Updates
April 02, 2020
April 2020 Newsletter Posted
The NATF's latest external newsletter, now available on our newsletters page, highlights the following topics:
- Coronavirus Planning and Response
- NATF's 100th Peer Review
- NATF Begins Pilot Collaborations with NERC, RF, and SERC
- NATF Leads Industry Coordination and Alignment on Supply Chain Cyber Security
- Protection System Misoperations Analysis Annual Report
- NATF and EPRI Team Up for Equipment Reliability
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
March 31, 2020
Coronavirus Planning and Response
At the NATF, our top priority is the health and safety of our staff and members. To help inform our decisions during this coronavirus pandemic, we have been working closely with our members and tracking updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local authorities. In response, the NATF has taken specific actions to limit potential exposure for staff and members and has initiated specific coordination and information-sharing mechanisms to assist member planning and response.
Member Support
NATF member companies are evaluating and implementing their pandemic plans and taking actions to limit potential exposure for their employees. The NATF is facilitating information-exchange mechanisms to assist the membership in this regard, such as the following:
- Weekly webinars hosted by our System Operations Practices Group
- Sharing of information, approaches, and practices
- Topics have included response plans, operator staffing (safety/health, shift rotation, location, etc.), family support, and coordination of field personnel
- Page on our member site
- Discussion boards
- Member practices
- Resource links
External Coordination
The NATF has been in close contact with industry partners during this time to discuss potential coordination, reduce duplication of effort, and deconflict pandemic-response webinars.
Office and Travel
The NATF office is closed until further notice, and all staff are working from home. NATF travel is cancelled through at least May 1.
Meeting and Events
We have postponed our near-term events (listed below). We will work with members and our industry partners to reschedule when appropriate.
- NATF-EPRI-NERC Transmission Resiliency Summit
- Peer Review (April)
- Risk Controls Compliance and Security Workshops
- Peer Review (May)
- System Protection Practices Group Workshop
- Metrics Face-to-Face Meeting
- NATF-NERC-EPRI Planning and Modeling Workshop
Our regularly scheduled webinars will continue as planned. The NATF membership is adept at exchanging information and sharing lessons learned during virtual meetings, and these interactions will be even more valuable as we deal with current circumstances.
The NATF will continue to support members and the industry in whatever capacity possible.February 03, 2020
NATF Launches Industry Coordination Webpage
Today, the NATF launched the “Supply Chain Cyber Security Industry Coordination” web page under a new “Industry Initiatives” section of the site. The supply chain cyber security industry coordination page provides information on the collaborative work conducted by NATF subject-matter experts, industry organizations (including trade and forums), key suppliers, and third-party assessors on this important topic.
January 13, 2020
January 2020 Newsletter Posted
The NATF's latest external newsletter, now available on our newsletters page, highlights the following topics:
- NATF Marks Tenth Anniversary as an Independent Corporation
- Cyber Security and Supply Chain Guidance Posted
- Equipment Problem Coding Document Posted
- NATF Adds New Equipment-Sharing Program
- Workshops and Meetings
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
January 01, 2020
NATF Marks Tenth Anniversary as an Independent Corporation
Following the August 2003 blackout that impacted systems in the midwestern and northeastern United States and Ontario, Canada, several major transmission owners and operators met to discuss ways to improve reliability. Other organizations joined the original group to form the Transmission Owners and Operators Forum within the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to “…improve the reliability and security of the bulk power system by facilitating the pursuit of operational excellence through a forum where transmission owners and operators can identify and exchange information on best practices for reliable operations, evaluate their own performances against those best practices, disseminate lessons learned from disturbances and near misses, and facilitate the utilization of such information in a timely manner, among other things.”
To promote increased candor and opportunities for peer challenge, members decided to become independent from NERC and, on January 1, 2010, began operating as the North American Transmission Forum, Inc., a nonprofit 501(c)(6) organization. Since 2010, the NATF has grown to over 160 members and affiliate organizations representing about 80% of the transmission circuit miles rated at 200 kV and above in the United States and Canada.
