NERC TOP Certification

Report
Long Island Power Authority (LIPA)
NCR 07133
Site Visit Conducted
July 23-24, 2015
May 25, 2016

Summary Report Date

June 3, 2016

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Table of Contents
Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Certification Team ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Objective and Scope .................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Overall Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Certification Team Determinations ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Items that Required Completion ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Findings .................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Positive Observations .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Company History – Background .................................................................................................................................................. 4
Corporate ................................................................................................................................................................................. 4
System Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Company Details – Operating Facility .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Control Center/SCADA System Description ............................................................................................................................. 5
Documentation List...................................................................................................................................................................... 6
Attachment 1 – Certification Team.............................................................................................................................................. 7
TOP Certification Team ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
LIPA Personnel ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
Attachment 2 – Certification Process Steps................................................................................................................................. 9
Documentation Review ........................................................................................................................................................... 9
Applications Review ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
Attachment 3 – Items Required to be Completed for Operation ................................................................................................ 9

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Introduction
This report presents the results of the NPCC led Certification Team’s (CT) efforts to endorse the Long Island Power Authority
(LIPA) (NCR07133) as a Transmission Operator (TOP) in the NPCC’s area of responsibility certified by the North American
Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). This certification was required due to expected footprint changes and
implementation of Coordinated Functional Registration (CFR) agreements that will be in effect on July 1, 2016.

TOPs have a primary responsibility for maintaining the real-time reliability of the local system, and operate, or direct the
operations of the transmission facilities. Acceptable reliability levels can be maintained only if the TOPs, and other entities
that make up the Interconnection, function in accordance with good operating practices and reliability criteria defined by
the NERC Reliability Standards. Good operating practices include, but are not limited to, full compliance with the NERC
Reliability Standards without regard to economic consideration or burdening neighboring systems.

Certification Team
Following notification of LIPA’s request for certification and registration as a TOP, which was received on September 29,
2014, a CT was formed and a Certification evaluation date was selected to perform an on-site visit. An on-site review was
held at the LIPA’s primary Control Center on July 23-24, 2015. The rosters for members of the CT, LIPA, and PSEG (LIPA
Service Providers) are listed in Attachment 1.

On August 28, 2015, an Interim Report was issued, identifying certain items that were required to be completed before a
recommendation on Certification could be made. Because the effective date was fixed as July 1, 2016 by the
Implementation of the new BES definition, a schedule for completion of the Certification process was set to coincide with
that date.

Objective and Scope

The objective of the CT evaluation was to assess LIPA’s processes, procedures, tools, training and personnel that allow it to
perform the function of a TOP. The scope of the evaluation included:
1. Interviewing LIPA’s management and reviewing pertinent documentation for verification of basic requirements for
TOP operation.
2. Reviewing procedures and other documentation developed by LIPA to meet the applicable
standards/requirements.
3. Interviewing LIPA system operations personnel.
4. Reviewing LIPA’s primary capabilities, Energy Management System (EMS), communication facilities, operator
displays, etc.
5. Performing other validation reviews as considered necessary.
In order to review LIPA’s progress on the ‘Items Required to be Completed for Operation’, Attachment 3, a second field
visit was conducted on May 25, 2016.

Overall Conclusion
The certification process was completed in accordance with the NERC Rules of Procedure (ROP) to determine if LIPA has the
necessary processes, procedures, tools, training and personnel to perform the function as a NERC-certified TOP. Prior to
and during the initial on-site review, LIPA presented evidence related to the applicable standards/requirements for the CT
to review. Based on this evidentiary review, the CT had reasonable assurance that LIPA would have the processes,
procedures, tools, training and personnel in place to reliably perform the TOP function.
The CT found the LIPA operators to be equipped with the necessary operating tools, and they are prepared to perform the
TOP operations. All of LIPA’s operators are NERC-certified operators.

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Therefore, the CT recommended that the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC) approve certification of LIPA as a
NERC-certified TOP subject to LIPA demonstrating completion of all Attachment 3 items, and forward such approval to
NERC for final review and approval.

Certification Team Determinations

The Certification team recommends that LIPA’s application to be certified by NERC to operate as a TOP be approved.

Items that Required Completion

At the conclusion of the initial site visit, it was agreed that certain items required completion prior to the certification of
LIPA as a TOP and a tentative schedule for completion was agreed. The list of these items is included as Attachment 3. As
noted in Attachment 3, evidence of completion of these items was provided to the CT for review and confirmation. Each
item was closed to the satisfaction of the CT prior to the issuance of this Final Report.

Findings
No findings which would prevent LIPA from being certified as a NERC-certified TOP were identified by the CT as of the
issuance of this Final Report.

Positive Observations
The CT noted the following positive aspects that will enhance LIPA’s performance as a TOP:

• LIPA is re-writing Procedures in common format across its operating divisions.

• Control Room Personnel were very knowledgeable.
• Garden City Security Operations Center was well designed.
• Physical Security Plan was well written.

Company History – Background

Corporate
The Long Island Power Authority (“the Authority”) is a corporate municipal instrumentality and political subdivision of the
State of New York. The Authority has a wholly-owned subsidiary, the Long Island Lighting Company, which does business
under the name of LIPA (“LIPA”). For this survey response, the Authority and LIPA are referred to jointly as “LIPA.”

LIPA owns an electric transmission and distribution system located in its service area, which includes the New York Counties
of Nassau and Suffolk (with certain limited exceptions) and a small portion of Queens County, New York known as the
Rockaways. LIPA is a member of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) which serves as the registered
Transmission Operator (TOP) for the LIPA-owned transmission system defined by NPCC as part of the “Bulk Electric System”
(BES). LIPA operates the non-BES portion of its transmission system. LIPA also owns an 18% interest in the Nine Mile Point
2 nuclear generating facility located in Oswego, New York, for which Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC is registered with
NPCC and NERC as the Generator Owner (GO) and Generator Operator (GOP).

Since 1998 LIPA has contracted with a private company to manage, operate and maintain its T&D System (“Service
Provider”). As of January 1, 2014 PSEG Long Island (“PSEG LI”) is the Service Provider, pursuant to the Amended and
Restated Operations Services Agreement, (the “OSA”). The OSA has a base term of 12 years and expires on December 31,
2025.

PSEG LI is required to provide operations services for the T&D System on behalf of LIPA at all times in accordance with the
standards set forth in the OSA. Under the OSA, except for certain rights and responsibilities reserved to LIPA, PSEG LI
assumes and undertakes the rights and responsibilities for management, operation and maintenance of the T&D System
and the establishment of policies, programs and procedures with respect thereto, including: all electric transmission,
distribution and load servicing activities for the safe and reliable operation and maintenance of the T&D System; day-to-day

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operation of the T&D System; engineering activities; preparation of recommended capital plan and monitoring of approved
annual capital budget; preparation of long- and short-range planning analyses and forecasts; customer services; finance,
accounting, budgeting, longer-term financial forecasting and treasury operations related to the T&D System; and other
general activities such as information technology, human resources, procurement, implementation of emergency response
and reporting.

Under the OSA, as the owner of the T&D System, LIPA retains the ultimate authority and control over the assets comprising
the T&D System. In connection therewith, LIPA has continuing oversight responsibilities with respect to the operation and
maintenance of the T&D System. LIPA’s Director of T&D System Oversight, serves as the LIPA Compliance Officer and
oversees compliance related activities that are implemented on a day-to-day basis by PSEG LI.

