Seeing the Bigger Picture: NEU streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

SeeingtheBiggerPicture

NEU* streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

*Organization name has been changed

Big electric utility companies have a lot to juggle today: keeping the lights on, protecting the environment, and demonstrating transparency and compliance with standards Our Northeastern Electric Utility client (NEU for the purposes of this case study) navigates a complex operating environment, from functions in both power generation and transmission, to a network of diverse electric utilities including publicly owned, subsidiary, and partly-owned entities NEU needed an optimized way to manage their multifaceted business, track NERC compliance, and keep everyone informed.

Ifatfirstyoudon’tsucceed....

More than a decade ago, NEU searched for and purchased a well-known tool to manage their NERC compliance program. They expected the solution to help them demystify the NERC standards and requirements, mapping the applicable information to their different entities in scope They also assumed it would be easy to use for all their constituents, no matter their role or how often they used it. Unfortunately, the team found the solution to be all but unusable for most of their stakeholders

Ataglance

Itwaseasytogetlostor messedupinthesolution. SoIknowwhenourother usershadtrouble,Icouldn’t reallyblamethem.

Multi-entity enterprise

Generation & transmission

8,000+ employees Operations

Needs

Strong user adoption

Tool fitting complex operations

Flexible, iterative solutions

Unlocks

Enhanced efficiency & collaboration

Leadership insight

Reactive to proactive

“My team was in the tool regularly, but I was only in every now and then. It was easy to get lost or messed up in the solution,” said their Director who oversees the NERC compliance program “So I know when our other users had trouble, I couldn’t really blame them ”

Ultimately, the implementation was shelved for NEU, leading them back to managing NERC obligations, evidence requests, and potential issues of noncompliance in a series of emails, attachments, and Outlook calendars Audit readiness activities were compiled in individual RSAW documents emailed back and forth, with the NERC team struggling to aggregate simultaneous and asynchronous feedback from multiple reviewers and contributors

SeeingtheBiggerPicture

NEU streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

...try&tryagain

NEU would incrementally assess NERC compliance solutions in the market but spent the better part of a decade without identifying a compelling solution. Until, that is, a colleague at the organization met the Karta team at a conference. “He contacted me and said, ’Hey, you might be interested in this,’ and that’s how we got the ball rolling,” remembers the Director Karta connected NEU with other peer utility clients, helping them gain confidence that the Karta solution could meet their needs when others had disappointed.

Certainlywecouldhave goneouttoanybodywho workswithArchertobuild it,butitwouldhavebeen morecostlybecause they'rebuildingsomething fromscratchversushaving somethingoutofthebox thatjustgetsinstalledand configured.

NEU already had access to the Archer integrated risk management platform within their enterprise, so finding Karta’s NERC solution on the on the Archer Exchange (a catalog of offerings within the Archer community) solidified their decision to move forward “Certainly we could have gone out to anybody who works with Archer to build it, but it would have been more costly because they're building something from scratch versus having something out of the box that just gets installed and configured,” says the Director A few would-be challenges were addressed easily by the Karta team For example, NERC BCSI storage requirements weren’t aligned with NEU’s incumbent platform installation. Karta implemented a tailored method for NEU to store their files locally, allowing connection to their existing environment

SeeingtheBiggerPicture

NEU streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

This hybrid approach allowed NEU to maintain the security of the BCSI documentation while also gaining the benefits of the platform’s reports, dashboards, and workflows In addition, Karta quickly tailored NEU’s implementation, allowing them to operate their NERC compliance program authentically, rather than struggle to translate real life into a rigid solution. Specifically, NEU’s operating entities became the baseline of the mapped requirements, workflow participants, and approval chains, helping the team adapt requests and tasks to each organization.

Forcemultiplier

NEU has taken an all-in approach to the tool since their launch With a NERC compliance team of around a dozen individuals but evidence contributors, mitigation stakeholders, and leaders numbering in the hundreds, the team has seen quick adoption from users the decade-earlier shelved implementation now a distant memory. The compliance team has more time for value-add work rather than spending hours tracking down emails and back-and-forth communication The NERC team has buy-in to the solution, knowing its fully flexible and configurable architecture allows them to create their own vision of metrics, reporting, and process efficiencies “Had Karta just delivered us a solution with no opportunity to iterate, or discover and implement new requirements, we may not have had such a smooth rollout,” says their Director. Through “fantastic” client service from Karta, NEU has been able to fix small issues quickly and effectively.

