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Home > News Releases > News Releases 2008 > Electric Reliability Oversight for the National Energy Board - Questions and Answers

Electric Reliability Oversight for the National Energy Board - Questions and Answers

1. Why should IPLs comply with reliability standards?

The NEB regulates all international power lines (IPLs) that transport electricity from Canada to the United States. NEB regulated IPLs represent less than 1% of the total high voltage transmission lines in Canada. The remainder of Canada's bulk power systems falls under provincial jurisdiction.

NEB's mandate included the safe and reliable operation of IPLs. To ensure their dependability, IPLs must be designed and operated in a manner that complies with certain reliability standards.

The NEB intends to adopt a set of reliability standards developed by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) with a broad definition to include regional variations.

2. What are reliability standards?

Reliability standards define the minimum requirements that are needed to ensure the safe and reliable operation of a bulk electric system.

For example, tree branches touching transmission lines are among the most common causes of a power line short circuit. To avoid potential issues, NERC has developed a standard specifying the distance that must be maintained between treetops and power lines under normal operating conditions.

3. What is a bulk power system?

A bulk power system is a network consisting of generating plants, power lines, circuits and substations that form the backbone of our electricity grid. The bulk power system transfers electric power over long distances. It does not however include the electricity distribution lines which deliver power from the substations into our homes.

4. Who are the stakeholders?

Stakeholders are entities that are directly or indirectly associated with the construction or operation of IPLs, and who may be impacted by regulation changes.

For example, company owners to whom the NEB has issued a certificate for the construction and operation of one or more IPLs are stakeholders. Similarly, the system operators who maintain reliable operation of power systems that include IPLs, are also stakeholders.

5. What are the National Energy Board Electricity Regulations

The NEB draws its regulatory mandate from the National Energy Board Act. The National Energy Board Electricity Regulations are instruments that are used for carrying out the provisions of the National Energy Board Act in relation to IPLs and the exportation of electricity.

6. Why does the NEB need to amend its Electricity Regulations

Adopting these reliability standards requires an amendment to the NEB Electricity regulations.

7. What is meant by regional variations?

Some regions in Canada have special requirements that may not have been covered by the original NERC standards. For example, some regions have direct current high voltage lines that interface with alternating current lines. In collaboration with NERC and other stakeholders, where appropriate, those regions may develop standards that apply specifically to their lines.

 

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Date Modified:
2011-10-28