CAISO To Replace Peak Reliability as Reliability Coordinator

The California grid operator plans to begin providing reliability coordination services in its territory and potentially to other interested balancing authorities in the western U.S. beginning in late 2019.

The California Independent System Operator announced its plan Jan. 2 in response to the expected departure of Mountain West Transmission Group from Peak Reliability and the resulting rise in the cost of Peak’s services. Mountain West includes about 10 electricity service providers that operate in the Rocky Mountain area where they serve more than 6 million customers.

“The ISO reluctantly takes these steps and will collaborate with the rest of funding parties to ensure continuity of reliability services and to avoid any party being adversely affected financially,” said Steve Berberich, CAISO chief executive officer. “We will now seek to provide reliability coordinator services to our own system, as well as to other interested parties in the Western Interconnection.”

The grid operator said it expects to be able to begin providing reliability coordination services on September 2, 2019, after getting approvals from the North American Electric Reliability Council and Western Electricity Coordinating Council.

In the interim, Berberich said CAISO will work with Peak Reliability to provide for an orderly transition.

Reliability services entail assuring compliance with NERC and regional reliability standards, which requires oversight, risk monitoring, and taking action to preserve reliability when challenges arise. Reliability services also involve outage coordination and day-ahead planning.

Peak Reliability, which has been performing these services in California and the West, is a relatively new organization with offices in Vancouver, Washington, and Loveland, Colorado. It was formed as result of the bifurcation of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in 2014.

The Western Coordinating Council decided to split in 2012 to address a conflict of interest problem in how it was structured and governed. At that time, according to National American Electric Reliability Corp. Chair Gerry Cauley, the council and its members were to assure reliability of the West’s bulk electric system and at the same time enforce reliability standards on itself and its members.

The potential for conflict of interest was heightened by a governing board composed of member organizations that were themselves subject to regulation by the council.

The split divided the reliability management function—which was assigned to the new Peak Reliability organization—from the enforcement of standards, which remained with the council.

CAISO said that it will develop its plan to provide reliability services through an open stakeholder process that will begin with meetings slated for Jan. 17 in Folsom, Jan. 18 in Phoenix, and Jan. 19 in Portland. —William J. Kelly

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CAISO To Replace Peak Reliability as Reliability Coordinator

William J. Kelly

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