OUTAGE COORDINATION PROCESS

Transcription

1 OUTAGE COORDINATION PROCESS March 13, Classification: Public Page 0 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

2 Contents 1. Conventions Introduction Purpose Applicability Background Scope Outage Coordination Tool General Outage Submission Requirements and Responsibilities Outage Types Outage States Study and Assessment Requirements Operating Plan Requirements The Four Study Window Processes Planning Horizon to Operations Horizon Process Long-Range Study Window Process Short-Range Study Window Process Operational Planning Analysis (OPA) Window Process Same-Day and Real-Time Outage Update Requirements Revising and Rescheduling Outages Conflict Resolution Process Classification: Public Page 1 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

3 1. Conventions This document uses the following conventions: When a term from the NERC Glossary of Terms is used, the term will be capitalized. Examples include: Facility, Contingency, Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon. Outage types are capitalized and italicized. Examples include: Forced Automatic, Urgent, Planned. Outage states are capitalized and italicized. Examples include: BA Proposed, TOP Confirmed, RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified. 2. Introduction This document serves as the official for the Peak Reliability Coordinator (RC) Area. The is intended to address NERC Reliability. Throughout the, sections of the document list the various responsibilities for the Balancing Authority (BA), the Transmission Operator (TOP) and the RC. 3. Purpose The purpose of the document is to: Provide a process for coordination of transmission and generation outages within the Peak RC Area. Describe the applicable functional entity roles and responsibilities. Provide a mechanism to facilitate compliance with Standard IRO by ensuring outages are properly coordinated in the Operations Planning time horizon. Adherence to this process is intended to help achieve Bulk Electric System (BES) reliability under outage conditions and to minimize late-term cancellation of scheduled outages. 4. Applicability Peak Reliability s is applicable to the following entities within the Peak RC Area: Peak Reliability as the RC Balancing Authorities (BA) Transmission Operators (TOP) Classification: Public Page 2 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

4 Planning Coordinators (PC) Transmission Planners (TP) Detailed responsibilities for each functional entity are described within the Outage Coordination Process. BAs are expected to require Generator Owners (GO) and Generator Operators (GOP) to communicate outages to the BA as required to support the Outage Coordination Process. TOPs are expected to require Transmission Owners (TO) and BAs to communicate outages to the TOP as required to support the. Per IRO-017-1, PCs and TPs within the Peak RC Area are expected to provide their Planning Assessment to Peak Reliability. Each PC and TP is expected to identify issues or conflicts with Planned outages in its Planning Assessment for the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon. 5. Background During the development of this process, Peak collaborated with its stakeholders to ensure the would dovetail with existing TOP/BA processes as much as possible. Peak recognized that the process would mature over time, so efforts were made to ensure the process foundation was in place to allow for enhancements over time without requiring complete paradigm shifts. The answers the following questions: What are my responsibilities and obligations as a TOP or BA with regard to submitting planned and unplanned transmission and generation Facility/equipment outages? What is Peak Reliability s responsibility and obligation to process my submitted planned and unplanned outages? It is important to note that although this document does provide a process for coordinating outages, real-time system conditions will always take precedence over planned work. As such, Peak reminds its stakeholders that the RC, BA and TOP operators have the authority and responsibility granted to them by the Standards to make real-time decisions based on system conditions and that those decisions may supersede the functions specified in this. Classification: Public Page 3 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

5 Finally, Peak recommends that stakeholders refer to the following general guiding principles when implementing this : Coordination is more than checking boxes. In order to be successful, operating entities must work together effectively. There will be times when outages conflict with one another. Collaboration is key to ensuring the needs of the Interconnection as a whole are met, in order to ensure reliability. Consideration should be given to seasonal concerns when planning outages. Acceptable system performance must be maintained under outage conditions as per the Peak Reliability SOL Methodology for the Operations Horizon document. 6. Scope Consideration shall be given to the in-scope and out-of-scope outage categories listed below when submitting outages. What is meant by an in-scope outage category is that the item is subject to the coordination, study and submission requires stated in this process. Out-of-scope items are not subject to any of these coordination and study requirements. However there may be a need per Peak s IRO Data Specification to have some of those out-of-scope items submitted per the same timelines of the Outage Coordination Process. This does not imply that the item is now in-scope, just that it is needed per the submission timeline where indicated. So what that means for any out-of-scope item being request through the Peak IRO Data Specification is that is just needs to be submitted per the specified timeline. The item will not have to be coordinated or studied per the requirements of this process. For example, a generator derate is an out-of-scope item, that may be required for submittal per the same timelines as the. However, the generator derate will not have to be placed in the BA Confirmed or BA and TOP Confirmed state nor will the RC confirm the submittal in any of its study windows. In-Scope Outage Categories: BES transmission/generation Facilities. BES switching devices. BES voltage control equipment (BES/non-BES necessary for BES voltage control). BES Remedial Action Scheme (RAS), non-ras automatic schemes, or protection systems when functionality is affected (i.e., when normal fault clearing zones are impacted) or Contingency definitions are impacted. Classification: Public Page 4 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

6 Non-BES transmission or generation Facilities or equipment that are identified by the RC, TOP or BA as having an impact on the reliability of the BES. Out-of-Scope Outage Categories: Non-BES transmission/generation Facility/equipment Non-BES switching devices Generator derates Automatic Voltage Regulators (AVR) Power System Stabilizers (PSS) RAS (Including non-ras automatic actions) and protection systems when functionality is not affected or Contingency definitions are not impacted Telemetering equipment Peak s IRO Data Specification contains a list of the data Peak requires for its operations and operations planning needs. For some of these data items, the Coordinated Outage System (COS) is the mechanism for providing that data to Peak. COS is also the primary tool used to support the. Note that some of these data items where COS is the mechanism for providing that data may be out of scope for the. Note that submitting entities may provide Informational outage submissions at their discretion to communicate information that might improve situational awareness for enhanced reliability. For example, an entity may choose to submit an Informational outage if it is performing work on a back-up system of a high-impact RAS. 7. Outage Coordination Tool The Coordinated Outage System (COS) will be the primary tool used by Peak to collect and view data necessary to support the. It is expected that all entities required to submit outages per the submit those outages to COS either via the Web User Interface (WebUI) or the Application Programming Interface (API). If an entity currently has its own mechanisms for managing and coordinating outages (i.e. through another software tool, spreadsheets, s, etc.) those processes can continue. However, all outage data being requested as a part of the must be submitted per the timing requirements and must ultimately end up in COS. Each submitting entity is responsible for determining how best to do that for its respective Classification: Public Page 5 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

7 organization. The is designed to facilitate an entity s ability to use COS to obtain outage information from its neighbors for coordination purposes if it chooses to do so. Should COS become unavailable at any time during the, Peak will communicate information regarding an alternate means of submitting outage data. 8. General Outage Submission Requirements and Responsibilities Outages must be scheduled and submitted consistent with the Outage Coordination Process. When the refers to outage submission, it is understood that it is referring to outage submission to the RC COS tool. Outages are to be submitted for in-scope items. The remainder of the document assumes that submissions are applicable to in-scope items. Outage Submission Responsibility Outage submission is a TOP and BA responsibility. TOPs are responsible for submission of transmission outages, and BAs are responsible for submission of generation outages. Reference the Outage Types section of this document for submission requirements specific to each outage type. Reference the COS Manual for detailed information on how to submit outages to COS. TOP General Outage Submission Responsibilities 1. The TOP that operates a given Facility/equipment is responsible for submitting transmission outages for that Facility/equipment. Outage submission responsibility is not a function of Facility/equipment ownership. 2. The allows a TOP to delegate its responsibility of submitting transmission outages to another NERC-registered functional entity (for example, the equipment owner (the TO)), provided the decision is mutual, i.e. both entities agree, and is documented and supplied to the RC. Such arrangements for the submission of outages do not absolve the TOP of other obligations related to the. 3. For jointly operated transmission Facilities/equipment, it is the responsibility of the TOP performing work to submit the outage. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for more information on TOP responsibilities for jointly operated Facilities. If both TOPs are performing separate work on the jointly operated Facility, then both TOPs will be required to submit an outage for the work they are performing on that equipment. Classification: Public Page 6 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

8 a. Example TOP A needs an outage on a transmission line that ties TOP A s area with TOP B s area. TOP A is responsible for submitting the outage. b. Example TOP A needs an outage on a transmission line that ties TOP A s area with TOP B s area. TOP B decides to perform some maintenance on its own Facilities during that outage. TOP A is responsible for submitting an outage for their work. TOP B is also responsible for submitting an outage for the work they are performing. In other words, there will be two outage submittals for the same equipment. 4. When a Forced Automatic or Forced Emergency outage occurs on a jointly operated Facility, the associated TOPs are expected to coordinate and agree on who will submit the outage to COS. It is acceptable for this coordination and agreement to happen when the Forced Automatic or Forced Emergency outage occurs. The expectation is that one of the two TOPs submits the Forced Automatic or Forced Emergency outage to COS. 5. If a transmission outage necessitates or results in a generator outage or reduction, the TOP is expected to coordinate with the BA to ensure the outage is acceptable and reliable. The BA is still responsible for submitting the resulting generation outage. 6. As stated in the Applicability section, TOPs are expected to require TOs and BAs to communicate outages to the TOP as required to support the Outage Coordination Process. Correspondingly, TOPs are expected to have and implement internal communication processes that keep TOs and BAs informed of any changes to Planned outages. BA General Outage Submission Responsibilities 1. Generator outage submission is the responsibility of the BA in whose BA Area the generator resides, based on BA Area metered boundaries. Outage submission responsibility is not a function of generator ownership. 2. If scenarios exist where it is not clear which BA is responsible for submitting a generator s outage, the BAs that are associated with the generating unit or plant are expected to collaboratively determine which BA will assume responsibility for submitting and managing outages for that generator, to document the decision, and to communicate that decision to the RC (via or other method). An examples of such generators may include pseudo-tied units or plants. 3. The allows a BA to delegate its responsibility to submit generation outages to another NERC-registered functional entity (for example the Classification: Public Page 7 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

