Midwest ISO Provides Details to Congress Regarding Grid Manager's Role During August 14 Power Outages

Transcripts of Phone Calls Made to Utilities and Other Reliability Coordinators Now Part of Record

CARMEL, Ind., Sept. 4, 2003 -- The top executive for the Midwest Independent Transmission Operator, Inc., testified before a Congressional committee Thursday about the grid manager's role as Reliability Coordinator for much of the Midwest U.S. during last month's widespread power outages.

James P. Torgerson, president and CEO for the Midwest ISO, provided members of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce details about actions his organization took last August 14, when a series of power outages rocked the Northeast and portions of the Midwest.

Torgerson's written testimony to the House committee can be found at http://www.midwestiso.org

In his remarks, Torgerson noted that certain systems appeared to have worked properly during the crisis, and discussed activities the Midwest ISO is undertaking to improve its communications with utilities and other Regional Transmission Operators (RTOs). He also made some suggestions on what can be done to prevent a recurrence of the power outages, but did not speculate on the cause of last month's events.

"As only one of the entities contributing information to NERC and DOE, we do not have a complete picture of events across and adjoining the footprint of affected systems," Torgerson said. "Once the investigation is complete, we are confident the record will show that we acted appropriately."

As a reliability coordinator for portions of 15 states and one Canadian province, the Midwest ISO monitors the flow of electricity over high voltage transmission lines. The organization also conducts long-range planning for the region and communicates with 35 control areas to maintain the flow of power within pre-established limits. Local control area operators have real-time operational control of the generation resources and the transmission/distribution systems within their area.

Torgerson also confirmed that Midwest ISO has released to investigators transcripts of phone conversations it had with control area operators and other grid managers on August 14.

"We've provided the transcripts to investigating authorities in the spirit of complete cooperation, and we're pleased that they are now part of the record," he said. "We believe the transcripts will show that MISO adhered to all appropriate NERC guidelines regarding communications with utilities and other grid managers prior to the power outages."

During his testimony, Torgerson said "widespread adherence to strong reliability standards" will be crucial to preventing a recurrence of power outages.

He suggested a number of other actions that could help prevent future outages, including:

-- the development of more transmission infrastructure consistent with regional plans;

-- a re-assessment of the existing hierarchical control structure between Control Areas and Reliability Coordinators;

-- increased automated data-sharing about system conditions over a wider area;

-- a review of protective relaying practices within the industry; and

-- the acceptance by the Federal Regulatory Energy Commission (FERC) of Midwest ISO's tariff filing to establish both real-time and day-ahead markets in its territory.

Torgerson also noted that the Midwest ISO is in the process of establishing an automated data exchange system with PJM, a RTO that manages the power grid for Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Once fully implemented, the system will enable allow control room operators to turn raw data into information that can be monitored in both regions in real-time. The exchange of such data is integral to development of a common market between the two regions, which, ultimately, will facilitate the movement of the most competitive sources of generation supply throughout a significant portion of the Eastern Interconnection.

The goal of the common market is to establish a "one-stop shop" that meets the needs of all customers and stakeholders who use the electric power grid in more than 20 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

SOURCE Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator

Web Site: http://www.midwestiso.org