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NAESB 3.2 Standards: Quorum's Courtney Harmon Answers Your Questions

Published Date
Author Courtney Harmon

In August, we announced that the latest release of our myQuorum Pipeline Management software meets the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) 3.2 standards recently approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). We sat down with Courtney Harmon, Senior Quorum Manager responsible for myQuorum Pipeline Management and elected member of the 2021 NAESB Wholesale Gas Quadrants Services Segment, to discuss the role of NAESB.

What is the North American Energy Standards Board?
The North American Energy Standards Board serves as an industry forum for creating and promoting standards that ensure a similar experience in the marketplace for wholesale and retail natural gas and electricity. While NAESB does not set policy, the Board works to promote proposed policy, and FERC formally adopts the standards.  

Why is NAESB's work important to the industry?
NAESB applies to our interstate natural gas pipelines to ensure that we have a consistent operating procedure pipeline to pipeline, from how they contract to how their transactional systems look and feel. These standards create consistencies so not everyone has to be an expert on one pipeline versus the next. NAESB also ensures that everyone is equally represented and that standards are in place to keep everyone safe.

Who is responsible for NAESB regulatory compliance?
Some companies have team members focused exclusively on regulatory compliance. Smaller companies may have more of a crowdsourcing approach because they don't have the headcount to accommodate a full-time employee dedicated to regulatory compliance. In that case, compliance could fall under an operations director or an analyst. It really depends on the organization, but everyone should take an active role in compliance and understanding the standards.

What's new about NAESB's 3.2 standards?
FERC Order No. 587-Z includes updates to existing cybersecurity-related standards developed in response to the Department of Energy-sponsored cybersecurity surety assessment and are intended to enhance the security measures of business transactions on interstate natural gas pipelines.

Version 3.2 includes updates to the Nominations Related Standards and the Quadrant Electronic Delivery Mechanism Standards and modifications to the data sets that support Nominations, Additional Standards, Flowing Gas, and Capacity Release. Per the Order, interstate natural gas pipelines must make compliance filings by November 12, 2021, and comply with the standards incorporated by reference by June 1, 2022. 

How is Quorum involved?  
We very much treat Quorum customers like a community where people can ask questions pertaining to the differences in their business, the version of the application they're on, and more. Everyone can benefit from the expertise others are bringing to the table. The latest release of myQuorum Pipeline Management is certified to comply with NAESB 3.2. We accelerated compliance with the latest standards to help pipeline operators quickly adopt the latest best practices, including transparency and cybersecurity-related guidance. In addition to proactive support for NAESB through software and stewardship, Quorum provides the following advantages to pipeline operators:

  • Deep Industry Experience: Quorum supports the commercial operations of 26 gas pipeline operators running over 130 pipeline assets, storage facilities, and local distribution companies, including 33 FERC-regulated interstate pipelines, 36 state-regulated pipelines, and seven international pipelines with over 80,000 miles of long-haul transmission pipeline.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Established and ongoing support for regulatory requirements to maintain compliance.
  • Best-in-Class Functionality: Unmatched software portfolio with fully integrated, best-in-class software solutions for complex commercial pipeline contracting, nominations, scheduling, measurement, and invoicing processes.
  • Continuous Innovation: Modern, cloud-based platform with continuous investment to enable scalability.

How can I learn more and stay updated on NAESB?
We provide regular NAESB-related updates to our customers through virtual meetings and emails. NAESB also shares regular updates online at naesb.org.