[00:00:01]
YOU.YES, WE SHOULD BE READY TO ORDER.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTION MEETING
[1. Call General Session to Order]
OF THE TE MEETINGS? THE MINUTES ARE APPROVED.THE NEXT ITEM IS, UH, OR THE PURPOSE OF AGENDA ITEM FOUR, THE NOTICE OF THE ANNUAL COMMITTEE SELF EVALU EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE, MR. TO DRAW COMMITTEE MEMBERS' ATTENTION TO 2023 ANNUAL COMMITTEE SELF-EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE, DON'T COMMENTS AND FORMAT OF WHICH THE COMMITTEE REVIEWED DURING OUR MEETING ON APRIL 17TH, 2023.
ERCOT STAFF WILL ELECTRONICALLY ADMINISTER THE QUESTIONNAIRE TO COMMITTEE MEMBERS FOLLOWING TODAY, AND THE COMMITTEE WILL REVIEW THE RESULTS DURING THE MEETING SCHEDULED FOR DECEMBER 18TH, 2023, MOVE AT THE AUGUST BOARD MEETING.
THE BOARD ALSO APPROVED CHANGES TO THE MEMBERSHIP OF COMMITTEES IN CONNECTION WITH THE FORMATION OF THE NEW TECHNOLOGY AND
[2. Designation of Committee Secretary]
SECURITY COMMITTEE.FEEDBACK FROM FORMER FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE MEMBERS IS ENCOURAGED DURING THIS YEAR'S EVALUATION OF THE F AND A COMMITTEE.
WOULD ANYONE LIKE TO SHARE ANY FINAL FEEDBACK REGARDING THE CONTENT OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGNEES AS THE SECRETARY.
SO YOU'LL EXPECT TO SEE THAT BEING CIRCULATED BY THE STAFF ELECTRONICALLY OVER THE COMING CASE? THAT'S CORRECT.
SO THE NEXT UP S COMMITTEE BRIEFS, TAYLOR IS GONNA PRESENT ITEM, EXCUSE ME, AGENDA ITEMS 5.1 THROUGH 5.3, STARTING WITH A 2023 FINANCIAL SUMMARY FOLLOWED BY PERIODIC REPORT ON INVESTMENT.
AND FINALLY BY THE PERIODIC REPORT ON DEBT COMPLIANCE.
WE SHOULD DO IT UNTIL SUCH TIME AS WE CHANGE IT, I THINK WOULD BE THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY.
AND SO IF I CAN GET THAT MOTION.
ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? THE MOTIONS CARRIED.
I HAVE NOT SEEN, WHAT WE'RE GOING TO SEE TODAY IS VERY CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE'VE BEEN SEEING ALL YEAR, YEAR LONG, JOHN, IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT.
PROVIDE THE UPDATES OF HOW THIS COMPARES TO WHAT WE SAW LAST
[4. Review Committee Charter]
TIME WE LOOKED AT THIS, THE REVIEW OF THE COMMITTEE.SO OVERALL, FOR A PERSPECTIVE OF NET AVAILABLE YEAR END FORECAST, THE BUDGET THAT IS NOW AT $72.9 MILLION FAVORABLE TODAY, THIS IS INTENDED TO, THAT IS UP ABOUT $10 MILLION FROM THE LAST TIME WE DISCUSSION, FRANKLY, ABOUT WHAT SHOULD BE ON A REVENUE SIDE.
YOU HAVE SEEN A DRAFT OF, AND A SET OF REVISIONS TO THAT CHARTER INCLUDE $2 MILLION INCREASE IN FEES RECENTLY BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE SUMMER.
UM, THE DRAFT CHARTER, THOSE ARE ACTUALLY LESS STRICT COMMITTEE CHARTERS.
IT'S IN, BEEN INTENDED TO, UM, NORMALIZE SOME OF THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THIS COMMITTEE AND R AND M, WHICH IS WHERE WE WERE, YOU KNOW, INITIALLY HAR HARBORED IF YOU LIKE.
UM, AND SO, UH, IT, IT IS STILL A BIT OF A WORK IN PROCESS.
UH, THE COMMENT I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE A, A BRIEF DISCUSSION HERE ABOUT THE SCOPE OF THIS COMMITTEE.
FRANKLY, UM, THE, THE OBVIOUS THINGS THAT WE ARE GONNA DEAL WITH ARE CONCERNING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY.
UM, BUT FRANKLY, I, I THINK THE, THE SCOPE CAN AND SHOULD BE BROADER THAN THAT.
UM, AFTER ALL, THE NAME OF THE COMMITTEE IS TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY, AND I THINK ALL OF US ARE KEENLY AWARE OF THE FACT THAT TECHNOLOGY IS PLAYING A BIGGER AND BIGGER ROLE IN THE WAY THE GRIDS AROUND THE WORLD ARE BEING OPERATED.
AND, AND THERE IS A LOT OF INNOVATION GOING ON.
UM, NOW I SAY THAT BEING FULLY AWARE OF THE FACT THAT SOME OF THIS IS PROBABLY AN OVERLAP WITH R AND M.
UM, AND SO OVER TIME WE WILL HAVE TO SORT OF FIGURE OUT WHERE THE RIGHT HOME FOR SOME OF THESE THINGS ARE.
UM, BUT AT LEAST INITIALLY IT'S MY OBSERVATION, HAVING BEEN A MEMBER OF R AND M NOW FOR THE LAST 18 MONTHS, THAT R AND M'S GONNA HAVE A FAIRLY FULL AGENDA IN THE, AT LEAST MEDIUM TERM, IF NOT, IF NOT LONGER, DEALING WITH THE VARIOUS MANDATES THAT IT'S BEEN GIVEN.
AND SO IT MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE FOR US TO MAYBE LEAN IN A LITTLE BIT TO SOME AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY THAT PERHAPS PROPERLY EVENTUALLY WILL END UP IN OTHER PLACES IN, IN THE BOARD AND OR OTHER COMMITTEES.
UM, SO I MEAN, THE THINGS I SORT OF JOTTED DOWN AS TONY PABLO ADDED THE PLEASURE OF SPENDING 15 HOURS ON A PLANE COMING BACK FROM DUBAI LAST NIGHT.
UH, SO I JOTTED A FEW THINGS DOWN, WHICH WILL NOT BE COMPLETE AT ALL, BUT, UM, THAT AREAS WHERE I THINK ARE, ARE THINGS THAT WE SHOULD AT LEAST EXPLORE AND, AND FRANKLY I THINK ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE WORK THAT VENKAT AND HIS TEAM ARE, ARE STARTING TO DO ON BEHALF OF THE COMPANY.
UM, THE, THE FIRST ONE I WROTE DOWN WAS, YOU KNOW, DEMAND RESPONSE SYSTEMS AND THE AUTOMATION OF HOW DEMAND RESPONSE SYSTEMS, UM, ACTUALLY GET IMPLEMENTED.
UM, CLEARLY IT'S NOT ERGOTS JOB TO GO AND TOUCH PEOPLE'S THERMOSTATS.
UM, BUT I, I DO THINK THAT WE CAN WORK WITH THE VARIOUS LOAD SHARING ENTITIES A, AROUND THE STATE TO PUT IN PLACE TECHNOLOGY THAT MAKES
[00:05:01]
IT EASIER FOR DEMAND TO RESPOND TO LOAD, UM, IN, IN A, IN A MORE AUTOMATED WAY.AND, AND, AND I THINK TECHNOLOGY IS KEY TO THAT.
UM, SECOND ONE I WROTE DOWN WAS THE USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING, UM, IN, IN MANY DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE BUSINESS.
IN, IN, IN THE WAY SCAD WORKS, IN THE WAY WE DO MODELING.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE I M M'S GONNA TELL US THAT WE CONSISTENTLY, UM, OVER MODEL DEMAND, UM, AND, AND THAT'S CLEARLY BY DESIGN.
BUT, BUT TO THE EXTENT THAT WE CAN USE TECHNOLOGY TO GET BETTER AT, AT MODELING, MODELING LOAD, I THINK THAT THAT'S AN AREA THAT WE SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON.
THERE ARE A WHOLE SET OF NEW GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES AND, AND, AND TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE GONNA HAVE IMPLICATIONS ON THE WAY WE RUN THE GRID.
UM, A FEW THAT I WROTE DOWN WERE, YOU KNOW, THE SMALL MODULAR NUCLEAR, WHICH OBVIOUSLY THERE'S BEEN A PROJECT STARTED AT THE STATE LEVEL, UM, DC LEVEL, ENTERPRISE, DC LEVEL TRANSMISSION.
ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WAY WE CURRENTLY RUN THE GRID ON OUR SYSTEMS. AND, AND I THINK OUR AREAS THAT WE SHOULD BE WORKING WITH ERCOT MANAGEMENT AND ENGINEERING TEAMS ON GRID FORMING INVERTERS ARE ANOTHER ONE THAT, UH, CLEARLY ARE GONNA HAVE IMPLICATIONS AS WE MOVE TO, UH, MORE AND MORE OF THE, UH, INVERTER BASED TECHNOLOGIES IN OUR SYSTEM.
SO, UM, THOSE, THOSE ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT I, I JUST SKETCHED DOWN.
UM, OTHER THINGS THAT I'VE FORGOTTEN OR, OR MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE MIGHT WANNA SUGGEST LINDA PUT ON YEAH.
SO AS I WAS GOING THROUGH THE SAME EXERCISES I WAS READING THROUGH IT THINKING OF SCOPE.
UM, I CAME AT IT A LITTLE MORE SYSTEMATICALLY BECAUSE I'M NEW TO THE, UH, TO THE, TO THE, UM, TO THE BOARD, WHICH WAS, I'M MAKING AN ASSUMPTION THAT THERE, THE TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY IS COMPREHENSIVE.
AND SO MY FIRST QUESTION WAS, I'D LIKE TO SEE THAT, 'CAUSE THAT WOULD LIST ALL THESE LINE ITEMS AND IT WOULD SET A PRIORITY, AND THEN THAT WOULD BE A GREAT WAY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO BOUND THE PROBLEM IN TERMS OF DO WE AGREE WITH THE PRIORITY? DO WE WANT TO ADVISE YOU TO ADJUST THE PRIORITY? AND THEN LOOKING AT THE SIX MEETINGS WE'LL BE HAVING OR THROUGH THE YEAR, UH, WHAT ORDER DO WE WANT TO COVER THEM? AND THAT WOULD GIVE US A, AN ORGANIZATION FUNCTION.
THAT'S, THAT'S A VERY GOOD POINT.
AND I, AND I THINK THAT'S A BIG PART OF THE MANDATE OF THE NEW STRATEGY YEAH.
TEAM, IF I CAN CALL IT THAT TO ACTUALLY START TO INCLUDE.
THEN MY LAST COMMENT WOULD BE, SINCE IT SAYS THAT WITH THE CHARTER WOULD BE REVIEWED EVERY YEAR, THE, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE AS SPECIFIC IN THE BEGINNING, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IT ALLOW, IT DOES ALLOW US TO COVER WHATEVER WE THINK IS IMPORTANT.
JULIE, DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT? YES.
MY COMMENT IS MORE ALONG THE LINES OF ANYONE LEADING TECHNOLOGY SORT OF HAS DIFFERENT HORIZONS FOR THAT TECHNOLOGY.
YOU HAVE YOUR NEAR TERM ADOPTION, YOU GOT YOUR MEDIUM TERM TYPICALLY CALLED DEVELOPMENT IN SOME ORGANIZATIONS.