System Overview
LIPA’s service area includes approximately 1.1 million customers, and had a peak usage of 5,915 MW in the summer of
2011. Long Island is divided into four counties: Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk; with land area totaling 1,377 square
miles. The LIPA service territory consists of most of Nassau and Suffolk counties and the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

LIPA’s service territory covers about 1,230 square miles, encompassing nearly 90 percent of Long Island’s total land area.
The area closer to Kings/Queens Counties is urbanized and the area to the eastern portion is rural. Three small
independent municipal electric systems - Freeport, Rockville Centre, and Greenport - are located within the LIPA service
territory.

The LIPA owned transmission system includes approximately 1,366 miles of overhead and underground lines with voltage
levels ranging from 23 kV to 345 kV. LIPA operates its transmission system (classified by NPCC as non-BES) at voltages from
138 kV to 23 kV. The NYISO is registered with NPCC and NERC as the Transmission Operator (TOP) with responsibility for
LIPA-owned transmission system elements classified by NPCC as BES elements.

The following table identifies the LIPA-owned circuit miles at voltage levels of 100 kV and above:
Voltage Circuit Miles
345 8
138 447

LIPA’s distribution system has approximately 13,715 circuit miles of overhead and underground lines (9,020 overhead and
4,695 underground) and approximately 187,032 line transformers with a total capacity of approximately 12,168 MVA. There
are approximately 180 substations used to step the voltages to 13 kV for distribution.

Interconnections.
With respect to the NPCC-defined BES elements, there are two BES elements connecting LIPA to Consolidated Edison.
LIPA has seven transmission interconnections to neighboring electric systems. Five are AC and two are HVDC.

Company Details – Operating Facility

Control Center/SCADA System Description
The SCADA EMS is a network of computers that provide Electric Operations personnel the ability to monitor and control
electric devices and sensors on the power grid in real-time. The system polls remote terminal units (RTU’s) located at
substations throughout the service territory via dedicated communication circuits. The status and analog telemetry is
presented to Operators on graphical display terminals. When abnormal conditions are detected, alarm and event logs are
generated to alert Operators. Besides basic SCADA functionality, the system has additional capabilities such as Automatic
Generation Control, Load Shedding and Block Emergency Voltage Control. The SCADA EMS also communicates directly with
the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) in order to economically and reliably dispatch generation according to
the NYISO day-ahead and hour-ahead markets. The Transmission Security Management (TSM) subsystem provides real-
time and study assessment of the T&D system via the State Estimator and Contingency Analysis applications. The real-time
studies are configured to automatically run on a periodic basis.

The SCADA EMS consists of 2 production systems, 2 test environments and a Dispatch Training Simulator

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In the event of a disaster, the production systems have the ability to function as independent SCADA EMS’s. However, they
are interconnected through a secure, dedicated fiber network which provides enhanced operational functionality and
capabilities. Operator workstations at the Primary Control Center and Alternate Control Center have the ability to login to
the system at the other site and act as fully-functional operator workstations on either system. RTU communication circuits
at each site are also available to both sites in the event of local failures of the communication infrastructure. The flexibility
for Operators to login to either site, and the ability to communicate to substation RTUs at either site across the dedicated
fiber network, provides significant operational flexibility to System Operators depending on situations that arise.

Documentation List
Copies of all supporting LIPA documents were collected as evidence of LIPA’s preparedness, and will be kept as a record of
evidence to support the CT’s recommendation. These documents will be retained at NPCC’s offices in New York, NY for a
period of six (6) years from issuance of the Certification.
None of the documents listed below are included with the distribution of this final report. Per the NERC Rules of
Procedure, and due to the confidential nature of this material, these documents are available for review at NPCC’s offices
after proper authorization is obtained through NPCC and NERC:
• LIPA TOP Questionnaire
• LIPA TOP Master Matrix
• LIPA’s various TOP evidence files
• Presentations made by the CT and LIPA
• Internal Compliance Program and Internal Controls Documentation

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Attachment 1 – Certification Team