9 equipment owner (the GO) or the Generator Operator (GOP)), provided the decision is mutual, i.e. both entities agree, and is documented and supplied to the RC. Such arrangements for the submission of outages do not absolve the BA of other obligations related to the. 4. Unit outages need to be submitted to COS if the unit is unavailable and cannot be called upon for use. Examples include a unit that is down for maintenance work, repair work or nuclear refueling. Outages do not need to be submitted for units that are not committed for economic reasons or due to the unit s physical fuel condition. Peak s data specification provides a mechanism to obtain necessary data for unit commitment, unit output limitations and projected unit dispatch. a. For example, if a unit is not committed or is not needed to serve load or facilitate schedules, the unit being off is not within scope of the Outage Coordination Process. If the BA takes this opportunity to perform maintenance on a unit while it is not needed, the BA is responsible for submitting an outage on that unit while it is out of service for the maintenance work. b. As another example, restrictions such as a hydro plant that is unable to generate for the next four hours due to water limitations or other restrictions do not need to be submitted to COS as outages. 5. If a generation outage necessitates or results in a transmission outage or reconfiguration, the BA is expected to coordinate with the TOP to ensure the outage is acceptable and reliable. The TOP is still responsible for submitting the resulting transmission outage. 6. As stated in the Applicability section, BAs are expected to require GOs and GOPs to communicate outages to the BA as required to support the Outage Coordination Process. Correspondingly, BAs are expected to have and implement internal communication processes to keep GOs and GOPs informed of any changes to Planned outages. RC General Outage Submission Responsibilities 1. The RC is responsible for ensuring that each Facility/equipment and generator modeled in the West-wide System Model (WSM) is associated with a TOP/BA that is responsible for submitting outages for that Facility/equipment or generator. This includes identifying Facilities whose outages are submitted by an entity other than the TOP/BA (i.e., those that are submitted by the TO, GO or GOP based on submission arrangements made between affected entities). Ultimately, the RC needs to understand which entity is actually submitting the outage. Classification: Public Page 8 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

10 General Requirements for Outage Submission Outage Duration Submission Threshold 1. Outages expected to have a continuous duration of 30 minutes or more require submission to COS. Reference the One-at-a-Time Outages section below for applicable exceptions. 2. Outages expected to have a continuous duration of less than 30 minutes are not required to be submitted to COS unless the outage requires an Operating Plan to facilitate the outage, in which case the Operating Plan needs to be submitted to COS at the time of TOP/BA confirmation. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for more information. Even though a less-than-30 minute outage does not require submission to COS, TOPs and BAs are expected to study/assess the outage. One-at-a-Time (OAT) Outages OAT outages are a subset of Planned outages that are available for use by the TOP/BA. The purpose of the OAT outage is for the TOP/BA to be able to perform work on numerous elements of the same Facility/equipment type at a single station without having to maintain the required outage records that would normally be associated with each element. For example, at a hydro plant, an entity may want to take outages sequentially for all of the individual units at that plant. Submitting and maintaining accurate outage records may be burdensome and not provide any reliability benefit, so this is a mechanism that would create the necessary awareness of the outages without the data entry component. Due to the difference in impact an OAT generator outage might have versus that of a Transmission outage, there are separate submission criteria for generation and transmission outages. OAT Outages Generation 1. OAT generator outages are individual unit outages taken sequentially at a single generating Facility where the individual units have similar operating characteristics (e.g. available capacity, ramp rate and start time) and are connected at the same kv level. 2. OAT unit outages will not overlap at any point during the outage sequence. The next unit in the sequence will come out of service after the previous unit has been returned to service. The amount of time between individual unit outages in sequence shall be minimized and work shall progress continuously until the OAT outage sequence has been completed. Classification: Public Page 9 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

11 3. A single OAT outage shall be entered into COS with each individual unit being identified. Please refer to the COS Manual for detailed information on how to submit outages to COS. 4. BAs and TOPs are expected to perform studies/assessments to ensure that acceptable system performance will be achieved during all phases of the OAT outage sequence. 5. The RC will study a representative unit for the duration of the OAT outage as part of the Planned outage assessment/operational Planning Analysis (OPA). OAT Outages Transmission 1. When field crews are expected to implement very short-duration outages on multiple Facilities/equipment within a station (for example, disconnect switches, circuit breakers, transmission lines, transformers), the TOP may submit a single OAT outage representing all of those very short-duration outages at the station rather than submitting an individual outage for each Facility/equipment. While outages with a duration of 30 minutes or less are not required for submission to COS as described in the Outage Duration Submission Threshold section above, it is expected that a OAT transmission outage be submitted even for very short-duration outages (including outages that last for only a few minutes) when multiple Facilities/equipment within a station are expected to be removed from service. This ensures that Peak and neighboring TOPs have an awareness that such outages are expected to occur. Transmission OAT outages are intended to apply to very shortduration outages they are not intended to apply to Facility/equipment outages that have a duration of several hours or more. If individual outages within a Transmission OAT outage sequence are expected to have a continuous duration of 30 minutes or more, that outage is expected to be submitted individually; however, exceptions may be applied for transmission OAT outages. 2. There are several criteria that must also be met in order for TOPs to use the OAT outage: a. None of the individual outages in an OAT outage sequence may require the use of an outage-specific Operating Plan to facilitate the outage. If an individual outage within an OAT outage sequence requires the use of an outage-specific Operating Plan to facilitate the outage, then that outage must be submitted individually, and it must be accompanied by the outage-specific Operating Plan. b. Transmission OAT outages must have a very short outage recall time. Classification: Public Page 10 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

12 If any of the above criteria are not met, then the TOP will not be permitted to submit an OAT outage. Instead, the outage shall be submitted as an individual Facility/equipment under the normal outage submission rules for the applicable study window(s). 3. If, during the course of the OAT outage work, it is discovered that a Facility/equipment cannot be returned to service due to unexpected issues, the TOP is expected to submit an individual outage for the Facility/equipment as soon as possible. 4. TOPs are expected to perform studies/assessments to ensure that acceptable system performance will be achieved during all phases of an OAT outage sequence. 5. By default, the RC will not perform outage studies on any phase of an OAT circuit breaker outage as part of its Planned outage assessments or OPA. Continuous Versus Non-Continuous Outages When a BA or TOP enters an outage in COS, the submitter must specify whether the outage will be out of service continuously or if this outage will be taken daily. These categories are identified in COS as continuous and non-continuous. COS will default to all outages being continuous unless they are changed by the submitter. Below are definitions for each category. 9. Outage Types 1. Continuous Outage A Facility/equipment outage that will remain out of service for the duration of the specified start date/time and end date/time. This is the default category when entering a new outage in COS. 2. Non-Continuous Outage A Facility/equipment outage that will not be out of service for the duration of the specified start date/time and end date/time. An example of a non-continuous outage would be a multi-day outage where work is performed during the day and the equipment is returned to service at night. The seven unique outage types are described and listed below in their order of priority. Note that outage types are italicized in the document. 1. Forced Automatic Outage Facility/equipment that is removed from service via automatic action other than those initiated by System Operators. 2. Forced Emergency Outage Facility/equipment that is removed from service via operator action due to imminent equipment risks, safety concerns, environmental regulations or increased risk to grid reliability and/or security. Classification: Public Page 11 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

13 3. Urgent Outage Facility/equipment that is known to be operable, yet carries an increased risk of a Forced Emergency or Forced Automatic outage occurring. Facility/equipment remains in service until personnel, equipment and system conditions allow the outage to occur. 4. Operational Transmission Outage Transmission Facility/equipment that is removed from service in the normal course of maintaining optimal or reliable system conditions but remains available if needed upon short notice. 5. Planned Outage Non-automatic Facility/equipment outage with advance notice, for the purpose of maintenance, construction (including energizing and testing new Facilities), inspection, testing or other planned activities. 6. Opportunity Outage A short-duration Facility/equipment outage that can be taken due to a change in system conditions or availability of field personnel. 7. Informational Outage Facility/equipment outage that is entered into COS for informational reasons including increased situational awareness, for TOP/BA internal purposes or to satisfy the RC Data Specification where COS is the mechanism for communicating the information. Reference Peak s RC Data Request for same-day and real-time operations notification requirements. The next section provides details for each outage type listed above. Forced Automatic Outage Type Forced Automatic Outage Facility/equipment that is removed from service via automatic action. Submission requirements for Forced Automatic outages: 1. Submit to COS as soon as possible, ideally no later than 30 minutes after the Forced Automatic outage began; however, a System Operator s first priority is to address the operating issue. There may be instances where outages cannot be submitted within 30 minutes due to prevailing emergency conditions. Reference the Same-Day and Real-Time Outage Update Requirements section for more information. 2. Forced Automatic outages that have (or are expected to have) a continuous duration of less than 30 minutes do not require submission to COS. Forced Automatic outages that have a continuous duration of 30 minutes or more are required to be submitted to COS even if they are submitted after the fact. Classification: Public Page 12 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

14 3. Submissions are required to have a scheduled end time based on the best information available at the time. It is expected that submitters update the scheduled end time of a Forced Automatic outage as information becomes available. Examples of Forced Automatic outages: 1. A fault occurs on a transmission line, and the line trips offline in response to relay action. 2. An event occurs and a generator is tripped offline due to RAS action. Forced Emergency Outage Type Forced Emergency Outage Facility/equipment that is removed from service via operator action due to imminent equipment risks, safety concerns, environmental regulations or increased risk to grid reliability and/or security. Submission requirements for Forced Emergency outages: 1. Submit to COS as soon as possible, ideally no later than 30 minutes after the Forced Emergency outage began; however, a System Operator s first priority is to address the operating issue. Reference the Same-Day and Real-Time Outage Update Requirements section for more information. 2. Forced Emergency outages that have (or are expected to have) a duration of less than 30 minutes do not require submission to COS. Forced Emergency outages that have a duration of 30 minutes or more are required to be submitted to COS even if they are submitted after the fact. 3. Submissions are required to have a scheduled end time based on the best information available at the time. It is expected that submitters update the scheduled end time of a Forced Emergency outage as information becomes available. Examples of Forced Emergency outages: 1. A line must be de-energized due to public safety or environmental concerns. 2. Facilities/equipment must be isolated immediately so that automatic action will not occur and exacerbate the problem. Urgent Outage Type Urgent Outage Facility/equipment that is known to be operable, yet carries an increased risk of a Forced Emergency or Forced Automatic outage occurring. Facility/equipment Classification: Public Page 13 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

