NERC Mandatory Reliability Compliance with CATSWeb ER

In mid 2006, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certified the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) as the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) for the United States. Prior to this certification, NERC’s power system operation and accreditation guidelines were considered policies for which compliance was voluntary, yet strongly encouraged. These policies have since been converted into mandatory standards against which NERC may impose significant financial penalties for noncompliance.

Bulk-power system market participants are now adjusting to this new regulatory environment with renewed focus on improving their compliance management processes and systems. Utilities, generation facilities, T&D companies, ISO’s and RTO’s are looking for ways to replace paper-based and homegrown systems with a centralized, off-the-shelf solution.

The current situation:

There are over 100 standards proposed for FERC approval
These Standards define over 850 enforceable requirements and measures
Maximum fine of up to $1 million per day per violation
Click here to view recent enforcement actions (NERC Website)

The current challenge:

Establish a centralized compliance management system
Understand the complexity and applicability of the standards
Perform auditably compliant analysis of compliance basis
Address gaps with mitigation plans and follow up tasks
Keep up with new and revised standards

The Industry Solution from AssurX:
For over a decade, AssurX’s CATSWeb solution has been used in heavily regulated environments including utilities, life sciences and financial services. CATSWeb ER (Electric Reliability) is a turn-key NERC compliance solution specifically designed to manage reliability compliance.

NERC Compliance with AssurX The system comes loaded with currently approved NERC standards which can be cross-referenced to regional or internal standards entered into the system. The standards import utility allows customers to quickly upload new and revised NERC standards as they are released. This saves time and allows utilities to instantly sort requirements by measure, compliance level, risk factor and entity.

CATSWeb is a mature compliance management system with built-in audit trail and electronic signature functionality stringent enough to meet the rigorous requirements established by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Our customers have already implemented CATSWeb ER to manage standards, document their basis for compliance and track their mitigation and compliance activities.

While larger utilities have installed the system on their own servers (OnPremise), given the urgency around compliance, AssurX also offers the solution as a subscription based (OnDemand) system, eliminating the need to procure hardware and perform installation tasks. Delivered with the highest speed and security, the OnDemand offering provides an economical pay-as-you-go solution that can be brought in-house at any time.