NERC PRACTICE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATED 2025
,Dry steam plants, flash steam plants, and binary cycle power plants are the three main
types of what kind of generating plant?
A. Nuclear generators
B. Combustion turbine generators
C. Geothermal generators
D. Hydroelectric generators - ANSWERC. Geothermal generators
If a reliability coordinator identifies that there is a potential transmission related problem
in the area, who should they notify?
A. Marketers in the area
B. Other reliability coordinators in the interconnection
C. All purchasing selling entities
D. Generation operators in the area of the potential problem - ANSWERB. Other
reliability coordinators in the interconnection
Restoration services on critical telecommunications channels should be available
_____.
A. 24 hours per day
B. Within 12 hours of a telecommunication channel failure
C. By the end of the next business day
D. Within 72 hours of the contingency occurring - ANSWERA. 24 hours per day
According to NERC, A balancing authority may elect to fulfill its contingency reserve
obligations by participating as a member of a _____
A. ISO
B. Reserve sharing group
C. RTO
D. Regional reliability organization - ANSWERB. Reserve sharing group
If you were to experience the northern lights what would be your concern with the
operation of the power system?
A. System harmonics causing oscillations
B. A reduction of MVAR consumption
C. Generator output reduction
D. Transformer overheating - ANSWERD. Transformer overheating
Your BA has a net scheduled interchange of 650 MW and your actual interchange is
800 MW. The frequency bias setting for your BA is 65 MW/0.1 Hz. There is a
disturbance on the system and the actual frequency is 60.02 Hz. What is your ACE?
A. -163 MW
B. -137 MW
C. 137 MW
,D. 163 MW - ANSWERD. 163 MW
Generators have the ability to be used as voltage control devices. If a generator raises
its VAR output the system operator should expect the system voltage to
A. Decrease
B. Increase
C. Not change
D. Collapse - ANSWERB. Increase
if a BA has 500 MW of spinning reserves and of that 300 are regulating reserves, by
definition, NERC requires the regulating reserves must be ____?
A. Online and AGC responsive
B. Able to ramp to full load within 10 minutes
C. Able to be online within 10 minutes
D. Able to be online within 5 minutes - ANSWERA. Online and AGC responsive
There is a shunt capacitor on your system that has a rating of 50 MVAR @ 138 KV. The
voltage at the time of switching the capacitor in service is 124 KV. What would be the
expected output of the capacitor?
A. 45 MVAR
B. 43.5 MVAR
C. 50 MVAR
D. 40.5 MVAR - ANSWERD. 40.5 MVAR
Which mode of AGC operation is the one that NERC states will be used unless such
operation is adverse to the system or interconnection Reliability?
A. Constant interchange
B. Tie-line Bias
C. Constant frequency
D. Load-frequency bias - ANSWERB. Tie-line Bias
You have a 600 MW unit that is currently loaded at 300 MW and frequency drops .2 Hz.
What will the new output of the generator be as a result of the drop in frequency due to
droop characteristic?
A. 300 MW
B. 340 MW
C. 260 MW
D. 380 MW - ANSWERB. 340 MW
If a BA is unable to calculate its ACE for more than ____ it shall notify its RC.
A. 15 minutes
B. 60 minutes
C. 30 minutes
D. 20 minutes - ANSWERC. 30 minutes
, The system frequency is currently 60.03 Hz. The Synchronized generating capacity is
3200 MW. The system load is currently 2200 MW. What is the maximum amount of load
block that should be restored?
A. 160 MW
B. 220 MW
C. 110 MW
D. 320 MW - ANSWERA. 160 MW
A balancing authority has a bias setting of -150 MW. The frequency falls .05 Hz due to
an external disturbance. How many MW would you expect this balancing authority area
to provide to the disturbance?
A. +150 MW
B. +75 MW
C. -150 MW
D. -75 MW - ANSWERB. +75 MW
When a RC must curtail or hold an interchange transaction to respect transmission
service reservation priorities or to mitigate potential or actual SOL violation, the RC shall
inform the _____ listed on the interchange transaction tag of the greatest reliable level
at which the affected interchange transaction may flow.
A. Transmission service provider
B. Transmission operator
C. Source balancing authority
D. Sink balancing authority - ANSWERD. Sink balancing authority
Each generator operator shall provide generator outage information daily for scheduled
generator outages planned for the next day. Why is this important?
A. So the RC & TOP can do their studies
B. So marketing knows how much gas to buy
C. So the BA knows how much power to buy
D. So the plant can determine staffing requirements - ANSWERA. So the RC & TOP
can do their studies
You are a TOP and you have changed relay settings for your UVLS scheme in the
northern part of your system. Your neighbor just to the north of you has a major
generating facility rated @ 1000 MW and they supply most of the MVAR for the area.
They also monitor the MVAR flows on most of the lines in the area due to an NRC
requirement regarding MVAR for a nuclear plant. Of the parties listed below, who does
not need to be notified of the changes made to the relay settings
A. Transmission service providers
B. Balancing authorities
C. Transmission operators
D. Generation operators - ANSWERA. Transmission service providers
Areas of North America with igneous rock formations would be subject to which of the
following due to the igneous rock formations?
