NERC Standards Committee Tackles Final Order 901 Tranche

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The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) is advancing its efforts to meet the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) directive regarding inverter-based resources (IBRs) as it enters the final phase of a standards project. During a teleconference on August 20, the NERC Standards Committee voted to proceed with two standards authorization requests (SARs) aimed at addressing planning and operational studies for registered and unregistered IBRs, as well as distributed energy resources (DERs). These SARs will undergo a 30-day informal comment period, with the goal of submitting the required standards by the FERC deadline of November 4, 2026.

In addition to the IBR-related projects, NERC is also prioritizing the revision of cybersecurity standards, specifically CIP-015-1, which focuses on internal network security monitoring. This project has a submission deadline of September 1, 2026, and NERC has nominated a team of 15 members to ensure effective leadership and representation. The committee also discussed the need to supplement teams for ongoing projects, emphasizing the importance of regional balance and expertise in the drafting process. Overall, NERC is committed to efficiently addressing significant reliability risks as identified by FERC and stakeholders.