2012 WECC Annual Review - Western Electricity Coordinating Council

2012 Annual Review
2012 Annual Review

WECC Profile
FOUNDED: 1967
INCORPORATED: 2002
BUSINESS:
501(c)(6) not-for-profit organization
EMPLOYEES: 211
WECC MEMBERS: 363
WECC REGISTERED FUNCTIONS: Reliability Coordinator and Interchange Authority
2012 BUDGET:
Total: $69,509,307
Statutory: $67,969,167
Non-statutory (WREGIS): $1,540,140
STATUTORY FUNDING:
Assessments: $36,977,492
Penalty Sanctions: $2,256,023
Federal Grants: $27,431,301
Workshop Fees: $1,003,475
Interest: $291,171
Miscellaneous: $9,706
NON-STATUTORY FUNDING (WREGIS):
Transaction Fees: $1,800,000
WECC EXECUTIVE STEERING TEAM:
Mark Maher, Chief Executive Officer
Melanie Frye, Vice President, Operations and Planning
David Godfrey, Vice President, Shared Services and Strategic Planning
Steven Goodwill, Vice President, General Counsel
John McGhee, Vice President, Reliability Coordination
Rachel Sherrard, Vice President, Communications and External Affairs
Constance White, Vice President, Compliance
U.S. REGISTRATION:
Registered Entities: 464
Registered Entities’ Registered Functions: 1,228
Registered Balancing Authorities: 33
BRITISH COLUMBIA (BCUC) REGISTRATION:
Registered Entities: 36
Registered Entities’ Registered Functions: 102
Registered Balancing Authorities: 1
BALANCING AUTHORITIES: 38
All data in this document, unless otherwise stated, is current as of December 31, 2012.
Workshops: $10,000
Interest: $8,829
Miscellaneous: $294
Cover / Transmission towers at the John Day Dam, Columbia River, Oregon
2

itish columbia
alberta
2012 Annual Review
Noted in Blue / Map of the Western Interconnection
washington
montana
north dakota
oregon
minnesota
idaho
south dakota
wisconsin
wyoming
michigan
nevada
utah
nebraska
iowa
illinois
indiana
colorado
california
kansas
missouri
kentuck
tennessee
arizona
new mexico
oklahoma
arkansas
baja california, mx
texas
mississippi
alabama
louisiana

Message from WECC Chair Marsha Smith
To fulfill its mission – to promote and foster a reliable and efficient Bulk Electric System – the Western Electricity
Coordinating Council (WECC) has to be able to undertake all of the activities described in its Delegation
Agreement with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) and completely and effectively
fulfill its role as the Western Interconnection’s Reliability Assurer, as defined in the NERC Functional Model.
In September 2012, the WECC Board of Directors (Board) convened a strategic planning session to consider
potential changes to address the most challenging issue we face as an organization: how to configure and
organize WECC so that it can continue to achieve both its mission and its NERC responsibilities.
Ultimately, the Board and the WECC members will decide these matters. No one yet knows the exact nature of the alternatives that
will be presented to the WECC membership in June 2013. It is likely that WECC could be restructured into multiple entities with
its Registered Entity functions in one organization and its registered functions, such as Reliability Coordination, in the other.
Various WECC committees, especially the Governance and Nominating Committee, are working hard to consider the optimal
organizational and governance structures for WECC in the future. We are making every effort to ensure that this is an
open and transparent process, that members’ concerns are considered and addressed as thoroughly as possible, and that all
alternatives are fully considered. Time is of the essence and this effort is critical to the mission of WECC, and the interests
of its members. Our ultimate purpose in this initiative is to meet the needs of members with respect to reliability issues. I
hope that the path forward will soon be clear and the process of implementation will go as smoothly as possible.
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2012 Annual Review
Our goal as an organization is to not only maintain, but to enhance, the high level of reliability in the Western Interconnection, both in
the present and in the future. It is a worthy and ambitious goal, one that will not be successfully achieved without support and input from
the WECC membership. I urge you to actively engage in the discussions leading up to the June 2013 decision-point. Your participation
is critical to the success of this effort. In the meantime, WECC will continue to focus on its core responsibilities with regard to reliability
and as the Region’s source of unbiased analysis and information on issues critical to the reliability of the Western Interconnection.
Marsha Smith, Chair, WECC Board of Directors

Message from WECC CEO Mark Maher
Rising workloads fueled by a diverse range of existing activities, a major Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)
audit that comprised five rounds of data requests and two multi-day site visits, and two game-changing events made 2012
perhaps the most interesting year in WECC’s history.
Through it all, WECC’s staff worked diligently to: meet hard deadlines through technically-sound actions; deliver the
analyses required to maintain the reliability of the Western Interconnection; keep WECC stakeholders informed; and stay on top of an everincreasing
Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement workflow.
In addition to its normal workload, in 2012 WECC staff responded to two extremely resource-intensive ad hoc initiatives: the report
published by NERC/FERC “Arizona-Southern California Outages on September 8, 2011: Causes and Recommendations” (Joint Report), and
the WECC Strategic Planning Initiative.
The Joint Report identified 27 findings and recommendations with potential impacts to key WECC functions: situational awareness; next-day,
seasonal, and near- and long-term planning; impact of sub-100-kV facilities; and Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits. On September
28, 2012, WECC submitted its Response Report that considered all of the comments received from NERC as a result of WECC’s Preliminary
Response Report (filed on August 31). The September 28 filing included additional activities submitted by WECC members and affected entities.
There are 51 WECC activities currently underway in response to these findings and recommendations, all with defined timelines that reflect a
sense of urgency. While WECC recognizes the need to resolve these issues expeditiously, it must ensure that thoughtful and technically-sound
responses are not compromised in the interest of time. Consequently, the timeframe for completion of the activities ranges from 2011 through 2015.
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2012 Annual Review
WECC’s Strategic Planning Initiative has even more profound implications for the future of the organization. In September, the WECC Board
passed four resolutions related to the future structure, governance, and funding of WECC. At its December meeting, the WECC Board coalesced
around a proposal that creates a new organization housing the Reliability Coordinator (RC) and Interchange Authority registered functions. This
new entity would be governed by an independent Board with input from a strong Member Advisory Committee. The Governance and Nominating
Committee will develop a proposal for governance of the functions that remain in WECC for consideration at the March 2013 Board meeting.
Without optimal governance, structural, and financial models, WECC will struggle to achieve its mission
and delegated responsibilities. WECC’s goal is to develop an organizational model that will unite WECC
members and stakeholders in working toward a common goal: a WECC that efficiently ensures a
reliable Bulk Electric System in the Western Interconnection, now and into the foreseeable future.
One constant in this year of change has been the thoughtful input and contributions of the
WECC membership. Without the members’ support, it would not be possible to effectively
address the major challenges we face as an organization. When all is said and done, the bottom
line is enhanced reliability for the end-user customers to which our members are responsible.
Mark Maher, Chief Executive Officer

2012 Key Achievements
WECC’s staff and committees achieved significant milestones in 2012. The following sections
provide an overview of those key achievements, together with a progress report on WECC’s U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) grant initiatives: the Western Interconnection Synchrophasor
Program (WISP), and the Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) project.
Standards Development
WECC’s mandatory Reliability Standards Development
Program has two distinct functions: 1) the development of
Regional Reliability Standards and Regional Criteria for
the Western Interconnection; and 2) participation in the
NERC Reliability Standards Development Procedure.
In March 2012, FERC approved the revised WECC Standards
Process and the associated Bylaws revisions that were
necessitated by that revised process. This major revision
of the WECC Standards Process included the seating of a
WECC Standards Committee, as well as the development and
implementation of an online standards voting process.
Using these new procedures, in 2012 WECC stakeholders
approved the revised Contingency Reserve Standard, BAL-
002-WECC-1, which was subsequently approved by the WECC
Board and adopted by the NERC Board of Trustees. The WECC
stakeholders and the WECC Board also approved revisions to
BAL-004-WECC-2 and an associated regional variance to a NERC
Standard, which were presented to the NERC Board of Trustees
at its December meeting. WECC stakeholders also approved
three additional regional criteria and the new Underfrequency
Load Shedding Plan. Four additional regional criteria and one
regional standard were scheduled for online voting in December.
Throughout 2012, WECC’s Standards Development staff
devoted significant time and effort to a review of all the
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2012 Annual Review
John Day Dam,
Columbia River, Washington

NERC and WECC Standards to determine which standards,
if any, are related to the 27 specific recommendations
included in the NERC/FERC Joint Report.
Stakeholder outreach was also a consistent focus for
WECC’s Standards Development staff throughout 2012.
WECC produced more than 20 position papers to help guide
voter response to proposed standards and implemented an
automated standards announcement procedure to targeted
distribution lists. These activities have been effective in
increasing stakeholder engagement in the process.
Goals for 2013 include increasing the user-friendliness of
the Standards web page, as well as activities to encourage
continued, active, and constructive stakeholder involvement
in the WECC Standards Process. This participation
is critical to ensuring that stakeholder concerns are
effectively addressed in the WECC Standards Process.
Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement
WECC is responsible for monitoring, assessing, and enforcing
FERC mandatory Reliability Standards throughout the Western
Interconnection. WECC monitors compliance through a wide
range of methods, such as self-reporting and audits, reports
violations to NERC, works with entities to mitigate violations,
and processes violations through to final disposition.
In 2012, WECC Compliance staff conducted nearly 150
audits, a 48 percent increase from 2011, without significantly
adding to Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement
(CM&E) staffing levels. The number of audits is increasing
annually as WECC adds new Registered Entities and new
functions. Post-audit feedback from the entities indicated
a 95 percent satisfaction rate with the audit process.
CM&E is also responsible for compliance enforcement, which
includes working with WECC entities to mitigate any violations
or reliability impacts, and to dispose of violations. Violations are
disposed of either through a litigated process or a mutually-agreedupon
settlement, including appropriate penalties and sanctions.
In 2012, all of WECC’s enforcement actions were disposed of
through negotiated settlement; an indication of WECC’s positive
relationship with its member entities. NERC and FERC approved
all dispositions filed for approval by WECC during 2012.
The number of violations disposed of by WECC staff in
2012 was a 70 percent increase from 2011 levels – this was
achieved without a significant increase in staff. Despite having
the largest case load of any NERC Regional Entity, in 2012
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2012 Annual Review
WECC demonstrated the fastest violation processing time,
according to NERC’s quarterly Case Load Violation Index.
During the coming year, CM&E will focus on its normal
Compliance workload, including expected increases in both
the number of audits performed and the number of violations
processed. Member outreach and compliance education will also
be an ongoing priority as WECC works to keep its membership
up to date in the ever-changing Compliance landscape.
Planning Services
In 2012, WECC’s Planning Services staff issued the firstannual
WECC State of the Interconnection Report. The
report, which will serve as a baseline for all future State of the
Interconnection Reports, represents considerable effort on
the part of WECC staff. It evaluates risks to system reliability
within the Western Interconnection by analyzing available
data from system events, real-time performance measures,
compliance violations, and planning observations.
Planning Services also supported the efforts of the Planning
Coordination Committee (PCC) in 2012, a responsibility that
includes the development of WECC’s power flow stability base
case models, the creation of the Study Program Annual Report,
and the development of the WECC transmission maps.
In 2013, Planning Services will support the implementation
of the Base Case Coordination System (BCCS), investigating
options to better coordinate Transmission Planning
Assessments, as well as continuing to support the PCC. The
implementation of the BCCS is an effort that will require
significant training and outreach to WECC stakeholders.
Transmission Expansion Planning
In 2012, the majority of Transmission Expansion Planning’s
(TEP) efforts were focused on completing the analytical work
that will serve as the basis for the 10- and 20-Year Transmission
Expansion Plans, which are scheduled for publication in 2013.
Specifically, in 2012 TEP created long-term planning scenarios,
Geographic Information System (GIS)-based environmental risk
factors, and a historical modeling study. TEP also identified cycling
costs, completed a long-term capital cost expansion planning tool,
and made numerous improvements to existing models and data.
TEP’s objective continues to be to gain a better understanding
of long-term Interconnection-wide transmission needs, costs,
and reliability issues over a range of potential energy futures.

“The mission of the Western
Electricity Coordinating Council
(WECC) is to promote and
foster a reliable and efficient
Bulk Electric System.”
Mission
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2012 Annual Review
“WECC will lead the stakeholders
in the Western Interconnection to
achieve optimal system reliability,
be the premier source of unbiased
information, and serve as the
trusted thought leader for the
Western Interconnection.”
Vision

The TEP process incorporates forecast electrical loads,
multiple generation resource options, active and proposed
energy policies, and cost and reliability issues, in addition to
potential environmental, hydrological, and cultural impacts.
Reliability Assessment and
Performance Analysis
WECC’s Reliability Assessment Department is responsible for
producing both short- and long-term reliability assessments
for the Western Interconnection, as well as post-performance
assessments for both the summer and winter periods.
These reports include WECC’s Power Supply Assessment,
an annual report that evaluates potential reserve margins
over a range of assumptions for the next 10 years.
Each year, WECC’s Reliability Assessment analysts produce
multiple short- and long-term assessments for NERC, such as
the Long-Term Reliability Assessment, and summer and winter
assessments, which evaluate the Western Interconnection’s
calculated reserve margins for the June–September and December–
February periods. In addition, this group produces annual
post-summer and post-winter system reliability assessments,
reviewing actual system performance during those periods.
In 2012, WECC’s Reliability Assessment Department performed
all required analyses, as scheduled, finding that the Western
Interconnection’s reliability is stable in the short-term and, in most
areas, for the long-term. In 2013, WECC’s Reliability Assessment
Department will participate in NERC’s Probabilistic Assessment to
evaluate system performance during all hours of the year against
a range of variables, such as increased demand and more frequent
unplanned generation outages. Results from the Probabilistic
Assessment will be published in the second quarter of 2013.
Training, Education, and Operator
Certification Program
WECC is one of the Western Interconnection’s foremost
providers of NERC-approved continuing education training in
NERC Standards, Regional Reliability Standards, and Regional
Criteria for system operators, schedulers, and non-operational
personnel. WECC’s training activities also include emergency
operations simulator training and workshops on electrical theory.
In 2012, WECC conducted 23 system operator classes and
three system overview workshops, which were attended by
more than 525 stakeholder representatives. The Training,
Education, and Operator Certification Program upgraded its
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2012 Annual Review
WECC training,
Vancouver, Washington

training Web page to improve access to training information
for WECC regional trainers. WECC’s 2012 “Train the Trainers”
workshop began system operator training on NERC Standard
PER-005 prior to the standard becoming effective in April 2013.
The new NERC Standard focuses on the human performance
aspect of system operator training and competency.
WECC’s training manager has been working with the WECC
Reliability Coordination (RC) function to develop training materials
for use with the West-wide System Model Dispatch Training
Simulator. The generic simulator that WECC has used is being
replaced with a reality-based simulator that will allow students to train
on their utility’s actual system, providing a more relevant real-life,
real-time training environment. This training will be provided in 2013.
In 2013, WECC will provide regional classes in the Northwest,
Northern and Southern California, and the Desert
Southwest subregions.
Situational Awareness and
Reliability Coordination
The WECC RCO in Loveland, Colorado and Vancouver,
Washington provide situational awareness and real-time
supervision of the entire Western Interconnection. When the
Western Interconnection Synchrophasor Program (WISP)
goes on-line in March 2013, WECC’s Situational Awareness
and RC functions will take a major step forward.
The hundreds of phasor measurement units and phasor data
concentrators deployed under WISP are already feeding data to the
weccrc.org website via WISP’s secure data portal. In 2012, WECC’s
selected vendor, Harris Corporation, developed the secure Wide Area
Network through which the RCOs will receive an unprecedented
level of real-time data, providing increased situational awareness
of Western Interconnection operations. Once all participants have
signed the WISP Universal Data Sharing Agreement (UDSA), WECC
will begin sharing reliability and synchrophasor operating data via
a Wide Area View display. At the end of 2012, UDSA participation
was just two signatories short of 100 percent participation. A total
of 95 Transmission Owners, Transmission Operators, and Balancing
Authorities have executed either the UDSA or a waiver (under which
signatories share their data but do not receive data of other signatories).
Throughout 2012, WECC’s Situational Awareness and Reliability
Coordination staff devoted significant time and resources
toward addressing the recommendations and mitigation
actions mandated by the NERC/FERC Joint Report.
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2012 Annual Review
In 2013, key Situational Awareness and Reliability Coordination
goals include “checking the boxes” on the DOE’s 63 deliverables
for the WISP grant, finalizing execution of the WISP UDSA, and
expanding the restoration training program for WECC Balancing
Authorities, Transmission Operators, and Generator Operators.
The RC will continue to focus on WECC’s revised System
Operating Limit Methodology project to identify and mitigate
real-time Interconnection Reliability Operating Limits, a major
project requiring collaboration with more than 130 WECC entities.
Western Renewable Energy Generation
Information System (WREGIS)
The Western Renewable Energy Generation Information System
(WREGIS) is the Western Interconnection’s independent
renewable energy tracking system, charged with verifying that
participating generators are meeting applicable renewables
standards. WREGIS renewable energy certificates are used
to verify compliance with state and provincial regulatory
requirements, such as Renewable Portfolio Standards.
In March 2012, WREGIS transitioned to become a functional
area within WECC, overseen by a seven-member committee
consisting of representatives from various stakeholder groups.
The new WREGIS home page, which can be accessed through the
wecc.biz site, includes information about the WREGIS software,
training materials, rules and procedures, and how to register
processes for all types of account holders, as well as aggregated
data on account holders, generating units, and certificates.
In its capacity as the Western Interconnection’s independent
renewable energy tracking system, in 2012 WREGIS began
conducting full-scale audits of its account holders to provide
another layer of assurance that the WREGIS data is accurate, and
to educate account holders on data collection best practices.
WREGIS continued to experience strong growth across its
program areas in 2012. From October 1, 2011 to September
30, 2012, the number of WREGIS-Qualified Reporting
Entities increased from 60 to 63, while the number of account
holders increased by 25 percent, from 377 to 456. During the
same period, the number of WREGIS-Approved Generating
Units (wind, hydro, solar, biogas/biomass, geothermal)
increased from 1,786 to 2,380, while total generating capacity
represented increased from 38,475 MW to 44,094 MW.

Standing Committee Accomplishments
Market Interface Committee (MIC)
The Market Interface Committee advises the WECC Board
on the development of market interface and compatible
commercial practices within the Western Interconnection,
as well as ways to integrate those practices with WECC’s
reliability mission. The MIC works to assure the compatibility
of business practices in the Western Interconnection
with relevant standards, practices, and procedures.
In 2012, one of the MIC’s primary areas of focus was FERC Order
764, which facilitates the integration of variable energy resources
through the implementation of 15-minute scheduling. This is
a far-reaching change, with implications that cross multiple
market and organizational boundaries. Another issue to which
the MIC devoted significant energy in 2012 was the natural gas
and electric coordination interface. The MIC is looking at future
ways to integrate gas and electric scheduling more efficiently to
improve reliability. In November 2012, the MIC also assisted in the
successful transition from the Transmission System Information
Network, the NERC transmission registry that allowed e-Tags
to be traded electronically, to the North American Energy
Standards Board’s Energy Industry Registry. The new system
appears to be operating well with no major problems reported.
In 2013, the MIC will continue to work with FERC and other
Regional Entities to develop the natural gas and electric
coordination interface. WECC recently held its first Gas
and Electric Coordination Committee meeting to improve
communication between the two industries and enhance
reliability. WECC’s role in that effort is continuing to evolve.
Stakeholders on both sides of the issue see WECC as being the
appropriate organization to facilitate this coordination as there
is no organizational equivalent to WECC on the natural gas side.
At least initially, WECC will function as a clearinghouse for
information and act as a liaison between the two industries.
In addition, FERC Order 764 will go into effect in October 2013 and
will have a far-reaching impact on scheduling practices throughout
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2012 Annual Review
Solar Panel for TriMet by
REC Solar,
Portland, Oregon

