Fourth Quarter 2012 Compliance Filing of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation in Response to Paragraph 629 of Order No. 693 under RM06-16.

Critical Energy Infrastructure Information Has Been Redacted From This Public Version February 26, 2013 VIA ELECTRONIC FILING Ms. Kimberly D. Bose Secretary Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 888 First Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20426 Re: North American Electric Reliability Corporation, Docket No. RM06-16-000 Order No. 693, P 629 Compliance Filing Fourth Quarter 2012 Dear Ms. Bose: The North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) hereby submits this filing in compliance with Paragraph 629 of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissions Order No. 693. 1 Paragraph 629 requires that NERC provide a quarterly informational filing regarding the timeframe to restore power to the auxiliary power systems of U.S. nuclear power plants following a blackout as determined during simulations and drills of system restoration plans. The documents being submitted with this filing include this transmittal letter and a public version of the compliance filing in accordance with NERCs designation of the data contained in Exhibit B as Critical Energy Infrastructure Information (CEII) under the Commissions rules. 18 C.F.R. 388.112 & 388.113 (2012). Exhibit B of the filing includes data that meets the requirements for treatment as CEII as defined in the Commissions Rules and Regulations at 18 C.F.R. 388.113 (2012). The data in Exhibit B pertains to proprietary or business design information, including design information related to vulnerabilities of critical energy infrastructure information that is not publicly available. In accordance with the Commissions Rules and Regulations, 18 C.F.R. 388.112, a non-public version of the information redacted from the filing is being provided separately. Accordingly, the information set forth in Exhibit B has been redacted from this public version of the compliance filing. 1 Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk-Power System, 118 FERC 61,218, FERC Stats. & Regs. 31,242, P 629 (Order No. 693), order on rehg, Mandatory Reliability Standards for the Bulk- Power System, 120 FERC 61,053 (Order No. 693-A) (2007). Critical Energy Infrastructure Information Has Been Redacted From This Public Version Ms. Kimberly D. Bose February 26, 2013 Page 2 Please contact the undersigned if you have any questions. Respectfully submitted, /s/ William H. Edwards William H. Edwards Attorney for North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Energy Infrastructure Information Has Been Redacted From This Public Version UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION MANDATORY RELIABILITY STANDARDS ) Docket No. RM06-16-000 FOR THE BULK POWER SYSTEM ) FOURTH QUARTER 2012 COMPLIANCE FILING OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ELECTRIC RELIABILITY CORPORATION IN RESPONSE TO PARAGRAPH 629 OF ORDER NO. 693 I. INTRODUCTION In its March 16, 2007 Order, 2 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) directed the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (...