Special Report

Fortnightly Magazine - December 1998
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September meeting sends draft legislation back to the drawing board.

Reliability is a self-correcting issue (em if we let it slide, something will happen and it will be corrected ¼ [But] do you want the government to do it?"

That was one industry representative speaking of attempts by the North American Electric Reliability Council (known as NERC) to evolve into a self-regulating reliability organization, or SRRO. But despite a reluctance for more government regulation, the same industry concedes that any transformation will likely require federal legislation, or at least a transfer of oversight to a federal agency, such as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

This past summer the NERC Board of Trustees sought public comments after releasing draft legislation on electric reliability that would restructure the group as an SRRO known as the North American Electric Reliability Organization or "NAERO," the only SRRO in the country. Section 215 of the draft law defines NAERO's threefold mission: 1) develop, promote, and enforce standards to provide for the reliability in operation of the North American interconnected bulk electric system; 2) maintain security for short-term reliability; and 3) assess and encourage long-term adequacy of electric power supply. (See http://www.naero.org/legislation.html.)

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