WECC
Melanie Frye is CEO of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council. Former NARUC President Paul Kjellander is Senior Advisor at Public Utilities Fortnightly.
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council assures a reliable bulk electric system in the Western Interconnection. WECC got that job because the North American Electric Reliability Corporation delegated to it some of its authority to create, monitor, and enforce reliability standards.
That is a big deal, because of the six regional entities delegated such authority by NERC, WECC covers the largest and most geographically diverse region, known as the Western Interconnection. That is, two Canadian provinces, fourteen western states, and northern Baja Mexico.
It's a huge undertaking, considering that area includes states with some of the most ambitious clean energy standards in the U.S., changing assumptions on reliability. PUF's Paul Kjellander discusses here the latest happenings out west with WECC CEO Melanie Frye.
PUF's Paul Kjellander: You're the president and CEO of WECC. What's the elevator pitch on what WECC is and what it does?
Melanie Frye: WECC is an interconnection wide, independent organization that partners with stakeholders in the Western Interconnection to assure reliability and security of the bulk power system in the near and long-term.