The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) last week ordered FirstEnergy to file a plan with the commission showing how the company will correct problems identified by a U.S.-Canada task force in an interim report on causes contributing to the Aug. 14 blackout.

Among other things, that report concluded that FirstEnergy and the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator both violated voluntary reliability standards set by the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) (see NGI, Nov. 24).

Following the issuance of the report, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft asked the PUCO to direct FirstEnergy to correct these shortcomings as soon as possible.

FirstEnergy’s plan must be filed no later than March 1, 2004. The plan must address how the company proposes to upgrade its control room computer hardware and software and improve the training of control room operators to ensure that similar problems do not occur in the future. The PUCO will review the plan, in consultation with NERC, before determining the next steps in this proceeding.

“Recognizing that Congress is unlikely to move forward in the near future with establishing measures to mandate enforceable standards regarding electric transmission systems, the PUCO must move forward in ensuring that FirstEnergy transmission facilities are brought up to NERC standards,” said PUCO Chairman Alan Schriber. “The technical assistance of NERC will be an invaluable resource as we proceed in this case.”

Meanwhile, in the wake of last week’s news that comprehensive energy legislation appears dead, at least for 2003 (see related story), FERC last week said that a previously scheduled conference related to electric reliability will focus on the task force’s interim report.

Among other things, the energy bill called for the certification of an electric reliability organization (ERO) by FERC. The Commission recently scheduled for Dec. 1 a conference to gather public feedback on a rulemaking that the Commission would have had to execute under the bill related to certification of the ERO.

But in its Monday supplemental notice, FERC said that the conference will now address the following topics:

The meeting will be held at FERC headquarters in Washington, DC.

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