FERC Order 881 may seem far in the future, but like looking in the rearview mirror, it is closer than it appears.  FERC Order 881-A, finalized in March 2022, requires hourly AARs 10 days out. AARs must be adjusted anytime the temperature changes by 5 degrees or more, and they must consider solar irradiance.

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now” – Alan Lakein.

FERC 881 Deadline

Goals for implementing new processes and procedures for hourly Ambient Adjusted Ratings, managing DLR equipment such as line monitors, sag detectors, and communication devices, deciding which weather applications to use, managing future hours data, and storing data for five years can be time and resource consuming.  There may be an attitude of wait and see because there is some mystery as to exactly how to meet the demands of these sweeping changes.  But with the deadline of July 2025, there needs to be a plan of action to ensure you are ready for FERC 881!

Project Plan

In order to assist with planning a hypothetical FERC 881 project, we will be breaking down the project tasks. Using a hybrid/lean methodology because many tasks can be going on at the same time if resources are present to implement the project in a timely and efficient manner. This timeline of nine months is based on a software implementation with IPS®Advanced Facility Ratings Management.

However, it is acknowledged that every utility is different, and this is just a guide. The individual timelines and methodologies will change depending on the individual organizations.  As much as possible, there is an attempt to keep the project information general so that these articles can be used on a smaller scale using logical adjustments for individual utilities. Using a skilled project team, these principles can be helpful to utilities of any size. Over the next several weeks, we will look into how to make a plan and the data needed for a successful implementation to meet the demands of FERC Order 881.

Steps we will look at in future articles include:

  • Project Initiation
  • Definition and Understanding
  • High-Level Architecture and Design
  • System Configuration
  • Integration and Data Load
  • Testing
  • Training
  • Go Live
  • Post Go Live Support

Check back next week when we look into Part One: Project Initiation.

by Rebecca Day