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATED 2025
,Dry steam plants, flash steam plants, and binary cycle power plants are the three main
types of what kind of generating plant?
A. Nuclear generators
B. Combustion turbine generators
C. Geothermal generators
D. Hydroelectric generators - ANSWERC. Geothermal generators
If a reliability coordinator identifies that there is a potential transmission related problem
in the area, who should they notify?
A. Marketers in the area
B. Other reliability coordinators in the interconnection
C. All purchasing selling entities
D. Generation operators in the area of the potential problem - ANSWERB. Other
reliability coordinators in the interconnection
Restoration services on critical telecommunications channels should be available
_____.
A. 24 hours per day
B. Within 12 hours of a telecommunication channel failure
C. By the end of the next business day
D. Within 72 hours of the contingency occurring - ANSWERA. 24 hours per day
According to NERC, A balancing authority may elect to fulfill its contingency reserve
obligations by participating as a member of a _____
A. ISO
B. Reserve sharing group
C. RTO
D. Regional reliability organization - ANSWERB. Reserve sharing group
If you were to experience the northern lights what would be your concern with the
operation of the power system?
A. System harmonics causing oscillations
B. A reduction of MVAR consumption
C. Generator output reduction
D. Transformer overheating - ANSWERD. Transformer overheating
Your BA has a net scheduled interchange of 650 MW and your actual interchange is
800 MW. The frequency bias setting for your BA is 65 MW/0.1 Hz. There is a
disturbance on the system and the actual frequency is 60.02 Hz. What is your ACE?
A. -163 MW
B. -137 MW
C. 137 MW
,D. 163 MW - ANSWERD. 163 MW
Generators have the ability to be used as voltage control devices. If a generator raises
its VAR output the system operator should expect the system voltage to
A. Decrease
B. Increase
C. Not change
D. Collapse - ANSWERB. Increase
if a BA has 500 MW of spinning reserves and of that 300 are regulating reserves, by
definition, NERC requires the regulating reserves must be ____?
A. Online and AGC responsive
B. Able to ramp to full load within 10 minutes
C. Able to be online within 10 minutes
D. Able to be online within 5 minutes - ANSWERA. Online and AGC responsive
There is a shunt capacitor on your system that has a rating of 50 MVAR @ 138 KV. The
voltage at the time of switching the capacitor in service is 124 KV. What would be the
expected output of the capacitor?
A. 45 MVAR
B. 43.5 MVAR
C. 50 MVAR
D. 40.5 MVAR - ANSWERD. 40.5 MVAR
Which mode of AGC operation is the one that NERC states will be used unless such
operation is adverse to the system or interconnection Reliability?
A. Constant interchange
B. Tie-line Bias
C. Constant frequency
D. Load-frequency bias - ANSWERB. Tie-line Bias
You have a 600 MW unit that is currently loaded at 300 MW and frequency drops .2 Hz.
What will the new output of the generator be as a result of the drop in frequency due to
droop characteristic?
A. 300 MW
B. 340 MW
C. 260 MW
D. 380 MW - ANSWERB. 340 MW
If a BA is unable to calculate its ACE for more than ____ it shall notify its RC.
A. 15 minutes
B. 60 minutes
C. 30 minutes
D. 20 minutes - ANSWERC. 30 minutes
, The system frequency is currently 60.03 Hz. The Synchronized generating capacity is
3200 MW. The system load is currently 2200 MW. What is the maximum amount of load
block that should be restored?
A. 160 MW
B. 220 MW
C. 110 MW
D. 320 MW - ANSWERA. 160 MW
A balancing authority has a bias setting of -150 MW. The frequency falls .05 Hz due to
an external disturbance. How many MW would you expect this balancing authority area
to provide to the disturbance?
A. +150 MW
B. +75 MW
C. -150 MW
D. -75 MW - ANSWERB. +75 MW
When a RC must curtail or hold an interchange transaction to respect transmission
service reservation priorities or to mitigate potential or actual SOL violation, the RC shall
inform the _____ listed on the interchange transaction tag of the greatest reliable level
at which the affected interchange transaction may flow.
A. Transmission service provider
B. Transmission operator
C. Source balancing authority
D. Sink balancing authority - ANSWERD. Sink balancing authority
Each generator operator shall provide generator outage information daily for scheduled
generator outages planned for the next day. Why is this important?
A. So the RC & TOP can do their studies
B. So marketing knows how much gas to buy
C. So the BA knows how much power to buy
D. So the plant can determine staffing requirements - ANSWERA. So the RC & TOP
can do their studies
You are a TOP and you have changed relay settings for your UVLS scheme in the
northern part of your system. Your neighbor just to the north of you has a major
generating facility rated @ 1000 MW and they supply most of the MVAR for the area.
They also monitor the MVAR flows on most of the lines in the area due to an NRC
requirement regarding MVAR for a nuclear plant. Of the parties listed below, who does
not need to be notified of the changes made to the relay settings
A. Transmission service providers
B. Balancing authorities
C. Transmission operators
D. Generation operators - ANSWERA. Transmission service providers
Areas of North America with igneous rock formations would be subject to which of the
following due to the igneous rock formations?