15 remains in service until personnel, equipment and system conditions allow the outage to occur. Urgent outages allow for Facilities to be removed from service at an optimal time for overall system reliability. For Urgent outages, the work may not be able to wait for the Short-Range outage window. Urgent outages are distinguished from Forced Emergency outages by the imminent nature of the equipment risk and the corresponding need to implement the outage in short order. Urgent outages allow some amount of time prior to taking the Facility/equipment out of service for posturing of the system and positioning of resources. Facilities/equipment that must be removed from service immediately or as soon as possible due to imminent equipment risks should be entered as Forced Emergency outages. Facilities/equipment that must be removed from service as soon as conditions are favorable, where the equipment risks are not as imminent, should be entered as Urgent outages. Urgent outage types should be used for outages that are not imminent for emergency reasons but cannot wait to be implemented as a Planned outage through the Short-Range window process. The Urgent outage type is intended to bridge the gap between Forced Emergency outages and Planned outages. Submitters should use their best judgment when determining which outage type to use. Submission requirements for Urgent outages: 1. Urgent outages should be submitted to COS with as much advance notice as possible. Reference the OPA Window Process for more information. 2. An Urgent outage must have a justification of its urgency documented in the TOP/BA comments section of the outage submission. Examples of Urgent outages: 1. An equipment problem forces a GOP to bring the generator output to zero within the next 12 hours. 2. A problem with an insulator was discovered, and the utility needs to remove a transmission line from service within the next few days to replace it. Operational Transmission Outage Type Operational Transmission Outage Transmission Facility/equipment that is removed from service in the normal course of maintaining optimal or reliable system conditions but remains available if needed upon short notice. Classification: Public Page 14 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

16 Note that Operational Transmission outages are only applicable to transmission outages they are not applicable to generation outages. In the normal course of operations planning and operations, BAs may encounter a need to bring unit output to zero (i.e., shut down a unit) to address a transmission reliability issue. This sort of generation mitigation is the effective equivalent of redispatching generation, and therefore is considered to be outside the scope of the. However, any generation minimum or maximum output levels that are required as part of an outage submission are expected to be addressed in the outage-specific Operating Plan. The TOP should use judgment when determining if a certain Facility/equipment outage warrants submission of an Operational Transmission outage to COS. The following examples should be used as a guideline for making this determination. The intent behind capturing Operational Transmission outages in COS is to ensure that changes to system topology are known in COS so that they can be included in TOP and RC near-term (next few hours, same-day and next-day) studies/assessments. Submission requirements for Operational Transmission outages: 1. Submit to COS as soon as possible. Submitters should attempt to submit Operational Transmission outages within 30 minutes after the Operational Transmission outage began. Reference the Same-Day and Real-Time Outage Update Requirements section for more information. Examples of Operational Transmission outages that SHOULD be submitted: 1. A TOP opens one end of a BES transmission line to control flow on other BES Facilities. 2. A TOP opens a normally closed circuit breaker or closes a normally open circuit breaker to address an operational issue. 3. A TOP opens a normally closed bus-tie breaker. Examples of Operational Transmission outages that SHOULD NOT be submitted: 1. A TOP switches a series or shunt device in or out for operational purposes. Planned Outage Type Planned Outage Non-automatic Facility/equipment outage with advance notice for the purpose of maintenance, construction (including energizing and testing new Facilities), inspection, testing or other planned activities. Reference the COS Manual for detailed information on how to submit outages to COS. Classification: Public Page 15 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

17 Submission requirements for Planned outages: 1. Reference the Long-Range Study Window Process section and the Short-Range Study Window Process section for submission requirements of Planned outages. Examples of Planned outages: 1. A transmission line needs to be removed from service for three days to conduct maintenance. 2. A circuit breaker needs to be removed from service for one day to conduct maintenance. 3. A transformer needs to be removed from service for two hours to facilitate construction activities. 4. A generator needs to be removed from service for one week for routine maintenance. Opportunity Outage Type Opportunity Outage A short-duration Facility/equipment outage that can be taken due to a change in system conditions, weather or availability of field personnel. Opportunity outages are short-notice opportunities that could not have been planned for during the normal outage planning process due to unanticipated changes. Opportunity outages are intended to facilitate an appropriate level of flexibility to optimize the use of field resources. Requirements for Opportunity outages: 1. Though some exceptions may apply, Opportunity outages should only last one business day. If the BA/TOP wishes to take an Opportunity outage lasting longer than one day, the BA/TOP may submit multiple consecutive single-day Opportunity outages, but there is a risk that not all of these outages will be confirmed. Exceptions to this requirement: a. The event creating the opportunity has a duration longer than one day. For example, a radial transmission line to a generator plant relays out of service, and repairs to the transmission line will take 48 hours to complete. A generator at the plant may be taken on an Opportunity outage for 48 hours upon BA confirmation. b. Work is being performed on all units at a multi-unit plant requiring a three-day outage on each unit, one after the other. Because the reliability impacts to the Classification: Public Page 16 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

18 transmission system do not change from one unit outage to the next, Opportunity outages can be utilized to achieve the necessary flexibility to optimize crews. 2. Opportunity outages must be studied/evaluated by the TOP, BA and/or RC as required against other existing outages in the Confirmed state. 3. Generator Opportunity outages must be assessed by the BA and submitted as BA Confirmed. They must then be studied/assessed and confirmed by the TOP to ensure the generator outage does not cause reliability conflicts. They must then be studied/assessed and either confirmed or denied by the RC. Generator Opportunity outages that are submitted after the OPA window are studied/assessed by the Reliability Coordinator System Operator (RCSO) and are confirmed or denied via the RCSO Confirmed or RCSO Denied state. 4. Transmission Opportunity outages must be studied/assessed by the TOP and submitted as TOP Confirmed. They must then be studied/assessed and either confirmed or denied by the RC. TOPs are expected to coordinate transmission Opportunity outages with any impacted BA. Transmission Opportunity outages that are submitted after the OPA window are studied/assessed by the RCSO and are confirmed or denied via the RCSO Confirmed or RCSO Denied state. 5. Opportunity outages that cause reliability issues or conflict with Confirmed outages of a higher priority cannot be implemented. 6. Opportunity outages may not require implementation of an outage-specific Operating Plan or mitigation efforts to achieve acceptable pre- and post-contingency system performance during the outage. 7. Same-day and real-time Opportunity outages may be allowed at the discretion of the RCSO. These outages must be coordinated and studied by the TOP and the RCSO prior to implementation. Submission requirements for Opportunity outages: 1. Should be submitted to COS with as much advance notice as possible and before OPA lock-down time, or their allowance will be at the discretion of the RCSO. Reference the OPA Window Process section for more information on the OPA process. Examples of Opportunity outages: 1. A TOP learns that two days from now an unexpected favorable weather condition allows a TOP to take a one-day outage on a transformer. The Opportunity outage Classification: Public Page 17 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

19 requirements are met, and the TOP submits the outage to COS prior to the OPA lock-down time. 2. An unexpected favorable weather condition creates an opportunity to take a threeday transformer outage. The TOP may submit this outage as an Opportunity outage; however, the outage will need to be submitted as three separate one-day outages, any of which may be denied for reliability reasons if OPA studies indicate conflicts. The TOP will need to determine if the outage can proceed as three separate one-day Opportunity outages, or if the outage needs to be rescheduled to re-enter into the Short-Range process. 3. An unexpected transmission or generation outage results in an opportunity to take an outage on a related transmission or generation facility. 4. An unanticipated change causes an outage to be returned to service earlier than expected, allowing subsequent outages to proceed earlier than originally planned. 5. Crew/Parts/Tools availability and resources become available due to scheduling openings. 6. A radial transmission line to a generation plant is out of service due to Forced Automatic, Forced Emergency or Urgent reasons. The generators at the plant may be taken as Opportunity outages for the duration of the transmission line outage upon BA and TOP confirmation. Informational Outage Type Informational Outage Facility/equipment outage that is entered into COS for informational reasons including increased situational awareness, for TOP/BA internal purposes or to satisfy the RC Data Specification where COS is the mechanism for communicating the information. Submission requirements for Informational outages: 1. No specific requirements for the. Reference the RC Data Specification where COS is the mechanism for communicating the information. Examples of Informational outages: 1. Because a TOP uses COS for its internal purposes, the TOP submits outages to COS that are out of scope for the, for example non- BES outages. 2. A TOP is taking a five-minute, one-at-a-time (OAT) outage on every breaker at a station. The TOP has confirmed that none of these five-minute outages cause Classification: Public Page 18 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

20 reliability issues or require an Operating Plan. The TOP submits a single information outage representing each breaker for the OAT outage. 3. Hotline work. 4. Reclosing status. 5. ICCP/Telemetry/Communication work. 6. The following types of data are out of scope for the but COS remains the mechanism for communication: 10. Outage States a. Path Total Transfer Capability (TTC) limitations. b. Generator de-rates. There are 26 possible outage lifecycle states. The first six states are set by the BA or TOP. The remaining states are either set by the RC or are set automatically by COS. The vast majority of the outage states are set by the RC. TOPs and BAs are only responsible for outage submission in the Confirmed and optionally in the Proposed and Preliminary states. The RC needs to have these outage states so the RC can better keep track of the study windows in which the outages were confirmed, conflicts identified, or denied, since outages can change states as they progress through the various study windows. The various outage states will provide improved situational awareness to BAs and TOPs because these states clearly convey the RC studies that resulted in the given state. For example, if a Planned outage was set to RC Short-Range Confirmed by the RC in the Short-Range study window process, the outage state clearly conveys that the outage was Confirmed by the RC as part of the RC s Short-Range study. If that same Planned outage was later set to RC OPA D+2 Conflicts Identified (Future) by the RC in the OPA window process, the outage state clearly conveys that the conflicts were identified in the RC s D+2 OPA (Future) study. It is important for the outage state to reflect the specific study associated with that state because it is possible that an outage can be confirmed by the RC in the Short-Range study window process but then have conflicts identified in subsequent OPA studies due to more accurate forecast information. The various outage states provide improved awareness of such changes that can occur as outages migrate through the various study windows. The possible outage states include: 1. BA Preliminary No requirement to use this state. This state will be used to create awareness that an outage is being contemplated to allow for increased coordination opportunities. Submission date will not be considered for purposes of conflict Classification: Public Page 19 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