TOP Certification Team

Table 1: TOP Certification Team

Name Position Organization

John Muir Team Lead NPCC

Robert Kenyon Team Member NERC

Garth Arnott Team Member NPCC

John Malgeri Team Member NPCC

William Temple Team Member Eversource Energy

Jon Sawyer Team Member NYISO

Val Ayers Team Member NPCC

Peter Scalici Team Member NPCC

Daniel Grinkevich Observer NPCC

Marie Kozub Observer NPCC

LIPA Personnel

Table 2: Registered Entity Personnel Participants

* LIPA, all others PSEG Long Island

Name Position

Simione, Michael * Director of T&D System Oversight

John D. OConnell Mg Dir & VP - Electric Operations, Long Island T&D Operations

Ted Pappas Sr. Manager of T&D Operations

Doug Voos Transmission Operations Manager

Frank Bertrand Chief System Operator

Craig Laffey Principal Electric System Operator

Zoraini Rodriguez Principal Staff Engineer - Technical

Jim McNamara Sr. Electric System Operator

Greg S. Player Director of T&D Services

Robert Ganley Manager NERC / CIP Compliance

Gary Trezza Principal Program Manager

John Braun Associate Engineer

Isidoro Behar Principal Program Manager

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Allan Berman Engineer Manager

Irving Landesbaum Engineer Manager

Anie Philip Engineer Manager

Bob Eisenhuth Lead Engineer

Anthony Gorgone Engineer Manager

Mike Heyer Principal Engineer - Technical

Ronald Clare Manager

Tom Muratore Lead Engineer

Steve Cantore Engineer Manager

Iram Iqbal Principal Staff Engineer - Technical

Aseelah Lee Security Command Center Manager

Adrian Montijo Specialist

Thomas Waye Lead Coordinator

Paul Simmons Sr. Electric System Operator

Luke Williams Sr. Electric System Operator

Ayed Aqeel Principal Electric System Operator

Mike Isaksen Principal Electric System Operator

John Lopez Business Assurance Consultant

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Attachment 2 – Certification Process Steps
Documentation Review
Using professional judgment, the CT reviewed the TOP Questionnaire, the TOP Master Matrix, and requested documents to
determine the submitted documentation provided assurance that LIPA has the processes, procedures, tools, training and
personnel to operate as a NERC-certified TOP.

The TOP Master Matrix is a spreadsheet created using the VRF Matrix available on NERC’s website under the Standards
link, and eliminating all functions other than the TOP function. Using the TOP Master Matrix spreadsheet, the CT cataloged
the documentation evidence provided by LIPA. The spreadsheet contains all the applicable NERC Standards and associated
Requirements for an entity to be evaluated as a NERC-certified TOP. In the Certification Process, the CT inserted the
appropriate LIPA document references in which evidence provided by LIPA met the applicable Standards and Requirements.

Applications Review
The on-site visit focused on reviewing documentation, evaluating control centers’ configurations, interview of LIPA’s
operators and other appropriate personnel, evaluating the TOP EMS applications and operator toolset that LIPA has
available for their operators.

Attachment 3 – Items Required to be Completed for Operation

All items listed below requiring completion prior to the certification review approval of LIPA as a TOP must be closed to the
satisfaction of the CT prior to the issuance of a Final Report and the CT’s recommendations:

1. Signed CFR agreement and matrix should be provided to the CT for review.
2. Review whether there are new BES Cyber Systems identified as essential to the TOP function and whether they are
compliant with CIPV5.
3. Finalize and implement the SOL Methodology.
4. Establish procedures to coordinate all new protective systems and all protective system changes with neighboring
Transmission Operators and Balancing Authorities. (PRC-001-1.1(ii), Requirement 3.2)
5. Verify NERC Certifications are all current prior to 7/1/16 (PER-003-1 R2)
6. Develop and implement a Systematic Approach to Training (SAT) for both Operators and Operations Support
Personnel. Identify reliability related tasks. Verify capabilities of operations personnel as required. (Per-005-2)

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