132 FERC ¶ 61,027 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

18 CFR Parts 38 and 40 

(Docket Nos. RM08-19-003, RM05-5-019; 

Order No. 729-B) 

Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Calculation of Available Transfer Capability, 

Capacity Benefit Margins, Transmission Reliability Margins, Total Transfer Capability, 

and Existing Transmission Commitments; Mandatory Reliability Standards for the BulkPower System; and Standards for Business Practices and Communications Protocols for 

Public Utilities 

(Issued July 15, 2010) 

AGENCY: Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

ACTION: Order on Rehearing and Reconsideration. 

SUMMARY: In this order, the Commission grants several requests for rehearing of 

Order No. 729-A, which, inter alia, provided clarification of the implementation timeline 

for the six Modeling Data, and Analysis Reliability Standards submitted by the North 

American Electric Reliability Corporation and approved by the Commission in Order 

No. 729. As discussed below, the Commission grants rehearing on the implementation 

timeline. In addition, the Commission is revising the implementation deadline for 

compliance with the related North American Energy Standards Board business practice 

standards incorporated by reference in Order No. 676-E, so that the deadlines for 

compliance with the requirements of Order Nos. 729 and 676-E remain consistent. 

EFFECTIVE DATE: This rule will become effective [30 days after publication in the 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. ii 

 

FEDERAL REGISTER]. Accordingly, the North American Electric Reliability 

Corporation Reliability Standards approved in Order No. 729 shall be implemented on 

April 1, 2011. The related North American Energy Standards Board business practice 

standards shall be implemented on the same date as the Reliability Standards, as 

discussed below. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Cory Lankford (Legal Information) 

Office of the General Counsel 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-6711 

Christopher Young (Technical Information)

Office of Electric Reliability 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-6403 

Valerie Roth (Technical Information) 

Office of Energy Policy Innovations 

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 

888 First Street, NE 

Washington, DC 20426 

(202) 502-8538 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
 

132 FERC ¶ 61,027 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Before Commissioners: Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman; 

 Marc Spitzer, Philip D. Moeller, 

 John R. Norris, and Cheryl A. LaFleur. 

Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Calculation of 

Available Transfer Capability, Capacity Benefit 

Margins, Transmission Reliability Margins, Total 

Transfer Capability, and Existing Transmission 

Commitments; Mandatory Reliability Standards for the 

Bulk-Power System 

Standards for Business Practices and Communication 

Protocols for Public Utilities 

Docket Nos. RM08-19-003 

RM05-5-019 

ORDER NO. 729-B 

ORDER ON REHEARING AND RECONSIDERATION 

(Issued July 15, 2010) 

1. In this order, the Commission grants several requests for rehearing of Order 

No. 729-A, which, inter alia, provided clarification of the implementation timeline for six 

Modeling Data, and Analysis (MOD) Reliability Standards submitted by the North 

American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and approved by the Commission in 

Order No. 729.1

 As discussed below, the Commission grants rehearing on the 

(continued)

1 Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Calculation of Available Transfer 

Capability, Capacity Benefit Margins, Transmission Reliability Margins, Total Transfer 

Capability, and Existing Transmission Commitments and Mandatory Reliability 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 2 - 

 

implementation timeline. In addition, the Commission is revising the implementation 

deadline for compliance with the related North American Energy Standards Board 

(NAESB) business practice standards incorporated by reference in Order No. 676-E, 2

 so 

that the deadlines for compliance with the requirements of Order Nos. 729 and 676-E 

remain consistent. 

I. Background

2. On November 24, 2009, the Commission issued Order No. 729, which approved 

six MOD Reliability Standards submitted to the Commission by the North American 

Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), the Commission-certified Electric Reliability 

Organization (ERO) for the United States.3

 The approved Reliability Standards pertain 

to methodologies for the consistent and transparent calculation of available transfe

capability or available flowgate capability. Pursuant to section 215(d)(5) of the Federal 

Power Act (FPA),

r 

 

4

 the Commission directed the ERO to develop certain modifications to 

Standards for the Bulk-Power System, Order No. 729, 129 FERC ¶ 61,155 (2009), order 

on reh’g, Order No. 729-A, 131 FERC ¶ 61,109 (2010). 

2 Standards for Business Practices and Communication Protocol for Public 

Utilities, Order No. 676-E, 74 FR 63288 (Dec. 3, 2009), FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299, 

at P 126 (Nov. 24, 2009). 

3 North American Electric Reliability Corp., 116 FERC ¶ 61,062, order on reh’g 

& compliance, 117 FERC ¶ 61,126 (2006), aff’d sub nom. Alcoa Inc. v. FERC, 564 F.3d 

1342 (D.C. Cir. 2009). 

