of External Forum)

Operating Committee (Reliability Improvement)

Event and Performance Analysis Subcommittee (EPAS)

Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee (SASMS)

Proposed Operating Committee Structure

Event and Performance Analysis Subcommittee (EPAS)

Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee (SASMS)

Physical Security Work Group (PSWG)

Add Cyber Security Work Group (CSWG)

External Forum Groups

Interchange Scheduling and Accounting Subcommittee (ISAS)

Next Day Study Work Group (NSDWG)

Path Operations Implementation Task Force (POITF)

Remedial Action Subcommittee Reliability Subcommittee (RASRS)

Technical Operations Subcommittee (TOS)

Unscheduled Flow Administrative Subcommittee (UFAS)

Essential Reliability Services Work Group (ERSWG) in WECC

Western Electricity Coordinating Council

Proposed OC Structure1

Introduction

The WECC Operating Committee formed the Organizational Structure Review Task Force (ORSTF) at the October 2015 Operating Committee meeting. The OSRTF Charter states:

The purpose of the OSRTF is to review the overall OC structure including all subcommittees, task forces and work groups (“OC Committees”). The OSRTF will perform a comprehensive review of the OC Committees to align the work of the OC Committees with WECC’s mission. The OC Committees review should also focus on examining OC Committees’ reporting relationships and merging OC Committees or eliminating them if they no longer support WECC’s mission or provide value to WECC Members.

The OSRTF shall:

  1. Identify instances where WECC interfacing with OC Committees is needed to support WECC’s reliability mission.
  2. Identify duplication of work being performed by the OC Committees that can be consolidated.
  3. Identify OC Committees that should be eliminated or transferred to other groups/organizations.
  4. Provide a report of recommendations to the Operating Committee for approval.

ORSTF Review Approach

The OSRTF began by examining the NERC-WECC Delegation Agreement and the WECC Bylaws to determine tasks that WECC is obligated to perform. The NERC-WECC Delegation Agreement, Section 7, describes activities performed by WECC. Section 7 activities are:

  1. Certification of Bulk-Power System Entities
  2. Registration of owners, operators, and users of the Bulk-Power System as responsible for compliance with requirements of Reliability Standards
  3. Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis
  4. Event Analysis and Reliability Improvement
  5. Training and Education
  6. Situation Awareness and Infrastructure Security

The WECC Bylaws describe the processes governing WECC, of which Section 2 (Furtherance of WECC’s Mission) was relevant to the OSRTF review.

The ORSTF applied three criteria to its review of OC activities:

  1. OC activities should support WECC’s reliability mission, including activities under the NERC/WECC Delegation Agreement Sections 7c, 7d, 7e and 7f
  2. OC activities should provide value to WECC membership
  3. OC activities should complement but not unnecessarily duplicate NERC efforts

Timeline and Goals

The OSRTF plans to complete its work by year-end 2016.

April 19, 2016 – Send Initial proposal to OC and solicit feedback

April 28, 2016 – Comments on Recommendations for the white paper due back to OSRTF

April 29, 2016 – OSRTF review and address comments from OC

May 13- June 1, 2016, second posting for stakeholder comment

June 10, 2016, post for 30-day OC Approval

July 12-13, 2016 – Recommendations presented to OC for approval

September 2016 – Recommendations presented to WECC Board of Directors for approval

December 2016 – Organize a Transition Team that will develop Transition Timeline to implement the proposed organization

Preliminary Findings

Ground-Up Approach

The OSRTF useda ground-up approach. Starting with analyzing Section 7 of the Amended and Restated Delegation Agreement between NERC and WECC, the group looked for those delegated functions that are closely addressed through activities conducted in the Operating Committee. The OSRTF went step-by-step through the Delegation Agreement to determine where each of the roles resided at WECC:

