SPP RTO Compliance Forum

Western Area Power Administration

March 11, 2015

Mark Buchholz

WAPA Upper Great Plains Region

Compliance Manager

What is Western?

One of four Power Marketing Administration

within the U.S. Department of Energy

Wholesale electricity supplier for 14 Water Projects

Serve more than 690 customers long-term/firm

power preference customers

Serve 15 states in the central and western United

States, covering 1.3 million square miles.

Federal Power Marketing Administrations

What is Western?

1400 Employees

328 Substations

17,000 Circuit Miles of Transmission Line

300 Communication Sites

Over $4 Billion in Assets

Providing Reliable Power to 40 Million Americans

What is Western?

Western transmits hydro power from

56 Power Plants

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

International Boundary Water Commission

Installed Plant Capacity of 10,479 MW

What Exactly Does Western Do?

Where Our Energy Comes From..

Where Our Energy is Delivered..

Western Funding

Funded by

Power Sale Receipts

Revolving Funds

Customer Advances

Congressional Appropriations

Federal Investment Repaid with Interest

The Upper Great Plains Region

Covers Six North Central States - South Dakota, North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska

378,000 square mile Service Territory

7750 miles of Western transmission lines. Operate approx. 2200 miles of transmission owned by others.

200+ Western owned and Non Western owned Substations and Taps.

The Upper Great Plains Region

Three State Maintenance Offices

Huron, SD

Bismarck, ND

Fort Peck, MT

One System Operations Office

Watertown, SD

22 Duty Stations throughout the Region

Generation Resources

2610 MW of Hydro – COE & BuRec

2140 MW of Steam – Basin Electric Coop

600 MW of Gas/Combined Cycle – Basin

840+ MW Wind

85 MW NorthWestern Energy

255 MW Missouri River Energy Services

Watertown Operations Office

Watertown Operations Office

Systems Operations Staff

24 hours/day, 365 days/year

Rotating Shifts – 12/10/8’s

14 week rotation

28 System Operators

2 Outage Coordinators

3 Operation Support Specialists

2 Trainers

2 Supervisors (Transmission & Generation

Watertown Operations Office

Generation Dispatch

Presently a Balancing Authority in Two Control Areas

Upper Great Plains East (WAUE)

Upper Great Plains West (WAUW)

212 Control Area Interconnections

The SPP will become our BA in the East as part of our transition to SPP membership

Watertown Operations Office

Transmission Dispatch

Responsible for the Real Time Operation

of the Bulk Electric System (BES)

Transmission Operator for over 9800 miles of

Transmission Lines and over 200 Substations

Coordination with neighboring TOPs, GOs,

GOPs and the MISO, SPP, and the Peak

Reliability RCs

Upper Great Plains Compliance

Registered Entity with the Midwest

Reliability Organization (MRO) & the

Western Electricity Coordination Council

(WECC)

3-Year Audit Cycle

Audits Jointly Conducted On-Site & Off-Site by

MRO & WECC

Upper Great Plains Compliance

Currently Registered with NERC as:

Balancing Authority (BA)

Transmission Owner (TO)

Transmission Operator (TOP)

Transmission Planner (TP)

Load Serving Entity (LSE)

Purchasing Selling Entity (PSE)

Transmission Service Provider (TSP)

Resource Planner (RP)

Planning Authority (PA)

Interchange Authority (IA)

Upper Great Plains Compliance

After we become a member of SPP and

the approval of the proposed 2015 Changes

to the NERC Rules of Procedure…..

We will no longer be registered as a

Purchasing-Selling Entity (PSE)

Interchange Authority (IA)

Load-Serving Entity (LSE).

Upper Great Plains Compliance

SPP will become our Reliability Coordinator, Balancing Authority, Transmission Service Provider, and Planning Coordinator – WAUE

SPP will become our Planning Authority and Transmission Service Provider - WAUW

UGP will remain within the MRO & WECC Regional Reliability Organization Footprints.

Upper Great Plains Compliance

Our Future Registered Functions will be…

Balancing Authority (BA) (WAUW)

Transmission Owner (TO)

Transmission Operator (TOP)

Transmission Planner (TP)

Resource Planner (RP)

UGP Internal Compliance Program

UGP Internal Compliance Program

To Ensure the Bulk Electric System within the

Upper Great Plains Region is Operated in a

Reliable and Stable Manner Which is Compliant

with NERC and Regional Reliability Standards.

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Ensure the Upper Great Plains Region is

Prepared to Provide the Necessary Information

to NERC, MRO, and WECC to Support the

Position that the Region is in Compliance with all

Applicable Reliability Standards.

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Senior Vice President for UGP - Ultimately

responsible for our compliance and the

Program within the Region

Vice President for UGP Operations –

Delegated the responsibility for compliance

within the Region

Compliance Manager – Responsible for

administration of the Program within the

Region

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Emphasis is placed on….

Documentation and Compliance Evidence

Review

Compliance Monitoring

Investigation of Possible Compliance Issues

Prompt Mitigation of Compliance Violations

UGP Internal Compliance Program

In the event of an investigation by FERC,

NERC, MRO, or WECC, or an internal

investigation associated with a compliance

issue, our ICP requires full cooperation by

UGP personnel.

Employees reporting or providing information

related to a suspected or sustained

compliance violation are not subject to

retaliation in any manner.

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Compliance Program Staff consists of

Regional Compliance Manager

Reliability Standards Owners & SMEs

Operations

Maintenance

Transmission Planning

Information Technology

Maintenance Compliance Specialist

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Staff serve on various MRO Committees

Board of Directors

Operating Committee

Compliance Committee

Standards Committee

Planning Committee

NSRF

PROs

Standards Application Guide Teams

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Staff actively participate on various groups

MRO Compliance & Reliability Workshops

Mid-Continent Compliance Forum (MCCF)

WECC Compliance User Group (CUG)

WECC CIP User Group (CIPUG)

North American Transmission Forum (NATF)

UGP Internal Compliance Program

Western Reliability Standard Compliance

Team (RSCT)

Membership consists of the Compliance

Managers from each of Western’s four

Regional Offices.

Promote a Western-wide approach to

compliance policies and procedures

whenever possible.

Western Compliance Re-Organization

Decision made to re-frame the structure of

the Western Reliability Compliance

Program.

Centralized Framework administered from

Corporate Services Office.

Consolidates NERC Compliance into

Western’s Enterprise Risk Program

Questions

Mark Buchholz

Upper Great Plains Region

Compliance Manager

605-882-7550 (w)

605-461-1427 (c)