the United States. Historically, energy has been scheduled in
60-minute increments; however, Order 764 will enable 15-minute
intra-hour scheduling — a significant implementation challenge
for many WECC stakeholders. WECC has convened an Order
764 Task Force to develop practices to ease this transition.
Operating Committee (OC)
One of the primary goals of the Operating Committee is to promote
the reliability of the Bulk Electric System. The goal is directly
supported through evaluation of Bulk Electric System events, during
which WECC undertakes appropriate levels of analysis to determine
the causes of the events, promptly implements corrective actions,
and provides recommendations and lessons learned to the industry.
In 2012, the OC was focused on developing guidelines and
providing information to help WECC stakeholders address
specific recommendations from the FERC/NERC Joint Report.
The OC had direct or shared involvement with 16 of the 27
recommendations contained in the Joint Report. Many of the OC
subcommittees had specific assignments arising from the Joint
Report, such as the development of guidelines for real-time data
sharing between Balancing Authorities (BA) and Transmission
Providers, real-time tools, next-day studies, and relay loadability.
The Remedial Action Scheme (RAS) Reliability Subcommittee
is collecting and compiling RAS data and will be working with
other groups within WECC to prioritize the schemes, and to
determine which of those schemes should be incorporated into
the planning and operating cases for power system modeling.
In 2013, the OC will continue to participate in NERC’s Reliability-
Based Control Proof-of-Concept Field Trial, an ongoing activity
with 26 voluntary BA participants. WECC has requested that the
field trial be extended for an additional year to continue testing and
evaluation of the system impacts of the proposed NERC Standard.
The OC has completed its revision of the WECC Event Reporting Procedure
to align with the NERC Event Analysis Process. WECC also eliminated its
Balancing Authority Certification Policy in an effort to streamline
and simplify the BA certification process and bring it in line with the
NERC Rules and Procedures Section 500 Certification procedure.
Planning Coordination Committee (PCC)
The WECC membership relies on the Planning Coordination Committee
to provide tools and resources for planning studies, including transmission
maps, power flow and stability base cases, and the Path Rating Catalog.
In 2012, the PCC formed the Base Case Coordination System (BCCS)
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2012 Annual Review
Assurance Team, which has worked with Siemens PTI in developing and
testing the deliverables of the BCCS, scheduled to be operational in 2013.
In addition, the PCC completed its update of the Project Coordination and
Path Rating Processes in 2012. The purpose of this effort was to review,
clarify, and streamline the procedures for developing path ratings.
Looking ahead to 2013, the PCC will focus the majority of its effort on
addressing several recommendations from the NERC/FERC Joint Report.
Specifically, the PCC will undertake further activities related to the following:
»»
Remedial Action Schemes
»»
Relay modeling in base cases
»»
Addressing discrepancies between the West-wide
System Model and the planning base case models
»»
Developing requirements for modeling sub-
100-kV elements in base cases
»»
Developing a whitepaper and holding an educational
meeting for interested parties, including NERC and
FERC, on the WECC Path Rating Process.
The PCC will be closely involved in the stakeholder outreach and
training that will be integral to the implementation of the BCCS.
16th Street, Astoria, Oregon