4

 16 U.S.C. § 824o(d)(5) (2006). 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 3 - 

 

the MOD Reliability Standards. The Commission also directed NERC to retire the 

existing MOD Reliability Standards replaced by the versions approved in the Final Rule 

once the new versions became effective. 

3. On the same date, the Commission issued Order No. 676-E, which revised the 

Commission’s regulations to incorporate by reference in its regulations the latest version 

(Version 002.1) of certain business practice standards adopted by the Wholesale Electric 

Quadrant (WEQ) of NAESB. In addition, the Commission directed public utilities to file 

any necessary tariff revisions, including any revisions to Attachment C to their Open 

Access Transmission Tariff (OATT), at least ninety days before the prescribed date of 

compliance with the revised business practice standards, which was meant to be 

coincident with the implementation date for compliance with the MOD Reliability 

Standards approved in Order No. 729. 

II. Discussion

4. In Order No. 729, the Commission directed that the Reliability Standards become 

effective according to the schedule proposed by the ERO.5

 Thus, the Commission stated 

that the MOD Reliability Standards shall become effective on the first calendar quarter 

that is twelve months beyond the date that the Reliability Standards are approved “by all 

 5

 Order No. 729, 129 FERC ¶ 61,155 at P 95. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 4 - 

 

 

applicable regulatory authorities.”6

 The Commission found that this implementation 

schedule struck a reasonable balance between the need for timely reform and the needs of 

transmission service providers and transmission operators to make adjustments to their 

calculations of available transfer capability, capacity benefit margin and transfer reserve 

margin. In response to comments on its notice of proposed rulemaking, the Commission 

clarified that, under this plan, the Reliability Standards shall become effective on the first 

day of the first quarter occurring 365 days after approval by all applicable regulatory 

authorities. Approval by the Commission would be effective 60 days after the date of 

publication of the Final Rule in the Federal Register.

7

 

5. Order No. 676-E set the implementation date for compliance with the NAESB 

business practice standards coincident with the implementation date of the MOD 

Reliability Standards approved in Order No. 729. Accordingly, public utilities subject to 

the NAESB business practice standards were directed to comply with these Version 

002.1 business practice standards as of the first day of the first quarter occurring 365 days 

after approval of the MOD Reliability Standards by all applicable regulatory authorities. 

Implementation of some of the NAESB business standards will require tariff revisions. 

The Commission also directed public utilities to submit necessary tariff revisions, 

6 Id. 

7 Id. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 5 - 

 

 

including any revisions to Attachment C of their OATT, at least ninety days before the 

prescribed date for compliance with the revised standards. 

6. In response to several requests for clarification, the Commission issued Order 

No. 729-A, which, among other things, clarified the implementation timeline of the MOD 

Reliability Standards. Again, the Commission accepted the clarification offered by the 

ERO in its comments and clarified that the Reliability Standards shall become effective 

within the United States on the first day of the first quarter occurring 365 days after Order 

No. 729 was published in the Federal Register, i.e., January 1, 2011.8

 

7. The Commission also recognized that compliance with these MOD Reliability 

Standards requires an exchange of information and data among neighboring transmission 

service providers. The Commission stated that, in some instances, a transmission service 

provider within the United States may need to exchange information and data with a 

neighboring transmission service provider located in a jurisdiction where the Reliability 

Standard is not yet enforceable, such as some Canadian provinces. In this situation, the 

Commission determined that the transmission service provider within the United States 

must share information with the transmission service provider located in another 

jurisdiction pursuant to the requirements of the MOD Reliability Standards. But, the 

Commission clarified, the transmission service providers and transmission operators 

8

 Order No. 729-A, 131 FERC ¶ 61,109 at P 7. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 6 - 

 

within the continental United States who must rely on information and data from utilities 

located in another country to comply with these Reliability Standards shall not be 

penalized solely for the failure of a utility located in another jurisdiction to provide such 

information and data, until such time that the MOD Reliability Standards become 

mandatory in that foreign jurisdiction. 

Requests for Rehearing

8. Several petitioners requested rehearing of the clarified implementation schedule. 

Bonneville Power Administration (Bonneville), the Large Public Power Council (LPPC), 

Southwest Area Transmission Subregional Planning Group (SWAT), and WestConnect 

request a July 1, 2011, implementation date. Bonneville suggests that the Commission do 

this by clarifying that the effective date of the MOD Reliability Standards is the first day 

of the first quarter occurring 365 days after publication of Order No. 729-A in the 

Federal Register, i.e., July 1, 2011. By contrast, LPPC and WestConnect argue that their 

members reasonably presumed a July 1, 2011, implementation date when the Canadian 

authorities failed to approve the MOD Reliability Standards within three months of the 

Commission’s approval and have been acting in reliance of that date. SWAT simply 

states that a July 1, 2011, effective date is consistent with the notice given to industry in 

Order No. 729 and that for the sake of the reliable operation of the Bulk-Power System 

and efficient and orderly implementation of the new MOD Reliability Standards, the 

effective date in the United States should be set as July 1, 2011. If the Commission 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 7 - 

 

rejects the proposed July 1, 2011, effective date, all of these petitioners request, in the 

alternative, that the Commission set the effective date no earlier than April 1, 2011, 

which is the first day of the first quarter occurring 365 days after Commission approval 

of the MOD Reliability Standards. 