21 resolution. There is no expectation for outages in this state to be studied/assessed by the BA, TOP or RC. The BA is responsible for setting this outage state. 2. TOP Preliminary No requirement to use this state. This state will be used to create awareness that an outage is being contemplated to allow for increased coordination opportunities. Submission date will not be considered for purposes of conflict resolution. There is no expectation for outages in this state to be studied/assessed by the BA, TOP or RC. The TOP is responsible for setting this outage state. 3. BA Proposed No requirement to use this state. Submission date will be considered for purposes of conflict resolution. BA assessments may be underway, but are not completed. Expectation for BA and TOP studies/assessments to include neighboring outages in this state. RC will not study outages in this state. An outage in this state will be automatically changed to the Expired state if the BA does not change the state to BA Confirmed prior to the Short-Range submission deadline. The BA is responsible for setting this outage state. 4. TOP Proposed No requirement to use this state. Submission date will be considered for purposes of conflict resolution. TOP studies/assessments may be underway, but are not completed. Expectation for BA and TOP studies/assessments to include neighboring outages in this state. RC will not study outages in this state. An outage in this state will be automatically changed to the Expired state if the TOP does not change the state to TOP Confirmed prior to the Short-Range submission deadline. The TOP is responsible for setting this outage state. 5. BA Confirmed BA assessments completed and no conflicts or reliability concerns were identified. Expectation for BA and TOP studies/assessments to include neighboring outages that are in this state (may also consider including outages in the BA Proposed state as they also establish priority). Outages in this state will be included in the RC Long-Range, RC Short-Range and RC OPA studies. If required, an Operating Plan must be attached to the outage when setting the outage to this state. The BA is responsible for setting this outage state. 6. TOP Confirmed TOP studies completed and no conflicts or reliability concerns were identified. Expectation for BA and TOP studies/assessments to include neighboring outages that are in this state (may also consider including outages in the TOP Proposed state as they also establish priority) and to ensure coordination with the impacted entities is resolved prior to changing the outage to this state. Outages in this state will be included in the RC Long-Range, RC Short-Range and RC OPA studies. If required, an Operating Plan must be attached to the outage when setting the outage to this state. The TOP is responsible for setting this outage state. Classification: Public Page 20 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

22 7. BA and TOP Confirmed Outages in this state will reflect generation outages submitted by the BA in the BA Confirmed state and later confirmed by the TOP. Or, in cases where the BA and the TOP functions are performed within the same work environment, the generation outage can be directly submitted as BA and TOP Confirmed without having to sequentially submit the outage as BA Confirmed and then change it to TOP Confirmed. It reflects that all studies/assessments were completed and no conflicts or reliability concerns were identified. Expectation for studies/assessments include neighboring outages that are in this state (may also consider including outages in the BA Proposed or BA Confirmed states as they also establish priority) and that any coordination needs with the impacted entities are resolved prior to changing the outage to this state. Outages in this state will be included in the RC Long-Range, RC Short-Range and RC OPA studies. If required, an Operating Plan must be attached to the outage when setting the outage to this state. The TOP is responsible for setting this outage state. 8. RC Long-Range Confirmed Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the RC Long-Range study window and were found to create no conflicts or reliability concerns. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 9. RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the RC Long-Range study window and were found to create reliability issues. Outages in this state need to be rescheduled, Cancelled or have identified issues resolved prior to the end of the Long-Range RC study window or they will be moved to the RC Long-Range Denied state. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 10. RC Long-Range Denied Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the RC Long-Range study window. Reliability issues were identified by the RC and the issue was unable to be collaboratively resolved between the RC and the TOP/BA prior to the end of the Long-Range study window. Outages in this state represent an end state and will need to be rescheduled by the TOP/BA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 11. RC Short-Range Confirmed Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the Short-Range study window and were found to create no conflicts or reliability concerns. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 12. RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the Short-Range study window and were found to create reliability issues. Outages in this state need to be rescheduled, Cancelled or have identified issues resolved prior to the end of the Short-Range RC study window or they will be moved to the RC Short-Range Denied state. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. Classification: Public Page 21 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

23 13. RC Short-Range Denied Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the RC Short-Range study window. Reliability conflicts were identified by the RC and the issue was unable to be collaboratively resolved between the RC and the TOP/BA prior to the end of the RC Short-Range study window. Outages in this state represent an end state and will need to be rescheduled by the TOP/BA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 14. RC D+2 OPA Confirmed (Future) Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the two-day-ahead (D+2) OPA and were found to create no conflicts or reliability concerns. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 15. RC D+1 OPA Confirmed Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the one-day-ahead (D+1) OPA and were found to create no conflicts or reliability concerns. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 16. RC D+2 OPA Conflicts Identified (Future) Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the D+2 OPA and were found to create reliability issues. Outages in this state need to be rescheduled, Cancelled or have identified issues resolved prior to the end of the D+1 OPA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 17. RC D+1 OPA Conflicts Identified Outages in this state have been studied by the RC in the D+1 OPA and were found to create reliability issues. Outages in this state need to be rescheduled, Cancelled or have identified issues resolved prior to the end of the D+1 OPA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 18. RC OPA Denied An outage in this state has been studied by the RC in the OPA study window and was found to create reliability issues that could not be resolved by the end of the D+1 OPA. Outages in this state represent an end state and will need to be rescheduled by the TOP/BA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 19. RCSO Confirmed An Urgent outage or an Opportunity outage submitted after the OPA window that has been studied by the RCSO and was found to create no conflicts or reliability concerns. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 20. RCSO Denied An outage denied by the RCSO for reliability reasons. Outages in this state represent an end state and will need to be rescheduled by the TOP/BA. The RC is responsible for setting this outage state. 21. Implemented Unverified An outage that is currently in progress based on the scheduled start date/time. COS will automatically change the outage to the Implemented Unverified state based on the scheduled start date/time field. Classification: Public Page 22 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

24 22. Implemented Verified An outage that is currently in progress based on the actual start date/time. COS will automatically change the outage to the Implemented Verified state based on the actual start date/time field. Note that this state will not be in use for the initial rollout, but will be added when the actual start/end date field is added to COS and is populated by RC software. 23. Completed Unverified An outage that has been completed based on the scheduled end date/time. COS will automatically change the outage to the Completed Unverified state based on the scheduled end date/time field. 24. Completed Verified An outage that has been completed based on the actual end date/time. COS will automatically change the outage to the Completed Verified state based on the actual end date/time field. Note that this state will not be in use for the initial rollout, but will be added when the actual start/end date field is added to COS and is populated by RC software. 25. Expired If the outage status isn t changed from TOP/BA Preliminary or Proposed to TOP/BA Confirmed before the Short-Range process submission deadline, these outages will automatically be changed to the Expired state. 26. Cancelled Outages that have been Cancelled by the initiating BA or TOP. 11. Study and Assessment Requirements BAs, TOPs and the RC are expected to perform studies/assessments to ensure that the BES will be in a reliable pre- and post-contingency state while an outage is in effect. The BA, TOP and RC functions performed as part of the Long-Range, Short-Range and OPA study windows facilitate an iterative approach toward this ultimate reliability objective. These iterative studies/assessments work together as an effective process for evaluating the impact of transmission and generation outages within the Wide Area. The distinguishes a study from an assessment. A study is a form of an assessment, but an assessment may not necessarily include a study. A study includes pre- and post-contingency powerflow simulations and analyses using one or more study models. A study also includes necessary transient, post-transient and steady-state stability analyses. An assessment may not include these technical analyses, but rather may rely on system knowledge, experience, prior studies, and operational and engineering judgment. The assessment term may also be more appropriate to describe BA functions. For example, when a BA determines the generation needed to support expected demand patterns, this effort describes a BA assessment. Consequently, the Outage Coordination Process will use the study term and the assessment term, but may use the studies/assessments term when both or either may apply. TOPs and the RC are expected to perform studies for outage conditions per the TOP and RC Responsibilities listed below Classification: Public Page 23 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

25 even though the studies/assessments term may be used elsewhere in the Outage Coordination Process. Performance Requirements Acceptable system performance is required during outage conditions as described in Peak s SOL Methodology for the Operations Horizon. The SOL Methodology for the Operations Horizon describes the pre- and post-contingency performance requirements that the BES must exhibit while the outage is in effect. Any outage that has not been proven to demonstrate acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance through studies as required by the cannot be implemented. Study/Assessment Requirements The overall study/assessment requirements described in the document are designed to be similar to the principles in the new TOP/IRO Reliability Standards that are effective on April 1, 2017, and reflective of the revised definition of OPA that is effective on January 1, The principles from the TOP/IRO standards that are applied to the Outage Coordination Process are: 1. The TOP performs a study for an outage (similar principle to TOP R1). 2. The RC performs a study for an outage (similar principle to IRO R1). 3. If the outage results in SOL exceedance, the TOP develops an outage-specific Operating Plan to address the SOL exceedance (similar principle to TOP R2). 4. The TOP communicates the outage-specific Operating Plan to the RC (similar principle to TOP R3). TOP and RC outage studies are expected to mirror the NERC-approved definition of OPA. That is, they should include a pre- and post-contingency analysis, and they should include the items from the list of required inputs. The recognizes that many of the required inputs into the study may not be fully known at the time of study. For example, if an outage study is performed eight months in advance, it is not expected that an accurate load forecast is available for the outage window. However, as real-time approaches, the operating picture becomes clearer and many of the inputs into the study process become more accurate. The iterative study/assessment process is designed to account for improved input data quality as real-time approaches. TOPs and the RC are expected to use the best information known at the time of study when performing outage studies. Classification: Public Page 24 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

26 While it is not the intent of the to be highly prescriptive for study requirements, outages being planned for implementation must meet acceptable system performance as stated in the SOL Methodology for the Operations Horizon. TOPs need to determine what level of study is needed to achieve acceptable pre- and post- Contingency system performance while the outage is implemented. The level of complexity of TOP studies/assessments will vary depending the type and number of simultaneous outages and on the unique challenges and reliability issues posed by the outages. It is left to the judgment of the TOP to determine what level of analysis is appropriate for a given situation. This concept applies to both the Long-Range and Short-Range study window processes. BA Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary assessments to address the following during a generation outage (TOP requirement R4 principle): a. Expected generation resource commitment and dispatch. b. Interchange scheduling. c. Demand patterns. d. Capacity and energy reserve requirements, including deliverability capability and reserve sharing requirements. 2. If the generation outage requires a specific outage-related Operating Plan, document the Operating Plan (TOP requirement R4 principle). 3. Communicate any outage-specific Operating Plans to impacted entities and to the RC (TOP requirement R5 and R7 principle). 4. Support other BAs and TOPs as necessary in the development of Operating Plans associated with their outages. 5. If other BAs or TOPs are known or expected to be impacted by a generator outage, it is incumbent on the submitting BA to initiate discussions with TOPs or BAs known or expected to be impacted by the generator outage. 6. Generation outages are expected to be included in TOP studies and must be confirmed by the TOP in whose TOP Area the generator interconnects prior to the RC studying the generation outage. Accordingly, BAs are responsible for coordinating with the TOP to resolve any TOP-identified transmission reliability conflicts that result from a BA Proposed or BA Confirmed outage. Classification: Public Page 25 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

