• Provides description of the overall purpose of NERC Reliability Standards.
  
  
• Provides summary of how the 2003 East Coast blackout brought an increased focus upon the need for greater electric grid reliability and dependability.
  
  
• Provides summary of how NERC Policies were the documents that preceded the NERC Standards and were used to ensure reliability. Description of the intent of the NERC Standards as described in this training module (provide specifics/applicability of the entities to which each Standard applies, requirement, quantatative measurements, and noncompliance levels).
  
  
• Describes the potential impact of non-compliance. Stress the approximate amount of NERC penalties that were actually assessed in the one month given as an example (December 2009).
  
  
• Provides an overview (outline) of the basic template and structure of a NERC standard. Description of the five major parts of a NERC standard (introduction, requirements, measures, compliance, and regional variances).
  
  
• Provides description of the information (content types) included in the introduction. (Title, number (ID), purpose, applicability, and effective date)
  
  
• Describes the content of NERC Standard CIP-004, including the subject of CIP-004 and to whom it is applicable. Describes the documentation requirements of CIP-004. References the schedule for personnel risk assessments and cited personnel lists.

Situational exercises are provided to participant; participant shall make choice selections from decision tree options that will demonstrate compliance with the following NERC Standard(s): CIP-004, and TOP-007 whereby the decision choices must be compliant with the relevant Standard and the circumstances of the scenario event provided.There are 4 scenarios of situational exercises. Average time allowed per scenario is about 7 minutes plus a final 2 minutes to review or study:

• 01 CIP-004 based
• 02 CIP-004 based
• 03 TOP-007 based
• 04 TOP-007 based