They’ve also already seen opportunities to build better, effective data sets For example, root-cause analysis investigations were originally created for free-from text entry, but NEU worked with Karta to also add more controlled list-based themes and causes This small data change allows them to identify hot spots, trends, most frequent issue types, and provides them clear data for prioritization of mitigation efforts.

HadKartajustdeliveredusa solutionwithnoopportunity toiterate,ordiscoverand implementnewrequirements, wemaynothavehadsucha smoothrollout.

With collaborative RSAW compilation prior to implementing the Karta solution, teams were emailing documents and asking for reviews on segments of the files This manual effort added churn, unneeded noise for contributors, and potential for user error in assembling the feedback from varied sources Now, NEU’s stakeholders have access to edit and contribute to their portions of the reports only, making the assembly of these documents smoother and more efficient. A quick export from the Karta solution provides a ready-made report of the entire team’s contributions

NEU streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

Claritywins

NEU saw a lot of value by opening up the in-progress NERC compliance efforts to leadership. Prior to automating with Karta’s solution, leaders would need to interject into in-progress work to give feedback or early guidance With the self-serve dashboard, actionable data, and snapshot views of the audit readiness work in the Karta solution, leaders can catch potential issues or compliance concerns much earlier even before the formal approval chain is kicked off

This greater level of transparency for leadership has led to stronger root-cause analysis, more comprehensive documentation, and streamlined approvals bolstered by earlier intervention. The Karta NERC solution has made leadership oversight easier through:

Real-time investigation reports vs. the manual versions that involved multiple team members and hours to assemble

Better assurance for leaders with a large area of responsibility that recurring tasks are generated timely and their dashboard view shows the holistic view of their scope

Aggregated views of a variety of obligations, including regulatory commitments, incremental reporting requirements to NERC, and self-reported mitigation deadlines

The positive improvements to the program have gained attention from the highest levels of the organization, with leaders asking questions about how to expand, create more possibilities, and refine the processes.

Surprised&delighted

NEU discovered some unexpected wins through their implementation:

Specializedpar

Working with a team focused on NERC compliance helped them work faster and more efficiently. “The Karta team has a very good understanding of NERC standards and what the NERC process is. I never had to educate the Karta team, and that’s not necessarily the case with everyone.”

Flexiblesolut

Since the Karta solution is built on a platform, NEU has had freedom and flexibility to add new facets and features to the solution, like adding approval steps or notification logic. With each successful rollout of tool enhancements, the team is given more runway to solve challenges creatively and optimize processes.

Techliaison

NEU benefitted from a team already familiar with the technology. “It was nice to have folks from Karta that could interpret for me or work out issues with [our IT team who manages the platform] because they spoke the same language.”

SeeingtheBiggerPicture

NEU streamlines NERC compliance with enterprise-wide vision

What’snext?

NEU's NERC team aced their NERC automation project and is now ready to conquer new initiatives. Many planned next-phase projects will go live in the next 24 months, but the team has been tasked to think through, “what else can we do?” leading them to look at the comprehensive platform upon which the Karta NERC solution is built With the technology in place, the infrastructure set up, and the internal teams and processes established, NEU is able to plan outward from NERC for additional business functions that can complement or work independently of their NERC solution, providing significantly higher value to the organization than a single purpose tool

They're also zooming out to see the bigger compliance picture, identifying potential overlaps and streamlining future updates “We need a place to see everything that’s going on and easily identify what it ties back to There’s got to be crossover we don’t even know about yet,” shares the Director

And lastly, they plan to incorporate more proactive planning to their solution. Currently, new standards or major revisions are analyzed manually in documents, but they have their sights set on a new solution enhancement, bringing the collaboration they’ve come to appreciate to the pre-planning side of compliance By tracking standards updates in the tool, they’ll also be able to connect projects and tasks that relate directly to updates, providing a stronger assurance that changes are being monitored and addressed effectively.

This proactive approach positions NEU's NERC team as a strategic asset, not just a compliance function By leveraging their technology capabilities and fostering a collaborative spirit, they're well on their way to transforming compliance into a springboard for continuous improvement across the entire organization.

About Karta - Karta specializes in electric utility software solutions, guiding a growing client base of bulk electric utilities through the complexities of automating NERC compliance. We speak NERC, so you don’t have to catch us up on what you need in a solution. The ascent can be arduous or easy—let us set the handholds for you so you can clip in and enjoy the adventure. Our team of seasoned consultants is passionate about your success, ensuring you reach your goals with a clear and efficient path upward.