Ensuring the reliability of the power system is the responsibility of many industry participants. In this POWER exclusive, one regional reliability entity, the Midwest Reliability Organization, explains its role.

In response to the 2003 Blackout—which affected parts of the U.S. Northeast and Midwest, plus portions of the Canadian province of Ontario—the U.S. Congress mandated adoption of reliability standards for the bulk power system (BPS). The North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) is responsible for coordinating the development of those mandatory reliability standards (written by industry experts), which become effective with approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the U.S. and authorization in Canada under arrangements with each province. NERC has contracted with Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO) and seven other regional entities to be responsible for compliance, monitoring, and enforcement of the reliability standards.

Development of a Risk-Based Approach

When MRO began enforcing mandatory reliability standards in 2007, every instance of noncompliance, no matter what the risk was to reliable operations of the BPS, required a formal enforcement proceeding with a filing to FERC in the U.S.…

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