JOINT INTERCONNECTION BOARD LANGUAGE

Section __ Electric Interconnection Reliability.

(a) To establish and enforce rules to assure the reliability of each of the three electrical interconnections, there shall be established, at the election of the governors in such interconnections, an interconnection joint board. An interconnection joint board shall be created or disbanded upon the request of governors representing at least one-half of the states and one-half of the electrical load within an interconnection, as reflected in the most recent load statistics of the Energy Information Administration. The Commission shall approve such interconnection joint boards, provided it finds that the request of the Governors proposes a form of governance for the board that will allow the interests of all citizens of States within the interconnection to be fairly represented. The Commission shall be an ex-officio, non-voting member of each joint interconnection board.

(b) The principal duties of an interconnection joint board shall be to oversee a Regional Reliability Organization, including (i) accredit a Regional Reliability Organization to set and enforce reliability standards and execute any other responsibilities approved by the Commission, (ii) review and approve or modify standards for the interconnection adopted by the Regional Reliability Organization, and (iii) provide review of the enforcement and compliance actions of the Regional Reliability Organization. An interconnection joint board may fulfill other responsibilities requested by the Commission. The costs of interconnection joint boards and regional reliability organizations shall be distributed equitably to control area operators to be recovered in rates from system users. The Commission shall defer to decisions of an interconnection joint board, and such decisions shall be presumptively valid, unless the Commission finds, within 20 days of the filing of such decision,

(1) that the decision of the board is arbitrary and capricious, or

(2) that the decision would constitute a serious and substantial threat to public health, safety, or welfare.

Decisions of a interconnection joint board shall be subject to judicial review in the same manner as decisions of the Commission.

(c) In the event that an interconnection joint board is not formed or is formed and later disbanded, the Commission may assume the responsibilities granted to such boards under this section.

(d) Upon accreditation of a Regional Reliability Organization, every system operator organization (including every control area, independent system operator, and security coordinator), shall be required to be a member of the Regional Reliability Organization within the interconnection in which they own or operate transmission facilities, schedule transactions, or provide services affecting operational reliability.