[00:00:01]
NICE.[1. Call General Session to Order]
GOOD MORNING EVERYONE.I'M GONNA CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER.
UM, WE HAVE A COUPLE OF ATTENDEES WHO ARE COMING A LITTLE LATE, BUT WE'LL GET THE, WE'LL GET GOING AND WE'LL GET THE ADMINISTRATIVE STUFF OUTTA THE WAY.
UM, FIRST OF ALL, I'D LIKE TO WELCOME YOU TO THE DECEMBER 2ND MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE, MEETING COMMITTEE, UM, KOT.
UM, WE HAVE A PUC OPEN MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT, MAYBE? YES, MAYBE YES.
YOU NEED THREE? SO, NO, WE'RE GOOD.
OH, IS HE, YOU DO HAVE JIMMY ONLINE IF YOU WANT TO DO THAT.
THIS MEETING OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION WILL COME TO ORDER TO CONSIDER MATTERS THAT HAVE BEEN DULY POSTED WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DECEMBER 2ND, 2024.
UM, A REMINDER ABOUT THE ANTITRUST ADMONITION IN FRONT OF YOU, AND WITH THAT, UM, OH, AND, AND, AND FURTHERMORE, JUST A, A POINT ABOUT, UH, NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT.
I HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY NOTICES THAT THE PUBLIC WANTS TO COMMENT.
SHAUNA, HAVE YOU HEARD ANYTHING? LEMME JUST CHECK THE INBOX.
[3. October 9, 2024 General Session Meeting Minutes]
LET'S START WITH THE MINUTES FROM OCTOBER 9TH.CAN I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED.
SECOND? YES, I HAVE TO SECOND
UM, DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO ITEM, UM,
[4. Annual Committee Self-Evaluation Survey]
TWO IN THE, IN THE BOARD BOOK, UM, THE ANNUAL COMMITTEE, SELF-EVALUATION COMMITTEE REPORTS.UM, I, I'M NOT GONNA GO THROUGH THESE.
I ASSUME YOU'VE LOOKED AT THEM.
I WOULD SAY THEY ARE GENERALLY STRONG.
UM, THE LOWEST THAT I SAW WAS A FOUR OUT OF FIVE.
UH, HIGHEST WAS A FIVE OUT OF FIVE.
UH, AND THE REST OF THEM WERE IN THAT RANGE.
UM, THE FOUR OUT OF FIVE WAS TIMELY RESOLUTION OF ISSUES.
UM, SO SOMETHING I THINK THAT OUR MEMBERS ARE SAYING WE NEED TO WORK ON MORE.
UM, WE HAD A COUPLE OF FOUR POINT THREES, UM, AND I THINK THE GENERAL CONSENSUS HERE WAS THAT THE COMMITTEE IS STILL EVOLVING IN ITS CHARTER.
UM, BUT WE'RE OFF TO A PRETTY GOOD START.
ANY, ANY COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS, JULIE? ANYTHING FROM YOU WITH THAT? UM, WE'LL MOVE ON TO, UM, THE MAIN EVENT, WHICH IS ITEM
[5.1 Nuclear Technologies Today & Tomorrow]
FIVE, EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES.AND, UM, I'M VERY PLEASED TO INTRODUCE JOE MILLER, UM, WHO'S OUR SPEAKER THIS MORNING FROM B-B-W-X-T.
JOE HAS A, A GREAT BACKGROUND FOR THIS, INCLUDING, UH, A STINT IN THE MILITARY ON NUCLEAR SUBMARINES, AND MORE RECENTLY, UH, SOME TIME, UH, IN, UP NORTH AT, UH, AT ONE OF OUR BIG CHIP FOUNDRIES HERE AND, AND, AND NOW AT BWXD, WHICH HE'LL TELL YOU, UH, A LOT ABOUT.
AND I APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT NUCLEAR.
IT IS MY FAVORITE TOPIC, AND, UH, LIKE JOHN MENTIONED, I DID LIVE IN TEXAS IN HU FOR SIX YEARS, SO IT'S REALLY NICE TO BE BACK.
AND, UH, YEAH, LOOKING FORWARD, WE TOOK, WE TOOK THEM FOR BARBECUE.
AND, AND WHAT I PLAN TO TALK ABOUT TODAY ARE THE NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES THAT CURRENTLY EXIST, WHAT'S EMERGING AND, UH, REALLY WHAT THE FUTURE STATE OF NUCLEAR IS STARTING TO SHAPE UP TO BE FROM A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, FROM A NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE.
AND THEN TALKING MORE ABOUT WHAT THE INDIVIDUAL STATES, ESPECIALLY TEXAS, ARE DOING AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL.
SO I WELCOME QUESTIONS AS THEY, AS THEY COME THROUGH THE NORMAL PROCESS.
SO AT THE VERY HIGH LEVEL, THERE'S TWO TYPES OF, UH, NUCLEAR ENERGY THAT ARE BEING EXPLORED AND OPERATED.
NUCLEAR FUSION, WHICH IS THE COMBINATION OF ATOMS WHERE A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENERGY IS RELEASED.
THERE IS, UH, A LOT OF INVESTMENT THAT'S OCCURRING GLOBALLY IN NUCLEAR FUSION BECAUSE OF THE POTENTIAL THAT IT PROVIDES IN PROVIDING, UH, ELECTRICITY AND, AND OTHER THERMAL ENERGY ATTRIBUTES.
AND IT'S, IT'S HIGHLY R AND D RIGHT NOW, BUT THAT R AND D IS GETTING SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT.
BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ARE POURING IN, IN THE US AND GLOBALLY INTO NUCLEAR FUSION.
AND I EXPECT THAT TECHNOLOGY TO EMERGE IN THE FUTURE.
BUT THE REST OF MY PRESENTATION TODAY IS REALLY ABOUT NUCLEAR FISSION, WHERE YOU SPLIT ATOMS. THAT, THAT, UH, PROCESS OF SPLITTING ATOMS, UH, EXERTS AND, AND CREATES A LOT OF THERMAL ENERGY.
THAT THERMAL ENERGY IS USED TO TRANSFER TO STEAM GENERATORS.
[00:05:01]
USED TO TRANSFER TO THERMAL PROCESSES, AND IT'S WIDELY USED FOR PROPULSION.IT'S WIDELY USED FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.
SO THE THREE TYPES OF NUCLEAR FISSION REACTORS THAT ARE CURRENTLY, UH, EITHER IN DEVELOPMENT OR IN OPERATION, ARE THE LARGE LIGHT WATER COLD REACTORS.
AND SO THERE'S A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS IN WHICH LIGHT WATER COLD REACTORS ARE CREATED, BOTH FROM A BOILING WATER REACTOR STANDPOINT AND A PRESSURIZED WATER REACTOR.
TYPICALLY, THERE ARE ABOUT A THOUSAND MEGAWATTS AND, UH, THOSE PLANTS ARE BEING BUILT THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES OR THROUGHOUT THE, UH, THE WORLD.
AND A FEW JUST CAME ONLINE IN GEORGIA.
SO TWO, TWO GIGAWATTS OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY HAVE GONE ON THE GRID OR ARE IN THE PROCESS OF GOING ON THE GRID IN GEORGIA THROUGH THE VOCAL PROJECT.
SO THERE ARE 95 OPERATING UNITS IN THE UNITED STATES NOW, AND THEY ARE OWNED BY, UH, LARGE UTILITIES FOR ON GRID APPLICATIONS.
SMALL MODULAR REACTORS ARE AN EMERGING TECHNOLOGY THAT REALLY ARE, ARE USING THE BASICS AND THE, THE FOUNDATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND THE SUPPLY CHAIN AND OPERATIONS FROM THESE LARGE WATER COLD REACTORS.
AND TYPICALLY THEY RANGE, UH, BETWEEN 500 AND 300 MEGAWATTS ELECTRIC.
THERE ARE SOME SMRS THAT ARE DEPLOYED IN CHINA AND RUSSIA.
THERE IS AN SMR PROJECT IN CANADA THROUGH OPG.
AND WE EXPECT SMR PROJECTS TO KICK OFF HERE IN THE UNITED STATES VERY SHORTLY.
UH, FOR MICRO REACTS, TYPICALLY IT'S ONE TO 10 MEGAWATTS, BUT YOU SEE ONE TO 20 MEGAWATTS ELECTRIC THAT'S ON THE HIGH END, BUT IN THE LOW, THE LOW, UH, SINGLE DIGITS ALL THE WAY THROUGH 10 TO 15 MEGAWATTS IS TYPICALLY WHAT'S BEING CONCEIVED RIGHT NOW FOR MICRO REACTS.
AND SO THERE ARE SOME ATTRIBUTES OF MICRO REACTS THAT ARE VERY APPEALING.
THEY'RE FACTORY BUILT, THEY'RE TRANSPORTABLE, BUT YOU DON'T GET THE ECONOMY OF SCALE.
SO YOU HAVE TO REALLY PICK AND CHOOSE EACH ONE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES BASED ON THE ECONOMICS, BASED ON DEPLOYMENT SCHEMES, BASED ON, YOU KNOW, WHAT, WHAT TYPE OF, UH, OF, UH, GRID DISTRIBUTION ARE YOU LOOKING AT OR BEHIND THE METER DISTRIBUTION SUITS THE PURPOSE FOR, UH, FOR EACH ONE OF THESE SITES.
SO WHAT, WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS JUST A GRAPHIC TO SHOW THE OVERALL FOOTPRINT THAT'S REQUIRED FOR EACH ONE OF THESE REACTOR PLANTS.
SO, LIKE I MENTIONED, THERE ARE 95 OPERATING, UH, LARGE REACTORS IN THE UNITED STATES.
MOST OF THOSE REACTORS WERE BUILT IN THE LATE 1950S THROUGH THE EARLY 1980S.
AND, UM, THEY'RE CUSTOM BUILT.
SO THEY'RE STICK BUILD LARGE, BIG CAPITAL INDUSTRIAL PROJECTS, AND THEY YIELD, UH, DECADES AND DECADES OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY, TYPICALLY AT A GIGAWATT PER UNIT SCALE.
HOW A NUCLEAR REACTOR WORKS FOR A LIGHT WATER COLD REACTOR, YOU TYPICALLY HAVE A, UH, REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL, WHICH YOU'RE SEEING THERE ON THE LEFT.
THAT PRESSURE VESSEL IS WHERE ALL THE THERMAL ENERGY IS TRANSFERRED USING EITHER PRESSURIZED WATER OR BOILING WATER TO A STEAM GENERATOR.
AND SO THAT STEAM GENERATOR ON THE PRESSURIZED WATER SIDE WILL, UH, WILL TRANSFER THE THERMAL ENERGY TO A, UH, A COOLANT THAT DOES NOT ENTER INTO THE REACTOR.
THAT COOLANT WILL THEN GO THROUGH A STEAM TURBINE.
THAT STEAM TURBINE WILL CREATE ELECTRICITY OR PROPULSION IN SOME CASES, AND, UH, AND THEN WILL BE CONDENSED AND GOES BACK RIGHT INTO THE STEAM GENERATOR.
SEA WATER OR, OR, UM, EXCESS WATER FROM THE ENVIRONMENT WILL BE USED TO COOL THE CONDENSER.
SO YOU SEE ALMOST THREE CYCLES GOING THROUGH EACH ONE OF THESE PRESSURIZED WATER REACTORS.
VERY WELL-DEFINED, DEFINED, VERY WELL UNDERSTOOD PHYSICS PROCESS, THERMAL PROCESS TESTING, SAFETY BASIS.
AND, UH, ONCE AGAIN, THERE ARE MULTIPLE UNITS THAT ARE OUT THERE WITH A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DESIGNS THAT HAVE OPERATED SAFELY FOR DECADES IN THE UNITED STATES AND AND GLOBALLY.
AND, UH, LIGHTWATER REACTOR IS TYPICALLY USED BETWEEN THREE AND 5% WEIGHT OF URANIUM 2 35, MEANING THAT THE ENRICHMENT IS, IS LOW ENRICHED.
SO IT'S, UH, IT'S A PRETTY, UM, STREAMLINED ENRICHMENT PROCESS FROM MINING ALL THE WAY THROUGH ENRICHMENT TO, TO DEPLOYMENT OF NUCLEAR FUEL IN EACH ONE OF THESE REACTORS.
AND TYPICALLY, THEY GET REFUELED ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR, DEPENDING ON THE REACTOR TYPE, OR EXCUSE ME, ONCE A YEAR OR EVERY TWO YEARS, DEPENDING ON REACTOR TYPE.
MORE ON SMALL MODULAR REACTORS.
UH, ONCE AGAIN, THERE ARE, THERE ARE A VARIETY OF SMRS THAT ARE BEING, UH, DEVELOPED HERE IN THE UNITED STATES, CHINA, RUSSIA, AND A VARIETY OF OTHER COUNTRIES.
AND WE EXPECT TO SEE THESE SMRS ONLINE IN THE LATE 2020S, EARLY 2030S IN NORTH AMERICA.
THE FIRST DEPLOYMENT WILL LIKELY BE IN CANADA.
AND THAT DEPLOYMENT WILL ALLOW ESSENTIALLY LIKE A KICKSTART OF, OF SMR PROCESSING.
AND THE REASON WHY SMALL MODULE REACTORS ARE IMPORTANT IS THE, UH, THE SCALE OF THE INVESTMENT, THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT, THE SCALE OF THE REQUIRED TRADES AND ONSITE CONSTRUCTION SUPPLY CHAIN.
ALL OF THAT CAN BE, UH, REDUCED AS COMPARED TO A GIGAWATT SCALE PLANT.
YOU DON'T GET QUITE THE ECONOMY OF SCALE, BUT THEN YOU GET THE REPEATABILITY OF SMALL MODULE REACTORS.
SAME IS TRUE WHEN YOU GO DOWN TO MICRO REACTS FROM A FACTORY BUILT STANDPOINT.
[00:10:01]
IT'S ABOUT THE INVESTMENT.IT'S ABOUT THE, THE GRID CAPACITY THAT YOU'RE TRYING TO INCREASE WITH YOUR REACTOR TECHNOLOGY.
AND SMRS HAVE A VERY GOOD FIT IN A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS, ESPECIALLY IN NORTH AMERICA.
DIVERTING A LITTLE BIT FROM LIGHTWATER REACTOR TECHNOLOGY, THERE ARE SALT AND SODIUM COLD REACTORS.
SO THE TWO MAJOR TYPES ARE MOLTEN SALT AND, UH, AND SODIUM REACTORS.
SO MOLTEN SALT ABSORBS THE FISSION PRODUCTS, AND, AND THE, THE BENEFIT OF EACH ONE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES IS THEY'RE OPERATED AT AMBIENT PRESSURE.
AND SO YOU HAVE A VERY CONTAINED REACTOR PRESSURE VESSEL WITH SALT OR SODIUM INSIDE, YOU'RE ABLE TO CREATE THE THERMAL ENERGY INSIDE OF THAT SOLUTION.
THAT THERMAL ENERGY IS IN TRANSFERRED TO A SECONDARY AND THEN A TERTIARY LOOP.
AND YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF, UM, SIMPLICITY.
YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF OPERATING CONDITIONS THAT, UH, THAT ARE EASILY UNDERSTOOD.
AND THEN THERE ARE A LOT OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WITH EACH ONE OF THESE MATERIALS.
AND, UH, THESE MATERIALS TYPICALLY CREATE SOME EROSION AND CORROSION CONCERNS THAT HA THAT REQUIRE TESTING.
SO AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY, THEY'RE GOING THROUGH THE PROCESS RIGHT NOW IN, UM, LICENSING A MOLTEN SALT TEST REACTOR.
IT'S VERY IMPORTANT TO DO THAT FIRST, ONCE YOU UNDERSTAND EXACTLY HOW THE REACTOR IS GONNA OPERATE IN A TEST FORMAT, THEN YOU CAN SCALE THAT TECHNOLOGY UP INTO A, UH, A VERY COMMERCIAL, COMMERCIALLY VIABLE TECH, UH, REACTOR TECHNOLOGY.
SO YOU GET A SIMPLICITY IN DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION, AND THEN YOU HAVE TO DEFINE MORE ABOUT HOW THE OPERATIONAL CASE WOULD BE INSIDE OF EACH ONE OF THESE REACTOR TYPES.
PROVE TO THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION HERE IN THE UNITED STATES THAT YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND HOW THE OPERATION OF THIS UNIT WOULD, UH, WOULD BE, WOULD, UH, BE MANUFACTURED, BE OPERATED, AND THEN EVENTUALLY CREATE ELECTRICITY ONCE YOU SCALE UP TO THE COMMERCIAL VARIANT OF, OF A MOLTEN SALT OR SODIUM REACTOR.
SO MICRO REACTS ARE SMALL AND TRANSPORTABLE.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT INSIDE OF MY ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES BUSINESS UNIT, WE ARE WORKING ON.
WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IS A 20 FOOT CONEX BOX, AND INSIDE OF THAT 20 FOOT CONEX BOX WILL FIT AN ENTIRE NUCLEAR REACTOR.
SO THAT NUCLEAR REACTOR WILL GENERATE THE THERMAL ENERGY TO BE ABLE TO PRODUCE BETWEEN ONE AND FIVE MEGAWATTS OF ELECTRICITY.
THE REASON FOR THE CONEX BOX IS THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE WANTS TO BE ABLE TO TRANSPORT MEGAWATTS ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD ON DEMAND.
SO BEING ABLE TO SET THIS REACTOR UP, OPERATE WITHIN JUST A FEW DAYS, SHUT THE REACTOR DOWN, WAIT ABOUT A WEEK, PICK UP THE CONEX BOXES, PUT THEM BACK ONTO A TRANSPORT LIKE A C 17 OR A TRUCK, AND THEN REDEPLOY THAT UNIT SOMEWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD, IS VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE NOT JUST THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE SEEING IN THE COMMERCIAL MARKETPLACE ARE BECOMING MORE POWER HUNGRY.
