FERC approves sixth and final settlement for 2011 blackout

May 28, 2015 | By Jaclyn Brandt

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved the sixth and final settlement for the Sept. 8, 2011 power outage in Southern California, that left customers in California, Arizona, Baja California, and Mexico without power for nearly 12 hours.

Credit: Magnus Manske/Wikimedia Commons

The latest settlement involves FERC's Office of Enforcement, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC), and Peak Reliability -- who took over for WECC as Reliability Coordinator.

FERC found that WECC, as Reliability Coordinator, was responsible for maintaining a wide-area view of the Western Interconnection. The interconnection spans from Canada to Mexico, and across 13 states with a total population of 78 million.

"Enforcement staff and NERC determined that WECC as the Reliability Coordinator violated nine requirements of the Interconnection Reliability Operations and Coordination (IRO) and the Facilities Design, Connection and Maintenance (FAC) groups of Reliability Standards," FERC said in a statement. "The IRO Standards detail the responsibilities and authorities of the Reliability Coordinator and establish requirements for data, tools and the wide area view necessary to ensure the reliable operation of the grid. The FAC standards involved aim to ensure that System Operating Limits are based on an established methodology."

According to WECC, the loss of a single 500 kilovolt (kV) transmission line initiated the event, but was not the sole cause of the widespread outages.

FERC and NERC staff found that WECC did not identify or prevent violations of system operating limits and Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits. They were not aware of the impact of protection systems -- including the S-Line remedial action scheme and separation scheme at the San Onofre switchyard -- and used inadequate system operating limit methodology that caused the cascading outages.

WECC and Peak stipulated to the agreement, which calls for WECC to pay a civil penalty of $16 million. Of that, $3 million will go to the U.S. Treasury and NERC, and $13 million will be invested in reliability enhancement measures. WECC and Peak have also agreed to undergo compliance monitoring. However, WECC did not admit or deny to the violations.

"In earlier settlements, Arizona Public Service Company, Imperial Irrigation District, California Independent System Operator Corporation, and Southern California Edison Company agreed to pay civil penalties of more than $21 million, with cash penalties of more than $7 million shared between the U.S. Treasury and NERC, and credits for enhancements to the reliability of the grid above and beyond the requirements of the Reliability Standards and required mitigation that included a utility-scale battery storage system, an innovative system for visualizing real-time system conditions, equipment to maintain system voltage in vulnerable areas, and additional system operators for the Reliability Coordinator, among other improvements," FERC said in a statement.

For more:
- read the settlement
- visit this website

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/ferc-approves-sixth-and-final-settlement-2011-blackout/2015-05-28