FERC, PUC Chairmen to Address General Membership Meeting

Pat Wood, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and Paul Hudson, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, are scheduled to speak at ERCOT’s 34th annual membership meeting, Dec. 14, at the Hilton Austin Airport Hotel.  The general membership meeting will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and will include the confirmation and approval of representatives to the ERCOT Board of Directors and the Technical Advisory Committee for 2005.  Chairman Hudson will be the featured speaker in the morning, followed by Chairman Wood, the keynote speaker just after lunch.  The regular December meeting of the board is scheduled from 1-4 p.m.

Board Approves Process for Considering Cost Effective Alternatives to RMR

The ERCOT Board of Directors approved a protocol revision last week which will provide a process to consider more cost-effective alternatives to Reliability Must Run (RMR) contracts by allowing non-transmission projects to be proposed as competitive alternatives.  Effective Dec. 1, ERCOT will be able to consider proposals by a resource entity to provide reliability service in place of the RMR unit, provided the offered Must Run Alternative (MRA) provides an acceptable solution to the reliability requirement and does so more cost effectively.  The protocol revision specifies that the MRA service must provide at least a projected $1 million annualized savings over the RMR alternative.

ERCOT Launches Employee Self Service Web Interface

ERCOT employees may now access and maintain their own employment, benefit and payroll data through Lawson Employee Self Service, launched Nov. 8.  Via a secure web interface, employees can make changes to their personal information through an automated, paperless process.   Managers will also have the ability to view profile data such as job title and employment start date for direct reports through Manager Self Service.  Next year, this system will be used to track exception time reporting, such as vacation and sick leave, which is currently captured in the leave tracking system on the ERCOT intranet.

Retail Market Qualification Testing Scheduled in December

The next round of retail market qualification testing is scheduled to begin Dec. 17. Testing is required for new market participants (CRs and TDSPs), as well as for current market participants entering new service territories, testing additional business functionality, or adding another entity to their business umbrella.  Additional information is posted to the ERCOT Web site.

ERCOT Meeting Dates

• Thursday-Friday, 11/25-26/2004 -- ERCOT Administrative Office Holiday
• Tuesday, 11/30/2004 – SCR 732 Requirements meeting, 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., ERCOT Austin 168
• Thursday, 12/2/2004 – TAC, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., ERCOT Austin 206
• Wednesday, 12/3/2004 – Special WMS, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., ERCOT Austin 206B
• Wednesday, 12/3/2004 – DSWG, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m., ERCOT Austin 168

If you have a submission for ERCOT at a Glance, please contact Dottie Roark, 512-225-7024 or droark@ercot.com