North American Transmission Forum

“Membership in the forum is open to any person or entity that owns, operates or controls at least 50 circuit miles of integrated transmission facilities, or continuously operates a transmission control center staffed by nerc-certified transmission or reliability operators, or has an open access transmission tariff or equivalent on file with a regulatory authority, or that qualifies according to the requirements that the board of directors of the forum may set forth by resolution from time to time. Members shall comply with the forum policies established by the members and approved by the board. Members do not share in the forum's profits or net assets.”

“Pursuant to the forum bylaws, a nominating committee consisting of five primary representatives of the members of the forum shall be elected or appointed by the board as needed to recommend a slate of candidates to fill vacant positions of the board. Directors are elected from this slate by the members at the annual meeting or any special meeting called for such a purpose.”

“A completed application for membership approved by the board must be ratified by the members”

“The forum engaged an independent cpa firm to prepare the form 990. A draft copy of the return was provided to management and a detailed review was done. The return was then finalized and copy provided to the full board of directors prior to its filing.”

“Each director, principal officer and member of a committee with governing board delegated powers shall annually sign a statement which affirms such person: a)has received a copy of the conflict of interest policy, b)has read and understands the policy, c)has agreed to comply with the policy, and d)understands in order to maintain its federal tax exemption the forum must engage primarily in activities which accomplish one or more of its tax-exempted purposes. To ensure the forum operates in a manner consistent with prescribed purposes and does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its tax-exempt status, periodic reviews are conducted.”

“The board of directors considered both past salary history from the forum and another organization related to them in years past as well as employee performance as part of their annual determination of compensation. The board of directors deliberates and decisions are documented annually.”

“The board of directors considered both past salary history from the forum and another organization related to them in years past as well as employee performance as part of their annual determination of compensation. The board approves based on the forum's compensation process and it is administered by the ceo.”

“The forum makes its governing documents and financial statements available to the public upon request.”

“Natf practices: peer development and sharing of practices on specific topics as well as coordinated projects focused on important reliability topics. Natf initiatives: the initiatives functions leverage subject-matter experts, often in a project like format, to pursue activities to close reliability and resiliency gaps or otherwise improve the reliability and resiliency of the electric transmission system. Biased for action, the practices and initiatives functions coordinate, both inside and outside the natf membership, to complete tasks and projects to improve reliability, often across multiple disciplines (for example, gmd aspects of the practices and initiatives including modeling, operator tools, training, vendors, etc.). Natf assistance program is tailored to each entity as needed to promote operational excellence and continuous improvement. Assist visits are similar to peer reviews but very narrow in scope, with a smaller footprint, and are much more prescriptive in nature (e.g., improving programs and deficiencies on the spot or helping an entity execute an action plan). Both of these functions help members identify potential risks, reliability gaps, or improvement opportunities in their organizations; implement superior practices; and leverage subject-matter experts, principles of excellence, and collective member knowledge in various areas.”

“Peer reviews, assistance & training: includes selected educational offerings for members, focused and tailored assistance for select topics and peer reviews. Peer reviews: peer reviews provide structured, confidential evaluations of host member programs, processes, and operations to promote excellence in reliable, resilient, and safe transmission operations. Natf review teams, comprising of member subject-matter experts and natf staff, visit a host facility to evaluate a base set of technical and cross-functional topics. Peer review teams prepare a report of their findings for the host member, including both noteworthy positives as well as recommendations for improvement. Selected team findings are communicated to the entire membership to foster timely and continuous improvement. Peer review activities include advanced scheduling of reviews, team formation, development of processes and guides, development and execution of training, onsite review execution, follow-up with hosts regarding recommendation status, and various reports to communicate specific and aggregated findings. Peer reviews improve transmission reliability, security, and resiliency by providing objective assessments of the host's performance in targeted areas(through observations and evaluations of procedures and processes), enabling subject-matter expert networking and sharing of experience, and identifying potential vulnerabilities applicable to the entire membership. In addition, identified noteworthy practices can be considered for use as natf practices. The natf's members conduct this activity through online exchanges and personal meetings.”