DEFENSE TECHNOLOGIES ARE ALSO BECOMING MORE POWER HUNGRY.
SO HAVING MEGAWATTS IN A BOX ESSENTIALLY IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE FUTURE OF, UH, OUR TACTICAL CAPABILITY WORLDWIDE.
SO THIS UNIT, AND YOU CAN SEE THE DESIGN ABSTRACT ON THE RIGHT, THIS IS GENERALLY WHAT THE REACTOR WOULD LOOK LIKE.
THERE ARE THREE OTHER BOXES THAT GO ALONG WITH THIS REACTOR FOR HEAT EXCHANGERS, POWER CONVERSION MODULES AND, AND, UH, THE CONTROL SYSTEM.
SO BWXD IS THE, THE PRIME FOR THIS WORK, AND WE HAVE NORTHROP GRUMMAN AND ROLLS ROYCE.
LIBERTY WORKS WORKING ON THE, THE BALANCE OF PLANT, ESSENTIALLY IN THE CONTROL SYSTEM.
BUT THIS TECHNOLOGY'S IMPORTANT BECAUSE JUST LIKE THE ADVENT AND THE GROWTH OF NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNITED STATES, IT STARTED WITH A DEFENSE APPLICATION.
SO THE FIRST COMMERCIAL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN SHIPPING PORT PENNSYLVANIA WAS, UH, A DERIVATION OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR FROM AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER.
SO HAVING THAT INITIAL INVESTMENT FROM THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT ALLOWS THIS TECHNOLOGY TO RAPIDLY BE PROTOTYPED.
WE ARE BUILDING THIS PROTOTYPE.
WE WILL FIELD THIS PROTOTYPE UNDER A DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY LICENSE IN, UM, IN IDAHO, AT THE IDAHO NATIONAL LAB, AND WE'LL OPERATE THIS UNIT TO PROVE THAT WE CAN SCALE THIS UP FOR A PRODUCT LINE, BOTH FOR COMMERCIAL AND DEFENSE APPLICATIONS.
THE FUEL THAT'S REQUIRED FOR THAT SPECIFIC REACTOR, SINCE IT IS A HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS REACTOR AND NOT A LIGHT WATER REACTOR, IS, UH, IS CALLED TRI O.
SO TRI O WHAT YOU'RE SEEING HERE IN THE CENTER IS ESSENTIALLY A, UH, FUEL KERNEL, THE BLUE KERNEL, AND HAS THREE ADDITIONAL LAYERS OUTSIDE OF THAT KERNEL TO PROTECT THAT FUEL AND, AND, AND MAINTAIN ALL OF THE FISSION PRODUCTS DURING THE FISSION PROCESS INSIDE OF THIS VERY SMALL KERNEL.
SO YOU HAVE THE, UH, YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF LAYERS OF CARBON CARBIDE, AND THEN YOU HAVE A GRAPHITE BUFFER.
THAT GRAPHITE BUFFER ABSORBS ALL THE FISSION PRODUCTS.
SO ALL OF, UH, DURING THE FISSION PROCESS, WHEN FISSION PRODUCTS ARE EMITTED, EACH ONE OF THOSE FISSION PRODUCTS IS CONTAINED WITHIN THIS TRIOSE PARTICLE.
SO THAT ALLOWS THESE REACTORS TO BE BUILT, PUT INSIDE OF CONEX BOXES.
NO CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE IS REQUIRED, AND IT MINIMIZES THE OVERALL FOOTPRINT.
[00:15:01]
A TRADE OFF WITH THIS TYPE OF FUEL, YOU DON'T GET THE FUEL DENSITY THAT YOU WOULD IN A COMMERCIAL, UM, LIGHT WATER REACTOR.SO WE HAD TO INCREASE THE ENRICHMENT OF THIS FUEL TO HIGH S-A-L-A-U.
SO YOU'RE SEEING HERE FROM TOP TO BOTTOM HIGH, S-A-L-A-U IS SPECIFIC TO A TYPE OF ENRICHMENT BETWEEN 10 AND 20%.
AND MOST, THE SMALL MO MOST SMALL MODULAR REACTORS THAT ARE ADVANCED REACTORS USE HIGH S-A-L-A-U.
A LOT OF LIGHT WATER REACTOR, SMALL MODULAR REACTORS, UH, STILL MAINTAIN, UH, LEU OR AN LEU PLUS TYPE, UM, ENRICHMENT CONFIGURATION.
SO LEU PLUS IS SOMETHING THAT'S EMERGING RIGHT NOW.
IT ALLOWS MORE BURN UP, IT ALLOWS MORE PRODUCTION AND, UM, PERFORMANCE OUT OF EXISTING REACTORS.
SO IT'S TYPICALLY BETWEEN FIVE AND 10% ENRICHED.
AND THEN LAU IS ANYTHING THAT'S 5% OR LESS IN ENRICHMENT.
AND WE'VE BEEN PRODUCING THIS FUEL IN, UH, IN LYNCHBURG IN OUR BWXD FACILITIES FOR ABOUT 15 YEARS.
AND NOW WE'VE SCALED THAT UP TO A PRODUCTION SCALE TO, TO PRODUCE ENOUGH FUEL TO POWER THE INITIAL PROTOTYPE FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
SO TALKING MORE ABOUT PROJECTIONS WORLDWIDE, AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PROJECTIONS, AND I BELIEVE THIS ONE WAS CREATED IN 2018, SO IT IS WOEFULLY OUT OF DATE.
BUT JUST TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT THOSE PROJECTIONS LOOK LIKE, ESPECIALLY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA, IN NORTH AMERICA AND OTHER PARTS OF THE GLOBE, YOU'RE JUST SEEING A, A HIGH DEMAND IN, IN GREAT CAPACITY.
AND THAT DEMAND SIGNAL HAS INCREASED SUBSTANTIALLY EVEN THROUGHOUT 2024.
AND THAT'S BECAUSE OF ENERGY SECURITY IS BECOMING MORE PROMINENT IN, IN BECOMING MORE OF A FOCUS WORLDWIDE.
AND ALSO WITH THE ADVENT OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE VERY POWER HUNGRY, LIKE AI AND OTHERS, AND THE INDUSTRIALIZATION OF DIFFERENT AREAS OF THE GLOBE, WE EXPECT THIS DEMAND SIGNAL TO CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER TIME.
SO THERE ARE A VARIETY OF WAYS TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY.
AS YOU ALL KNOW, NUCLEAR PROVIDES A A VERY GOOD BASE LOAD TECHNOLOGY, AND EVENTUALLY, AND, AND IN THE RIGHT USE CASES, A LOAD FOLLOWING TECH FOLLOWING TECHNOLOGY THAT CAN BE UTILIZED BY, UH, BY THE GRID AND, AND BY POWER PRODUCERS.
AND SO THE, THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROJECTIONS, ONCE AGAIN, ARE GONNA INCREASE.
WE BELIEVE THAT IT WILL INCREASE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL YEARS.
BUT BEING ABLE TO ADDRESS THESE PROJECTIONS WAS SOMETHING THAT'S CARBON FREE, LIKE NUCLEAR IS VERY IMPORTANT.
AND SO YOU SEE JUST A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT GLOBALLY IN, UH, IN NEW NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES.
SO CAPACITY FACTOR IS, IS A, IS A REALLY BIG DEAL.
CAPACITY FACTOR ESSENTIALLY EQUATES TO UPTIME.
HOW OFTEN ARE YOU PRODUCING ELECTRICITY FOR A GIVEN TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY? AND NUCLEAR HAS THE LARGEST CAPACITY FACTOR AT 93% AS COMPARED TO GEOTHERMAL, NATURAL GAS, COAL, HYDROPOWER, WIND, AND SOLAR.
SO THAT CAPACITY FACTOR ALSO HAS ALSO COMES WITH A HIGH CAPITAL COST.
SO BEING ABLE TO EQUATE THOSE TWO THINGS INTO THE ECONOMICS OF, OF, UH, POWER GENERATION IS TYPICALLY THE FIRST INVESTIGATION.
ONCE THE TECHNOLOGY IS MATURE ENOUGH TO BE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND THE OVERALL COSTS.
AND THIS IS A LOOK AT EMISSIONS.
SO OVER THE LIFETIME AND LIFE CYCLE OF EACH TYPE OF, UH, POWER GENERATION, THIS IS WHAT, THIS IS JUST A QUICK LOOK AT, UH, THE GREENHOUSE GASES AND GRAMS OF CO2 PER KILOWATT OF, UH, ELECTRICITY CREATED.
AND SO NUCLEAR NOT ONLY HAS A HIGH CAPACITY FACTOR, BUT HAS THE LOWEST EMISSIONS OF, OF, UM, LARGE SCALE POWER GENERATION.
SO COMMERCIAL CHALLENGES OF SMALL MODULE REACTORS, AND REALLY THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I HIT ON EARLIER IN MY, IN MY PRESENTATION, IS BEING ABLE TO MASS PRODUCE NUCLEAR IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE NEVER DONE BEFORE BECAUSE THESE PLANTS ARE SO LARGE, THEY'RE SUCH MEGA, THEY ARE MEGA PROJECTS TO GET A GIGAWATT, TO HAVE A GIGAWATT SCALE PLANT, UM, BUILT, CONSTRUCTED, COMMISSIONED, OPERATED, AND PROVEN.
SO SMALL MODULE REACTORS PROVIDE THE ABILITY TO LOOK INTO AFFORDABILITY, PREDICTABILITY, AND THEN USE THE FIRST OF A KIND AND TRANSITION FROM FIRST OF A KIND TO NTH OF A KIND AS RAPIDLY AS POSSIBLE.
SO GETTING TO THAT PRICE POINT AND, UM, ALLOWING FOR USERS TO ADOPT AND DEPLOY THE TECHNOLOGY IS GONNA REQUIRE SMALL MODULE REACTOR BUILDS TO BE EFFICIENTLY FACTORY BUILT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, ASSEMBLED ON SITE AND, AND OPERATED IN A, IN A SHORT DURATION.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF WORK TO DO THERE, AND YOU GET SOME PREDICTABILITY IN FACTORY BUILDS, BUT THE FIRST COUPLE OF UNITS ARE GONNA PAVE THE WAY FOR ALL THE FOLLOW ON UNITS.
AND SO ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT FOR SMALL MODULE REACTORS AND MICRO REACTS, BECAUSE YOU DO NOT GET THE ECONOMY OF SCALE THAT YOU GET IN A GIGAWATT SCALE PLANT, HAVING PROJECTS WITH MULTIPLE REACTOR UNITS PURCHASED AT A TIME IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
[00:20:01]
SMR OR ONE MICRO REACTOR DOESN'T MAKE A WHOLE LOT OF SENSE, AND THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET THE ECONOMY OF SCALE.YOU'RE NOT GONNA LEARN THE PREDICTABLE NATURE OF MANUFACTURING.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA HAVE THE TRADE, THE INHERENT KNOWLEDGE OF EACH ONE OF THE TRADES THAT ARE INSTALLING EACH ONE OF THESE UNITS.
SO TRANSITIONING FROM FIRST OF A KIND, USING THAT INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND LESSONS LEARNED ARE ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.
JOE, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THAT.
UM, WHEN YOU'RE TALKING TO CUSTOMERS ABOUT THIS CLUSTERING EFFECT, WHAT, WHAT ARE THEY TYPICALLY THINKING ABOUT? HOW, HOW MANY UNITS ARE THEY TYPICALLY GONNA PUT IN A SITE? YEAH, TYPICALLY IT'S THREE TO FIVE FOR AN SMR, AND FOR MICRO REACTS, IT'S BETWEEN EIGHT AND 20.
IT'S A GREAT QUESTION, JOHN, BECAUSE ONCE AGAIN, NOT ONLY THE DEVELOPERS AND THE MANUFACTURERS REQUIRE THAT TYPE OF, UH, VOLUME TO BE ABLE TO BRING THE COST DOWN, BUT IT JUST, IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE.
ONCE YOU HAVE THE TRADES THERE, YOU CAN START TO, TO PUT THESE REACTORS ONE BY ONE IN A CERTAIN LOCATION, AND YOU GET THE BENEFIT OF ALL OF THE REGULATORY PROCESS.
SO IF YOU CAN, WHEN YOU GO THROUGH THE REGULATORY PROCESS FOR A SINGLE SMR, YOU CAN EXPAND THAT FOOTPRINT AND BUILD MULTIPLE SMRS ON THAT SAME FOOTPRINT, AND THEN YOU GET, UH, COST SAVINGS AND YOU DEFINITELY GET A SCHEDULE SAVINGS THERE AS WELL.
ARE PEOPLE LOOKING AT PUTTING SMRS ON THE SAME FOOTPRINT AS THEY HAVE MEGAWATT REACTORS NOW? YES.
AND, AND I THINK THAT'S ANOTHER BENEFIT AS WELL, BECAUSE THE GEOLOGY, THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS, ALL OF THAT'S VERY WELL KNOWN AND IN EXISTING NUCLEAR SITES, SO BEING ABLE TO USE THAT EXACT SAME FOOTPRINT IS A HUGE, HUGE BOOST TO SCHEDULE AND COST.
AND SO WE SEE THAT ONCE AGAIN BACK IN, UM, AT LEAST IN NORTH AMERICA, IN BOTH CANADA AND IN THE UNITED STATES.
SO REGULATORY CHALLENGES, I TALKED ABOUT FIRST OF A KIND ON THE PREVIOUS SLIDE.
SO GOING THROUGH EACH ONE OF THESE, UH, THE REGULATORY PROCESS FOR EACH ONE OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL TAKE TIME.
AND THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION HAS BEEN TAKING THIS VERY SERIOUSLY FROM THEIR PERSPECTIVE.
YOU KNOW, THEY HAVE BEEN OFFERING UP A LOT OF PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE WAY IN WHICH THEY PLAN TO REGULATE BOTH SMALL MODULE REACTORS AND MICRO REACTS, AND, UH, LOOKING AT THE SAFETY CHARACTERISTICS AS A COMPLIMENT TO WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN WELL-DEFINED, ESPECIALLY IN THE LIGHTWATER REACTOR FLEET IN THE UNITED STATES.
SO BEING ABLE TO USE THAT AS A FOUNDATIONAL SET OF INFORMATION, UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE DIFFERENCES ARE ON THE, THE SMALLER VERSION OF THOSE LWR IS THE FIRST STEP.
AND THAT'S TAKING PLACE NOW AS AN ADDITIONAL STEP.
THE ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS, TRIOSE FUELED HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS REACTORS, WE TALKED ABOUT MOLTEN SALT REACTORS.
THERE IS A REGULATORY PROCESS THAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN THE UNITED STATES WITH MULTIPLE VENDORS, AND THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL BECAUSE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION GETS TO FLEX THAT MUSCLE THAT, THAT, UM, IS GONNA ALLOW THEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS IN THE FUTURE.
AND WE WENT THROUGH A LAW IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY FOR SEVERAL DECADES OF NO NEW NUCLEAR BUILDS, AND WE STARTED OFF WITH VOGEL THREE AND FOUR, WHICH ARE UP AND OPERATING AND PRODUCING ELECTRICITY, AND THAT'S GREAT.
SO THAT WAS JUST MORE OF THE SAME SIMILAR TECHNOLOGY THAT WE'VE HAD IN THE PAST.
NOW WE'RE ENDEAVORING INTO SMALL MODULE REACTORS, THEN ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTORS AND MICRO REACTS, AND WE'LL SEE A LOT OF FOLLOW THROUGH, I THINK, FROM THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN GEARING UP FOR SEVERAL YEARS TO, TO PREPARE THAT PROCESS, TO GET FEEDBACK FROM ALL OF THE INDUSTRY DEVELOPERS, AND THEN START TO SET, SET THE STAGE FOR WHAT THAT REGULATORY PROCESS WILL LOOK LIKE IN THE FUTURE.
AND WE SEE A LOT OF COOPERATION BETWEEN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY AND THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ON, UH, PROJECT PALLEY, THE MICRO REACTOR THAT WE'RE PRODUCING FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE.
AND SO THAT ALLOWS ALL THREE OF THOSE GOVERNMENT ENTITIES TO UNDERSTAND NUCLEAR IN A NEW WAY AND ALLOWS THEM TO, UM, INTERACT THROUGH INTERAGENCY AGREEMENTS AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE TO BE ABLE TO, TO NOT ONLY CITE A PROTOTYPE, BUT ALSO CITE THE COMMERCIAL VARIANCE OF THOSE PROTOTYPES IN THE FUTURE.
AND THEN I HAVE SPEED HERE ON THIS SLIDE BECAUSE SPEED IS IMPORTANT, AND ONCE, ONCE YOU START TO DEPLOY, YOU NEED TO DEPLOY ITS SCALE.
SO USING THAT FRAMEWORK, USING THE SITES THAT YOU'VE CHOSEN, USING THE CUSTOMERS THAT ARE INTERESTED, AND EVEN COUPLING CUSTOMERS THAT ARE INTERESTED FROM, UH, OR IN USING MICRO REACTOR OR SMR OR EVEN LWR TECHNOLOGY TO BE ABLE TO, TO GET TO AN ECONOMY OF SCALE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, IS GONNA BE ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL.
AND TWO OR THREE YEARS AGO, THAT WAS REALLY HARD TO SEE BECAUSE THE INVESTMENT WASN'T THERE.
BUT OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS, ESPECIALLY OVER THE LAST SIX MONTHS, YOU SEE THIS TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF INVESTMENT IN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS MOVING TOWARDS NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY.
SO IT'S NOT JUST THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY AND THE UTILITIES THAT ARE TALKING ABOUT NUCLEAR.
IT'S A VARIETY OF, OF HIGH TECH COMPANIES, WELL ESTABLISHED,
[00:25:01]
HIGH TECH COMPANIES THAT ARE OUT THERE INVESTING IN NUCLEAR.SO THE INVESTMENT NEEDS TO COME SO YOU CAN GET TO SCALABILITY, AND THEN YOU CAN DRIVE DOWN COSTS.
YOU CAN RAPIDLY DEPLOY EACH ONE OF THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES.
SO WE START TO, WE STARTED TO SEE ONCE AGAIN, OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND, AND THROUGHOUT 2024, THOSE, THOSE DIFFERENT FACTORS COME INTO PLAY IN ADDITION TO, UH, A NEW LEVEL OF INTEREST FROM THE US GOVERNMENT AND THE WHITE HOUSE IN PROMOTING, UH, NEW NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY DEPLOYMENTS.
SO A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THAT.
SO THE WHITE HOUSE RECENTLY RELEASED THEIR, UH, EXP EXPANSION, EXPANSION PLANS ON US NUCLEAR DEPLOYMENT TARGETS, AND A FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION.
AND THERE'S SOME DETAIL IN THAT FRAMEWORK OF ACTION WHERE THEY CALL OUT HOW MANY REACTORS NEEDED TO BE, BE DEPLOYED, THE TYPE OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT EXIST.
AND TO ME, IT'S A, IT'S AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP IN THE UNITED STATES SAYING THAT WE WILL DEPLOY NEW NUCLEAR, WE WILL USE NEW NUCLEAR IN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
AND THOSE, THOSE DIFFERENT WAYS NEED TO HAVE A COMMERCIAL, UM, END USE CUSTOMER.
THEY NEED TO BE AFFORDABLE, AND IT NEEDS TO, TO UTILIZE, UH, THE, THE VARIETY OF, UM, DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND, AND DEVELOPERS THAT WE HAVE INSIDE THE UNITED STATES TO MAKE THAT DEPLOYMENT A REALITY.
AND IT'S REALLY ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN TALKING ABOUT THE DECLARATIONS AND THE COMMITMENTS THAT WE'VE MADE WITH SEVERAL OTHER COUNTRIES TO, TO TRIPLE NUCLEAR BY 2050.
SO HOW DO YOU GET THERE? AND YOU HAVE TO START OFF WITH, UH, A GAME PLAN.
AND THIS CALL TO ACTION IS THE BEGINNING OF THAT GAME PLAN.
SO I EXPECT, UH, MUCH MORE ACTION TO COME FROM THE, THE US GOVERNMENT.
AND THEN YOU START TO SEE, AND, AND, UH, THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSIONER WILL TALK NEXT ABOUT THE CALL TO ACTION IN TEXAS, UC, WYOMING, AND SEVERAL OTHER STATES TAKING, TAKING A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ACTION NOW LOCALLY AND HOW THEY CAN USE THE RESOURCES THAT EXIST IN A STATE, THE END USERS THAT ARE CURRENTLY INTERESTED IN, YOU KNOW, TAKING CONTROL OF ENERGY SECURITY IN THEIR STATES, AND THEN MAKING THAT A REAL BUSINESS PROPOSITION FOR, FOR DIFFERENT STATES WITHIN, WITHIN THE US.
SO EXPANDING THE MARKET DEMAND, BOTH ON GRID AND OFF GRID IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
I TALKED ABOUT MICRO REACTORS AND THEIR BENEFITS TO OFF GRID POWER, UH, OFF GRID POWER PRODUCTION.
THAT'S IMPORTANT AS WELL, BECAUSE YOU CAN NOT ONLY USE THE ELECTRICITY, BUT ALSO THE THERMAL ENERGY FOR INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, AND YOU START TO GET A BETTER, UH, SET OF ECONOMICS WITH, WITH THAT CAPABILITY.
UM, AND THEN RECENTLY AT COP 29, 6 MORE COUNTRIES JOINED THE DECLARATION BY TRIPLING NUCLEAR ENERGY.
AND, UH, WHAT WE SEE NOW IS THESE ENERGY SUMMITS AND THE TALKS ABOUT CLIMATE HAVE INCORPORATED NUCLEAR FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND THAT JUST CONTINUES TO, TO EVOLVE AND ACCELERATE THE INVESTMENT, UH, FROM EVEN NON-TRADITIONAL INVESTORS AND THE WAY THAT PEOPLE THINK ABOUT NUCLEAR.
AND THAT'S ALLOWING, UH, EVEN MORE MOMENTUM TO BE PUT INTO THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY.
SO THAT'S ALL THAT I HAD FOR A HIGH LEVEL AND WILLING TO TAKE SOME QUESTIONS.
MY QUESTION KIND OF DOVETAILS INTO YOUR LAST FINAL COMMENTS.
IN THE LAST SIX TO 18 MONTHS WHERE YOU'RE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT NEW APPLICATIONS IN THE MARKET INVESTMENTS, WHAT PERCENT OF THOSE IN ROUGH NUMBERS WE'RE DISCUSSING ON GRID VERSUS OFF GRID APPLICATIONS? UM, I WOULD SAY PROBABLY THREE QUARTERS WERE ON GRID AND A QUARTER WERE OFF GRID.
AND OFF GRID APPLICATIONS ARE TYPICALLY WHEN THERE IS NO GRID.
AND SO IN STORE, INSTEAD OF HAVING TO BUILD A BUNCH OF TRANSMISSION CAPACITY, HOW CAN WE, HOW CAN WE LOCATE ENERGY IN REMOTE LOCATIONS TO, TO REDUCE OUR OVERALL POWER DEMAND OR TRANSPORT OF DIESEL AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO I WOULD SAY IT'S ABOUT THREE QUARTERS ON GRID.
AND MY SECOND QUESTION HAS TO DO WITH NUCLEAR WASTE IN, IN PARALLEL TO THIS RENEWED INTEREST IN NEW REACTORS, IS THERE ANYTHING NEW HAPPENING ON THE WASTE DISPOSAL SIDE? YOU SEE A LOT OF CONVERSATION ON THE, THE WASTE DISPOSAL SIDE.
UM, WHAT I EXPECT THAT TO BE PROMINENT SOMETIME IN THE NEXT, UH, ADMINISTRATION.
YOU KNOW, THE NUCLEAR WASTE TO ME IS A, UH, A GOOD NEWS STORY.
BUT THE REASON WHY IT'S A GOOD NEW STORY IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY, FROM THE TIME THAT WE START TO MINE URANIUM, TO THE TIME THAT THAT NUCLEAR WASTE AND THE DECOMMISSION IS, IS STORED AND THE DECOMMISSIONING OF NUCLEAR PLANTS, EVERYTHING'S TRACKED, EVERYTHING'S UNDERSTOOD, THE REGULATORY PROCESS COVERS IT ALL HASN'T ALWAYS BEEN THAT WAY.
BUT OVER THE LAST FIVE, SIX DECADES, WE'VE REALLY REFINED THAT PROCESS.
SO WHEN A NUCLEAR WASTE, UM, OPPORTUNITY OR WHEN THAT CAPABILITY STARTS TO REEMERGE, THEN WE WILL HAVE THE ABILITY TO SMARTLY AND PRAGMATICALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, TRANSFER A LOT OF THE NUCLEAR WASTE THAT EXIST INTO THOSE FACILITIES.
BUT RIGHT NOW, THE SAFE STORAGE OF NUCLEAR WASTE IS, UM, IS VERY WELL UNDERSTOOD AND VERY WELL KNOWN AND, AND VERY
[00:30:01]
WELL CAPTURED THROUGH EACH ONE OF THE PRODUCERS.JOE, WHEN YOU, THANKS FOR YOUR PRESENTATION.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT YOUR DEFENSE PROJECT THAT YOU'RE WORKING ON, PRESUMABLY THAT COULD BE COMMERCIALIZED.
AND WHAT DOES THE PROCESS LOOK LIKE FOR THAT, AND, AND HOW LONG DO YOU THINK IT WOULD TAKE? IT'S PROBABLY AN UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME, BUT WHAT'S YOUR BEST GUESS? YEAH, SO, UM, MY BEST GUESS IS THAT WE CAN COMMERCIALIZE BY 2030 IF WE GET THE INVESTMENT THAT, THAT WE ANTICIPATE, FRANKLY.
AND SO WE HAVE BEEN WORKING AT PARALLEL COMMERCIAL MICRO REACTOR PROGRAM THAT'S, THAT'S A COST SHARING PROGRAM THAT MY BUSINESS UNIT HAS WITH DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.
SO AFTER WE KICKED OFF PROJECT PAY LAY AND THERE WAS A COMPETITIVE, UH, DESIGN PROCESS THAT WENT SEVERAL YEARS, AND THEN WE WERE AWARDED IN 2022, THE CONTRACT TO BUILD PAY LAY.
AND, UH, OVER THE COURSE OF 2021 THROUGH TODAY AND INTO THE REST OF THE DECADE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING ON A PARALLEL COMMERCIALIZATION CONTRACT.
IT'S CALLED THE PWXT ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR.
AND SO WE ARE TALKING TO CUSTOMERS AND WE HAVE A CONTRACT WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY, AND WE HAVE A CONTRACT WITH, IT'S ALSO COST SHARING WITH THE STATE OF WYOMING TO LOOK AT DEPLOYING THESE MICRO REACTS IN THE SODIUM CARBONATE MINING MINES IN, UH, IN WYOMING, YOU KNOW, SORRY, UM, ABOUT 10, 15 YEARS AGO I WAS AT BECHTEL WORKING ON, ACTUALLY WITH YOU GUYS.
UM, AND ONE OF THE BIG ISSUES WITH PERSONNEL CERTIFYING ENGINEERS, UH, THE END STAMP, ALL THESE THINGS THAT YOU HAD TO DO.
ANY UPDATES ON THAT? YEAH, SO I WAS ON THAT PROJECT, THE EMPOWER PROJECT, AND, UH, THAT'S WHY I, UH, JOINED THE COMPANY ORIGINALLY IN 2011.
AND, UM, YEAH, SO WE'RE, WE'RE GETTING, IT'S INTERESTING, THE PERSONNEL WE THOUGHT WAS GONNA BE A BIG ISSUE WHEN WE WERE GROWING MY BUSINESS UNIT.
AND WE'VE GONE FROM 50 EMPLOYEES JUST IN, WE ARE 8,000 EMPLOYEES IN PWXD, BUT IN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES, WE HAD 50 EMPLOYEES IN 2019, AND NOW I HAVE 430 EMPLOYEES.
AND WE'RE JUST FOCUSING ON THOSE TWO PROJECTS.
THE OTHER ONE BEING FOR DARPA AND NASA, IT'S A SPACE REACTOR.
AND, UM, WHAT'S REALLY INTERESTING IS A LOT OF YOUNG ENGINEERS ARE BECOMING EXTREMELY INTERESTED IN NUCLEAR, WHICH WAS NOT THE CASE IN 2010 AND 2011.
SO MOST OF MY STAFF, ESPECIALLY MID-CAREER AND EVEN EARLY CAREER, THEY DO NOT HAVE NUCLEAR ENGINEERING DEGREES.
IN FACT, ONLY 20% OF MY ENGINEERS ARE NUCLEAR.
SO IT'S NOT JUST THE INVESTMENT THAT'S COMING TO NUCLEAR, THERE'S JUST A TREMENDOUS AMOUNT OF ENGINEERING INTEREST IN NUCLEAR.
SO MOST OF THE PEOPLE LIKE ME, WHEN YOU GET OUT OF, WHEN I GOT OUTTA THE NAVY IN 2004, I WENT TO GO BUILD SUBMARINES.
'CAUSE THAT WAS THE NUCLEAR JOB IS TO BUILD SUBMARINES.
AND THEN I WORKED IN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING 'CAUSE THERE WEREN'T A LOT OF JOBS IN NUCLEAR.
BUT OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, THERE'S JUST A HUGE DEMAND AND, AND THE POSITIVE ENGAGEMENT AROUND NUCLEAR, ESPECIALLY WITH ENGINEERS, HAVE CREATED A KIND OF A GROUNDSWELL OF INTEREST.
SO TWO, THREE YEARS AGO, I WAS PROBABLY A LOT MORE CONCERNED THAN I AM NOW.
AND NOW WE HAVE A LOT OF COMPETITION TO GET INTO NUCLEAR COMPANIES.
AND SO I EXPECT AS THESE PROJECTS BECOME MORE REAL, YOU'LL SEE SOME FUNNELING OF RESOURCES FROM THE, THE PROJECTS AND THE COMPANIES THAT ARE ABLE TO GO FULLY COMMERCIAL.
AND THEN, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU'LL SEE A LOT OF TALENT START TO MOVE INTO THOSE, IN THOSE REALMS. SO BETWEEN THAT AND THE TRADES, I THINK THAT THERE'S BEEN, THERE'S BEEN SOME MOMENTUM, BUT I, I EXPECT WHEN WE GET INTO BUILDING THESE UNITS, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO INVEST IN, IN THE WORKFORCE.
BUT RIGHT NOW, I THINK IT'S LOOKING PRETTY GOOD.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS, JOE? THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
UM, THE NEXT TOPIC IS, UM, COMMISSIONER LOTTY, WHO'S GONNA
[5.2 Summary of the Report from the Nuclear Reactor Working Group submitted to the Governor of Texas]
ITEM 5.2 IS GONNA GIVE US A SUMMARY OF THE REPORT FROM THE NUCLEAR REACTOR WORKING GROUP SUBMITTED TO THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS LAST WEEK.JIMMY, ARE YOU ONLINE? I SURE AM.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? WE, WE CAN HEAR YOU FINE.
UH, I AM, I'M APOLOGIZE FOR NOT BEING THERE THIS MORNING.
UM, I, UH, CAN'T BLAME MY SCHEDULE ON ANYBODY ELSE, BUT, UM, IT, UH, IT WAS MY MISTAKE.
AND I, AND I'M, UH, AGAIN, SORRY FOR NOT BEING THERE.
JOE DID A GREAT JOB OF, UH, GIVING YOU KIND OF THE BACKGROUND.
I THINK, ESPECIALLY FROM A COMMERCIAL PERSPECTIVE.
UH, THE ISSUES THAT, UH, THAT WE'RE FACING.
UM, WE CLEARLY, UM, NEED MORE DISPATCHABLE RESOURCES IN TEXAS.
AND IT WAS TO, TOWARDS THAT END THAT THE GOVERNOR, UM, ASKED US TO CREATE THE, THE ADVANCED, UH, WORKING GROUP HERE IN TEXAS.
[00:35:01]
WE SPENT, UH, UH, ALMOST A YEAR AND A HALF, UH, GOING THROUGH A PROCESS OF TRYING TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE STATE COULD DO, UH, TO ADVANCE, UM, NEW NUCLEAR REACTORS IN THE STATE.AND WHEN WE SAY THAT, UH, WE TOOK THIS FROM KIND OF AN AGNOSTIC STANDPOINT, WE LIKE LARGE REACTORS, WE LIKED SMRS, WE LIKED, UH, MICRO REACTS.
THEY ALL HAVE DIFFERENT APPLICATIONS HERE IN TEXAS, AND THERE IS A BUSINESS CASE FOR EACH AND EVERY ONE OF THEM.
UH, AND WE DIDN'T WANT TO PRECLUDE ANY OF THEM FROM HAPPENING.
WE IN FACT WANT TO ENCOURAGE ALL OF THEM, THEM TO HAPPEN.
SO THAT WAS OUR STANDPOINT, UH, THAT, THAT, THAT WE, UH, THAT WE BEGAN FROM HERE.
ON THIS FIRST SLIDE, WE HAVE COMANCHE PEAK ON THE LEFT, UH, WHICH SHOWS THE CONTAINMENT, UH, STRUCTURES, THE OLD TYPE OF, UH, BOILING WATER REACTOR.
UH, AND ON THE RIGHT, THE SMALL PICTURE IS THE ABILENE CHRISTIAN, UH, STRUCTURE THAT WILL HOUSE THE MOLTEN SALT REACTOR.
UH, IF YOU ALL HAVEN'T BEEN OUT TO ABILENE, UH, I KNOW THEY WOULD LOVE TO HOST YOU OUT THERE AND SEE THAT, UH, WHAT, WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
UM, IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK THE STATE OF TEXAS CAN BE BE VERY PROUD OF, UM, AS IS THE, UH, X ENERGY SITE DOWN AT, DOWN IN C DRIFT.
IF YOU GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
UH, AGAIN, OUR, OUR CHARGE HERE WAS, UH, WAS VERY SPECIFIC, UH, FROM THE GOVERNOR.
WE'RE NUMBER ONE IN OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION.
HOW DO WE BECOME NUMBER ONE IN NUCLEAR POWER? AND, UH, THIS IS THE, THE BEGINNING OF THAT PROCESS.
UM, THERE IS A, A LONG WAY TO GO, AND MUCH OF THE DECISIONS ARE NOT WITHIN, UM, OUR CONTROL, BUT WHAT WE'VE TRIED TO DO IS DRAW A ROADMAP THAT WILL, UM, UH, ADVANCE TEXAS'S DECISION MAKING ON THOSE AREAS WHERE WE DO HAVE CONTROL IN ORDER TO GIVE US A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE TO, TO BUILD OUT, UH, A REACTOR FLEET IN TEXAS.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THAN THAT, BE A COMPONENT, UH, SUPPLIER TO EVERY REACTOR AROUND THE WORLD.
SO, UM, AGAIN, LET, LET ME, UH, IF YOU CAN GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
SO, UM, WHAT WE'VE, WHAT WE TRIED TO DO HERE AND, AND, UM, WE HAD 18 ACTIVE MEMBERS ON OUR WORKING GROUP.
AND WE HAD, UH, WELL OVER 120, UM, UH, INTERESTED PARTIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN WEEKLY PHONE CALLS OVER 14 MONTHS.
UH, WE CAME UP WITH A, A SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS, UM, SOME LEGISLATIVE, SOME MARKET DESIGN, SOME UH, SUPPLY CHAIN.
UM, WHAT WE'VE KIND OF FOUND IN THIS IS THAT A LOT OF THIS WILL RESIDE IN THIS NEXT LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
UM, A BECAUSE WHAT TEXAS HAS TO DO TODAY, UM, FOR TOMORROW, IS SEND A SIGNAL WITH THE USE OF RESOURCES, UM, ON HOW WE'RE GONNA LEAD IN THIS SPACE.
THAT'S WHAT OTHER STATES HAVE DONE, AND WE NEED TO PROVE TO THEM THAT, THAT WE ARE, WE ARE READY AND WILLING TO, TO TAKE ON THIS, UH, THIS ENDEAVOR.
THE TYPES OF RECOMMENDATIONS THAT WE PROPOSED.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY TYPE OF AUTHORITY RIGHT NOW, UM, THAT WILL CARRY THAT THIS TEXAS MESSAGE ON WHAT WE WANT TO DO GOING FORWARD.
A A TYPE OF A NON-REGULATORY ENTITY.
WE'VE CREATED THE SPACE COMMISSION, WE'VE CREATED THE CHIPS ACT, WE'VE CREATED OTHER THINGS IN SEMICONDUCTORS AND AEROSPACE.
WE, WE FEEL LIKE THERE'S SOMETHING LIKE THAT THAT NEEDS TO CARRY THE BANNER AND CONTINUE TO PROMOTE THIS INDUSTRY BE A, UM, A A THE TIP OF THE SPEAR FOR THE STATE TO HELP SOLVE, UH, NOT ONLY FEDERAL RESOURCE ISSUES, HOW CAN WE ATTRACT FEDERAL RESOURCES, BUT THEN HOW CAN WE PROMOTE THE ISSUES THAT, UH, THAT WE WANT IN TEXAS TO BE A LEADER IN THIS STATE? WE NEED TO HAVE AN ONGOING CONCERN.
I CAN ALREADY FEEL AS OUR REPORT IS OUT.
UM, WHAT IS THE NE WHAT'S THE ENTITY THAT'S GONNA TAKE OVER THIS, THE, THE BANNER AND, UM, TALK ABOUT THE SUCCESS OR THE CHALLENGES, UH, IN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY? SO WE'VE, WE'VE SQUARELY PUT THIS IN THE LEGISLATURE.
PLEASE CREATE AN AUTHORITY FOR US TO, UM, TO, TO CARRY ON THE BANNER.
UH, WHETHER THAT IS IN THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AT A UNIVERSITY, UM, AT THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION IS, IS UP TO THE, THE PROCESS, UH, WITHIN THE LEGISLATURE, BUT HAVING SOMETHING IS WHAT WE WANT TO DO TO SEND A SIGNAL THAT WE'RE, WE'RE IN THIS FOR THE LONG RUN RIGHT NOW, UH, THE PERMITTING OFFICER.
UM, WE THINK THIS IS SOMEWHAT TEMPORARY, BUT, UM, IT'S IMPORTANT, UH, IN, IN THE SENSE THAT THERE'S, THERE HASN'T BEEN A REACTOR BUILT IN TEXAS, UM,
[00:40:01]
IN SINCE THE, UH, SINCE THE EIGHTIES.UM, THERE ARE TWO UNDER DEVELOPMENT RIGHT NOW, AS YOU HEARD, UH, C DRIFT, UH, WITH THE DOW X ENERGY PROJECT.
AND, UH, ABILENE CHRISTIAN, THEY BOTH HAVE VERY DIFFERENT, UM, UH, REGULATORY PATHS, BUT UNDERSTANDING, AND, AND MOST OF THOSE ARE AT THE FEDERAL LEVEL, BUT THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF THINGS AT THE STATE LEVEL, UH, THAT ARE GONNA REQUIRE, UH, STATE PERMITS.
SOME OF THEM ARE LOCAL WATER ISSUES.
SOME OF THEM ARE DEALING WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES, WHICH IS THE NUCLEAR, UH, THE RADIOLOGICAL, UM, REGULATORY BODY IN THE STATE.
AND JUST HAVING SOMEBODY, A, ALL OF THE COMPANIES THAT WANT TO PRODUCE REACTORS AND ARE COMING TO TEXAS DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN.
SO WE WANT TO GIVE THEM AN EASY PLACE TO BEGIN, GO TO OUR NUCLEAR PERMITTING OFFICER.
THEY WILL HELP, UH, MAKE INTRODUCTIONS TO THOSE AGENCIES THAT HAVE A ROLE IN THIS.
UH, AND IF YOU ARE TRYING TO REACH OUT TO OTHERS THAT DON'T HAVE A FORMAL ROLE, BUT WOULD LIKE, UH, THEY WILL PARTICIPATE IN THAT WAY AS WELL.
WORKFORCE, UM, JOE MENTIONED, UH, THIS IN, IN HIS PRESENTATION, AND, AND THIS ALWAYS RISES TO THE TOP, HOW ARE WE GONNA CREATE A WORKFORCE, UM, THAT IS NECESSARY, UH, THAT WILL, UH, UH, DEVELOP, UH, OPERATE, UH, THESE REACTORS GOING FORWARD? WE HAVE SOME, SOME VERY ROBUST WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, UH, IN THE STATE.
UH, SOME OF THEM ARE DIRECTLY TIED TO NUCLEAR, UM, OTHERS ARE NOT, BUT WE NEED TO GET A HANDLE ON THIS AS TO WHAT WE WANNA OFFER GOING FORWARD.
I HAVE A SLIDE LATER THAT I'LL, I'LL EXPOUND ON THIS A LITTLE BIT MORE, BUT, UM, THIS IS AN AREA THAT, UH, EVERY STATE HAS TALKED ABOUT, UH, NEEDING TO BE A PART OF, UH, WORKFORCE.
THE THING THAT WE HAVE GOING FOR US, UH, PRIOR TO THIS IS THE INDUSTRIAL NATURE OF OUR STATE.
THE BIG PROJECT NATURE OF OUR STATE.
SO, UH, WE WE'RE BUILDING L AND G TERMINALS.
WE'VE BUILT MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR REFINERIES AND INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES.
THE WELDING, UH, TRADES, UH, THE ELECTRICAL TRADES, THE NATURAL GAS TRADES, UM, ALL OF THOSE ARE HERE AND PRESENT IN OUR STATE.
UM, AND WE ARE ARE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND IF THERE ARE CURRENT DISCIPLINES, UH, ARE, UH, VALUABLE FOR GETTING INTO THIS NEW DISCIPLINE FOR NUCLEAR, OR ARE THERE THINGS THAT HAVE TO CHANGE, UH, IN ORDER TO, UH, TO ADAPT TO THAT.
SIMILARLY, THE, UH, TEXAS ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE, THIS IS A ECOSYSTEM TYPE OF RECOMMENDATION.
WE WOULD LIKE THE LEGISLATURE TO FUND AN ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE SO THAT WE CAN CAPITALIZE ON THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE NEEDED TO BUILD ADVANCED REACTORS.
SO LET ME GIVE YOU A FEW EXAMPLES RIGHT NOW, UH, FORGING TECHNOLOGIES.
SO THE, THE LARGEST FORGES IN THE WORLD ARE IN KOREA.
WE DO NOT HAVE THEM HERE IN, IN THE UNITED STATES.
AND, AND THE QUESTION IS, DO WE NEED THEM? AND IF SO, WHO IS GONNA GO AND BUY A FORGE? UM, IF THEY DON'T HAVE ANY ORDERS ON THE ORDER BOOK TO, UH, JUSTIFY THAT EXPENSE? SO BWXT IS DIFFERENT BECAUSE THEY ARE BUILDING REACTORS, I THINK THREE A YEAR FOR THE NAVY.
UM, AND THEY CAN, UM, BUILD THAT.
BUT THE VAST MAJORITY OF THE SUPPLY CHAIN OUT THERE DOESN'T HAVE THE ORDER BOOK.
WE TALK ABOUT THE ORDER BOOK IN TERMS OF THE ENTIRE REACTOR DESIGN AND THE ENTIRE REACTOR.
AND THIS MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE IS TO TAKE THAT DOWN TO THE COMPONENT LEVEL.
THEY NEED TO HAVE A ORDER BOOK AS WELL, IN ORDER TO INVEST IN THE EQUIPMENT THAT WILL PRODUCE AND REPRODUCE THESE TECHNOLOGIES AND THESE PIECES OF EQUIPMENT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN AT A DECLINING COST TO MAKE THIS INDUSTRY WORK.
SO IN ADDITION TO FORGING, THERE ARE OTHER TECHNOLOGIES LIKE POWDER METALLURGY, HOT ISOSTATIC PRESSING, UH, BIG WORD.
UM, BUT, UH, THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY IS USED IN AEROSPACE.
UM, A HIP FURNACE, UH, IS SOMETHING THAT IS A, CREATES A, IT'S KINDA LIKE AN INJECTION MOLD, BUT WITH STEEL, IT CREATES A NON WELDED, UH, SOLID PIECE OF STEEL THAT'S FORMED TO LIKE A VALVE.
UM, AND IF WE CAN CREATE AND BUY A HIP FURNACE FOR A COMPANY OR PARTNER WITH ONE IN TEXAS, THEN WE CAN HELP MAKE THIS THE CENTER OF THAT TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT IN THE STATE.
UH, THE FOLKS THAT WE'VE TALKED TO IN THE LEGISLATURE ARE VERY, VERY, UH, INTERESTED IN THIS, UH, BECAUSE THE APPLICATIONS FOR THIS TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY, LIKE PM HIP, CAN BE USED IN AEROSPACE.
[00:45:01]
THEY CAN BE USED IN BIOMEDICAL, THEY CAN BE USED IN OTHER ENGINEERING TODAY.UH, IF WE BUY THE, OR HELP THESE COMPANIES BUY, UM, THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES, UM, THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE AND READY FOR THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY, UH, WHEN THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY IS READY FOR THAT TECHNOLOGY.
UH, SO, SO THESE, UH, THESE THREE ARE, UM, IMPORTANT.
UM, ONE OF 'EM IS HOW DO WE TALK TO THE MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ON, UH, THE SAFETY ASSOCIATED WITH NUCLEAR POWER? UM, TO GIVE YOU ONE EXAMPLE, JOE TALKED ABOUT MOLTEN SALT.
UM, LOTS OF PEOPLE TALK ABOUT, UH, WITHIN THE INDUSTRY, THERE, THERE, IT, THESE NEW REACTORS HAVE PASSIVE SAFETY SYSTEMS. WELL, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? UH, WE NEED TO REDUCE THE LANGUAGE OF THAT PASSIVE SAFETY, SAFETY SYSTEM INTO SOMETHING THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC CAN UNDERSTAND.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, THE MOLTEN SALT REACTOR AT ABILENE CHRISTIAN.
UM, WHY IS IT SAFER THAN, UH, ANY OTHER TECHNOLOGY THAT'S OUT THERE? FIRST OF ALL, WE WANT TO SHOW THAT EACH OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES IS SAFE, OR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO BE, UH, PUT INTO OPERATION.
EACH ONE OF THEM HAS THEIR OWN DIFFERENT, UH, DESIGN, UH, SAFETY PROGRAMS AND, AND, UH, SPECIFICATIONS TO ENSURE THAT THAT TYPE OF REACTOR IS VERY SPECIFIC, A AND IS VERY SAFE A MOLTEN SALT REACTOR LIKE WHAT ABILENE CHRISTIAN IS BUILDING IN NATURA.
THE, THE WAY THAT THEY EXPLAINED IT TO ME, AND I'VE HAD SOME GOOD SUCCESS EXPLAINING IT THIS WAY TO OTHERS, IS IF YOU THINK OF MOLTEN SALT, UH, AS A CUP OF COFFEE, UH, WHEN YOU HEAT IT UP, THAT MOLTEN SALT BECOMES A LIQUID.
SO THERE, THERE'S THE COFFEE SITTING IN THE CUP.
THE URANIUM, UH, IS THE SUGAR THAT YOU POUR IN YOUR COFFEE, AND IT ALL BECOMES ONE, UH, ONE LIQUID.
UM, THE SALT REMOVES THE HEAT FROM THE, THE URANIUM.
UH, IT GOES THROUGH ANOTHER PROCESS TO CREATE STEAM, AND YOU PRODUCE, UH, ELECTRICITY THROUGH A STEAM TURBINE.
THE UNIQUE THING ABOUT MOLTEN SALT IS IT'S HIGH TEMPERATURE, BUT IT'S LOW PRESSURE.
AND THAT MEANS THAT THE TYPE OF PRESSURE VESSELS THAT THEY NEED FOR A MOLTEN SALT REACTOR ARE VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE THAT ARE, THAT, THAT ARE ALREADY PRODUCED FOR OIL AND GAS TODAY.
UM, THEY'RE NOT, THEY DON'T HAVE THE SAME, UM, UH, ENGINEERING STAMP ASSOCIATED WITH THEM, BUT WE HOPEFULLY WILL GET THERE AT, AT, AT SOME POINT IN TIME.
SO IF A MOLTEN SALT REACTOR, UM, HAS A FAILURE OF THEIR, UM, THEIR PRESSURE VESSEL, WHAT HAPPENS? SO IT DOESN'T CONTINUE TO PRODUCE RADIOACTIVE STEAM, WHICH IS WHY THEY HAVE THE BIG CONTAINMENT VESSEL OF THE, OF THE LARGE REACTORS.
MOLTEN SALT WILL REDUCE DOWN TO AMBIENT TEMPERATURE, AND IT WILL BECOME A SOLID WITH THE URANIUM IN THAT SOLID.
SO THE ABILITY FOR THAT TO, UM, UH, FOR ANY RADIOACTIVE RELEASE IS REDUCED DRAMATICALLY.
AND THEREFORE, THAT IS A MUCH SAFER TECHNOLOGY OR A SAFE, A NEW TYPE OF SAFE TECHNOLOGY.
SO, UM, GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT THAT AND OTHER TYPES OF, UH, OF, OF SAFETY AND SECURITY PROCEDURES ARE, ARE, UH, REALLY, REALLY, UH, IMPORTANT FOR THE STATE TO LEAD IN THIS.
UH, HOW WE'RE GONNA FUND A SUPPLY CHAIN FUND.
UH, WE WANT TO FUND DEMONSTRATIONS AND, UH, SUPPLY CHAIN EFFORTS.
UM, I SAID THE TEXAS MANUFACTURING INSTITUTE, BUT, UH, WE, WE HIGHLIGHT, UH, FOUR DIFFERENT DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS THAT COULD BE, UM, UH, LOOKED UPON FOR, UH, ADVANCED, UM, DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS IN THE STATE, OBVIOUSLY, UH, ABILENE CHRISTIAN, THAT, THAT TECHNOLOGY, UM, AND A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE PRODUCED WATER ASSOCIATION IN THE PERMIAN BASIN, UH, WOULD, UH, WOULD DEMONSTRATE HOW A NEW TYPE OF REACTOR, UM, CAN HELP SOLVE THE, UH, SALINITY ISSUES OF THE PRODUCED WATER FROM OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT IN THE PERMIAN BASIN.
THERE IS ANOTHER ONE, UH, THAT WE'VE TALKED WITH, UH, USING VWXT TECHNOLOGY, PERHAPS, UH, FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF OIL AND GAS, UH, IN THE PERMIAN.
UM, SO HOW WOULD THIS, UM, TECHNOLOGY ELECTRIFY THE PERMIAN? UH, NEW RE NEW, UH, ELECTRIC GENERATION SOURCES NEED TO BE OUT THERE.
[00:50:01]
UH, THAT WE'VE SPOKEN WITH ON THE DESALINATION, UH, AGAIN, ANOTHER WATER ISSUE IN TEXAS.HOW CAN THESE, UM, UH, NEW TYPES OF REACTORS HELP, UH, PROVIDE WATER TO THE STATE? UM, AGAIN, WE CAN GO ON AND ON, BUT THERE ARE A NUMBER THAT WE HAVE THAT, THAT WE THINK, THAT WE HIGHLIGHT IN HERE THAT WE THINK SOLVE MULTIPLE ISSUES THAT THE STATE IS FACING WHERE NUCLEAR, UH, CAN BE THE LINCHPIN FOR SOLVING OTHER PROBLEMS, UH, THAT THE STATE WILL FACE GOING FORWARD.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE TECH TEXAS NUCLEAR ENERGY FUND.
SO WE HAVE THE TEXAS ENERGY FUND, UH, WHICH IS, WHICH IS FOR DISPATCHABLE RESOURCES.
UM, IS THIS SOMETHING THAT, UH, THE LEGISLATURE WOULD BE INTERESTED IN TO FUND LOWER COST, UM, LOANS FOR NUCLEAR PROJECTS IN THE STATE? UM, THEY'RE GONNA COME BACK AND THEY, THE LEGISLATURE IS GOING TO APPROPRIATE ANOTHER, UH, PERHAPS $5 BILLION TO THE NUCLEAR OR TO THE TEXAS ENERGY FUND.
THE QUESTION IS, CAN WE GET THEM TO, TO FOCUS ON NUCLEAR WITH ANOTHER FUND AND BUY DOWN THE RISK, UM, IN THESE EARLY YEARS? UM, THERE, THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT I WANNA SAY HERE.
SO, FIRST OF ALL, THIS DOES NOT TAKE THE PLACE OF MARKET DESIGN.
THERE'S STILL GONNA BE SOME MARKET DESIGN CHANGES THAT ARE GONNA HAVE TO HAPPEN.
THIS HELPS REDUCE THE RISK, THE COST RISK, UH, OF BUILDING THESE REACTORS.
THERE'S STILL RISK ON THE REVENUE SIDE THAT IT'S GONNA HAVE TO BE ADDRESSED IN THE FUTURE.
BUT WE DIDN'T WANT TO, UH, TRY TO SOLVE ALL OF THE MARKET DESIGN ISSUES, UH, WITH THIS REPORT FOR THIS TECHNOLOGY.
YOU ALL KNOW THAT, UH, THIS, UH, THAT MARKET DESIGN ISSUES, UM, ARE ALREADY, UM, NEEDING TO BE ADDRESSED.
UM, WE DIDN'T WANT THEM TO BOG DOWN THE REST OF THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
SO, UM, THOSE WERE THE ONES THAT WE THINK ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT TO GET DONE TODAY.
WE WANT THE LEGISLATURE TO ADOPT THOSE AND TAKE THOSE AND RUN WITH THEM.
THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES THAT, UH, THAT WE WANTED TO CONSIDER.
UM, THINGS THAT, UH, WILL TAKE MORE RESEARCH, THINGS THAT THE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OR ANOTHER SUCCESSOR AGENCY CAN BE REALLY INVOLVED IN, GET MORE VIEWS, UH, PROFESSIONAL VIEWS.
UM, UH, HOW DO WE EXPAND END STAMPS? SO THE END STAMP IS THE NUCLEAR STAMP THAT'S NEEDED FOR COMPONENTS.
UM, THE, UH, AGAIN, LET ME, LET ME SAY THAT, UH, IF YOU ARE A MAJOR COMPONENT WITHIN A NUCLEAR REACTOR TODAY, YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE END STAMP, UM, BY THE, UM, UH, MECHANICAL ENG ASME, THE MECHANICAL ENGINEERS GROUP, UM, TO ENSURE THAT YOU HAVE A QA QC PROCESS THAT TRA THAT TRACES THE, UH, THE METAL THAT TRACES THE PROCESS, THAT TRACES THE FABRICATION, THAT TRACES THE, UM, ALL OF THE COMPONENTS BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL SOURCE.
UH, IN CASE THERE IS A, UH, EXPLOSION, OR I DON'T SHOULDN'T USE THAT WORD IN CASE THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH THAT PIECE OF EQUIPMENT, YOU CAN GO BACK AND TRACE THE QA QC OF THAT.
UM, THE QUESTION BECOMES HERE, UM, HOW DO WE HELP COMPANIES AGAIN, EXPAND AND GO THROUGH A MULTIMILLION DOLLAR PROCESS TO GET END STAMPS FOR EQUIPMENT, UH, WHEN THERE ARE NO ORDERS? SO THAT'S A, WE RAISE THAT ISSUE AS SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT IS WE'RE HOPING WITH SOME OF THESE NEW TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE WON'T NEED AS MANY END STAMPS.
WE ONLY HAVE FOUR END STAMP COMPANIES IN TEXAS.
UM, END STAMPS ARE, AGAIN, FOR NUCLEAR, A U STAMP BY THE SAME ORGANIZATION, ASME, UH, WHICH ARE PRESSURE VESSELS FOR REFINERIES AND, UH, INDUSTRIAL FACILITIES.
WE HAVE 600 COMPANIES IN TEXAS THAT HAVE USED STAMPS.
THE QUESTION IS, HOW CAN WE CROSS POLLINATE THOSE, UH, EXPAND THE END, END STAMPS, UM, NUMBER OF COMPANIES SO THAT WE CAN, UH, PRODUCE THOSE COMPONENTS HERE? MINERALS, UM, LIKE URANIUM, WE'VE HAD, UH, THREE NEW URANIUM MINES OPEN IN TEXAS.
UH, THERE ARE OTHER MINERALS THAT, UM, I THINK ARE CRITICAL, UH, THAT THE STATE LOOK AT IN THE FUTURE.
THIS IS A TECH PRETTY TECHNICAL ISSUE.
UH, SO I WON'T GET, UH, TOO DEEP INTO IT, BUT IT IS, UH, IT IS AN AREA WHERE, UH, EXPLORATION, UH, AND UNDERSTANDING IS, IS GONNA, IT COULD HELP SET US IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION GOING FORWARD.
UH, WE SPOKE A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, WASTE.
UM, THE ONE THING THAT I WOULD SAY DIFFERENT FROM, FROM JOE IS THAT, UM, I THINK THERE ARE A FEW WAYS TO THINK ABOUT WASTE.
[00:55:01]
AND ONE OF THEM IS THAT WE DON'T NEED TO DO ANYTHING.UH, THE CASKS THAT ARE AT EXISTING POWER PLANTS, UM, CAN STORE NUCLEAR WASTE FOR A LONG, LONG TIME IN A VERY SAFE MANNER, AND THEY TAKE UP A RELATIVELY SMALL AMOUNT OF SPACE.
THE QUESTION BECOMES, UH, RATE PAYERS HAVE PAID FOR A LONG-TERM STORAGE, UH, THROUGH THEIR RATES.
SO, AND WE DON'T HAVE ONE YET.
SO WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO? ONE OF THOSE OPPORTUNITIES COULD BE RECYCLING.
I THINK IT'S, UH, COMMON KNOWLEDGE IN THE NUCLEAR SPACE OR THE FUEL, THE WASTE SPACE THAT ABOUT SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 85 AND 90% OF THE HEAT, THE FUEL THAT'S STILL, UH, WITHIN THIS URANIUM IS, IS STILL AVAILABLE TO BE USED AS A FUEL SOURCE.
SO, BUT THERE, THERE HAS TO BE A, A PROCESSING, A REPROCESSING TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY, HYDROPROCESSING AND, AND OTHERS THAT WE TURN THIS NUCLEAR FUEL IN OR NUCLEAR WASTE INTO FUEL AND REUSE IT.
UM, AND THAT REDUCES THE AMOUNT OF WASTE DOWN TO ABOUT, YOU KNOW, 5% OF WHAT WE HAVE TODAY.
SOMETHING THAT IS A MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE, SOMETHING THAT OTHER COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD HAVE SOLVED, SOMETHING THAT THE UNITED STATES IS GONNA HAVE TO SOLVE AT SOME POINT IN TIME.
UH, AND, AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK THE STATE SHOULD LOOK AT.
HOW DO WE SPO SUPPORT, UH, LARGE REACTORS AT OUR EXISTING SITES? UH, I THINK, UH, JOHN, YOU SUGGESTED OR, OR ASKED THE QUESTION ARE, UH, ARE SMALL REACTORS BEING LOOKED AT AT OUR EXISTING SITES? WE HAVE TWO EXISTING SITES.
UM, I, I THINK THAT IS ONE OF THE QUESTIONS.
THE OTHER QUESTION IS, CAN WE BUILD ADDITIONAL LARGE REACTORS AT THOSE SITES? THEY WERE ALL, UH, PLATTED AND PLANNED FOR FOUR REACTORS AT EACH SITE, AND TWO REACTORS HAVE ONLY BEEN BUILT AT EACH SITE.
SO THE QUESTION IS, CAN THE STATE, UH, ENCOURAGE AND HELP AND, UH, SUPPORT THE EFFORT TO BUILD LARGE REACTORS AT THOSE SITES? MAYBE THEY WILL BE LARGE AND SMALL REACTORS THERE, BUT WE GOTTA UNDERSTAND HOW WE, WWII THINK IT'S UNLIKELY THAT WE'RE EVER GONNA GET MANY MORE, IF ANY, UH, LARGE REACTOR SITES IN TEXAS.
SO, UH, WE HAVE TO OPTIMIZE THE ONES THAT WE HAVE.
UH, AND THAT MEANS HELPING THEM, UM, PUT THE LARGEST REACTORS THAT THEY CAN, UH, ON, ON THOSE PROPERTIES.
UH, AGAIN, MARKET DESIGN, UH, I WON'T GO TOO, GO TOO MUCH INTO THAT, BUT IS THERE A DISPATCHABLE CREDIT? IS THERE A NUCLEAR ENERGY CREDIT? IS THERE SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT NEEDS TO BE CREATED THAT WILL HELP THIS TECHNOLOGY RISE TO THE TOP? HELP PROVIDE SOME ECONOMIC, UH, PARODY WITH THE RENEWABLE RESOURCES, UM, AND NOW WITH THE GAS RESOURCES, WITH THE TEXAS ENERGY FUND SUPPORT, UH, TO ALLOW THESE TO BECOME A PRIMARY STAPLE IN THE GENERATION, UH, MARKET IN TEXAS.
SOMETHING THAT NEEDS A BIT MORE STUDY, BUT, UM, I, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE SUPPORT IN THIS DIRECTION.
SO, UH, AS I SAID, WORKFORCE, UH, THERE, THIS IS JUST A, UH, A SAN THIS, THERE'RE 17 UNIVERSITIES OR COLLEGES AROUND THE STATE THAT HAVE, UH, NUCLEAR PROGRAMS, WHETHER THEY ARE, UM, ADVANCED DEGREE PROGRAMS, UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS, UH, THIS DOESN'T EVEN SHOW COMMUNITY COLLEGES, BUT WE HAVE THE BASIS FOR SUCCESS ALREADY HERE IN OUR STATE.
SO HOW WE ARE GONNA DEVELOP AND, AND BUILD UPON THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO TELL THE WORLD.
WE NEED TO SHOW, UM, THAT WE ARE DOING THE MOST CRITICAL RESEARCH FOR THE COMMERCIAL REACTOR PROBLEMS THAT MIGHT FACE US IN THE FUTURE.
SO WE THINK THIS IS A REALLY GOOD START.
AGAIN, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, UM, ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THIS AS THEY PROVIDE, UH, UH, OPERATORS, WELDERS, UM, OTHER TECHNOLOGY, UM, DISCIPLINES THAT, UH, THAT DO THE, UH, THE, THE MORE BLUE COLLAR LABOR THAT'S NEEDED AT, UH, AT THESE REACTORS AS WELL.
SO, UH, UH, WITH, WITH, WITH THE END OF THIS, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO DO IS, UH, IS WHY TEXAS, WHY NOW? UH, WE HAVE TO CAPITALIZE ON THIS NOW.
SO THE REPORT, UM, HAS SQUARELY PUT, UM, UH, ON THE LEGISLATURE, UH, A REQUEST TO LEAD.
UH, THE GOVERNOR HAS ASKED THEM WITH THIS REPORT TO BE LEADERS IN THIS SPACE BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT, UM, THAT WE CAN
[01:00:01]
BE A LEADER, THAT WE HAVE THE, UH, THE INITIAL, UM, UH, ECOSYSTEMS, UH, FOR SUCCESS IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN.AND, UH, WHAT WE HAVE IS, UH, THE GROWING NEED FOR, UH, DISPATCHABLE RESOURCES IN THE STATE.
WE NEED, UH, IMPROVED GRID RELIABILITY WITH DISPATCHABLE RESOURCES.
UH, WE DID A STUDY, UH, THE BUREAU OF BUSINESS RESEARCH AT UT, UH, DID A STUDY FOR US THAT, UH, SHOWS THESE FIGURES.
UM, WE COULD BE CREATING A HUNDRED, ALMOST 150,000 NEW EMPLOYEES, $50 BILLION IN NEW ECONOMIC OUTPUT, AND $27 BILLION IN NEW INCOME FOR TEXAS WORKERS IF WE DO THIS CORRECTLY.
UH, AND, AND, UH, YOU KNOW, THE FIRST IN THE NATION ADVANTAGE IS WE REALLY WANNA PROMOTE THAT.
WE ARE A CAN-DO STATE, UH, WE WILL NOT, UH, STOP WORKING ON THESE PROJECTS UNTIL THEY'RE DONE.
AND THEN FINALLY, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS SEND A SIGNAL THAT THE STATE, UH, WITH MAJOR POLITICAL AND FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS, UH, TO NEW A ANDRS WILL ADVANCE NUCLEAR RESOURCES, WILL SHOW THE COMMITMENT GOING FORWARD THAT WE WANT THESE RESOURCES, UM, AND THAT THERE'LL BE A, A LARGE PART OF OUR STATE GOING FORWARD.
WE'RE CAN-DO STATE, WE'RE GONNA CAPITALIZE ON THE EXISTING FABRICATION, AND WE HAVE A WORKFORCE THAT, UH, THAT CAN START IMMEDIATELY, BUT GROW WITH THE INDUSTRY GOING FORWARD.
SO WE, WE HAD, WE DID A LOT, UM, OVER 14 MONTHS.
UM, THERE'S A, A BIG BODY OF WORK THAT, UM, UH, IS ON OUR WEBSITE, UH, WITH MORE BEING ADDED, UM, YOU KNOW, OVER THE COMING WEEKS.
UM, BUT WE, THIS IS REALLY THE, THIS REPORT, UH, THIS IS A GOVERNMENT REPORT.
SO ULTIMATELY, WE'LL, IT WILL END UP ON THE SHELF, BUT WHAT WE HAVE TO DO IS WE HAVE TO TAKE THESE OPPORTUNITIES AND MAKE THEM GROW AND MAKE THEM BECOME REAL PROJECTS IN TEXAS.
I HAVE SAID, UH, FROM THE BEGINNING THAT IF WE DON'T CITE A NEW PROJECT IN TEXAS, WE HAVE FAILED.
HOW DO WE CITE THESE PROJECTS, GET THEM, UH, DEVELOPED, CONSTRUCTED, AND OPERATED FOR THE GOOD OF THE SYSTEM, SO, AND FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE IN THE STATE.
SO WITH THAT, UM, I THINK, UH, THERE MAY BE ONE MORE SLIDE HERE.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT, UH, IT IS JUST A, UH, QR CODE, UH, FOR THE REPORT.
UM, BUT THE COMMITMENT FROM THE INDUSTRY IS, UH, THANK YOU GOVERNOR ABBOTT FOR LEADING AND, UH, LET'S GET TO WORK.
SO WITH THAT, UM, HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, UH, OR COMMENTS.
YOU TOUCHED ON MARKET DESIGN, AND CAN YOU SAY A LITTLE BIT MORE, 'CAUSE THIS IS AN ITEM, OR THIS IS AN ISSUE THAT WE HEAR A LOT AT, AT ERCOT, THAT, THAT THE CURRENT MARKET DESIGN IS NOT FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF, OF, UH, NUCLEAR GENERATION JUST BECAUSE OF THE, THE WAY NUCLEAR TENDS TO WORK.
UM, HAVE YOU, HAVE YOU DONE ANY THINKING THERE AND, AND WHERE DO YOU THINK THAT NEEDS TO GO? WE, WE HAVE, WE, WE DID SOME, UM, SOME MODELING, UM, AND WE HAVE SOME ANALYSIS, UH, IN THE APPENDICES OF THE REPORT.
UM, AGAIN, WE DIDN'T WANT TO SET THIS ON THE LAP OF THE LEGISLATURE AND HAVE THAT DRIVE DOWN OR BOGGED DOWN ALL OF THE OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER MARKET DESIGN HAPPENS IN THIS SESSION OR NOT.
SO THE CHALLENGE THAT WE FACE IS, UH, IN THIS NUCLEAR SPACE IS NO DIFFERENT THAN THAT OF A, OF A GAS PLANT, UM, EXCEPT THAT IT'S AT AN ECONOMIES OF SCALE LARGER, UH, WITH THE, WITH THE EARLY REACTOR DESIGNS.
AND THAT IS HIGHER CAPITAL COSTS, UM, A MARGINAL OPERATING COST, UH, THAT'S COMPETING IN A VERY EFFICIENT MARKET WITH SUBSIDIZED RENEWABLE RESOURCES, UM, LOW DISPATCHABLE COST BATTERIES.
UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, IF YOU LOOK AT THE MARKET, UM, THAT, YOU KNOW, AND, AND WE LET THE MARKET FUNCTION, IT WOULD, IT, THESE PLANTS WOULD NOT COME TO THE STATE.
SO IS THERE SOMETHING THAT WE CAN DO, UH, AGAIN, A DISPATCHABLE ENERGY CREDIT, IS IT A NUCLEAR ENERGY CREDIT? UM, IS IT, UM, A FIRMING REQUIREMENT? UM, WHAT, WHAT IS THAT? AND, AND WE HAVE LOOKED AT THEM.
UH, THERE ARE SOME COMPONENTS, UH, OF OUR ANALYSIS IN THE REPORT, IN THE REPORT APPENDICES, UM, IT, THE, AGAIN, WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY A SECOND AGO WAS THAT THE TEXAS NUCLEAR ENERGY FUND, IF THE LEGISLATURE DOES THAT, THAT'S REDUCING THE RISK OF THE CAPITAL SIDE OF THE
[01:05:01]
EQUATION.IF WE FIX THE MARKET DESIGN SIDE OF THE EQUATION, WHICH IS THE REVENUE SIDE, THEN THE CAPITAL SIDE WILL FIX ITSELF.
IT, BUT IN THE ABSENCE OF FIXING THE MARKET DESIGN, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS REDUCE THE RISK OF THESE PROJECTS BY HAVING THE STATE PLAY A ROLE IN THIS.
AND IF WE CAN DO BOTH, UH, WE'RE GONNA BE HUGELY SUCCESSFUL IN THIS SPACE, I WOULD EXPECT US TO DO BOTH AT SOME POINT IN TIME.
UM, WE'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO SEE WHAT THE APPETITE AT THE LEGISLATURE IS.
I THINK PERSONALLY, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO DO BOTH.
AND, AND I, AND I SUSPECT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PROVIDE SOME FRAMEWORK OR GUIDANCE FOR THE LEGISLATURE TO THINK AROUND IN, IN, IN WAYS THAT WOULD GIVE THEM SOME, AT LEAST A STARTING POINT ON, ON A DISCUSSION HERE.
YEAH, I, I TOTALLY AGREE THAT WE NEED TO DO BOTH SIDES.
THANK, THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER.
THAT WAS EXTREMELY HELPFUL, AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP ON THIS.
[6.1 Projects and Technology Update]
6.1 PROJECTS AND TECHNOLOGY.I HAVE A COUPLE OF SLIDE DECKS.
SO THE FIRST ONE IS THE, UH, ROUTINE, UM, PROJECTS AND TECHNOLOGY UPDATE.
UM, SO AT THIS POINT, WE HAVE ABOUT 38 PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE WORKED ON THIS SO YEAR SO FAR.
AND WE HAVE COMPLETED 37 PROJECTS.
SO, UH, AND WE HAVE MAINTAINED CLOSE TO THIS AVERAGE OF 60 PROJECTS THAT WE ARE ACTIVE AT ANY POINT IN TIME.
SO, UM, WE'VE BEEN MAINTAINING THAT TRACK AND WE ARE LARGELY ON TRACK ON MOST OF THESE PROJECTS.
SO WE HAD A GOOD IN HEALTHY INTAKE OF PROJECTS AND A GOOD, UM, HEALTHY DELIVERY OF PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
UM, AND THE NEXT SLIDE, I'M SHOWING WHAT I'M, UH, USUALLY SHOWING THE UPDATE ON OUR LABOR ACTUALS AS WELL AS THE FORECAST FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR.
AND WE ARE NOT EXPECTING ANY, UH, LABOR ISSUES AS WE HEAD INTO A VERY SIGNIFICANT YEAR FOR PROJECT DELIVERY.
UH, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE IS AN EXPECTED SLOW DOWN OF LABOR HOURS OVER THE HOLIDAYS, WHICH MAKES SENSE.
BUT IN GENERAL, UM, WE SEEM TO BE, OKAY.
J JP, CAN I INTERRUPT HERE AND ASK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT HOW'S THE RECRUITING GOING AGAINST THE HIRING PLAN? UM, ON THE IT SIDE? UM, I THINK WE ARE OKAY.
WE MEAN WE DON'T HAVE A SIGNIFICANT GAPS.
WE HAVE A FEW OPENINGS THAT COME UP WHEN PEOPLE LEAVE, BUT, UM, BUT AS FAR AS DELIVERING ON THE PROJECTS ARE CONCERNED, WE ARE OKAY BETWEEN, UM, THE HEADCOUNT WE HAVE OR TEMPORARY CONTRACTORS THAT WE NEED TO HIRE.
SO FOR THE PROJECTS THAT WE HAVE, UH, WE GOOD, ESPECIALLY RTC FOR EXAMPLE.
I, I, I HAVE A QUESTION ON THIS ONE TOO.
I NOTICE THAT THE INTERNAL LABOR DEVOTED TO REGULATORY BECOMES MUCH LARGER NEXT YEAR.
UM, WHAT, WHAT'S, WHAT'S THE CAUSE OF THAT? WHAT, WHAT THAT, THAT, THAT IS RTC.
AND, UM, UM, OVER THE YEAR, AS YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED, AS I PRESENT RIGHT, THE BLUE, WHICH IS THE TECH HEALTH, RIGHT? AS WE, UH, COME ACROSS, UH, THINGS THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED BECAUSE THEY ARE REACHING END OF LIFE OR, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT, WE TEND TO ADD THAT OVER TIME.
AND, AND, AND SO THAT'S NOT REFLECTED HERE, BUT DURING A ROAD MAPPING PROCESS, WHEN THEY BECOME PROJECT, THAT BLUE TENDS TO RISE OVER THE YEAR.
OKAY? BUT THE BIG BUMP THAT YOU SEE IS RTC, AND WE HAVE TO FACTOR THAT IN WHEN WE LOOK AT THE END OF LIFE AND SEE IF THINGS CAN GO EITHER BEFORE RTC OR AFTER RTC.
BUT THE RESOURCE LOAD IS A BIG CONSTRAINT THAT WE, UH, FACTOR IN AS WE START AND START PROJECTS, UM, AND, UH, FOR THE RELEASES THIS CYCLE.
UM, AND, AND I TYPICALLY TEND TO SHOW MARKET FACING RELEASES.
THERE ARE OBVIOUSLY MORE THINGS THAT HAPPEN, BUT I SHOULD, I TEND TO SHOW MARKET FACING ONES HERE.
UH, AND THE BIG ONE THAT I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT IS THE TEXAS SET, UM, AND I'VE TALKED ABOUT BEFORE IN THIS FORUM, BUT I'M GLAD TO REPORT, UH, SMOOTH CUTOVER AND THAT INCLUDED OVER A HUNDRED, UH, MARKET PARTICIPANTS, PARTICULARLY 135 COMPETITIVE RETAILERS, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, AND I WANT TO EXPRESS MY THANKS AND CONGRATULATIONS TO THE AIRCO TEAM AND THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS FOR A SMOOTH CUTOVER.
KEPT IT SHORT GIVEN, UH, MULTIPLE SPEAKERS TODAY.
[01:10:01]
AND, UH, WITH YOUR PERMISSION,[6.2 Real-Time Co-Optimization Implementation Update]
JOHN, MAYBE I GO TO THE RTC YOU ON? YEP.ANY QUESTIONS FOR, SO AS YOU RECALL, I'VE DONE THIS SLIDE BEFORE.
UM, THIS SHOWS THE CONSTITUENT PROJECTS THAT MAKE UP RTC.
SO IT'S THREE CONSTITUENT PROJECTS AND A MASTER CONTROLLING PROGRAM PROJECT.
NOW, UM, TODAY, ALL OF THESE PROJECTS HAVE GATED INTO EXECUTION, UH, AND THAT, THAT PARTIC PARTICULARLY MEANS IS THAT WE ARE PAST THE REQUIREMENTS AND DESIGN OF THE PROJECT, AND WE ARE BUSY IMPLEMENTING THE REQUIRED CHANGES.
SO WE ARE ACTIVELY INTO IMPLEMENTATION.
SO NOW THAT WE ARE PAST OR DESIGN, I CAN SHARE SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXECUTION PLAN.
AND, UM, AND THE LAST TIME I WAS HERE, WE WERE AT LEAST ABLE TO ESTABLISH THE GO LIVE DATE, AND THAT WAS A BIG THING LAST TIME.
AND NOW WE CAN ALSO START COMPUTING THE COST OF THE PROJECT.
SO, SO WE HAD A BUDGET OF 49.9, AND AT THIS POINT, WE ARE ABLE TO ESTIMATE THAT OUR ESTIMATE COST AT COMPLETION IS ABOUT 34.6 MILLION.
OKAY? UM, AND YOU CAN ALSO SEE FROM A SPEND PERSPECTIVE THAT YOU'RE ONE THIRD OF THE WAY THERE.
NOW, IT'S WORTH SPENDING A FEW MINUTES ON WHY WE HAVE THE UNDERRUN FROM OUR BUDGET, AND I'LL TALK ABOUT THAT MORE ON MY NEXT SLIDE.
UM, AND THE FIRST PART, UM, OF IT IS FAIRLY INTUITIVE, RIGHT? I MEAN, WE HAD ORIGINALLY SPECULATED OUR PROJECT WILL GO LIVE IN THE MID OF MID OF 2026, AND WE HAVE SIGNIFICANTLY ACCELERATED THE PROJECT LAST YEAR, UH, WITH THE GO LIVE OF END OF NEXT YEAR, 12 FIVE TO BE PRECISE.
AND THAT IS A SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR TO LABOR SAVING ALONE, RIGHT? ABOUT $8 MILLION OF LABOR SAVING AND, AND A KEY REASON WHY WE ARE ABLE TO ACCELERATE THIS PROJECT, RIGHT? I MEAN, I KNOW EVERY TIME I'VE TALKED ABOUT WE'LL ACCELERATE, BUT, UH, I GUESS GOOD NEWS, DON'T GET MORE QUESTIONS, BUT I THOUGHT, UH, WE'LL SPEND SOME MORE TIME TALKING ABOUT THAT.
SO, UM, I THINK OUR MAIN REASON FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, WHY YOU'RE ABLE TO ACCELERATE THIS PROJECT IS THE DESIGNATION OF THIS PROJECT AND ONLY THIS PROJECT AS NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.
AND, AND THAT HELPS BECAUSE WHEN THEY, WHEN YOU HAVE A CONFLICT WITH THE RESOURCES OR WHATEVER, YOU CAN SAY, HEY, THIS PROJECT WINS.
AND, AND THAT'S SOMETHING, UH, SIGNIFICANT THAT HELPS US WITH SCHEDULE WITH, UH, RESOURCES OR, AND, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT.
THE SECOND REASON I WOULD SAY IS THAT WE HAD A CLEAR SCOPE GIVEN TO US WITH THE RTC PLUS B TASK FORCE THAT, UH, MAT, UM, AND, AND THAT CLEAR INPUT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR US AS WE DEVELOP DETAILED REQUIREMENTS INTERNALLY.
AND YOU COULD SEE THAT WHEN, UM, UH, WE WERE ABLE TO TURN AROUND SOME OF THOSE REQUIREMENTS AHEAD OF OUR OWN TARGET, AND WE, WE, WE HAD STRETCH GOALS AROUND THAT, AND WE MET THOSE STRETCH GOALS.
SO THAT IS A GOOD SIGN THAT, HEY, WE ARE UNDERSTANDING THESE REQUIREMENTS, YOU'RE ABLE TO EXPAND ON THEM, GIVE CLEAR INTERNAL REQUIREMENTS, UM, SO YOU COULD SEE THE SIGNS OF THAT EARLY, EARLY THIS YEAR ITSELF.
UM, LAST POINT I WOULD MAKE IS THAT, UM, BECAUSE WE HAVE HAD TIMELY RELEASES WITH THE VENDOR OVER TIME, I THINK WE FEEL MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT THAT.
UM, WE HAVE, WE FEEL LOWER RISK ABOUT THAT AS WELL COMPARED TO WHERE WE STARTED.
UM, ANOTHER REASON THAT I WANT TO ALSO ADD IS THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, WE KEEP SAYING THAT WE ARE NOT DONE MAJOR MARKET CHANGES OF THIS SCALE SINCE
I MEAN, ANDRUS, RIGHT? I MEAN, IF I GO AND SAY, HEY, WE CAN DELIVER THIS EARLY.
I MEAN, I NEED TO HAVE A BACKGROUND OF THAT TRUST, AND SOME OF THESE DELIVERIES HAVE, HAVE HELPED ESTABLISH THAT.
UM, AND ALSO THE FACT THAT, UM, WE ARE, WE WERE ABLE TO RETAIN THE TEAM THAT DELIVERED ALL THIS F-F-R-A-E-C-R AND CMS, THAT TEAM IS INTACT.
AND, AND, YOU KNOW, SO WE ARE NOT, LIKE WE ARE HAVE A WHOLE SET OF NEW RESOURCES, LEARNING NEW THINGS, LEARNING NEW MISTAKES.
SO I THINK THAT'S ALSO HELPED.
SO NOW THERE ARE OTHER SOURCES OF SAVING AS WELL.
UH, FOR EXAMPLE, HARDWARE, UH, WE HAVE WITHOUT, WITH THIS CYCLE OF DATA CENTER UPGRADE SHIFTED FROM EXPENSIVE HARDWARE TO, UH, CHEAPER HARDWARE.
AND, AND, AND THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT COST SAVING.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT IN PROJECTS THAT WE ARE DOING.
UM, ONE OTHER THING THAT, UM, IS UNIQUE HERE IS BECAUSE OF THE TIMING, SINCE WE'RE ABLE TO FIT THIS PROJECT EXACTLY BETWEEN DATA CENTER UPGRADES, UH, THE BENEFIT TO THE PROJECT
[01:15:01]
IS THAT, UM, WHEN THE PROJECT IS DONE AND WHATEVER HARDWARE THE PROJECT AND RETURN, WE ARE ABLE TO GIVE CREDIT FOR IT BECAUSE WE CAN'T USE THAT HARDWARE IN OTHER PROJECTS.SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT, YOU KNOW, YOU DON'T FACTOR IN TIMING ON WHEN YOU PUT THE THING IN LIKE A BUDGET, BUT BECAUSE THIS TIMING WAS SO GOOD AND RIGHT, WE COULD FIT IT IN, WE COULD GIVE THAT CREDIT.
AND, AND THAT'S A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THIS AS WELL.
UM, IF IT HAD CROSSED OVER A DATA CENTER, THEN THAT HARDWARE WOULD BE OBSOLETE AND THERE WILL BE NO CREDIT.
SO, SO THAT'S WHAT IT'S, UH, WE ALSO HAVE IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE YEARS WITH OUR SOFTWARE LICENSING MODEL, WHERE SOME OF OUR EXPENSIVE SOFTWARE WE HAVE, UH, WHAT CALL PERMANENT AND UNLIMITED LICENSE.
SO THAT'S A SAVING NOW FOR PROJECTS LIKE THIS BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER HAVE TO BEAR THOSE KIND OF LICENSE CHARGES.
AND LASTLY, WE ARE ALSO OPTIMIZE THE NUMBER OF ENVIRONMENTS THAT WE NEED COMPARED TO OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET THINKING THESE ARE THE ENVIRONMENTS WE NEED.
SO ALL IN ALL, ALL OF THEM FACTORED IN TO THIS UNDERRUN.
UM, LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OF THIS.
YEAH, JP, ONE, ONE QUESTION IS, UH, DOES THIS INCLUDE THE ADJUSTMENTS THAT THE IMM, UH, HAS ASKED FOR? SO, SO THE WAY WE HAVE ADJUSTED IS THAT, UM, IN OUR ORIGINAL DESIGN, UM, IF THERE ARE PARAMETER CHANGES THAT NEEDS TO BE HAPPENING HAPPENING, RIGHT, THE, THE SHAPE OF THE CURVE, RIGHT? THOSE ADJUSTMENTS ARE FACTORED IN BECAUSE THOSE ARE ALREADY DESIGNED IN THE SOFTWARE.
SO THEY'RE ONLY PARAMETER CHANGES.
BUT IF YOU'RE TALKING OF, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THESE TWO MEETINGS AWAY, RIGHT? IF YOU WANT TO ADDRESS ALL THOSE THINGS ABOUT NESTED CURVES AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT'S A WHOLE DIFFERENT GAME, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE NOT CONSIDERED THOSE, BUT ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE SHAPE OF THE CURVE, YES.
AND, UM, A NO, MATT, IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING MORE TO THAT, BUT, BUT, BUT FOR ME, YOU KNOW, THOSE KIND OF THINGS THAT ADD TO GOING BACK TO REQUIREMENTS AND REOPENING DESIGN ARE THE KIND OF RISKS THAT I FEEL THAT WE SHOULD, WE WILL HAVE.
SO I, I'VE SHOWN THIS SLIDE TOO, UM, BEFORE, AND I'LL START EXPANDING MORE ON THE EXECUTION PIECE OF IT.
BUT IN A WAY, UM, YOU KNOW, TO COLLEGE, TO YOUR QUESTION, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, UH, AS A MEASURE OF TIME, OKAY, WE ARE TWO BOARD MEETING SURVEY FROM ME COMING HERE AND SAYING THAT OUR DEVELOPMENT IS COMPLETE, THAT OUR UNIT TESTING IS COMPLETE, AND WE ARE INTO INTEGRATED TESTING.
WE ARE THAT CLOSE, RIGHT? TWO BOARD MEETING SURVEY, THINK ABOUT THAT.
SO HENCE, YOU KNOW, WE DON'T WANT TO GO BACK TO, IT LOOKS LIKE OKAY, WE ARE A YEAR AWAY FROM GO LIVE, BUT I'M REALLY TWO BOARD MEETINGS AWAY FROM COMPLETING DEVELOPMENT.
SO REALLY WE DON'T WANT TO GO INTO REOPENING REQUIREMENTS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
WE, WE ARE FAR BETTER OFF JUST GOING LIVE AND MAKING CHANGES ON TOP OF THAT.
OKAY? UM, SO, UM, YOU AND I'VE INDICATED PREVIOUSLY THAT WE HAVE A FEW DELIVERY FROM THE VENDOR WITH THE, UM, WITH THE SAME WITH THE DAY HEAD MARKET CHANGES, WITH THE ROCK CHANGES.
WE HAVE A PRELIMINARY RELEASE OF SCARED THAT WE ARE USING TO TEST OUR INTEGRATION.
SO, AND ALL THAT IS WHAT I SAID IS, YOU KNOW, BOOSTING OUR CONFIDENCE AS WELL.
UM, AND, AND I'LL TALK MORE, I I'LL NOW, YOU KNOW, NEXT, NEXT BOARD MEETINGS ON WAS FOCUS ON MORE ON THE EXECUTION PHASE, BUT IT'S THE LAST I WANT TO SHOW THIS PROJECT FROM BEGINNING TO END, UM,
UM, I HAD RETURN IN MY SLIDE ON BEFORE I COULD SHOW THAT'S COMPLETE, BUT ALL THE MILESTONES THAT WE HAVE PREVIOUSLY INDICATED, WE HAVE HIT THEM AND, UH, WE ARE COMPLETE.
AND ALONG THE SAME LINES, UM, THESE ARE THE MAJOR MILESTONES FOR NEXT YEAR, OKAY? ALL THE WAY TO OUR GO LIVE ON 12 FIVE.
UM, AND EVERY MEETING THAT I COME HERE, UM, I WILL INDICATE WHERE WE ARE ON EACH OF THOSE MILESTONES BECAUSE, UM, THE, HOW WE GO LIVE AT THE END IS NOT WHAT HAPPENS AT THE END, BUT WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE JOURNEY.
SO I'LL BE TALKING ABOUT THAT, UH, THROUGHOUT THE YEAR.
JP, ON THIS SLIDE, JUST TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE WAY YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE JOURNEY ARE, COULD THESE BE COLOR CODED, LIKE GREEN, YELLOW, RED? WHERE DO YOU SEE THE MOST RISK? WHAT SHOULD WE, OKAY, I'LL DO THAT SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON WHAT DATES.
I MEAN, THE ONLY RISK I'VE REALLY HIGHLIGHTED IT SO FAR AT THIS FORUM IS THAT, YOU KNOW, WE ARE GOING LIVE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH MARKET PARTICIPANTS.
IT'S NOT REALLY AN INTERNAL PROJECT, RIGHT? SO IF I GO BACK TO MY FIRST SLIDE HERE, THE,
[01:20:01]
OUR BIGGEST RISK IS THAT NOT ONLY ARE WE GOING LIVE WITH AIR CARD SYSTEMS, BUT ALL THESE MARKET PARTICIPANT SYSTEMS ARE GOING LIVE WITH US, RIGHT? AND, AND IT'S NOT ENOUGH THAT, SO, SO IF I COME HERE AND SAY, HEY, GOOD NEWS, I'M READY TO GO LIVE IN JULY, DOESN'T HELP, RIGHT? BECAUSE EVERYBODY HAS TO GO LIVE.OKAY? UM, SO THAT'S PROBABLY I, IN MY MIND, OUR MIND OUR BIGGEST RISK.
UM, BUT WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, OTHER RISKS AND, AND I'LL PROBABLY HIGHLIGHT IT.
LIKE ONE, ONE OTHER THING THAT COMES TO MY MIND IS THAT, UM, BECAUSE IT'S A NEW OPTIMIZATION, I DON'T KNOW HOW THOSE PERFORMANCE NUMBERS LOOK LIKE, RIGHT? BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A SYSTEM WITH THAT, BUT WE'LL KNOW IT ONLY AFTER WE BUILD IT, BUT IT'S AN EXAMPLE OF RISK.
SO I'LL CALL OUT THINGS LIKE THAT SO THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT BETTER.
UM, OKAY, SO LAST POINT, AND THIS IS, I HIGHLIGHTED SOME OF THE MILESTONES IN BOLD AND THOSE TIE DIRECTLY TO OUR INTERNAL OKRS THAT WE ARE TRACKING.
UM, SO THOSE ARE A FEW OR FIVE OF THEM THAT I'M HIGHLIGHTING.
UM, SO THE FIRST ONE, UM, RELATES TO OUR OPERATING DATE TEST, AND IT INCLUDES SOME OF OUR CORE SYSTEMS. AND, UM, AND THIS JUST SAYS THAT WE WILL DO AN OPERATING TEST WITH THESE CORE SYSTEMS INTEGRATED.
OKAY? SO, AND, UH, WE HAVE A, UH, WE, WE HAVE A TARGET DATE IN MID OF APRIL, AND WE HAVE A STRETCH GOAL TO HIT THIS IN MARCH.
SO THAT'LL BE OUR FIRST INDICATION OF HOW THINGS ARE GOING, BECAUSE NOW WE ARE BEYOND UNIT TESTING.
WE HAVE A SYSTEM PUT TOGETHER AT LEAST THE CORE SYSTEMS. OKAY? UH, THE NEXT ONE IS OPENING TO MARKET TRIALS.
AND THIS IS SIMILAR TO GO LIVE, THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, EVEN IF YOU'RE EARLY, IT'S RELATES TO THE MARKET.
SO THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A STRETCH DATE.
SO THAT DATE IS MAY 5TH, AND THAT'S THE DAY WE WILL OPEN FOR MARKET TRIALS FOR QSC TESTING.
SO ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT, UH, MILESTONE.
THEN THE NEXT ONE IS WHERE WE HAVE AN OPERATING DATE TEST, BUT NOW WE HAVE ALL SYSTEMS. WE ARE NOT EXCLUDING ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR SOME MINOR REPORTS THAT ARE NEEDED, YOU KNOW, LATER OR SOME DASHBOARDS THAT DON'T IMPACT OUR PROJECT.
UM, AND THAT OUR TARGET IS AUGUST.
UM, AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, A MORE OBVIOUS STRETCH GOAL IS OUR MORE OBVIOUS KR IS, UH, A SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF A CLOSED LOOP TEST, BECAUSE THAT'S WHEN WE KNOW, OKAY, WE ARE READY TO GO LIVE.
NOW WE ARE SERIOUS ABOUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO GO LIVE CONVERSATION, AND WE ARE PAST OUR TESTING, UM, AND WE ARE CONFIDENT ABOUT HOW THINGS WORK AND WHAT THE BEHAVIOR IS GOING TO BE.
AND NOW IT'S MORE ABOUT HOW DO WE SUCCESSFULLY CUT OVER FROM OUR SYSTEM TO THIS SYSTEM WITH TAKING EVERYBODY INTO MIND.
AND THAT WOULD BE PROBABLY THE MORE SIGNIFICANT CONVERSATION IN THIS PERIOD.
AND OBVIOUSLY, THE LAST MILESTONE IS THE ACTUAL GO LIVE AND A FAIRLY OBVIOUS MILESTONE.
AND WE ALSO WANT TO, WE HAVE SOME CRITERIA FOR COST AND QUALITY, AND WE FACTOR IN THE NEW COST THAT WE HAVE, UH, WITH THE, UM, UH, ESTIMATED COMPLETION, UM, AS WELL AS, UH, QUALITY MILESTONES.
OKAY? SO LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON, ON THIS.
[6.3 Grid Transformation Update]
I'LL HAND OVER TO ETT ANY QUESTIONS? OKAY.AND, UH, HAPPY TO BE BACK HERE, UH, GIVING AN UPDATE ON THE PROGRESS OF THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES, UH, WITH YOUR SUPPORT.
WE HAVE STARTED THIS JOURNEY ABOUT A YEAR AGO, THE WHOLE GREAT TRANSFORMATION FUNCTION AND, AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO I WANTED TO GO BACK AND PROVIDE A GLIMPSE OF WHAT WERE THE BROAD THEMES THAT WE WERE LOOKING AT, UH, WHEN WE STARTED THIS JOURNEY.
UH, SOME OF THEM WERE THE, THE GROWTH OF ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES.
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THAT? THE GROWTH OF DISTRIBUTED ENERGY GENERATION, UH, WITHIN THE REGION.
HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THAT? UH, HOW DO WE LEVERAGE THE DEMAND FLEXIBILITY THAT EXISTS WITHIN THE SYSTEM? UH, HOW DO WE LEVERAGE THE, UH, THE SMART METADATA THAT WE HAVE, UH, YOU KNOW, WITHIN THE REGION? HOW DO WE DEAL WITH THIS DYNAMIC, UH, YOU KNOW, LOAD, UH, PERFORMANCE? HOW DO WE DEVELOP TECHNIQUES TO RUN ROBUST SECURITY CONSTRAINED OPTIMIZATIONS, WHICH ARE SORT OF THE BREAD AND BUTTER OF AN ORGANIZATION LIKE TECH, LIKE
[01:25:01]
SO THESE WERE SORT OF OUR BROAD THEMES THAT WE STARTED WITH, UH, TO FOCUS WHEN WE STARTED THIS JOURNEY, UH, A YEAR FROM NOW, AS YOU ALL KNOW, UH, WE HAVE MOVED, MOVED ON FROM THOSE BROAD THEMES INTO MUCH MORE SPECIFIC INITIATIVES.AND LET ME, UH, UH, LET ME, UH, PROVIDE, UH, SOME INPUT ON HOW THIS, UH, SLIDE IS LAID OUT.
UH, IF YOU NOTICE THE FIRST COLUMN, WHICH IS TITLE GRID TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES, THESE ARE THESE SPECIFIC INITIATIVES THAT WE IDENTIFIED.
THE SECOND COLUMN IS ALL ABOUT MODALITY, WHAT WE WILL DELIVER AS PART OF THIS PARTICULAR INITIATIVE.
SO THAT RANGES FROM PROOF OF CONCEPT TO WHITE PAPERS.
AND, UH, THE THIRD AND THE FOURTH COLUMNS ARE ESSENTIALLY THE TIMELINE, UH, 24 AND 25 SPLIT INTO VARIOUS QUARTERS.
UH, THE THING THAT I WANT THIS COMMITTEE AND THE BOARD MEMBERS AND THE COMMISSIONERS TO FOCUS ON TODAY ARE THE THINGS THAT I'VE HIGHLIGHTED IN GREEN.
THESE ARE THE FOUR, UH, INITIATIVES THAT HAD A DEADLINE OF FINISHING BY END OF THIS YEAR.
AND I'M HAPPY TO REPORT TO THIS COMMITTEE THAT, UH, UH, WE ARE DOING GREAT.
AND, UH, WE'LL PROBABLY WRAP UP THESE, THESE FOUR INITIATIVES WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.
UM, OUT OF THOSE, UH, IF YOU NOTICE, B ONE IS A PROOF OF CONCEPT.
THAT PROOF OF CONCEPT IS ACTUALLY COMPLETE.
AND, UH, IT HAS MIGRATED AWAY FROM A POC INTO A PROPER PROJECT AND IS GOING THROUGH THE GATING PROCESS AT ERCOT.
AND, UH, OUT OF THAT PARTICULAR BODY OF WORK, THERE IS ALSO A PUBLICATION, UH, THAT'S, UH, GONNA COME OUT AND WE HAVE SUBMITTED TO IP, UM, UH, FOR THEIR ACCEPTANCE.
AND, UH, ON THE OTHER THREE, WHICH ARE WHITE PAPERS, UH, A ONE, C ONE AND C TWO HAVE GONE THROUGH MULTIPLE REVIEWS, UH, UH, WITHIN THE SMES IN THE ORGANIZATION.
AND WE ARE DOING SOME FINAL CHECKS AND, UH, FINAL REVIEWS BEFORE WE POST THE, THE WHITE PAPERS INTERNALLY.
GOING ONTO THE NEXT SLIDE, IT'S THE SAME STORY WITH, UH, THESE INITIATIVES AS WELL.
IF YOU FOCUS ON THE GREEN ONES, UH, WHICH HAVE THE DUE OF END OF THIS YEAR, UH, E THREE, F TWO, G ONE, AND I TWO, ALL FOUR OF THEM ARE TRAINING REALLY NICELY.
ALL THESE ARE WHITE PAPERS, AND THESE WHITE PAPERS HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, REVIEWED MULTIPLE TIMES BY THE SMES.
AND WE ARE DOING SOME FINE TUNING AND, AND FINAL CHECKS BEFORE WE PUBLISH THESE WHITE PAPERS INTERNALLY.
SO, GOOD, GOOD, UH, UH, GOOD PROGRESS ON ALL THE EIGHT DISTINCT THINGS THAT WE WANTED TO DO, UH, BY THE END OF THIS YEAR.
HEY, VANCAT, CAN I INTERRUPT FOR A SECOND? CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PLAN FOR HOW WE PLAN TO POST THESE BOTH INTERNALLY AND THE PLANNING AROUND SOME OF OUR EXTERNAL POSTING STRATEGIES? SURE.
PABLO, I THINK TWO SLIDES DOWN.
MAYBE I'LL, I'LL TALK ABOUT IT AT THAT TIME.
ALRIGHT, SO CAN I, CAN I ASK A FOLLOW UP QUESTION TOO? I MEAN SURE.
JOHN, YOU KNOW, PRODUCING WHITE PAPERS IS, IS A WONDERFUL THING, BUT WHAT NEXT? WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE, WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO WITH ALL THESE GOOD IDEAS? YOU MENTIONED, YOU MENTIONED THE UNCERTAINTY OF VARIABILITY.
MANAGEMENT'S GONNA TURN INTO A PROJECT WHICH MAY THEN COMPETE FOR RESOURCE WITH EVERYTHING ELSE THAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, DO THE REST OF THESE THINGS END UP GETTING TURNED INTO PROJECTS? YES.
OR WHAT, WHAT'S, WHAT'S THEIR LIFE? SAME THING, JOHN.
I WILL TOUCH ON THAT TWO SLIDES FROM NOW.
UM, OF COURSE, UH, THIS WAS A COLLECTIVE TEAM EFFORT WITH VARIOUS, YOU KNOW, TEAM MEMBERS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION.
AND I WANT TO TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY THANK ALL OF THEM.
AND, UH, THIS WAS REALLY DONE IN A, A MATRIX SORT OF AN ORGANIZATION, UH, WITH, UH, FOLKS FROM DIFFERENT GROUPS WITHIN THE ORG.
SO, UH, WITH FROM GRID OPERATIONS, WE HAD FRED WONG, JEFF BIELLO, JIMMY JANG, LUKE BUTLER, IKA, MARGO KHAN, SNA SHI, AND MADAM, UH, FROM ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE, WE HAD FU UH, FROM COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS, WE HAD TI KENNETH RAGSDALE, DAVE MAGGIO, GORDON DRAKE, AND FROM GREEK PLANNING AND WEATHERIZATION TEAM, WE HAD BILL BLEVINS, JOSE BU, SUN, K ISH, MOAS, AND, UH, ARI HUSSEIN.
AND, UH, I WANT TO RESERVE SOME SPECIAL THANKS TO, UH, PRASHANT K, WHO JOINED GREAT TRANSFORMATION GROUP THREE MONTHS OR SO AGO.
AND, UH, HE'S BEEN HELPING ME BIG TIME ON NOT ONLY THE TECHNICAL THINGS, BUT ALSO ON THE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT THINGS.
AND THAT'S RELIEVED A LOT OF BURDEN FROM MY SHOULDERS.
SO THE KEY POINT ON THIS SLIDE IS THIS REALLY WAS AN EFFORT BY SEVERAL FOLKS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION IN A VERY COLLABORATIVE WAY.
SO THANKS TO ALL OF THEM, UM, THE SPEAKER SERIES, UH, SOME OF YOU HAVE PARTICIPATED IN THE SPEAKER SERIES.
THANKS FOR THANKS FOR THAT ENGAGEMENT.
AND, UH, THIS WAS MORE OF SUSTAINING THE FOCUS ON, UH, GRID TRANSFORMATION WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
AND, UH, WE HAD SEVERAL OVER THE LAST, UH, FEW MONTHS, AND I WANTED TO HIGHLIGHT AN
[01:30:01]
UPCOMING ONE THAT IS HAPPENING ON DECEMBER 13TH WITH, UH, FLO FROM RTE IN FRANCE.AND, UH, TODAY I HAD A CHANCE TO LOOK AT THE SLIDE, SLIDE DECK SEEMS PRETTY INTERESTING, AND IN HOW FRANCE IS, UH, ADAPTING TO, UH, SOME OF THEIR, UH, NET ZERO GOALS.
AND SO THIS PARTICULAR TALK WILL BE ABOUT ENERGY PATHWAYS IN FRANCE AND ALL THE R AND D ACTIVITIES THAT ARE HAPPENING.
SO, SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT.
AND, UH, IF YOU HAVE, UH, IF YOU WANT MORE INFO ON THAT IN TERMS OF HOW TO LOG IN AND LISTEN TO THAT, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.
SO THIS IS SORT OF THE, THE MAIN, PROBABLY THE SLIDE WHERE, UH, SOME OF THE QUESTIONS THAT PABLO ASKED AND JOHN ASKED, UM, I, I WANT TO ADDRESS HERE.
SO THIS IS SORT OF MOVING AWAY FROM A VERY NARROW, GREAT TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES TO MUCH MORE BROADER RESEARCH INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATION WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION.
OKAY? AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE FIRST QUADRANT, IT'S ALL ABOUT ENGAGEMENT WITHIN THE RESEARCH AND INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM.
SO THIS IS ENGAGING WITH INDUSTRY CONSORTIUMS LIKE EPR, THE CITS OF THE WORLD, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE ENGAGED WITH THEM ON THINGS THAT MATTER TO US THAT ADD VALUE TO US, RIGHT? UH, IT'S ALSO ABOUT ENGAGING WITH ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS.
WE ALREADY HAVE SOME EXISTING ENGAGEMENTS WITH UNIVERSITIES.
NOW WE ARE TRYING TO EXPAND THOSE TO OTHERS, WHICH PROBABLY WILL HELP US WITH FIXING SOME OF THE, THE PROBLEMS THAT WE SEE AND THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT EXIST, RIGHT? AND WE ARE ALSO ENGAGED WITH DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY NATIONAL LABS BECAUSE THEY'RE WORKING ON SOME THINGS THAT DIRECTLY ALIGN WITH SOME OF THE OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE SEE AT ERCOT.
AND I ALSO HAVE A GREAT TRANSFORMATION QUARTERLY MEETING WHERE ALL THE SENIOR EXECUTIVES OF ERCOT, ALONG WITH THE KEY SMES WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION, WE ALL GET TOGETHER AND LOOK AT THESE INITIATIVES AND THINK ABOUT THE FUTURE INITIATIVES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WE ARE TRYING TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE IS ENGAGEMENT THAT IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM THAT IS EXTERNAL AND WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM THAT IS INTERNAL AS WELL.
SO THAT'S SORT OF THE, THE FIRST QUADRANT.
THE SECOND ONE IS FINDING HOME FOR ALL, ALL THIS WORK THAT IS HAPPENING.
UH, WE ARE CREATING A ONESTOP SHOP WITHIN ERCOT INTRANET WHERE ALL THE EMPLOYEES CAN GO AND THEN FIGURE OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH THESE INITIATIVES, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH RESEARCH, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH INNOVATION, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH OUR ENGAGEMENT WITH RI, WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH OUR ENGAGEMENT WITH CID.
SO WE WANNA CREATE A ONE-STOP SHOP WITHIN OUR INTRANET WHERE ALL THESE THINGS ARE HOSTED AND IT'S EASY FOR OUR EMPLOYEES TO GET ACCESS TO.
AND WE WANNA DO SOMETHING VERY SIMILAR ON THE EXTERNAL SIDE.
THIS GOES BACK TO THE, THE QUESTION THAT PABLO ASKED, WHICH IS, WELL, WE HAVE ALL THESE WHITE PAPERS.
IS THERE A MECHANISM? IS THERE A PROCESS WITH WHICH WE KINDA MOVE THESE WHITE PAPERS FROM INTERNAL CONSUMPTION TO EXTERNAL CONSUMPTION? RIGHT? AND, UH, SO WE ARE CREATING AN EXTERNAL WEBSITE, UH, ON ERCOT.COM.
THERE'LL BE A SECTION ON ABOUT ERCOT WHERE, UH, WE WILL HAVE THREE DISTINCT THINGS THERE.
THE FIRST THING WOULD BE ABOUT HOW TO ENGAGE WITH ERCOT IF YOU WANT TO, IF YOU WANNA DO SOME PARTNERSHIP WITH US.
