ABSTRACT
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) looks at two aspects of bulk power system reliability: system adequacy and system security. NERC’s mission is to promote the reliability of the North America’s bulk power system. NERC provides planning recommendations and operating guidelines, but has no formal authority over electric utilities. The electric power industry began in the late 1800s as a component of the electric lighting industry. People began to grow accustomed to these new electric appliances, and their need for reliable electricity increased. As electric utilities expanded and increased their transmission voltage levels, they found that they could improve reliability by interconnecting their system to neighboring utilities. Homes and businesses had become so dependent on electricity that the blackout was crippling. Distribution system reliability is not dependent solely upon component failure characteristics. In nonstorm conditions, equipment failures are independent events—the failure of one device is completely independent of another device.