27 TOP Responsibilities 1. Perform studies for the outage conditions to determine if there is any pre- or post- Contingency unacceptable system performance (i.e., SOL exceedance) during the outage (TOP requirement R1 principle). 2. Identify any transient, post-transient and steady-state instability risks that arise as a result of the outage conditions. If any new instability risks arise due to the outage, the TOP is responsible for establishing outage-specific stability limits and communicating the instability risk, stability limits and any associated Operating Plans to the RC. TOPs should use engineering judgment to determine the studies that are warranted to identify or eliminate instability risks for the outage conditions. (Reference the RC SOL Methodology for the Operations Horizon for more information on system stressing requirements for identifying instability risks.) 3. TOP studies are expected to include transmission and generation outages within their own TOP Area that are in TOP/BA Proposed state, TOP/BA Confirmed state, or any RC Confirmed state. 4. TOP studies are also expected to include impactful transmission and generation outages in external TOP Areas that are in TOP/BA Proposed state, TOP/BA Confirmed state or any RC Confirmed state. TOPs should use engineering judgment in their decision of which external transmission and generation outages to include in their outage studies/assessments. 5. Iterative studies are expected to include internal and external outages that are expected to occur within the same timeframe. a. Example A TOP studies outage X and confirms the outage. At some later time outage Y is introduced. Outage Y is expected to overlap with outage X. Both outages X and Y are expected to be included in the study for outage Y. The principle is expected to be applied across the board as iterative outage studies are taking place. 6. TOPs are responsible for studying transmission and generation outages prior to the RC studying them. The Long-Range, Short-Range and OPA processes reflect this principle. 7. Generation outages are expected to be included in TOP studies and must be confirmed by the TOP in whose TOP Area the generator interconnects prior to the RC studying the generation outage. a. Each generator in the COS data dictionary will have an associated BA and TOP. When a generator outage is submitted to COS, COS will know who the Classification: Public Page 26 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

28 associated TOP is. For each generator outage, the associated TOP is required to change the outage state to the BA and TOP Confirmed state indicating that the generator outage is acceptable to the TOP. Generation outages must be set to the BA and TOP Confirmed state by the TOP prior to the deadline submission dates for Short-Range and OPA processes. BAs and TOPs should allow adequate time to facilitate this BA-TOP coordination. b. The TOP is responsible for communicating to the BA when a TOP study indicates the generator outage is unacceptable to the TOP. This communication should occur as soon as practicable. c. The TOP is responsible for coordinating with the BA to resolve any transmission reliability conflicts that result from a BA Proposed or BA Confirmed outage. d. The TOP is responsible for notifying the BA of any transmission outages that necessitates or results in a generator outage or reduction. 8. If acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance requirements cannot be met during the Planned outage (with or without an Operating Plan), the TOP should not submit the outage as TOP Confirmed. Only outages that meet acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance requirements should be submitted as TOP Confirmed. 9. If other BAs or TOPs are known or expected to be impacted by a transmission outage, it is incumbent on the submitting TOP to initiate discussions with TOPs or BAs known or expected to be impacted by the outage. Because TOPs are expected to include neighboring system outages in their studies/assessments, TOPs that are impacted by an outage on neighboring systems are also expected to initiate discussions when reliability issues are encountered in their studies/assessments. 10. The submitting TOP is expected to assume ownership of ensuring resolution of any reliability issues associated with the outage, as coordinated with impacted TOPs, BAs and the RC. 11. If the RC and TOP studies do not agree and no technical inaccuracy can be identified, the most conservative study should prevail. 12. If the outage requires an outage-specific Operating Plan to prevent SOL exceedance, the TOP is responsible for documenting and communicating the Operating Plan (TOP requirement R2 principle). Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for more information on the development and communication of outage-specific Operating Plans. Classification: Public Page 27 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

29 13. Support other BAs and TOPs as necessary in the resolution of reliability conflicts and the development of Operating Plans associated with their outages. RC Responsibilities 1. Perform studies for the outage conditions to determine if there is any pre- or post- Contingency unacceptable system performance (i.e., SOL exceedance) or if any IROLs are expected to be exceeded (IRO requirement R1 principle). 2. Collaborate with impacted entities to address identified instability risks. Determine if an IROL is warranted for the outage condition (IRO requirement R1 principle, SOL Methodology principle). 3. Coordinate with TOPs and BAs as necessary to verify that the Operating Plan provides for acceptable system performance (IRO requirement R2 principle). 4. RC studies should include transmission and generation outages in the RC Area as well as transmission and generation outages outside the RC Area that have been determined to impact the RC Area. 5. While RC outage coordination studies will initially assess only steady-state pre- and post-contingency operating states for expected system conditions, RC outage coordination studies are expected to advance over time as tool and technology improvements are made. With exception of the Voltage Stability Analysis (VSA) scenarios Peak includes in its study processes, Peak outage studies/assessments will not generally include system stressing studies or transient studies. 6. If the RC and TOP studies do not agree and no technical inaccuracy can be identified, the most conservative study should prevail. 7. Support other BAs and TOPs as necessary in the resolution of reliability conflicts and the development of outage-specific Operating Plans. 12. Operating Plan Requirements The NERC Glossary of Terms defines an Operating Plan as a document that identifies a group of activities that may be used to achieve some goal. An Operating Plan may contain Operating Procedures and Operating Processes. A company-specific system restoration plan that includes an Operating Procedure for black-starting units, Operating Processes for communicating restoration progress with other entities, etc., is an example of an Operating Plan. The requirements for the development and communication of Operating Plans for the is aligned with the operations planning principles found in TOP and IRO The requirements for the development of outage-specific Classification: Public Page 28 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

30 Operating Plans as described below are applicable to all outage coordination study windows: the Long-Range, Short-Range and OPA. TOP and BA Responsibilities 1. When TOP studies indicate that acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance cannot be achieved during the outage without taking some form of mitigating action or making changes to the system (for example, redispatch, reconfiguration, schedule adjustments or transfer limitations utilized as part of an Operating Plan), an outagespecific Operating Plan must accompany the outage submitted with a status of TOP Confirmed. a. Note: It is not acceptable to simply reference an existing company Operating Procedure in lieu of providing an outage-specific Operating Plan. While TOPs are not discouraged from referencing existing Operating Procedures or documented mitigation plans, the intent is to avoid a situation where a TOP submits a 100+ page Operating Procedure as the outage-specific Operating Plan, and neither Peak nor any interested TOP has any idea where the relevant information is in the Operating Procedure. If an Operating Procedure is included along with the outage-specific Operating Plan, then the steps in the Operating Procedure required for mitigation must be referenced in the outage-specific Operating Plan so the relevant information is clearly indicated. 2. TOP studies must demonstrate that if the Operating Plan is followed, acceptable preand post-contingency performance will be expected to be achieved during the outage. 3. When TOP studies indicate that the acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance is achieved during the outage without taking some form of mitigating action or making changes to the system, there is no need to develop or submit an outage-specific Operating Plan along with the TOP Confirmed outage. 4. If transfer limitations are necessary and are expected to be employed in operations as part of an Operating Plan to meet acceptable pre- or post-contingency performance requirements during the Planned outage (on WECC Transfer Paths or otherwise), those transfer limitations must be included in the Operating Plan as well as any pre-outage system posturing required to ensure the transfer limitations can be met prior to beginning the outage. The limiting Contingency and monitored element must also accompany the transfer limitation. The inclusion of transfer limitation information is required only if transfer limitations are expected to be employed as part of an Operating Plan. If the transfer limitation is not going to be included as part of the Operating Plan, it does not need to be communicated. Classification: Public Page 29 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

31 5. The submitting TOP or BA is expected to assume ownership of working with impacted TOPs, BAs and the RC on the development and coordination of the outage-specific Operating Plan, including any pre-outage system posturing requirements. 6. The submitting TOP or BA is expected to obtain the necessary agreements from other impacted TOPs or BAs to perform their roles and functions in the outagespecific Operating Plan. RC Responsibilities 1. RC studies must demonstrate that if the Operating Plan is followed, acceptable preand post-contingency performance will be expected to be achieved during the outage. If RC studies indicate that the Operating Plan does not render acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance during the outage, the RC is expected to coordinate with the BA or TOP to resolve the issue. If the issue cannot be resolved, the outage may not proceed. 2. If TOP/BA studies/assessments show acceptable pre- and post-contingency system performance without an outage-specific Operating Plan, and yet RC studies indicate that acceptable pre- and post-contingency performance cannot be achieved during the outage without some form of mitigating action or making changes to the system (for example, redispatch, reconfiguration, schedule adjustments or Total Transfer Capability reductions), the RC is expected to notify the TOP that the acceptable preand post-contingency performance is not being achieved according to RC studies/assessments. The RC is expected to coordinate with the BA or TOP to resolve the issue and develop the Operating Plan as time allows. If the issue cannot be resolved and a viable Operating Plan cannot be developed, or the RC does not have time to collaborate with the TOP or BA on development of a viable Operating Plan, the outage may not proceed. 13. The Four Study Window Processes The is characterized by four unique study window processes: 1. Planning Horizon to Operations Horizon Process 2. Long-Range Study Window Process 3. Short-Range Study Window Process 4. OPA Window Process Though these four study window processes are sequential in nature for any given outage, they function as overlays, i.e., while any one study process is occurring for one outage set, Classification: Public Page 30 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

32 another process is occurring at the same time for a different outage set. For example, the Short-Range study window process is a semi-weekly process that occurs on a rolling basis. Similarly, the OPA window process is a daily process that occurs on a rolling basis. Figure 1: Outage Lifecycle below illustrates a typical progression through the four study window processes. Figure 1: Outage Lifecycle Figure 2: Process Overlay Concept illustrates how the different processes overlay on one another for any given month. Figure 2: Process Overlay Concept Each of the four study windows are explained in the subsequent sections. 14. Planning Horizon to Operations Horizon Process Outages that are included in PC s and TP s Planning Assessments can potentially pose reliability conflicts. The first timeline component of the is to address the hand-off from the planning horizon to the operations horizon to ensure that any conflicts associated with outages included in the Planning Assessments are addressed. Classification: Public Page 31 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

33 Per the requirements and measures in IRO-017-1, the obligation to address this hand-off rests with the PCs and TPs. The NERC Glossary of Terms defines the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon as The transmission planning period that covers Year One through five. The operations horizon, while not defined in the NERC Glossary of Terms, covers the period of time from real-time up to the beginning of the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon, i.e., real-time through one year out. PC and TP Responsibilities 1. IRO Requirement R3 states that each Planning Coordinator and Transmission Planner shall provide its Planning Assessment to impacted Reliability Coordinators. 2. IRO Requirement R4 states that each Planning Coordinator and Transmission Planner shall jointly develop solutions with its respective Reliability Coordinator(s) for identified issues or conflicts with Planned outages in its Planning Assessment for the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon. RC Responsibilities 1. The RC is expected to work with PCs and TPs in jointly developing solutions for identified issues or conflicts with Planned outages in their respective Planning Assessment for the Near-Term Transmission Planning Horizon (IRO Requirement R4). TOP Responsibilities 1. Support the RC in the joint resolution of conflicts identified in the PC and TP Planning Assessments. 2. Transmission system outages identified in the Planning Assessment by either the PC or TP are expected to be submitted by the TOP in whose TOP Area the Facility resides. 3. If the Facility is jointly operated, then the TOP initiating the outage has the submitting responsibility. Should the jointly operated facility have multiple TOPs needing an outage to perform work on the portion of the facility they operate, then each of those TOPs will have the responsibility to submit an outage. BA Responsibilities 1. Support the RC in the joint resolution of conflicts identified in the PC and TP Planning Assessments. Classification: Public Page 32 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

34 2. Generator outages identified in the Planning Assessment by either the PC or TP are expected to be submitted by the BA in whose BA Area the Facility resides (within the metered boundaries of the BA Area). 3. If the Facility is jointly operated, then the BA initiating the outage has the submitting responsibility. Should the jointly operated facility have multiple BAs needing an outage to perform work on the portion of the facility they operate, then each of those BAs will have the responsibility to submit an outage. 15. Long-Range Study Window Process For the initial implementation of the, the Long-Range study window process will be optional. It is envisioned that the Long-Range study window process will become mandatory in a future revision of the. The Long-Range study window process is intended to provide an initial assessment of longduration outages in the operations horizon. Assessing Planned outages as part of the Long- Range study window process provides many benefits, some of which include: Facilitates improved coordination and planning. Provides for improved certainty that the outage can be taken as scheduled. Addresses reliability and scheduling issues for outages that are competing for the same timeframe. Allows additional time for development of Operating Plans for more complex or reliability-sensitive outages. Long-Range Study Window Process Description The Long-Range study window process is applicable to outages that have an outage duration of five consecutive days or longer. While shorter duration outages may be included into the Long-Range study window process by special request to the RC, these inclusions should be a rare exception. Under the Long-Range study window process, qualifying outages are studied/assessed by the TOP/BA and are then subsequently studied by the RC as part of a rolling monthly study/coordination process. TOPs and BAs are expected to perform their studies/assessments and to submit the qualifying outage to COS in the TOP/BA Confirmed state prior to the Long-Range study window submission deadline. Any qualifying outage submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state by the submission deadline will be included in the rolling monthly RC Long-Range study window process. Classification: Public Page 33 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

35 Long-Range Study Window Process Outage Submission Requirements The Long-Range study window process requires that outages be submitted to COS in the TOP/BA Confirmed state according to the timeline described in Figure 3: Long-Range Study Window Example, below. As shown in the diagram, Planned outages that have a start date during the month of April or May will be studied by the RC during the month of January. Therefore, if these outages are to be included in the January RC studies, they need to be submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state prior to January 1. Any outage with a start date in April or May that is not submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state by January 1 will not be included in the January RC studies. Since the RC studies occur on a rolling monthly basis, the February RC studies will include outages that have a start date during the month of May or June. Similarly, if qualifying outages are to be included in the February RC studies, they need to be submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state prior to February 1. In order for outages to be submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state, TOPs and BAs will need to allow time for their own studies/assessments prior to the Long-Range study window process submission deadline. Time must also be allotted to allow TOPs to confirm that qualifying generator outages do not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for more information on TOP requirements to confirm submitted generator outages. Outage Submission Criteria Summary 1. In order for a Planned outage to be considered in the RC s Long-Range Assessment, a Planned outage must be in either the BA and TOP Confirmed or TOP Confirmed state prior to the first day of the month, three months in advance of the month in which the outage is scheduled to start. Please see Figure 3: Long-Range Study Window Example for additional clarity. 2. Applicable outages include Planned generation or transmission outages with an outage duration of five consecutive days or longer, continuous or non-continuous. Classification: Public Page 34 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

36 Figure 3: Long-Range Study Window Example BA Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary assessments to support generation outage submission in the BA Confirmed state. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required BA assessments. 2. Submit qualifying outages with sufficient time to allow TOPs to perform studies to confirm that the submitted generator outage does not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system. 3. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for generator outage scheduling and to support BA and TOP studies/assessments. 4. Develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. Classification: Public Page 35 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

37 5. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified state. TOP Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary studies/assessments to support transmission outage submission in the TOP Confirmed state. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required TOP studies/assessments. 2. Perform studies to confirm that any qualifying generation outage submitted in the BA Confirmed does not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system and move it in the BA and TOP Confirmed outage state. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for TOP requirements for confirmation of submitted generator outages. 3. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for transmission and generation outage scheduling and to support BA and TOP studies/assessments. 4. Develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. 5. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified state. RC Responsibilities 1. Perform monthly studies for qualifying outages that have been submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state by the Long-Range study window deadline. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for more information on study requirements. 2. Coordinate with the TOP and BA as necessary for the development of outagespecific Operating Plans. 3. During the course of the monthly RC study process, if the RC studies show no reliability conflicts, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Long-Range Confirmed. 4. During the course of the monthly RC study process, if the RC encounters any reliability conflicts with the outage, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified, and the RC will communicate to the submitter that Classification: Public Page 36 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

38 conflicts were identified. The RC will do its due diligence to reach out to TOPs and BAs as soon as possible to allow time for a coordinated resolution. 5. Prior to the end of the monthly RC study process, the RC will coordinate with impacted TOPs and BAs to address outage conflicts. If the reliability conflicts can be resolved by the end of the monthly RC study process, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Long-Range Confirmed. 6. If the reliability conflicts cannot be addressed by the end of the monthly RC study process, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Long-Range Denied. Please see Figure 4: Long-Range Study Window process flowchart which describes the relationship of the applicable outage states and the actions needed by the BAs, TOPs and/or RC. Classification: Public Page 37 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

39 Figure 4: Long-Range Study Window Process Flowchart Classification: Public Page 38 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

40 Examples of Long-Range Scenarios Long-Range Transmission Outage TOP Perspective Example: 1. I am a TOP. I have a two-week major transmission outage I want to take eight months from now. 2. I looked in COS for other Proposed and Confirmed outages internal and external to my TOP Area that might conflict with my outage. I saw one neighboring TOP outage that could conflict based on my experience and judgment. I moved my outage to a different time that didn t appear to pose any conflicts and then submitted the Planned outage to COS in the TOP Proposed state. All of this is based on experience not on a study. I have communicated the need for a study to my engineering team. 3. The engineers study the outage using the best known inputs at the time. The study includes neighboring outages that are in Confirmed and Proposed state. The engineers use their best judgment in considering which external outages they needed to consider in their studies. The engineers determined that the outage could pose potential instability risks, so they ran several stability studies with various stressed conditions to identify or eliminate instability risks that may be associated with the outage. The outage required an Operating Plan to maintain generator X at a minimum output of 200 MW during peak conditions. The Operating Plan was developed. 4. Once all the studies showed good results and the Operating Plan was finalized, I changed the state of the outage to TOP Confirmed, and I submitted the Operating Plan as an attachment to the COS outage record. 5. The outage eventually makes its way into the RC Long-Range study window process. 6. The RC studies my outage as part of the monthly Long-Range process since it was in a TOP Confirmed state prior to the RC s monthly study window. 7. I received a notification from COS that the RC changed the state of my outage to either: a. RC Long-Range Confirmed. Next steps are to include this RC Long-Range Confirmed outage in subsequent outage studies in preparation for the Short- Range study window process. b. RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified. Next steps are to coordinate with the RC to address the conflicts before the end of the RC Long-Range Study month. Classification: Public Page 39 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

41 RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified Example: 1. TOP wants to take an important two-week duration 230kV transmission line outage. Because the TOP wants the outage to have a high priority, the TOP makes sure to submit the Planned outage into COS in time for it to be studied/assessed by the RC as part of the Long-Range study window process. 2. The TOP studies the outage consistent with the expectations in the Outage Coordination Process and TOP study results show no reliability conflicts. The TOP submits the Planned outage to COS prior to the Long-Range study window in the TOP Confirmed state. 3. The RC studies the outage as part of the Long-Range study window process consistent with the expectations in the, and the RC study results show that there are conflicts with another outage. At this point the RC is two weeks into the monthly study process. 4. The RC changes the state of the two conflicting outages to RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified and communicates to the submitters of both outages that conflicts were identified. 5. Prior to the end of the month, the impacted entities and the RC coordinate to address the conflicting outages. One of the outages is rescheduled to address the conflict. TOP and RC studies confirm that the conflict is addressed. 6. Prior to the end of the month the RC changes the status of both outages to RC Long- Range Confirmed. RC Long-Range Denied Example: 1. TOP wants to take an important two-week duration 230kV transmission line outage. Because the TOP wants the outage to have a high priority, the TOP enters the Planned outage into COS as TOP Confirmed in time for it to be studied/assessed by the RC as part of the Long-Range study window process. 2. The TOP studies the outage consistent with the expectations in the Outage Coordination Process, and TOP study results show no reliability conflicts. The TOP submits the Planned outage to COS prior to the Long-Range study window in the TOP Confirmed state. 3. The RC studies the outage as part of the Long-Range study window process consistent with the expectations in the, and the RC study results show that there are conflicts with another Planned outage. At this point the RC is two weeks into the monthly study process. Classification: Public Page 40 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

