ERCOT at a Glance is an electronic summary of the timely and topical events going on within the organization. ERCOT at a Glance will update employees on the newsworthy and noteworthy events and accomplishments related to the business of ERCOT. We are seeking milestones and accomplishments. If you’ve got great news to share with us, please provide us with your news in electronic summary format, after first coordinating with the managers and directors in your area. We welcome your summaries (due by 5 p.m. on Thursday of each week)!

CNN To Tape Interview at ERCOT on August 11

CNN News will be at ERCOT Austin (10:30 a.m.) and ERCOT Taylor (noon) on Wednesday, August 11 to tape a segment on the one-year anniversary of the Northeast Blackout. Reportedly, the story will feature ERCOT in a positive light with regard to the events of August 14, 2003. Sam Jones will be featured and will be interviewed in the Taylor Control Room. The feature is scheduled to air on CNN’s American Morning program on Friday, August 13.

ERCOT Successfully Launches System Upgrade (Texas SET 2.0) on August 1

ERCOT seamlessly launched Texas SET 2.0 on August 1 to automate the move-in/move-out process for electricity customers, successfully culminating a massive two-year project.  This represents the largest upgrade to date, of the electronic transaction system that supports the restructured retail market.

More than 40 different types of move-in/move-out operating rules — involving retail electric providers, transmission and distribution utilities, and ERCOT — were identified after the retail market opened in January 2002.  Texas Standard Electronic Transactions (Texas SET) was not originally designed to accommodate many of the issues.  Prior to the upgrade, these operating rules were accomplished largely through manual workarounds. The upgrade will streamline the complex move-in/move-out process and will make accurate and timely customer billing a less labor-intensive and time-consuming process in the future.

One of the more challenging areas addressed by this system upgrade involves provider changes at rental units, where complex move-in/move-out scenarios involving multiple retail electric providers are commonplace.  For example, a renter using Reliant Energy may move out of an apartment, so the unit converts to the landlord’s provider of choice, which could be TXU Energy.  A new renter could move in within a few days, and that person may choose a third provider, such as Green Mountain Energy.  All of this requires multiple transactions to process through both the ERCOT system and the electric distribution company’s system in a short period of time. ERCOT’s retail transaction systems receive, process, and send approximately 412 million electronic transactions per year.

ERCOT Submits Termination Notice to RMR Plant, Saves $12M per Year

On July 15, ERCOT submitted a 90-day Reliability Must Run (RMR) agreement termination notice to the owner of a San Angelo power station (San Angelo Unit 2). The cost of running San Angelo was approximately $12 Million per year.  Based on the savings from retiring the San Angelo plant, the costs of upgrades identified by ERCOT and the transmission owner would be paid for in less than one year.

In October, 2003, ERCOT transmission services presented recommendations for the exit of 3 RMR plants to the board of directors.  For San Angelo, tapping a 345kV line from Morgan Creek to Comanche Peak (already planned by AEP), along with 138kV line upgrades and other reactive substation devices, were identified as the best alternative to exit the plant.

EMMS Release 3 Phase 1 Completed July 15

On June 2, ERCOT successfully implemented changes to its Energy and Market Management System (EMMS) and completed the Release 3 changes on July 15.  This release was the first major functional and technical modification to ERCOT’s Balancing Energy Market since the market opened in July 2001.

The project required extensive system design, testing, and migration planning from ERCOT’s System Operations, EMMS Development, and EMMS Production Support groups. The changes (collectively referred to as Release-3 Phase 1) consisted of implementation of four protocol revisions (PRRs 332 , 349, 373 and  424), partial implementation of PRR 359 and one internal project aimed at eliminating constraint oscillation across multiple intervals.  The successful implementation of these changes provided the following improvements to the market model:

• Elimination of Resource-Specific Deployments for Power Balance
• Adherence to the Portfolio Bid Ramp Rate when recalling Balancing Energy instructions
• Classification of manual dispatch deployments (OOME) as instructed deviations
• Indication of a Resource in “Test” mode within the EMMS
• Extending the submission period for Resource Plan updates