SO THERE'S A NEW PARTNERSHIP ENGAGEMENT, UH, UH, PAGE THAT WE ARE CREATING WHERE FOLKS CAN, YOU KNOW, ENTER A QUESTIONNAIRE, ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS, AND THEN IT GETS INTO A PIPELINE AND IT, IT STREAMLINES THE WAY DIFFERENT PEOPLE HIT US UP FOR SOME OF THESE ENGAGEMENTS.
SO WE ARE TRYING TO STREAMLINE THAT.
AND THERE WILL BE A SPECIFIC SITE ON
SO PABLO, I THINK THERE'S A PROCESS WHERE, UH, WE WILL, UH, HAVE AN APPROVAL PROCESS INTERNALLY, AND THEN AT THE, AT SOME CADENCE WE'LL POST THESE WHITE PAPERS FOR, UH, FOR EXTERNAL CONSUMPTION AS WELL.
AND MY INTENT AND THE TEAM'S INTENT HERE IS THE WHITE PAPERS THAT WE ARE WRITING ARE RELEVANT FOR THE BROADER GLOBAL POWER INDUSTRY, AND THAT OUR PAPERS WOULD BE CITED AND DIFFERENCE ACROSS MULTIPLE PUBLICATIONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WE THINK IT'LL BE VERY VALUABLE FOR THE INDUSTRY IN GENERAL, RIGHT? UH, AND THE THIRD COMPONENT OF THAT EXTERNAL WEBSITE WILL BE THE INNOVATION SUMMIT.
YOU KNOW, WE HAD A SEPARATE SITE FOR INNOVATION SUMMIT.
NOW IT'LL ALL BE UNDER THIS GRID RESEARCH INNOVATION TRANSFORMATION OR WHAT WE ARE CALLING AS GRID, UH, UNDER THAT UMBRELLA.
SO THAT'S SORT OF OUR, UH, FINDING HOME.
MOVING ON TO THE, THE THIRD, UH, QUADRANT HERE IN THIS SLIDE, IT'S ALL ABOUT COMMUNICATION INTERNALLY.
AND, UH, WE HAVE STARTED A SERIES OF MEETINGS CALLED, UH, RESEARCH
I'M RUNNING THAT EVERY TWO MONTHS WHERE KEY SMES WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION GET TOGETHER AND WE TALK ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE RESEARCH SPACE, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE INNOVATION SPACE WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION, EXTERNAL TO THE ORGANIZATION.
AND IT HAS TURNED INTO A VERY NICE SORT OF GATHERING OF ABOUT 40, 50 PEOPLE FROM THE ORG WHERE, YOU KNOW, FANTASTIC IDEAS ARE BEING DISCUSSED, IDEAS ARE BEING SHOWCASED, INNOVATION IS BEING SHOWCASED, AND WE'D LIKE TO CONTINUE THAT, YOU KNOW, GOING FORWARD AS WELL.
UH, AGAIN, HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE SOME OF THIS WORK THAT IS HAPPENING ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION? THERE'S A NEWSLETTER THAT'S GONNA COME OUT, THE FIRST OF WHICH WILL GO OUT THIS, UH, THIS MONTH.
UH, IT'LL BE A, YOU KNOW, A GREAT NEWSLETTER THAT YOU GO OUT.
SIMILARLY, UH, WE ARE WORKING ON A ANNUAL RESEARCH REPORT.
YES, WE HAVE ENGAGED WITH ALL THESE ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS.
WE ENGAGED WITH THESE EXTERNAL, UH, YOU KNOW, INDUSTRY CONSORTIUMS. AND WE WANT TO PUT ALL OF THAT INTO A RESEARCH REPORT, UH, THAT
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WE CAN SHARE PUBLICLY AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, WITH, UH, WITH THE FOLKS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN TERMS OF ALL THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE HAVE DONE THIS YEAR WITH THESE ENGAGEMENTS, RIGHT? AND, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THE SUCCESS THAT WE HAD WITH THE INNOVATION SUMMIT THIS YEAR, UH, WE ARE PLANNING TO HOST INNOVATION SUMMIT AGAIN NEXT YEAR.THE VENUE HAS BEEN, UH, YOU KNOW, UM, FIXED, THE DATE HAS BEEN FIXED.
SO PLEASE MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE, THE INNOVATION SUMMIT NEXT YEAR, MAY 6TH, 2025.
AND WHAT WE WANT TO DO DIFFERENT COMPARED TO THE SUMMIT THIS YEAR, IS MORE ABOUT LET'S SHOWCASE THE INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATION THAT IS HAPPENING WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION AS WELL AS, YOU KNOW, UH, WITHIN THE INDUSTRY.
IN ADDITION TO JUST TALKING ABOUT INNOVATION, WE WANT TO GIVE SOME DEMOS, WE WANNA SHOWCASE SOME ACTUAL WORK.
SO THAT WILL BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT WE WANT TO DO WITH, UH, THE SUMMIT NEXT YEAR.
AND TO ANSWER JOHN'S QUESTION ABOUT IMPLEMENTATION FOCUS, ULTIMATELY COMMUNICATION IS IMPORTANT.
ENGAGEMENT IS IMPORTANT, BUT ULTIMATELY WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
WE ACTUALLY HAVE TO IMPLEMENT THE IDEAS.
AND SO 2025 IS ALL GOING TO BE ABOUT TAKING THE IDEAS THAT EMANATED FROM THESE WHITE PAPERS AND ACTUALLY IMPLEMENTING THEM AS PROOF OF CONCEPTS.
COULD YOU EXPLAIN THAT TERM, PROOF OF CONCEPTS, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? IS THAT RESULT, DOES IT ULTIMATELY RESULT IN AN NPRR OR WHAT, WHAT, TELL US WHAT PROOF OF CONCEPT IS.
LET ME GIVE YOU A A AN EXAMPLE.
FOR EXAMPLE, YOU KNOW, WE TALKED ABOUT THE GROWTH OF ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES, AND WE NEED TO HAVE SOME SORT OF A STRATEGY AROUND THAT.
AND ONE OF THE, THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVE THAT WE HAVE IS HOW DO WE DO LOOK AHEAD COMMITMENT OF THESE BATTERIES? AND SO THE PROOF OF CONCEPT WOULD BE US DEVELOPING A, UH, A SOLUTION FOR THIS RELIABILITY UNIT COMMITMENT TOOL THAT WE HAVE.
IT'LL BE AN ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENT THAT WE WILL DO A PROOF OF CONCEPT TO SEE HOW THAT WORKS.
AND THEN ONCE THAT, YOU KNOW, ONCE WE KIND OF IMPLEMENT THAT WITHIN A SANDBOX OUT OF AN ENVIRONMENT AND WE SEE THE RESULTS, THEN IT ESSENTIALLY TRANSLATES INTO REQUIREMENTS FOR AN NPRR AND THAT WILL FOLLOW THE PROPER PROCESS AT THAT POINT.
AND SO, SIMILARLY FOR, UH, ANOTHER EXAMPLE, DISTRIBUTED GENERATION, WE'VE BEEN SAYING THAT, HEY, WE NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION ON WHAT'S OUT THERE IN THE DISTRIBUTED, UH, YOU KNOW, NETWORK.
AND AS A PROOF OF CONCEPT, WE ARE WORKING ON A TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM THAT WE WILL PROBABLY SPIN UP AND SEE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO WE TRANSACT WITH THESE, YOU KNOW, DISTRIBUTION PROVIDERS OR AGGREGATORS.
WE'LL DO THE PROOF OF CONCEPT, AND ONCE THAT IS WETTED, THEN IT'LL GO TO THE PROPER NPRR OR A OR AN SER KIND OF A PROCESS.
SO, SO I HAVE A A POINT, OKAY, SO I'M GONNA STEP BACK AND TAKE A PHILOSOPHICAL, THERE'S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESEARCH AND APPLIED RESEARCH.
AND SO WHEN YOU'RE COMMUNICATING, YOU REALLY HAVE TO APPLY IT TO WHAT IT IS YOU'RE TRYING TO IMPLEMENT.
AND YOU'RE VERY DETACHED IN THESE PRESENTATIONS.
THEY, IT SOUNDS LIKE AN RD ORGANIZATION, IT SOUNDS LIKE A UNIVERSITY.
I'M JUST GONNA ASSUME YOU JUST HAVEN'T MADE THE CONNECTIONS 'CAUSE I DON'T SEE 'EM CLEARLY THAT'S WHAT THE QUESTION IS ABOUT.
SO I THINK YOU REALLY DO HAVE TO TIE IT TO, YOU'RE DOING THIS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT AN ACTIVITY OR AN IMPLEMENTATION THAT'S HAPPENING AND YOU'RE NOT JUST DOING GENERAL IDEATION TO HELP THE INDUSTRY, WHICH IS VERY GENERIC, RIGHT? I THINK IT'S, I DON'T EXPECT YOU THE ANSWER NOW 'CAUSE YOU DIDN'T PREPARE A PRESENTATION TO DO THAT.
I'M SUGGESTING AT THE NEXT PRESENTATION SURE.
THAT YOU CHANGE THE DYNAMICS AND NOT START WITH WE'RE DOING ALL OF THIS ACTIVITY, EXPLAIN WHAT YOU'RE ENABLING WITH THIS ACTIVITY.
THIS CERTAINLY ALIGNS WITH THE BROADER STRATEGY THAT WE HAVE AS AN ORGANIZATION.
AND ALL THE 17 INITIATIVES THAT WE STARTED OUT ARE SOME THINGS THAT GO WITH THE THREE BROAD PILLARS THAT WE'VE IDENTIFIED FOR OUR OVERALL STRATEGY.
SO THERE IS ULTIMATELY VALUE THAT WILL GENERATE FROM THIS APPLIED RESEARCH THAT WE ARE PLANNING TO DO.
RIGHT? IF THERE IS NO ALIGNMENT, IF THERE IS NO VALUE PROPOSITION, THERE'S NO POINT IN SPENDING TIME OR MONEY WITH ANY OF THESE ENGAGEMENTS THAT WE WANT TO DO.
MAYBE NEXT TIME I'LL MAKE, I'LL MAKE IT CLEAR IN TERMS OF HOW THESE INITIATIVES ARE MAPPED TO THE, THE STRATEGY THAT WE HAVE.
RIGHT? ALRIGHT, SO THE, THE THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS, UH, PRESENTATION IS REALLY THE GRID TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES ARE PROGRESSING WELL, 2025 IS ALL ABOUT MOVING FROM SORT OF IDEAS TO MORE OF IMPLEMENTATION AND THEN WE'LL CONTINUE THE COMMUNICATION, THE COLLABORATION WITH INTERNAL EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS GOING FORWARD.
SO HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, ANYTHING WE GOT.
WELL, I I, I WOULD JUST LIKE TO ECHO LINDA'S COMMENTS.
WE HAVE OKRS THAT ARE SUPPORTING BOTH THE FLEXIBILITY AND THE CAPACITY, SO TO SPEAK, OF THE GRID THAT WE NEED.
THESE PROJECTS SHOULD FEED RIGHT INTO THOSE, WHICH I'M SURE THEY DO,
[01:40:01]
BUT IT, IF YOU COULD LIKE SHOW US IN 2025 WHAT MIGHT BE DELIVERED, UM, TO THE STAKEHOLDERS FOR CONSIDERATION, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S WHERE THE RUBBER KIND OF HITS THE ROAD, RIGHT? YEAH.AND, AND THAT, THAT'S A GREAT POINT.
I'M JUST MAKING SOME NOTES AROUND THAT AS WELL, THAT WE CAN SHOW THE CONNECTION OPPORTUNITY BETWEEN KIND OF THE OPERATIONAL REQUIREMENTS, THE OPERATIONAL NEEDS THAT THESE, UH, EFFORTS REPRESENT.
BUT ONE THING TO ALSO KEEP IN MIND, THIS IS A LITTLE, DOES HAVE A BIT OF A MORE FUTURE ORIENTED, UM, TIMETABLE, MEANING SOME OF, SOME OF THE PROGRESS IN THIS IS GOING TO BE GETTING TO A PROOF OF CONCEPT ON A NEW CONCEPT THAT THERE ISN'T MAINLINE TECHNOLOGY AVAILABLE TO DO.
AND THAT'S THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THIS GROUP IS TO BE LOOKING.
SO MAYBE SHOW US THAT VISION FOR EXACTLY THREE.
AND WE UNDERSTAND THAT I THINK IT'S, WE'RE LOOKING FOR THE ALIGNMENT EXACTLY.
WE CAN SHOW THAT ALIGNMENT MORE CLEARLY.
AND THEN THE PACE AND TIMELINE OF THE DELIVERY, I THINK WILL BE, UH, REFLECTIVE OF WHERE THE PRO, HOW FAR ALONG OR HOW MATURE THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE DOING RESEARCH INTO ARE.
AND I'LL ALSO SAY THAT WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO IS CATALYZE ACTIVITY OUTSIDE.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA DO ALL THE RESEARCH HERE.
WHAT YOU'RE TRYING TO DO IS INFLUENCE WHAT'S GOING ON OUTSIDE AND CATALYZE ACTIVITY.
SO AGAIN, DRAWING HOW YOU'RE GONNA DO, BECAUSE THE WAY IT'S PRESENTED MM-HMM,
THE WAY IT'S BEING PRESENTED IS WE'RE DOING THIS WORK AND WE'RE JUST POSTING IT AND OTHERS CAN BENEFIT FROM, IT'S NOT REALLY EXPLAINING HOW IT'S GOING TO INFLUENCE EXTERNALLY SO THAT WE GET WHAT WE NEED HERE IN ERCOT.
SO I HOPE THIS SOUNDS ENCOURAGING WITH OUR COMMENT.
[7. Future Agenda Items]
LAST ITEM IN THE GENERAL SESSION IS FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS. ARE THERE ANY TOPICS THAT, UH, BOARD MEMBERS WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST? I HAVE A SUGGESTION, YOU KNOW, UP HERE, UH, ITEM, I GUESS IT'S ROW NUMBER TWO, COMMITTEE EDUCATIONAL TOPICS.ANY OTHER SORT OF FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AGENDA TOPICS? SO WE, WE TALKED ABOUT A FEW OF THEM.
ONE, ONE OF THOSE I SUPPORT WHAT YOU JUST SAID.
UM, AND, AND THAT MIGHT BE AN AREA THAT, YOU KNOW, IT'S GETTING A LITTLE MORE PRESS AND, AND A LITTLE MORE ACTIVITY THESE DAYS.
THERE'S, THERE'S A GEOTHERMAL PROJECT I THINK IN WEST TEXAS AT THE MOMENT THAT'S MOVING AHEAD, SO AT LEAST IS BEING, YEAH.
SO, SO THAT MIGHT BE AN AREA THAT, UH, THAT WE WE COULD LOOK AT IN, IN A FUTURE SESSION.
JUST FOLLOWING UP FROM EARLIER THIS YEAR, MAYBE EVEN LAST YEAR, THE NEXT ROUND OF WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH A DER TASK FORCE.
AND OBVIOUSLY WE'RE MOVING TO THE THIRD PHASE.
WE'RE MOVING TO THE THIRD PHASE OF THE A DR TASK FORCE.
WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT THAT LAST, WE EXPECT THAT TO BE THE LAST PHASE OF THE, UM, PILOT PHASE.
AND THEN THAT'S GONNA EVOLVE INTO EFFECTIVELY, UH, INSTEAD OF NPR AND REQUIREMENTS FOR ADRS TO OPERATE IN OUR COT AT SCALE.
SO, WE'LL, WE CAN TALK ABOUT KIND OF HOW THAT LAST PHASE WILL WORK, WHAT WE EXPECT TO GET OUT OF IT, AND THEN THE TRANSITION.
JP, ANY, ANY THOUGHTS OR SUGGESTIONS HERE, UH, REGARDING THE A DR TOPIC? THERE'S USUALLY AN R AND M TOPIC.
DO YOU WANT, DID I HEAR THAT? YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT HERE? OKAY, SO I'M TRYING JUST TO CONNECT THE DOTS IN THE LANGUAGE.
IF WE DO PROOF OF CONCEPTS AND THESE TASK FORCES, I THOUGHT THAT WAS KIND OF LEADING TO AN NPRR.
SO THAT'S, IT IS, IT'S GETTING, THAT'S ONE THAT WAS INTENDED TO ESTABLISH A SET OF REQUIRE AND, AND WOULD IT JUMP IN THAT'S NECESSARY HERE TO ESTABLISH A SET OF PROTOCOLS AND REQUIREMENTS AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAKE IT WORK EFFECTIVELY.
AND SO WE'RE AT A POINT IN TIME WHERE WE THINK WE'RE GETTING CLOSE TO THAT CONCLUSION WHERE WE CAN ACTUALLY TRANSITION IT TO BEING JUST AN ONGOING, UH, CAPABILITY WITHIN THE ERCOT MARKET, AN ONGOING PLATFORM.
I, I DO THINK IT MIGHT BE INTERESTING THOUGH, FROM A TNS PERSPECTIVE TO LOOK AT THE TECHNOLOGY CHANGES THAT MAY MAKE THAT STUFF MORE, MORE APPLICABLE THAN WHAT IT IS HAS BEEN IN THE PAST.
SO I THINK THERE'S AN ANGLE FROM THE, FROM THE TNS SIDE.
YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I WAS THINKING TOO, WOODY.
I THINK THAT'D BE VERY HELPFUL JUST TO UNDERSTAND WHAT HAPPENS TO TRANSMISSION AND, YOU KNOW, SORT OF MORE, MORE ON THE LOCAL SIDE I THINK.
THANKS FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
I'M GOING TO ADJOURN THE GENERAL SESSION CHAIRMAN, THIS MEETING OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS IS HEREBY ADJOURNED.
[01:45:01]
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.UM, WE WILL TAKE A SHORT BREAK
[Convene Executive Session]
AND RECONVENE IN EXECUTIVE SESSION AND SHOULD SAY SEVEN MINUTES RUNNING A LITTLE, A LITTLE BIT AHEAD OR A LITTLE BIT BEHIND, BUT, OKAY, PERFECT.YEAH, WE HAVE, WE HAVE SOME BUFFER.