42 4. The RC changes the state of the two conflicting outages to RC Long-Range Conflicts Identified and communicates to the submitters of both outages that conflicts were identified. 5. Prior to the end of the month, the impacted entities coordinate to address the conflicting outages; however, despite their attempts, the entities are unable to resolve the conflicts and neither TOP is willing to reschedule their Planned outage. 6. Per the conflict resolution process, the TOP that scheduled the outage first gets priority. 7. If the later submitting entity does not cancel or reschedule the outage, the RC will (at the end of the RC study month) change the status of the later submitted outage to RC Long-Range Denied and will change the status of the earlier submitted outage to RC Long-Range Confirmed. Generation Outage Confirmation by TOP BA Perspective Example: 1. I am a BA, and I have a GO in my BA Area that wants to take a two-week maintenance outage on its 400 MW generator five months from now. 2. All of my BA assessments indicate that the generator outage can occur without causing BA function-related reliability issues. 3. As a BA, I am not responsible for transmission system reliability issues such as SOL exceedances; however, the TOP in whose TOP Area my generator interconnects needs to perform studies to determine whether the scheduled generator outage will cause any conflicts with transmission reliability. 4. I submit the generator outage to COS as BA Confirmed well in advance of the Long- Range study window process. 5. COS knows which TOP is associated with the generator, so the associated TOP will receive a notification (if subscribed to by the TOP) from COS that a BA Confirmed outage requires its attention. 6. The obligates the TOP to confirm my generator outage. The TOP is expected to include the BA Confirmed generator outage in the TOP s transmission outage studies; however, if the TOP doesn t have any transmission outages to study, the TOP must perform a unique study exclusively to determine if the BA Confirmed generator outage causes any reliability conflicts on the TOP s transmission system. Classification: Public Page 41 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

43 7. Once TOP studies/assessments indicate that the generator outage causes no reliability conflicts on the transmission system the TOP must change the state of the outage to BA and TOP Confirmed. This can be done manually, or it can be done via the API. 8. As the submitting BA, I am notified by COS (if subscribed to by the BA) that the TOP changed the state of the outage to BA and TOP Confirmed. 9. If TOP studies indicate that the generator outage causes reliability conflicts on the transmission system, I am expected to coordinate with the TOP to address those conflicts prior to the Long-Range submission deadline date. If the conflicts cannot be resolved prior to the Long-Range submission date, the generator outage will need to be rescheduled to re-enter into the Long-Range process. 16. Short-Range Study Window Process The Short-Range study window process is the primary means by which outages in the RC Area are coordinated and ultimately confirmed. Unlike the Long-Range study window process, the Short-Range study window process is mandatory. All Planned outages must be studied/assessed as part of the Short-Range study window process. Criteria for Outages Applicable to the Short-Range Study Window Process: 1. The expected duration of the outage is 30 minutes or longer. 2. For outages that are expected to have a duration of less than 30 minutes, the outage is applicable only if the outage requires an outage-specific Operating Plan. If the outage is less than 30 minutes in duration and does not require an outage-specific Operating Plan, the outage is not applicable to the Short-Range study window process, and it does not require submission to COS. Reference the General Outage Submission Requirements and Responsibilities section for more information. Short-Range Study Window Process Description Under the Short-Range study window process, outages are studied/assessed by the TOP/BA and are then subsequently studied by the RC as part of a rolling weekly study/coordination process. TOPs and BAs are expected to perform their studies/assessments and to submit outages to COS in the TOP/BA Confirmed state prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline. Planned outages must be submitted by the Short-Range study window deadline in order to proceed. Any outage submitted after the Short-Range study window deadline may not be submitted as a Planned outage. Classification: Public Page 42 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

44 Short-Range Study Window Process Outage Submission Timelines Planned outages whose start dates occur between Monday and Sunday are to be submitted on a rolling weekly basis by the Monday prior at 6 a.m. Mountain Prevailing Time (MPT). Figure 5 illustrates which outages need to be submitted on Mondays by 6 a.m. MPT. Figure 5: Short-Range Timeline Monday Submission The Short-Range study window will also adjust the outage submission dates for holidays. The holidays observed in the Outage Coordination process are the Peak Reliability observed holidays. If Monday is a holiday, then the outage submittal deadline will move back to the previous business day. Figure 6 below illustrates an example where Monday is a holiday. In this scenario, the prior business day is Friday, so outages starting from Monday through Sunday must be submitted two Fridays prior by 6 a.m. MPT. Classification: Public Page 43 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

45 Figure 6: Short-Range Timeline Monday Submission (Monday Holiday Example) Below is another scenario where the holiday(s) may occur during the same week in which the outages are due for the Short-Range study window. As stated above, the holiday(s) will need to be accounted for in the outage submission deadline for the Short-Range process. Figure 7 below illustrates an example where Thursday and Friday are both holidays during the outage submission week. In this scenario, the outage submission date moves back two business days to the prior Thursday, so outages starting from Monday through Sunday must be submitted two Thursdays prior by 6 a.m. MPT. Classification: Public Page 44 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

46 Figure 7: Short-Range Timeline Monday Submission (Thursday and Friday Holiday Example) Short-Range Study Window Process Outage Submission Requirements and RC Study Process The Short-Range study window process requires that outages be submitted to COS in the TOP/BA Confirmed state according to the timeline described above. The RC will build study cases and perform studies for outages starting on days applicable to that study period. Therefore, in order for a Planned outage starting Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday to be considered in the RC s study, the Planned outage will need to be submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state by Monday at 6 a.m. MPT of the prior week. (See above for holiday exceptions.) In order for outages to be submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state, TOPs and BAs will need to allow time for their own studies/assessments prior to the Short-Range study window process submission deadline. Time must also be allotted to allow TOPs to confirm that BAsubmitted generator outages do not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for more information on TOP requirements to confirm submitted generator outages. Classification: Public Page 45 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

47 BA Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary assessments to support generation outage submission in the BA Confirmed state. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required BA assessments. 2. Submit outages with sufficient time to allow TOPs to perform studies to confirm that BA-submitted generator outages do not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system. 3. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for generator outage scheduling and to support BA and TOP studies/assessments. 4. Develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. 5. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified state. TOP Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary studies/assessments to support transmission outage submission in the TOP Confirmed state prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required TOP assessments. 2. Perform studies to confirm that any generation outage submitted in the BA Confirmed state does not cause reliability conflicts on the transmission system and move it in the BA and TOP Confirmed outage state. TOP confirmation of generation outages must occur prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for TOP requirements for confirmation of submitted generator outages. 3. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for transmission and generation outage scheduling and to support BA and TOP studies/assessments. 4. Develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. Classification: Public Page 46 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

48 5. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified state. RC Responsibilities 1. Perform studies for outages that have been submitted in the TOP/BA Confirmed state by the Short-Range study window submission deadline. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for more information on study requirements. 2. Coordinate with the TOP and BA as necessary for the development of outagespecific Operating Plans. 3. During the course of the RC Short-Range study window process, if the RC studies show no reliability conflicts, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Short- Range Confirmed. 4. During the course of the RC Short-Range study window process, if the RC encounters any reliability conflicts with the outage, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified, and the RC will communicate to the submitter that conflicts were identified. The RC will do its due diligence to reach out to TOPs and BAs as soon as possible to allow time for a coordinated resolution. 5. Prior to the end of each RC study period, the RC will coordinate with impacted TOPs and BAs to address outage conflicts. If the reliability conflicts can be resolved by the end of the study period, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Short- Range Confirmed. 6. If the reliability conflicts cannot be addressed by the end of the RC study period and the submitter has not Cancelled or rescheduled the outage, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC Short-Range Denied. Please see Figure 8: Short-Range Study Window process flowchart which describes the relationship of the applicable outage states and the actions needed by the BAs, TOPs and/or RC. Classification: Public Page 47 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

49 Figure 8: Short-Range Study Window Process Flowchart Classification: Public Page 48 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

50 Examples of Short-Range Scenarios Short-Range Transmission Outage TOP Perspective Example: 1. I am a TOP. I have a two-day transmission outage I want to take three weeks from now. 2. I looked in COS for other Proposed and Confirmed outages internal and external to my TOP Area that might conflict with my outage. I saw one neighboring TOP outage that could conflict based on my experience and judgment. I moved my outage to a different time that didn t appear to pose any conflicts and then submitted the Planned outage to COS in the TOP Proposed state. All this is based on experience not on a study. I have communicated the need for a study to my engineering team. 3. The engineers study the outage using the best known inputs at the time. The study includes neighboring outages that are in Confirmed and Proposed state. The engineers use their best judgment in determining which external outages they needed to consider in their studies. The engineers determined that the outage could pose potential instability risks, so they ran several stability studies with various stressed conditions to identify or eliminate instability risks that may be associated with the outage. The outage required an Operating Plan to maintain generator X at a minimum output of 200 MW during peak conditions. The Operating Plan was developed. 4. Once all the studies showed good results and the Operating Plan was finalized, I was ready to change the state of the outage in COS to TOP Confirmed. The two-day transmission outage is scheduled in COS to start next Thursday at 8 a.m., so I made sure that it was in COS as TOP Confirmed by Monday of the prior week at 6 a.m. MPT. I made sure I submitted the Operating Plan as an attachment to the COS outage record. 5. The outage was submitted by the Short-Range study window submission deadline and eventually makes its way into the RC Short-Range study process. The RC studies my outage as part of the Short-Range study process. 6. I received a notification from COS (if subscribed to by the entity) that the RC changed the state of my outage to either: a. RC Short-Range Confirmed. Next steps are to include this RC Short-Range Confirmed outage in subsequent OPA studies. b. RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified. Next steps are to coordinate with the RC to address the conflicts before the end of the RC Short-Range study period. Classification: Public Page 49 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

51 RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified Example: 1. A TOP wants to take a one-day duration 230kV transmission line outage. The TOP makes sure to submit the Planned outage into COS by the Short-Range study window submission deadline. 2. The TOP studies the outage consistent with the expectations in the Outage Coordination Process and the TOP study results show no reliability conflicts. The TOP submits the Planned outage to COS prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline in the TOP Confirmed state. 3. The RC studies the outage as part of the Short-Range study window process consistent with the expectations in the, and the RC study results show that there are conflicts with another outage. 4. The RC changes the state of the two conflicting outages to RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified and communicates to the submitters of both outages that conflicts were identified. 5. Prior to the end of the study window, the impacted entities and the RC coordinate to address the conflicting outages. One of the outages is rescheduled to address the conflict. TOP and RC studies confirm that the conflict is addressed. 6. Prior to the end of the study, the RC changes the status of the outage that was not rescheduled to RC Short-Range Confirmed. The outage that was rescheduled will be studied by the corresponding future RC Short-Range study period. RC Short-Range Denied Example: 1. A TOP wants to take a one-day duration 230kV transmission line outage. The TOP makes sure to submit the Planned outage into COS by the Short-Range study window submission deadline. 2. The TOP studies the outage consistent with the expectations in the Outage Coordination Process and the TOP study results show no reliability conflicts. The TOP submits the Planned outage to COS prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline in the TOP Confirmed state. 3. The RC studies the outage as part of the Short-Range study window process consistent with the expectations in the, and the RC study results show that there are conflicts with another outage. Classification: Public Page 50 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

