NERC, FERC, FPL Reach Agreement on Reliability Enhancements
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) | October 8, 2009
The North American Electric
Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC), and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) have
reached a key agreement that will result in important reliability
enhancements in Florida. The agreement closes a joint NERC-FERC
investigation of the February 26, 2008 outage that resulted in the loss
of 22 transmission lines and 4,300 MW of generation and caused nearly
one million homes and businesses in the state to lose power.
The
agreement includes enhancements to FPL’s reliability compliance
program, equipment maintenance program, and emergency operating
procedures.
The agreement also includes a $25 million civil
penalty, $10 million of which will be paid to the United States
Treasury, $10 million to NERC, and $5 million to be reserved for
further reliability enhancements proposed by FPL and approved by FERC
and NERC.
As the designated Electric Reliability Organization
under Section 215 of the Federal Power Act, NERC is charged with
developing and enforcing reliability standards for the interconnected
bulk power system in North America and has the authority to fine U.S.
entities in violation of its standards up to $1 million per day per
violation. Standards became mandatory and enforceable in the U.S. on
June 18, 2007. Funds received by NERC will be used to offset its
operating expenses, which are otherwise collected through allocations
to load-serving entities in the U.S. and Canada.
Our priority
in each of our enforcement actions is to ensure the reliability of the
bulk power system in North America,” commented Rick Sergel, president
and CEO of NERC. “We believe this agreement is in the best interests of
reliability and that the actions taken as a result will reduce the risk
of future outages in Florida.”
The agreement can be found at: http://www.nerc.com/files/Order_FPL_Settlement_10082009.pdf
The
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is an
international regulatory authority for the reliability of the bulk
power system in North America. NERC develops and enforces reliability
standards; assesses adequacy annually via a 10-year forecast and winter
and summer forecasts; monitors the bulk power system; and educates,
trains, and certifies industry personnel. NERC is a self-regulatory
organization, subject to oversight by the U.S. Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission and governmental authorities in Canada. Learn
more at www.nerc.com.
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Media Contact
Kelly Ziegler
NERC
Tel: 1.609.524.0621