9. Other petitioners advocate for an April 1, 2011, effective date. Midwest 

Independent Transmission System Operation, Inc. (MISO), NorthWestern Corp. 

(NorthWestern), PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. 

(SPP) argue that they have relied upon April 1, 2011, as the earliest possible effective 

date of the MOD Reliability Standards. MISO argues that Order No. 729-A’s 

acceleration of the Order No. 729 compliance deadline is unexpected, unnecessary, and 

likely to impose unreasonable burdens on responsible entities who planned for 

compliance no earlier than April 1, 2011. PJM also contends that it has expended 

resources in reliance upon an April 1, 2011, effective date and that an accelerated 

effective date creates a substantial hardship for PJM. Accordingly, these petitioners urge 

the Commission to grant rehearing and set April 1, 2011, as the effective date for the 

MOD Reliability Standards. 

10. In support of their arguments, petitioners comment on how the effective dates for 

other requirements are linked to the implementation schedule of the MOD Reliability 

Standards. MISO, NorthWestern, SWAT and Westconnect state that Order No. 729 

aligned the effective date of the MOD Reliability Standards with the effective date of the 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 8 - 

 

NAESB WEQ business practice standards Version 002.1. MISO and Northwestern also 

point out that, in Order No. 676-E, the Commission directed utilities to file a revised 

Attachment C to their Open Access Transmission Tariff (OATT) on or before 275 days 

after approval of the MOD Reliability Standards. These petitioners argue that the 

Commission’s decision in Order No. 729-A to accelerate the implementation of the MOD 

Reliability Standards has disrupted the coordinated implementation of the NAESB 

business practice standards and the OATT Attachment C revisions. 

11. In addition, MISO expresses concern about the Commission’s statement in Order 

No. 729-A that transmission service providers within the United States who rely upon 

information and data from transmission service providers within Canadian provinces to 

comply with these Reliability Standards shall not be penalized solely for the failure of a 

utility located in another jurisdiction to provide such information and data, until such 

time that the MOD Reliability Standards become effective in that foreign jurisdiction. 

MISO expresses concerns that the last clause of this statement could be read to mean that 

once the standards have become mandatory in Canada, transmission operators within the 

United States could be subjected to penalties if the Canadian transmission operators fail, 

for whatever reason, to supply the information mandated by the Reliability Standards. 

Accordingly, MISO requests clarification that Order No. 729-A did not create automatic 

liability for transmission operators that comply with their own data requirements, but do 

not receive needed data from other transmission operators. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 9 - 

 

12. Finally, MISO requests that the Commission act expeditiously and issue an order 

on rehearing by July 1, 2010. MISO states that the compliance deadline under the Order 

No. 729-A framework, i.e., September 9, 2010, is rapidly approaching. MISO argues that 

expedited action will provide MISO and others with needed certainty and allow them to 

schedule their compliance efforts accordingly. 

Commission Determination

13. Upon further consideration, the Commission has determined that the 

implementation schedule of the MOD Reliability Standards should be keyed to the date 

of approval of the Reliability Standards, as originally contemplated in Order No. 729, and 

not the date of publication of Order No. 729 in the Federal Register. Accordingly, the 

Commission grants rehearing of its determination in Order No. 729-A and directs that the 

MOD Reliability Standards shall become effective within the United States as of the first 

day of the first quarter occurring 365 days after their approval by the Commission, i.e., 

April 1, 2011. 

14. Thus, the Commission rejects arguments raised by Bonneville, LPPC, SWAT and 

WestConnect that the implementation of the MOD Reliability Standards should be 

delayed because the original implementation plan contemplated approval of all applicable 

regulatory authorities, including certain Canadian provinces, and those entities did not act 

within the same quarter as the Commission. It is unclear whether and when the Canadian 

provinces will act on these MOD Reliability Standards. This uncertainty is the reason 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 10 - 

 

 

why the Commission granted clarification in Order No. 729-A. Although the 

Commission appreciates that industry acted in reliance of the original implementation 

plan, we believe that the most reasonable clarification of the Commission’s directive in 

Order No. 729 is to make the MOD Reliability Standards effective within the United 

States on the first day of the first quarter occurring 365 days following approval by the 

Commission, i.e., April 1, 2011. 