U.S. DOE Grants
Western Interconnection
Synchrophasor Program (WISP)
Over the past three years, WECC and eight other cost
share participants committed $53.9 million in funding to
the Western Interconnection Synchrophasor Program,
enabling the program to receive federal matching funds in
the same amount. When the original scope of the project is
completed in March 2013, WISP will exponentially improve
situational awareness and enhance the Region’s ability to
identify and analyze system vulnerabilities in real time.
A total of 10 additional parties accepted WECC’s
invitation to participate in WISP and are investing in
synchrophasor infrastructure on their own systems. This
investment will extend the visibility of the entire Western
Interconnection. Construction and installation of the WISP
infrastructure and applications occupied most of 2012.
Working with a vendor to develop and deploy WISP’s Wide
Area Network (WAN), all participants are now connected and
synchrophasor data from WISP’s phasor measurement units (PMU)
is being transmitted to the WECC RCOs. The dedicated, secure
WAN is exceeding performance requirements. When complete,
the infrastructure will include more than 450 PMUs connected
through 59 phasor data collectors and the WAN to the RCOs.
By late 2012, site acceptance testing of the vendorsupplied
applications was underway, including situational
awareness, oscillation modal analysis, and voltage stability
assessment applications for both real-time operators as well
as operational and planning engineers. A state-of-the-art
reliability portal, weccrc.org, is now online to provide access
to reliability data archives (including next-day studies) and
will soon provide a registry of Wide Area View users and
synchrophasor data archives for Western reliability entities.
In September 2012, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) granted
an extension of the WISP program to allow WECC to use $4.25
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2012 Annual Review
WECC Reliability
Coordination Office,
Vancouver, Washington

Integrity
Teamwork
Excellence
Inclusiveness
Professionalism
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2012 Annual Review
million in available stimulus funds to complete an expansion of the
RCO control rooms in Loveland and Vancouver. This expansion
will further increase WECC’s situational awareness capabilities.
The project’s original scope will be completed by March 31, 2013,
and the additional work will be completed by December 31, 2013.
WISP data was used to improve and validate the model for one
large generating unit, Columbia Generating Station, without the
need to take the unit off-line, saving the owner up to $700,000
in avoided outage costs. In 2013, WISP data will be used to
calibrate and validate the models of other generators in the
Region. Because these models are used to set operating limits
on the network, fine-tuning them through synchrophasor
technology produces more accurate limits, optimizing the
grid’s capability while still meeting reliability criteria.
The completion of the WISP infrastructure will be followed by a
two-year evaluation period. Upcoming work in the WISP program
will focus on completion of the infrastructure and applications,
demonstrating a phasor ‘gateway’ concept intended to make
efficient use of the WAN as data traffic increases, upgrading the
RCO control rooms, and training in the use of WISP applications.
Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP)
The Regional Transmission Expansion Planning (RTEP) project is
funded by a grant from the DOE through the American Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009. This grant is funding a number of
activities that are integrated into WECC’s Transmission Expansion
Planning. WECC’s Transmission Expansion Planning Policy
Committee (TEPPC) — with participation from a broad array of
regional stakeholders including states, provinces, utilities, nongovernmental
organizations, energy developers, environmental
groups, and consumer advocates — governs the RTEP project.
Opposite Page / WECC’s Core Values from the “Three-to-Five Year Strategic Plan”