AND YOUR LONGER TERM, YOU KNOW, RESEARCH, IN OUR CASE, WE MIGHT NOT USE THAT TERM, BUT THAT ROADMAP WITH THOSE DIFFERENT TIMELINE HORIZONS MIGHT BE SOMETHING, UH, WE COULD ALSO ORGANIZE AROUND, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST ONCE A YEAR, LOOK AT FIVE YEARS AND OUT TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY, FOR EXAMPLE.
I MEAN, ALL THIS SOUNDS, YOU KNOW, ALIGNED AND I GUESS WE'RE ALL THINKING ALONG THE SAME, UM, GENERAL SUBJECTS, RIGHT? ONE, ONE OF THE POINTS THAT I SEE IS, UH, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY BEING LIKE THE FIRST KEY STEP, UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S THERE, RIGHT? UNDERSTANDING HOW THE SYSTEM'S REALLY WORKING.
LIKE IN THE CASE OF THE BATTERIES, WE'RE ASKING FOR MORE INFORMATION IN TERMS OF STATE, STATE OF CHARGE, RIGHT? THAT I THINK IS SORT OF THE FIRST STEP, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, IMPROVING OUR ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE SYSTEM OPERATES.
OF COURSE, WE HAVE LOTS OF INFORMATION AND, AND INCORPORATING THE TECHNOLOGIES CHANGING.
EVERYTHING'S CHANGING AND THEREFORE MAKE IT MAYBE MORE IN CORPORATE WIDE AND MORE, UH, GENERALIZED TO EVERYTHING WE DO RIGHT? THEN, UM, IN TERMS OF, UH, ALL THE UPDATES THAT WE'RE DOING, ENSURE THAT THEY'RE KEEPING UP WITH EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY.
THAT'S MY SECOND GREATEST CONCERN.
LEFT BEHIND WITH, AGAIN, WHAT AI IS DOING, WHICH IS JUST INCREDIBLE IN THIS, IN THIS SECTOR.
[00:10:01]
OPERATING THE SYSTEM ITSELF.AND THE THIRD GOING DOWN TO, YOU KNOW, GENERATION AND LOAD TECHNOLOGIES.
UM, BUT CRUCIAL THAT IT'S NOT ONLY IT, IT'S, UH, UNDERSTANDING THAT ALL OF THOSE WILL AFFECT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE SYSTEM LIKE, UH, INERTIA, YOU KNOW, INVERTED BASED RESOURCES AND HOW WE SOLVE FOR THAT.
THAT TO ME WILL BE A BIG CHALLENGE.
SO I THINK WE'RE ALL, AGAIN, THINKING ABOUT THE SAME SUBJECTS YEP.
FROM, UH, BUT I WOULD SORT OF START WITH SOME, UM, ORGANIZATION AS TO HOW TO TACKLE ALL OF THEM.
PABLO, DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS YOU'D LIKE TO ADD TO THIS? I THINK THIS WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO HEAR FROM YOU AS WELL.
AND, AND I, AND I, WHERE I'VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT HOW WE EVOLVE THIS IS, I THINK HAVING A ROADMAP VIEW OF KIND OF WHERE WE'RE HEADED IN THE SHORT, MID AND LONG TERM IS GONNA REALLY HELP TO FRAME THE SCOPE AND FOCUS FOR THIS OR FOR THIS COMMITTEE.
AND I, I AGREE THAT I THINK OVER TIME IT'S GOING TO STRETCH AND EXPAND BECAUSE TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME SO INTEGRAL INTO THE OPERATIONS OF OUR BUSINESS, AND IT'S CHANGING SO RAPIDLY THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE FLEXIBLE BETWEEN HOW WE ADDRESS THOSE ISSUES AND THIS COMMITTEE AND IN THE RELIABILITY AND MARKETS COMMITTEE.
AND I THINK THAT WE JUST NEED TO, YOU KNOW, BE COGNIZANT OF MAKING SURE WE'RE NOT BEING REDUNDANT BETWEEN THEM, WHICH I'M SURE WE'LL, WE'LL, UH, WE'LL CLEARLY RAISE OUR HANDS WHEN WE SEE THE RISKS OF THAT.
BUT I THINK OVER TIME, I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF VALUE THAT THIS COMMITTEE IS GONNA BE ABLE TO DELIVER AROUND INTEGRATING THE OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, THE INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, AND REALLY SHOWING KIND OF HOW WE'RE GONNA STEP FORWARD IN TIME THROUGH A TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP THAT'S GONNA HELP TO ADDRESS THE RELIABILITY ISSUES, THE RESILIENCY ISSUES, UM, THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, FOR THE GRID.
SO I, I, I THINK THIS, THIS CHARTER, UH, IS A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR THAT.
AND I THINK WE JUST NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE IN HOW WE EVOLVE THAT AS A TEAM AND AS, AND WE HAVE TO WORK CLOSELY WITH THE R AND M COMMITTEE TO MAKE SURE WE DO IT IN, UH, IN CONCERT WITH THEM AS WELL.
SO WHAT I'M, WHAT I'M GONNA TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS THAT WE SORT OF NEED TO ADD ANOTHER SECTION OR TWO AND TO, TO LINDA'S POINT, SOME ORGANIZING PRINCIPLES AROUND HOW WE APPROACH THE PROBLEM.
UM, AS CARLOS SAID, I MEAN, YOU KNOW, WE, WE KNOW WHAT WE KNOW RIGHT NOW ABOUT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY WITH THE CURRENT GENERATION IN THE LOAD, AND, AND WE'RE GONNA SPEND PROBABLY MORE TIME ON THAT AT THE BEGINNING JUST 'CAUSE THAT'S REAL AND, AND IN FRONT OF US.
AND, AND TODAY'S MEETING WILL BE NO EXCEPTION TO THAT.
UM, BUT I DO THINK WE NEED TO SORT OF ORGANIZE OUR THOUGHTS A LITTLE BIT AND, AND THINK ABOUT HOW WE THINK ABOUT NEW EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES IN A WAY THAT'S GONNA BE HELPFUL AND NOT, YOU KNOW, USELESS AND, AND, AND, AND NOT, NOT HELPFUL TO, TO THE MANAGEMENT TEAM AND, AND, AND TO THE PEOPLE OF TEXAS.
UM, SO LET ME ALSO SUGGEST IF THE PUCS ALREADY WORKING, LET'S WITH AIRCON, UM, A CERTAIN AREA OF TECHNOLOGY, YOU JUST KEEP US INFORMED VERSUS LET, WE DON'T WANNA BE REDUNDANT IN THAT DIRECTION EITHER, WHICH IS, WELL, WE CLEARLY KNOW THEY ARE.
I MEAN, DISTRIBUTED GENERATION, FOR EXAMPLE, IS AN AREA THAT THEY'RE CLEARLY WORKING ON, AND WE COULD START WITH WHATEVER'S BEING PROVIDED WITH THE P U C AND NOT DUPLICATE THAT.
LIKE WITH THE, AS YOU MENTIONED, THE SS M R TASK FORCE, THAT'S, THAT'S BEEN PUT TOGETHER.
I MEAN, THERE'S A CLEAR OWNERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR SOME OF THESE INITIATIVES THAT'S GONNA BE DRIVEN THROUGH THE P U C, AND WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT, THAT WE KIND OF, EVERYBODY STAYS KIND OF IN THEIR ACCOUNTABILITIES IN ORDER TO HELP DRIVE THIS.
I, I, I THINK THE UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE WE CAN BRING THOUGH, UM, AND I, AND I WOULD NEVER WANT TO, UM, PUT MYSELF OR ADVERTISE MYSELF AS BEING SORT OF THE EXPERT ON TECHNOLOGY WHEN WE'VE GOT, YOU KNOW, DAN AND WOODY SITTING NEXT TO US HERE.
BUT, BUT I THINK THIS COMMITTEE HAS AN AFFINITY FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT SOME OF THE OTHER COMMITTEES DON'T HAVE.
AND, AND, AND WE'RE GONNA THINK ABOUT THIS DIFFERENTLY, CARLOS, I, I'M JUST THINKING ABOUT YOUR COMMENTS ABOUT THE CONVENTION CENTER.
WE'RE GONNA THINK ABOUT THIS AS ENGINEERS, NOT NECESSARILY AS PLANNERS AND DESIGNERS AND ARCHITECTS.
SO THAT, THAT'S A, THAT'S A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT.
I THINK THAT WILL BE HELPFUL TO ULTIMATELY A SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF SOME OF THESE THINGS.
THAT BEING SAID, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND AGAIN, WE'LL, WE WILL UPDATE THE, THE DATA OR UPDATE THE, THE SCOPE OF, OF THE CHARTER.
[5.1 Technology Objectives and Key Results (OKR) Projects Update]
ITEM, WHICH IS, UH, ITEM FIVE, UM, WHICH IS LABELED COMMITTEE BRIEFS, AND WHICH STARTS WITH AN UPDATE ON OKRS, UM, WHICH GIANT IS GOING TO PRESENT.UM, AND THIS IS SPECIFICALLY THE OKRS THAT RELATE TO TECHNOLOGY, UH, TOPICS.
I MEAN, THERE'S A, A LONGER LIST AS YOU ALL KNOW, THAT, UH, DOES NOT
[00:15:09]
GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.UH, MY NAME IS, UH, JAY AND TAMBY, AND I'M THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER.
UM, I'M HERE TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON KEY PROJECTS AND SOME, UH, STATISTICS ON, UM, ON THE PORTFOLIO.
UM, WE WANTED TO GIVE AN UPDATE LIKE THIS TWICE A YEAR TO THE RELIABILITY AND MARKETS COMMITTEE.
AND WE GIVE AN UPDATE IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR.
AND OUR NEXT UPDATE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE IN AUGUST.
BUT BECAUSE THIS TOPIC HAS MOVED TO THE TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE, WE HAVE, I'M GIVING YOU THE UPDATE RIGHT NOW.
UM, GOING FORWARD, OF COURSE, WE WILL TAKE YOUR FEEDBACK IN TERMS OF, UM, WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO HEAR IN THIS TYPE OF REPORT, COUPLE OF TIMES A YEAR OR POSSIBLY MORE OFTEN AS WELL.
UM, GOING TO MY NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE THAT THESE ARE THE MAIN PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE, UM, FOCUSED ON FOR THE YEAR 2024.
AND THESE ARE THE ONES THAT ARE OUTSTANDING FOR DELIVERY BETWEEN NOW AND THE END OF THE YEAR.
UM, OF COURSE, CERTAIN KEY MILESTONES, BECAUSE SOME OF THESE PROJECTS RUN LONGER THAN A YEAR OR TWO.
UH, THE FIRST THING THAT KIND OF COMES OUT AT YOU IS EVERYTHING IS GREEN.
SO THERE IS AN OBVIOUS QUESTION, ARE WE SETTING THE BAR TOO LOW? OKAY.
UM, I PERSONALLY BELIEVE THAT WE ARE GETTING BETTER AT SETTING REALISTIC TARGETS TO MEET OUR KEY BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS.
AND SOME OF THESE TARGETS ARE BEING SET ABOUT A YEAR IN ADVANCE, OR MAYBE EVEN MORE IN ADVANCE OF THAT.
AND THROUGHOUT OUR OPERATIONS THROUGH THE YEAR, WE RUN INTO RISKS AND CHALLENGES, UM, THAT, THAT HAPPEN INSIDE THE PROJECTS OR EVEN OUTSIDE THE PROJECTS.
AND WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MANAGE THAT PROPERLY AND KEEP OUR EYE ON THE TARGET AND ACHIEVE THE TARGET.