  • Section 7a - Certification of Bulk-Power System Entities
  • This function is done as a collaborative process by NERC and WECC Staff with some participation by qualified members from Peak Reliability (Peak), WECC Balancing Authorities and Transmission Operators and as per the NERC Rules of Procedure Section 500.
  • Section 7b – Registration of owners, operators, and users of the Bulk-Power system as responsible for compliance with requirements of Reliability Standards
  • This function was identified as a being addressed through work done by WECC Staff.
  • Section 7c – Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis
  • WECC Staff, with help from members through committees like Performance Work Group (PWG) and Unscheduled Flow Administrative Subcommittee (UFAS), track and manage system performance as well as develop reports and metrics on interconnection-wide system reliability. The OSRTF discussed that the OC membership should be more informed on these issues and they should be communicated to the OC.
  • Section 7d – Event Analysis and Reliability Improvement
  • This function is addressed through WECC Staff and Operating Practices and Event Analysis Subcommittee (OPEAS).Subject matter experts in other OC subcommittees and work groups, such as Operating Issues Work Group (OIWG), Critical Infrastructure and Information Management Subcommittee (CIIMS), Energy Management System Work Group (EMSWG), Human Performance Work Group (HPWG), and Relay Work Group (RWG), lendexpertise when reviewingevent analysis reports.
  • Section 7e – Training and Education
  • WECC Staff currently usesstakeholder expertise through the Operations Training Subcommittee (OTS) to provide direction and assistance to develop and implement its training program. As a result of the recent training program assessment survey, WECC management is proposing a remodeling of the WECC Training Program. The training assessment survey indicates a clear decline in the attendance to the WECC System Operator Training Sessions. Subsequently, WECC Staff is proposing the elimination of the Continuing Education (CE) Operator Training Program and proposes placing emphasis on an Education and Stakeholder Outreach training program that specializes on key training needs of the stakeholders.
  • Section 7f – Situational Awareness and Infrastructure Security
  • WECC staff gathers and assesses situational awareness information provided byregistered entities pursuant to the NERC Rules of Procedure and applicable governmentalregulations.WECCstaff provides other data, information and assistance to NERC in support ofNERC’s activities in monitoring present conditions and responding to events on the Bulk-Power System). WECC staff collaborates with NERC in its efforts to coordinate electricindustry activities to promote critical infrastructure protection of the Bulk-Power System inNorth America.

The OSRTF concludedthat the functions—outlined in 7c, 7d, 7f and, loosely, 7e—have a relation to the OC.The group also went through the WECC Bylaws to identify the activities WECC has outlined as necessary to carry out WECC’s mission (specifically Section 2 of the WECC Bylaws) and what activities are currently addressed through the OC. The activities outlined in the WECC Bylaws that have direct ties to the OC include:

  • 2.1.3 – Regional Coordination
  • 2.1.6 – Reliability Assessment
  • 2.1.9 – Coordinated Operations

These activities are critical to the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System within the Western Interconnection.

How do existing groups fit into in to the identified functions/activities?

The OSRTF took the underlying themes of the Delegation Agreement and WECC Bylaws and formed “buckets” where the current OC Committees could be placed (e.g. “Performance Analysis / Event Analysis,” “Situational Awareness & Security Monitoring,” “Reliability Improvement”).There was also a bucket for committees that the group needed to research more (titled “Unknown”). The OSRTF, through the process of placing current OC Committees into the separate buckets, made five major discoveries:

  • The OC’s main objective is focused on reliability improvement.
  • The two main functions of the OC are supporting WECC’s delegated function and mission in (1) event and performance analysis and (2) situational awareness and security monitoring. Therefore the OSRTF proposes two new subcommittees under the OC that focus on these functions.
  • There are some functions under the OC that align more closely with the functions of the Reliability Coordinator (RC),including some that are soon to be required functions of the RC.
  • There are items addressed in the OC that are very specialized, but do not need the oversight of the OC). For this type of situation, the OSRTF introduced the concept of an External Forum.
  • There are some OC Committees that are a duplication of their parent committees, so the OSRTF proposes to roll them into their parent committees to avoidthe duplication of effort. There were other OC Committees where there was limited or no work product being produced,or the OSRTF did not see them as providing value to WECC members; so the OSRTF proposes disbanding or sun settingthose groups.

External Forums

Several subcommittees and work groups have been identified as providing value but do not necessarily belong at WECC (i.e. WECC may not be the best fit). In these instances, the OSRTF recommends transitioning the groups to some other forum outside of WECC. In any case in which a disruption in the subcommittee/work group cadence may negatively impact members, it is recommended that WECC continue to support the group until the transition is successfully completed.

Some possible options for these external forums include new or existing groups under the North American Transmission Forum (NATF) or Peak Reliability. Another option is a User Group; the management and organization of the User Groups should be independent of WECC, but meetings may be conducted at WECC facilities when conference rooms are available.

User Group Concept (type of External Forum)

Several subcommittees and workgroups did not fit easily into a reorganized OC, but the OSRTF recognized that they brought value to the industry. The OSRTF suggests the concept of a “User Group” be developed to address some very specific tasks that fall outside of the OC’s proposed structure.

User Groups

  • Focused on miscellaneous issues, processes, or tools
  • The management and organization of the user groups will beindependent but WECC may participate

Operating Committee (Reliability Improvement)

During the OSRTF’s review of the current OC Committee structure, the group identified that the OC’s main objective is to improve reliability through collaboration between entities in the Western Interconnection. The OC should remain a forum for members to use their collective resources to disseminate to the Western Interconnection lessons learned and guidelines on operational best practices. The entities in the Western Interconnectionshould strive to have the highest reliable collective system and an open and collaborative process should continue to be enabled byWECC.

The OSRTF proposes the establishment of two new subcommittees under the OC to better define and align the work of the OC and its reliability improvement mission.

Event and Performance Analysis Subcommittee (EPAS)

The EPAS will focus on analyzing event and Interconnection-wide performance and developing lessons learned to be shared with the WECC members. The role of this subcommittee is to review events and apply Lessons Learned to prevent the recurrence of similar types of events;and, more importantly, minimize the exposure to larger-scale events.

Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee (SASMS)

The Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee (SASMS) will work collaboratively with the EPAS to ensure the tools and resources are in place to prepare for unknown system conditions or events that may threaten grid reliability. This group will work to ensure the industry is prepared for threats or conditions that may occur in the near-term operating horizon.

Proposed Operating Committee Structure

Figure 1 Proposed Operating Committee Structure

Event and Performance Analysis Subcommittee (EPAS)

During OSRTF’s review of the delegated tasks described in the NERC/WECC Delegation Agreement; Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis, and Event Analysis and Reliability Improvement were recognized as key functions to ensure reliable operations of the Western Interconnection.

In the current OC Organizational Structure, the analysis, trending, and reliability assessment of Bulk-Power System (BPS) events are supported by:

  • Operating Practices and Event Analysis Subcommittee (OPEAS);
  • Operating Issues Work Group (OIWG);
  • Performance Work Group (PWG);
  • Relay Work Group (RWG);
  • Human Performance Work Group (HPWG);
  • Energy Management System Work Group (EMSWG); and
  • Data Exchange Work Group (DEWG).

After considerable discussion, the OSRTF felt that the work of the OPEAS and the OIWG could be consolidated into the proposed EPAS, and both of the existing groups could be eliminated. EPAS will focus on Event Analysis and leveraging the data provided by the NERC Event Analysis Process into useful lessons learned, reliability guidelines, and analysis of trends. The proposed workgroup structure of EPAS is designed to ensure subject matter experts are available to both WECC Staff engaged in the Event Analysis Process and to EPAS in evaluating Event Analysis data.

With findings from the Event Analysis Process showing an increase in events where the root cause and/or contributing factors point to human performance, along with the need to consider a possible Near Miss Process within WECC, the OSRTF agreed that HPWG should remain and report to the proposed EPAS.Presently, HPWG reports to OTS. The current charter of the OTS states they are responsible for reviewing and providing input on the direction of the WECC Continuing Education Hours (CEH) training program. An internal WECC review in coordination with the OTS and OSRTF determined that WECC no longer needed to be providing training to System Operations personnel for CEH when so many other options are available. Human performance is the ultimate goal of the OTS, and training is a tool used to improve human performance. OSRTF determined that OTS and HPWG should be combined into the HPWG, with the general training collaboration occurring in OTS becoming part of the HPWG.

The OSRTF reviewed the tasks performed by the Relay Work Group (RWG). The RWG reviews System Event Brief Reports where protection systems were a root cause or contributing factor. They develop reports and recommendations from the review of these events for stakeholders. Additionally, the RWG supports the Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis delegated responsibility through the review of the Quarterly Misoperation Reports and subsequently develops reports, recommendations and guidelines where applicable. It was the decision of the OSRTF to keep the RWG within the Operating Committee Organizational Structure and report to the proposed EPAS.

Recently there have been discussions at the Operating Committee regarding the perceived lack of representation of the Generator Operators (GOP) in various WECC forums. In addition, there is an increase in focus on issues that involve the GOPs, such as frequency response that requires the GOP’s participation and to coordinate more with their host BAs.During the discussions with OSRTF, there was the consideration that the GOPs could be represented and help in this coordination by their participation at the Operating Committee level. The OSRTF is still evaluating this issue and considering the addition of a Generator Operator Work Group (GOWG), but OSRTF would like to get input from the Operating Committee on this issue.

An additional area of concern is the changing resource issue and the continued movement to retire traditional fossil-fueled generators that provide essential services such as frequency response and voltage/reactive support. There are currently activities at NERC associated with the Essential Reliability Services Work Group that are dealing with these issues. The question of the OSRTF is whether WECC should put its focus on the NERC efforts or develop a similar group within WECC. One consideration would be to re-charter the PWG to include its current responsibilities, which closely correlate with the NERC ERSWG, and add issues associated with changing resources and essential reliability services.

Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee (SASMS)

Combine DataExchange Work Group (DEWG) and Energy Management Systems Work Group (EMSWG)

  • The purpose of the EMSWG is to coordinate the development of network and data modeling policies in support of the EMS throughout the Western Interconnection.The purpose of the DEWG is to facilitate the exchange of all information needed to support the reliable operation of the Western Interconnection by providing policies for sharing the real-time data. Although each workgroup has a different responsibility and scope, the goal of both is the data necessary to support the reliable operation of the Bulk Power System (BPS). The Operational and Information Technology Systems and data policies that the work groups provide are both aligned to that goal.
  • Historically, the DEWG has been more focused on the infrastructure of the WECC Operations Network (WON) used for data exchange.However, over the years the physical “backbone” of the WON has been replaced by a hub-and-spoke configuration that is managed more at the entity level.Currently, the DEWG deals more with issues specific to data policy and less with the infrastructure.As the focus of the DEWG shifted, its discussions and efforts aligned more closely with that of the EMSWG.For that reason, in recent years, the two workgroups have been meeting jointly but have preferred to remain separate for one key reason, participation.
  • While the workgroups deal with overlapping subjects, members typically have different skillsets.For some companies, particularly small ones, one individual might be knowledgeable in both areas but many companies cover the data-exchange and EMS responsibilities separately. For the latter case, representation of both aspects is critical to the success of the workgroup.In the past, members have expressed concern that entities might begin to send only one representative if the workgroups were combined.
  • The OSRTF discussed the relevance of the work and skillset of the Telecommunications Work Group (TELWG) and believe there is a strong correlation of their activities with those of the Data Exchange Work Group and Energy Management System Work Group. With the current effort to streamline the committee structurethe OSRTF recommends combining these three groups, addressing the membership and skillset issues in the combined groups new charter and recommend they report to the Situational Awareness and Security Monitoring Subcommittee.

Physical Security Work Group (PSWG)