In the 2007 Energy Plan, the provincial government recognized the importance of the transmission reliability to B.C.’s continued prosperity and commited the province to implementing industry wide mandatory reliability standards (MRS).
Read more about BCTC's Mandatory Reliability Standards initiative (PDF, 111KB).
B.C. has been a strong supporter of mandatory reliability and is an active member of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and its regional reliability organization – Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC). Since 1968, NERC and its regional reliability organizations have been responsible for managing the reliability of the interconnected transmission grid and development of industry wide standards. In BC, BCTC has primary responsibility for planning, operating and maintaining the BC Hydro bulk electric transmission grid and has voluntarily applied NERC and WECC guidelines for many years.
In 1999, WECC implemented a new Reliability Management System (RMS) for improving compliance with existing standards. BC Hydro and West Kootenay Power (now FortisBC) signed RMS agreements voluntarily committing to comply with specific reliability standards and agreeing to sanctions for non-compliance. Following its creation in 2003, BCTC also signed RMS agreements.
Mandatory Reliability in BC
In August 2003, a wide-spread blackout affecting central Canada and the eastern United States shook the electric utility industry. Lasting several days and affecting an estimated 50 million people, the blackout led President Bush and Prime Minister Jean Chretien to establish a joint Canadian-US Task Force to review the incident. The Task Force recommended that reliability standards be made mandatory and enforceable, with sanctions for non-compliance.
BCTC is currently leading a project on behalf of government to implement MRS standards in British Columbia and develop a compliance monitoring and enforcement framework for the province. Over the next few months, BCTC will be consulting with other B.C. utilities (e.g. BC Hydro, FortisBC), Independent Power Producers and other industry participants to develop a better understanding of the implications of implementing MRS in B.C. and to get input into the options for compliance and enforcement.
More information
For more information on Mandatory Reliability Standards or to get involved, please contact Jane Newlands at jane.newlands@bctc.com.