AND THAT IS THE PURPOSE OF DEFINING THESE PROJECTS AS OKRS.
UM, THEREFORE, I WANT TO APPLAUD OUR BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAMS IN BEING INNOVATIVE AND COLLABORATIVE IN HELPING US TO STAY ON TRACK IN TERMS OF ACHIEVING THESE TARGETS.
OKAY, NOW TALKING ABOUT EACH PROJECT, THE E M S FOR EXAMPLE, WE, WE ACHIEVED A MAJOR MILESTONE JUST LAST WEEK.
UH, WE DID WHAT IS CALLED A CLOSED LOOP TEST OF THE E M S SYSTEM.
THAT MEANS YOU ARE CONNECTING OUR NEW E M SS SYSTEM, THE NEXT VERSION, WHICH IS 3.3 TO THE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. AND YOU ARE ACTUALLY CONTROLLING FREQUENCY AND CONGESTION MANAGEMENT FOR THE REAL GRID.
OKAY? SO WE DID THAT FOR ABOUT FOUR HOURS LAST WEEK.
AND, AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS, OF COURSE, TO IDENTIFY SOME ISSUES OR CHALLENGES THAT WE MAY, UH, SEE DURING THOSE FOUR HOURS AND TAKE SOME TIME OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS TO FIX THOSE PROBLEMS BASED ON PRIORITY.
SO THAT TEST HAS BEEN SUCCESSFUL AND WE CONTINUE TO STAY ON TARGET TO GO LIVE WITH THE 3.3 SYSTEM MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER.
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S A PRETTY BIG ACHIEVEMENT.
THIS IS THE FOURTH TIME, I BELIEVE, SINCE WE FIRST STARTED, THAT WE HAVE DONE A FULL E M S UPGRADE, UM, FROM 2000, IT WAS ONE IN 2000, 2004, 2010, 2016.
AND THEN NOW, AND EVERY TIME IT BECOMES MORE AND MORE COMPLEX BECAUSE AS YOU CAN SEE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE OVER A THOUSAND NPR R AND THOSE NPR R ARE ALL THE CHANGES THAT WE HAVE MADE OVER THIS PERIOD OF TIME SINCE 2010, BECAUSE THESE ARE NODAL PROTOCOL REVISIONS, NOT THE ONES THAT HAPPENED BEFORE.
SO THAT LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY TO GO SO SMOOTHLY, UM, I'M, I, I'M REALLY IMPRESSED.
SO I, I NEED TO THANK OUR TEAMS FOR THAT.
UM, SO WE HAVE STAYED ON TARGET IN TERMS OF, UH, BUDGET AND, AND UM, UM, AND SCHEDULE.
IN FACT, WHEN WE STARTED THIS YEAR, WE HAD A CERTAIN TARGET.
WE TIGHTENED UP THOSE TARGETS, BOTH IN TERMS OF SCHEDULE AS WELL AS BUDGET.
SO RIGHT NOW THE BUDGET IS SITTING AT ABOUT 19.2 MILLION, AND IT USED TO BE 20 MILLION AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR.
SO WE REDUCED THE BUDGET AS WELL AS THE, UH, SCHEDULE IN TERMS OF WHEN TO GO LIVE.
THE SECOND PROJECT IS DC FIVE.
AND RIGHT OFF THE BAT, I'LL TELL YOU, YOU KNOW, YOU GUYS HAD A DISCUSSION ABOUT TECHNOLOGY
[00:20:01]
VERSUS IT, WELL, DC FIVE IS AN IT TYPE OF PROJECT, AND, UH, JP WILL SAY MORE ABOUT THAT 'CAUSE I'M A LITTLE BIT LESS FAMILIAR WITH THOSE.BUT HERE'S THE, HERE'S THE, THE HEADLINE NEWS IS THERE ARE EIGHT SUB-PROJECTS HERE, NOT INCLUDING THE PROGRAM CONTROL PROJECT, AND ALL OF THEM ARE ON TRACK.
AND, UH, A COUPLE OF THEM ARE ALMOST, UH, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY, THE MIGRATION FROM A I X TO, UH, X 86 WILL BE 50% DONE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
UM, THE, UH, TELECOM CORE WILL BE COMPLETED IN NOVEMBER, AND AUTOMATED PROVISIONING WAS COMPLETED, UH, UH, THIS LA EARLIER, JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS EARLIER.
AGAIN, THIS HAS ABOUT A $60 MILLION, UH, BUDGET.
EVERYTHING IS ON TRACK AS WE SPEAK.
THE THIRD PROJECT IS, UM, TREASURY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AND IN THIS ONE WE HAD ONE DELIVERY IN JULY OF 2023.
AND THAT ONE REDUCED AUTOMATED, BASICALLY ALL OUR MANUAL ACTIVITIES, UH, THAT WOULD MATCH INVOICES TO PAYMENTS.
SO THAT WAS A SIGNIFICANT ACHIEVEMENT, AND THE TREASURY TEAM IS BENEFITING FROM THAT AS WE SPEAK.
THERE ARE TWO MORE DELIVERIES PLANNED.
ONE IN JANUARY, 2024, AND THEN ONE IN APRIL, 2024.
THE JANUARY, 2024 WILL AUTOMATE THE INTEGRATION OF JOURNAL DATA BETWEEN COMMERCIAL SYSTEMS AND TREASURY SYSTEMS. AND THE APRIL, 2024 WILL FURTHER AUTOMATE SOME OF THE BUSINESS PROCESSES THAT ARE CURRENTLY MANUAL.
UH, THE BUDGET FOR THIS IS ABOUT 2.4, AND WE ARE STILL ON TRACK IN TERMS OF, UM, IN TERMS OF BOTH SCHEDULE AND BUDGET.
SEE THIS, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE TYPE OF PROJECTS THAT WE DON'T RUN AT ERCOT, IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN.
WE ARE MORE ABOUT POWER SYSTEMS AND, AND SO ON.
SO WE HAVE TO COME TOGETHER, DO A LOT OF ARCHITECTURE TYPE WORK, DO A LOT OF ANALYSIS RIGHT UP FRONT SO THAT WE CAN HANDLE RISK EARLY ENOUGH IN THE PROJECT, AND THEN HAVE A SMOOTH SAILING AS WE GO FORWARD AND IMPLEMENT.
SO THAT, THAT'S A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW WE MANAGE THAT.
UM, THE REAL TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION AND PLUS B, WHICH INCLUDES THE WAY WE MANAGE BATTERIES IN REAL TIME, WHERE YOU CAN ACTUALLY MOVE THE ENERGY AROUND.
UM, THIS ONE, WE HAVE KICKED OFF ALL THE SUB PROJECTS AS WE SPEAK NOW, AND WE HAVE ACHIEVED, YOU KNOW, WE ARE WORKING ON REQUIREMENTS.
THERE IS A SPECIFIC N P R R THAT WILL COME THROUGH, UH, FOR YOUR APPROVAL FOR THE BOARD APPROVAL IN IN DECEMBER.
BUT SOME OF THE REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN ASPECTS OF THAT N P R R WE WILL BEGIN INCLUDING IN, IN OUR PROGRAMS RIGHT NOW.
A KEY, UH, MILESTONE THAT WE ACHIEVE RECENTLY WAS TO GIVE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR INTEGRATION TO OUR M M S VENDOR SO THAT THEY CAN BEGIN THE WORK OF DEVELOPMENT IN THEIR SHOP.
SO THAT WAS ACHIEVED ABOUT A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AS WELL.
SO THE MAIN CHALLENGE WITH A PROGRAM LIKE THIS IS THAT THERE IS MARKET AND SYSTEM EXPERTS THAT WE NEED, THAT WE NEED TO PARTICIPATE IN THESE PROGRAMS. AND THERE ARE OTHER PROJECTS THAT ARE HAPPENING, OR SOME EFFORTS THAT MAY BE HAPPENING BEFORE WE ACTUALLY START THE PROJECTS.
SO WE JUST HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT THOSE RESOURCES ARE PROPERLY MANAGED AND WE ARE, WE ARE ABLE TO KEEP ON TRACK ALL THE DIFFERENT EFFORTS RELATED TO THOSE AREAS.
THIS PROJECT IS ABOUT, UH, BUDGET IS ABOUT $50 MILLION.
UM, SO I'LL GO ON TO THE, UH, NEXT ONE WHERE, OKAY, SO THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT IS WHILE WE ARE DOING R T C, THESE ARE THE MAJOR PROJECTS THAT WE ARE FOCUSED ON OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
UM, E M S UPGRADE WILL BE PRETTY MUCH FINISHED BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
UH, E C R S WAS DELIVERED EARLIER THIS YEAR.
INTERIM STATE OF CHARGE IS WORK IN PROGRESS.
UH, P C M, WE ARE DOING THE INITIAL PART IN TERMS OF DEVELOPING THE RULES AND SO ON.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, THE IMPLEMENTATION WILL START PRETTY MUCH, UH, TOWARDS THE THIRD OR FOURTH QUARTER OF 2025.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE REAL TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION PROJECT.
UH, SO THIS IS ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE, IS TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE THE RESOURCES TO WORK ON ALL OF THESE THINGS AND, AND MEET THE MILESTONES AS AS NEEDED.
THE NEXT COUPLE OF SLIDES ARE GOING TO TALK ABOUT, UH, THE STATISTICS OF, UH, FROM A PORTFOLIO PERSPECTIVE.
SO AS YOU CAN SEE, YEAR OVER YEAR, IF YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF PROJECTS WE ARE DELIVERING, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT WE ARE KIND OF IN THE, YOU KNOW, 20 TO 30 RANGE OF PROBABLY EDGING TOWARDS 30 PROJECTS.
[00:25:01]
THESE ARE PROJECTS THAT ARE BEING DELIVERED AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, RIGHT NOW WE HAVE 61 ACTIVE PROJECTS.THE, THE COLORING SCHEME SHOWS YOU THE SIZE OF THE PROJECTS, YOU KNOW, GREATER THAN 1 MILLION, 500 TO 1 MILLION, AND SO ON.
UM, AS FAR AS THIS YEAR IS CONCERNED, WE HAVE, UM, WHEN WE MADE THE SLIDE, WE HAD DELIVERED 16 PROJECTS.
UH, WE HAVE DELIVERED FOUR MORE.
SO WE HAVE ACTUALLY DELIVERED 20 PROJECTS AS OF TODAY, AND WE HAVE, UM, AN ADDITIONAL 11 LEFT THAT WE THINK WE WILL DELIVER BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
SO A TOTAL OF, UH, 31 PROJECTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE DELIVERED BY THIS YEAR FOR, FOR THIS YEAR'S EFFORTS.
OKAY? UH, SO WHAT, WHAT WE HAVE HERE IS I'VE SEPARATED THE CONTINGENT LABOR, WHICH IS THE GREEN AREA RIGHT AT THE TOP, AND THEN THE REST OF IT IS THE LABOR OF OUR FULL-TIME EMPLOYEES.
AND YOU CAN SEE THE SPLIT OF HOW THAT LABOR, AGAIN, I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THIS IS JUST PROJECTS, OKAY? THIS IS NOT OUR NORMAL OPERATIONS.
SO HOW IT IS SPLIT BETWEEN THE VARIOUS PROJECTS AT THE BOTTOM, YOU HAVE TECH HEALTH, TECH HEALTH PROJECTS ARE, SUCH AS AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE D CFI OR E M SS, THINGS THAT WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE SECURE AND THINGS ARE WORKING PROPERLY, AND THAT WE CAN DO PATCHES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
THESE ARE THINGS THAT ARE REQUIRED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
EXAMPLES WOULD BE D R R S AND R T C.
