Severe Weather Drill Scheduled for Wednesday

Qualified Scheduling Entities (QSEs) and Transmission Operators (TOs) from across the ERCOT region will be participating in a severe weather drill on Wednesday, Nov. 9.  The drill will test the scheduling and communication functions of ERCOT, QSEs and TOs and train operators in emergency procedures. 

ERCOT will coordinate the drill from its backup control room in Austin.  The drill script simulates arrival of an Arctic cold front complicated by additional events, requiring operators to test communications through four levels of Operations Condition Notices and four levels of the Emergency Electric Curtailment Plan.  The Operations Working Group will review and critique the results to ensure effectiveness and recommend changes as necessary.  ERCOT Compliance will verify and report entity participation to the Reliability and Operations Subcommittee. 

ERCOT conducted a less extensive drill last year on a voluntary basis, but participation is now mandatory for all TOs and for QSEs that provide ancillary services, as approved by ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) at its Nov. 3 meeting.

ERCOT operators successfully completed an emergency fail-over drill Oct. 25.  The drill assumed a catastrophic event had disabled the control center in Taylor and all operations, including operators, were required to switch over to the back-up site in Austin.

More User-friendly ERCOT Web Site Now Active

ERCOT has launched a revamped ERCOT.com Web site featuring a search engine and improved navigation at http://newercot.ercot.com.  The pilot Web site is available for viewing from the home page of the old site during November, but after Dec. 1, the redesigned site will become the official Web site at www.ercot.com.

With a new task-oriented home page, information is easier and faster to find.  Tasks that can now be accessed from the home page include:

1. Find a meeting or find out what happened at the last meeting
2. Download the latest protocols
3. Find the status of protocol revision requests
4. View current market clearing prices
5. View current commercially significant constraints/closely related elements (CSC/CRE)
6. Sign up for retail testing
7. Check vendor request for proposals

The redesign project, which addresses ERCOT’s publicly available information, also includes a content management system to improve the process of publishing, maintaining and archiving information.  The ERCOT Web site received an average of 4.46 million page hits last year.

Nodal Transition Plan Task Force Approved by TAC

The ERCOT Nodal Transition Plan was approved by TAC Nov. 3 and will go to the Board of Directors for approval at its Nov. 15 meeting.  The transition plan calls for creation of a Nodal Transition Plan Task Force to be chaired by ERCOT and to include market participants from each of the seven market segments.  The task force will address any issues related to clarification or interpretation of the Texas Nodal protocols as ERCOT begins implementation of the nodal market design.  The first meeting of the task force is planned for late November.

Amended Bylaws Approved in Second Vote

ERCOT corporate members approved amendments to the ERCOT bylaws in a second vote which concluded on Nov. 4.  After the amended bylaws failed on the first vote, the ERCOT Board of Directors approved submission of a revised group of amendments for a second vote.  The approved bylaws were identical to those presented in the first vote except for elimination of a proposal to discontinue use of segment alternates on the ERCOT board.

The proposed amendments were necessary because the ERCOT bylaws were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2005.  Among the approved amendments were provisions enabling ERCOT to achieve compliance with Senate Bill 408, approved by the Texas Legislature earlier this year.  The legislation required changes to board governance and procedures, including the addition of two independent directors (unaffiliated with any market participants) and a requirement that one of the five unaffiliated directors must be chairman.  The changes also added requirements concerning public meeting notices and disclosure in matters where a board member has a direct conflict of interest.  In addition, the approved bylaws amendments will permit trade associations comprised of members that meet the current definition of commercial consumers to join ERCOT as corporate members.