15. When the Commission issued Order No. 676-E, it purposely set an 

implementation timeline for compliance with the NAESB business practice standards that 

was identical to the one prescribed in Order No. 729 for the related NERC reliability 

standards.9

 In this order and in Order No. 729-A, the Commission has modified the 

compliance schedule for the MOD Reliability Standards such that it no longer matches 

the compliance schedule for the WEQ Version 002.1 Business Practice Standards that the 

Commission incorporated by reference in Order No. 676-E. Thus, to maintain the 

consistency that the Commission determined was appropriate in Order Nos. 676-E and 

729, we will modify the compliance deadline that we prescribed in Order No. 676-E to 

match the compliance deadline that we are prescribing for the MOD Reliability Standards 

9 See Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299 at P 126; Order No. 729 at 

P 95. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 11 - 

 

 

within the continental United States.10 Thus, the NAESB business practice standards 

shall become effective on the same date as the MOD Reliability Standards. 

16. Consistent with our determination in Order No. 676-E, public utilities shall file 

any necessary tariff revisions, including any revisions to Attachment C of their OATT, at 

least ninety days before the prescribed date for compliance with the revised NAESB 

business practice standards.11 Consistent with our prior practice, if a public utility fails to 

file the required tariff revisions prior to the compliance date, it nonetheless must abide by 

the NAESB Version 002.1 WEQ standards even before it has updated its tariff to 

incorporate these changes. 

17. In response to MISO’s request, the Commission clarifies that Order No. 729-A 

did not create automatic liability for transmission operators that comply with their own 

data requirements, but do not receive needed data from other transmission operators. The 

Commission intended, in Order No. 729-A, to clarify that to the extent transmission 

providers within the United States rely on information provided by transmission 

providers in other countries to complete their calculations of available transfer or 

flowgate capability, and the transmission providers in other countries do not provide 

10 In contrast to the compliance dates the Commission is establishing for the 

NERC MOD Reliability Standards, the compliance date for the WEQ Version 002.1 

Business Practice Standards do not establish a separate compliance date for transactions 

outside of the continental United States. 

11 Order No. 676-E, FERC Stats. & Regs. ¶ 31,299 at P 128. 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 12 - 

 

sufficiently transparent information for the transmission providers within the United 

States to complete their implementation documents, the transmission operators within the 

United States would not violate the MOD Reliability Standards approved in Order 

No. 729 as a result of that lack of information from counterparts in other countries. 

III. Information Collection Statement

18. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) regulations require that OMB 

approve certain information collection requirements imposed by an agency.12 The 

revisions to the information collection requirements for transmission service providers 

and transmission operators adopted in Order No. 729 were approved under OMB Control 

No. 1902-0244. This order clarifies these requirements in order to more clearly state the 

obligations imposed in Order No. 729, but does not substantively alter those 

requirements. OMB approval of this order is therefore unnecessary. However, the 

Commission will send a copy of this order to OMB for informational purposes only. 

IV. Document Availability

19. In addition to publishing the full text of this document in the Federal Register, the 

Commission provides all interested persons an opportunity to view and/or print the 

contents of this document via the Internet through FERC's Home Page 

(http://www.ferc.gov) and in FERC's Public Reference Room during normal business 

 12 5 CFR 1320 (2010). 
Docket No. RM08-19-003, et al. - 13 - 

 

hours (8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern time) at 888 First Street, NE, Room 2A, 

Washington DC 20426. 

20. From FERC's Home Page on the Internet, this information is available on 

eLibrary. The full text of this document is available on eLibrary in PDF and Microsoft 

Word format for viewing, printing, and/or downloading. To access this document in 

eLibrary, type the docket number excluding the last three digits of this document in the 

docket number field. 

21. User assistance is available for eLibrary and the FERC’s website during normal 

business hours from FERC Online Support at (202) 502-6652 (toll free at 1-866-208-

3676) or email at ferconlinesupport@ferc.gov, or the Public Reference Room at (202) 

502-8371, TTY (202) 502-8659. E-mail the Public Reference Room at 

public.referenceroom@ferc.gov. 

V. Effective Date and Congressional Notification

22. Rehearings and clarifications adopted in this Order on Rehearing and 

Reconsideration will become effective [insert date that is 30 days from publication in 

Federal Register]. 

List of subjects in 18 CFR Parts 38 and 40 

By the Commission. Commissioner LaFleur voting present. 

( S E A L ) 

Kimberly D. Bose, 

Secretary.