EOP-004-4

EOP-004-4

Event Reporting

EOP-004-4 requires each Responsible Entity, including Generator Owners and Generator Operators, to have an event reporting Operating Plan and to report the events listed in its Attachment 1 by the later of 24 hours after recognizing that a reporting threshold was met or the end of the next business day. For a Generator Owner or Generator Operator, the listed events are damage or destruction of its Facility from actual or suspected intentional human action, and physical threats to its Facility. EOP-004-5 will replace it on October 1, 2027.

Who it applies to

Generator Owners and Generator Operators of BES Facilities, as Responsible Entities. Category 2 Generator Owners and Generator Operators of non-BES inverter-based resources are not subject to EOP-004-4 unless a later revision of the standard includes them.
Also Reliability Coordinators, Balancing Authorities, Transmission Owners, Transmission Operators and Distribution Providers. Each event type in Attachment 1 names which of these entities has reporting responsibility.

Key dates

April 1, 2019: effective date of EOP-004-4.
October 1, 2027: EOP-004-5 takes effect and EOP-004-4 retires immediately before it. FERC approved EOP-004-5 on August 10, 2026 (Docket RD26-8-000). It adds an event type for loss of inverter-based resources following a Disturbance, reported by the Balancing Authority; the Generator Owner and Generator Operator event types are unchanged.

What each requirement asks for, in plain English.

R1 · Event reporting Operating Plan

What it means. Each Responsible Entity has an event reporting Operating Plan in accordance with Attachment 1 that includes the protocols for reporting to the Electric Reliability Organization and other organizations, for example the Regional Entity, company personnel, its Reliability Coordinator, law enforcement or governmental authority. For a Generator Owner or Generator Operator, Attachment 1 lists two event types: damage or destruction of its Facility that results from actual or suspected intentional human action (theft need not be reported unless it degrades normal operation of the Facility); and a physical threat to its Facility, excluding weather or natural disaster related threats, which has the potential to degrade normal operation of the Facility, or a suspicious device or activity at its Facility.

Evidence an auditor expects. A dated event reporting Operating Plan that includes the protocols and each organization identified to receive a report for the applicable event types, with the current version and each version issued since the last audit.

R2 · Report events on time

What it means. Each Responsible Entity reports Attachment 1 events to the entities named in its Operating Plan by the later of 24 hours of recognizing that an event type threshold was met or the end of its next business day, with 4 p.m. local time treated as the end of the business day. Reports go to the ERO by email to systemawareness@nerc.net, by fax or by phone, as listed in Attachment 1. Under adverse conditions the entity notifies the parties and provides what information is available at the time.

Evidence an auditor expects. A copy of the completed EOP-004-4 Attachment 2 form or a DOE-OE-417 form, plus evidence of submittal such as an operator log, voice recording, email or fax confirmation showing the report was made within the deadline.

For inverter-based plants

EOP-004-4 has no inverter-specific event type; the new IBR loss event type in EOP-004-5 is assigned to the Balancing Authority, so a Generator Owner or Operator's reportable events stay the damage and physical threat types.