AC

alternating current

ADA

advanced distribution automation

ADC

analog-to-digital converter

AEIC

Association of Edison Illuminating Companies

AGA

American Gas Association

AGC

Advanced Generation Control (balances CA generation with CA load)

AMR

automatic meter reading

ANSI

American National Standards Institute

APCO

Association of Public Communications Officers

ASME

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

BA

balancing area

BNSF

Burlington Northern Santa Fe

BPA

Bonneville Power Administration

CA

control area (entity responsible for an electric region)

CCTV

closed circuit television

CI PC

Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee

CERTS

Consortium for Electric Reliability Technologies

CSC

convertible static compensator

CSSWG

Control Systems Security Working Group

DA

distribution automation

DAC

digital-to-analog converter

DAWG

Disturbance Analysis Working Group

DC

direct current

DCS

distributed control system

DER

distributed energy resources

DG

distributed generation

DHS

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

DOD

U.S. Department of Defense

DOE

U.S. Department of Energy

DOJ

U.S. Department of Justice

DOT

U.S. Department of Transportation

DSM

demand-side management

DTCR

dynamic thermal circuit rating

EEI

Edison Electric Institute

EHV

extra-high voltage

EIA

Energy Information Administration

EIPP

Eastern Interconnection Phasor Project

EMP

electromagnetic pulse

EMS

Energy Management System (monitors

system frequency and AGC)

EPA

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

EPAct

Energy Policy Act (most recent was passed by Congress in 2005)

EPRI

Electric Power Research Institute

EPSA

Electric Power Supply Association

ERCOT

Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (RRO)

ERO

Electric Reliability Organization (enforces reliability standards)

ERP

enterprise resource planning

ETAG

Electronic Tagging (Etag) (system used to coordinate the scheduling of energy)

FACTS

flexible AC transmission system

FARC

Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias deColombia

FBI

Federal Bureau of Investigation

FEMA

Federal Emergency Management Agency

FERC

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (bulk power markets regulator)

FRCC

Florida Reliability Coordinating Council (RRO)

GDP

gross domestic product

GIS

gas-insulated substation

HS-ARPA

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Research Projects Agency

HSPD

Homeland Security Presidential Directive

I3P

Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection

ICCP

Inter-Control Center Communications Protocol

ICS

Incident Command System

IEC

Israel Electric Corporation

IEC

International Electrotechnical Commission

IED

intelligent electronic device

IEEE

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IlilA

International Electricity Infrastructure Assurance Forum

IGBT

insulated gate bipolar transistor

IGCT

insulated gate commuted thyristor

INA

intelligent network agents

INL

Idaho National Laboratory

I/O

input/output

ISO

independent system operator

IT

information technology

MISO

Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator

MMW

Maintenance Management Workstation

MRO

Midwest Reliability Organization RRO

MVA

megavolt ampere

M\V

megawatt

NERC

North American Electric Reliability Council

NIMS

National Incident Management System

NIPP

National Infrastructure Protection Plan

NIST

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOPR

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FERC)

NPCC

Northwest Power Coordinating Council (RRO)

NRC

National Research Council

NRECA

National Rural Electric Cooperative Association

NSC

National Security Council

NSTB

National SCADA Test Bed

O&M

operations and maintenance

OASIS

Open Access Same-time Information System (system to reserve transmission capacity)

OTA

Office of Technology Assessment

PA DEP

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection

PCSF

Process Control Systems Forum

PCSRF

Process Control Security Requirements Forum

PID

proportional, integral derivative algorithm

PIM

Pooled Inventory Management (program)

PLC

programmable logic controller

PNL

Pacific Northwest National laboratory

PPE

personal protective equipment

PRO

Planning and Resource Optimizer

PSERC

Power System Engineering Research Center

PUC

public utility commission

PUHCA

Public Utility Holding Company Act (193d

PURPA

Public Utility Regulation Policy Act (1978

R&D

research and development

RC

reliability coordinator

RCWG

Reliability Coordinator Working Group

RFC

Reliability First Corporation (RRO)

RFID

radio frequency identification

RRO

regional reliability organization (regional member of NERC)

RTO

regional transmission operator

RTU

remote terminal unit

SAIDI

System Average Interruption Duration Index

SAIFI

System Average Interruption Frequency Index

SCADA

supervisory control and data acquisition

SERC

Southeastern Electric Reliability Council, Inc. (RRO)

SMES

superconducting magnetic energy storage

SNL

Sandia National laboratory

SOX

Sarbancs-Oxley Act (2002)

SPP

Southwest Power Pool Inc. (RRO)

SPS

special protection systems

STEP

Spare Transformer Equipment Program

T&D

transmission and distribution

TSWG

Technical Support Working Group

TVA

Tennessee Valley Authority (Government-owned utility)

UPFC

unified power flow controller

VAR

volt-ampere reactive

VR

virtual reality

VSC

voltage-sourced converters

WACS

wide-area stability and voltage control system

WAMS

Wide Area Measurement System

WECC

Western Electricity Coordinating Council (RRO)

WHO

World Health Organization