In November 2014, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued an “initial reliability review” in which it identified elements of the CPP that could lead to reliability concerns. Echoed by some grid operators and cited in comments to EPA submitted by states, utilities, and industry groups, the NERC study has made reliability a critical issue in finalizing, and then implementing, the Clean Power Plan.   

In order to gain insight on the issue, the Advanced Energy Economy Institute commissioned The Brattle Group, a leading consulting firm to utilities and grid operators, to conduct a critical review of the NERC study. Politico’s Morning Energy covers this report:

BRATTLE DEFENDS CLIMATE RULES: The Brattle Group is out with a new 79-page report today that cast doubt on potential electric reliability woes the North American Electric Reliability Corp. flagged about the EPA’s draft climate rules in November. In its preliminary assessment of the proposed rules, NERC that they would impact more power capacity than previous EPA rules “in a relatively short time frame, potentially posing greater grid reliability impacts compared to prior environmental compliance programs.” On the other hand, Brattle argues that NERC’s concerns about potential reliability issues connected to complying with EPA’s regulations were “unlikely to materially affect reliability” and that the group didn’t consider a variety of solutions that would resolve potential red flags. The report’s lead author, Jurgen Weiss, said that NERC’s reliability concerns were “largely overstated.” The report: http://bit.ly/1Ecxhdm

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