Regulatory Compliance Expert Certrec is Actively Performing Due Diligence Reviews for NERC Entities as well as Associated Lenders and Investors

Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) September 28, 2016 — Certrec, a leading NERC regulatory compliance service provider, is pleased to announce their expertise and availability to support due diligence reviews as part of an entity’s process prior to making an investment decision. 

“Many entities discover significant savings by using Certrec’s experienced NERC team to perform their preliminary and in depth due diligence reviews. A quick, cost effective Certrec preliminary due diligence review before deploying your technical team and regulatory counsel can create savings by providing a basis for an initial go/no go decision and direct your team to more effectively evaluate an opportunity,” says Ann Broussard, Office of NERC Compliance Business Development Director. 

Now lenders and investors are becoming more aware of the importance of a robust NERC compliance program. Often these parties require a review of the current program. 

Four major points to consider when performing a due diligence review: 

1. Identify risks associated with the current regulatory program. Often when acquisitions are being considered, NERC regulatory vulnerabilities are not evaluated by experienced regulatory experts. Failure to adequately determine NERC regulatory vulnerabilities often results in unexpected expenditures implementing necessary procedures and processes. Additionally, the risk of assuming existing violations and associated fines is often the result. 
2. Identify assets to acquire. Make informed decisions about the assets to be acquired. Including a substation or miles of transmission line may not be a bargain since additional regulatory responsibilities could come with it. 
3. Obtain solid technical perspective. NERC evidence includes test and maintenance records which provide an excellent overview of how assets have been managed and maintained. Certrec NERC personnel have extensive engineering, operations, and regulatory experience to perform useful evaluations. 4. Sign contracts that make sense. Be sure to identify arrangements that work for all parties rather than create burdens that would be more appropriately handled by a different entity. Ensure a prospective partner is ACTUALLY qualified to provide a NERC regulated service. 

A robust NERC compliance program can provide significant savings. NERC pays close attention to entities that historically experience challenges in compliance, adding more frequent audits, expanded audit scope, and, possibly, fines. In contrast, the entity with a proven, robust NERC compliance program enjoys less scrutiny – fewer audits often with reduced audit scope. This approach allows the regulator to focus on assisting the entity that experiences compliance challenges. The additional scrutiny and more frequent audits that result from a weak compliance program may be worth considering when evaluating risk and the price of an asset.