NERC’s Severity-Based Sanctions Guidelines
Overview
NERC or the Regional Entity will determine an initial monetary penalty value by considering the Violation Risk Factor (“VRF”) of the Requirement violated and the Violation Severity Level (“VSL”) assessed for the violation.
Using the VRF and VSL Table below,
- NERC or the Regional Entity will look up the initial monetary penalty value by finding the intersection of the violation’s VRF and VSL
- NERC or the Regional Entity will start with the lowest value of the initial monetary penalty value range, and will adjust the initial monetary penalty value pursuant to the factors
- NERC or the Regional Entity has the discretion to start at a higher value within the ranges below on a case-by-case basis as appropriate
- Starting at a higher value within the ranges below may be appropriate in cases where using the lowest value of the initial monetary penalty value range results in a proposed monetary penalty that does not bear a reasonable relationship to the seriousness of the violation after consideration of the other factors.
NOTE: This table describes the monetary penalty that could be applied for each day that a violation continues, subject to the consideration of the other factors described below that are used to determine a monetary penalty.