About the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC)
WECC is the Regional Entity responsible for coordinating and promoting Bulk Electric System
reliability in the Western Interconnection. In addition, WECC provides an environment for
coordinating the operating and planning activities of its members as set forth in the WECC Bylaws.
WECC is geographically the largest and most diverse of the eight Regional Entities in North
America that have Delegation Agreements NERC. WECC’s service territory extends from
Canada to Mexico. It includes the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, the northern
portion of Baja California, Mexico, and all or portions of the 14 Western states between.
Employees
Membership and Governance
WECC has 363 members divided into seven Membership Classes.
As of December 31, 2012, WECC employs 1 211 people
across three locations: Salt Lake City, Utah; Vancouver,
Washington; and Loveland, Colorado. This number is an
increase from the 195 reported in December 2011.
Membership in WECC is open to any person or entity that has an
interest in the reliable operation of the Western Interconnection
Bulk Electric System. Membership in WECC is not a requirement
for participation in WECC’s Standards Development Process.
WECC is governed by an independent and balanced stakeholder
1 WECC is an equal opportunity employer and as such does not discriminate against employees
or applicants on any basis prohibited by law. For additional information or questions regarding
WECC’s policies, please contact Shonnie Job, Director of Human Resources.
Board consisting of 34 directors. Members in Classes 1 through
5 are eligible to elect four directors and the Mexican delegation
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2012 Annual Review
Transmission towers,
The Dalles Dam,
Columbia River, Oregon

elects one. Seven directors with no member affiliation (Non-
Affiliated Directors) are elected by WECC’s membership.
Members of Class 7 do not elect representatives to the Board
of Directors, but do vote on Non-Affiliated Directors.
WECC Board of Directors – 2012
Non-Affiliated Directors:
Lee Beyer
Scott Cauchois
T. Graham Edwards
Paul Feldman
Gary Leidich
Shelley Longmuir
John Meyer
Class 1: Electric Line of Business Entities owning, controlling, or
operating more than 1,000 circuit miles of transmission lines 115
kV and higher voltages within the Western Interconnection.
David Areghini
John Cupparo, PacifiCorp
Keith Casey, California Independent System Operator
Mario Villar, NV Energy
Class 2: Electric Line of Business Entities owning, controlling,
or operating transmission or distribution lines, but not
more than 1,000 circuit miles of transmission lines of 115
kV or greater within the Western Interconnection.
Bill Dearing, Public Utility District No. 2 of Grant County
Richard Ferreira, Transmission Agency of Northern California
John Powell, Platte River Power Authority
James Shetler
Class 3: Electric Line of Business Entities doing business
in the Western Interconnection that do not own, control,
or operate transmission or distribution lines in the Western
Interconnection, including power marketers, independent
power producers, Load-Serving Entities, and any other entity
whose primary business is the provision of energy services.
Duncan Brown, SAIC Energy, Environment and Infrastructure
John Stout, Mariner Consulting Services, Inc.
Brian Theaker, NRG Power Marketing, Inc.
James (JT) Thompson, Constellation Energy
Control and Dispatch Group, Inc.
Class 4: End users of significant amounts of electricity
in the Western Interconnection, including industrial,
agricultural, commercial, and retail entities; as well as
28

2012 Annual Review
organizations in the Western Interconnection that represent
the interests of a substantial number of end users, or a
substantial number of persons interested in the impacts
of electric systems on the public or the environment.
Michele Beck, Utah Office of Consumer Services
Scott Gutting, Utah Association of Energy Users
Nancy Kelly, Western Resource Advocates
Timothy Haines, State Water Contractors
Class 5: Representatives of states and provinces in the Western
Interconnection, provided that such representatives will have policy
or regulatory roles, and do not represent state or provincial agencies and
departments whose function involves significant direct participation
in the market as end users or in Electric Line of Business activities.
William Chamberlain, California Energy Commission
Patrick Oshie, Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission
Marsha Smith, Idaho Public Utilities Commission
Ric Campbell, Utah Public Service Commission
Class 6: Canadian members of other classes pursuant to Section 4.3.
Martin Huang, British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority
Ken Kunz, TransCanada Energy Ltd.
Mike MacDougall, Powerex
Les MacLaren, British Columbia Ministry of Energy and Mines
Diana Pommen, Alberta Electric System Operator
Class 7: Members at large, that is, entities that are not eligible
for membership in the other Member Classes and who have a
substantial interest in the purposes of the Western Interconnection.
Mexico: Marcos Valenzuela, Comisión Federal de Electricidad
Appointed by the Board: Mark Maher, WECC CEO

2012 Annual Review
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