Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY <SUBAGY>Federal Energy Regulatory Commission</SUBAGY> <CFR>18 CFR Parts 2 and 38</CFR> <DEPDOC>[Docket No. RM05-5-031]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Notice of proposed rulemaking. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission proposes to amend its regulations to incorporate by reference, with certain exceptions, the latest version (Version 004) of the Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant of the North American Energy Standards Board. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Comments are due July 5, 2024. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Comments, identified by docket number, may be filed in the following ways. Electronic filing through <E T="03">http://www.ferc.gov,</E> is preferred. • <E T="03">Electronic Filing:</E> Documents must be filed in acceptable native applications and print-to-PDF, but not in scanned or picture format. • For those unable to file electronically, comments may be filed by USPS mail or by hand (including courier) delivery. ○ <E T="03">Mail via U.S. Postal Service Only:</E> Addressed to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Secretary of the Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426. ○ <E T="03">Hand (Including Courier) Delivery:</E> Deliver to: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville, MD 20852. The Comment Procedures Section of this document contains more detailed filing procedures. <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">John O. Sillin (technical issues), Office of Energy Policy and Innovation, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street, NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-6548</FP> <FP SOURCE="FP-1">Veronica Norman (legal issues), Office of the General Counsel, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20426, (202) 502-8751</FP> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> <HD SOURCE="HD1">Table of Contents</HD> <GPOTABLE COLS="2" OPTS="L2,tp0,i1" CDEF="s200,12"> <TTITLE> </TTITLE> <CHED H="1"> </CHED> <CHED H="1">Paragraph No.</CHED> <ROW> <ENT I="01">I. Overview </ENT> <ENT>1.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">II. Background </ENT> <ENT>2.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">III. Discussion </ENT> <ENT>5.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">A. Modifications to Previous Version of Standards </ENT> <ENT>9.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">1. Modifications in Response to Commission Order Nos. 676-I and 676-J </ENT> <ENT>9.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">2. Modifications To Support Cybersecurity for the Wholesale Electric Industry </ENT> <ENT>19.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">3. Modifications To Complement NERC Reliability Standards </ENT> <ENT>22.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">4. Modifications to the WEQ OASIS Business Practice Standards </ENT> <ENT>24.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">5. Modifications To Coordinate Interchange Standards </ENT> <ENT>34.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">6. Modifications to Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Defined Terms </ENT> <ENT>36.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">7. Voluntary Renewable Energy Certificates Contract </ENT> <ENT>37.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">8. Minor Corrections </ENT> <ENT>38.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">B. New Sets of Standards </ENT> <ENT>39.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">1. WEQ-024 Cybersecurity </ENT> <ENT>39.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">2. WEQ-025 Grid Services Supporting Wholesale Electric Interactions </ENT> <ENT>40.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">C. Standards the Commission Proposes Not To Incorporate by Reference </ENT> <ENT>43.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">1. WEQ-010 Contracts Related Business Practice Standards </ENT> <ENT>43.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">2. WEQ-025 Grid Services Supporting Wholesale Electric Interactions </ENT> <ENT>44.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="03">D. Proposed Implementation Procedures </ENT> <ENT>45.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">IV. Notice of Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards </ENT> <ENT>48.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">V. Incorporation by Reference </ENT> <ENT>49.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">VI. Information Collection Statement </ENT> <ENT>75.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">VII. Environmental Analysis </ENT> <ENT>80.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">VIII. Regulatory Flexibility Act </ENT> <ENT>81.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">IX. Comment Procedures </ENT> <ENT>85.</ENT> </ROW> <ROW> <ENT I="01">X. Document Availability </ENT> <ENT>88.