UH, REVISION REQUESTS ARE PROJECTS THAT COME IN THROUGH THE, UH, N P R R PROCESS, BUT THEY'RE NOT REGULATORY PROJECTS.
OKAY? SO EXAMPLE OF THAT IS STATE INTERIM, STATE OF CHARGE, OR N P R R 1186.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS REALLY ABOUT, YOU KNOW, PROJECTS THAT WE DO THAT WOULD ENHANCE OUR CAPABILITY AND REDUCE OUR RISK TO DO OUR JOBS.
SO THOSE EXAMPLES WOULD BE TREASURY MANAGEMENT AND BRIDGE GEO FORECAST, UM, PLATFORM AND SO ON.
SO IF YOU LOOK AT, IF YOU START AT THE GRAPH A LITTLE BIT, YOU CAN SEE THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE INCREASING, UH, THE DEMAND ON LABOR IN TERMS OF THE ACTUALS.
AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE FORECASTS, IT'S KINDA STAYING AT THAT LEVEL.
THE INCREASE IN THE ACTUALS IS DRIVEN MORE BY E M S AND R T C, AND THE FORECAST IS DRIVEN BY WHAT YOU SAW IN THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
A BUNCH OF NEW PROJECTS THAT WE ARE, WE ARE STARTING UP.
UM, ONE THING TO POINT OUT IS THE BLUE AREA HERE TENDS TO DIE OUT AFTER ABOUT SIX MONTHS.
THAT'S BECAUSE A LOT OF THE TECHNOLOGY UPGRADE PROJECTS GENERALLY GET DEFINED ABOUT SIX MONTHS IN ADVANCE.
SO AS TIME PROGRESSES, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT THE BLUE AREA, UM, YOU KNOW, TENDS TO STAY AT ABOUT THE 6,000 HOUR RANGE.
SO TO GIVE YOU SOME ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THIS, UM, YOU'LL NOTICE THAT A CONTRACT LABOR USE IS ABOUT 2,500 HOURS PER MONTH.
THAT, THAT CORRESPONDS TO ABOUT 12 TO 18 PEOPLE.
UM, AND OUR MONTHLY USE OF STAFF LABOR IS IN THE 15,000 TO 20,000 RANGE, AND THAT REPRESENTS ABOUT A HUNDRED TO 150 EMPLOYEES.
AND TO PUT THAT IN PERSPECTIVE OF THE, UH, COMPANY TODAY, WE HAVE 878 FTES AND ABOUT 45 CONTRACTORS.
SO THAT'S A TOTAL OF ABOUT 923 PEOPLE.
SO THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE SPEND DOING PROJECTS IS APPROXIMATELY 10 TO 15%.
AND ALSO NEXT YEAR, OUR EMPLOYEE STAFF REQUEST FOR THE 2024 BUDGET IS 1014.
SO IF YOU ASK ME, DO YOU HAVE ENOUGH STAFF AND RESOURCES TO BE ABLE TO DO THESE PROJECTS THAT ARE IN THE HORIZON, MY ANSWER WOULD BE YES.
AND WE ARE CONTINUING TO ENHANCE OUR CAPABILITY TO BE ABLE TO USE CONTINGENT WORKERS AND TO BE ABLE TO ALSO USE SOME CONSULTANTS AND SO ON.
SO I'M FAIRLY CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL BE ABLE TO DELIVER WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO.
UM, AND OF COURSE, IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW MUCH MORE IS PUT ON OUR PLATE.
SO I'LL STOP THERE AND SEE IF YOU GUYS HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON, I'M, THIS IS JULIE ENGLAND.
THANK YOU FOR ALL THIS INFORMATION.
I'M A LITTLE BIT UNCLEAR ON THE, PLEASE REMIND US WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF GREEN, AND HOW FAR BELOW BUDGET OR TIMING WOULD AN O K R PROJECT HAVE TO DRIFT TO BECOME YELLOW? IS IT WITHIN LIKE 5%, 10%? YEAH.
[00:30:01]
QUESTION TO ASK ERCOT, BECAUSE WHAT HAPPENS IN OUR PROJECTS GENERALLY IS THAT WE HAVE A CERTAIN SCOPE AND WE START THE PROJECT WITH THE SCOPE AND THE BUDGET.AND THEN AS WE GO ALONG, IF WE FIND OPPORTUNITIES BY WHICH WE CAN MANAGE THE PROJECT BETTER, OR INCREASE THE SCOPE OR DECREASE THE SCOPE, WE CONTINUE TO DO THAT WITH CHANGE ORDERS.
AND SO THAT'S THE WAY THAT WE ARE MANAGING, YOU KNOW, AS OPPOSED TO, FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAD A VENDOR AND YOU HAD A STATEMENT OF WORK, THINGS ARE PRETTY, YOU KNOW, STRAIGHTFORWARD AND NOT EASY TO BUDGE THINGS ALONG.
SO IT GOES TO MANAGING THE PROJECT INTELLIGENTLY, GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT YOU MIGHT SEE AS WE GO ALONG.
SO THAT'S THE PRACTICE WE HAVE ADOPTED.
UM, ALL OF US IN THE ROOM AT THE TABLE, IF WE'RE ON A LOT OF TECHNOLOGY PROJECTS, WE KNOW THEY'RE NOT ALL GREEN.
WE KNOW THAT COST AND TIMING AND STAFFING ARE NOT ALL GREEN.
SO WHAT I'M ASKING IS FOR OUR BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT'S AT RISK AND HOW TO BUDGET IN THE FUTURE, COULD YOU SHARE WITH US WHAT'S NOT GREEN IN REALITY? AND WHAT THE CHALLENGE IS? IT'S NOT, I DON'T SEE THE BENEFIT IN JUST SHARING WITH US THAT THEY'RE ALL GREEN FOR OUR FUTURE STRATEGIC BENEFIT OF HAIRCUT.
LET, LET ME TAKE A STAB AT THIS.
I THINK WHAT, WHAT JULIE'S HINTING AT IS THE FACT THAT WE REVISED THE PROJECT SCOPE TO MEET THE REALITY OF THE BUDGET AND, AND, AND TIMEFRAME THAT WE HAVE.
AND THEREFORE, IT AUTOMATICALLY BECOMES GREEN, YOU KNOW, SORT OF BY DEFINITION AS OPPOSED TO STARTING OUT WITH A, YOU KNOW, A PROJECT PLAN AND THEN MAINTAINING A VIEW OF THAT ORIGINAL PROJECT PLAN THROUGHOUT THE PLAN.
NO, I'M, I'M FRANKLY THAT'S AN ADDITIONAL COMMENT, BUT I'D LIKE TO KNOW, OF ALL THE GREEN ITEMS, WHAT'S THE MOST YELLOW, LET'S PUT IT THAT WAY.
ACTUALLY, MAYBE I CAN, I CAN TRY AND, AND MAYBE MANDY CAN HELP.
IF YOU NOTICE, I'M ONLY TALKING ABOUT FOUR PROJECTS HERE, BECAUSE THEY ARE THE O K R PROJECTS, AND THEN WE HAVE 61 ACTIVE PROJECTS.
SO ALL 61 ACTIVE PROJECTS ARE PROBABLY NOT GREEN.
SO I THINK MAYBE, MANDY, DO YOU HAVE SOME DATA ON THAT? I DON'T HAVE THAT RIGHT NOW.
I COULD DEFINITELY PULL IT, BUT CERTAINLY WE DO RUN A, A HANDFUL AT LEAST, THAT ARE YELLOW AT ANY POINT IN TIME.
UM, AND OF COURSE SOME ARE RED AS WELL.
UM, THE THRESHOLD I THINK YOU'RE ASKING ABOUT IS TYPICALLY AS THE BUDGET STARTS TO DEVIATE ABOUT 5%, WE TEND TO TAG IT YELLOW.
WE LOOK AT THE MITIGATING ACTIONS, SEE WHAT WE NEED TO DO.
UM, IF THAT BUDGET IS STARTING TO EXCEED BY 10%, IT'S RED.
BUT TO YOUR POINT, WE DO, WE HAVE OUR CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROCESS WHERE WE THEN LOOK AND VET WHAT ACTIONS DO WE NEED TO TAKE TO MAKE SURE WE'RE GETTING THE RIGHT OUTCOMES, WHICH COULD INCLUDE A BUDGET CHANGE CONTROL OR SCOPE OR SCHEDULE.
UM, YOU MAY RECALL IN SOME OF THE PRIOR SESSIONS, I THINK AT LEAST IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, WE HAD A SLIDE DECK THAT SHOWED THE CHANGE CONTROL HISTORY FOR THESE PROJECTS.
SO YOU COULD GET A SENSE OF WHAT THOSE FLUCTUATIONS HAVE BEEN.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, WHEN WE LOCK IN AT OUR GATE TO EXECUTION, THAT'S WHERE WE'RE REALLY, UM, SETTING OUR, OUR STRONG BASELINE FOR WHERE WE'RE EXPECTING TO LAND.
WE FINISHED ALL OUR PLANNING AND, AND PROJECTIONS FOR WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR IN TERMS OF THESE O K R PROJECTS.
AND I THINK YOUR QUESTION OF WHICH IS MAYBE MOST YELLOW, UM, I, I THINK THEY'RE ALL, LIKE, THEY ARE ALL WORKING WITHIN THEIR, THEIR BOUNDARIES OF GREEN RIGHT NOW.
UM, THEY, WE, PARTICULARLY IN THE CASE OF RESOURCES, WHICH CAN BE A CHALLENGE BECAUSE THEY'RE THE O K R PROJECTS, WE TEND TO MOVE OTHER WORK AROUND TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN STAY FOCUSED ON THESE.
BUT, BUT LET ME, LET ME CHALLENGE YOU ON THAT A LITTLE BIT.
THE REALTIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, SO, IT'S SO EARLY IN THE PROJECT HOW YOU CAN DECLARE THAT AS GREEN WHEN YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANY REAL PLANNING IS SORT OF A MYSTERY AND, AND, AND ISN'T VERY CREDIBLE, FRANKLY.
SO, I MEAN, I THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE A PHILOSOPHY THAT SAYS, LOOK, UNTIL WE'VE COMPLETED DETAILED DESIGN, WE DON'T, WE DON'T DECLARE A PROJECT GREEN.
WE, WE, IT'S AUTOMATICALLY YELLOW.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, ONCE, THEN WE TRACK IT FROM THERE.
I, I JUST DON'T THINK IT GIVES YOU CREDIBILITY TO SAY, A PROJECT THAT HASN'T STARTED YET IS GREEN.
SO I, I DEFINITELY CAN UNDERSTAND THAT IN TERMS OF REPORTING HERE FROM THE BIG PICTURE OF WHERE WE AT IN A THREE YEAR PROJECT OF $50 MILLION INTERNALLY, WITHIN THESE PROJECTS, THOUGH, THEY ALL HAVE A SCHEDULE WITH SPECIFIC MILESTONES, AND WE ARE LOOKING AT THE TASKS, THE HOURS THAT WE'VE GOT
[00:35:01]
FOLKS ASSIGNED TO TASKS ON THAT EFFORT AND THE ACTUALS, THEY'RE BILLING.SO AT A, AT A MORE MICRO LEVEL, BUT, BUT YOU'RE, WE ARE, BUT YOU'RE TELLING US THAT YOUR PLANNING IS GOING FINE.
THAT'S, THAT'S NOT ABSOLUTELY, THAT'S NOT THAT, THAT'S NOT VERY INTERESTING TO US.
