Chief Engineer
Mark Lauby is Chief Engineer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation, better known as NERC, held its Trades Meeting and Executive Committee Meeting in mid-October in Washington, D.C. NERC’s mission is to assure the effective and efficient reduction of risks to the reliability and security of the grid. PUF Executive Editor Steve Mitnick discussed achieving that with NERC CEO Jim Robb, Chief Engineer Mark Lauby, General Counsel Sonia Rocha, Senior Vice President of Strategy and External Engagement Camilo Serna, and Senior Vice President of Regulatory Oversight Howard Gugel.
PUF’s Steve Mitnick: What do you do on a typical day at NERC?
Mark Lauby: A lot of engagement with industry around risks to the bulk power system, whether existing risks or new ones identified through statistics calculated from data collected by NERC, as well as what we’re seeing for the future. I spend a lot of time on the road talking to industry, state/federal/provincial regulators, and policymakers to forward NERC’s perspective and what our concerns are.
I always hear that reliability engineers are dour people because we always see the downside. Large loads, great thing; data centers, wonderful; artificial intelligence, beautiful; but can we serve it and how will they act during events that can impact the reliable operation of the bulk power system?