</ENT> </ROW> </GPOTABLE> <HD SOURCE="HD1">I. Overview</HD> 1. The Federal Energy Regulatory (Commission) proposes to amend its regulations at 18 CFR 38.1(b) to incorporate by reference, with certain enumerated exceptions, <SU>1</SU> <FTREF/> the latest version (Version 004) of the Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocols for Public Utilities adopted by the Wholesale Electric Quadrant (WEQ) of the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) (WEQ Version 004 Standards) applicable to the wholesale electric industry. NAESB is an American National Standards Institute-accredited, non-profit standards development organization formed for the purpose of developing voluntary standards and model business practices that promote more competitive and efficient natural gas and electric markets. On July 31, 2023, NAESB filed a notice that it had approved and published the WEQ Version 004 Standards to replace the currently incorporated version (Version 003.3) of those business practice standards (Informational Report). <SU>2</SU> <FTREF/> The revisions made by NAESB in the WEQ Version 004 Standards are designed to aid public utilities with the consistent and uniform implementation of requirements promulgated by the Commission as part of the <E T="03">pro forma</E> Open Access Transmission Tariff. <FTNT> <SU>1</SU>  In addition to the standards discussed below that are not proposed for incorporation by reference, the Commission is not proposing to incorporate by reference the following: (1) the WEQ-009 Standards of Conduct for Electric Transmission Providers, which NAESB has eliminated as they duplicate the Commission's regulations; and (2) the WEQ-014 WEQ/WGQ eTariff Related Business Practice Standards, which provide an implementation guide describing the various mechanisms, data tables, code values/ reference tables, and technical specifications used in the submission of electronic tariff filings to the Commission, which the Commission has not incorporated as these submittals are governed by the Commission's eTariff regulations. </FTNT> <FTNT> <SU>2</SU>   <E T="03">See</E> NAESB WEQ Business Practice Standards Version 004 Report, Docket No. RM05-5-31, (filed July 31, 2023). </FTNT> <HD SOURCE="HD1">II. Background</HD> 2. Since 2006, the Commission has adopted in its regulations NAESB's business practice standards and communication protocols for public utilities, promulgated in the Order No. 697 series of orders, <SU>3</SU> <FTREF/> wherein the Commission incorporated by reference the standards for public utilities developed by NAESB's WEQ. Upon incorporation by reference, this version of the standard will replace the currently incorporated version (Version 003.3) of those business practice standards. <FTNT> <SU>3</SU>  This series of orders began with the Commission's issuance of <E T="03">Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc'n Protocols for Pub. Utils.,</E> Order No. 676, 71 FR 26,199 (May 4, 2006), 115 FERC ¶ 61,102 (2006). </FTNT> 3. On July 31, 2023, NAESB filed a report informing the Commission that it had approved and published the WEQ Version 004 Standards. NAESB states that the WEQ Version 004 Standards include newly created standards, as well as modifications to existing standards, developed through the NAESB standards development process. WEQ Version 004 Standards build upon WEQ Version 003.3 Standards and include standards developed in response to the directives from Order Nos. 676-I and 676-J, <SU>4</SU> <FTREF/> business practice standards developed to support cybersecurity for the wholesale electric industry, modifications to complement the NERC Reliability Standards, the new NAESB Base Contract for Sale and Purchase of Voluntary Renewable Energy Certificates (NAESB REC Contract), and standards to identify definitions for common grid services to support distributed energy resource interactions in response to a request submitted by the Department of Energy (DOE), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Additionally, WEQ Version 004 Standards include modifications applied to Open Access Same-Time Information Systems (OASIS) Business Practice Standards, the Coordinate Interchange Business Practice Standards, and the Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Defined Terms. <FTNT> <SU>4</SU>   <E T="03">See Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc'n Protocols for Pub. Utils.,</E> Order No. 676-I, 85 FR 10571 (Feb. 25, 2020), 170 FERC ¶ 61,062 (2020); <E T="03">Standards for Bus. Practices & Commc'n Protocols for Pub. Utils.,</E> No. 676-J, 86 FR 29,491 (Jun. 2, 2021), 175 FERC ¶ 61,139 (2021). </FTNT> 4. The Informational Report includes an overview of all standard additions, modifications, and reservations applied to Version 004 of the WEQ Business Practice Standards and summarizes the deliberations that led to the changes. It also identifies changes to the existing standards that were considered but not adopted. <SU>5</SU> <FTREF/> <FTNT> <SU>5</SU ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 78k characters. Full document text is stored and available for version comparison. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━