Meeting Summary – 11/11/24 WMWG Meeting

1 – Antitrust Admonition – Blake Holt

2 – Questions on Standing Reports – WMWG Participants

• No participants raised any specific questions.

3 – DAM Communications Update – Curry Holden

DAMCommunicationsUpdate.pdf

• DAM Team plans to improve communication by implementing hourly notices during extended events.
• New documentation protocol will include urgent notifications tagged as ‘DAM Notice:’ with standardized keyword phrases for easy identification.
• Updates will include DAM status update, DAM close postponement, DAM solution postponement, and DAM abort notice templates.
• Goals include improved transparency and maintaining awareness of current DAM conditions and any required actions.
• Changes to be implemented by December 4, 2023, without altering current communication systems.
• Discussion on the location of standardized market communications—originally in the Commercial Operations Guide—suggesting potential need to update the guide or protocols.

4 – EPS Meter Issue – Randy Roberts

• The EPS meter issue led to some resettlements at the end of 2023.
• The issue was due to an EPS meter being incorrectly stopped.
• A question was raised about how the issue happened and what mitigation measures were implemented.
• Randy Roberts was expected to provide an overview but was unavailable.
• Attempts were made to locate Randy Roberts for further discussion.
• The agenda moved to the next item as Randy was not available.
• Austin Rosel gives an update of the mitigation measures moving forward at the end of agenda item 7.

5 – Open Action Item Discussion – Blake Holt

• Review of open action items for WMWG, aiming to clear outdated items unless retained or sponsored for progress.
• Amanda redlined a document for WMS, focusing on federal EPA actions’ impacts on the ERCOT grid, suggesting the need for updates from ERCOT or generation segments.
• Discussion on reviewing wholesale market cues for scarcity pricing, currently no specific tasks outside ongoing NPRRs; suggestion to seek direction from WMS.
• Parking lot items require a champion or specific task from WMS to progress; previously addressed NPRR issues include wholesale storage load information publication.
• Task suggestions lacked progression due to absence of champions, highlighting the need for a task-oriented approach and market participant involvement.
• The approach of assigning champions to facilitate progress through offline discussions and defining required information was supported.

6 – NPRR1229, RTM CMP Energy Payment – New Comments – Lucas Turner

• Comments submitted to add further scope limitations.
• Prohibition on payments if the resource agreed to conditions causing it to go offline.
• Reduction of maximum operating days for payment recovery from 10 to 4.
• Cap on breakage costs set at $500,000.
• Language updated to replace RTM opportunity cost and more closely align with NPRR1190 and HDL override payment recovery.
• Concerns raised about policy approach and comparison to NPRR1190 discussed.
• Discussion about an annual cap on similar costs.
• Feedback from ERCOT that the language was initially okay at draft stage.
• Discussion of additional revisions and tweaks required, including the removal of the lost opportunity payment mention.
• Conversation around the CMP formula needing more comprehensive revision.
• A suggestion to wait for NPRR1190 resolution to align NPRR1229 with its framework.
• Discussion on delaying the next steps to permit further refinement and incorporation of feedback.
• Scheduling implications related to upcoming TAC meetings and decision timelines.

7 – Group Discussion on CARD/CRRBA Allocation Methods – WMWG Participants

WMWGupdateonCARDandCRRBAallocationoptions.pdf

COGProposalonCARDandCRRBAAllocation110624.pdf

08-card-allocation-proposal.pdf

• Discussion of three proposals for CARD/CRRBA allocation: IMM method, VISTRA method, and City of Georgetown proposal.
• IMM method allocates based on top 500 hours in a month.
• VISTRA method uses a two-factor methodology focusing on 60 to 120 hours within a month.
• City of Georgetown proposal allocates based on 4CP.
• WMS seeks consensus to vote on a direction by December meeting for ERCOT to draft an NPRR.
• Concerns raised about the City of Georgetown proposal potentially causing unintended consequences due to its approach of connecting separate concepts.
• ERCOT expresses appreciation for discussions and reveals uneasiness about the Georgetown proposal due to potential misalignment of incentives.
• Discussion over potential incentives for residential customers under the Georgetown proposal, affirming limited capability for incentivization under current structures.
• Shams presents a City of Georgetown proposal emphasizing a straightforward solution to align CARD allocation with 4CP to reduce market distortion.
• Proposal for allocation of CARD on a system-wide basis instead of zonal basis due to current misalignments.
• Discussion regarding the alignment of CARD allocation methodologies with how congestion is paid in reality.
• Various stakeholders express their positions: LCRA favors the VISTRA method, ERCOT does not have additional proposals, Coleman Lewis from Fargo Resources questions incentive structures.
• ERCOT has shared data about proposal impacts that has been part of presentations but has not independently analyzed dollar shifts.
• Next steps include possible vote at the December 4th WMS meeting.
• Austin Rosel provides updates on ERCOT addressing an issue related to the EPS meter stopping by increasing internal reviews and announcing a significant project to automate processes to reduce errors.

8 – Other Business – Blake Holt

• Speaker: Eric Goff
  • Topic: Large Load Report
  • Highlights:
    • Discussed potential formalization of the large load report.
    • Addressed challenges with customer data privacy under Texas law.
    • Suggested aggregation method to protect customer identity.
    • Proposed guidelines for ERCOT to develop a detailed report.
• Speaker: Bob Wittmeyer
  • Topic: Data Categorization
  • Highlights:
    • Suggested more generic categorization for data types such as ‘flexible’ and ‘firm’.
    • Discussion on the registration of load type under NPRR1234.
• Speaker: David Detelich, CPS Energy
  • Topic: Load Forecast and Battery Charging
  • Highlights:
    • Inquired about battery charging accounting in load forecasts.
    • Discussion on NPRR related to real-time signal masking.
    • Confirmation of a future presentation addressing load forecasts.
• Speaker: Coleman Lewis, Targa Resources
  • Topic: ERCOT Analysis on Card Allocation Proposals
  • Highlights:
    • Requested ERCOT analysis on how CARD allocation proposals affect dollar distribution.
    • Clarification that past analysis was not performed by ERCOT.
    • Discussion about the possibility of a historical assessment by ERCOT.

9 – Adjourn – Blake Holt

• Next meeting scheduled for December 10th.