N-7Notice of Filing of NERC's 2010 Business Plan and Budget and the 2010 Business Plans and Budgets of Regional Entities and the Proposed Assessments to Fund Budgets 6/29/2010
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nal Entities have adopted several changes in accounting methodology for presentation of their budgets, which are detailed on page 14 of Attachment 2 . The more significant of these changes include: - All expenses for the administrative ser...
AI summary NERC and Regional Entities revised 2010 budget accounting methods, including allocating indirect expenses by FTE ratios, classifying capital expenditures as Fixed Assets, and adjusting depreciation handling. FERC directed NERC to define 'indirect costs' consistently in the 2010 Business Plan and Budget.
A. 2010 Business Plans and Budgets by Program This section summarizes NERC's proposed 2010 Business Plan and Budget by statutory program and Administrative Services department. 55 As noted earlier, a number of changes in accounting methodo...
AI summary NERC's 2010 Business Plan and Budget introduced four key accounting changes: direct/indirect cost allocation, FTE-based Administrative Services expense distribution, capital expenditures as fixed assets, and depreciation treatment. These changes may distort year-over-year budget comparisons for statutory programs.
ADS ($294,900); GADS programming support ($135,000); and consultant support (including for software development) for various aspects of the reliability assessments studies and processes ($258,000). The direct expenses in the 2010 Budget fo...
AI summary The 2010 budget for the Reliability Assessment and Performance Analysis Program includes $2,851,150 in personnel expenses, $630,000 in meetings/travel, and $1,149,400 in consultants/contracts. Capital expenditures total $197,581, with administrative services allocated $1,813,900. Revenue from GADS software sales is projected at $250,000, a $200,000 decrease from 2009.
s been added in 2009, one FTE is budgeted to be added as of January 2, 2010, and one FTE is planned to be added in the second quarter of 2010 and therefore is reflected as 0.75 FTE in the 2010 Budget. in Meetings and Travel Expense is budg...
AI summary The 2010 budget for the Situation Awareness and Infrastructure Security Program includes increased funding for cybersecurity initiatives, personnel, and administrative expenses, with specific allocations for cyber risk assessments, software development, and consultant fees.
trative assistant. Expenses allocated to General and Administrative also include Office Rent, certain Office Costs, fees and expenses of the Board of Trustees, and communications and public relations. The 2010 Budget for General and Admini...
AI summary The 2010 General and Administrative budget decreased by $1.7 million from 2009, primarily due to the elimination of the Working Capital Reserve provision and a reduction in FTEs from 6.0 to 4.0. The budget also includes a $300,000 credit from NERC for administrative services.
N-13NSPI's recommendations with respect to NERC's and NPCC's filings
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Bulk Electric System Definition Within the NPCC, the definition of Bulk Electric System (BES) has been focused on system elements which could potentially affect system reliability in other jurisdictions. For Nova Scotia, this has been·gene...
AI summary The NPCC defines BES as 345 kV and 230 kV systems, but FERC proposes a 100 kV 'bright-line' standard. Canadian NPCC members, including NSPI, oppose this, citing potential cost increases without reliability benefits. NSPI warns that adopting the standard may require proposing an alternative approach in Nova Scotia.
CIP Standard Expansion Due in large part to concern with potential criminal attacks on the North American bulk power system, a major focus of reliability standard changes has been a shift towards increasingly stringent CIP Standards. These...
AI summary The expansion of CIP Standards, driven by concerns over cyber threats to the North American bulk power system, may increase costs for NSPI. Changes to CIP-002 could expand the scope of critical cyber assets, requiring additional physical and electronic security measures. NSPI will monitor developments and consider alternatives to NERC/NPCC measures.
Stakeholder Participation The signatories anticipate that the NSUARB will require notification to stakeholders of the NERC application and the NPCC application and will provide opportunity for review and comment on the applications by stak...
AI summary The NSUARB may require stakeholder notification and review of NERC and NPCC applications, potentially including discovery and hearings. Signatories agree to comply with NSUARB timelines and respond to information requests, with NSPI focusing on Nova Scotia-specific cost considerations.