“We identify who needs to be subject to our standards and let them know they have an impact on reliability so must meet our registration criteria. We register them and make sure they understand their mandatory responsibility for applying these standards. From the date of their effective registration, they’re subject to audits.”

“I always say we’re mainly an engineering firm. The way our CEO Jim Robb likes to describe it is we are the trade association of physics. We are thinking about the physics of the grid and how it plays out.”

“NERC has an important regulatory function, but we’re not doing it in an ivory tower. Everything we do is in close collaboration with industry and the regional entities. It’s a unique regulatory model that benefits from external expertise and provides the level of independence that ensures its credibility.”

“If frequency starts dropping that’s a problem because a lot of motors and adjustable motor drives are all counting on that frequency to operate. Solar panels do not provide frequency, they take frequency from the grid, unless you have grid-forming inverters, and right now we don’t.”

“We’re the only truly independent organization that doesn’t have a financial stake in outcomes. I don’t have to please anybody. My job is to tell the truth as I see it, back that up with facts, and help people interpret what the facts are saying.”

The mission of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation 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.

The first affordability crisis took place during the Panic of 1907, a devastating downturn in the nation’s economy. The broken banking system couldn’t continue to provide capital to the electric companies, bringing to a screeching halt the expansion of electric service beyond the wealthiest communities. Lowering the risk of the companies, albeit also lowering their profit potential, broke the logjam.

When NTUA approached Salt River Project in 2019 to share the challenges they faced, including that bringing electricity to all homes in the Navajo Nation could take more than fifty years to complete, SRP responded immediately.

Beyond the Blueprint