52 4. The RC changes the state of the two conflicting Planned outages to RC Short-Range Conflicts Identified and communicates to the submitter of both outages that conflicts were identified. 5. Prior to the end of the study window, the impacted entities and the RC coordinate to address the conflicting outages. Neither TOP is willing to reschedule their Planned outage, and neither outage qualifies as an Urgent outage, so the TOPs are unable to legitimately change the outage to a higher priority type. 6. Per the conflict resolution process, the TOP who scheduled the outage first gets priority. 7. The RC changes the state of the priority outage to RC Short-Range Confirmed. If the later submitting entity does not cancel or reschedule the outage prior to the end of the study, the RC changes the state of the lower priority outage to RC Short-Range Denied. Generation Outage Confirmation by TOP BA Perspective Example: 1. I am a BA, and I have a GO in my BA Area that wants to take a four-day maintenance outage on its 400 MW generator three weeks from now. 2. All of my BA assessments indicate that the generator outage can occur without causing BA function-related reliability issues. 3. As a BA, I am not responsible for transmission system reliability issues such as SOL exceedances; however, the TOP in whose TOP Area my generator interconnects needs to perform studies to determine whether the scheduled generator outage will cause any conflicts with transmission reliability. 4. I submit the generator outage to COS as BA Confirmed. 5. COS knows which TOP is associated with the generator, so the associated TOP will receive a notification from COS (if subscribed to by the TOP) that a BA Confirmed outage requires its attention. 6. The obligates the TOP to confirm my generator outage. The TOP is expected to include my BA Confirmed generator outage in its TOP s transmission outage studies; however, if the TOP doesn t have any transmission outages to study, the TOP must perform a unique study exclusively to determine if my BA Confirmed generator outage causes any reliability conflicts on its transmission system. Classification: Public Page 51 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

53 7. Once TOP studies indicate that the generator outage causes no reliability conflicts on its transmission system, the TOP must change the outage to the BA and TOP Confirmed state. This can be done manually, or it can be done via the API. 8. The Submitting BA is notified by COS when the TOP changes the outage to the BA and TOP Confirmed state. 9. If the TOP studies indicate that my generator outage causes reliability conflicts on its transmission system, the TOP and I are expected to address those conflicts prior to the Short-Range study window submission deadline. If the conflicts cannot be resolved prior to the submission deadline, I will need to reschedule my generator outage, and will need to re-enter it into the Short-Range study window process. 17. Operational Planning Analysis (OPA) Window Process As real-time approaches, the picture of future operating conditions become clearer forecast information is improved and field workforce mobilization is more firm. As a result, the impact of expected outages becomes more accurate, and operating entities have a better sense for whether the outages can be implemented reliably. The OPA window process represents the final iteration of studies related to the Outage Coordination Process prior to same-day and real-time analyses. Planned outages should have already been studied/assessed as part of the Short-Range study window process prior to the OPA window. However, there may be certain outages that are studied for the first time in the OPA window. Such outages may include Forced Automatic, Forced Emergency, Urgent, Operational and Opportunity outage types. The OPA window is intended to address these outages as well as to serve as a final verification to ensure that outages confirmed in the Short-Range study window process are still acceptable when studied against more accurate forecast information. Criteria for Outages Applicable to the OPA Window Process Criteria for the OPA window is the same as that of the Short-Range study window process: 1. The expected continuous duration of the outage is 30 minutes or longer. 2. For outages that are expected to have a continuous duration of less than 30 minutes, the outage is applicable only if the outage requires an outage-specific Operating Plan. If the outage is less than 30 minutes in continuous duration and does not require an outage-specific Operating Plan, the outage is not applicable to the OPA window process, and it does not require submission to COS. Reference the General Outage Submission Requirements and Responsibilities section for more information. Classification: Public Page 52 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

54 TOP and RC OPA Processes The Standards require both the TOP and the RC to have an OPA for nextday operations. The NERC Glossary of Terms defines OPA as the following: Operational Planning Analysis An evaluation of projected system conditions to assess anticipated (pre-contingency) and potential (post-contingency) conditions for next-day operations. The evaluation shall reflect applicable inputs including, but not limited to, load forecasts; generation output levels; Interchange; known Protection System and Special Protection System status or degradation; Transmission outages; generator outages; Facility Ratings; and identified phase angle and equipment limitations. (Operational Planning Analysis may be provided through internal systems or through third-party services.) Note in the OPA definition that the OPA is required to include transmission and generation outages. The Standards are not prescriptive on how OPAs are required to be performed. While OPAs must adhere to the NERC definition, each TOP s and RC s OPA process may be different. Despite any differences, OPAs have a common goal of identifying potential SOL exceedances for next-day operations. Per the Standards, BAs are not required to perform OPAs; however, BAs are required to have Operating Plans for next-day operations to address specific reliability issues. In a similar manner, BAs have obligations relative to the Outage Coordination Process during the OPA window. In the OPA window, expected system conditions including outages are studied both by the TOP and the RC as part of their respective OPA. It is recognized that OPA processes, tools and capabilities can vary from TOP to TOP. It is also recognized that the requirements for TOPs to perform an OPA is a new requirement for TOPs, and that it is expected that TOP processes, tools and capabilities are expected to improve over time. Consequently, the does not provide a high degree of specificity with regard to which outages are required to be included in TOP OPAs. However, TOP OPAs are expected to include any expected outage that was not previously studied as part of the Short-Range study window process. In principle, with exception of Forced Automatic outages and possibly some Forced Emergency outages, no outage should occur without first being studied by the TOP and the RC. Classification: Public Page 53 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

55 RC OPA Process Peak s OPA process includes a two-day-ahead (D+2) study (future) and a one-day-ahead (D+1) study. While TOPs are not required to perform both a D+2 and a D+1 OPA, TOPs are encouraged to do so to improve coordination and operations planning with one another and with Peak. Each business day, the Operations Planning team at Peak performs a D+2 (future) and D+1 OPA. These OPAs reflect the inputs listed under the definition of OPA in the NERC Glossary of Terms. The starting point for building an OPA base case is utilizing an appropriate realtime state estimator solution which represents the state of the network at the time of the snapshot. The base case is then adjusted to reflect forecasted system conditions for the OPA. Peak then performs a pre- and post-contingency study and communicates any identified instance(s) of SOL and/or IROL exceedance to the impacted entity(ies). Peak then collaborates with the impacted entity(ies) to ensure Operating Plan(s) are in place, where applicable, to meet acceptable system performance requirements. OPA Window Process Outage Submission Requirements By the time the OPA window arrives, Planned outages should have already been submitted as required by the Short-Range study window process. Any changes to submitted outages are addressed in the Revising and Rescheduling Outages section. As described in the Outage Types section, Opportunity outages and Urgent outages should be submitted to COS with as much advance notice as possible. Opportunity outages should be submitted before OPA lock-down time. That said, same-day and real-time Opportunity and Urgent outages may be allowed at the discretion of the RCSOs, provided they are coordinated and studied by the TOP and the RCSOs prior to implementation. OPA lock-down time is 6 a.m. MPT one business day prior to the start date of the outage. Holidays (Peak Reliability-observed holidays) will also need to be accounted for in the OPA lock-down time to preserve the one business day prior requirement. The OPA lock-down time applies to both the start date and time. The OPA is generally performed one business day prior to the start of the outage and the study typically begins when engineers come into work. This allows for the afternoon to be used for coordinating any issues that were identified in the OPA. Per the definition of OPA, transmission and generation outages are a required input to the OPA process. OPAs cannot include outages as an input if those outage start or end times are changing while the OPA is underway. In order for engineers to adequately study next-day conditions, the outages need to be locked down when the engineer performs the study. Classification: Public Page 54 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

56 BA Responsibilities 1. Perform necessary assessments for expected generation outages of all outage types. Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required BA assessments. 2. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for generator outage scheduling and to support BA assessments and TOP OPAs. 3. Revise/develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the revision/development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. 4. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC OPA Conflicts Identified state. TOP Responsibilities 1. Perform (or have) OPAs. Per the NERC definition, OPAs must include transmission and generation outages. The requires that TOP OPAs specifically include any expected outage of any outage type that was not previously studied as part of the Short-Range study window process. In principle, with exception of Forced Automatic outages, no outage should occur without being studied by the TOP (the RC has the same responsibility). Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required TOP studies/assessments. 2. Coordinate with other BAs and TOPs as necessary for transmission and generation outage scheduling and to support BA and TOP studies/assessments. 3. Revise/develop and communicate Operating Plans and support the revision/development of other TOP/BA Operating Plans as necessary. Reference the Operating Plan Requirements section for requirements associated with the development and communication of Operating Plans. 4. Coordinate with the RC and with impacted entities to resolve issues for any submitted outage the RC sets to the RC OPA Conflicts Identified state. RC Responsibilities 1. Perform OPA. Per the NERC definition, the OPA must include transmission and generation outages. The requires the RC OPA to specifically include any expected outage of any outage type (excluding Informational) that was not previously studied as part of the Short-Range study window process. In Classification: Public Page 55 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

57 principle, with exception of Forced Automatic outages, no outage should occur without being studied and Confirmed by the RC (TOPs have the same responsibility). Reference the Study and Assessment Requirements section for required RC studies/assessments. 2. Coordinate with the TOP and BA as necessary for the revision/development of outage-specific Operating Plans. 3. During the course of the RC OPA process, if the RC OPA shows no reliability conflicts, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC D+1 OPA Confirmed. 4. During the course of the RC OPA process, if the RC encounters any reliability conflicts with the outage, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC OPA Conflicts Identified, and the RC will communicate to the submitter that conflicts were identified. The RC will do its due diligence to reach out to TOPs and BAs as soon as possible to allow time for a coordinated resolution. 5. Prior to the end of the RC OPA, the RC will coordinate with impacted TOPs and BAs to address outage conflicts. If the reliability conflicts can be resolved by the end of the OPA window, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC OPA Confirmed. 6. If the reliability conflicts cannot be addressed by the end of the RC OPA and the submitter has not Cancelled or rescheduled the outage, the RC will change the state of the outage to RC OPA Denied. At the request of the TOP/BA, Peak will collaborate with the TOP/BA to reschedule RC OPA Denied outages to a timeframe that accommodates the outage without creating reliability issues. Please see Figure 9: OPA D+1 Study Window process flowchart which describes the relationship of the applicable outage states and the actions needed by the BAs, TOPs and/or RC. Classification: Public Page 56 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017

58 Figure 9: OPA D+1 Study Window Process Flowchart Classification: Public Page 57 of 68 Effective Date: Apr 01, 2017