Today, the NATF is a leader in the transmission industry through its programs to enable member collaboration and information sharing for continuous improvement and its work—both independently and through numerous partnerships—to address emerging industry risks and challenges.December 20, 2019
Cyber Security and Supply Chain Guidance Posted
The “NATF Transient Cyber Asset Guidance” and “NATF Vendor Remote Access Guidance” documents have been posted to the NATF public website for industry use.
“NATF Transient Cyber Asset Guidance” describes practices and provides examples of approaches for using transient cyber assets in compliance with CIP-010 R4. “NATF Vendor Remote Access Guidance” describes practices and provides examples for determining and disabling active vendor remote access sessions, which can serve as considerations and potential approaches for implementing the requirements in CIP-005-6 R2 parts 2.4 and 2.5.
Both documents have been submitted to NERC for consideration as Implementation Guidance as approaches to comply with the related standards.December 20, 2019
Equipment Problem Coding Document Posted
The “NATF Equipment Problem Coding Process Reference Document” has been posted to the NATF public website for industry use.
The document provides a standard framework for coding the nature of field-observed equipment failures and problems of in-service equipment. Standardized recording of equipment issues enables better analysis and data sharing and maximizes the usefulness of historical data.
October 22, 2019
NATF Job Opening: Program Manager
The North American Transmission Forum (NATF) has posted an opening for a program manager - practices.
Please see the following link for the job description: Program Manager - Practices
To apply, please send your resume to info@natf.net.
October 10, 2019
October 2019 Newsletter Posted
The NATF's latest external newsletter, now available on our newsletters page, highlights the following topics:
- NATF Grid Security Emergency Work
- NATF Role in Mitigating Supply Chain Cyber Security Risks
- Workshops and Meetings
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
August 12, 2019
NATF Posts Cyber Security Supply Chain Criteria and Application Guide
The NATF has posted the “NATF Cyber Security Supply Chain Criteria for Suppliers” and “NATF Cyber Security Supply Chain Criteria Application Guide” to its public website for industry use.
These NATF criteria were developed to support the risk management strategies outlined in the “NATF Cyber Security Supply Chain Risk Management Guidance.” A suppliers' performance to the NATF criteria is an indication of a supplier's cyber security practices when suppling products or services supporting reliable operation of the Bulk Electric System (BES), and are data inputs into an entity's risk analysis for the supplier. As outlined in the guidance document, an entity’s cyber security supply chain risk management will support informed purchase decisions from a supply chain cyber security perspective.
The NATF will continue its collaborative efforts to build on the criteria to identify effective and efficient supply chain cyber security solutions.
July 01, 2019
June 2019 Newsletter Posted
The NATF posted a new issue of its external newsletter on the newsletters page. Articles include:
- NERC Endorses NATF Cyber Security Supply Chain Guidance
- NATF, NERC, and EPRI Host Joint Modeling and Planning Workshop
- NATF CEO Participates in UTC Conference and EISC Summit Panels
- Workshops and Meetings
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
June 24, 2019
NERC Endorses NATF Cyber Security Supply Chain Guidance
The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) recently endorsed the “NATF CIP-013-1 Implementation Guidance” document as “ERO Enterprise-Endorsed Implementation Guidance.” The document—which describes one way a registered entity could comply with CIP-013-1 Requirement R1 and, subsequently, CIP-013-1 Requirement R2—is posted on the NATF public documents and NERC compliance guidance pages.
June 20, 2019
NATF, NERC, and EPRI Host Modeling and Planning Workshop
The NATF, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) held a joint workshop focusing on bulk power system (BPS) modeling and planning on June 18-19 in Novi, Michigan. NATF member ITC Holdings hosted the event, where industry experts discussed the following topics:
- Modeling and studies of the impacts of distributed energy resources on BPS reliability
- Modeling and studies of BPS-connected inverter-based resources
- Electromagnetic transient modeling and studies
- Node-breaker modeling improvements
- Cascading analysis techniques and studies
- Conventional transmission planning study improvements
- NERC standards updates relevant to transmission planning
Workshop presentation materials are available on the NERC website.
