NERC argues for greater coordination, review of emergency response plans nationwide

In its GridEx V after-action report, released this week, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) recommended that all utilities and reliability coordinators review their emergency response plans and push collaboration with governments, with an eye on grid security.

The report stems from a two-day exercise held with 7,000 participants across North America last year, well before the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic crisis. According to NERC, the event managed to achieve six of its seven objectives: exercise incident response plans, expand local and regional response, engage critical interdependencies, improve communication, engage senior leadership and gather lessons learned. The only area it achieved less than full success was in trying to increase supply chain participation.

“Each GridEx is an important milestone in the ongoing cyber and physical security training of industry members and government partners,” Manny Cancel, NERC senior vice president and E-ISAC CEO, said. “This report notes the success of GridEx V and starts the planning process in earnest for GridEx VI as an enhancement to its predecessor.”

From those successes, GridEx V recommended that the country’s natural gas providers and pipeline operators begin incorporating restoration planning and drills, enhancing coordination with communications providers, reaching an agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy as to the design, issuance and liability protections for grid security emergency orders issued by the Federal Power Act and strengthening operational industry and government coordination between the United States and Canada.