What is meant by “self-regulatory”?
“Self-regulatory” refers to a non-governmental entity to which the government has delegated power. In NERC’s case, FERC has delegated to NERC the authority to create and enforce compliance with Reliability Standards. Although FERC and Canadian provincial governments retain the power of review and audit of NERC, NERC and the industry have the power to write rules and standards. This approach has the advantage of greater involvement by those entities directly involved in the operation of the bulk power system, who have detailed knowledge of the operational and technical needs of the industry.
