Topics:

• Grid Operators Set Record Peak Demands Across Nation
• ERCOT Staff to Prepare Proposal for Regional Entity
• Board Votes to Drop "Interim" from CEO Title During Search Process

Grid Operators Set Record Peak Demands Across Nation

All seven of the regional independent electric grid operators in the U.S. set new record demands on Monday, July 17, ranging from 0.9 - 4.5 percent higher than previous peaks. ERCOT's new record of 62,396 megawatts (MW) exceeded the previous all-time peak of 60,274 MW by 3.5 percent, marking the second highest percentage increase among the grid operators.

July 17, 2006 Record Peaks

ERCOT Staff to Prepare Proposal for Regional Entity

The ERCOT Board of Directors directed ERCOT staff to prepare a proposal to become the regional entity for the ERCOT Region, in accordance with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Electric Reliability Organization (ERO) Reliability rule.

The board's resolution from Tuesday's meeting proposes to establish an independent division within ERCOT as a functionally separate compliance unit to serve as the regional entity. The Public Utility Commission has agreed to be involved in reliability compliance enforcement by hosting hearings on contested matters and making recommendations to the Texas regional entity.

ERCOT must submit a draft delegation agreement to the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) by Aug. 1, 2006 to be considered as the Texas regional entity.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission certified NERC today as the nation's ERO. As the ERO, NERC will be responsible for developing and enforcing mandatory electric reliability standards under the Commission’s oversight. The standards will apply to all users, owners and operators of the bulk-power system, including ISOs such as ERCOT, rather than relying on voluntary compliance.

The creation of an ERO is authorized under the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005 and was triggered in part by concerns generated by the August 2003 blackout that affected 40 million people in the midwestern and northeastern United States and 10 million people in eastern Canada.

Board Votes to Drop "Interim" from CEO Title During Search Process

The ERCOT Board of Directors named Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sam Jones as chief executive officer Tuesday, following the executive session. Jones has been serving as acting CEO since May 16.

"We unanimously voted to drop the word 'acting' from Sam's title as a way of acknowledging Sam's leadership role," Board Chairman Mark Armentrout said. "The board plans to continue with our CEO search process due to Sam's retirement intentions."

Jones joined ERCOT on Dec. 1, 1996 as its first director. In March 2000, he was appointed as executive vice president and COO of ERCOT. Prior to joining ERCOT, he was employed by the City of Austin Electric Utility in Texas for over 35 years. During his career with the City of Austin, Jones held engineering and management positions in the areas of distribution, transmission, substation, generation and system operations. He was responsible for the development of Austin's first energy control center. Jones retired from the City of Austin as the director of generation and energy control.

Jones has been active in inter-utility reliability work for over 25 years. He is a two-time past chair of the ERCOT Operating Subcommittee and the current chair of the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) Operating Committee. He has also chaired or participated in numerous NERC and ERCOT committees and task forces. Jones has a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and is a registered professional engineer in Texas.

ERCOT Meeting Calendar

July 2006