General Order for Electricity Reliability Standards
General Order for Electricity Reliability Standards [Filing A49626]
GENERAL ORDER MO-036-2012 IN THE MATTER OF the National Energy Board Act (Act) and the regulations made under that Act; and IN THE MATTER OF the reliability, safety and security of international power lines under the Board’s jurisdiction under File OF-Fac-ElecGen-Rel-IPL-05. |
BEFORE the Board on 29 November 2012.
WHEREAS the Board may order the holders of certificates issued in respect of international power lines to take measures that the Board considers necessary for the safety and security of international power lines, including their reliability;
AND WHEREAS as a result of the 2003 blackout in Eastern Canada and the Eastern United States, a bilateral Canada-U.S. team recommended the development and enactment of mandatory electricity transmission reliability standards;
AND WHEREAS the Board recognizes that the electrical power system in North America is integrated and that mandatory and enforceable transmission reliability standards are critical to the proper functioning of the electrical power system;
AND WHEREAS the Board has determined that it necessary for the safety and security of international power lines as part of the electrical power system to require the holders of the certificates issued in respect of international power lines listed in the Appendix to comply with mandatory and enforceable transmission reliability standards;
AND WHEREAS the Board acknowledges that the harmonization of rules respecting the reliability of international power lines with regulatory authorities in the provinces promotes the overall safety and security of international power lines;
IT IS ORDERED that, pursuant to subsection 48(1.1) and section 58.27 of the Act, the following Order be made:
| Interpretation – Reliability Standards | |||
| 1. | In this Order, | ||
| (a) | "certificate" means a certificate issued or deemed to have been issued under Part III.1 of the National Energy Board Act in respect of an international power line; | ||
| (b) | "reliability standard" means a standard, rule or requirement for the purpose of planning and promoting the reliable and secure operation, monitoring or maintenance of the power system that is, from time to time,
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| (c) | "power system" has the same meaning as in section 2 of the National Energy Board Electricity Regulations; | ||
| (d) | "provincial authority" means any entity authorized by the laws of a province to adopt or approve a reliability standard; | ||
| (e) | "standards development authority" means
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| Application | |||
| 2. | This Order applies only in respect of the holders of the certificates listed in the Appendix and the international power lines for which those certificates were issued. | ||
| Reliability Standards | |||
| 3. | The holder of a certificate shall, in accordance with this Order, operate, monitor and maintain the international power line, in respect of which the certificate was issued, to | ||
| (a) | be reliable and secure; | ||
| (b) | avoid any adverse effects that the operation of the international power line may have on the reliability of any power system to which the international power line is interconnected; and | ||
| (c) | comply with the reliability standards specifically required under section 5. | ||
| 4. | (1) | The Board may exempt the holder of a certificate from compliance with a reliability standard or any other related obligation under this Order if it is satisfied that | |
| (a) | the reliability standard or any other related obligation does not properly apply to the international power line for which the certificate was issued; | ||
| (b) | an entity, other than the holder of a certificate, is responsible under the laws of a province for operating or maintaining the international power line for which the certificate was issued in compliance with that reliability standard or obligation instead of the holder of the certificate. | ||
| (2) | The holder of a certificate may request the Board for an exemption under subsection 4(1) by filing an application, in a form acceptable to the Board, that specifies | ||
| (a) | each reliability standard or other related obligation under this Order for which the holder requests an exemption; and | ||
| (b) | the reasons for each exemption including, in the case referred to in paragraph 4(1)(b), the identity of the other entity and the provincial law under which the other entity has responsibility for a reliability standard or other related obligation under this Order. | ||
| 5. | (1) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting resource and demand balancing for the proper use and control of power system resources and the development of tools and methodologies to | |
| (a) | maintain interconnection steady-state frequency by balancing power generation to continuously match actual demand; and | ||
| (b) | maintain the reliable operation of the power system. | ||
| (2) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting critical infrastructure protection, including security management controls, to protect the operation, performance, integrity and reliability of the physical and cyber assets of the international power line and to provide demonstrable evidence of the reliability of the power system. | ||
| (3) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting communications so that adequate and reliable communication facilities are available, used and maintained for the exchange and coordination of information between system operators, reliability coordinators and other authorities. | ||
| (4) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting emergency preparedness and operations for the development, maintenance and implementation of a set of plans to mitigate, monitor and report operating emergencies, including load shedding, system restoration, black start capabilities and loss of control centre functions. | ||
| (5) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting facilities design, connection and maintenance to | ||
| (a) | establish methodologies to determine and implement facility rating, system operating limits and transfer capabilities, and | ||
| (b) | manage vegetation to prevent outages from vegetation inside the international power line's right of way, minimizes outages from vegetation outside that right of way and maintains clearance between transmission lines and vegetation on and along that right of way. | ||
| (6) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting interchange, scheduling and coordination to check each interchange schedule of power transfer according to the reliability requirements of interchange scheduling and dynamic power transfers in one or more control areas before a power transfer is implemented. | ||
| (7) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting interconnection reliability operations and coordination for the authorization of a reliability coordinator to determine that the power system is operated reliably under normal and contingency conditions, conduct system studies, prepare reliability assessments, provide a wide-area view of reliability and coordinate emergency operations for one or more control areas. | ||
| (8) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting modelling, data and analysis for consistent and uniform methodologies to determine, verify and use available transmission system capabilities and capacity margins. | ||
| (9) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting personnel performance, training and qualifications for personnel operating the international power line to have the training, competence, responsibility and authority necessary to take timely action to maintain the reliability of the power system. | ||
| (10) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting the protection and control of the power system against abnormal power system conditions. | ||
| (11) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting transmission system planning and operations to maintain steady state stability and dynamic stability of the power system through the planning of normal operations, planned outages and operation under single or multiple contingencies. | ||
| (12) | The holder of a certificate shall comply with reliability standards respecting voltage and reactive control for the monitoring, control and maintenance of voltage levels, reactive flows and reactive resources in real time within operating limits to protect equipment and the reliable operation of the international power line. | ||
| 6. | (1) | The holder of a certificate shall maintain a record, in the form of a spreadsheet, that contains | |
| (a) | the identity of the provincial authority or standards development authority whose reliability standards the holder of the certificate is complying with for the purposes of sections 3 and 5; | ||
| (b) | the names and any reference numbers of the reliability standards applicable to the international power line; and | ||
| (c) | the reasons why the holder is complying with those reliability standards. | ||
| (2) | The holder of a certificate shall, within 90 days of issuance of this Order, file with the Board a declaration that it is maintaining the record under subsection 6(1) and a copy of the record. | ||
| 7. | The holder of a certificate shall, within 30 days after the end of each year, file with the Board a report that contains a detailed description of any reliability standard adopted, approved, established or developed after this Order is made, with which the holder is complying, including | ||
| (a) | the identity of the provincial authority or standards development authority that adopted, approved, established or developed those reliability standards; | ||
| (b) | the names and any reference numbers of the reliability standards applicable to the international power line; and | ||
| (c) | the reasons why the holder is complying with those reliability standards. | ||
| 8. | For greater certainty, the holder of a certificate is not required to obtain approval from the Board for | ||
| (a) | the particular reliability standards with which the holder of the certificate is complying for the purposes of sections 3 and 5; | ||
| (b) | the content of the record under subsection 6(1); or | ||
| (c) | the content of the report under section 7. | ||
| Compliance Document | |||
| 9. | The holder of a certificate shall, on request, provide to the Board a copy of any compliance document, or any portion thereof, prepared by the holder that describes the manner in which the holder is conducting compliance monitoring and enforcement to assess, investigate, evaluate, audit or measure its compliance with any reliability standard. | ||
| Reporting on Non-Compliance | |||
| 10. | (1) | The holder of a certificate shall report to the Board any event known to be a failure to comply with sections 3 or 5. | |
| (2) | The report referred to in subsection 10(1) must be sent without delay after the event has been determined to be a failure and must contain a detailed description of | ||
| (a) | the nature, duration and cause of the event; and | ||
| (b) | any steps the holder has taken or proposes to take to mitigate the event or correct the performance of the international power line | ||
| (3) | If the holder of a certificate is obliged, by law or agreement, to send a report or notice that contains the same information required under subsections 10(1) and 10(2) to a provincial authority or standards development authority, the holder may send a copy to the Board of that report or notice, or such portions thereof that provide the required information, in lieu of the report under subsection 10(1). | ||
NATIONAL ENERGY BOARD
Sheri Young
Secretary of the Board
GENERAL ORDER MO-036-2012
APPENDIX
Certificates and International Power Lines Subject To This Order
| Province | Owner / Operator | Certificate No. | Line Designation | Line Parameters (kV) | No. of IPLs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| British Columbia | BC Hydro | EC-III-12 | 5L51 | 500 | 1 |
| BC Hydro | EC-III-04 | 5L52 | 500 | 1 | |
| BC Hydro | EC-III-10 | 2L112 | 230 | 1 | |
| Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. | EC-III-01 | C51 | 230 | 1 | |
| Saskatchewan | Saskatchewan Power Corporation | EC-III-19 | B10T | 230 | 1 |
| Manitoba | Manitoba Hydro | EC-III-16 | 500 | 1 | |
| Manitoba Hydro | EC-III-09 | Y2OP | 230 | 1 | |
| Manitoba Hydro | EC-III-14 | R40M | 230 | 1 | |
| Ontario | Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-III-6 | L4D | 345 | 1 |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-III-13 | L51D | 345 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-III-20 | PA301, PA302 | 230 | 2 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-18 | L33P | 230 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-11 | L34P | 230 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-13 | J5D | 230 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-12 | B3N | 230 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-16 | BP76, PA27 | 230 | 2 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-14 | BSC105N | 69 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-15 | BSC105S | 69 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-17 | BL104 | 115 | 1 | |
| Hydro One Networks Inc. | EC-17 | BSH-106 | 69 | 1 | |
| New Brunswick | New Brunswick Power Transmission Corporation | EC-III-08 | 301 | 345 | 1 |
| New Brunswick Power Transmission Corporation | EC-III-25 | 345 | 1 | ||
| New Brunswick Power Transmission Corporation | EC-III-18 | 138 | 1 | ||
| Algonquin Power | EC-III-2 | Tinker 6904 | 69 | 1 | |
| Algonquin Power | EC-III-3 | Tinker 6901 | 69 | 1 | |
| Québec | Hydro-Québec | EC-III-15 | 7040 | 765 | 1 |
| Hydro-Québec | EC-III-21 | 451 – 452 | +/- 450 DC | 1 | |
| Hydro-Québec | EC-III-17 | 1400 | 120 | 1 | |
| Cedars Rapids Transmission Company Ltd. | EC-III-24 | 120 | 1 | ||
| Hydro-Québec | EC-III-22 | 120 | 1 |
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