April 08, 2019
April 2019 Newsletter Posted
The NATF posted a new issue of its external newsletter on the newsletters page. Articles include:
- NATF Posts Document to Assist Industry with PRC-026-1 Tools
- NATF and NERC Sign Updated MOU
- NATF, NERC, and DOE Conduct Joint Human Performance Conference
- NATF Partners with EPRI and NERC on Resiliency Summit
- NATF CEO Participates in FERC-DOE Security Technical Conference
- Workshops and Meetings
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
March 26, 2019
NATF and NERC Sign Updated MOU at Joint Human Performance Conference
North American Transmission Forum (NATF) President and CEO Tom Galloway and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) President and CEO Jim Robb marked the start of this week’s human performance conference and workshops by signing an updated memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the two organizations. The MOU is designed to facilitate collaboration and leverage respective and collective strengths to identify existing and emerging risks, prioritize actions, and implement mitigation strategies to advance the reliability, resilience, and security of the Bulk Power System.
“The NATF and NERC recognize the importance of efficient and effective coordination and collaboration in this time of unprecedented industry change,” said Galloway. “This MOU will support our shared goals of identifying and addressing risks and advancing reliability, resilience, and security objectives.”
The conference—a collaborative effort among the NATF, NERC, and the Department of Energy—embodies the goals of the MOU by bringing together industry experts in a cooperative forum to share best practices to help improve human performance on the Bulk Power System.
March 12, 2019
NATF Posts Document to Assist Industry with PRC-026-1 Tools
The NATF has posted the “Relay Performance During Stable Power Swings (PRC-026-1) Evaluation Tools Reference Document” to our public website for industry use.
NERC Reliability Standard PRC-026-1, “Relay Performance During Stable Power Swings,” requires utilities to evaluate the performance of various load-responsive protective relays in response to stable power swings during non-fault conditions. Impedance-based relays are evaluated against a power swing region defined by the standard. This evaluation is unlike any analysis currently performed when setting most impedance-based relays. Thus, new power swing analysis functions are needed within commercial protection system analysis tools, or utilities must develop custom calculators using general-purpose spreadsheets or engineering calculation software.
This document lists functional attributes for either type of tool. Tool developers may reference this list when developing software requirements specifications.
January 07, 2019
January 2019 Newsletter Posted
The NATF posted a new issue of its external newsletter on the newsletters page. Articles include:
- TPL-001-4 Reference Document Posted for Industry
- NATF CEO Testifies on Blackstart at Senate Committee Hearing
- 2018 External Coordination Highlights
- Joint Resiliency Summit (NATF, EPRI, and NERC)
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
December 12, 2018
TPL-001-4 Reference Document Posted for Industry
The NATF has posted version 3.0 of the “NATF TPL-001-4 Reference Document” to our public website for the benefit of the industry.
The document provides guidance regarding the use of consistent, industry-wide approaches to certain topics in NERC standard TPL-001-4. The goal of sharing this information externally is to support responsible Transmission Planners and Planning Coordinators with the various transmission system planning analyses as called for under TPL-001-4, thus enhancing the reliable planning and operation of the entire Bulk Electric System.
October 12, 2018
NATF CEO Testifies on Blackstart at Senate Committee Hearing
NATF President and CEO Tom Galloway served on a panel of experts and provided testimony during the October 11 Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on blackstart, which involves the process of energizing system components following a widespread blackout without support from the grid, and other system restoration plans.
In his written testimony, Galloway noted the significant industry efforts to preserve high levels of grid reliability and resiliency and improve restoration from broad-scope outages, including educating the industry and regulators on resiliency threats, hardening the bulk power system, ensuring adequacy of key spares, augmenting mutual aid, enhancing restoration planning, conducting comprehensive drills and exercises, and increasing coordination with cross-sector (e.g. gas and water) and governmental entities.
October 02, 2018
October 2018 Newsletter Posted
The NATF posted a new issue of its external newsletter on the newsletters page. Articles include:
- External Modeling Reference Document Posted for Industry
- Cyber Security Supply Chain Risk Management White Paper and Guidance
- Redacted Operating Experience Reports
- New MOU with the Utilities Technology Council
- NATF CEO Participates in FERC Technical Conference
- Program Overview: Assistance
- Program Update: Peer Reviews
- Workshops and Meetings