Topics:

• New Winter Peak
• Board of Directors Approve Nodal Budget, Fee
• Two New Vice Presidents
• Legislative Update

ERCOT Sets New Winter Peak Tuesday

ERCOT blew through its previous winter record twice this week, setting a new unofficial winter peak of 51,444 megawatts (MW) on Tuesday, Jan. 16, during the hour ending 7 pm, exceeding the old record by 3,380 MW.  Energy usage also peaked on Monday evening, Jan. 15, during the 7 pm hour with 50,722 MW.  Before this week, the all-time winter peak was 48,064 MW, recorded on Dec. 8, 2005 in the 8 pm hour.

"ERCOT system operations experienced no major operational issues during this severe winter storm," said Vice President of System Operations Kent Saathoff.  Many system operators and supporting engineering staff spent several nights in nearby hotels between their shifts to ensure that they would be able to get to work despite the icy conditions.

Winter Peak History

The new record is based on initial calculations and considered unofficial until meter data is collected.  The number will likely be adjusted during the market's financial settlement process which is not completed until six months after the operating day.

ERCOT Board Approves Nodal Budget Filing, Fee

Although ERCOT's offices were closed to non-essential employees Tuesday due to hazardous road conditions, the ERCOT Board of Directors held an abbreviated meeting at the Austin facility with a conference call-in number.

The board approved ERCOT staff's proposal for the nodal program budget of $248.9 million with a cost-recovery fee of $0.127 per megawatt-hour, effective June 1, 2007 through 2012.  ERCOT is required to file the nodal implementation cost information with the Public Utility Commission by Jan. 30 (PUCT Docket No. 32686).

The board also:

• Endorsed the CenterPoint Energy/Texas New Mexico Power Alvin 345 kV transmission tie project; the project is estimated to cost $19.4 million and was supported by the Regional Planning Group and the Technical Advisory Committee; the project is expected to relieve overloads in the area, which has a predicted future load growth of 3 to 5 percent per year.
• Approved Protocol Revision Requests (PRRs), nodal PRRs (NPRR), and a Retail Market Guide Revision Request (RMGRR): PRR647, PRR672, PRR679, PRR686, PRR693, NPRR034, NPRR038, and RMGRR042.
• Voted to extend implementation of PRR674 (Temporary Alteration of Settlement Equations Related to the Replacement Reserve Service Under-Scheduled Charge) to Feb. 22.

Presentations are posted with the Jan. 17 board meeting documents on the ERCOT Web site.

Two New Vice Presidents Announced

Bill Bojorquez and Kent Saathoff have been chosen to fill two new vice president positions, CEO Sam Jones recently announced.  Bojorquez is vice president of system planning, and Kent Saathoff is vice president of system operations.

Bojorquez joined ERCOT as director of market services in February 2000.  In September 2002 he became director of system planning responsible for transmission and generation adequacy and planning, oversight of transmission system additions, and the development of transmission service policies enabling a competitive market in the region.

Saathoff joined ERCOT in 1988 as principal engineer and in 1996 became transmission market operations manager.  In 2000, he became director of technical operations in preparation for retail electric competition in Texas, and was promoted in 2002 to director of system operations, responsible for overseeing real-time system and wholesale market operations in ERCOT.

In accordance with ERCOT bylaws, the board of directors ratified the 2007 officers at the Tuesday meeting.  Other officers include Steve Byone, VP and Chief Financial Officer; Nancy Capezzuti, Vice President of Human Resources; Ray Giuliani, VP and Chief of Market Operations; Ron Hinsley, VP and Chief Information Officer; and James Thorne, VP, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary.

80th Texas Legislative Session Begins

The 80th Texas Legislature began its regular session Jan. 9, and already several bills related to the electric industry have been filed.  Six of the bills could significantly impact ERCOT:

• HB 270 (Rep. Anchia) relating to the use of the Texas emerging technology fund and other incentives to promote new energy technology
• HB 395 (Rep. Burnam), relating to the possible development of a plan to re-regulate the electric market in this state
• HB 491 (Rep. Burnam), relating to regulation of electric generating capacity in the electric power market
• HB 552 (Rep. Turner), relating to electric market safeguards after the expiration of the price to beat
• HB 553 (Rep. Turner), relating to market power abuse in the wholesale electricity market and pricing safeguards in certain markets; providing administrative and criminal penalties
• HB 577 (Rep. Turner), relating to safeguards for certain customers of retail public utilities in the electric power market.

Bill texts and status can be viewed at Texas Legislature Online by entering the bill number in the "Search Legislation" search block.  The session ends on May 28.