WE WANT TO KNOW HOW THE PROJECT'S DOING.
LINDA, YOU HAD A COMMENT, COMMENT ABOUT THE MICROPHONE.
I THINK PART OF WHERE WE'RE STRUGGLING IS THE LEVEL OVERSIGHT VERSUS PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.
WE ARE NOT PROGRAM MANAGEMENT THAT'S BELOW BELONGS INSIDE ERCOT.
WE ARE OVERSIGHT OF THE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT.
SO WHERE THAT COMES IN IS THAT THERE'S WHERE YOU'RE PERFORMING AND THEN THERE'S WHERE YOU'RE TRYING TO GO, THE STRETCH GOALS OR THE IDEAL GOALS.
AND SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN IS WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT TO KNOW ARE ON YOU ON TRACK.
DO YOU NEED TO STRETCH MORE? YOU KNOW WHAT, SO THE FACT THAT YOU MIGHT DO A BUDGET ADJUSTMENT IS AN, IS AN IMPORTANT DETAIL, YOU KNOW, IF YOU'RE STUMBLING.
BUT WE, IT HAS TO BE CONTEXTUALIZED INTO THE BIGGER STRATEGY BECAUSE OTHERWISE IT JUST BECOMES A PROGRAM REVIEW.
AND THAT CAN BE DONE IN INTERN, THAT CAN BE DONE INTERNALLY.
SO I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE STARTING, WE'RE STRUGGLING WITH THE LEVEL OF CONVERSATION THAT SHOULD BE HAPPENING AT, AT THIS MEETING.
AND AGAIN, THE CON IT'S OUTTA CONTEXT.
SO WE DON'T KNOW THIS IS GREEN, BUT IN THE BROADER CONTEXT, IS IT GOING TO YELLOW? THAT'S YOUR QUESTION.
ARE WE HEADED INTO A, A TOUGH ZONE? YEAH.
AND I THINK, AND, AND IF, AND JP YOU CAN JUMP IN HERE IN A SECOND HERE, BUT JUST, I THINK THE GOAL FOR THIS COMMITTEE AROUND THE STRATEGIC, AROUND THE PROJECTS THAT ARE GONNA BE DISCUSSED HAS TO BE AT THAT HIGHER LEVEL THAT YOU'RE DESCRIBING IN TERMS OF BROAD RISKS.
WHAT ARE THE, WHAT ARE THOSE RISKS? ARE THEY GOING TO BE SCOPE AND RESOURCES? ARE THEY GOING TO BE THE TECHNOLOGY CHALLENGE THEMSELVES? IS IT GONNA BE SUPPLIER RISK? ARE, YOU KNOW, WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT ARE, THAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IN ORDER TO ANTICIPATE AND LESS ABOUT PROJECT MANAGEMENT? YEAH.
SO IF YOU GO TO, LIKE, YOU LOOK ON THIS CHART YEAH.
AT AN OVERSIGHT LEVEL, MY QUESTION IS WHY IS, SORRY, I CAN'T, CAN YOU POP IT UP ON THE SCREEN? 'CAUSE MY VISION ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO SEE, UH, TO SEE WHAT THE WRITING IS THE BLUE ON THE BOTTOM, IS THAT A HIGH RISK SITUATION THAT YOU'RE ROLLING OFF? CAN YOU POP THE, UH, IS THERE A WAY TO PUT THE GRAPH ON THE SCREEN SO I CAN NO INTERNAL LABOR.
UM, SO WHEN I LOOK AT THIS GRAPH, WHAT I'M REALLY CONCERNED WITH IS YOU'RE GREEN RIGHT NOW, BUT WITH THOSE CHANGES IN RATIOS, IS THAT PUTTING YOU INTO STRESS SITUATION? NOW YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT IT'S OKAY, BUT WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT A YEAR, IS THAT, WHERE'S THE RISK? SO LINDA, IF I CAN ANSWER THAT QUESTION, RIGHT, IN YOUR, IN YOUR PROJECT LABOR HOURS, THIS, THIS IS NOT AVAILABLE LABOR HOURS, THIS IS COMMITTED TO A PROJECT LABOR HOURS.
NO, I UNDERSTAND THAT, BUT, BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT THE KIND OF CONVERSATION THAT WE SHOULD BE HAVING HERE IS ABOUT THE RISK THAT THAT'S PUTTING YOU IN VERSUS WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE, YOU'RE TODAY AT THE, AT, AT GREEN.
IT'S LIKE, UH, IS THAT ALL THE WAY? AND, AND I, I, WE ARE CONTINUOUSLY MONITORING THIS BECAUSE ACTUALS IS IN THE PAST AND FORECAST IS ABOUT THE FUTURE.
SO IF, IF WE ARE LOOKING INTO AN ISSUE, THEN THAT WOULD SHOW UP AS A RISK AND WE WOULD BE ACTIVELY MANAGING THAT, RIGHT? SO THAT'S WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.
BUT, OKAY, SO, UM, I'LL, I'LL TRY ONE MORE TIME AND THEN I'LL, I'LL GIVE BACK TO THE FLOOR.
YES, YOU HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL AND YOU HAVE PLANS FOR EVERYTHING, BUT THERE ARE RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE PLANS.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHAT PART, WHAT WE'RE REALLY TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IS WHAT IS, WHAT THE SIGNPOSTS ARE THAT YOU'RE ON TRACK OR THAT YOU MAY STUMBLE AND AS OPPOSED TO THE FACT THAT EVERYTHING IS GREEN TODAY.
SO THE QUESTION OF WHAT'S THE MOST YELLOW, LET ME PILE ON A BIT AND, AND ADD TO LINDA'S COMMENT.
SO, SO THIS, THIS DATA WOULD SAY THAT THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF RESOURCE YOU'VE EVER HAD IN THE COMPANY IS ABOUT 24,000, UH, LABOR HOURS.
AND YOUR FORECAST 23,000, AND YOU'RE FORECASTING YOU'RE GONNA NEED 24,000 COME JANUARY OF 24.
SO DOES THAT SOURCE, DO YOU HAVE A, A SOURCE FOR THAT LABOR? IT'S NOT COMING OUT OF CONTINGENT FROM WHAT I CAN TELL.
YOU KNOW, WHERE IS IT GONNA COME FROM? UM, IS THAT, IS THAT A RISK ITEM? AND DO YOU HAVE A PLAN FOR IT? I THINK THAT'S LINDA, DID I SAY THAT? THAT'S EXACTLY, YES.
YOU DID A BETTER ARTICULATION.
IN MOST OF THESE CASES, THERE ARE NAMED RESOURCES BEHIND THESE NUMBERS.
SO I DON'T SEE THAT AS AN ISSUE BASED ON THE LIST OF PROJECTS THAT WE ARE MANAGING RIGHT NOW.
SO YOU'RE CONFIDENT YOU CAN FIND ENOUGH LABOR TO HAVE TO STAFF THESE THINGS? YES, THAT'S CORRECT.
YEAH, I, I I THINK THAT, UH, FIRST OF ALL, I UNDERSTAND
[00:40:01]
WHAT YOU'RE REPORTING, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE ON TRACK, BUT YOU ALSO MENTIONED THAT THERE ARE CHANGES IN THE, SAY THE BASELINE SCOPE AND THEREFORE THERE'S A CHANGE IN THE BASELINE SCOPE.SO BASICALLY IN, IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, BASELINE SCOPE, YOU HAVE FORECASTS, YOU HAVE ACTUALS, AND THEN YOU HAVE, UM, HOW, YOU KNOW, PROCESS TO HOW YOU CHANGE YOUR BUDGETS.
SO I GUESS THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT, RIGHT? WHAT IS THE, THE BALANCE OF THAT PROCESS SO THAT YOU KNOW THAT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE THE RESOURCES AND SO ON.
SECOND, THE CHANGES IN, IN LOADS OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PERSONNEL, I GUESS ALSO HAVE TO DO WITH COMMISSIONING OF SYSTEMS, RIGHT? ONCE YOU GET DC FIVE DONE, I GUESS BLUE WILL DEPLETE TO SOME EXTENT, RIGHT? UM, BUT DOES THAT MEAN THAT YOU'RE GONNA GO DOWN TO 15,000 HOURS AND THEREFORE YOU ARE OVERSTAFFED? AGAIN, JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT YOU'RE PRESENTING THE INFORMATION IN A WAY THAT IS CONSISTENT WITH YOUR FORWARD-LOOKING PLAN, RIGHT? YOU HAVE A PEAK DEFINITELY OF 24,000 HOURS.
YOU HAVE, THAT'S 10, 15% OF YOUR STAFFING.
UM, HOW DO YOU MANAGE INTO THE FUTURE? AND HOW DO YOU AGAIN, REPORT ON PLANNING YOUR PLANNING PROCESS, FIRMING UP SCOPE, WHICH THEN BECOMES YOUR BASELINE SCOPE, THAT'S YOUR FIRST BUDGET AND SO ON, AND HOW YOU HAVE CHANGES THAT THEN AFFECT THAT AND HOW YOU MANAGED TO DWELL THAT.
I GUESS THAT'S ALL WE'RE ASKING.
THIS ALSO ASSUMES BY THE WAY, THAT ALL THIS LABOR IS FUNGIBLE, WHICH I'M GUESSING IT'S NOT.
I MEAN, THE SKILLS THAT YOU NEED TO DO, UH, TECH HEALTH AND BUILD INFRASTRUCTURE ARE NOT NECESSARILY PROGRAMMING SKILLS, WHEREAS SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN THESE OTHER CATEGORIES ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY PROGRAMMERS AND PROJECT MANAGERS.
SO, SO THERE, THERE, THERE'S A LITTLE MORE COMPLEXITY TO THIS THAN THIS SLIDE I THINK WOULD INDICATE YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, JOHN.
UH, AS I SAID, YOU KNOW, THOSE ARE THE NUMBERS WE ADDED UP BASED ON NAMED RESOURCES.
SO THE NAMED RESOURCES ASSIGNED TO THE, YOU KNOW, AREAS OF THE PROJECTS ARE SKILLSET BASED, OBVIOUSLY, RIGHT? YOU, YOU KNOW, ONE THING WE COULD DO IF YOU, IF YOU'RE INTERESTED, IS THAT WE COULD INCLUDE MAYBE IN AN APPENDIX OR SOMETHING, UH, PROBABLY IN EXECUTIVE SESSION MATERIAL, THE LIST OF 61 PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE AND THE STOPLIGHT ON EACH, AND MAYBE A ONE OR TWO SENTENCES ON EACH ONE OF THAT.
SO ACTUALLY WHAT THE CONVERSATION ISN'T SPECIFIC.
SO IT'S UNFORTUNATE YOU'RE THE FIRST ONE.
IT'S UNFORTUNATE, BUT FOR US, WHAT, WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE LEVEL OF CONVERSATION TO HAVE IN THIS BOARD MEETING.
OKAY? SO THIS IS NOT TRYING TO GET YOU TO CHANGE WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, IT'S THE LEVEL OF CONVERSATION WE SHOULD HAVE.
BUT I, I ACTUALLY DO THINK THOUGH THAT IF YOU GAVE US A VIEW OF THE 61 PROJECTS AND THE STAFFING ASSOCIATED WITH THEM AND, AND THE PROJECT HEALTH, IF YOU LIKE, AT A MORE GRANULAR LEVEL, THAT WOULD, THAT WOULD BE WELL USEFUL.
SO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR, BECAUSE I'M NOT A PROGRAM MANAGER.
I'M NOT AN EMPLOYEE COPTIC, AND HE SAID, PUT IT IN THE APPENDIX, AND I'M FINE WITH THAT.
I DON'T WANT TO REVIEW EVERY PROJECT, BUT I DO WANT TO LOOK AT THE RED ONES.
AND I, I WANT TO, I WANT TO UNDERSTAND IF THERE ARE MORE RED ONES THIS MONTH THAN THERE WERE LAST MONTH AND ALL, YOU KNOW, THAT LEVEL, I AGREE WITH THAT, THAT LEVEL WOULD AGREE, AGREE, AGREE WITH THAT, WITH, BUT WE'RE ASKING THEN FOR THE DIGESTION OF THAT AND THE ELEVATION OF THE RIGHT CONVERSATIONS FOR THIS PART.
AND YOU'RE RIGHT, GIANT, YOU'RE THE LUCKY FIRST PRESENTER WHO'S GETTING ON.
I LOOKED AGAIN AT THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AND THE ANSWER TO MY QUESTIONS IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION WHERE THERE'S SOME LINE, THERE'S MORE GRANULARITY, THE DC FIVE, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT ARE YELLOW.
SO MAYBE PART OF THIS IS THE SCOPE OF WHAT'S IN THE PUBLIC SESSION VERSUS THE EXECUTIVE SESSION AS WELL.
BUT I DO THINK, JUST COMING BACK TO ONE MORE POINT, I THINK PHILOSOPHICALLY WHAT WHAT WE WOULD LIKE YOU, OR WHAT I WOULD LIKE YOU TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS IS, UM, TO GIVE US A SLIGHTLY MORE RIGOROUS VIEW OF THE PROJECTS THEMSELVES AND A MORE OBJECTIVE VIEW, FRANKLY, OF THE PROJECT STATUS, EVEN FOR THE OKRS, THE, THE HIGHEST LEVEL ONES.
SO, SO AS A AS EXAMPLE, I, I, I WOULD STILL SAY R T C PLUS B COULD NEVER BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN YELLOW AT THIS STAGE IN ITS LIFE.
AND, AND CALLING IT GREEN, UH, JUST SORT OF DEFEATS THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE, THE WHOLE SIGNALING SYSTEM.
SO ANYWAY, THAT'S, THAT'S A PHILOSOPHICAL THING.
SO DO I DO HAVE A QUESTION FOR THE, FOR US TO DISCUSS IS THAT SINCE WE ARE DELEGATED BY THE BOARD TO COVER THE TECHNOLOGY AREA, THAT MEANS, AND THE PART OF THE REASON WHY WE FORMED THE COMMITTEES IS TO BE ABLE TO COVER MORE GROUND AT A, AT THE, THE BOARD SESSIONS.
[00:45:01]
IN HERE VERSUS HOW MUCH THEN GOES BACK TO THE, TO THE OVERALL OVERALL BALL BOARD? BECAUSE WE SHOULDN'T BE DUPLICATING NO, BUT WE DO HAVE TO REVIEW.UM, WELL, THE, THE INTENT IS THEY'RE NOT GONNA, WE'RE NOT GONNA DUPLICATE.
THE BOARD HAS ASKED US TO BE THEIR, YOU KNOW, VOICE AND, AND AND THEIR EYES AND EARS ON THIS STUFF.
AND WHAT I WILL TRY AND DO IN, IN MY SUMMARY FOR THE BOARD IS GIVE THE BOARD A SUFFICIENT LEVEL OF DETAIL ON WHAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT AND THINGS THAT IF THERE ARE THINGS THAT THEY SHOULD BE WORRIED ABOUT, MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE AWARE OF THEM.
BUT I'M CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO TRY AND DUPLICATE THE PRESENTATIONS OF THE PEOPLE THAT WE'RE GONNA HEAR FROM TODAY.
SO THEN I THAT, AND THAT'S LEADING ME TO JUST A PRACTICAL QUESTION, WHICH IS OF THE NUMBER OF HOURS THAT WE HAVE TO DO OUR REVIEWS IN THE COMMITTEE MEETING, UM, HOW MUCH DETAIL CAN WE REALLY GO INTO? SO IN OTHER WORDS, I AGREE WITH APPENDICES AND SUMMARIES, BUT HOW MUCH CAN WE REALLY COVER IN, IN THE MEETING AND KNOWING THAT IT'S NOT GONNA BE COVERED IN THE FULL BOARD MEETING.
AND SO I PUT THAT ON THE TABLE FOR US TO DISCUSS AS A, AS A COMMITTEE.
I THINK THIS TO BE DISCOVERED.
ONE POINT OF CLARIFICATION THAT I THINK WE NEED TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT AS WE COME BACK WITH MODIFIED MATERIALS AND CONTENT, THE STOPLIGHT YOU'RE SEEING ON THIS PARTICULAR REPORT IS ABOUT THE OKRS THAT WERE SPECIFICALLY DEFINED, AND WHETHER WE ARE MEETING THOSE OR NOT MEETING THOSE, IT'S NOT SO MUCH ABOUT THE PROJECT STOPLIGHT ITSELF, IT'S THE SPECIFIC KEY RESULTS THAT WERE, UM, WERE DEFINED AND THE MILESTONES WE'RE MEETING THERE.
SO I THINK WHAT WE'RE HEARING TODAY IS, OKAY, THAT'S FINE
SO I DID WANNA CALL THAT DISTINCTION OUT, BUT I STILL THINK THE FEEDBACK IS, IS, UM, UNDERSTOOD IN TERMS OF WHAT YOU GUYS, AND, AND AGAIN, I, I THINK HONESTLY THIS COMMITTEE IS, IS LESS CON O O K R BEING AN INTERNAL MEASUREMENT THAT'S USED FOR COMPENSATION IS A, IT'S A VERY IMPORTANT MEASUREMENT TO BE SURE, BUT I THINK IT'S LESS THE CONCERN OF THIS COMMITTEE THAN THE ACTUAL STATUS OF THE PROJECT AS OPPOSED TO, YOU KNOW, WHERE, WHERE IT HAPPENS TO SIT IN OUR MEASUREMENT SYSTEM.
SO, SO MAYBE THAT MEANS THAT WE DON'T NEED TO OR SHOULDN'T REVIEW O K R PROJECTS.
WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD TRY AND FIND A SUBSET OF CRITICAL PROJECTS MM-HMM.
DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? WE'LL HAVE TO, IT, IT DOES.
WE'LL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT WHAT THAT MEANS.
'CAUSE I KNOW THIS IS A CONVENIENT SHORTHAND FOR, YOU KNOW, IMPORTANT PROJECTS, BUT IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH, UM, YOU, WE COULD PUT SOMETHING IN AN APPENDIX OR SOME, WELL NO, MAYBE IT'S FIVE PAGES OF THE 61 PROJECTS, BUT YOU COULD GIVE US SOME GUIDANCE IN TERMS OF WHICH ONES YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS AND SO ON.
AND WE CAN KEEP COMING BACK WITH THOSE.
AND AS JULIE POINTS OUT, THERE IS MORE OF THIS IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION DETAIL.
UM, BUT NEVERTHELESS, I THINK, I THINK JUST THINKING ABOUT WHAT WE REVIEW AT A HIGH LEVEL HERE, WE, WE NEED TO RETHINK A LITTLE BIT, WHAT WHAT'S THE HEADLINES? YEAH.
WHAT ARE THE HEADLINE PROJECTS? OKAY.
[5.2 Information Technology Update]
IS GOING TO BE, LET ME SEE HERE.LEMME FIND OUT WHERE THE HELL I AM.
SOMETIMES IT'S HARD TO BE THE SECOND PERSON BECAUSE YOU GUYS ARE ALL PRIMED UP.
I GO BY JP, THE C I O AT, UH,
SO TODAY IN THIS COMMITTEE, WE WILL PICK UP ON THE IT UPDATES THAT GOT MOVED FROM R AND M AND, UM, ALONG THE LINES THAT YOU WERE THINKING MAYBE YOU GUYS NEED TO EVALUATE, IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT TO DO OR DO YOU WANNA DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT? BUT AT THIS POINT, THIS IS WHAT WE MOVED FROM R AND M.
SO WHAT WE PLAN TO DO HERE IS GIVE AN UPDATE TO THE COMMITTEE ON WHAT WENT AND RELEASED SINCE THE LAST BOARD MEETING, AND ALSO GIVE AN INDICATION OF WHAT'S COMING UNTIL THE NEXT BOARD MEETING.
AND I'LL ALSO USE THIS FORUM TO UPDATE THE BOARD ON ANY MAJOR, UH, IT INITIATIVES THAT WERE ACCOMPLISHED DURING THIS PERIOD.
SO LET ME START WITH, UH, OUR RELEASE.
UH, WE UPGRADED OUR CONFIGURATION MANAGEMENT DATABASE,
[00:50:01]
WHICH IS REALLY A BLUEPRINT OF ALL OUR SYSTEMS AT ERCOT.AND WE DID THIS, UH, TECHNICAL HEALTH SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO BE SUPPORTED FROM A PATCHING AND SECURITY PERSPECTIVE.
WE ALSO IMPLEMENTED A REFACTORING OF THE CREDIT MONITORING AND MANAGEMENT C M M C S I SYSTEM.
UM, AS A RESULT, WE HAVE BETTER PERFORMANCE AND AS WELL AS IT'S MUCH MORE EASIER TO MAINTAIN THAN WHAT IT WAS BEFORE.
WE ALSO IMPLEMENTED, UH, BOARD APPROVED, UH, N P R R.
UH, IN ADDITION TO THESE PLANNED RELEASES, WE ALSO HAVE WHAT WE CALL OFF-CYCLE RELEASES.
UM, AND THE TWO OFF-CYCLE RELEASES, UH, WERE ALONG THE TECH HEALTH FOR OUR DYNAMICS SECURITY ASSESSMENT AS WELL AS OUR P M U A FASSAL MEASUREMENT UNIT MONITORING SYSTEM.
NOW, THESE OFF CYCLES EXIST BECAUSE THEY DON'T FIT IN INTO THE REGULAR RELEASE CADENCE, AND THEY PERHAPS SOMETIMES LIKE THE E M S, IT'S BIG ENOUGH THAT IT NEEDS ITS OWN RELEASE.
UM, BUT THAT BEING SAID, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO NEXT YEAR IS INCREASE THE NUMBER OF PLANNED RELEASES FROM THE SIX THAT WE'VE BEEN RUNNING SO FAR.
WE ARE GOING TO ALMOST DOUBLE IT SO THAT WE CAN TRY TO FIT MORE AND MORE OF THESE, WHAT WE CALL OFF CYCLE INTO THE PLANNED RELEASES.
SO, JUST A HEADS, SINCE I'M TALKING ABOUT THAT, UM, FROM AN UPCOMING RELEASE PERSPECTIVE, WE HAVE, UM, UM, CHANGES IN THE RETAIL AS WELL AS A FEW NPRS THAT ARE COMING.
THE BIG ONE, OF COURSE, IS THE E M S UPGRADE THAT, UM, AS OF NOW IS PLANNED FOR E EM, UH, FOUR 16TH.
UM, I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT IN THE NEXT SLIDE AS WELL.
THE I S M DATABASE, THE INFORMA INFORMATION SERVICES MASTER IS OUR LARGEST DATABASE IN OUR SYSTEM, AND THAT IS GETTING UPGRADED AND THAT WILL HAVE A MARKET OUTAGE, AND WE ARE GONNA SEND A NOTICE OUT ON THAT, UM, AS IN THE REPORTS WON'T BE AVAILABLE UNTIL THAT UPGRADE IS COMPLETE.
SO, UH, A COUPLE OF HEARTS OF OUTAGE.
UM, BUT THAT'S THE BIGGEST THINGS GOING ON, UH, IN THE UPCOMING RELEASE.
WE ALSO HAVE COUPLE OF, NOT ONLY THESE SLIDES, UH, PLANNED, UM, DASHBOARD RELEASES, UM, AND WE EXPECTED TO DO THAT.
IT WAS TOUCH AND GO BORDER LINES, SO I DIDN'T PUT IT ON ON THE SLIDES, BUT, UM, WE EXPECT TO HAVE SOMETHING RELATED TO STORAGE ON THE DASHBOARD AND WE'LL SEE IF WE CAN ALSO TRY TO FIT IN, UH, DASHBOARD RELATED OUTAGE IN THIS WINDOW.
SORRY, JP BY DASHBOARD, DO YOU MEAN SOMETHING THAT'S AVAILABLE TO THE OPERATORS FOR THE PUBLIC? YEAH, THE, FOR THE PUBLIC.
UM, JAN DID TALK ABOUT THE E M SS UPGRADE IN FAIRLY GOOD DETAILS.
UM, WHAT I WOULD ADD IS THAT IT WENT SO WELL THAT WE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED JUST STAYING ON THAT SYSTEM.
AND THAT IS A GREAT SIGN, RIGHT? AND, UM, THIS ALSO MEANS THAT, YOU KNOW, WHILE OUR PLANNED GO LIVE IS NOVEMBER 16, BUT WE WILL LOOK AT TRYING TO GO EARLIER AS EARLY AS PROBABLY NOVEMBER, BECAUSE THE SOONER WE CAN GO LIVE, THE SOONER WE CAN REMOVE THE E M S FREEZE THAT WE HAVE PUT ON THE SYSTEM.
SO, SO WE WILL LOOK AT THAT, UM, AND, AND ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THAT'S WHAT IT'LL BE.
SO JUST, UH, JUST SOME MORE BULLET POINTS ON TOP OF WHAT JAY ADDED.
CAN I ADD SOMETHING THERE? JP JUST SAID, UH, WHEN, WHEN YOU'RE DOING A BIG PROJECT UPGRADE LIKE THIS, YOU HAVE TO END UP FREEZING.
I MEAN, E M SS IS THE CORE OF EVERYTHING WE DO.
EVERYTHING TALKS TO THE E M S, AND SO THEY'VE HAD TO FREEZE A LOT OF NEW CODE AND NEW PROJECTS UNTIL THEY GET THE, THE BASE STABLE.
UM, AND, AND THAT'S PART OF THE REASON THAT WE'VE HAD A REDUCE NUMBER OF DELIVERABLES THIS YEAR, I THINK.
SO WHAT J'S TALKING ABOUT IS REALLY GETTING BACK TO A MORE NORMAL SET OF OPERATIONS WHERE YOU CAN PUT NEW CODE INTO THE SYSTEM AND REMEMBER THAT EVERY N P R R ULTIMATELY RESULTS IN EITHER RULE CHANGES OR NEW CODE OR SOMETHING.
AND JUST TO ADD ONE MORE THING IS WITH THE E M S, WE ARE KEEPING TWO SYSTEMS IN PARALLEL, RIGHT? SO THERE IS COMES A POINT WHERE WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO CUT BACK IF THERE'S A PROBLEM.
SO REALLY ANY CHANGE IS GOING INTO TWO SYSTEMS. SO AT SOME POINT YOU HAVE TO SAY, OKAY, SLOW DOWN.
WE CAN'T DO TWICE THE AMOUNT OF WORK.
SO HENCE THE FREEZE SINCE, AND WE'VE BEEN HAVING IN THIS FREEZE MODE SINCE JULY.
SO I'LL BE HAPPY TO GET RID OF THAT.
UM, SO SOME OF THE IT ACHIEVEMENTS, AND I THINK PABLO TALKED ABOUT THIS, HE ALLUDED TO THIS AND I TALKED A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, IN DETAIL.
UM, AS YOU'RE AWARE, WE SUBMITTED ALL THE SIMULATION STUDIES FOR THE RELIABILITY SUPPORTED
[00:55:01]
RELIABILITY STANDARDS TO THE P U C LAST MONTH.AND WHEN CHRISTIE'S TEAM STARTED THIS WORK, WE HAD ABOUT TWO WEEKS TO GET THIS DATA READY, UH, TO MEET THE TIMELINE SO THAT THE PEOPLE HAD THE TIME TO ANALYZE IT AND CREATE THE PRESENTATIONS AS NEEDED FOR THE P U C.
AND THE TEAM CURRENTLY DOES THIS ON DESKTOP MACHINES.
BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THEY, THEY HAVE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF LOAD AND THEY MANAGE THAT LOAD WITH MACHINES ON THE DESKTOP.
SO OBVIOUSLY THE LINEAR THINKING IS LET'S GET MORE DESKTOPS, RIGHT? BUT THE VOLUME OF WORK IS SO MUCH THAT IT'S, THAT IS NOT EXACTLY FEASIBLE.
OKAY? WE WOULDN'T HAVE, IT'LL BE A LARGE NUMBER OF DESKTOPS.
WE WOULDN'T EVEN MANAGE TO GET IT IN TIME IN THE TIMESCALE THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
SO NEXT, WE CONSIDERED AS OPTION CAN WE USE OUR EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE? AND AGAIN, THE LOAD WAS SO MUCH, WE'LL HAVE TO MOVE THINGS AROUND.
AND THE EASIEST OUTCOME WAS, AND PABLO PUSHED US TO THIS, THANKS TO PABLO FOR BRINGING THIS BUSINESS CASE TO US, WAS TO WHY NOT USE THE CLOUD FOR THIS? AND, AND THAT'S THE PATH WE WENT TO.
AND THIS IS REALLY THE FIRST TIME THAT WE USE CLOUD FOR A BUSINESS APPLICATION.
UM, HERE WE WERE ABLE TO ACQUIRE ABOUT 8,000 CORES AND RUN ALL OF THESE SIMULATIONS IN PARALLEL.
AND SO IT IS A MAYBE A THREE OR FOUR DAYS OF LEARNING CURVE FOR US, US AS WELL AS THE BUSINESS FOLKS INVOLVED IN THERE TO SAY HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM AND ALL THAT.
BUT ULTIMATELY, ONCE WE SET IT UP, THAT WHOLE THING RAN IN ONE DAY.
UM, AND SO, WHICH MEANS THAT YOU HAD THE POSSIBILITY OF RERUNNING IT, IF SOMETHING WENT WRONG, ALL THAT WAS AN OPTION.
SO WE HAVE A FEW LESSONS LEARNED THAT WE, UM, WHILE LISTING FROM THIS EXERCISE.
SO WE, WE DIDN'T RUN THIS AS A TYPICAL PROJECT.
WHEN WE RUN THIS AS A TYPICAL PROJECT, USUALLY THE GOVERNANCE, EVERYTHING GETS BUILT IN THE PROJECT.
UM, AND, AND IT'S IMPLEMENTED DIFFERENTLY.
ALL THOSE LOWER, BUT IT COMES, THERE'S A REASON WHY IT'S SLOWER.
WE DID THIS S O AND M VERY FAST, BUT NOW WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND MAKE SURE THAT WE COME BACK AND IMPLEMENT THE GOVERNANCE THAT'S NEEDED AND ALL THAT.
SO THAT'S, THAT'S, UM, UH, SOMETHING TO GO MORE ON THAT.
BUT OVERALL, GREAT SUCCESS FOR THE TEAM AND, UM, UM, I THINK EVERYONE'S HAPPY ALL AROUND.
HOW MANY, HOW MANY SERVERS WOULD YOU HAVE TO HAVE SET UP TO PROVIDE THE SAME INFRASTRUCTURE? I DON'T KNOW.
IN TERMS OF SERVER, I, I THINK ACTUALLY IF, YOU KNOW, WE CAN ANSWER THAT, BUT, UM, BUT WE HAD 8,000 CODES.
WE, WE, WE CONNECTED CORES PER SERVER.
UM, I THINK THE SERVERS HAD, UM, 1,802, YEAH, 200 PLUS CORES.
THERE WERE SOME HEAVY DUTY SERVERS.
THEY WERE, THEY WERE BIG ONES.
THERE WERE SOME MASSIVE SERVERS THAT WE HAD TO ACQUIRE 50, 50 TO A HUNDRED MACHINES KIND OF SIZE.
IT WOULD AND AND THE TIME IT WOULD'VE TAKEN TO SET THAT UP WOULD'VE BEEN VERY SUBSTANTIAL.
BUT WE, YOU KNOW, OUR TEAM HAD BEEN LEARNING THIS, SO, SO, YOU KNOW, NO.
IF, IF, IF WE HAD SET THAT UP IN OUR OWN DATA CENTERS YES, OF COURSE, OF COURSE.
THAT WE, WE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD THIS CAPACITY AND WE WOULD'VE TO TRY TO ACQUIRE THEM OR MOVE THINGS AROUND AND, AND WE WOULD'VE LOST TIME.
SO, UM, SO, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER THING THAT COMES FROM NOT DOING IT AS A PROJECT IS NOW WE HAVE AN UNBUDGETED COST.
SO, BUT I WOULD SAY MONEY WELL SPENT.
UM, LASTLY, I'M THIS, MY LAST SLIDE, I WANNA TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE DIGITALIZATION INITIATIVES THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
SO WE'VE BEEN IDENTIFYING PROCESSES WHERE TRADITIONALLY WE USE A LOT OF EMAILS FROM PUBLIC TO RESPOND, OR, YOU KNOW, SOMEBODY ASKS US A QUESTION OR WE ARE SOLICITING INFORMATION FROM EMAIL.
UM, AND WE ARE TRYING TO DIGITALIZE THAT.
NOW, I, I HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE TO PRESENT SOMETHING HERE THAT, UH, RELATES TO THE MEMBERSHIP FOR ERCOT.
AND TYPICALLY THIS IS, YOU KNOW, OUR LEGAL FOLKS HAVE A LOT OF BURDEN IN THIS WHERE THEY HAVE TO GET A LOT OF EMAILS AND MANAGE THIS.
AND NOW WE HAVE A SYSTEM WHERE THE, WHERE A MARKET PARTICIPANT OR, OR ANY, SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO BE A MEMBER CAN USE AN ONLINE PROCESS.
AND IT'S, AND IT'S AUTOMATED IN THAT SENSE.
UM, AND THIS JUST WENT LIVE, UM, THIS MONTH AND OUR LEGAL TEAM IS USING THAT, BUT I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THAT.
THE PUBLIC FACING SYSTEM WENT LIVE IN APRIL AND SINCE THEN WE HAD ABOUT A THOUSAND USERS IN PUBLIC USING THIS SYSTEM WITH A LOT OF REQUESTS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY TRACK NOW AS TO WHAT ARE, WHAT IS A TURNAROUND, IS IT, IS IT STUCK, AND ALL THAT.
SO I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THAT AS WELL.
LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ME CHANGE SOME OF THESE THINGS FOR THE FUTURE.
[01:00:01]
SECURITY.YEAH, JUST, JUST ONE QUESTION IN TERMS OF THAT GOVERNANCE FOR THE CLOUD, UH, INTRODUCING MORE CLOUD SERVICE INTO ERCOT, WHAT SORTS OF STEPS WOULD YOU NEED TO, TO TAKE? SORRY, I, I DIDN'T FULLY GET YOUR QUESTION, CARLOS.
SO TO, TO USE MORE CLOUD RESOURCES, WHAT CHANGES IS IT THAT YOU WOULD HAVE TO MAKE, UH, WITHIN AIR COTT? OH, SO, SO ONE IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT YOU WANNA TRY TO DO IS OBVIOUSLY ON THE IT SIDE, USING THE CLOUD IS INTUITIVE AND WE CAN DO THAT, RIGHT? WHAT YOU WANT TO TRY TO DO, WHAT I'M TRYING TO PUSH FOR IS DO A LOT OF BUSINESS CASES, RIGHT? AND WE ARE, WE ALSO HAVE A PROJECT, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF PROJECTS NOW IN THIS SPACE.
ONE IS, UH, THE WHOLE PLANNING IN THE CLOUD, WHICH IS A MORE EASIER PIECE, RIGHT? SO WE, WE HAVE STARTED INITIATIVE ON THAT.
AND THE SECOND IS A PROJECT THAT WE'RE GOING TO TALK ABOUT WHEN WE DO ALL THESE PROJECTS IN THE CLOUD.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN FROM A GOVERNANCE PERSPECTIVE? SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST THING I HAVE, THE REASON WHY I CAN'T EMBRACE CLOUD SO EASILY IS SOME OF OUR SIP RULES AROUND B C S I, WHERE IT SAYS, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T PUT CERTAIN INFORMATION ON THE CLOUD.
OKAY? SO I HAVE TO BE VERY CONSCIOUS OF THAT SO THAT I DON'T GET DINGED AS A COMPLIANCE THING LATER.
UM, OR WHAT KIND OF DATA OR IF IT IS IN THE CLOUD, THESE ARE THE KIND OF PROTECTIONS THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE AROUND IT.
UM, AND, AND YOU KNOW, FROM YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE WITH EMAIL, FOR EXAMPLE, HOW HARD IT WAS TO GET EMAIL BECAUSE IT WAS RUNNING ON THE CLOUD AND, AND JUST BECAUSE OUR EMAIL'S ON THE CLOUD, WE HAVE ALL THIS LAYERS OF PROTECTION THAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT THAN ANY OTHER EMAIL THAT YOU USE, RIGHT? AND SO, SO YOU KIND OF EXPERIENCE THAT PAIN.
SO THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF, UM, THE GOVERNANCE THAT COMES IN AND THEN YES, IT'S A LITTLE LESS USER FRIENDLY, BUT THERE'S A REASON FOR THAT WITH ALL THE PROTECTION THAT WE ARE TRYING TO BUILD AROUND IT.
CARLOS, I THINK YOU'RE RAISING IS ANOTHER IMPORTANT QUESTION, WHICH WAS SORT OF ON MY LIST OF STRATEGIC THINGS THAT WE SHOULD BE THINKING ABOUT LONG TERM, WHICH IS, YOU KNOW, WHAT SHOULD OUR APPROACH TO THE CLOUD BE? SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO RUN BASICALLY IN OUR OWN DATA CENTERS? SHOULD WE HAVE A, HAVE A HYBRID CLOUD APPROACH, WHICH MEANS WE SORT OF SHARE BETWEEN THE CLOUD AND THE DATA CENTER? OR SHOULD WE LOOK TO HAVE A FULL CLOUD, FULL PUBLIC CLOUD? AND, AND THERE ARE SECURITY AND GOVERNANCE IMPLICATIONS ON ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS, UM, THAT I THINK WE SHOULD, WE SHOULD ASK THE TEAM TO COME BACK TO US WITH SORT OF A VIEW OF WHAT, WHAT SHOULD OUR APPROACH BE, MAYBE IN THE MEDIUM AND LONGER TERM? YEAH, AND I THINK IT'D BE HELPFUL, I THINK WE CAN SEGMENT THE KIND OF THE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS THAT ERCOT OPERATES INTO POTENTIAL PATHWAYS FOR CLOUD EVOLUTION, RIGHT? AND TALK ABOUT THE RISKS AND ISSUES WITH EACH OF THOSE PLATFORMS. THAT'S RIGHT.
I MEAN, THERE'S A DIFFERENT, UH, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE USING THE CLOUD TODAY FOR SOME, FOR PERSONAL PRODUCTIVITY KINDS OF THINGS, RIGHT? YOU KNOW, THIS, THIS EXAMPLE WE SAW WAS, WAS FOR MODELING KIND OF APPLICATIONS.
UM, THERE'S A DIFFERENT ISSUE IF YOU WANTED TO END UP RUNNING THE E M S IN THE CLOUD.
FOR EXAMPLE, I'D LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THE COMPETITION IS DOING AND IF CERTAIN SUPPLIERS ARE MORE SECURE AND DOMESTICALLY LOCATED, FOR EXAMPLE.
AND CERTAINLY AS WE LOOK AT MORE AI AND ML KIND OF THINGS, THOSE ARE ALL TEND TO BE CLOUD THINGS.
ANOTHER TOPIC WE LOOKED AT IS, YOU KNOW, IF OUR, IF IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO OUR INFRASTRUCTURE, SHOULD WE HAVE SOMETHING ON THE CLOUD THAT'S, UH, MORE, AT LEAST YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT'S RUNNING.
SO THOSE ARE ALL THINGS THAT WE CAN TALK ABOUT, FAIL OVER INTO THE CLOUD IF WE NEEDED TO.
BUT YOU HAVE TO SET ALL THAT UP IN ADVANCE.
IT'S NOT SOMETHING YOU, OKAY, THANK YOU.
[5.3 Security Update]
NEXT UP IS BETTY TO GIVE US A SECURITY UPDATE.UM, AND, AND BETTY, I THINK IS GONNA GIVE US A FAIRLY HIGH LEVEL UPDATE HERE AND A MORE DETAILED UPDATE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION GIVEN THE, THE HIGH LEVEL OF SENSITIVITY ON THIS SUBJECT.
WE ALWAYS WILL HAVE A SECURITY ITEM IN PUBLIC SESSION, BUT, UM, MOST OF SECURITY DISCUSSIONS WILL OCCUR IN EXECUTIVE SESSION JUST DUE TO THE SENSITIVE NATURE OF THE, THE SUBJECT.
BUT I DO HAVE A TOPIC TODAY THAT I CAN DISCUSS, UM, IN PUBLIC SESSION.
AND THAT IS GRID X SEVEN, WHICH IS, UM, COMING UP AND NO ACTION IS NECESSARY FROM THIS COMMITTEE OR FROM THE BOARD.
SO EVERY TWO YEARS, NERC, UM, EISAC THE ELECTRIC ELECTRICITY INFORMATION SHARING AND ANALYSIS CENTER, THEY COORDINATE A GRID SECURITY AND RE RESILIENCY EXERCISE THAT'S OCCURRING THIS YEAR
[01:05:01]
IN NOVEMBER.IT IS THE LARGEST, UH, GRID SECURITY EXERCISE IN NORTH AMERICA.
THE OUTCOMES AND LESSONS LEARNED HELP MAKE THE GRID MORE RESILIENT THIS YEAR.
WE WILL BE PARTICIPATING ON THE 14TH, UM, WITH TABLETOP EXERCISES THAT WILL ALIGN WITH SOME OF THE, THE EXERCISES THAT ARE HAPPENING AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL, BUT ALSO SOME THAT ARE VERY MUCH TAILORED TO THE ERCOT INTERCONNECT.
UM, AS I SAID, THIS IS TABLETOP EXERCISES.
WE'LL HAVE PARTICIPATION WITH A VARIETY OF OF FOLKS.
BOARD MEMBERS ARE WELCOME TO OBSERVE, UM, AND, UH, WE'RE BE REPORTING BACK AT FUTURE BOARD MEETINGS ON LESSONS LEARNED AND ACTIONS THAT CAN BE TAKEN FROM GRID X.
SO WITH THAT, UH, ANY QUESTIONS ON GRID X? ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE GONNA BE THE FIRST ONE UP IN EXECUTIVE SESSION, SO, GREAT.
[6. Future Agenda Items]
TALK VERY BRIEFLY ABOUT FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? WE'VE ALREADY DEFINED A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT WE WANT TO SEE IN THE FUTURE AGENDA, AND SO I THINK GOES, GOES WITHOUT SAYING THAT.WE'LL, WE'LL THIS WILL BE AN AREA OF, UH, FUTURE DEVELOPMENT.
UH, AND WHAT, WHAT, UH, WHAT I'LL TRY AND DO WITH JP IS, IS SORT OF FLESH THIS OUT A LITTLE BIT MORE GIVEN OUR CONVERSATION TODAY AND THEN, AND THEN COME BACK TO YOU WITH, WITH SOMETHING THAT WILL BE A LITTLE BIT OF A ROADMAP WHERE WE CAN THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, A STRUCTURED WAY OF LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES OVER TIME.
SO I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD HERE, UM, BUT I WILL BE WORKING WITH JOHN, AS I SAID, AND PLEASE GIVE YOU FEEDBACK TO JOHN SO THAT UM, UM, WE CAN UPDATE THIS BASED ON WHAT YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE IN FUTURE MEETINGS.
AND I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ADD, THIS IS A TWO-WAY STREET.
I MEAN, WE HAVE EXTERNAL INDEPENDENT DIRECTORS FROM DIFFERENT, UH, INDUSTRIES AND BACKGROUNDS, AND IF THERE'S SOMETHING SPECIFIC YOU WANT INPUT ON, YOU KNOW, LET'S MAKE THAT A CONVERSATION.
THERE'S ALWAYS AN ALWAYS GONNA BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT.
SO I WANT TO JUST COMMENT AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRE-WORK THAT YOU'VE DONE BECAUSE LOOKING AT THE SCOPE, THE LEVEL OF CONVERSATION, AND THEN THE CALENDAR, WHAT WE HAVE ARE THE THREE VARIABLES THAT'LL MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN GET THE WORK DONE IN THE TIME ALLOCATED.
AND WE'RE AT THE, AND THAT WE'RE AT THE RIGHT LEVEL.
I THINK WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO, THERE'S, THERE'S MORE, MORE STUFF THAT WE ARE GONNA WANNA LOOK AT THAN WE CAN PROBABLY FIT INTO A THREE OR FOUR HOUR MEETING, BUT NEVERTHELESS, WE'LL DO OUR BEST TO PRIORITIZE IT
UM, I THINK THAT IS THE END OF THE, UH, PUBLIC SESSION.
THERE ARE NOT, WE'RE GONNA TRANSITION TO THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
THERE ARE NOT GONNA BE ANY VOTING ITEMS IN THE, UM, EXECUTIVE SESSION.
SO THE GENERAL SESSION WILL NOT RECONVENE AT THE CON AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS.
UM, JOHN, UNLESS I'VE MISSED ANYTHING, UM, I'M GONNA DECLARE A 10 MINUTE BREAK AS WE TRANSITION THE SYSTEMS AND GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.
[7. Other Business]
UM, JUST REAL QUICK, THE ONLY OTHER OTHER THING ON THE AGENDA WAS OTHER BUSINESS AGENDA ITEM SEVEN, BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE NO ONE HAS ANY OTHER BUSINESS TO TALK ABOUT.SO ASSUMING THAT THAT IS THE CASE, THEN YOU'RE ALL SET.
I, I, I TOOK THE COMMENTS FROM THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE TO BE THE OTHER BUSINESS.
I SHOULD HAVE NOMIN, UH, ACTUALLY SAID THAT THAT WAS A CATEGORY.
I'M SURE THEY WOULD'VE CHIMED IN IF THEY HAD SOMETHING.
[Convene Executive Session]
10 MINUTE BREAK.UH, WE'LL COME BACK AND GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION.