[Reconvene General Session 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, June 24, 2025]
[00:00:03]
WELL, GOOD MORNING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, MEMBERS OF THE ERCOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND GUESTS.
I HEREBY RECONVENE AND CALL TO ORDER THE JUNE 23RD TO JUNE 24TH, 2025, MEETING OF THE ERCOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
AS A REMINDER, THIS MEETING IS BEING WEBCAST LIVE TO THE PUBLIC ON ERCOT WEBSITE.
BEFORE WE GET GOING, I'D LIKE TO GIVE, UH, PUC CHAIRMAN THOMAS POLICE AN OPPORTUNITY TO RECONVENE THE OPEN MEETING OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS.
THIS MEETING OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS WILL COME TO ORDER TO CONSIDER MATTERS THAT HAVE BEEN DULY POSTED WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR JUNE 24TH, 2025.
BEFORE MOVING ON TO TODAY'S BUSINESS, AGAIN, THE ANTITRUST ADMONITION AS WELL AS THE SECURITY MAP ARE INCLUDED WITH THE POSTED MEETING MATERIALS.
UH, CHAD, JUST TO CONFIRM, HAS ANYONE FROM THE PUBLIC EXPRESSED INTEREST IN CONT UH, COMMENTING ON TODAY'S I ITEMS? NO ONE HAS EXPRESSED INTEREST.
[7. Consent Agenda]
ITEM SEVEN IS A CONSENT AGENDA INCLUDING ITEM 7.1 UNOPPOSED REVISION REQUEST RECOMMENDED BY TAC FOR APPROVAL.CHAD, PLEASE PROCEED WITH PROVIDING BUDGET IMPACTS OF THE REVISION REQUEST.
THERE'S 10 REVISION REQUESTS ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.
FIVE OF THEM HAVE BUDGETARY IMPACTS, UH, BUT NONE OF 'EM HAVE FT IMPACTS.
I WOULD LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT NPR 1238, WHICH IS A VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION OF LOADS WITH CURTAIL OF LOAD CAPABILITIES.
IT HAS A BUDGET IMPACT BETWEEN 700,000 TO 1 MILLION, AND WE'LL HAVE A PROJECT THAT TAKES BETWEEN 10 TO 14 MONTHS TO IMPLEMENT.
AND THEN SCR EIGHT 30, WHICH IS EXPOSED LIMITED, API ENDPOINTS USING MACHINE TO MACHINE AUTHENTICATION, HAS A BUDGET IMPACT BETWEEN 600,000 TO 800,000.
SO I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
CHAD, ANY QUESTIONS FOR, UH, CHAD, OR IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION AMONG THE BOARD MEMBERS IN THIS ITEM? IF NOT, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? THE CONSENT AGENDA IS APPROVED.
[8. CEO Update]
UH, ERCOT, CEO, PABLO VEGAS IS OUR FIRST PRESENTER TODAY PRESENTING AGENDA ITEM EIGHT, THE CEO UPDATE.THANK YOU CHAIR FLORES, AND THANK YOU EVERYBODY FOR YOUR, UM, ENGAGEMENT AND INTEREST IN, UH, THE IMPORTANT BUSINESS THAT ERCOT IS, UH, WORKING ON.
UM, TODAY I'D LIKE TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE GROWTH THAT WE'VE SEEN IN OUR, UM, IN OUR STATE AND IN THE SYSTEM THAT'S IMPORTANT AS WE GET INTO THE SUMMER SEASON, UH, AND, AND KIND OF SETS EXPECTATIONS AS TO WHAT'S AHEAD OF US.
THIS WILL BE REINFORCING SOME OF THE INFORMATION WE HEARD YESTERDAY FROM, UH, CHRISTIE AND FROM DAN.
ALSO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE PROGRESS THAT WE'VE SEEN ON THE, UM, SETUP OF THE LIFECYCLE UNITS THAT ARE GOING, WHICH ARE THE MOBILE GENERATION UNITS MOVING FROM, UH, FROM THE HOUSTON AREA TO SAN SAN ANTONIO TO HELP OUT WITH THE SOUTH TEXAS CONSTRAINT THERE.
AND, UM, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION, SOME OF THE KEY, UH, FOCUS AREAS FROM THIS LAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
WHAT'S AHEAD OF US FOLLOWING THAT? AND I WILL BE TOUCHING ON BRIEFLY, UH, A CONCEPT THAT WE'RE CALLING ERCOT 4.0.
KIND OF A DEFINITION OF WHERE WE ARE TODAY IN THE MARKET, WHY THAT DEFINITION IS IMPORTANT, AND HOW IT'S SHAPING SOME OF OUR STRATEGIES AND OUR WORK AHEAD OF US.
SO AS WE TALKED ABOUT, UH, YESTERDAY, THE, UM, GRID IS SEEING IMPROVEMENTS FROM A RELIABILITY PERSPECTIVE SEASON OVER SEASON.
AND THAT'S, UH, IMPORTANT AS WE GET INTO THE START OF THE SUMMER SEASON TO UNDERSTAND REALLY WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE GRID.
THE STATE OF THE GRID IS STRONG, IT IS RELIABLE, IT IS AS RELIABLE AS IT HAS EVER BEEN, AND IT IS AS READY FOR THE CHALLENGES OF EXTREME WEATHER THAT, UH, WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED.
AND SO I FEEL CONFIDENT THAT WE ARE READY FOR THIS UPCOMING SUMMER SEASON.
THIS SHOWS SOME OF THE CHANGES IN THE RESOURCE MIX THAT WE'VE EXPERIENCED OVER THE LAST YEAR, LITTLE OVER 9,000 MEGAWATTS OF NEW ENERGY COMING ONLINE.
NEW SUPPLY, THE BULK OF THAT IS IN THE SOLAR AND ENERGY STORAGE CATEGORIES OVER, UH, 9,000 MEGAWATTS BETWEEN THE TWO.
THOSE ARE EXTREMELY HELPFUL DURING THE SUMMER SEASONS.
THE PEAK IN THE SUMMER, OF COURSE, IS IN THE AFTERNOON AT THE PEAK HEAT WHEN AIR CONDITIONING LOAD IS AT ITS HIGHEST.
SOLAR ENERGY IS VERY WELL SUITED TO HELP SUPPORT THAT ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES VERY WELL POSITIONED TO HELP DURING THE EVENING RAMPS, AND WE SEE MORE OF THAT COMING ONLINE IN THAT CAPACITY.
ALSO, VERY HELPFUL IN THAT REGARD.
WE ARE SEEN AS A RESULT OF THIS, THAT THE PEAK RISK HOUR, WHICH IS GENERALLY AROUND 9:00 PM IN THE SUMMER EVENINGS, THAT THE RISK OF EMERGENCY EVENTS DURING THOSE PERIODS OF TIME IS SHRINKING, DROPPING FROM OVER 10% A YEAR AGO TO UNDER 1%, UH, THIS YEAR, AGAIN, BECAUSE OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE NEW RESOURCES THAT WE'RE SEEING ON THE GRID, OUR CONTINUED CONSERVATIVE OPERATIONS AND RELIABLE MANAGEMENT OF
[00:05:01]
THE GRID, ALL OF THAT IS CONTRIBUTING TO THOSE BENEFITS.IT IS IMPORTANT TO CALL OUT THAT SHORT TERM WHILE WE'RE SEEING THESE BENEFITS LONG TERM, THE CONCERN ABOUT BALANCE AND THE GROWTH OF SUPPLY RESOURCES REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT CONCERN.
YOU CAN SEE HERE OUR NATURAL GAS RESOURCES OVER THE LAST YEAR HAVE REDUCED AS A RESULT OF SOME MOTHBALLING OF UNITS.
IF YOU RECALL, THE BRO UNITS ONE AND TWO ARE NOW FULLY MOTHBALLED OR NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THE SYSTEM GOING FORWARD.
WE'VE SEEN SOME D RATES AS WELL.
AND SO THE TOTAL NATURAL GAS FLEET OVER THE LAST YEAR HAS SHRUNK IN FROM A NET PERSPECTIVE, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE SEEN SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONS AND OTHER TYPES OF RESOURCES TO BE ABLE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE SYSTEM IN A BALANCED WAY GOING FORWARD ACROSS ALL PERIODS OF TIME, ACROSS ALL WEATHER EXTREMES, WE ARE GOING TO NEED TO SEE BALANCED GROWTH IN SUPPLY IN ORDER TO DO THAT.
AND THAT REMAINS A CONCERN AND AN ISSUE TO KEEP A FOCUS ON AS WE, UH, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
THIS GIVES A PERSPECTIVE ON WHAT THE RESOURCE MIX HAS LOOKED LIKE IN TERMS OF ADDITIONS OVER THE YEARS.
AS WE TALK A LOT ABOUT THE DEMAND GROWTH THAT IS HAPPENING ACROSS OUR SYSTEM.
QUESTIONS ARISE IS THE SYSTEM ABLE TO GROW AND MEET THE DEMAND GROWTH WITH SUPPLY? THIS SHOWS WHAT HISTORICALLY ERCOT HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO.
YOU CAN SEE WITH THE MIX OF, UH, COLORS ON THE CHARTS, THE LIGHT BLUE OR THE GAS ADDITIONS THAT WE'VE HAD ON THE ERCOT GRID.
THE DARK BLUE ARE THE WIND ADDITIONS.
THE ORANGE ARE THE SOLAR, UH, RESOURCES, AND THEN THE RED ARE THE BATTERY STORAGE RESOURCES.
AND YOU CAN SEE OVER THE FIRST 15, 16 YEARS, UH, THE MARKET, WE SEE, YOU KNOW, PREDOMINANTLY A MIX OF GAS AND WIND ADDED TO THE, TO THE SYSTEM.
AND OVER THE LAST FIVE OR SIX YEARS, REALLY THAT MIX HAS SHIFTED TO WIND, SOLAR, AND BATTERY STORAGE RESOURCES.
WHAT WE'RE TRACKING ON HERE WITH THE LINE, THE, THE KIND OF, UH, CRIMSON LINE THAT GOES ACROSS HERE IS EFFECTIVE LOAD CARRYING CAPACITY.
ELCC IS BECOMING A PRETTY IMPORTANT METRIC, UH, THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MORE REGULARLY IN THE WAY WE'RE DESCRIBING, UH, THE RELIABILITY MIX OF RESOURCES ON THE SYSTEM.
IT'S NOT A UNIQUE CHARACTERISTIC TO ERCOT.
WE'RE HAVING THESE DISCUSSIONS, UH, ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
OTHER RTOS AND ISOS ARE STARTING TO LOOK TO ELCC TO BETTER DESCRIBE THE RELIABILITY CONTRIBUTIONS OF GENERATING RESOURCES TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE REAL QUALITY OF RESERVE METRICS AND RESERVE MARGINS THAT THEY HAVE IN THEIR SYSTEMS. YOU CAN SEE THIS IS FOR THE SUMMER EFFECTIVE LOW CARRYING CAPACITY.
AS WE GO INTO THE SUMMER, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO SHOW THE IMPACT THAT THE RESOURCES ARE HAVING ON THAT.
AND SO WE GET A HIGHER CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECCS FOR BATTERY STORAGE RESOURCES BECAUSE OF THEIR DISPATCHABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY.
WE HAVE LOWER, UH, UH, IMPACTS OR LOWER BENEFITS IN THE ELCC FOR WIND AND FOR SOLAR, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, UH, COMPARED TO OTHER THERMAL RESOURCES.
BUT THIS WILL BE A CHARACTERISTIC THAT WE WILL TALK ABOUT ON A MORE CONSISTENT BASIS GOING FORWARD AND HOW THE RESOURCE MIX, IRRESPECTIVE OF THE GROSS NUMBERS THAT WE SEE, WHAT WE EXPECT IN TERMS OF THEIR CONTRIBUTION DURING THE PEAK SCARCITY PERIODS ON THE GRID.
SO, TO SHIFT GEARS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE, UH, THE WORK THAT'S TAKEN PLACE IN SAN ANTONIO RELATED TO THE RMR, THIS SLIDE GIVES AN UPDATE ON THE COSTS FOR THE BRO UNIT THREE.
SO IF YOU RECALL, UH, THE UNITS ONE AND TWO HAVE MOTHBALLED AND SHUT DOWN PERMANENTLY, BRO.
UNIT THREE IS BEING INSPECTED AND RE UH, REHABBED IN ORDER TO CONTINUE OPERATIONS.
DURING THE COURSE OF THE, UM, REVIEW WORK AND ASSESSMENT ON THE SYSTEM, WE, THEY HAVE FOUND THAT THERE WERE SOME, UH, FAIRLY SIGNIFICANT UPGRADES AND MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES THAT HAD TO BE DONE IN ORDER TO FIX THE UNITS TO RELIABLY OPERATE SAFELY.
THOSE HAVE INCREASED THE COST SINCE THE VERY ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATION BACK IN DECEMBER OF LAST YEAR.
THAT BEING SAID, WE BELIEVE THAT THE COST FOR THE, THE NEW COSTS THAT ARE UPDATED TODAY STILL ARE WELL JUSTIFIED WITHIN THE COST MATRIX, UH, SUPPORTING THE, THE COST BENEFIT OF KEEPING THIS UNIT RUNNING FOR THE FORESEEABLE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS UNTIL THE TRANSMISSION SOLUTION IS DEVELOPED, COMPLETED, AND READY TO ALLOW THIS UNIT TO RETIRE.
ONE THING THAT I WANT TO EMPHASIZE THAT, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF TALK ABOUT, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF CHANGES IN ADDITIONS ON THE GRID THAT HAVE HAPPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR AND A HALF.
OUR TEAMS FACTOR IN THOSE KNOWN ADDITIONS THAT ARE COMING ONTO THE GRID, WHICH INCLUDE THE BATTERY STORAGE RESOURCES, INCLUDE THE SOLAR RESOURCES.
THOSE THAT WE KNEW WERE COMING ONLINE IN 2025 AND 2026 WERE INCLUDED IN THE ANALYSIS AS WE MADE THE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR KEEPING BRA AND UNIT THREE RUNNING AND STILL JUSTIFIED COST EFFECTIVELY TO KEEP THAT UNIT RUNNING UNTIL THE TRANSMISSION SOLUTION HAS BEEN BUILT.
THE CHART, THE, THE BARS ON THE, UH, RIGHT SIDE, THE BLUE, THOSE REPRESENT WHAT DO WE EXPECT TO PAY.
UH, THIS IS THROUGH 2025 ONLY.
THIS SHOWS ABOUT $49 MILLION IN EXPECTED PAYMENTS, UH, THAT WE'LL BE MAKING IN THE 2025 YEAR.
AND THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL 10 MILLION THAT ARE EXPECTED TO BE PAID IN 2026 LEADING TO A
[00:10:01]
TOTAL EXPECTED, UH, RESTORATION COST OF $59 MILLION FOR UNIT THREE TO KEEP IT RUNNING AND SERVICED AND OPERATING DURING THE, UH, RMR PERIOD.THAT ALSO INCLUDES THE FUEL COST OF OPERATING IT DURING THAT PERIOD AS WELL.
THE PROGRESS ON THE LIFECYCLE POWER, UH, UNITS HAS BEEN, UH, MOVING ALONG QUICKLY OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS.
UM, THERE'S BEEN, ON JUNE 4TH, WE EXECUTED THE FINAL, UH, EMERGENCY SERVICE AGREEMENTS WITH THE, WITH LIFECYCLE POWER.
THAT'S GONNA BRING 15 MOBILE GENERATION UNITS, BRINGING A NAMEPLATE CAPACITY OF 450 MEGAWATTS INTO THE SAN ANTONIO AREA.
AND WE'LL BE INTERCONNECTING AT NINE CPS ENERGY SUBSTATIONS.
UM, WE ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO USE THESE RESOURCES THROUGH THE END OF MARCH, 2027.
UH, THAT WOULD BE THE LATEST PERIOD IN TIME THAT WE CAN USE THESE RESOURCES TO GET THE CONTRACTS AND EVERYTHING ESTABLISHED WAS A VERY SIGNIFICANT EFFORT.
AND I WANT TO EXPRESS MY THANKS TO CPS ENERGY TEAM WHO WORKED DILIGENTLY THROUGH THIS PROCESS, THROUGH THE CENTER POINT TEAM WHO WORKED DILIGENTLY AND THROUGH THE LIFECYCLE TEAM.
AND OF COURSE, THE ERCOT TEAM TOOK ALL FOUR ENTITIES WORKING VERY CLOSELY TOGETHER OVER THE LAST FEW MONTHS TO GET ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AROUND THIS VERY UNIQUE CONSTRUCT AND RELIABILITY APPROACH.
UM, BASICALLY, YOU KNOW, PAPERED UP AND READY TO, TO DELIVER THE SERVICES.
SO IT TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT AND WORK, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THAT.
WE'VE, WHAT THE CONTRACT PROVIDES FOR IS BRINGING ROUGHLY FIVE GENERATORS ONLINE, UH, INTO THE SAN ANTONIO AREA EVERY 31 DAYS WITH THE FIRST GENERATORS BEGINNING OPERATION BY, UH, THE EARLY PART OF JULY.
AS OF YESTERDAY AFTERNOON, FIVE OF THE MOBILE GENERATING UNITS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DELIVERED TO SAN ANTONIO.
FOUR OF THEM HAVE BEEN FULLY ASSEMBLED ALREADY.
THE FIRST OF THE SECOND SET OF FIVE UNITS IS EXPECTED TO BE DELIVERED THIS WEDNESDAY, AND ALL 15 UNITS ARE EXPECTED TO BE LOADED INTO THE MODELING SOLUTIONS BY THE FIRST PART OF JULY.
SO THIS IS MOVING FORWARD QUICKLY, AND AGAIN, A BIG THANKS TO EVERYBODY THAT ENABLED THIS TO HAPPEN.
THIS IS GONNA BE ABLE TO PROVIDE AN EMERGENCY BACKUP SERVICE TO HELP PROTECT THAT SOUTH TEXAS, UM, CONSTRAINT ON THE TRANSMISSION SYSTEM WHILE THE TRANSMISSION UPGRADES ARE BEING MADE.
LET ME PAUSE THERE AND SEE IF THERE ARE ANY QUESTIONS SO FAR ON WHAT I HAVE BEFORE MOVING ON.
THE, UM, THE NEXT TOPIC I'D LIKE TO KIND OF TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS, UH, THIS PAST LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
IT REALLY WAS A VERY ACTIVE LEGISLATIVE SESSION AND A VERY PRODUCTIVE ONE.
UM, THE ERCOT TEAM SPECIFICALLY TRACKED OVER 315 INDIVIDUAL PIECES OF LEGISLATION THROUGHOUT THIS SESSION THAT HAD SOMETHING TO DO WITH ELECTRIC AND ENERGY POLICY.
WE WERE PRESENT AND WE SERVED AS WITNESS WITNESS RESOURCES FOR, UM, 21 PIECES OF, UH, ELECTRIC RELATED, UH, LEGISLATION.
AND MORE THAN 75 PEOPLE ACROSS THE ERCOT ORGANIZATION ASSISTED THE GOVERNMENT RELATIONS TEAMS IN EITHER PROVIDING TESTIMONY, REVIEWING AND ANALYZING THE BILLS, UH, RESPONDING TO CONSTITUENT OF, UH, REQUESTS COMING FROM DIFFERENT LEGISLATIVE OFFICES.
AND THAT COLLABORATION WAS ACROSS EVERYTHING FROM PUBLIC AFFAIRS, OUR LEGAL SYSTEMS, OUR MARKETS, TRANSMISSION PLANNING, OUR OPERATIONS TEAM LOAD FORECASTING, PHYSICAL AND CYBERSECURITY.
IT, MANY, MANY GROUPS PARTICIPATED IN THE ENGAGEMENT, UH, DURING THIS SESSION.
WHILE A LOT OF THE FOCUS DURING THIS SESSION WAS ON SENATE BILL SIX AND THE LARGE DATA CENTER GROWTH AND EVERYTHING RELATED TO THAT, THERE WAS ACTUALLY QUITE A LOT THAT, UH, GOT THROUGH THAT WAS PRETTY IMPACTFUL AND IMPORTANT TO THE ONGOING SUPPORT OF RELIABILITY IN THE ELECTRIC GRID.
WE SAW SOME CHANGES TO THE LONE STAR INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION ACT.
WE SAW THE CREATION AND THE FUNDING FOR THE FIRST TIME, OVER 130 MILLION TOWARDS THE TEXAS CYBER COMMAND ENHANCING AND IMPROVING THE STATE'S CYBERSECURITY CAPABILITIES ON ITS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE.
WE SAW THE FULL FUNDING OF THE TEXAS ENERGY FUND.
THE REMAINING $5 BILLION THAT WAS CONTEMPLATED DURING THE 2023 LEGISLATIVE SESSION WAS ALLOCATED FULLY DURING THIS SESSION TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT THE, UH, INCREMENTAL, UH, DISPATCHABLE GENERATION THAT THAT FUND WAS INTENDED FOR.
WE SAW THE CREATION FOR THE FIRST TIME OF A TEXAS ADVANCED NUCLEAR ENERGY OFFICE.
THAT FUNCTION IS GOING TO HELP TO STEWARD THE GROWTH AND THE LEADERSHIP THAT TEXAS EXPECTS TO HAVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ADVANCED NUCLEAR SPACE.
THAT'S AN EXCITING, UH, EXCITING CHANGE FOR THE STATE.
AND THERE ARE DOLLARS THAT ARE ALLOCATED TO HELP INCENTIVIZE THE GROWTH IN THAT REGARD.
THERE WAS, UH, LEGISLATION RELATED TO THE WAY COSTS ARE ALLOCATED.
THE TRANSMISSION FOUR CP, WHICH IS THE FOUR CONTINUE CONTIGUOUS PEAK, UH, ALLOCATION METHODOLOGY, IS GOING TO BE REVIEWED AS PART OF, UH, ONE OF THE PIECES OF LEGISLATION THAT WAS CREATED AND THE CREATION OF AN ENERGY WASTE ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMMITTEE.
SO THIS COMMITTEE IS INTENDED TO WORK.
IT'S GOT MEMBERSHIP FROM THE PUC
[00:15:01]
AS WELL AS FROM ERCOT ON THIS COMMITTEE.THEY'LL BE WORKING WITH STATE AGENCIES AROUND THE STATE TO LOOK AT WAYS TO HELP REDUCE THE WASTE OF ENERGY.
MEANING LOOKING AT ENERGY EFFICIENCY POTENTIAL, LOOKING AT DEMAND RES, UH, RESPONSE POTENTIAL DURING SCARCE PERIODS ON THE GRID.
HOW CAN WE HARVEST ANY WASTED ENERGY IN SUCH A WAY TO COST EFFECTIVELY REDUCE THE RISK AND COST OF SERVING ELECTRICITY TO CONSTITUENTS AROUND THE STATE? SO AN EXCELLENT FOCUS ON THAT IMPORTANT PART OF THE RELIABILITY STOOL THAT WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT.
SO OVERALL, A VERY, I THINK, ACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL LEGISLATIVE SESSION IN TERMS OF ITS FOCUS ON IMPORTANT POLICY ISSUES FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE PUC ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MANY OF THE LEGISLATIVE, UH, BILLS THAT ARE GONNA BE TRANSLATED INTO POLICIES AND RULES, UH, FOR THE ERCOT MARKET.
SO I'M GONNA SWITCH GEARS A LITTLE BIT AND, UM, TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THIS CONSTRUCT, THIS ERCOT 4.0 THAT WE HAVE STARTED TO USE AS A PHRASE AND TERMINOLOGY INSIDE OF, UH, INSIDE OF OUR ORGANIZATION.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE SPEND A LITTLE TIME DEFINING WHAT WE MEAN BY IT, WHY IT MATTERS, AND WHAT IT SIGNALS FOR THE PATH FORWARD FOR ERCOT.
THIS REPRESENTS MORE THAN JUST THE BRANDING OF CURRENT ACTIVITIES THAT WE HAVE UNDERWAY.
IT REALLY REPRESENTS A DISTINCT NEW PHASE IN THE ERCOT MARKET.
IT ALSO PROVIDES A STRATEGIC LENS TO LOOK AT THE PRIORITIES AND THE INITIATIVES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE INVESTING IN TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO DELIVER ON OUR MISSION, WHICH IS GETTING MORE COMPLEX AND MORE DYNAMIC EVERY YEAR.
TO UNDERSTAND ERCO 4.0, I THINK IT'S HELPFUL TO HAVE A PERSPECTIVE ON THE HISTORY KIND OF LEADING UP TO THAT.
AND WHAT WERE THE STAGES OF ERCOT THAT LED TO THAT.
AS YOU CAN SEE ON THIS CHART ON THE LEFT SIDE, ERCOT 1.0 REALLY MARKED THE FORMATION OF ERCOT REALLY AS THE FIRST TIME THAT THE ENTITY WAS COORDINATING ELECTRIC RELIABILITY IN TEXAS.
THAT STARTED IN THE 1970S AND REALLY CULMINATED IN 1996 AS OUR DESIGNATION AS THE FIRST INDEPENDENT SYSTEM OPERATOR WITHIN THE UNITED STATES.
ERCOT 2.0 WAS THE TRANSITION AND SHIFT FROM, UH, THAT PRIOR CONSTRUCT INTO THE COMPETITIVE WHOLESALE AND RETAIL MARKET DESIGN THAT WE OPERATE TODAY.
FROM 2000 TO 2010, WE SAW THE CREATION OF A ZONAL MARKET AND A VERY SIGNIFICANT, UH, SET OF ADVANCEMENTS IN THE MODERN MODERNIZATION OF GRID OPERATIONS.
THEN ERCOT 3.0 REALLY BEGAN IN 2010 WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ERCOT NODAL MARKET.
THIS WAS A MAJOR MILESTONE THAT BROUGHT MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT ECONOMIC PRECISION TO THE OPERATIONS OF THE MARKET, AS WELL AS IMPROVED TRANSPARENCY THROUGH MORE GRANULAR PRICING AND MODELING.
AND THAT WAS THE MODE THAT WE HAD BEEN IN FOR ABOUT THE LAST 10, 15 YEARS.
EACH OF THESE TRANSITIONS WAS DRIVEN BY A COMBINATION OF EITHER TECHNOLOGY CHANGES, RE REGULATORY CHANGES AND MARKET DRIVEN FORCES.
AND ERCOT FOUR IS VERY SIMILAR TO THOSE TRANSITIONS.
ERCOT 4.0 REFLECTS THIS TRANSFORMATION THAT'S UNDERWAY RIGHT NOW, AND WHILE 3.04 FOCUSED A LOT ON INCREASING THE ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY, UM, AND THE MODELING PRECISION OF THE SYSTEM, ERCOT 4.0 IS REALLY DEFINED BY THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH IN SYSTEM COMPLEXITY AND THE CONVERGENCE OF THREE MAJOR DRIVERS.
ONE OF THOSE IS THE RAPIDLY CHANGING RESOURCE MIX.
AS WE'VE TALKED OFTEN ABOUT, WE ARE NOW THE NATION'S LEADER IN WIND AND SOLAR CAPACITY, AND WE ARE EXPERIENCING UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH IN BATTERY STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTED ENERGY RESOURCES.
TWO, WE'RE SEEING SIGNIFICANT AND UNPREDICTABLE LOAD GROWTH.
THIS IS DRIVEN NOT ONLY BY DATA CENTERS AS WE TALK A LOT ABOUT, BUT ALSO ELECTRICAL, UH, INDUSTRIAL ELECTRIFICATION, RESHORING OF MANUFACTURING, POPULATION EXPANSION, AND THE CHARACTERISTICS AND THE PACE OF THIS NEW LOAD IN ERCOT IS UNLIKE ANYTHING WE HAVE SEEN OR MANAGED HISTORICALLY.
AND THEN THE THIRD MAJOR DRIVER IS THE TECHNOLOGY DRIVEN OPERATIONAL CHANGES.
THIS IS ADVANCES IN AI, THIS IS AUTOMATION, THIS IS GRID EDGE INTELLIGENCE, AND HIGH FREQUENCY DATA ACCESS ACROSS THE SYSTEM.
THIS IS CHANGING HOW WE FORECAST.
THIS IS CHANGING HOW WE OPERATE.
THIS IS CHANGING HOW WE PLAN THE CONVERGENCE OF THESE THREE THINGS.
THE RAPIDLY CHANGING RESOURCE MIX, THE RAPIDLY CHANGING LOAD GROWTH, AND THE RAPIDLY CHANGING TECHNOLOGY ARE THE CORE UNDERPINNINGS OF WHAT ERCOT 4.0 LOOKS LIKE FOR THE, FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF ERCOT.
AND WHAT THIS IS, WHAT THE REASON THIS IS IMPORTANT FOR US IS THAT WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO EVOLVE OUR PLANNING ASSUMPTIONS AS A RESULT OF THIS TO BE ABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE UNCERTAINTY AND THE VARIABILITY THAT WE'RE SEEING IN ACROSS BOTH SUPPLY AND DEMAND.
OUR GRID OPERATIONS ARE GONNA HAVE TO BECOME MORE ADAPTIVE.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO LEVERAGE MORE FORMS OF SITUATIONAL AWARENESS AND DECISION AUTOMATION IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO OPERATE THE GRID RELIABLY UNDER THESE CHARACTERISTICS, MARKET MECHANISMS ARE GONNA HAVE TO BE REEVALUATED TO ENSURE THAT THOSE SIGNALS SUPPORT LONG-TERM
[00:20:01]
SYSTEM RELIABILITY AS WELL AS SHORT-TERM MARKET EFFICIENCIES.AND CRITICALLY, PROBABLY MOST CRITICALLY OF ALL, OUR WORKFORCE IS GONNA HAVE TO BE EQUIPPED TO LEAD IN A SYSTEM THAT IS INCREASINGLY SOFTWARE DEFINED, GONNA BE DATA RICH AND CONSTANTLY CHANGING.
THAT'S GONNA BE A CHALLENGE FOR THE WORKFORCES ACROSS THIS WHOLE INDUSTRY.
SO WE'RE ALIGNING OUR STRATEGIES AROUND THESE NEW REALITIES, AND WE ARE FOCUSING ON THREE AREAS THAT WE THINK ARE GOING TO HELP BE SUCCESSFUL UNDER THIS ORCA 4.0 STRUCTURE.
ONE AREA THAT WE'RE FOCUSING ON IS INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATION.
YOU'VE HEARD A LOT THROUGH VENCAT'S UPDATES OVER THE LAST, UH, YEAR AND A HALF ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH OUR INNOVATION AND TRANSFORMATION ORGANIZATION.
WE ARE ENGAGING IN PROOFS OF CONCEPTS, TARGETED PILOTS, CROSS-FUNCTIONAL LEARNING SYSTEMS IN ORDER TO TACKLE PROBLEMS LIKE FLEXIBLE LOAD FORECASTING, DISTRIBUTED RESOURCE MODELING, AND TRANSMISSION PLANNING FOR A NEW TYPE OF LOAD.
THIS IS WHERE WE, WHERE WE FIND THE OPPORTUNITY AND VALUE IN THESE INVESTMENTS, WE WILL SCALE THESE IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO BRING THESE TO BEAR AT THE LARGER SCALE.
THE SECOND THING WE'RE FOCUSING ON IS OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN A MORE COMPLEX SYSTEM.
SO WHILE WE LOOK AHEAD AT THESE INNOVATIONS THAT ARE IMPACTING AND CHANGING THE WAY WE OPERATE THE GRID, WE HAVE TO REMAIN ANCHORED IN THE PERFORMANCE AND RELIABILITY OF OPERATING TODAY'S SYSTEM AS WELL.
AND SO WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON PRACTICES THAT REDUCE RISK AND ENHANCE COORDINATION AND CONTROL ACROSS THE CONTROL ROOM, ACROSS OUR PLANNING AND ACROSS OUR TECHNOLOGY PLATFORMS. AND THEN THIRD AND FOREMOST, WE ARE FOCUSING ON EMPOWERING AND DEVELOPING OUR PEOPLE.
ERCOT 4.0 DEMANDS NEW SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP ACROSS ALL LEVELS IN OUR ORGANIZATION.
WE'RE INVESTING IN PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CROSS-FUNCTIONAL COLLABORATION, WORKFORCE PLANNING TO ENSURE THAT THE TEAM CAN OPERATE AND LEAD IN THIS NEW REALITY.
AND WE'RE HAVING TO LOOK AHEAD AT WHAT THESE SKILLS AND REQUIREMENTS ARE GONNA BE FIVE YEARS DOWN THE ROAD AND LOOK TO HOW ARE WE GONNA BUILD THOSE SKILL SETS BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF OUR ORGANIZATION SO THAT WE'LL BE READY TO SERVE, SERVE THE NEEDS OF THE FUTURE.
ERCOT 4.0 IS CHALLENGING, BUT IT IS A BIG OPPORTUNITY.
IT'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO REINFORCE OUR LEADERSHIP IN THE ENERGY ECONOMY HERE IN TEXAS.
WE RECENTLY COMPLETED SINCE OUR LAST BOARD MEETING, THE ERCOT 2025 INNOVATION SUMMIT.
IT WAS HELD ON MAY 6TH, HELD INTEREST FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE.
WE HAD OVER 450 PEOPLE ATTENDING IN PERSON, OVER 400 PEOPLE ATTENDING THROUGH LIVE STREAMING.
AND IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY SHOWCASE INNOVATION EFFORTS, NOT ONLY WITHIN ERCOT, BUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN TRANSFORMATIONS AROUND THE WORLD AND AROUND THE UNITED STATES.
BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER TO TALK ABOUT THE MOST COMPLEX ISSUES THAT WE'RE DEALING WITH, LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER, ESTABLISHING NETWORKS OF COMMUNICATION THAT ARE GONNA BE HELPFUL AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK ON SOLVING THESE PROBLEMS TOGETHER INDIVIDUALLY.
WE ALL HAVE VERY INTERESTING IDEAS AND WE HAVE INCREDIBLE DEPTH AND EXPERIENCE, BUT TOGETHER WE BRING THAT TOGETHER AND WE CAN REALLY COME UP WITH SOLUTIONS THAT WE MAY NOT OTHERWISE BE ABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY INNOVATION SUMMITS LIKE THIS, CREATE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO JUST THAT.
YOU CAN SEE A VIDEO, RICK RECAP OF THIS CONFERENCE ON THE INNOVATION SUMMIT PAGE OF THE ERCOT WEBSITE.
AND I REALLY WANNA THANK EVERYBODY WHO PARTICIPATED IN THAT.
I WANT TO THANK EVERYBODY AT THE ERCOT TEAM WHO HELPED PUT THAT ON.
IT WAS A SIGNIFICANT EFFORT TO PLAN THAT AND, UH, HOST THAT.
AND I THINK IT'S SOMETHING WE SEE A LOT OF VALUE IN AND PLAN TO CONTINUE TO DO ON AN ANNUAL BASIS GOING FORWARD.
THESE WERE THE PEOPLE THAT WORKED HEAVILY ON THE INNOVATION SUMMIT.
AS YOU CAN SEE, IT WAS A VERY LARGE GROUP OF OUR EMPLOYEES THAT WERE INVESTED IN THAT.
A BIG THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED OR SUPPORTED PUTTING IT ON THE WORK TO GET THE LIFECYCLE MOBILE GENERATORS DEVELOPED WAS AN INCREDIBLE LIFT AND PUSH OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
A BIG THANKS TO EVERYBODY WHO PARTICIPATED IN THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE LEG, THE 89TH LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
AGAIN, A VERY SUCCESSFUL SESSION OVERALL.
A LOT OF ENGAGEMENT, A LOT OF COLLABORATION ACROSS THE INDUSTRY AND WITH OUR LEGISLATIVE PARTNERS.
THESE WERE THE 70 PLUS PEOPLE THAT ENGAGED AT VARIOUS POINTS IN TIME TO HELP PROVIDE INFORMATION AND SUPPORT, UH, THOSE EFFORTS OVER THE LAST FIVE, SIX MONTHS.
SO THANKS TO ALL OF THESE FOLKS.
AND WITH THAT, I'LL PAUSE, UH, IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS ON ANYTHING I'VE COVERED OR ANYTHING THAT I'VE NOT COVERED.
QUESTIONS, ANY QUESTIONS FOR PABLO? PABLO, GREAT REPORT.
WE'RE EXCITED TO, UH, ON THE ERCOT 4.0 INITIATIVE.
LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE ABOUT THAT IN THE FUTURE.
WITH THAT THANK YOU CHAIR, WE WILL, UH, MOVE TO, UH, AGENDA ITEM 9.2, SUMMER OPERATIONS.
[00:25:01]
CHRIS COLEMAN,[9.1 2025 Summer Weather Outlook ]
EXCUSE ME, 9.1.UH, CHRIS COLEMAN IS GOING TO PRESENT THIS.
UH, TODAY I'M, UH, GOING TO TRY TO FIT, UH, WHAT I THINK IS ABOUT AN HOUR'S WORTH OF INFORMATION INTO ABOUT 10 MINUTES FOR SO, WHICH IS PRETTY NORMAL FOR ME.
I'M GONNA TRY NOT TO RUN OVER, BUT I, BUT I LOVE TO TALK WHETHER AS EVERYONE HERE KNOWS.
SO, UH, I'M GONNA GIVE YOU MY THOUGHTS ON THE UPCOMING SUMMER.
WELL, ACTUALLY, UH, AS FAR AS OUR CUT, UH, CONCERNS, IT STARTED JUNE 1ST AND GOES RIGHT THROUGH, UH, SEPTEMBER.
I'M NOT GONNA READ THROUGH ALL THOSE, BUT I'M GONNA COVER TEMPERATURE, PRECI, DROUGHT, AND HURRICANES, UH, WITH MY FORECAST TODAY.
AND, UH, TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA WITH RECENT SUMMERS, UH, FIRST YOU CAN NOTE HERE, WELL, SO THAT I'VE LISTED ALL OF THE, THE TEMPERATURE RANKINGS, UH, FOR TEXAS.
UH, THIS STATES BACK TO 1895, SO WE NOW HAVE 130 YEARS.
SO THOSE RANKINGS YOU SEE THERE ON THE LEFT HALF OF THE SCREEN.
UH, UM, YOU HAVE FIVE OF THE 10 HOTTEST SUMMERS ON RECORD, UH, OUT OF 130 YEARS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE 20 11, 20 11, 20 19, 20 22, 23, AND 24.
SO YEAH, WE'VE HAD THREE OF THE, UH, THE SIX HOTTEST JUST IN THE LAST THREE SUMMERS.
AND YOU ALSO NOTICE I'VE COLOR CODED THOSE.
AND IF YOU SAW ANY BLUE UP THERE, THAT WOULD INDICATE IT WOULD BE IN THE COOLEST THIRD.
UH, BUT YOU ONLY HAVE RED AND BLACK.
YOU HAD THREE, UH, YEARS THERE, 20 14, 17, AND 21.
THAT ALL TIED FOR THE 55TH HOTTEST, UH, SUMMERS AS THEY WERE WETTER.
UH, BUT EVEN THEY WERE IN THE UPPER HALF OF, UH, UH, HOTTEST SUMMERS.
UM, KEY TAKEAWAY, UH, FROM THIS, I WANTED TO POINT OUT, WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT I, I, I LIKE TO USE THESE TEMPERATURE RANKINGS.
AND ONE OF THE REASONS FOR THAT IS WE'VE HAD SO MANY HOT SUMMERS RECENTLY.
IT HAS, UH, WHAT WE NOW CONSIDER NORMAL.
AND, UH, SO WE, WE TYPICALLY USE A 15 YEAR NORMAL, UH, IN THE, THE LOAD AND THE WEATHER, UH, DEPARTMENTS THAT ARE CUT.
AND SO THAT WOULD BE 2010 TO 2024.
AND YOU SEE, YOU KNOW, HOW MANY HOT SUMMERS WE'VE HAD HERE RECENTLY.
SO THE NEW NORMAL TAKING INTO ACCOUNT ALL HISTORICAL YEARS ONLY ALLOWS FOR 11 HISTORICAL SUMMERS TO QUALIFY AS ABOVE NORMAL.
SO IF YOU JUST KEEP RAISING THE BAR, WHICH WE'VE BEEN DOING HERE OVER THE LAST 10, 15 YEARS, TO WHAT NORMAL IS, A LOT OF PAST YEARS THAT USED TO BE CONSIDERED NORMAL SUMMERS, OR EVEN ABOVE NORMAL, HOTTER THAN NORMAL SUMMERS HAVE NOW FALLEN BACK DOWN INTO THE PACK.
SO YOU ONLY HAVE 11 OF 130, UH, HISTORICAL SUMMERS THAT QUALIFY AS ABOVE NORMAL.
AND, UH, THE LAST TIME WE SAW A SUMMER IN TEXAS THAT RANKED IN THE COOLEST HALF, YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO 2008.
NOW, SPECIFICALLY LAST YEAR, GIVE YOUR REFERENCE, THAT WAS THE SIXTH HOTTEST SUMMER ON, UH, RECORD FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS.
UH, IT FELT MUCH LESS HOT THOUGH THAN 2022.
IN 2023, THERE WASN'T, UH, THERE WAS A PRETTY BIG GAP, BUT WE STILL HAD A TOP 10 HOTTEST SUMMER.
UM, INTERESTINGLY, IT WAS THE 63RD DRIEST.
SO BASICALLY, AS FAR AS PRECIPITATION, RAINFALL GOES, IT JUST FELL RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACK.
IT WASN'T EXCEPTIONALLY DRY OR WET, UH, BUT ONE OF THE WETTER SUMMERS WE'VE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS, UH, THE PICTURES THERE, THE MAPS YOU SEE ON THE TOP ROW, UH, THAT'S TEMPERATURE ON THE LEFT AND PRECIPITATION, THOSE ARE ANOMALIES, DEVIATIONS FROM NORMAL.
AND, UH, THOSE TOP TWO MAPS ONLY GO THROUGH, UH, THEY'RE JUNE THROUGH AUGUST ON LIMITED TO A THREE MONTH VIEW.
UH, THE BOTTOM TWO ACTUALLY WITH A LARGER PICTURE, NOT QUITE AS MUCH DETAIL.
SO THE FOUR MONTH, UH, WHICH WOULD ALIGN WITH THE, THE ERCOT SUMMER, THE MAIN DIFFERENCES, UH, LAST SUMMER SEPTEMBER ENDED UP, UH, AND WE, THAT CARRIED OVER INTO OCTOBER AS WELL.
YOU SEE, IT WAS ESPECIALLY EAST TEXAS, UH, AND ALONG THE COAST AND INTO SOUTH TEXAS.
[00:30:01]
UH, NOT EVERYONE, UH, SAW A WET SUMMER.SO WHEN I SAY THAT IT'S AVERAGED OUT ACROSS THE, THE STATE, UH, THAT IT WAS THE SECOND DRIEST OVER THE PAST SIX SUMMERS, OR SECOND WETTEST, EXCUSE ME, AND I'VE ALSO LISTED THE, UH, A HUNDRED DEGREE DAYS FROM LAST YEAR.
UH, THE LONG TERM AVERAGES, 23 FOR DALLAS, NINE FOR HOUSTON, 32 FOR AUSTIN, AND 25 FOR SAN ANTONIO.
UH, BUT, UH, THEY WERE GENERALLY LESS THAT WE THAN WE'D SEEN IN RECENT YEARS.
AND I, UH, I, I MENTIONED THAT LAST YEAR WAS THE 63RD, UH, DRIVE.
IT WAS, UH, ACTUALLY THAT WAS A VERY STRANGE ANOMALY.
UH, TYPICALLY WET SUMMERS CORRELATE WITH, UH, WITH MILD, UH, SUMMERS AND DRY SUMMERS CORRELATE WITH HOT.
UH, LAST YEAR WAS A RARE EXCEPTION.
SO YOU SEE THE JUNE THROUGH AUGUST PERIOD, WHICH IS A METEOROLOGICAL SUMMER, UH, WAS THE HOTTEST RECORDED FOR TEXAS WITH ABOVE NORMAL PRECIPITATION.
AND I'VE HAD THE RANK THERE WITH THE CHART IN THE MIDDLE.
UH, AND YOU SEE, ACTUALLY IT WAS, UH, TIED FOR THE, THE, UH, SIXTH HOTTEST, UH, SUMMER LAST YEAR.
YOU LOOK AT THAT RIGHT COLUMN DEPARTURE FROM 15 YEAR NORMAL, UH, ALL OF THOSE HAVE NEGATIVE SIGNS IN FRONT OF 'EM, MEANING BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL, THE TOP 20 HOTTEST SUMMERS, EXCEPT FOR LAST YEAR, THAT WAS THE ONLY TIME TEXAS HAS SEEN ABOVE NORMAL RAINFALL AND A TOP 20 HOTTEST SUMMER.
SO, UH, JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA OF THE PATTERN WE'RE IN, UH, YOU LOOK AT THOSE RIGHT TWO MAPS AND, UH, THE, THE TOP ONE IS JANUARY THROUGH EARLY JUNE OF THIS YEAR.
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE SAME PERIOD IN THE MAP BELOW THAT FOR LAST YEAR.
ACTUALLY, THE PRECIPITATION PATTERN HAS BEEN VERY, VERY SIMILAR WITH NORTH AND EAST TEXAS, UH, BENEFITING MORE WITH RAINFALL THAN THE REST OF THE STATE.
ACTUALLY, WE SAW HERE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, SAN ANTONIO, UH, GOT INTO THE MIX HERE, UH, AS WELL WITH OVER SEVEN INCHES OF RAIN, UH, AND THEN A LITTLE BIT MORE IN SOUTH TEXAS AS WELL THIS YEAR.
BUT VERY SIMILAR PATTERN IS, IS JUST THE ONE THING I WANTED TO POINT OUT FROM THIS.
UM, AND ALSO JUST NOTING, YEAH, I, I MEANT, DIDN'T MENTION THAT OTHER KEY TAKEAWAY THERE ON THE LEFT.
UH, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT HOW WET IT WAS COMPARED TO THE PRIOR TWO SUMMERS LAST SUMMER, 2024 VERSUS 23 AND 22.
IF IT HADN'T BEEN SO WET, WE LIKELY WOULD'VE BEEN UP THERE WITH 20 11, 20 23, UH, TEMPERATURE VALUES LAST SUMMER.
SO IT PROBABLY SAVED US ALL RIGHT.
SO I'M BUILDING THE FORECAST HERE WITH THIS, UH, SLIDE.
AND WHAT I DO IS I'M LOOKING FOR, UH, HISTORICAL SIMILARITIES.
AND THAT WOULD INCLUDE EL NINOS AND LA NINAS, UH, DROUGHT, UH, THE SOLAR CYCLES, UH, PACIFIC PACIFIC AND ATLANTIC OCEAN TEMPERATURES AND RECENT TEMPERATURE AND PRECIPITATION PATTERNS.
AND SO THE YELLOW BOX THERE ON THE LEFT ARE THE YEARS THAT ARE SIMILAR, UH, TO 2025, UH, BASED ON MY FINDINGS.
AND THAT LARGE MAP THERE, UH, IS A COMPOSITE OF ALL OF THOSE YEARS, WHAT THOSE SUMMERS, UH, LOOK LIKE.
SO YOU AVERAGE ALL THOSE, YOU END UP WITH THE NORTH AMERICAN TEMPERATURE ANOMALY, UH, THAT LOOKS LIKE THAT WITH ALL THE YELLOWS IN THE ORANGES BEING ABOVE NORMAL.
AND THE BLUE, UH, BEING BELOW NORMAL.
AND YOU SEE IT EXTENDS FROM WESTERN CANADA, RIGHT, UH, SOUTH INTO TEXAS.
SO THAT'S KIND OF THE AREA I STARTED AT WITH A BROAD BRUSH.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT THE HIGHER POTENTIAL FOR THE HOTTEST TEMPERATURES RELATIVE TO NORMAL, UH, WHEN I PUT THIS TOGETHER, WERE MORE NORTHERN ROCKIES, WESTERN HIGH PLAINS INTO ALBERTA, SASKATCHEWAN, UH, THAT PORTION.
BUT AGAIN, WE DO SEE THAT, UH, HOTTER TEMPERATURE ANOMALIES THAT, UH, POKED DOWN SOUTH INTO TEXAS.
AND, UH, THAT BOX THERE TO THE RIGHT OF THE MAP SHOWS YOU, AGAIN, ALL THOSE ANALOG YEARS, UH, AS I CALL THEM, HISTORICAL MATCHES, UH, WHERE THEY RANKED AS FAR AS HISTORICAL SUMMERS.
AGAIN, A LACK OF, UH, ANYTHING BLUE UP THERE, MEANING IT WOULD HAVE FALLEN IN THE COOLEST THIRD OF ALL SUMMERS.
MOST OF THEM WERE NEAR NORMAL OR HOT, UH, SUMMERS, INCLUDING THE THREE HOTTEST SUMMERS.
THERE'S A LOT OF SIMILARITIES TO 20 11, 20 22, AND 2023 TO WHAT WE'RE SEEING RIGHT NOW.
[00:35:01]
ALL RIGHT, SO THE INITIAL FORECAST IS ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES, WHICH AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED, ABOVE NORMAL, THERE'S ONLY 11 YEARS HISTORICALLY THAT QUALIFY AS ABOVE NORMAL.SO YOU'RE BASICALLY TALKING AT OR NEAR TOP 10 HOTTEST SUMMER, UH, WITH THE PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS HERE.
AND HERE IS THE FINAL, UH, FORECAST, UH, FOR THE SUMMER TEMPERATURE OUTLOOK FOR TEXAS.
AND IT'S ALL ABOVE NORMAL WITH, UH, MAYBE SOME EXCEPTIONS RIGHT ALONG, UH, EAST TEXAS, ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST TEXAS, AS WELL AS THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY.
THE REST OF THAT IS ALL CLEARLY ABOVE NORMAL AND THE MOST ABOVE NORMAL.
THAT RED SHADE, WHICH EXTENDS, UH, AUSTIN AND POINTS, UH, WEST SOUTHWEST, UH, LINES UP WITH THE DRIEST REGIONS AGAIN, UH, SAN ANTONIO MAY IS LIKELY GETS PUSHED OUT OF THAT.
IF I WERE TO DO AN, AN UPDATE HERE, JUST KNOWING THAT THEY GOT, UH, QUITE A BIT OF RAIN HERE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO, AND THEY'RE ACTUALLY LAGGING BEHIND AUSTIN BY ABOUT THREE DEGREES AS A RESULT OF THAT, UH, RAIN WE SAW HERE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO IN SAN ANTONIO.
UM, AND I ALSO WANTED TO POINT OUT, UH, THAT THIRD BULLET POINT IN THE LARGER BLUE BOX THAT WHY I ONLY HAVE A SMALL AREA OF RELATIVELY MILDER NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES.
THERE IS A CHANCE, AND I'LL GO INTO THIS A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THE LAST SLIDE, THAT, THAT EXPANDS.
I DON'T USUALLY, IN FACT, I DON'T THINK I'VE EVER DONE THAT BEFORE WHERE I'VE GIVEN YOU AN ALTERNATIVE.
UH, BUT THERE'S A LITTLE BIT MORE, UM, WHAT DO I WANT TO SAY, CONFLICTING INFORMATION, UH, GOING INTO THIS SUMMER THAN, THAN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
SO I JUST WANNA POINT THAT OUT AND I'LL GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL AS WE GO FORWARD, EVEN THOUGH I'M PROBABLY ALREADY, ALMOST OUTTA TIME
SO FOR RAINFALL, WHEN I BUILD ALL THOSE SIMILAR YEARS, YOU END UP WITH A DRY LOOKING FORECAST, ALL THE YELLOWS AND ORANGES OR BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.
UH, THERE IS A COUPLE EXCEPTIONS.
YOU NOTICE THAT BOX ON THE RIGHT, THAT WOULD BE 2017 AND 2021, UH, THAT WE JUST HAD, UM, FAIRLY RECENTLY.
UH, THOSE WERE ACTUALLY WET SUMMERS.
THEY FELL IN THE WETTEST THIRD.
IN FACT, 2017 WAS ONE OF THE WETTEST, UH, ALL TIME.
AND THOSE ENDED UP WITH THE 55TH.
THEY WERE TIED FOR THE 55TH HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD.
SO THERE IS A COUPLE VARIABLES IN THERE.
IF WE GET A WETTER SUMMER, WE COULD END UP WITH A MILDER SUMMER AS WELL.
BUT RIGHT NOW THAT'S IN THE MINORITY.
AND SO I'M LEANING WITH THAT DRYER LOOK, WHICH SUPPORTS THE HOTTER TEMPERATURES.
AND THERE'S YOUR PRECIPITATION FORECAST.
AND THAT'S, UH, AGAIN, ORANGES AND REDS ARE BELOW NORMAL RAINFALL.
AND THAT GREEN AREA, UH, OVER THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE STATE IS, UH, NEAR NORMAL TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL.
AND AGAIN, THERE IS A POTENTIAL, SMALL POTENTIAL AT LEAST FOR THAT TO EXPAND A LITTLE BIT MORE, WHICH WOULD DRIVE DOWN TEMPERATURES AS WELL.
BUT THAT'S THE INITIAL THOUGHTS HERE.
AND, UH, LOOKING AT THE DROUGHT, SO THE LATEST PICTURE, WHICH IS NOW A FEW WEEKS OLD, SINCE I PUT TOGETHER THE SLIDE, THOUGH, THE OVERALL PICTURE HAS CHANGED VERY LITTLE.
SO THE CURRENT DROUGHT MAP, OR AGAIN, AS OF LATE MAY, THERE IS ON THE LEFT, UH, SIDE.
AND THEN THE MIDDLE MAP OF TEXAS COMPARES TO A YEAR AGO.
UH, MOST OF THE SAME AREAS ARE STILL IMPACTED AGAIN 'CAUSE WE'VE SEEN A VERY REPETITIVE RAINFALL PATTERN.
UH, BUT OVERALL, MAYBE A LITTLE MORE EXTREME THAN WHAT WE SAW LAST YEAR.
OF COURSE, AGAIN, SAN ANTONIO HAS SEEN SOME RECENT IMPROVEMENTS SINCE THAT MAP, BUT MOST OF THE REST OF THAT HAS NOT CHANGED, UH, OVER THE LAST FEW WEEKS.
AND IT'S MOSTLY SOUTH CENTRAL, UH, INTO SOUTHERN WEST TEXAS WITH THE MOST EXTREME DROUGHT.
AND GIVEN THAT FORECAST, WHICH I HAVE THE FORECAST MAP THERE AGAIN ON THE RIGHT, UH, THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR THAT AREA TO EXPAND AND, UH, INTENSIFY, UH, THE, THE DROUGHT HERE AS THE SUMMER PROGRESSES, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'LL NECESSARILY BE WIDESPREAD, UH, ACROSS THE STATE.
AND, UH, ALSO I WANTED TO POINT OUT EIGHT IN THE PAST NINE YEARS AND 12 OF 15 HAVE BEEN AT DROUGHT LEVEL.
UH, SO THIS PATTERN HAS BEEN MORE FAMILIAR, UH, THAN NOT HERE REALLY SINCE ABOUT 2010.
UH, WE'VE SEEN FREQUENT PERIODS OF DROUGHT AND, UH, THAT OTHER BLUE BOX THERE AT THE BOTTOM, IT'S THE 30TH WORST AS OF, UH, THAT WAS THROUGH MID, UH, SPRING, ACTUALLY NOW I HAVE THE NUMBERS THROUGH MAY SINCE I PUT THIS TOGETHER.
AND THE DROUGHT THROUGH MAY, TEXAS WAS IN THE 34TH WORST DROUGHT, UH, STAGE
[00:40:01]
OUT OF 130 HISTORICAL YEARS.SO WE'RE STILL MUCH WORSE THAN, UH, THAN AVERAGE AS FAR AS DROP GOES, BUT IT DOES VARY BY REGION.
ALRIGHT, IN THE HURRICANE FORECAST, UH, AGAIN, I USE A LOT OF THE SIMILAR YEARS THAT I MATCHING ANALOGS, UH, TO THIS YEAR, UH, TO DEVELOP, UH, A FORECAST RANGE.
AND THE FORECAST RANGE THERE, UH, IS THE TOP RIGHT BOX, 14 TO 19 NAMED STORMS. JUST TO NOTE, WE HAVE ANDREA, UH, AS OF TODAY, UH, OUT IN THE, UH, CENTRAL ATLANTIC.
IT'S LIKELY NOT A THREAT TO THE US, UH, BUT WE HAVE ACTUALLY FINALLY HIT OUR A STORM, UH, SEVEN TO 10 HURRICANES, THREE TO SIX MAJOR HURRICANES, UH, FOUR TO SEVEN NAMED STORMS IN THE GULF, AND ZERO OR ONE NAMED STORMS WITH TEXAS LANDFALL.
UH, WHEN I GAVE THIS FORECAST LAST YEAR, UH, THE NUMBERS WERE GREATER.
UH, SO I STILL THINK IT HAS A POTENTIAL TO BE MORE ACTIVE THAN NORMAL, MORE GREATER THAN THE NORMAL NUMBERS, UH, BUT I THINK THE, UH, THE ODDS ARE ALSO THAT IT'S GOING TO BE LESS ACTIVE THAN LAST YEAR.
AND, UM, OH, JUMPED AHEAD HERE.
UH, THE OTHER THING I WAS GONNA POINT OUT, LAST YEAR, I HAD HIGHER CONFIDENCE FOR A TEXAS LANDFALL THAN I DO THIS YEAR.
AND WE DID HAVE HURRICANE BURROW LAST YEAR, SO I STILL WOULDN'T RULE IT OUT THIS YEAR.
I THINK IT'S, UH, MAYBE A LITTLE GREATER THAN AVERAGE, UH, POTENTIAL BECAUSE THE GULF IS RUNNING VERY WARM.
UH, LAST YEAR THE GULF WAS AT RECORD LEVELS, AND IT'S ONLY SLIGHTLY BELOW THAT.
SO IT'S, UH, OUT OF THE LAST FEW DECADES, IT'S AT ABOUT ITS SECOND WARMEST LEVEL, UH, AND MORE ABOVE NORMAL THAN THE REST OF THE ATLANTIC IN THE CARIBBEAN.
SO THE POTENTIAL IS PROBABLY A LITTLE HIGHER IN THE GULF THAN IT IS FOR, UH, THE REMAINDER OF THE ATLANTIC BASIN FOR HURRICANE ACTIVITY THIS SUMMER.
UM, SO I DID WANNA POINT OUT BEFORE I GO THROUGH ALL THOSE BULLET POINTS THERE, ON THE TOP RIGHT, UH, THAT'S YOUR MILDER SCENARIO, UH, WHICH I GAVE A 30% CHANCE ACTUALLY SINCE I PUT THIS TOGETHER.
UH, JUST KNOWING THE RAIN THAT WE'VE SEEN HERE THIS MONTH HAS DONE NOTHING TO, UH, REDUCE THAT NUMBER.
UH, SO THERE IS ABOUT A ONE IN THREE CHANCE OF A MILDER SCENARIO WHERE WE SEE THIS PATTERN THAT WE, THAT WE'VE SEEN IN MAY AND INTO JUNE, CONTINUES THROUGH THE SUMMER OR THE BULK OF THE SUMMER.
UH, BUT THAT IS STILL MY LESS LIKELY FORECAST.
UH, THE LARGER TWO MAPS ARE THE MORE LIKELY, UH, SO AGAIN, A TOP 10 HOTTEST SUMMER, UH, I DON'T, WELL, WHAT I CAN DO IS I CAN LIKELY, UH, ELIMINATE A 20 11 20 23 TYPE OF SUMMER, WHICH WE'RE CLEARLY THE TWO HOTTEST SUMMERS IN TEXAS.
UH, WE'VE GOTTEN UP TO TWO WE OF A START, UH, WHERE WE HAVEN'T BEEN SEEING A LOT, A HUNDRED DEGREE DAYS THIS MONTH, UH, THAT I DON'T BELIEVE WE ARE GOING TO CHALLENGE ONE OF THOSE HOTTEST SUMMERS ON RECORD.
AND YOU GET A PRETTY BIG DROP OFF AFTER THOSE TWO TOP TWO HOTTEST SUMMERS, 2011 AND 2023.
UH, SO I THINK IT'LL FALL BELOW THOSE TOP TWO, BUT IT COULD STILL BE SIMILAR TO LAST YEAR.
UM, WE'RE ACTUALLY OFF TO A LITTLE BIT COOLER, UH, START THAN LAST YEAR.
BUT I WANTED TO POINT OUT, UM, I'VE MENTIONED A COUPLE WETTER SCENARIOS THAT COULD LEAD TO MILDER TEMPERATURES.
ANOTHER YEAR I WANTED TO POINT OUT RECENTLY WAS 2019, AND THAT WAS ACTUALLY OUR WETTEST AND MILDEST JUNE ON RECORD SINCE 2007, UH, WETTER THAN WHAT WE SAW THIS JUNE, UH, AND COOLER THE RAIN SHUT OFF THERE RIGHT AROUND JULY 1ST.
AND WE'RE ACTUALLY SEEING THAT HAPPENING RIGHT NOW.
AND THE REST OF THAT SUMMER WAS HOT AND DRY, AND THAT ENDED UP BEING TIED FOR LAST YEAR AS THE SIXTH HOTTEST SUMMER ON RECORD, EVEN WITH A VERY WET JUNE, UH, WHICH DROVE MILD TEMPERATURES TO START.
SO EVEN THOUGH THIS SUMMER THUS FAR, OR ABOUT NOT QUITE A FOURTH OF THE WAY THROUGH, HAS NOT BEEN, UH, OVERLY EXTREME, UH, THERE'S A CHANCE HERE WE'RE SEEING, UH, RAIN, UH, DWINDLING HERE GOING FORWARD, IN FACT, EVEN LAST WEEK.
AND I AM SEEING THE COMPUTER MODELS RIGHT NOW THAT FIRST WEEK OF JULY, UH, MAY BE A PERIOD OF INTEREST FOR MORE EXTREME TEMPERATURES THAN WHAT WE'VE SEEN, ESPECIALLY RIGHT AFTER THE FOURTH.
SO JUST TO GIVE YOU SOME IDEA, THE SUMMER IS FAR FROM OVER YET, UH, BUT THERE IS A MILDER, UH, SCENARIO POTENTIAL, UH, LET'S SEE IF I MISSED ANY BULLET POINTS.
DROUGHT IS LIKELY TO CONTINUE THE SUMMER, UH, AT LEAST REGIONALLY POTENTIALLY WORSENING.
[00:45:01]
I DON'T THINK IT'LL EXPAND ACROSS THE ENTIRE STATE, UH, AGAIN, GIVEN NORTH CENTRAL, NORTHEAST TEXAS A LITTLE BIT WETTER.AND, UH, I THINK I'VE COVERED PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING THERE, UNLESS YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS FOR ME? ANY QUESTION, SIR? THANK YOU.
THANK YOU, CHRIS, AS ALWAYS, QUITE INTERESTING.
UH, COULD YOU, UH, DISCUSS JUST FOR A MOMENT HOW ANY POTENTIAL FEDERAL CUTS AT THE FORECASTING LEVELS COULD IMPACT OUR FORECASTING ABILITY? WELL, THAT, THAT'S A GOOD QUESTION.
AND I CAN SAY THUS FAR, I THINK THEY'VE BEEN PRETTY LIMITED.
BUT THE, THE MAIN CONCERN, I THINK IS WITH THE WEATHER DATA, UH, BASED ON WEATHER BALLOON LAUNCHES, SOME OF YOU LIKELY READ THIS, THEY'VE REDUCED THE NUMBER OF WEATHER BALLOON LAUNCHES.
AND THAT WHAT THAT DOES IS IT RECORDS DATA THROUGHOUT THE ATMOSPHERE THAT FEEDS INTO THE COMPUTER MODELS THAT WE USE.
UH, ONE OF THE COMPUTER MODELS WE USE IS THE GFS MODEL, THAT'S THE AMERICAN MODEL.
UH, AND SO IT DOESN'T HAVE AS MUCH DATA GOING IN, UH, TO INITIALIZE THE MODEL, AND IT IS LAGGING BEHIND IN FORECAST ACCURACY.
SO ONE OF THE COMPUTER MODELS, UH, WE ARE USING, UH, IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE LESS RELIABLE.
NOW, FORTUNATELY, WE DO HAVE OTHER COMPUTER MODELS, UH, THAT WE LOOK AT.
SO, BUT THE AMERICAN VERSION MAY NOT BE AS ACCURATE GOING FORWARD.
UH, WE RELY ON THE WEATHER SERVICE, UH, FOR ALL OF OUR DATA REALLY.
UH, SO AS LONG AS WE KEEP GETTING DATA, UH, YOU KNOW, WEATHER OBSERVATIONS AND THAT SORT OF THING, WE'RE, WE'RE STILL GOOD.
UH, I THINK, AND THE, THE BIGGER CONCERNS WILL BE MORE WITH THE NOAH AND THE WEATHER SERVICE AND THE HURRICANE CENTER, UH, THIS YEAR WITH THEIR STAFF SHORTAGES.
BUT, UH, HERE AT ERCOT, I THINK WE'RE DOING FINE THIS FAR.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR CHRIS? CHRIS, THANKS FOR THE UPDATE.
[9.2 2025 Summer Operations]
MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM 9.2, THE 2025 SUMMER OPERATIONS, UH, OVERVIEW, UH, PRESENTED BY DAN WOODFIN.SO I GUESS THE, THE FEW KEY TOPICS THAT WANTED TO COVER, UH, A LOT OF THIS IS THINGS THAT EITHER PABLO HAS COVERED OR CHRISTIE'S COVERED OVER THE COURSE OF THIS MEETING ALREADY.
UM, OUR FORECASTED SUMMER PEAK LOAD IS 87.5 GIGAWATTS.
THAT'S UP A LITTLE OVER TWO GIGAWATTS FROM THE PEAK DEMAND THAT WE'VE SEEN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS.
PART OF THAT'S DUE TO, TO LARGE LOAD GROWTH AND JUST THE GENERAL ECONOMIC GROWTH.
UH, WE ARE ASSUMING THAT SOME OF THE FLEXIBLE LOADS THAT ARE COMING ON WILL BE OFF DURING THAT TIME PERIOD.
UM, BUT GENERALLY WE'RE, WE ARE EXPECTING SIGNIFICANT LOAD GROWTH.
AND PART OF THAT'S BECAUSE AT THEN ALSO HIGHER TEMPERATURES BECAUSE OF CHRIS'S FORECAST OF ABOVE NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND DRIER CONDITIONS.
UM, AS PABLO POINTED OUT EARLIER, WE'VE HAD QUITE A BIT OF SOLAR AND STORAGE ADDED.
WE'VE ALSO HAD GAS ADDED, BUT AS, AS HE NOTED IN HIS SLIDE, WE'VE ACTUALLY HAD MOTH BALLING, WHICH TAKES THE NET NUMBER NEGATIVE.
UM, BUT WE DO HAVE, IN GENERAL, QUITE A FEW MORE RESOURCES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO, TO SERVE THAT HIGHER PEAK DEMAND.
UM, AS CHRISTIE NOTED YESTERDAY, WE'VE LOOKED AT THE PROBABILISTICALLY AT THE, THE CHANCE OF OUTAGES DURING THE, UM, UM, THREE SUMMER MONTHS.
UM, AND THOSE ARE RELATIVELY LOWER COMPARED TO LAST YEAR.
UM, AND THAT'S, THAT'S GOOD NEWS.
UM, WE, UH, SO THERE'S A LOWER RISK THAT WE WOULD HAVE TO HAVE, UH, TIGHT CONDITIONS OR LOAD SHED THIS SUMMER.
UM, I WILL NOTE THAT, THAT THAT ASSUMES THAT A LOT OF THINGS HAPPEN IN THE WAY THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, INCLUDING LARGE LOADS THAT ARE FLEXIBLE, THEN PRICE SENSITIVE, TURNING OFF AT THE RIGHT TIME OF DAY.
UM, AND IN ASSUMES THAT, UH, BATTERIES CHARGE AND THEN DISCHARGE AND MAINTAIN, MANAGE THEIR STATED CHARGE SO THAT THEY'RE AVAILABLE DURING THE TIGHTER TIMEFRAMES.
YOU'LL NOTICE THAT, AS CHRISTIE POINTED OUT YESTERDAY, UH, THE TIGHTEST TIME IS NOT DURING THE AFTERNOON PEAK DEMAND WHEN ALL THE AIR CONDITIONING IS RUNNING, BUT IT'S IN THE EVENING WHEN LOADS ARE STILL HIGH, BUT THE SUN GOES DOWN.
AND SO WE HAVE LESS SOLAR GENERATION AVAILABLE TO HELP SERVE THAT REMAINING LOAD ON THE SYSTEM.
SO IT HAPPENS IN THE KIND OF EIGHT TO TO NINE O'CLOCK HOUR FROM A TRANSMISSION PERSPECTIVE.
UM, I'LL POINT OUT, UH, WE, WE DON'T SEE ANY WIDE AREA CONCERNS.
UH, THERE ARE A COUPLE AREAS THAT, AND, AND, AND I JUST MENTIONED THIS BECAUSE WE'RE LIKELY TO SEE THIS ON A GOING FORWARD BASIS, AS WE HAVE AREAS WHERE WE HAVE LOTS OF, UH, LARGE LOAD GROWTH.
[00:50:01]
UH, WE, EVEN THOUGH WE'VE GOT A, A GREAT TRANSMISSION PLAN TO HELP SERVE ALL THAT LOAD, THERE MAY BE LOCALIZED AREAS WHERE THE LOAD GOES FASTER THAN THE TRANSMISSION CAN GET THERE.AND, UH, ONE OF THOSE AREAS IS IN FAR WEST TEXAS, WE'RE LIKELY TO SEE, UH, SOME CONSTRAINTS IN THAT AREA AS THE LOAD GROWS VERY FAST AND THERE'S LOTS OF TRANSMISSION COMING, BUT OPERATIONALLY WE MAY COULD SEE, UH, CONGESTION IN THAT AREA THIS SUMMER.
AND THEN, OF COURSE, AS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, THE SOUTH TEXAS EXPORT, THAT THAT'S BEEN A CONCERN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS COULD, IF WE GET INTO VERY TIGHT CONDITIONS ON THE GRID, COULD BECOME A CONCERN, UH, THIS, THIS SUMMER AS WELL.
AND SO WITH THAT, I'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE.
SO ANY QUESTIONS FOR DAD? ALL RIGHT, LET'S
[9.3 2025 Summer Markets and Credit]
MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM 9.3, THE SUMMER, UH, 2025 MARKETS AND CREDIT OVERVIEW PRESENTED BY KEITH COLLINS.JUST LOOKING AT THE, UH, THE MARKET.
ALL RIGHT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT THE MARKETS ARE ARE SHOWING AT THIS TIME, UH, GOING FORWARD OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
WE'LL START OFF BY SHOWING THE FORWARD PRICE CURVES, UH, FOR THE, THE, UH, FOR THE SUMMER MONTH PERIODS AND COMPARE THAT TO THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
UH, THESE ARE SNAPSHOTS IN TIME.
UH, THE SNAPSHOT IS AT THE BEGINNING OF, OF JUNE, UH, IN 22, UH, 23, 24, AND 25.
AND WHAT WE ARE WE'RE SEEING IS THAT THE, THE 25, UH, SUMMER FORWARDS ARE, OR IN BETWEEN WHAT WE HAD IN, IN, IN OUR SNAPSHOTS FOR 24 AND 23.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S, THAT'S KEY TO, TO UNDERSTANDING FORWARD PRICING IS, UH, IS ULTIMATELY GAS.
THESE ARE DAILY GAS PRICES, AND, UH, WHAT WE'LL LOOK AT FORWARD GAS PRICES IN A SECOND, BUT WHAT WE'VE GENERALLY BEEN SEEING IS THAT NATURAL GAS PRICES ARE, ARE TRENDING A LITTLE HIGHER RELATIVE TO THE LAST COUPLE YEARS.
AND GENERALLY WHAT, WHAT THAT TRANSLATES INTO IS IF THERE ARE HIGHER NATURAL GAS PRICES THAT GENERALLY TRENDS TO HAVING HIGHER, UH, POWER PRICES.
AS A RESULT, WHEN WE LOOK AT FORWARD GAS PRICES AND, AND WE'RE SHOWING JUNE, JULY, AND AUGUST HERE, UH, WE'RE SHOWING IT FOR 23, 24 AND 25, UH, YOU'LL NOTE THAT THE 25 NATURAL GAS PRICES ARE, ARE A BIT HIGHER THAN WHAT WE'VE SEEN, UH, FOR THE LAST FEW SUMMERS, AVERAGING OVER $3, AROUND THREE 50 FOR, FOR JULY AND AUGUST.
AND WHEN WE TAKE THE, THE FORWARD POWER PRICES AND WE TAKE THESE FORWARD NATURAL GAS PRICES, WE CAN CREATE WHAT'S CALLED AN IMPLIED HEAT RATE.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT WE HAVE IN, IN THE, THE TABLE ON, ON THE RIGHT.
AND WHAT THIS IS SHOWING US IS THAT WHEN, WHEN YOU CONTROL FOR THOSE CHANGES IN GAS PRICES, ACTUALLY, UH, THOSE, THOSE HIGHER POWER PRICES WE'RE SEEING IN, UH, IN THAT FIRST SLIDE THAT I SHOWED IS, IS ACTUALLY, UH, A, A SIGNIFICANT FUNCTION OF WHAT YOU'RE SEEING IS INCREASED GAS PRICES.
SO GAS MARKETS ARE, ARE DRIVING, UH, THE, THE POWER PRICES HIGHER.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS I DID WANNA, UH, END WITH HERE IS, IS SORT OF A LONGER, LONGER VIEW OF FORWARD PRICING.
AND THESE ARE BASICALLY, UH, LOOKING AT THE YEAR WE'RE AVERAGING THE MONTHLY, UH, FORWARD PRICES FOR 25 GOING OUT TO 2030.
UH, THE LIQUIDITY, PARTICULARLY AS YOU GET OUT A FEW YEARS, IS, IS A LOT LESS.
BUT THE GENERAL TREND THAT WE SEE AND, AND, UH, THE MOST RECENT DATA IS WHAT IS, WHAT IS THE, THE, THE TRADING FOR THAT PARTICULAR YEAR IS WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT THE, UH, THAT THE FORWARD PRICES AND, AND IT'S, IT'S ESSENTIALLY A, WHAT WAS IT A YEAR AGO? WHAT WAS IT SIX MONTHS AGO? WHAT WAS IT THREE MONTHS AGO? UM, ET CETERA.
AND WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS THAT THERE'S A GENERAL DECLINE IN PRICING, UH, UH, OVER THE, OVER THE PERIOD AS WE STARTED A YEAR AGO TO NOW, AND THAT WHAT WE SEE IS THAT PRICES FOR 25 ARE HIGHER THAN THE EXPECTATIONS FOR 26 AND 27 GOING FORWARD.
UH, THE OTHER POINT TO NOTE IS I DO HAVE, UH, IN A DASH LINE TOWARDS THE TOP, THIS IS THE LEVELIZED COST OF ENTRY, UH, FROM LAZAR.
UH, THIS IS ACTUALLY THE BOTTOM OF THEIR FORECAST FOR A PEAKER RESOURCE.
AND SO WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT DOES IT TAKE, UH, IN, IN POWER PRICING TO, TO ACHIEVE, UH, UH, ESSENTIALLY A, THE, TO COVER BOTH THE, THE VARIABLE AND THE FIXED COST NEEDED FOR NEW ENTRY, WE CAN SEE THAT THAT'S CLEARLY A DISCONNECT BETWEEN THOSE, THE, THE NEEDS WHICH IS IN THE, THE DASH LINE AND, UH, THE FORWARD PRICE STRIPS THAT WE SEE GOING OUT TO 2030.
I BELIEVE THAT IS THE END OF MY PRESENTATION, AND I'LL PAUSE TO SEE IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR KEITH? I'VE GOT A QUESTION.
YES, KEITH? UM, WHEN YOU LOOK AT PRICE VOLATILITY,
[00:55:02]
ARE THE PRICES IN OUR MARKET BECOMING LESS OR MORE VOLATILE? UM, I THINK THAT WAS ACTUALLY COVERED IN THE IMM PRESENTATION YESTERDAY.AND, AND I THINK WHAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE SHOWING IS THAT ACTUALLY THERE, THERE SEEMS TO BE AN INCREASE IN VOLATILITY, UH, IN TERMS OF THE FREQUENCY OF PRICE SPIKES, BUT THE LEVEL OF THOSE PRICE SPIKES AREN'T AS HIGH AS THEY WERE IN IN PREVIOUS YEARS.
SO IF YOU JUST MEASURE IT IN TERMS OF THE, THE NUMBER OF INSTANCES, YES, IT APPEARS TO BE MORE, BUT THE MAGNITUDE WAS A LITTLE LESS THAN IN, IN 23.
[10. Mitigating Dynamic Events on the Changing ERCOT Grid]
IS THE GEN ITEM 10 MITIGATING DYNAMIC EVENTS ON THE CHANGING ERCOT GRID.UH, DAN WOODFIN IS COMING BACK TO MAKE THIS PRESENTATION.
I HOPE THIS WILL BE AN INTERESTING PRESENTATION BECAUSE OUR, OUR REAL GOAL IS TO, UH, IN DOING IT IS TO ILLUSTRATE SOME THINGS.
THERE, THERE ARE SEVERAL, UH, DIFFERENT INITIATIVES THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON OR, AND CONTINUE TO WORK ON, AND THEY'RE ALL RE INTERRELATED.
THE DRIVERS BEHIND THEM ARE INTERRELATED.
WE WANTED TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A, A MORE OF A BROAD AREA VIEW OF HOW THESE, UH, WHY THESE, UH, NEW INITIATIVES ARE NEEDED AND HOW THEY KIND OF FIT TOGETHER.
AND SO WE'LL, WE'LL GO THROUGH THAT.
UM, AND I, I'M ACTUALLY GONNA GO OUT OF ORDER ON THE FIRST COUPLE OF SLIDES.
SO WE, WHEN YOU LOOK AT KIND OF THE RISKS TO THE POWER SYSTEM, THERE ARE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS.
UH, WE, WE FOCUS A LOT ON THE ONES ON KIND OF THE, THE LEFT HAND SIDE OF THIS GRAPHIC, WHICH ARE, WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY ON THE SYSTEM, UH, RESOURCE ADEQUACY ISSUES WE HAVE TO POTENTIALLY SHED LOAD BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH CAPACITY.
UM, THOSE THINGS TEND TO HAPPEN IN THE TIMEFRAME OF HOURS TO MINUTES, WHERE IF SOMETHING HAPPENS KIND OF EXTRAORDINARY WHERE WE LOSE A LOT OF GENERATION OR WE DON'T, UH, THE WIND DOESN'T BLOW AND THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE FOR A WHILE AND WE HAVE AN ISSUE, WE CAN SHED LOAD AND SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
UM, AND SO OVER THE COURSE OF HOURS OR MINUTES, THEN THERE'S THE OTHER KIND OF ISSUES.
AND, AND WE HAD THIS PRESENTATION YESTERDAY THAT I DID ABOUT THE, THE IBERIAN PENINSULA OUTAGE.
THOSE KIND OF THINGS HAPPEN IN AN UNCONTROLLED WAY WHERE YOU DON'T HAVE TIME TO SHED LOAD, THE OPERATORS DON'T HAVE TIME TO REACT, AND THEY OCCUR VERY QUICKLY.
UH, IF YOU RECALL THE, THE, THE, THE TIMING OF THAT IBERIAN OUTAGE, THEY WENT FROM OKAY TO BLACKOUT WITHIN 30 SOMETHING SECONDS.
AND SO THAT'S THE, THE, THE IN IN THE SCHEME OF THINGS, THERE'S DIFFERENT KIND OF EVENTS.
AND I ACTUALLY, THESE WHAT I CALL BLINK AND IT'S GONE TYPE EVENTS, THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT CAUSE ME MORE CONCERN AS OPPOSED TO THE ONES WHERE OPERATORS CAN, UM, ACTUALLY SOLVE THE PROBLEM THROUGH LOAD SHED OR THROUGH OPENING LINES OR THROUGH STARTING ADDITIONAL GENERATION OR THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND SO, UH, WHAT WE'RE SEEING IS, IS AS THE SYSTEM CHANGES, THOSE KIND OF EVENTS ACTUALLY BECOME MORE LIKELY IF WE DON'T MANAGE THEM APPROPRIATELY.
AND SO, UM, AND SOME OF THE CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM THAT CONTRIBUTE TO THIS ARE, WE'VE GOT MORE GRID FOLLOWING INVERTER BASED RESOURCES, UH, RATHER THAN SYNCHRONOUS GENERATORS.
SYNCHRONOUS GENERATORS TEND TO, TO SOLVE A LOT OF THESE PROBLEMS. UM, INHERENTLY IBR CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM, BUT IT REQUIRES, UM, DOING THINGS, UH, CORRECT, UH, SETTING THINGS UP CORRECTLY TO DO IT.
UH, WE HAVE RESOURCES LOCATED A LONG WAY FROM LOAD.
IT USED TO BE THAT WE HAD GENERATORS LOCATED IN LOAD CENTERS.
SO WE'RE HAVING TO MOVE POWER OVER LONG DISTANCES.
WE'VE GOT SINGLE LOADS THAT ARE BEING PROPOSED FOR THE SYSTEM THAT AT A PARTICULAR SITE HAVE AS MUCH LOAD AS ENTIRE MIDSIZE CITIES, UH, AT ONE SITE, ONE LOCATION.
AND THAT'S, THAT'S PERHAPS THE, THE, THE BIGGEST CHANGE IN THIS BECAUSE WE'VE NEVER HAD THAT, UH, BEFORE.
AND THEN A LOT OF THE CONTROLS ON BOTH THE LOADS AND THE, THE GENERATORS ARE THROUGH POWER ELECTRONICS.
AND SO THEY CAN BE CHANGED EASILY.
THEY CAN BE CHANGED INADVERTENTLY.
UM, THEY'RE TUNEABLE AND THEY'RE VERY, THEY'RE NOT AN INHERENT PART OF THE EQUIPMENT.
THEY'RE ACTUALLY PROGRAMMABLE IN THAT WAY.
AND SO WHAT THAT LEADS TO IS THE POTENTIAL FOR, UH, BECAUSE POWER TRANSFERS, WE HAVE TO LIMIT THEM BECAUSE OF SOME STABILITY ISSUE.
[01:00:01]
CAN'T RIDE THROUGH EVENTS THAT CAN CAUSE A PROBLEM.AND, UM, THE ACTUAL CONTROL SYSTEMS ON THE DIFFERENT PLANTS CAN HAVE AN INTERACTION WITH EACH OTHER, WHERE THIS ONE'S TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM THIS WAY.
THIS ONE'S TRYING TO FIX THE PROBLEM.
THIS WAY THEY DON'T TALK TOGETHER AND THEY DON'T WORK TOGETHER WELL.
UM, AND THEN THE OTHER ISSUE IS THAT WE CAN HAVE, UH, IF WE DON'T, WE CAN STUDY THESE THINGS AND TRY TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS, BUT IF THE MODELS THAT WE HAVE DON'T, UH, AREN'T CORRECT BASED ON THE EQUIPMENT IN THE FIELD, THAT CAN BECOME A, A PROBLEM WHERE OUR, OUR, OUR STUDIES AREN'T ACCURATE BECAUSE OF BAD MODELS.
UM, AND THEN AS WE GET MORE OF THESE ISSUES, WE, THERE ARE MORE STUDIES WE HAVE TO DO ALL THE TIME TO, TO MAKE UP FOR THE, TO BE ABLE TO STUDY ALL THE DIFFERENT CONDITIONS WHEN YOU'VE GOT OUTAGES, WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE OUTAGES, WHEN THIS GENERATOR'S ONLINE, WHEN A DIFFERENT SET OF GENERATIONS ONLINE AND SO FORTH.
AND SO THERE, THERE'S JUST KIND OF INCREASING, UH, RISKS OF THIS TIME, THAT TYPE THAT WE NEED TO MANAGE.
AND NOW, HISTORICALLY, OR IN RECENT TIMES, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO MANAGE THESE BECAUSE MOST OF THEM ARE BECAUSE OF, UM, POWER TRANSFER LEVELS.
IF YOU'RE MOVING POWER FROM WEST TEXAS TO THE, THE CITIES IN THE EAST, IF WE SEE A STABILITY PROBLEM, EITHER AN ANGULAR STABILITY PROBLEM, A VOLTAGE STABILITY PROBLEM, ANY, BASICALLY ANY OF THE ONES THAT I MENTIONED BY LIMITING POWER TRANSFERS, YOU CAN KEEP IT UNDER A LEVEL THAT, THAT, THAT IS STA SO THAT IT IS STABLE.
AND WE'VE DONE THAT THROUGH THE USE OF THESE GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS THAT YOU HEAR ABOUT, THAT WE'VE, WE'VE TALKED A LOT ABOUT THESE, THESE GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS.
UM, WE SET THE LIMITS IN SUCH A WAY THAT THEY KEEP THE TRANSFER AT A STABLE LEVEL AND THEY DO IT IN SUCH A WAY THAT'S MOST ECONOMIC, UH, FOR USING THE, THE, THE LEAST EXPENSIVE GENERATION TO SERVE THE LOAD.
AND SO THAT, BUT KEEPING THAT TRANSFER UNDER THE LEVEL THAT, THAT, THAT WOULD BE CAUSE A STABILITY PROBLEM.
WE'VE HAD TO, AS WE, THESE, THE SYSTEM HAS CHANGED.
WE'VE HAD TO ADD MORE OF THESE GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS OVER TIME.
AND YOU SEE THAT GRAPHIC ON THE RIGHT SHOWS THAT HOW MUCH THE NUMBER OF THESE HAVE INCREASED OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS.
WE, WE, WE CAN KEEP THE SYSTEM RELIABLE BY USING THESE.
UM, WHAT WE'VE SEEN RECENTLY THOUGH IS THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHERE WE, WHEN WE HAVE A FAULT ON THE SYSTEM, AND EITHER INVERTER BASED RESOURCES OR LARGE LOADS EITHER STOP PRODUCING POWER OR STOP CONSUMING POWER BECAUSE OF THE FAULT INTO THE SYSTEM, THAT THAT LOOKS LIKE THE POWER IS JUST GOING AWAY FOR, NOT FOR A LONG TIME, BUT FOR A, A FEW SECONDS UP TO MINUTES.
AND, UH, WE'VE SEEN MORE AND MORE OF THESE KIND OF EVENTS I REPORTED ON THEM FOR THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS.
UM, AND SO AS THAT HAPPENS, A LOT OF THESE, WE CAN'T, WE CAN'T MITIGATE THE EFFECTS OF THOSE THROUGH LIMITING POWER TRANSFER.
WE'VE GOTTA DO IT A DIFFERENT WAY.
NOW, AS WE'VE SEEN MORE OF THESE, WE, UM, RECOGNIZE ESPECIALLY AS, AS WE GET MORE LARGE LOADS THAT ARE LOCATED IN AN AREA OR IN ONE LOCATION, UH, THE QUESTION IS, DO WE HAVE A, DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM OR NOT? WE'VE SEEN, YOU CAN SEE THE MAGNITUDE OF THESE IS IN THE FEW HUNDRED MEGAWATT RANGE AT A TIME.
WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO HANDLE THOSE, UH, ADEQUATELY, THE BOXES THAT KINDA SHOW THE SIZE.
DO WE HAVE A PRO A BROADER PROBLEM? AND ESPECIALLY, WE, WE DID A LOT OF WORK LAST YEAR ON NO 2 45 RELATED TO INVERTER BASED RESOURCES.
THE QUESTION IS, DO WE, UH, HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE LARGE LOADS TRIPPING OFF BECAUSE THAT, THIS IS REALLY A NEW PHENOMENON.
THE SIZE OF LOADS IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY.
AND SO WE'VE DONE A COUPLE OF STUDIES, UM, WE'VE SHARED THIS WITH STAKEHOLDERS.
UM, THE FIRST IS TO LOOK AT ARE THERE AREAS OF THE GRID WHERE FOR A SINGLE FAULT AND A FAULT MAY BE CAUSED BY A LIGHTNING STRIKE, A, UM, BIRD CONTACT, WHAT WHATEVER THE SITUATION IS THAT CAUSES A SHORT FROM THE, FROM THE LINES CARRYING POWER TO GROUND SOMEHOW.
UM, IF, IF WE HAVE A FAULT, HOW MUCH LOAD IN THAT AREA WON'T RIDE THROUGH, HOW MUCH OF THAT LOAD WILL STOP CONSUMING POWER? BECAUSE EITHER IT'S PROCESSING LOAD
[01:05:01]
IS SET UP WHERE IT CAN'T, IT PROTECTS ITSELF UNDER THAT KIND OF SITUATION, OR IT SWITCHES OVER TO UPS, THE UNI UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SOURCE THAT'S AT THE LOCATION.UM, AND SO BECAUSE WE'VE SEEN THESE EVENTS, WE MADE SOME, AS WE'VE MADE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT, OKAY, WHAT LEVEL OF FAULT WILL RESULT IN THE LOAD STOPPING CONSUMING THE POWER? UM, AND WE'RE USING THIS 0.7 PER UNIT FOR 20, UH, MILLISECONDS, WHICH IS A CURVE, THAT'S A STANDARD FOR PROCESSING EQUIPMENT.
WE'RE USING THAT AS KIND OF THE, THE BASELINE TO SAY, IF THE VOLTAGE GOES DOWN AT THE BUS WHERE PROCESSING EQUIPMENT IS LOCATED, WILL IT STOP CONSUMING AT THAT POINT? AND, UH, WHAT WE FOUND IN THIS STUDY IS UNDER THAT KIND OF CON, IN UNDER THAT KIND OF ASSUMPTION THAT ROUGHLY AT THE TIME WHAT WAS IN THE STUDY, ABOUT HALF OF THE LARGE LOADS IN WEST TEXAS WOULD STOP CONSUMING FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME AS A RESULT OF A FAULT IN A KIND OF A CRITICAL LOCATION IN WEST TEXAS.
OKAY? SO THAT WOULD BE, IN THE THIS CASE, WE HAD 3000 MEGAWATTS.
UH, THE QUESTION IS, IN, IN ABOUT 1500 MEGAWATTS OF THE 3000 WAS SHOWN FOR AT LEAST ONE LOCATION TO, UH, STOP CONSUMING POWER.
UM, THE RESULTS WOULD BE DIFFERENT UNDER DIFFERENT OPERATING CONDITIONS.
IF WE HAD MORE SYNCHRONOUS GENERATION ONLINE IN WEST TEXAS OR SOME OF THOSE KIND OF THINGS, IT MIGHT NOT BE AS BAD.
BUT ALSO AS WE HAVE MORE LOAD GROW IN THE AREA, IT MAY GET WORSE.
AND SO BASICALLY WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO WITH THIS STUDY IS SAY, DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM? DO WE, THAT WE NEED TO WORK ON, THAT WE NEED TO FIX? UM, THEN THE NEXT PART OF THAT QUESTION OF DO WE HAVE A PROBLEM IS HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? HOW MUCH LARGE LOAD GOING AWAY, UH, AT ONE INSTANT IN TIME, HOW MUCH WOULD CAUSE A PROBLEM ON THE SYSTEM? AND SO WE DID A SECOND STUDY THAT LOOKED AT WHAT IF A LARGE DIFFERENT AMOUNTS OF LOAD TRIPPED OFFLINE AT THE SAME TIME, WOULD IT CAUSE AN OVER FREQUENCY ON THE SYSTEM TO THE POINT THAT IT MIGHT TRIP GENERATION THAT COULDN'T RIDE THROUGH THAT HIGH VOLTAGE? AND, UH, WE, SO WE'VE DONE THAT STUDY, UM, AND IT SHOWED THAT, YOU CAN SEE THE GRAPHIC ON THE RIGHT THERE.
IF WE, IF THE, THAT STEADY STATE FREQUENCY GETS ABOVE ABOUT 60.4 HERTZ, WE THINK IT WOULD BE A PROBLEM.
AND THAT WINDS UP BEING UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE STUDY WINDS UP BEING ABOUT 2,600 MEGAWATTS.
SO IF, UH, UNDER THAT, THOSE KIND OF WORST CASE CONDITIONS, IF WE LOST OVER 2,600 MEGAWATTS, THE FREQUENCY WOULD GO HIGH TO THE POINT THAT OTHER SYNCHRONOUS GENERATION MIGHT TRIP OFFLINE.
NOW, WHEN THE LOAD COMES BACK, THERE'S NOT ENOUGH GENERATION ONLINE TO SERVE IT, AND THEN WE COULD HAVE A ONE OF THOSE, THOSE BAD PROBLEMS. AND SO WE NEED TO KEEP THAT, UH, WHERE A SINGLE FAULT DOESN'T CAUSE 20 OVER 2,600 OR WHATEVER THE LEVEL IS FOR THE CURRENT OPERATING CONDITIONS TO TRIP OFFLINE.
IT'S SOMETHING WE NEED TO WORK ON.
AND SO THE QUESTION IS WHAT CAN WE DO? UM, SO, UM, THIS IS A KIND OF A, A SIMPLIFIED SYSTEM.
WHAT IT SHOWS IS IF THERE'S A FAULT ON AN AREA ON THE, ON THE LEFT HAND SIDE HERE OF THE, OF A WEAK GRID WHERE THAT FAULT IS FELT OVER A BROAD AREA, THERE ARE MULTIPLE BUSES THAT MAY SEE THOSE LOW VOLTAGES AND CAUSE AND THE LOADS STOP CONSUMING.
SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE COULD DO IS STRENGTHEN THE GRID OR THE LOADS CAN LOCATE IN A STRONGER AREA.
IN THIS CASE, WE SH IN THE MIDDLE GRAPHIC, WE SHOW, OKAY, THE, THE, THE AREA IS STRENGTHENED.
NOW THE, THAT SINGLE FAULT REDUCES THE VOLTAGE OVER A NOT AS WIDE AN AREA.
SO THERE'S FEWER BUSES IMPACTED FEWER LOADS THAT WOULD TRIP OFFLINE.
UH, THAT'S, THAT'S ONE POTENTIAL SOLUTION IS TO STRENGTHEN THE GRID AND MAKE SURE THERE'S A NARROWER AREA THAT'S AFFECTED.
THE, THE PROBLEM WOULD LIE IN THE ONE ON THE RIGHT, THAT EVEN IN A STRONG GRID WHERE ONLY A FEW BUSES ARE, ARE AFFECTED, IF THERE'S TOO MUCH LOAD LOCATED WITHIN THAT STRONGER AREA, THEN THAT COULD STILL BE TOO MUCH TRIPPING OFF, EVEN THOUGH SMALLER AREAS AFFECTED A SINGLE FAULT COULD STILL TRIP OFF A LOT OF LOAD IF IT'S VERY DENSELY LOCATED IN THAT AREA.
[01:10:01]
THAT GIVES YOU A LITTLE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT'S GOING ON THERE.THE OTHER, THE OTHER WAY THAT WE COULD SOLVE THE PROBLEM, SO STRENGTHENING OF THE GRID IS ONE, ONE SOLUTION.
THE OTHER SOLUTION IS IMPROVING RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY.
SO THIS IS KINDA LOOKING AT THE SAME GRAPHIC, BUT FROM A SIDE VIEW.
SO YOU SEE THAT, THAT THERE ARE, THE DOTS ARE STILL BUSES ON THE SYSTEM, VOLTAGE DIPS INTO A PARTICULAR AREA, UH, WHERE THE FAULT IS LOCATED, IF THE RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY IS THAT DOTTED LINE, UH, THEN THERE'S A LOT OF BUSES THAT ARE AFFECTED AND MAYBE, UH, UH, UH, MAY TRIP OFF LINE.
IF THEY HAVE IMPROVED RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY, THOUGH THEY CAN RIDE THROUGH A LOWER VOLTAGE FOR, FOR A LONGER PERIOD OF TIME, THEN THAT IS A ANOTHER WAY THAT WE CAN REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF LOAD THAT MAY TRIP OFF IN, IN AN AREA FOR THE SAME FAULT BY IMPROVING THE RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY OF, OF THOSE DEVICES IN THAT, THAT UH, AREA.
SO THAT'S A, THAT'S A, THAT'S A ANOTHER POTENTIAL SOLUTION.
AND, AND I THINK WHAT WE'RE, WE'RE FEELING IS THAT BRIDGING THIS RELIABILITY GAP, YOU CAN'T BUILD A BRIDGE SOLELY FROM ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO SPAN THAT GAP, UH, BY, FROM EITHER SOLELY LOOKING AT IT FROM A GRID PERSPECTIVE AND TRYING TO IMPROVE THE GRID, OR SOLELY AT LOOKING AT IT FROM IMPROVING THE CAPABILITY OF LOADS AND RESOURCES.
IT'S GONNA HAVE TO BE BUILT FROM BOTH SIDES.
AND SO THAT'S REALLY, UH, UH, WHAT WE'RE WORKING ON NOW.
UM, SOME OF THESE THINGS YOU'VE ALREADY BEEN SEEING, UH, WORKING AT IT FROM A IMPROVING THE GRID PERSPECTIVE.
YOU ENDORSED A PROJECT AND IT'S CURRENTLY UNDER, UH, DEVELOPMENT TO ADD SIX SYNCHRONOUS CONDENSERS IN, IN WEST TEXAS.
UH, THAT WILL HELP SHRINK THE SIZE OF THOSE AREAS THAT ARE AFFECTED BY, UH, SINGLE FAULT.
UM, THE 7 65 PLAN IS ACTUALLY BUILDING NEW 70 65 INTO WEST TEXAS WILL HELP SUPPORT THE GRID IN THAT AREA AND MAKE IT STRONGER.
UH, SO THAT WILL, THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE, UH, THAT WILL BENEFIT TO BUILDING THAT BRIDGE FROM THE, FROM THE GRID SIDE, UH, NOER 2 45, WHICH WAS PUT IN PLACE OR IS CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED.
IT WAS APPROVED BY THE P THE BOARD AND THE COMMISSION, UH, AND IT'S CURRENTLY BEING IMPLEMENTED.
AND CHRISTIE TALKED ABOUT WHERE THE, THE STATUS OF THAT IS IN HER, UH, PLANNING PRESENTATION YESTERDAY.
UH, ONCE ALL THAT'S IMPLEMENTED.
AND THEN IF THOSE RED DOTS WE WERE SEEING EARLIER ARE INVERTER BASED RESOURCES, IF THEY'RE ABLE TO RIDE THROUGH IT, IT ACTUALLY WILL HELP AND WILL HAVE FEWER IDRS TRIPPING OFFLINE FOR THE FAULTS.
SO THAT'S HELPING BUILD THE BRIDGE FROM THE, THE, THE RESOURCE AND LOAD SIDE.
UM, ONCE THOSE THINGS ARE IMPLEMENTED
AND SO THAT HELPS, UM, FROM BOTH A, UM, UH, BOTH SIDES OF THE BRIDGE ALMOST.
IT HELPS STRENGTHEN THE GRID AND IT HELPS THE, UH, THE, THE, THOSE RESOURCES TO RIDE THROUGH BETTER.
AND, UM, SO THAT, UH, THAT NOER THAT IS, IS GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW JUST REQUIRES THE ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES TO HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO BE GRID FORMING.
UM, AND, BUT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE THEM TO DO ANYTHING OPERATIONALLY.
IT DOESN'T REQUIRE THEM TO RESERVE HEAD ROOM OR, UH, MAINTAIN STATE OF CHURCH TO PROVIDE THAT BECAUSE YOU GET A LOT OF THE BENEFIT JUST FROM THEM HAVING THE CAPABILITY AND BEING THERE AND DOING THEIR NORMAL COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS.
UM, AND WE HAVE SAID THAT, THAT WE WILL FILE AN NPRR TO, UH, ACTUAL, SO THE, THIS NOER, UM, ONLY APPLIES TO NEW RESOURCES AFTER SOME FUTURE DATE.
WE'VE SAID THAT WE WILL WORK WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO PROVIDE AN INCENTIVE TO EVEN GET SOME OF THE EXISTING RESOURCES THAT HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DO IT, TO GIVE THEM AN INCENTIVE TO, UH, IMPLEMENT GRID FORMING IF THEY HAVE THE CAPABILITY TO DO IT.
NOW, IT WON'T BE A BIG INCENTIVE, BUT IT SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO WANT THE ONES THAT ARE ABLE TO DO IT WITH JUST SOME PROGRAMMING OR SOFTWARE CHANGES TO HAVE THAT CAPABILITY.
SO THAT WILL HELP IMPROVE THE, THE STRENGTH OF THE GRID AND HELP THEM RIDE THROUGH THOSE AREAS.
WE'VE SEEN THAT IN SOME OF THE STUDIES THAT WE'VE DONE AROUND THIS, THAT, UH,
[01:15:01]
IT ACTUALLY MAY INCREASE THE TRANSFER CAPABILITY OF OUT OF SOME OF THESE GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS AND MAYBE EVEN AVOID THE NEED FOR SOME GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINTS.SO IT'S GOT SOME, SOME BENEFITS THERE AS WELL.
UM, WE HAD A, SO LOOKING AT THEN FROM A LOAD RIDE THROUGH PERSPECTIVE, WE HAD A WORK WORKSHOP HERE A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO TO DISCUSS, UH, KIND OF GO THROUGH WHAT'S, WHAT ARE THE ISSUES WE'RE SEEING, UM, WHAT ARE, WHAT THE NEED FOR, UH, BETTER MODELS BECAUSE WE'RE, WE'RE HAVING THE, THE MODELS THAT WE'RE GETTING FROM THE LARGE LOADS THROUGH THE TRANSMISSION PROVIDERS ARE, WE'RE SEEING THAT THEY DON'T INCLUDE THE PROTECTION SYSTEMS AND SOME OF THOSE ISSUES THAT, THAT ARE CAUSING THE LARGE LOADS NOT TO RIDE THROUGH IN SOME OF THOSE ACTUAL EVENTS.
THE MODELS DON'T EVEN INCLUDE THOSE THINGS.
SO WE GOT TO GET BETTER MODELS SO THAT WE CAN ACCURATELY PROJECT WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN THROUGH THESE STUDIES.
UM, THE, UM, AND SO WE'VE ACTUALLY ISSUED A MARKET NOTICE YESTERDAY, I GUESS TO TELL THE TSPS AND LARGE LOADS TO WORK TOGETHER TO PROVIDE BETTER MODELS BY AUGUST, UH, THAT ACTUALLY INCORPORATE WHAT'S ACTUALLY BUILT IN THE FIELD AND SOME OF THE PROTECTION AND, UH, DEVICE.
LET'S SAY YOU'VE GOT A UPS ON A DATA CENTER.
WHAT, AT WHAT LEVEL OF VOLTAGE DIP OR, AND FOR HOW LONG IS IT BEFORE THE UPS KICKS IN AND STARTS TO SERVE THE LOAD, IN WHICH CASE WHAT THE SYSTEM SEES IS THAT LOAD GOING AWAY.
AND SO WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT THOSE SETTINGS ARE, WHAT SOME OF THE PARAMETERS ARE AROUND THAT WE'VE PUT TOGETHER A QUESTIONNAIRE FOR, TO GET THAT INFORMATION IN SUCH A WAY THAT, THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO INCLUDE IT IN THE MODELS AND, AND BE ABLE TO USE THAT FOR, FOR OUR STUDIES GOING FORWARD.
AND WE'RE NOT, WE WOULDN'T HAVE TO MAKE THESE KIND OF MORE EXTREME, UM, UM, ASSUMPTIONS AS TO WHAT, BASED ON THE ACTUAL EVENTS, WHAT'S, WHAT THEY WERE, EVERYBODY WOULD BE RIDING THROUGH.
IF YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT, IT'LL SHOW IT.
UM, WE, UM, OUR INTENT IS TO CHANGE THEN THE LARGE LOAD INTERCONNECTION PROCESS SO THAT WE CAN ASSESS THOSE RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITIES EARLY ON IN THE PROCESS RATHER THAN KIND OF AT THE LAST MINUTE IF THERE ARE ANY ISSUES.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY THOUGH WE WE'RE, WE MAY HAVE TO, UH, SET UP SYSTEM OPERATING LIMITS THAT SAY WE DON'T, WE CAN'T LET THIS GET OVER 2,600 MEGAWATTS OR WHATEVER THE CURRENT LEVEL IS.
WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE ONE OF THOSE CRASH THE SYSTEM EVENTS BECAUSE WE'VE LET TOO MUCH HOOKUP THAT CAN'T RIDE THROUGH.
BUT WE ALSO WANNA ENCOURAGE THE LARGE LOADS TO BE ABLE TO RIDE THROUGH AND WE'LL BE COMING UP WITH WHAT A STANDARD SHOULD LOOK LIKE FOR WHAT THAT RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY SHOULD BE SO THAT EVERYBODY CAN KIND OF BAKE THAT IN AS THEY'RE BUILDING THE NEW EQUIPMENT.
UM, AND WE'VE SEEN SOME OF THE, UM, UM, SOME OF THE, UH, DATA CENTER DEVELOPERS THAT ARE ALREADY LOOKING AT SOLUTIONS TO THAT.
THEY'RE PLANNING IT IN, THEY'VE SEEN, THEY'RE HEARING THE SAME THING, NOT JUST IN ERCOT, BUT ACROSS THE WHOLE US AND PROBABLY THE WHOLE WORLD.
THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO HAVE RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY BECAUSE THESE DENSE AREAS OF, OF, OF DATA CENTER DEVELOPMENT ARE GONNA BE A PROBLEM PRETTY MUCH ANY, ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.
ALL THE POWER SYSTEMS ARE THE SAME IN THAT REGARD.
AND SO BASICALLY, I THINK I'VE ALREADY GONE THROUGH THAT.
UM, SO WE ALSO, THERE, UM, MAYBE, SO WE TALKED ABOUT BUILDING THE BRIDGE FROM THIS SIDE, BUILDING THE BRIDGE FROM THIS SIDE.
THERE MAY BE OPERATIONAL, THERE MAY BE A GAP IN THE MIDDLE, UH, AT LEAST IN THE NEAR TERM.
AND SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS LOOKING AT OPERATIONAL THINGS WE CAN DO TO IMPROVE THAT, UH, UH, SO THAT, MAKE SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE ONE OF THOSE, THOSE MAJOR PROBLEMS. UM, WE'VE ALREADY, IN DETERMINING GENERIC TRANSMISSION CONSTRAINT LIMITS, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED TO INCLUDE LOAD TRIPS AS PART OF THAT, THE SETTING OF THOSE LIMITS.
UM, WE'LL LOOK AT OTHER, UH, OPERATING THINGS THAT WE CAN DO, INCLUDING STARTING ADDITIONAL SYNCHRONOUS GENERATION, UH, RELIABILITY UNIT COMMITMENT OF ADDITIONAL GENERATION TO HELP SUPPORT THE GRID AND MAKE IT STRONGER IF NEED BE SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO SERVE THAT LOAD.
UM, WE'LL BE LOOKING AT WHETHER THERE'S AN ADDITIONAL ANCILLARY SERVICES THAT COULD BE NEEDED TO HELP MAKE THAT 2,600 MEGAWATT NUMBER HIGHER BECAUSE WE'VE GOT MORE CAPABILITY TO BE ABLE TO HOLD THE FREQUENCY DOWN AND NOT CAUSE A BROADER AREA PROBLEMS. SO THERE'S A LOT, THERE'S A LOT OF THINGS THAT WE CAN BE DONE.
I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY OF THOSE
[01:20:01]
WILL BE EFFECTIVE, BUT, BUT THERE ARE OTHER ISSUES OR OTHER SOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN PUT IN PLACE TO BRIDGE ANY, ANY GAP THAT WE CAN FIND.BUT REALLY THIS IS THE, THIS IS THE GOAL.
WE NEED TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS FROM BOTH THE, THE RESOURCE AND LOAD SIDE, MAKE IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE GRID SIDE AND THEN BRIDGE THE, THE MIDDLE WITH ANY, UH, OPERATING PROCEDURES.
THE GOAL IS TO, TO CONTINUE TO, UH, FACILITATE MARKET USE OF THE GRID TO THE EXTENT WE CAN WITH RELIABILITY AND KEEP WITH RELIABILITY IN MIND.
WE'VE GOTTA PRESERVE THE RELIABILITY OF THE GRID, BUT WE WANT TO FACILITATE CONTINUED ADDITIONAL LARGE LOADS, THE CONTINUED, UH, USE OF INVERTER BASED RESOURCES, BUT DO IN A WAY THAT THAT'S RELIABLE AND THAT'S REALLY THE GOAL.
PROBABLY HAVE A PILE OF QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR DAN? I, I JUST HAVE A COMMENT.
UH, THIS, OBVIOUSLY THIS EFFORT IS CRITICAL AND VERY TIMELY, UH, AND APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORT TO GET KINDA IN FRONT OF THIS BOTH WITH RESPECT TO THE LARGE LOAD, UH, AND NOER 2 2 2 72.
AND I THINK IT'S CRITICAL THAT WE GET THAT NOER BEFORE US IN SEPTEMBER AS YOU'RE PLANNING ON DOING.
AND, UH, JUST URGE THE, UH, STAKEHOLDERS ON THE LOT LARGE LOAD F TASK FORCE TO KEEP THAT MOVING IN A TIMELY BASIS.
UH, IT'S BETTER TO DEAL WITH THESE ISSUES ON THE FRONT END.
UH, I ECHO, UH, PEGGY'S COMMENTS AS WELL.
BACK TO THE CONDENSERS THAT WERE APPROVED BY THE BOARD.
UM, DID YOU SAY ONE OF THOSE IS GONNA BE IMPLEMENTED IN 2026 AND THEN FOUR ADDITIONAL IN 2027 OR THE REST OF THEM IN 2027? IS THAT CORRECT? RIGHT.
SO, SO THEY, THEY, THEY'RE NOT THEY'RE YET, BUT THEY WILL BE COMING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS.
SO THESE IMPROVEMENTS HAVE LONG LEAD TIMES OR THESE, THESE ACTIONS TO STRENGTH INVESTMENTS TO STRENGTHEN THE GRID HAVE LONG LEAD TIMES AND WE NEED TO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
AND THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CAME UP OUT OF THE LARGE LOAD WORKSHOP IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IN SOME CASES THERE MAY BE THINGS THAT WE CAN DO ON THE GRID SIDE MM-HMM
BUT THEY TAKE A LOT LONGER THAN WHAT IT TAKES TO IMPROVE THE RIDE THROUGH CAPABILITY OF THE, THE GENERATION AND LOAD.
AND SO FROM A A, ESPECIALLY ON THE LARGE LOADS, FROM A SPEED TO MARKET PERSPECTIVE, SOLVING IT FROM THEIR SIDE MAY BE QUICKER THAN, THAN THE GRID IMPROVEMENTS.
IF, IF IT'S A SITUATION WHERE IT COULD BE DONE EITHER WAY.
AND ONE OF THE RETURNS ON INVESTMENTS WOULD BE LOWER CONGESTION COSTS, I GUESS BECAUSE YOU HAVE FEWER GEN, UH, GENERIC CONSTRAINTS AS WELL, UH, IN, IN SOME CASES.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR DAN? WE APPRECIATE THE PRESENTATION.
I THINK AS PEGGY SAID, IT'S VERY TIMELY.
[11. TAC Report]
THAT, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO, UH, JENNA, ITEM 11.I'D LIKE TO INVITE KAITLYN SMITH, CHAIR OF THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE AND, UH, MARTHA HENSON, WHO IS THE VICE CHAIR OF TAC, UH, TO PRESENT AGENDA.
ITEM 11, THE TAC REPORT TAC HAS RECOMMENDED TWO REVISION REQUEST WITH OPPOSING VOTES RECORDED, UH, FOR AGENDA ITEM 11.1 0.1 AND PRR 1229, THE REALTIME CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT PLAN, COST RECOVERY PAYMENT, AND THE GEN ITEM 11.12 NPRR 1282 ANCILLARY SERVICE, UH, DURATION UNDER REALTIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION, BOTH OF WHICH ARE URGENT, OR EXCUSE ME, THE SECOND IS URGENT.
UH, CAITLYN, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, YOU PLAN TO, UH, MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT ON BEHALF OF JUPITER POWER REGARDING 1282.
UH, SO I'M GONNA ASK YOU IF YOU WOULD TO PROCEED WITH YOUR T REPORT THROUGH 1229 AND THEN, UH, WE'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION, UH, BEFORE MARTHA PRESENTS 1282, UH, RELATED TO, UH, THE NODAL OPERATING.
I'M THE CHAIR OF THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
WE'RE GONNA BIFURCATE THIS REPORT AND I'LL, I'LL HAND IT OVER TO MARTHA HENSON, WHO IS OUR VICE CHAIR TO PRESENT THE LAST PART OF THE REPORT.
SO AS WE DO AT EACH OF THESE BOARD MEETINGS, UM, WE'LL BE PRESENTING A SUMMARY OF THE TAC MEETINGS THAT HAVE OCCURRED SINCE THE LAST BOARD MEETING.
WE HAVE HAD THREE MEETINGS SINCE WE MET WITH THE BOARD, UM, OUR REGULAR APRIL AND MAY TAC MEETINGS, AND A SPECIAL TAC MEETING EARLIER THIS MONTH TO CONSIDER NPR 1238, WHICH IS VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION OF LOADS WITH CURTAIL LOAD CAPABILITIES AT THE APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE MEETINGS.
TAC RECOMMENDED APPROVAL OF 13 REVISION REQUESTS.
WE DO HAVE NO G 2 77 ON THE VOTING ITEMS HERE THAT IS RELATED TO 1282.
[01:25:01]
THOSE TOGETHER OR YOU'LL VOTE ON THOSE TOGETHER INSTEAD OF ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.BUT THAT NOER HAD NO OPPOSING VOTES, SO JUST NOTING THAT FOR YOU.
WE ALSO, UH, KICKED OFF OUR BIENNIAL TAX STAKEHOLDER BODY STRUCTURAL AND PROCEDURAL REVIEW.
UH, THAT'S A VERY FANCY NAME, UM, BUT WE'LL DISCUSS THAT LATER ON IN THE REPORT AS WELL.
HERE ARE THE 11 UNOPPOSED REVISION REQUESTS.
HERE ARE THE TWO WITH, UM, OPPOSING VOTES.
SO IT'S NPRR 1229 REALTIME CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT PLAN, COST RECOVERY PAYMENT, AND NPRR 1282.
ANCILLARY SERVICE DURATION UNDER REALTIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION.
UM, IN THE TWO REGULAR MEETINGS, TAC UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ENDORSE, UH, RPG PROJECT.
SO AT THE APRIL TECH MEETING, TECH ENDORSED THE ENCORE TREADWAY 1 38 KV SWITCH AND EXPANSION EXPANSE TO TREADWAY 1 38 KV SECOND CIRCUIT, RPG PROJECT, OPTION ONE.
AND THEN AT THE MAY TECH MEETING, TECH ENDORSED THE COMBINED DELAWARE BASIN IN STAGE FIVE PROJECT AND ALTERNATIVE RPG PROJECT ENCORE OPTION, THE LARGE LOAD WORKING GROUP.
UM, WE PREVIEWED THIS AT THE APRIL BOARD.
BASICALLY WE HAD HAD A LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD TASK FORCE, WHICH HAD BEEN MEETINGS SINCE 2022.
WE NEEDED TO MAKE TWO CHANGES.
ONE TO MAKE THIS GROUP MORE PERMANENT.
UH, THAT'S THE, THE MOVE FROM TASK FORCE TO WORKING GROUP.
TASK FORCE IS USUALLY SOMETHING TEMPORARY, LIKE WE HAVE THE REAL TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION PLUS BATTERIES TASK FORCE.
SO IT'S, IT'S ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING AND, AND THEN MAYBE IT'LL GO AWAY OR MAYBE WE'LL KEEP MAUS DOING THAT FOREVER.
UM, AND THEN ON THE, THE LARGE LOAD SIDE, WE HAD PREVIOUSLY CALLED IT THE LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD TASK FORCE.
THE, THE FLEXIBLE LOAD WAS NEVER DEFINED, AND WE WANTED TO BE MORE INCLUSIVE OF, OF ALL THE LARGE LOADS.
SO AT THE APRIL TAC MEETING, WE UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO BOTH SUNSET LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD TASK FORCE AND APPROVE LARGE LOAD WORKING GROUP, UH, SIGNIFIES A COUPLE OF DIRECTIONAL MOVES.
WE, WE SWITCHED THE ERCOT CHAIR TO A STAKEHOLDER CHAIR, KEEPING ERCOT IN THE VICE CHAIR ROLE.
I THINK THIS WILL HELP ERCOT, UH, RESOURCE WISE.
AND THEN THE SECOND DIRECTIONAL SHIFT IS IN LINE WITH THE PRESENTATION THAT, THAT DAN WOODFIN JUST GAVE.
WE ARE MOVING AWAY FROM THE INTERCONNECTION ISSUES TO MORE OF THE OPERATIONAL ISSUES ON HOW THESE NEW DATA CENTERS OR AI OR TECHNOLOGY LOADS OPERATE.
UM, AND SO HE COVERED THE, THE WORKSHOP ARCOTT HAD ON JUNE 13TH.
AND I UNDERSTAND, UM, FROM, FROM THE VICE CHAIR THAT THIS IS A BOARD PRIORITY, THAT THE VOLTAGE RIDE THROUGH FUR LOADS.
AND SO THE KIND OF FOCUS ON THE, THE OPERATIONAL WORK WILL HAPPEN, I THINK AT THE LARGE LOAD WORKING GROUP AS WELL.
FINALLY ON THIS PAGE, THE A DR PHASE THREE GOVERNING DOCUMENT AT THE MAY TECH MEETING TECH UNANIMOUSLY VOTED TO ENDORSE THE, THE PHASE THREE GOVERNING GOVERNING DOCUMENT IS PRESENTED.
UM, AS YOU'LL REMEMBER, THE A DR PILOT PROGRAM WAS DEVELOPED AT THE PUC UNDER FORMER COMMISSIONERS, FEL AND MCADAMS. AND SO WE, AS WE MOVE FROM PILOT TO MORE PERMANENT, WE ARE MOVING THIS OVER TO TO ERCOT STAKEHOLDER SYSTEM.
TAC HAD ASKED THE WHOLESALE MARKET SUBCOMMITTEE TO BE THE HOME FOR THIS WORK.
PHASE THREE ALLOWS A NEW PARTICIPATION MODEL MORE SIMILAR TO THE NON-CONTROLLABLE LOAD RESOURCE PARTICIPATION.
IT ALSO EXPANDS PARTICIPATION LIMITS.
THE TOPIC WHERE THERE WAS THE MOST OUTSTANDING STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSION WAS AROUND PARTICIPATION OF THIRD PARTY AGGREGATORS.
THE WHOLESALE MARKET SUBCOMMITTEE ENDORSED A PROPOSAL DEVELOPED JOINTLY BY RIN AND SHANNON ROCK, BASICALLY THAT A CUSTOMER CAN WORK WITH A THIRD PARTY AGGREGATOR AS LONG AS THE CUSTOMER'S LOAD SERVING ENTITY ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THIRD PARTY, UM, AGGREGATOR.
AND, AND THEY VERIFIED THAT RELATIONSHIP.
AND AFTER THAT WHOLESALE MARKET, UH, SUBCOMMITTEE ENDORSEMENT ERCOT INCORPORATED THAT PROPOSAL ON THIRD PARTY AGGREGATORS, AS WELL AS OTHER EDITS INTO A VERSION PRESENTED TO TAC.
AND THAT'S THE, THE VERSION THAT TAC UNANIMOUSLY ENDORSED.
WE HAVE BEEN, UH, VERY BUSY, AS YOU CAN SEE, UH, THE OUTAGE COORDINATION, OUTAGE CAPACITY CALCULATION AND PROCESS UPDATE.
THIS IS THE ERCOT MAXIMUM DAILY RESOURCE PLANNED OUTAGE CAPACITY METHODOLOGY.
UH, THIS IS A POST WINTER STORM URI REFORM.
AS YOU GUYS WILL REMEMBER, AFTER SENATE BILL THREE HAD SOME LANGUAGE ABOUT ERCOT APPROVING OR DENYING OUTAGES, THIS
[01:30:01]
PROCESS WAS IMPLEMENTED THROUGH NPR 1108.UM, WHAT WE ARE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW IS A CHANGE TO THE METHODOLOGY DOCUMENT.
AND THAT CHANGE NEEDED TO HAPPEN DUE TO THE LARGE PRO PROJECTED LOAD GROWTH, WHICH WAS AN INPUT, UM, THAT THAT CHANGE DID NOT NEED TO BE VOTED ON BY T THE METHODOLOGY DOCUMENT DOESN'T NEED TO BE VOTED ON, BUT WE DID WANT TO SORT OF GAUGE THE TEMPERATURE SINCE THIS HAD BEEN A PREVIOUSLY CONTESTED TOPIC.
WHAT WE DID SEE WAS THIS LARGE NUMBER OF ABSTENTIONS 10 ABSTENTIONS.
UM, BUT I THINK THAT TIMING HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THAT.
THE MARKET NOTICE HAD COME OUT RIGHT BEFORE TAC AND STAKEHOLDERS WERE WORKING ON THEIR RESPECTIVE COMPANY'S COMMENTS TO THAT, THAT MARKET NOTICE.
UM, SO I THINK THE ABSTENTIONS WERE DUE TO STILL DEVELOPING THOSE POSITIONS.
THE FEEDBACK I GOT FROM STAKEHOLDERS AFTER THE VOTE, UM, WAS THAT GENERALLY KOTS METHODOLOGY IS MOVING IN A, A GOOD DIRECTION.
I DON'T THINK WHAT YOU'RE VOTING ON TODAY, UH, REFLECTS ANY CHANGES FROM THE NOTICE AND COMMENT PERIOD.
BUT STAKEHOLDERS WERE VERY COMPLIMENTARY OF, UM, ERCOT SORT OF WORKING IN PREVIOUS FEEDBACK INTO THE METHODOLOGY.
AND I'LL ALSO NOTE THAT THERE'S AN NPR IN PROCESS, UM, 1287, WHERE WE EXPECT FURTHER COLLABORATION BETWEEN OUR COTTON STAKEHOLDERS ON THIS.
AND WE ARE LOSING, UH, THE BEST ACRONYM, THE THE M-D-R-P-O-C, AND WE WILL GET THE RESOURCE PLANNED OUTAGE LIMIT.
SO IT'S A, A MUCH LESS FUN ACRONYM.
THE BIENNIAL TAX STAKEHOLDER BODY STRUCTURAL AND REVIEW AND PROCEDURAL REVIEW.
UH, WE KICKED THIS OFF AT MAY TAC.
THIS IS A SELF-REVIEW OF THE STAKEHOLDER BODIES THAT REPORT TO TAX.
SO THE SUBCOMMITTEES WORKING GROUPS, TA TASK FORCES.
WE USED TO DO THIS YEARLY, UM, AND, AND MORE RECENTLY MOVE THIS TO EVERY OTHER YEAR.
IT CAN SORT OF TURN INTO A, A CHECKBOX EXERCISE, BUT THIS YEAR WE WANT TO SPEND MORE TIME ON, YOU KNOW, HOW WE CAN TAKE THE RESULTS OF THIS AND FOCUS ON EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS.
SO WE SPENT MORE TIME DEVELOPING THE QUESTIONS AND CRITERIA, UM, AND MAYBE, YOU KNOW, SOME ANALOGIES TO THE GOVERNMENT GROUP ON EFFICIENCY, BUT WE WERE DOING THIS FIRST.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE EXPECT TO GET A LOT OF DATA OUT OF THIS, HOW, HOW OFTEN GROUPS MEET, HOW LONG THEY MEET FOR, AND HOPEFULLY HAVE SOME SUGGESTIONS TO MAKE, UM, STAKEHOLDER GROUPS, I THINK MORE EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE AND, AND HOPEFULLY MORE ACCESSIBLE.
AND WE WILL HAVE THOSE FOR YOU AT YOUR SEPTEMBER MEETING.
THE, UH, JUNE 12TH SPECIAL TAC MEETING, WE DID HAVE A SPECIAL TAC MEETING TO CONSIDER A REVISION REQUEST, UM, RE 1238 REGISTRATION OF LOADS WITH CURABLE LOAD CAPABILITIES.
THIS WAS AN NPRR SPONSORED BY GOLDEN SPREAD.
IT INTRODUCES A NEW CATEGORY OF VOLUNTARY EARLY CURTAILMENT LOADS, SO THAT LOAD CAN BE ACCOUNTED FOR DIFFERENTLY IN LOAD SHED TABLES.
UM, I THINK, AS DAN MENTIONED, RIGHT, YOU COULD GET ONE LOAD THAT'S THAT'S BIGGER THAN A CITY OR A CO-OP TERRITORY.
AND SO FOR A CO-OP, IT WAS SORT OF A PROBLEM WHEN THEY'RE FORMULATING THEIR LOAD SHED TABLES, HOW MUCH LOAD THEY HAVE TO SHED IF THEY GET ONE LOAD COMING THAT'S BIGGER THAN THEIR WHOLE NATIVE LOAD.
UM, WE TOOK THIS UP AT THE MAY TAC, BUT THERE WAS A LOT OF QUESTION WHETHER THE FINAL FORM OF SB SIX MAY CONFLICT WITH THIS.
SO WE TABLED IT AND HAD THE SPECIAL TECH MEETING AFTER SESSION.
UM, ALSO IN THE TIME BETWEEN MEETINGS, THERE ARE SOME COMPROMISES MADE BETWEEN TIAC ON THE LOAD SIDE AND BY GOLDEN SPREAD TO CLARIFY THAT THIS PROGRAM IS VOLUNTARY AND THAT IT UPHOLDS, UH, CURRENT P SECTIONS.
UM, AND THEN ERCOT ALSO FILED COMMENTS RIGHT BEFORE THE MEETING SAYING THEY DIDN'T BELIEVE IT TO CONFLICT WITH SB SIX.
SO AT THE, THE SPECIAL TECH MEETING, WE WERE ABLE TO UNANIMOUSLY APPROVE NPR 1238.
ANY QUESTIONS ON THE, THE MEETING HIGHLIGHTS? ANY QUESTIONS FOR KAYLA? I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT YOU DID DOGE AN ACRONYM.
WE, WE ARE KIND OF EXCITED ABOUT THE, THE REVIEW FOR EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS, AND I'M SAD ABOUT DOZING.
THE, THE, UH, M-D-R-P-O-C-I, I WANT TO SAY HOW WE SAY THE ACRONYM, BUT I WON'T.
[11.1.1 NPRR1229, Real-Time Constraint Management Plan Cost Recovery Payment]
ALRIGHT.UM, REAL TIME CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT PLAN, COST RECOVERY PAYMENT.
THIS IS A STACK SPONSORED NPRR.
IT WAS IN THE PROCESS FOR SOME TIME ABOUT A YEAR.
UM, THIS NPRR CREATES A PROCESS THAT
[01:35:01]
COM COMPENSATES A QSC WHEN A CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT PLAN OR ERCOT DIRECTED SWITCHING INSTRUCTION CAUSES A TRIP OF A GENERATION RESOURCE WHEN IT WOULD NOT HAVE OCCURRED ABSENT THOSE CONDITIONS.UM, THE THOUGHT BEHIND THIS NPRR WAS THAT, YOU KNOW, AS THINGS CHANGE ON THE GRID, THERE'S BEEN AN INCREASED USE OF GTCS CONSTRAINT MANAGEMENT PROCESS AND OCCASIONAL USE OF ERCOT DIRECTED SWITCHING INSTRUCTIONS, INCLUDING IN THE SUMMER OF 2023.
UM, SO THIS NPR IS INTENDED TO ADDRESS AN INCREASED RISK OF A RESOURCE TRIPPING AS A RESULT OF THOSE ADMINISTRATIVE TRANSMISSION PROCEDURES.
IT DOESN'T INVOLVE COST RECOVERY.
UM, THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF VOTES AGAINST EIGHT TOTAL.
SIX FROM THE CONSUMER SEGMENT PLUS TWO FROM THE INDEPENDENT RETAILER SEGMENT.
UM, ADDITIONALLY, ONE ABSTENTION FROM THE RETAILER SE SEGMENT.
THE, UH, NO EXPLANATION FROM THE CONSUMERS WAS THAT, UM, A MAJOR REASON ERCOT ADOPTED NODAL DISPATCH AND PRICING WAS TO AVOID PAYING GENERATION OWNERS FOR POWER THAT WAS SCHEDULED BUT NOT DELIVERABLE.
THE PAYMENTS PROPOSED UNDER NPR 1229 WILL FORCE CONSUMERS TO SUBSIDIZE MARKET PARTICIPANTS WHEN GRID CONDITIONS RETIRE, REQUIRE CURTAILMENT JUST AS OTHER CONSUMERS WOULD NOT PAY FOR A GENERATOR.
SCED DID NOT DEPLOY A RESOURCE AT ITS FULL OUTPUT.
OTHER POWER CONSUMERS SHOULD NOT HAVE TO SUBSIDIZE RESOURCES THAT ARE DISPATCHED DOWN BY ERCOT BY MEANS OTHER THAN SCARED TO MAINTAIN GRID RELIABILITY.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ON, UH, NPR 1229? I'M NOT SEEING ANY.
I WILL HAND IT BACK TO YOU THEN.
UH, IF THIS, IF THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION OR LET ME ASK THIS, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION ON 1229? IF NOT, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE NPR 1229 AS PRESENTED.
UH, MOVE BY LINDA JOHNSON, SECOND SEC.
OH, MOVED BY JOHN, SECONDED BY LINDA.
ONE OPPOSED FROM, UH, MR. BARKLEY? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
[11.1.2 NPRR1282, Ancillary Service Duration under Real-Time Co-Optimization – URGENT ]
WE'RE GONNA TURN THE FLOOR OVER TO YOU TO PROCEED WITH THET REPORT ON THE AGENDA ITEM, UH, 11.1 0.2 NPR 1282 ANCILLARY SERVICE DURATION UNDER REALTIME COOPERATION, WHICH IS AN URGENT NPRR.I'M MARTHA HENSON FROM ENCORE, AND I'LL BE BRINGING THE LAST ITEM FROM THE TAC REPORT, WHICH IS NPRR 1282, AND IT'S COMPANION NOER 2 77.
SO NPRR 1282 WAS SPONSORED BY ERCOT AND IT'S MODIFYING SEVERAL OF THE ANCILLARY SERVICE DURATION REQUIREMENTS FOR REAL-TIME CO CO-OP OPTIMIZATION.
THERE WAS A, A VERY ACTIVE COMMENTING PROCESS ON THIS NPRR AND THE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS DURING ITS, ITS RELATIVELY SHORT PENDENCY IN THE PROCESS.
THIS IS ONE OF THE, THE QUICKEST, UH, ITEMS I'VE SEEN PROCESS.
IT ONLY, IT WAS ONLY IN THE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS FOR ABOUT FOUR WEEKS TOTAL FROM THE TIME IT WAS FORMALLY SUBMITTED TO THE TIME TAC TOOK ITS VOTE ON IT IN LATE MAY.
AND THERE WERE, UH, SEVERAL ISSUES RAISED IN FORMAL COMMENTS TO THIS.
NPRR ONE IN PARTICULAR GOT QUITE A BIT OF DISCUSSION, WHICH WAS ERCO T'S PROPOSED DURATION FOR NONS SPIN OF FOUR HOURS.
UH, THAT'S ACTUALLY WHAT THE NONS SPIND DURATION IS TODAY.
THERE WAS A DESIRE EXPRESSED BY SEVERAL COMMENTERS THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO SEE A LOWER NONS SPIND DURATION OF ONE HOUR.
ANOTHER CONCERN BY SEVERAL ENERGY STORAGE COMMENTERS WAS THAT ANCILLARY SERVICE DURATION QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS SHOULD BE SEPARATE FROM REAL TIME STATE OF CHARGE OPERATING REQUIREMENTS FOR ESRS.
AND THIS IS NOT WHAT THE PASSING VERSION OF 1282 DOES.
I THINK ONE FACTOR THAT BECAME CRITICAL TO THE DISCUSSION, UH, WAS ERCOT COMMITMENT TO REVISIT THESE DURATIONS AFTER REALTIME QUANTIZATION GOES LIVE.
ULTIMATELY, THE NPRR PASSED BY TAC BY A 93% VOTING MARGIN, UH, IN THE FORM THAT WAS ORIGINALLY SUBMITTED BY ERCOT.
AND ON THAT VOTE, THERE WERE TWO OPPOSING FROM THE INDEPENDENT GENERATOR SEGMENT, AND THERE WAS ONE ABSTENTION FROM THE INDEPENDENT POWER MARKETER SEGMENT.
AS YOU'VE PROBABLY SEEN IN THE LAST WEEK OR SO, SEVERAL ADDITIONAL SETS OF FORMAL COMMENTS HAVE BEEN POSTED TO NPR 1282.
UH, THERE'S BEEN COMMENTS POSTED FROM JUPYTER POWER, ERCO PLUS POWER HGP STORAGE, AND THEN FINALLY BY TESLA YESTERDAY.
LAST I'D POINT OUT THAT THE COMPANION NOER TO THIS NPRR NOER 2 77 PASSED ATTACK ON A POST WITH TWO ABSTENTIONS.
AND THESE TWO ABSTENTIONS WERE FROM JUPITER AND NG IN THE INDEPENDENT
[01:40:01]
GENERATOR SEGMENT.CHAIRMAN FLORES, I'LL PASS IT BACK TO YOU TO FACILITATE THE ERCOT AND STAKEHOLDER COMMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR THIS ISSUE.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR MARTHA BEFORE WE MOVE ON WITH THE, THE DISCUSSION? OKAY.
[11.1.2.1 ERCOT Comments on NPRR1282]
UH, WE WILL MOVE, WE WILL ACTUALLY HAVE DAN WOODFIN PRESENT, UH, ERCOT COMMENTS ON 1282, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA, UH, TAKE THE OTHER, UH, PARTY'S COMMENTS FOLLOWING THAT.SO, ERCOT, UH, SUPPORTS THE TECH ENDORSED, UH, VERSION OF, UH, NPR 1282.
UM, THERE'S A, THERE'S A REAL RELIABILITY NEED TO HAVE AN ANCILLARY SERVICE THAT WILL LAST FOR FOUR HOURS WHEN IT'S DEPLOYED.
WE'VE, WE'VE DONE ANALYSIS THAT SHOW THAT IN THOSE TIMES WHEN WE DEPLOY NONS SPEND RESERVE SERVICE, UM, WE'RE BASICALLY HAVING TO COVER THE GAP BECAUSE OF EITHER AN EXTENDED FORECAST ERROR OR UNITS THAT TRIP OFFLINE THAT HAVE, THAT WE CAN DEPLOY RESERVES, BUT THEN WE NEED, UH, TO LAST LONGER UNTIL WE CAN GET, UH, THE NEXT GENERATION COMMITTED TO COVER THE GAP OR UNTIL THE LOAD GO, NET LOAD GOES DOWN ONE OR THE OTHER.
AND WE'VE DONE ANALYSIS THAT SHOWS THAT, THAT THAT COULD BE EIGHT HOURS, THAT COULD BE 30 MINUTES, BUT THE, STATISTICALLY SPEAKING THE RIGHT PERIOD OF TIME IS FOUR HOURS TO, UH, MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN COVER THOSE, THOSE EXTENDED, UH, DURATIONS WHEN, WHEN NONS SPENDS USED, UM, TO, SO, SO THERE'S A REAL RELIABILITY NEED THERE.
UM, I WANT TO COVER, UH, KIND OF THREE TOPICS THAT TO ADDRESS WHAT SOME OF THE STAKEHOLDERS THAT, THAT WERE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS, UH, WAAC PASSED, UM, WERE SAYING FIRST IS RELATED TO NPR AT 1186.
SO NPR 1186 WAS NEVER MEANT TO APPLY, UM, TO A WORLD TO RTC TIMEFRAME.
IN FACT, THE, THE VERY NAME OF THE NPRR INCLUDES THE PHRASE PRIOR TO OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF RTC PLUS B.
UM, IT WAS, IT WAS A SHORT, IT WAS A, A WAY TO BRIDGE AN ISSUE RELATED TO THE, THE CURRENT MARKET DESIGN PRIOR TO, TO RTC, BECAUSE IN THE CURRENT MARKET DESIGN, ANCILLARY SERVICES ARE AWARDED FOR AN HOUR.
WE NEED SOMETHING THAT WILL LAST FOUR HOURS.
THE INITIAL WAY WE WERE CUT DOING THAT IS BY FORCING A FOUR HOUR STATE OF CHARGE REQUIREMENT.
BUT WHAT WAS RECOGNIZED AND RIGHTFULLY SO BY THE COMMISSION, IS THAT THAT WOULD RESULT IN STRANDED ENERGY BEING IN THOSE BATTERIES THAT YOU COULDN'T GET TO IT.
UM, SO THE FINAL VERSION OF NPR 1186, UH, WAS INTENDED TO RESOLVE THAT STRANDED ENERGY PROBLEM.
UM, IT, UM, IN IMPLEMENTS A ONE HOUR KIND OF, YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE ENOUGH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE HOUR AND THEN YOUR REQUIREMENT GOES DOWN AS THE HOUR OF FOR STATE OF CHARGE GOES DOWN AS THE HOUR GOES ON.
UM, BECAUSE THAT IS A WAY THAT YOU CAN WIND UP USING ALL OF THE ENERGY AND THE BATTERY AND NOT HAVE THAT STRANDED ENERGY.
STRANDED ENERGY IS NOT A PROBLEM IN RTC PLUS B ONCE THE, BASICALLY YOU CAN USE THAT STATE OF CHARGE EV ANY, ANY FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL IF, IF IT'S NEEDED.
FROM A, A SYSTEM ENERGY POWER BALANCE PERSPECTIVE, IT'S, IT'S BEHIND THE ANCILLARY SERVICE DEMAND CURVE.
BUT IF, IF SCAD NEEDS IT TO SERVE THE LOAD, IT WILL ACTUALLY DEPLOY IT.
AND SO THERE'S NO STRANDED ENERGY IN AN RTC PLUS B WORLD.
UM, AND SO THAT HAPPENS EVERY FIVE MINUTES UNDER THIS CONSTRUCT.
SOCS MORE ELEGANTLY PRESERVED THROUGH THE DURATION REQUIREMENTS UNTIL THE SYSTEM STARTS TO GO SHORT.
SO ON A DAY WHERE WE'VE GOT PLENTY OF CAPACITY, IT'S IT, IT WILL MAINTAIN THAT STATE OF CHARGE, ENOUGH STATE OF CHARGE TO PRE TO MEET THE FOUR HOUR REQUIREMENT.
BUT IF WE GET INTO SCARCITY CONDITIONS, IT CAN USE IT, UH, BY, UH, EVERY FIVE MINUTES, IT CAN USE THAT ENERGY.
THE SECOND ITEM I WANNA TALK ABOUT IS THE RELIABILITY NEED.
UM, A LOT OF THE COMMENTERS, UH, THEIR, THEIR COMMENTS SAY, WELL, THIS, THE, THE WAY THIS WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED IS NOT, I THINK THERE'S ACTUAL A STATEMENT THAT SAID THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR BATTERIES.
[01:45:01]
WELL, THERE'S A REAL RELIABILITY NEED, UM, FOR THIS, THIS FOUR HOUR REQUIREMENT SO THAT WE CAN COVER THAT GAP UNTIL THE NEXT UNIT COMES ONLINE.AND IF WE DON'T MAINTAIN THAT, UM, THERE'S NOT GONNA BE ENOUGH GENERATION COMMITTED.
IF WE DON'T HOLD THAT BACK WHEN WE'RE DECIDING HOW MUCH TO COMMIT WHEN THE MARKET'S DECIDING HOW MUCH TO COMMIT, THERE'S NOT GONNA BE, UH, THAT COMMITMENT WON'T HAPPEN.
AND WE'RE GONNA BE IN TIGHT CONDITIONS MORE OFTEN, UM, BECAUSE THERE'S NOT ENOUGH ENERGY AVAILABLE WHEN WE DO HAVE FORECAST ERROR, WHEN WE DO HAVE UNIT TRIPS AND THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
AND SO I, I THINK NONE OF THE, UH, STAKEHOLDERS REALLY ADDRESS HOW THEIR SHORTER SOC UH, UH, PROPOSAL WILL ACTUALLY ADDRESS THE RELIABILITY NEED.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY, UH, THE THIRD THING IS, IS SOMETHING THAT, THAT, THAT MARTHA MENTIONED WHERE THE, UH, WE ARE SUPPORTIVE OF REVISITING THIS DURATION REQUIREMENT IN A, ONCE WE GET RTC UP AND RUNNING ONCE WE GET DRRS UP AND RUNNING, OKAY, DISPATCHABLE RELIABILITY RESERVE SERVICES, UH, UH, LEGISLATIVELY, UH, UH, APPROVED FUTURE ANCILLARY SERVICE THAT WILL BE IMPLEMENTED THAT WILL, WE'VE STARTED WORK ON.
IT WILL BE, UH, SOME PERIOD OF TIME DOWN THE ROAD BEFORE IT GETS IMPLEMENTED.
IT'S INTENDED TO BE A FOUR HOUR PRODUCT, ANCILLARY SERVICE PRODUCT.
AND SO IT CAN COVER SOME OF THAT RISK THAT WE WERE WORRIED ABOUT TODAY FOR NONS SPEND BEING ABLE TO COVER.
AND SO WE CAN REVISIT THE DURATION REQUIREMENT FOR NONS SPEND ONCE IT'S IMPLEMENTED.
THERE'S ALSO A PROJECT THAT, UH, VINCA TALKED ABOUT RELATED IN THIS GRID TRANSFORMATION UPDATE RELATED TO KIND OF A, A LONGER TERM ENERGY OPTIMIZATION, UH, RELATED TO RELIABILITY UNIT COMMITMENT.
ONCE WE GET A LONGER TERM, UH, ENERGY OPTIMIZATION TOOL READY THAT CAN LOOK AT IS IT BETTER TO COMMIT GENERATION EARLIER AND SAVE THE STATE OF CHARGE FOR LATER IN THE DAY OR VICE VERSA, THEN WE CAN REVISIT THE, THE NEED FOR, FOR A FOUR HOUR DURATION ON NONS SPEND DUE TO THAT AS WELL.
AND SO, IN FACT, HAVING THAT IS GONNA, WE COULD POTENTIALLY CHANGE MULTIPLE THINGS.
AND SO THAT'S SOMETHING WE THINK WE NEED.
THE, THE COMMENTERS SAY, WELL, BECAUSE WE HAVE E-E-C-R-S, BECAUSE WE HAVE MURUM THAT WAS PROPOSED IN THE IMM REPORT, WHICH IS MULTI INTERVAL REALTIME CO OPTIMIZATION, WHICH IS A LITTLE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT I'M SAYING RELATED TO THE ENERGY OPTIMIZATION.
ONCE, ONCE WE GET THOSE THINGS IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN REVISIT, BUT WE DON'T HAVE THOSE THINGS TODAY.
AND SO TO SEE, TO COVER THAT REAL RELIABILITY NEED, WE NEED, UH, NONS SPEND TO HAVE THAT FOUR HOUR RE, UH, DURATION REQUIREMENT, UH, FOR NOW.
AND THEN WE CAN WORRY ABOUT, UH, THEN WE CAN WORK ON, UH, CHANGING THAT ONCE WE GET THOSE FUTURE TOOLS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR DAN? 12? I'M TO ASK MORE QUESTIONS AFTER YOU OR ANSWER MORE QUESTIONS AFTER YOU HEAR THE OKAY.
UM, UH, JULIE, DID YOU WANNA WAIT? OKAY.
[11.1.2.2 Other Comments on NPRR1282, if any]
CAITLIN IS GONNA COME BACK UP AND PRESENT, UH, COMMENTS ON AGENDA ITEM 11.2.UM, CAITLIN IS COMMENTING ON BEHALF OF JUPITER.
SORRY, DAN, DAN IS MUCH TALLER THAN ME.
UM, I SHOULD HAVE PUT A DIFFERENT HAT ON.
SO I'M SPEAKING ON IN MY ROLE AS VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY FOR JUPITER POWER.
UH, FOR THOSE OF YOU THAT DON'T KNOW, WE ARE A DEVELOPER AND OWNER OPERATOR OF UTILITY SCALE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE PROJECTS.
WE ONLY DO ENERGY STORAGE AND WE ONLY DO STANDALONE PROJECTS.
UH, WE ARE FOCUSING ON LARGE PROJECTS AND LOAD POCKETS WHERE WE CAN PROVIDE CONGESTION RELIEF AND BRING POWER TO CONSUMERS WHERE AND WHEN THEY NEED IT.
SO, UH, HOPEFULLY ADDRESSING THE THINGS IN DAN'S EARLIER PRESENTATION, WE HAVE A LARGE 400 MEGAWATT HOUR PROJECT IN CITY OF HOUSTON, UH, HOUSTON CITY LIMITS.
WE STARTED DEVELOPING AN ERCOT IN 2017, BROUGHT THREE PROJECTS ONLINE IN 2021.
AND WE CURRENTLY HAVE A TOTAL OF ABOUT 1400 MEGAWATT HOURS OF OPERATIONAL PROJECTS, UH, SEVERAL OTHER HUNDRED MEGAWATT HOURS IN CONSTRUCTION AND OVER AN ADDITIONAL GIGAWATT IN DEVELOPMENT.
UH, WE DID FILE THESE COMMENTS IN ON JUNE 18TH.
UM, AND, AND I WILL NOTE AS MARTHA NOTED THAT SINCE THE TAC MEETING, 1282 RECEIVED COMMENTS FROM JUPITER, BUT ALSO FROM PLUS POWER FROM HGP
[01:50:01]
STORAGE AND FROM TESLA, WE SUPPORT THE SENTIMENT OF ALL THOSE COMMENTS.THEY ALL SHOW CONCERN THAT THIS CREATES, UH, A NEW STATE OF CHARGE OBLIGATION IN THE REAL TIME UNDER RTC.
AND THAT REQUIREMENT IS ESPECIALLY BURDENSOME FOR NONS SPIN.
UM, SO FIRST I JUST WANNA BE REALLY CLEAR ABOUT WHAT THE NPR DOES.
IT SETS THE DURATION LIMITS FOR ANCILLARY SERVICES UNDER REAL-TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION.
BUT WHAT WE MEAN BY DURATION LIMITS IS ACTUALLY THE AMOUNT OF STATE OF CHARGE THAT THAT SC UNDER RTC WILL NEED TO SEE IN ORDER TO GIVE AN ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE AN ANCILLARY SERVICE AWARD.
SO IT'S NOT 1186 IN COMPLIANCE REQUIREMENTS, BUT SCED WILL HAVE TO SEE FOR NONS SPIN, FOUR HOURS WORTH OF STATE OF CHARGE TO AWARD A FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL IN REAL TIME.
SO THAT'S 48 TIMES THE AMOUNT.
YOU WILL NOTICE THAT MOST OF THE COMMENTERS ARE CONCERNED WITH THAT RESULTANT FOUR HOUR STATE OF CHARGE REQUIREMENT FOR NONS SPIN.
BUT WE WOULD ALSO NOTE THAT ONE HOUR FREE ECRS IS VERY HIGH.
'CAUSE THAT'S 12 TIMES THAT FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL.
UM, SO WHAT THAT MEANS IS IF I'M A HUNDRED MEGAWATT ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE AND I WANNA SELL NON NONS SPIN FOR OUR ENDING 20, SO 8:00 PM SUNSET, I CAN DO THAT IN THE DAY AHEAD, BUT I CAN ONLY SELL ONE FOURTH.
SO 25 MEGAWATTS WORTH OF NONS SPEND, THAT'S ALSO WHAT WE DO TODAY.
BUT THEN GOING INTO REAL TIME UNDER RTC, UM, IF WE, WE'D HAVE A FINANCIAL OBLIGATION FOR 25 MEGAWATTS OF NONS, SPEND AN HOUR ENDING 8:00 PM IN ORDER TO PHYSICALLY PROVIDE THAT TO AVOID AN IMBALANCE CHARGE AT THE FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL FROM SEVEN TO 7:05 PM WE'D NEED A HUNDRED MEGAWATTS OF STATE OF CHARGE.
AND THEN AT THE FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL FROM 7 0 5 TO SEVEN 10, WE WOULD NEED A HUNDRED MEGAWATTS OF STATE OF CHARGE AND ACROSS EVERY FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL FOR THE HOUR.
SO IT'S REALLY EVEN MORE THAN FOUR HOURS WORTH BECAUSE YOU NEVER GET TO SORT OF DEPLETE ACROSS TIME.
ONE OF THE FEATURES OF RTC IS THAT SCED WILL REOPTIMIZE WHICH RESOURCES ARE BEST SUITED FOR ENERGY AND BEST SUITED FOR ANCILLARY SERVICE EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
SO THAT'S WHAT WE MEAN WHEN WE SAY FLEXIBILITY, WHICH IS IN THE FRAMEWORK, WHICH I WAS HAPPY TO USE, BUT 1282 WOULD NEGATE THAT FLEXIBILITY.
BASICALLY, YOU ARE FORCING THOSE FIVE MINUTE INTERVALS THAT GIVE YOU FLEXIBILITY TO LOOK LIKE FOUR HOUR INTERVALS, BUT JUST FOR ONE TYPE OF RESOURCE.
AND WE THINK THAT WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT OF COST ALSO.
I, I UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THAT WE CAN REVISIT THIS, BUT I JUST WANNA NOTE THIS IS NOT INHERENT TO MOVING TO RTC.
THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE THAT WE ARE MAKING DURING A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE AND IT IT'LL COMPLICATE OPERATIONS.
UM, I ALSO WANT TO ADDRESS THE, THE STRANDING OF ENERGY ISSUE.
I DO AGREE WITH DAN, UM, THAT DURING RTC, IT'S NOT A PARALLEL TO WHAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT DURING 1186 AS FAR AS STRANDED ENERGY.
HOWEVER, WHEN AN ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE SELLS A FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR LET'S STAY WITH NON SPIN IN THE DAY AHEAD, THEY KEEP THAT FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND PAY AN IMBALANCE CHARGE, OR THEY HAVE TO SHOW UP FOR THE PHYSICAL RESPONSIBILITY.
SO WHAT THIS DOES IS FOR AN ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE TO COVER THAT ONE HOUR FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE DAY AHEAD, THEY HAVE TO COVER FOUR HOURS OF PHYSICAL RESPONSIBILITY OR HAVE THE IMBALANCE CHARGE.
AND AGAIN, THAT FOUR HOURS RESETS EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
SO IN OUR EXAMPLE, FOR AN ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE TO PROVIDE THAT SAME, UH, 25 MEGAWATTS OF NONS SPIND THAT THEY DO TODAY, IF THEY WANT TO FULFILL THAT NONS SPIND OBLIGATION, PHYSICALLY, THE RESOURCE WILL WANT TO HOLD BACK A HUNDRED MEGAWATTS WORTH OF ENERGY SO THAT THEY CAN FULFILL THEIR NONS SPAN OBLIGATION.
UM, SO IT'S NOT STRANDED MEGAWATTS, BUT THAT'S 75 MEGAWATTS THAT YOU ARE WITHHOLDING FROM ENERGY IN ORDER TO MEET THE 25 MEGAWATT NONS SPENT AWARD.
SO THAT'S 75 OF ENERGY THAT, THAT AREN'T BEING USED IF YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO FULFILL YOUR NONS SPENT AWARD.
THE OTHER ALTERNATIVE IS THAT IF YOU ARE EXPECTING THE IMBALANCE PAYMENT AND YOU, YOU WILL PAY THAT IN ORDER TO PROVIDE ENERGY, YOU'RE GONNA DEPLETE YOUR STATE OF CHARGE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE AN ENERGY IMBALANCE PAYMENT, SO THE RESOURCES WILL START TO PRICE THAT IN.
SO THAT'S JUST GONNA RAISE ENERGY COSTS.
THE OTHER MARKET IMPACT OF THIS REQUIREMENT IS THAT YOU ARE SHRINKING THAT THE AMOUNT OF MEGAWATTS ELIGIBLE ANCILLARY SERVICES IN THE REAL TIME.
SO THAT ANCILLARY SERVICE SUPPLY STACK IS GOING DOWN, NAMELY IN NON
[01:55:01]
SPEN AND ECRS IN REAL TIME.LESS SUPPLY OBVIOUSLY MEANS HIGHER PRICES.
UM, AS MARTHA NOTED, THIS WAS A COMPRESSED TIMELINE AND THE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS, UH, WE JUPITER, UM, OTHER STAKEHOLDERS, NAMELY TEXAS SOLAR AND STORAGE POWER ASSOCIATION, NG AND THE IMM, WE, WE DID WORK IN THAT, UH, MONTH.
WE, WE PROPOSED THREE DIFFERENT COMPROMISE PROPOSALS, REALLY LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION WITH OUR CUT HERE.
UM, ONE OF THE PROPOSALS WAS BASICALLY GENERALLY LOWER REQUIREMENTS IN SOC AND THEN A THRESHOLD LEVEL AT WHAT AT WHICH ERCOT SUGGESTED VALUES WOULD KICK IN THE IMM PROPOSED JUST BRINGING THE NONS SPEND DURATION DOWN.
UM, SO, SO BOTH DURATION AND SOC DOWN FROM FOUR HOURS TO ONE HOUR.
UM, AND THEN FINALLY JUPITER AND NNG PROPOSED BASICALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, KEEPING DURATION QUALIFICATIONS HIGHER AS THEY'RE TODAY, AND THEN SHORTER REAL TIME SOC REQUIREMENTS.
WE DID TAKE A VOTE ON THAT PROPOSAL AT TAC.
WE GOT I THINK, PRETTY GOOD CROSS SEGMENT SUPPORT, 80 38% IN FAVOR, UM, SUPPORTING VOTES NOT JUST FROM ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES, BUT FROM INDEPENDENT POWER MARKETERS, CONSUMERS AND MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES.
AND THEN, UM, FINALLY, YOU KNOW, I WANNA POINT OUT A FEW POINTS THE IMM MADE IN THE COURSE OF THE DISCUSSION THAT WE AGREED WITH.
A LOT OF OUR WRITTEN COMMENTS WERE FOCUSED ON FOUR HOUR DURATION REQUIREMENT MEANS WHEN RTC SCED OPTIMIZES, IN ORDER TO SEE KIND OF INDIFFERENCE BETWEEN AN OFFER OF NONS SPEND AND ENERGY, THAT NONS SPIN OFFER IS GONNA NEED TO BE FOUR TIMES ON A DOLLAR PER MEGAWATT BASIS.
SO SCHEDULE WILL END UP SHOWING A PREFERENCE FOR PUTTING ENERGY STORAGE MEGAWATTS INTO ENERGY, AND THAT'LL DEPLETE THE RESERVES THAT ARE AVAILABLE LATER.
SO IF, IF WE'RE COMMITTING TO REVISIT THIS, WE WANNA FLAG THAT WE ARE EXPECTING A LACK OF RESERVES LATER TO BE A CONSEQUENCE OF THIS CHANGE.
AND THEN THE OTHER, UM, ARGUMENT FROM THE IMMI WANNA NOTE IS THAT ORCUTT USED THE LENGTH OF PAST, PAST DEPLOYMENTS OF SPECIFICALLY NONS SPEND TO DETERMINE THE RELIABILITY HERE NEED HERE.
AND I THINK THAT THOSE THINGS ARE NOT EQUIVALENT, ESPECIALLY LOOKING AT THE, THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS OF NONS SPIN DEPLOYMENTS.
AND I WILL LEAVE MY COMMENTS THERE.
CAITLIN, WE APPRECIATE YOUR, UH, THOUGHTFUL FEEDBACK ON THIS ON BEHALF OF JUPITER.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR KAYLA? YEAH, I, I HAVE A QUESTION.
UM, I THINK MOST, IF NOT ALL OF YOUR POINTS AND COUNTERPOINTS WERE BASED ON ECONOMICS.
YOU CAN, DAN, DAN MADE A RELIABILITY ARGUMENT AS WELL THAT THIS REDUCTION FROM WHAT T APPROVED GOING TO ONE HOUR CAUSES A RELIABILITY GAP.
DO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ABOUT WHETHER YOU BELIEVE THAT TO BE TRUE? WE, YOU KNOW, I DON'T, I DON'T HAVE THE DATA.
I THINK WE DO THINK THERE'S SOME RELIABILITY CONCERNS WITH ERCOT PROPOSAL THAT I POINTED OUT.
BASICALLY, YOU ARE SHOWING A PREFERENCE FOR PUTTING E ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES INTO ENERGY AND OUT OF RESERVES.
SO YOU COULD HAVE A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE LESS RESERVES THAN, THAN YOU NEED LATER IN THE DAY.
I'M NOT SURE WHY THAT'S A PROBLEM THOUGH.
SO QUITE FRANKLY, WELL, JULIE, MY QUESTION, UH, AFTER HEARING YOUR COMMENTS IS DURING THE NEXT, WHAT, SIX MONTHS OF TESTING THAT WE'RE GONNA DO FOR RTC WITH ALL THE STAKEHOLDERS, CAN WE VALIDATE SOME OF THESE COMMENTS YOU'RE MAKING? WILL WE SEE THAT IN THE SYSTEM TESTING? I THINK THAT'S PROBABLY A QUESTION FOR ERCOT.
DAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK? YEAH, I THINK, I THINK IT'LL BE, UM, THAT WILL BE A WAY TO DO IT AS LONG AS PEOPLE, UM, MANAGE THEIR OFFER BEHAVIOR DURING THE TESTING PERIOD IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEY MANAGE IT DURING REAL TIME.
UM, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THE ISSUE THAT KAITLYN'S BRINGING UP OF, UM, UM, WHERE YOU MAY USE THE BATTERIES EARLY AS A, AND, AND POTENTIALLY DEPLETE THEIR STATE OF CHARGE, THAT'S PERFECTLY OKAY ON A DAY WHERE WE HAVE PLENTY OF CAPACITY BECAUSE THEN IT RESERVES THE, THE, UH, WE STILL HAVE THAT FOUR HOURS OF RESERVES IN CASE WE HAVE A FORECAST ERROR OR THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
ON SCARCITY DAYS, I THINK OUR COMMENTS SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE
[02:00:01]
BATTERIES CAN CHANGE THEIR, THEIR OFFER BEHAVIOR TO BID HIGHER TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY'VE GOT CAPACITY FOR WHEN THE SYSTEM NEEDS IT AND PRICES ARE GONNA BE HIGHER.AND THAT'S, THAT, THAT WILL HAPPEN ON A SCARCITY DAY, A, WHICH IS WHEN YOU WOULD EXPECT PRICES TO BE HIGHER ON THOSE DAYS ANYWAY.
ANY OTHER, AND THEN YOU'RE NOT USING THAT WHILE YOU'RE HOLDING THAT RESERVE FOR RESERVES, THEN YOU ARE NOT USING THAT FOR, FOR ENERGY.
I, I THINK IT COULD BE VALIDATED.
I, YOU KNOW, I THINK WE WOULD HOPE THAT IT'S VALIDATED THE OPPOSITE WAY.
DO SOMETHING MORE SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ARE DOING TODAY.
AS, AS FAR AS THE RELIABILITY CONCERNS YOU ASKED ABOUT CHAIRMAN GLEASON, I THINK WE JUST AREN'T CONVINCED THAT THESE SAME SET OF RESOURCES NEED TO PROVIDE THE FOUR HOURS.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A REALLY GROWING SEGMENT OF BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCES AND, AND OTHER RESOURCES AS WELL.
AND THE, THE VALUE, THIS IS ECONOMICS, BUT THE VALUE OF REALTIME CO OPTIMIZATION IS THAT YOU ARE ABLE TO SHUFFLE THOSE BASED ON WHAT IS MOST OPTIMAL FOR THE SYSTEM EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
AND SO WE THINK THAT IS TAKING AWAY A LOT OF THE FLEXIBILITY, RIGHT? YOU'RE MAKING A FIVE MINUTE INTERVAL LOOK LIKE A FOUR HOUR INTERVAL, WHICH I, I THINK IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE WITH REAL TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION.
AND SO I THINK IT'LL BE A COMPLICATED THING FOR, FOR ERCOT AND FOR BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE OWNERS TO TRY TO BE MANAGING, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN STATE OF CHARGE REQUIREMENTS EVERY FIVE MINUTES.
ANY OTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? OKAY.
YEAH, BILL, JUST REAL QUICK, DAN, SO YOU, YOU TALKED ABOUT WAITING TILL AFTER RTC PLUS B AND THEN DRRS, AND THEN YOU ALSO MENTIONED THE MULTI INTERVAL.
THOSE WILL HAPPEN NOT ON THE SAME TIMELINE.
SO ARE YOU IMAGINING YOU'LL REEVALUATE THIS AFTER EACH OF THOSE OR AFTER THEY'RE ALL COMPLETED? BECAUSE THEY MAY NOT ALL BE DONE FOR SOME 4, 5, 6 YEARS? SO WHAT ARE, WHAT, WHAT IS YOUR THOUGHT ON THAT? YEAH, I THINK, I MEAN, I, I THINK IN GENERAL WE'RE GONNA BE TRYING TO BE AS EFFICIENT AS WE CAN THROUGH EACH TRANSITION.
AND SO IF WE GO TO RTC AND WE START, SEE BASED ON THE ACTUAL, UH, OFFER BEHAVIOR AND THOSE KIND OF THINGS THAT, THAT WE NEED TO MAKE CHANGES.
WE'RE GONNA BE REVIEWING ANCILLARY SERVICE REQUIREMENTS EVERY YEAR.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL AS, I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE HAPPENS NEXT.
PROBABLY DRS HAPPENS IN THE NEXT AFTER THAT.
AND I THINK THERE'S, THERE'S STRONG LIKELIHOOD THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO REVISIT IT, UM, UPON, YOU KNOW, IMPLEMENTATION OF DRS.
THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION, I THINK IS THIS ENERGY OPTIMIZ, MULTI-HOUR ENERGY OPTIMIZATION.
I THINK THAT'S ULTIMATELY THE FIX FOR, FOR NOT JUST THIS, BUT OTHER ISSUES AS WELL.
SO I'M HOPING THAT GETS DONE RELATIVELY QUICKLY.
SO JUST AS THE MARKET IS CHANGING IN DYNAMIC, YOUR ANALYSIS AND ITERATION OF ALL THE DIFFERENT PRODUCTS IS DYNAMIC.
WE HAVE, UH, THE ABILITY TO FILE NEW NPRS
UH, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? OKAY, CAITLIN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND WE APPRECIATE, AGAIN, THANK YOU.
AS I SAID EARLIER, WE APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTFUL FEEDBACK ON BEHALF OF JUPITER.
UH, THE BOARD ALSO RECEIVED COMMENTS FROM PLUS POWER HGP STORAGE AND TESLA OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS, WHICH WE'VE CONSIDERED AND HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE MATERIALS FOR TODAY'S MEETING.
UH, WOULD NONE OF THOSE PARTIES, UM, ELECTED TO, UH, PRESENT PUBLICLY? IS THERE ANYBODY HERE? I MEAN, DOES ANYBODY WANT TO TALK ABOUT 1282? UH, ANY FURTHER? IF NOT, I'LL UH, ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE NPR 1282.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
NPR 1282 IS APPROVED, UH, BUT AS, UH, UH, SEVERAL COMMENTERS HAVE SAID IT'S GOING TO BE REVISITED AS RTC PLUS B IS IMPLEMENTED.
[11.1.3 NOGRR277, Related to NPRR1282, Ancillary Service Duration under Real-Time CoOptimization – URGENT]
THE NEXT IS, UH, TAC UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDED THAT THE NEXT REVISION REQUEST, NEXT THE NEXT REVISION REQUEST, BUT DID NOT INCLUDE IT ON THE CONSENT AGENDA BECAUSE IT HAD TO BE, UM, UH, CONSIDERED FOLLOWING THE DECISION ON NPR 1282.SO, AGENDA ITEM 11.1 0.3 IS A CHANGE TO
[02:05:01]
THE NODAL OPERATING GUIDE THAT WOULD BE IMPLEMENTED WITH 1282.AND SO IF THERE'S NO FURTHER DISCUSSION ON, ENTERTAIN A MOTION ON, UH, NOER 2 77 RELATED TO NPR 1282, ANCILLARY SERVICE DURATION AND TIME COOPERATION, WHICH IS ALSO URGENT LAG 1282.
SECOND FROM LINDA AND JOHN, BOTH.
[12. High-Impact Policy Discussions in the Stakeholder Process]
WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM 12, HIGH IMPACT POLICY DISCUSSIONS IN THE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS.REBECCA ZERS AND ANN, UH, BOURNE ARE PRESENTING.
REBECCA AND ANN, THE FLOOR IS YOURS.
AND JUST FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ON DECK, WE SHOULD HAVE BRAND BAKER ERIC GOFF, ANDY WYNN, AND BRIAN SAMS. THANK YOU.
WE DO HAVE SOME GOOD UPDATES ON ISSUES WE'VE BEEN PRESENTING TO THE BOARD THE LAST FEW CYCLES ON THE LARGE LOAD ISSUES, RTC PLUS B AND DRS.
WE ALSO HAVE A FEW NEW ITEMS THAT WE'RE GONNA HIGHLIGHT THIS CYCLE.
FIRST, I KNOW MATT GAVE A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF THE RTC PLUS B PROJECT YESTERDAY.
WE HAVE MOVED FORWARD WITH MARKET TRIALS AND ARE ON TRACK FOR THE DECEMBER 5TH GO LIVE.
UM, WE JUST DECIDED ON THE LAST TWO POLICY REVISION REQUESTS OF THE BOARD IN JUNE.
I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT WE HAVE THE TRANSMISSION PLANNING STAKEHOLDER PRESENTATION YESTERDAY.
WE ARE PLANNING A RTC PLUS B SESSION AT THE SEPTEMBER BOARD.
REBECCA, CAN YOU PULL THE MICROPHONE A LITTLE BIT CLOSER? THANK YOU.
AND THEN WE'RE ALSO HAVE A FINAL REVISION REQUEST, NPR 1290 WITH SOME CLEANUPS AND CLARIFICATIONS THAT SHOULD BE UP IN SEPTEMBER.
AND THEN A ALIGNMENT NOER WITH THAT AS WELL.
AND THEN MARKET RULES IS GOING THROUGH THE GRAY BOX LANGUAGE AND STARTING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT UNBOXING LOOKS LIKE FOR DRS.
UM, WE'RE HAVING A WORKSHOP LATER THIS WEEK LOOKING AT THE LANGUAGE.
UM, NBRR 1235 HAS BEEN TABLED FOR QUITE A WHILE LOOKING AT THAT STANDALONE, UM, DRS PRODUCTS.
THE GOAL IS TO MEET THE STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS AND ALIGN THAT WITH THE PUC GUIDANCE WE RECEIVED IN DECEMBER.
WE EXPECT TO HAVE A NEW REVISION REQUEST OR AMENDED LANGUAGE TO 1235 BY THE END OF THE YEAR.
SO LARGE LOADS, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME ONE OF THESE HAS ACTUALLY GONE TO TWO SLIDES.
THIS IS OBVIOUSLY A BIG ISSUE.
THE LEGISLATURE PASSED SB SIX.
ERCOT IS WORKING ON IMPLEMENTATION, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO BRING THAT FOR THE BOARD.
WE'LL ALSO WORK WITH THE COMMISSION AS THE IMPLEMENTA, UM, IMPLEMENTATION ON THE INTERCONNECTION STANDARDS AND THEIR RULEMAKINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
I DID WANNA HIGHLIGHT THE SLATE OF REVISION REQUESTS THAT HAVE BEEN ON THE STUCK FOR QUITE A WHILE.
THESE, UM, 12 26, 12 38, AND 1267 WERE ON THE CONSENT AGENDA.
AND THEN NPRR 1202 WAS WITHDRAWN WITH THE PASSAGE OF SB SIX.
I KNOW KAITLYN HIGHLIGHTED THE WORK OF THE LARGE LOAD WORKING GROUP.
UM, AND THAT'S ASSESSOR TO THE LARGE FLEXIBLE LOAD TASK FORCE.
AND THEN DAN SPENT SOME TIME ON THIS LARGE ELECTRONIC LOAD VOLTAGE RIDE THROUGH ISSUE.
WE HAD THAT WELL ATTENDED WORKSHOP ON THE 13TH.
THE MARKET NOTICE WENT OUT YESTERDAY REGARDING THE RFIS FOR DATA.
WE EXPECT THAT DATA BACK AT THE END OF AUGUST, AND WE'LL WORK TO UTILIZE THAT TO SUPPORT MARKETING, UM, MODELING EFFORTS.
AND THEN THAT ISSUE IS GONNA BE CONTINUED TO DISCUSSED AT THAT LARGE LOAD WORKING GROUP.
UM, THIS RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDIT REC ITEM, IT REALLY LOOKS LIKE NBR R 1264 IS THE VEHICLE FOR CONTINU DISCUSSIONS AT ERCOT.
UM, WE HAVE PRESENTATIONS FOLLOWING THIS ITEM FROM THE SPONSOR OF NPR 1264 TO TALK ABOUT, UM, THE OVERVIEW OF THAT PROPOSED PROGRAM, WHY IT'S NEEDED AND HOW THEY WILL LEAVE.
I KNOW AUSTIN IS ALSO GONNA HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE, UM, ERCOT PERSPECTIVE ON THE IMPACT ANALYSIS ITEMS. I DO WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT THERE ARE KIND OF TWO KEY POLICY QUESTIONS IDENTIFIED UNDER THIS.
ONE IS ERCOT, RPUC, THE RIGHT FORM FOR THE B POLICY DISCUSSION.
AND THEN HOW DOES THE EAC PROGRAM ALIGN WITH OUR STRATEGIC GOALS FOR RESIDENTIAL DEMAND RESPONSE? KEITH HIGHLIGHTED THIS PROGRAM INITIATIVE AND HIS PRESENTATION YESTERDAY.
UM, IT'S ALSO RELATED TO ONE OF THE OKRS FOR 2025.
WE HAVE HOSTED A PAIR OF WORKSHOPS TO PROVIDE A
[02:10:01]
CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW AND DESIGN FOR THE PROGRAM.IT'S A VOLUNTARY RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM WITH INCENTIVE PAYMENTS, AND WE EXPECT THE NEXT ROUND OF STAKEHOLDER FEEDBACK IN JULY, AND WE'RE GOING TO WORK TO A ERCOT SPONSOR IN VRR IN AUGUST.
AND THEN FINALLY, THERE'S A PAIR OF NEW REVISION REQUESTS, UM, UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF PLANNING CRITERIA.
BOTH OF THESE ARE ERCOT SPONSORED AND THEY'RE CURRENTLY BEING REVIEWED BY ROS.
UM, JUSTICE TRANSMISSION PLANNING CONTINUES TO BE A KEY ISSUE WITH ERCOT FACING AND UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH.
WE'RE LOOKING AT ADAPTING PLANNING CRITERIA AND MODELING TO ADDRESS.
TIER FLORES HAD TO STEP OUT FOR JUST A SECOND.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FOR REBECCA? OKAY.
[13. Stakeholder Education – Understanding NPRR1264, Creation of a New Energy Attribute Certificate Program]
NEXT ITEM IS AGENDA ITEM 13.UH, BRYN BAKER, ERIC GOFF, ANDY NEN, AND BRIAN SAMS ARE PRESENTING THIS ITEM.
UH, BRYN BAKER AND ERIC GOFF ARE WITH THE TEXAS ENERGY BUYERS ALLIANCE.
ANDY NEN IS THE DIRECTOR OF WHOLESALE MARKET DEVELOPMENT AND WITH CONSTELLATION ENERGY GROUP.
AND BRIAN SAMS IS THE VP OF GOVERNMENT AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS WITH CALPINE.
THIS IS ANOTHER FIRST FOR THE BOARD, UH, CONSIDERING A REVISION REQUEST BEFORE IT HAS BEEN VOTED ON, EVEN AT THE PROTOCOL REVISION SUBCOMMITTEE.
IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY JUST TO UNDERSTAND ANY UNIQUE POLICY ISSUE THAT'S BEING PROPOSED AND PROVIDE ANY INPUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESS, INCLUDING ANY FEEDBACK FROM THE PUC UH, COMMISSIONERS.
WE ARE NOT VOTING ON ANYTHING TODAY, JUST TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE POLICY MATTER AND WHETHER IT FITS WITH AN ERCOT STRATEGIC GOALS.
BRYN BAKER, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF POLICY, UH, FOR TBA, THE TEXAS ENERGY BUYERS ALLIANCE.
JUST SO YOU BRIEFLY KNOW WHO TBA IS.
UH, TIVA IS A CUSTOMER ORGANIZATION WITH ABOUT 270 MEMBERS, UH, FROM EVERY MAJOR BUSINESS SECTOR, COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, INSTITUTIONAL FROM MANUFACTURING AND DATA CENTERS TO OIL AND GAS AND RETAIL.
UM, WE STARTED WORK ON THIS NPR LAST YEAR WITH A QUESTION OF WHEN YOU BRING CUSTOMERS AND SUPPLIERS TOGETHER, WHAT ARE THE ENERGY PRODUCT MARKETS THAT WE'RE TRYING TO BUILD FOR THE FUTURE? WHAT ARE THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE'RE TRYING TO PULL INTO THE MARKET AND UNLEASH? WHAT ARE THE GRID BEHAVIORS THAT WE WANT TO INCENT FROM CUSTOMERS? AND HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO WHAT THIS NPR IS FUNDAMENTALLY ABOUT? WHICH IS ABOUT BROADENING A BASE OF ENERGY ATTRIBUTE CERTIFICATES THAT CUSTOMERS OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE USE TO, TO MAKE A VARIETY OF CLAIMS CURRENTLY JUST AROUND RENEWABLE ENERGY.
UNLEASHING THIS, THIS NEXT WAVE OF TRANSACTIONS THAT CAN BE DRIVEN BY CUSTOMERS STARTS WITH HAVING A TRANSPARENT, ACCOUNTABLE FRAMEWORK ON WHICH TO BASE A WIDE VARIETY OF THESE TRANSACTIONS.
TRUSTED CERTIFICATES ISSUED BY A TRUSTED SOURCE, USING GRANULAR INFORMATION, UH, THAT VALIDATES EVERYTHING FROM CUSTOMER CLAIMS TO TRANSACTION VOLUMES.
AND IT STARTS BY RECOGNIZING THAT THERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF ACTUALLY UNTAPPED MARKET POOL MARKET DEMAND COMING FROM THESE LARGE CUSTOMERS ACROSS THE STATE THAT CAN BE USED TO PULL THESE, THESE NEW CLEAN FIRM TECHNOLOGIES IN PARTICULAR, INTO THE MARKETPLACE.
SO I WANNA START, UH, JUST REAL QUICKLY WITH, WITH WHY AND WHAT CAN BE UNLEASHED BY, UH, EXPANDING THIS PROGRAM.
UH, OF COURSE, TODAY, RECS ARE ONLY ISSUED FOR RENEWABLES, WHICH MEANS THERE'S REALLY NOT AN EFFICIENT MEANS TO CREATE A, A CHAIN OF CUSTODY OR A WAY TO VALIDATE, UH, THE CHARACTERISTICS OR THE CLAIMS, UH, FOR CUSTOMER CONTRACTS FOR A MUCH WIDER VARIETY OF TECHNOLOGIES OR PRODUCTS IN THE MARKETPLACE.
SO, JUST A COUPLE EXAMPLES OF THE KINDS OF THINGS THAT THIS COULD UNLEASH WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NUCLEAR.
SO WE'VE GOT COMPANIES, ENERGY CUSTOMERS OUT IN THE MARKETPLACE.
OF COURSE, FOLKS KNOW ON THE DATA CENTER SIDE AND THE HYPERSCALER SIDE INTERESTED TO PURCHASE NUCLEAR.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER COMPANIES LIKE A VERY LARGE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE COMPANY, BROOKFIELD AND OTHERS, WHO WANT TO BE ABLE TO CONTRACT FOR NUCLEAR.
HAVING A CERTIFICATE THAT WOULD VALIDATE THOSE CLAIMS ACTUALLY GIVES THEM AN INCENTIVE TO DO THIS.
BUT IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO SCALE THAT PARTICIPATION IN THE MARKETPLACE.
YOU CAN DO THIS THROUGH BILATERAL CONTRACTS.
IT WILL BE MORE EFFICIENT AND EASIER TO SCALE THIS MARKET IF YOU HAVE A TRUSTED, VALIDATED ENERGY ATTRIBUTE CERTIFICATE TO DO THIS.
WE ALSO HAVE OIL AND GAS, UH, THAT WANT TO BUILD MARKETS FOR LOW CARBON FUELS, INCLUDING LOW CARBON, HYDROGEN, UH, OR CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE.
WE HAVE, UH, SELF AFFIRMING AND COMPANIES LIKE GOOGLE THAT ARE ON THE FOREFRONT OF WANTING TO DO THIS AND, AND OTHER COMPANIES SORT OF CLOSE BEHIND.
[02:15:01]
NEED RETAIL PRODUCTS FOR MANY OTHER COMPANIES TO ENGAGE IN SELF-HARMING THAT WILL BENEFIT FROM HAVING THESE GRANULAR ENERGY ATTRIBUTE CERTIFICATES.BATTERY STORAGE DOESN'T HAVE A CERTIFICATE TODAY.
OBVIOUSLY, YOU WOULD BENEFIT FROM HAVING GRANULAR INFORMATION ON RESOURCES USED TO CHARGE AND DISCHARGE TIMES TO BE ABLE TO REALLY ACCURATELY CALCULATE THE EMISSIONS PROFILE OF THOSE RESOURCES.
UH, THERE'S A VERY LARGE DIRECT AIR CAPTURE PROJECT IN THE PERMIAN.
THEY WANT TO HAVE EACS TO BE ABLE TO MARKET THE VALUE OF THAT CO2 CAPTURE.
SO ACROSS ALL OF THESE TECHNOLOGIES, GRANULAR CERTIFICATES ARE CRITICAL TO CREATING THE TRANSPARENT MARKETS, UH, THAT THESE EMERGING AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES REQUIRE TO CONNECT BUYERS AND SELLERS TO VALIDATE THE TRANSACTIONS AND TO BUILD CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKETS.
MARKETS FOLLOW A VALIDATION MECHANISM, THEY DON'T PROCEED IT.
SO JUST REAL QUICKLY, AND YOU'RE GONNA HEAR MORE FROM OTHERS ON WHAT THIS NPR REALLY DOES, BUT I'LL JUST SUMMARIZE THE, THE, THE OPPORTUNITY HERE IS THE LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT TO SUNSET.
THE RPS GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO BROADEN AND TRANSFER THIS INTO A VOLUNTARY MARKET FOR ANY TECHNOLOGY.
WE DON'T THINK OF THIS AS EXCLUSIVELY A CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM.
IT REALLY IS ABOUT ENABLING, ISSUING THESE CERTIFICATES AS AN ALL GENERATION TRACK TRACKING SYSTEM FOR ANY GENERATOR THAT HAS A WILLING BUYER.
UM, AND ALSO BECAUSE RECS ARE CURRENTLY TABULATED ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, WHICH NOTIONALLY SOUNDS EASIER TO DO THESE NEXT GENERATION TRANSACTIONS, YOU REALLY NEED THAT MORE GRANULAR INFORMATION, HOURLY TIMESTAMPS, MORE SPECIFIC LOCATION INFORMATION AND OTHER ATTRIBUTES.
UH, ADDITIONALLY TO BE ABLE TO, TO VALIDATE THINGS LIKE LOW CARBON FUELS OR STORAGE THIRD PARTY METHODOLOGIES WILL BE HELPFUL FOR UNDERSTANDING HOW TO ACTUALLY TABULATE THAT VALUE.
SO WHAT THIS NPR DOES IS IT ALLOWS THOSE THIRD PARTY METHODOLOGIES TO REGISTER WITH ERCOT TO PROVIDE ERCOT AND OTHER MARKET PARTICIPANTS WITH THAT INFORMATION.
UM, ERIC IS GONNA TALK MORE ABOUT THIS, UH, BUT IT ALLOWS, OH, THAT'S, SORRY, I'M ON THE WRONG SLIDE.
UM, IT ALLOWS A THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR TO ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM.
UH, THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO OPTIMIZE RESOURCES AND TIME THAT THAT COULD BE REQUIRED FROM ERCOT.
AND THEN LASTLY, UPDATING SOFTWARE IS, IS ALMOST CERTAINLY GONNA BE REQUIRED TO ENABLE THE ACCOUNTING, THE DATA MANAGEMENT, THE TRADING THAT GOES WITH THIS PROGRAM.
AND SO WE WILL BE DEVELOPING A NEW PROGRAMMATIC INTERFACE ON THE WHOLE.
WHAT THIS IS ALLOWING IS FOR ENERGY CUSTOMERS TO PLAY A BIGGER ROLE TO PULL THESE TECHNOLOGIES FASTER INTO THE MARKETPLACE AND ALLOW TEXAS TO COMPETE BY OFFERING THESE MORE DIFFERENTIATED PROJECTS.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, THE ERIC GOFF IN BEHALF OF THE TEXAS ENERGY BUYERS ALLIANCE.
UM, SO BRENDAN STATED KIND OF THE, THE USE CASE FOR THIS AND, UH, HOW IT COULD ENABLE EXISTING TRANSACTIONS.
I WANNA FOCUS ON ITS, UH, IMPACT ON ERCOT.
I THINK THIS IS DEAD CENTER SQUARE INSIDE THE MISSION FOR ERCOT, UM, ERCOT, IN ADDITION TO MANAGING THE RELIABILITY OF THE GRID AND THE WHOLESALE MARKETS, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RETAIL MARKET AND ENABLING CUSTOMER CHOICE.
AND SINCE DAY ONE OF RETAIL COMPETITION, THIS IS ONE OF THE WAYS THAT, UH, CUSTOMERS HAVE MADE CHOICES AROUND THEIR RETAILER OF CHOICE AT AS THE WAY THEY PURCHASE RACS TODAY, INCREASING THE CAPABILITIES OF THAT, UH, YOU KNOW, NOW 25-YEAR-OLD PROGRAM IS WHAT WE'RE ASKING TO DO TODAY BASED ON CUSTOMER DEMAND.
TEXAS ENERGY BUYERS ALLIANCE, UM, IS THE GROUP OF LARGE BUYERS THAT ARE SAYING, WE ARE IN THIS MARKET TODAY.
UH, WE'RE READY FOR THE NEXT STAGE OF THAT MARKET.
SO ALLOWING, UM, THIS TO BE TRACKED SO IT CAN IMPACT RETAIL COMPETITION, UM, IS JUST ONE OF THE GREAT ADVANTAGES THAT TEXAS HAS OVER ANY OTHER STATE.
UM, YOU KNOW, MANY OTHER STATES, AND AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, CUSTOMERS IN THOSE STATES LOOK WITH ENVY AT THE CHOICES THEY CAN MAKE IN TEXAS AS COMPARED TO HOW THEY BUY ENERGY IN OTHER PLACES.
UM, WHEN, UH, HB 1500 WAS BEING DISCUSSED IN THE, IN THE LEGISLATURE, THERE WAS INITIALLY A CALL TO, UH, REMOVE THE REC PROGRAM IN AN EARLY AMENDMENT.
MANY COMPANIES ACROSS THE INDUSTRY SPOKE UP TO SAY, WE'RE OKAY WITH REMOVING THE REQUIREMENT TO BUY REX, THAT'S FINE, BUT PLEASE KEEP A VOLUNTARY MARKET SO WE CAN CONTINUE TO CHOOSE TO ENTER INTO TRANSACTIONS TO, TO DO THIS.
AND THE WAY THAT ENERGY BUYERS TODAY, UM, WANT TO DO THIS IS TO HAVE THIS OPTION FOR ADDITIONAL GRANULARITY.
IF THEY DON'T OPT INTO THE ADDITIONAL GRANULARITY, THE THE PROPOSAL THAT WE HAVE TODAY WON'T IMPACT THEM IN ANY SIGNIFICANT WAY.
UM, BUT IF THEY CHOOSE TO, TO USE THIS AS FUNCTIONALITY, THEN THEY CAN HAVE BETTER RETAIL CHOICE.
[02:20:01]
FINALLY, AS, AS BRENT STATED, TO THE EXTENT THERE ARE SOME CUSTOMERS THAT, UM, HAVE A HESITATION AROUND, UM, SUB EMISSIONS PROFILES OF SOME GENERATION, UM, THIS PROVIDES A WAY FOR THEM TO BUY, UH, A PASS IN ORDER TO DO THAT THROUGH THE RETAIL MARKET OR THROUGH THE WHOLESALE MARKET.AND SO I'VE SPOKEN TO A NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS THAT WOULD BE HAPPY TO INVEST WITH CONFIDENCE IN A THROUGH A PROGRAM LIKE THIS.
SO THIS WILL REMOVE A BARRIER TO INVESTMENT THAT MAY EXIST TO SOME DEGREE.
UM, SO WE THINK THAT DOES IMPACT RELIABILITY FOR THAT REASON.
UM, THE ERCOT HAS MULTIPLE OPTIONS ON HOW TO, TO IMPLEMENT THIS.
UM, AND, UH, WE THINK THAT, UM, EVALUATING THROUGH, UM, THE ERCOT IMPACT ANALYSIS PROCESS IS THE BEST WAY TO DO THIS.
SO THAT WOULD BE THE NEXT STEP IN THE STAKEHOLDER PROCESS, ASSUMING THAT THE PROTOCOL REVISION SUBCOMMITTEE WERE TO ASK FOR THAT IMPACT ANALYSIS.
NORMALLY THAT IMPACT ANALYSIS IS AN A REVIEW OF ERCOT, UM, IMPLEMENTATION COSTS.
IN THIS CASE, WE THINK THAT THERE COULD BE AN RFI TO POTENTIAL VENDORS TO UNDERSTAND THE COST AND BENEFITS TO ERCOT.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE MULTIPLE VENDORS THAT ARE READY TO PROVIDE THESE CAPABILITIES TO ERCOT, SOME OF WHICH I THINK WOULD HAVE VERY LITTLE IMPACT ON THE COST FOR ERCOT.
UM, BUT, UM, HAVING A CLEAR CHOICE ON THAT AND UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE COST IS COMPARED TO THE BENEFITS WOULD BE A CLEAR OUTCOME OF THE IMPACT ANALYSIS STEP IN THE ERCOT STAKEHOLDER PROCESS.
SO A, UH, VOTE FOR PRS TO MOVE FORWARD TO RECEIVE THAT IMPACT ANALYSIS WOULD THEN PROVIDE MORE INFORMATION TO ALL PARTIES ABOUT THE COST AND BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAM.
UM, THAT SAID, UH, WE HAVE A COUPLE COMMENTS FROM ANDY AND BRIAN WITH CONSTELLATION AND CALPINE.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
MY NAME IS ANDY WYNN WITH CONSTELLATION.
I THINK TIBA DID A REALLY GOOD JOB OF EXPLAINING THE WHO, WHAT AND WHY, UH, THIS PROGRAM IS NEEDED.
BUT I CAME HERE TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE TEXAS ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR WORKING GROUP.
AND, UM, REALLY WANTED TO FOCUS ON THE HISTORY, UM, THE TIES TO THIS NPRR AND MY EXPERIENCE BOTH AS A MEMBER AND AS A SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR OF THE WORKING GROUP.
SO BACK IN AUGUST OF 2023, GOVERNOR ABBOTT ISSUED A MEMO TO THE COMMISSION ASKING FOR THE CREATION OF A WORKING GROUP TO BOTH IDENTIFY RECOMMENDATIONS AND SEEK FINANCIAL INCENTIVES FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF NEW NUCLEAR IN TEXAS TO MAKE THEM ONE OF THE LEADERS WITH THAT CAME THE FORMATION OF THE TEXAS ADVANCED NUCLEAR REACTOR WORKING GROUP LED BY FORMER COMMISSIONER GLOCK FIL.
AND OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR AND A HALF, THE WORKING GROUP REALLY DUG DEEP INTO ALL OF THE THINGS THAT WOULD BENEFIT NEW NUCLEAR DEVELOPMENT IN TEXAS.
AND THE GOAL OF THAT REPORT WAS TO MEET THE GOVERNOR'S DEADLINE OF DECEMBER 1ST, WHICH WE DID.
WE ISSUED HIM THE REPORT IN NOVEMBER OF 2024.
AND THE FOCUS OF THAT REPORT INITIALLY, AND THE KEY FOR WHY THE DEADLINE IS IMPORTANT, WAS THE GOVERNOR WANTED KEY LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS IN ANTICIPATION FOR THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION THAT IS LOOKING TO WRAP UP HERE.
UM, WHICH AS YOU HEARD FROM PABLO'S REPORT, UM, CREATED THE, UM, TEXAS ADVANCED NUCLEAR ENERGY OFFICE AS WELL AS, UM, HOUSE BILL 14, WHICH ALSO PASSED.
ADDITIONALLY TO THOSE LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS, THERE WERE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS THAT WEREN'T LEGISLATIVE FOCUSES THAT WERE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE WORKING GROUP, ONE BEING THE CREATION OF A NUCLEAR ENERGY CREDIT.
AND THAT'S THE TIE BACK TO THIS NPR HERE.
AND SO THERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT POINTS I WANTED TO NOTE THERE UNDER MY SUBCOMMITTEE, WHICH WAS COMPRISED OF STAKEHOLDERS IN THE, UM, END USER GROUP.
SO THINK GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, META RESIDENTIAL CONSUMERS, COMMERCIAL CONSUMERS, IT WAS UNANIMOUSLY DETERMINED THAT HAVING A NUCLEAR ENERGY CREDIT A WAY TO FURTHER VALUE NUCLEAR CREDITS ON TOP OF, YOU KNOW, JUST THE ELECTRONS THAT IT CREATES, WHICH, YOU KNOW, ALL ELECTRONS ARE THE SAME, BUT THEY'RE NOT ALL CREATED BY THE SAME TYPE OF RESOURCE, UH, WAS ANOTHER WAY THAT THESE FINANCIAL INCENTIVES COULD BE UTILIZED TO HELP FURTHER ADVANCE NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY.
ADDITIONALLY, IN ANOTHER SUBCOMMITTEE, UM, CALLED THE STATE AND FEDERAL SUBCOMMITTEE THAT LOOKED TO IDENTIFY, UM, PRIORITIES AND POLICY NEEDS, UM, THAT WERE LED BY FORMER COMMISSIONER FELSEY AND ALSO PABLO HERE, UM, IT WAS IDENTIFIED THAT THIS PARTICULAR NUCLEAR ENERGY CREDIT PROGRAM WAS NOT A LEGISLATIVE FOCUS, MEANING THERE WAS NOT A BILL NEEDED, AND THAT THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT BOTH EITHER COMMISSION OR ERCOT COULD ORGANICALLY
[02:25:01]
DEVELOP THROUGH ITS OWN STAKEHOLDER PROCESS HERE.AND SO THAT'S KIND OF THE PREFACE OF THE NUCLEAR ENGAGEMENT ON THIS, ON THIS ITEM, AND WHY WE THINK THIS IS IMPORTANT, AND I THINK I'LL CLOSE MY STATEMENTS BY SAYING THAT WE AGREE WITH TIBA.
UM, ERCOT DOESN'T HAVE TO TAKE ON THIS ALONE ISSUING AN RFI, LOOKING OUT TO OTHER THIRD PARTY VENDORS THAT ALREADY DO THIS IN OTHER MARKETS LIKE MISO AND SPP, FOR EXAMPLE.
UM, THEY CAN LEVERAGE THE EXPERTISE THAT THESE THIRD PARTY VENDORS HAVE TO BOTH NOT ONLY MITIGATE AND REDUCE THE COST, BUT ALSO ELIMINATE AND REDUCE THE ADMINISTRATIVE BURDEN FOR ERCOT AS THEY LOOK TO POTENTIALLY EXPAND THIS PROGRAM.
AND THEN ONE MORE THING IS, UM, JUST RECENTLY ISO NEW ENGLAND, AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT OTHER MARKETS AND HOW THIS FEEDS INTO IT ALSO JUST RECENTLY WROTE OUT THEIR 24 7 TRACKING PROGRAM, WHICH THIS NPR WOULD ALSO BE LOOKING TO ACHIEVE THAT LEVEL OF GRANULARITY, WHICH BY THE WAY, AS A PART OF MY SUBCOMMITTEE, THE MEMBERS WERE ASKING FOR THAT LEVEL OF GRANULARITY BECAUSE THEY REALLY WANT TO TRULY MATCH UP THEIR LOW PROFILE WITH THE GENERATION ATTRIBUTES SO THAT THEY CAN SAY THAT THEY'RE TRULY GETTING THE RESOURCES FROM, UM, HAVING THE ABILITY TO TRACK IT WITH THROUGH THIS ACCOUNTING MECHANISM.
SO WITH THAT, I'M HAPPY TO HAND IT OVER TO BRIAN, UM, TO SPEAK, UH, ON CO-GENERATION.
HI THERE, BRIAN SAMS WITH CALPINE.
UH, OUR INTEREST IN THIS NPR IS, IT'S BECAUSE IT'S SOMETHING OUR CUSTOMERS ARE ASKING FOR.
UH, JUST QUICKLY ABOUT THE CALPINE FLEET, UH, WE OPERATE MORE THAN NINE GIGS OF, UH, A HUNDRED PERCENT NATURAL GAS PLANTS ACROSS TEXAS GOING FROM BAYTOWN OUTSIDE OF HOUSTON, ALL THE WAY TO ODESSA, AND THEN FROM JUST SOUTH OF DALLAS ALL THE WAY TO THE BOTTOM OF, OF THE VALLEY.
AND I, I JUST WANNA FOCUS ON AN, A SPECIFIC EXAMPLE IN THE, THE SHIP CHANNEL.
AT OUR BAYTOWN PLANT, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING AT DEVELOPING A CARBON CAPTURE AND SEQUESTRATION PLANT THAT'S ATTACHED TO THAT BAYTOWN PLANT.
AND THAT PLANT IS, IS A, IS A COGEN FACILITY THAT PROVIDES STEAM TO, UH, A LARGE PETROCHEMICAL, UH, FACILITY.
AND, UH, THAT, THAT, UH, THEY'RE INTERNATIONAL BASED OUTTA GERMANY AND THEY HAVE THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENTAL GOALS.
AND SO, UM, HAVING AN ACCREDITATION, UH, PROCESS ALLOWS US TO SELL POWER FROM THAT PLANT AT A PREMIUM, UM, BECAUSE IT PROVIDES THE RELIABILITY OF A NATURAL GAS PLANT, BUT ALSO A PREFERRED ENVIRONMENTAL PROFILE.
AND SO, UH, WE JUST, WE NEED TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO, UH, VERIFY THE, THE ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES OF, OF THAT PLANT SO THAT THE CUSTOMER CAN, UH, USE THAT TO, TO, UH, SHOW HOW THEY'RE A ACHIEVING THEIR OWN GOALS.
AND THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE OF, OF WHAT, UH, THIS NPR WOULD DO AND, UH, SUPPORT IT BECAUSE OUR CUSTOMERS ARE ASKING FOR IT.
UH, ANY, IS THAT ALL OF YOUR COMMENTS OR DO YOU NOPE.
UH, HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
WHAT'S THAT? HAPPY TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.
HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS FOR THE GROUP? SO, UM, I, I HAVE A QUESTION.
UM, JOHN, I I, I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT THERE IS A LOT OF MERIT IN THIS PROGRAM.
UM, MY QUESTION IS WHETHER ERCOT SHOULD BE THE ONE TO ADMINISTER IT.
UM, AND, UH, I'M, I'M JUST WONDERING, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS WE COULD BE A FACILITATOR OF IT.
UM, WE HAVE A LOT OF DATA ABOUT THE DIFFERENT GENERATORS, UM, BUT IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THERE IS ALSO A LOT OF WORK REQUIRED IN MAKING SURE THAT YOU'RE SORT OF PUBLISHING THE REAL TIME STATE OF EACH ONE OF THESE GENERATORS TO MATCH UP WITH THE, YOU KNOW, THE CHARACTERISTICS THE CONSUMERS WANT TO HAVE.
UM, SO IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THIS IS SOMETHING WE CAN PERHAPS FACILITATE BECAUSE IT DOES SEEM TO BE WORTHWHILE, BUT IT'S NOT SOMETHING THAT I SEE AS BEING CORE TO T'S MANDATE.
I THINK ERIC, HIS ANSWER TO ANSWER THAT, UH, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO Y'ALL.
UM, SO WE, WE THINK THAT WE CAN UNCOVER THE CHOICES ABOUT THAT AND THE IMPACT ANALYSIS PROCESS.
UM, OUR BUYING MEMBERS REALLY WANT THERE TO BE A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH AND NOT A DISPARATE NUMBER OF MULTIPLE PEOPLE THAT ARE ALL TRYING TO SOLVE THE SAME PROBLEM.
WHICH WOULD, WOULD, WOULD HAPPEN IF ERCOT WEREN'T TO TAKE A ROLE IN THIS.
ERCOT CAN, UH, PROVIDE THE, THE DATA AND OVERSIGHT TO A THIRD PARTY TO ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM, UH, WHICH IS ONE OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OPTIONS.
BUT, BUT MAINTAIN CONTROL OVER, YOU KNOW, PROVIDING THAT DATA.
[02:30:01]
UM, THE DATA THAT IS NECESSARY TO, TO ADMINISTER THIS PROGRAM FOR THE MOST PART ALREADY EXIST IN ERCOT SYSTEMS. UM, IT MIGHT NEED TO BE, YOU KNOW, REFORMULATED TO PROVIDE IT INTO THIS PROGRAM.SO THERE WILL BE SOME IMPACT THAT WILL UNCOVER THAT IMPACT ANALYSIS PROCESS.
UM, FINALLY, ERCOT HAS BEEN THE ADMINISTRATOR OF THE REC PROGRAM SINCE DAY ONE OF RETAIL COMPETITION IN THE EARLY TWO THOUSANDS.
SO THIS ISN'T ADDING TO THAT, IT'S JUST MODIFYING HOW ERCOT WOULD BE THAT ADMINISTRATOR.
UH, JULIE, SO JOHN, WERE YOU ASKING A QUESTION OF PABLO ABOUT WHETHER THIS IS INSIDE THE ERCOT CHARTER? 'CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I THOUGHT I HEARD WAS YOUR QUESTION.
I, I DON'T, I DON'T HONESTLY KNOW WHO I WAS ASKING IT TOO.
SO PABLO'S PROBABLY THE RIGHT GUY TO, TO TRY AND ANSWER IT.
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A DISCUSSION, RIGHT? ACTUALLY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A PRESENTATION RIGHT NOW BY AUSTIN WHO'S GONNA GIVE A PERSPECTIVE ON KIND OF HOW TTA IS LOOKING AT THIS AND SOME OF THE OPTIONS AROUND IT.
SO THAT MIGHT BE A GOOD FOLLOW UP, AND THEN WE CAN TALK MORE ABOUT THAT.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT, UM, THE IMPLEMENTATION OF RTC AND ALL THE ASSOCIATED, UH, NPRS THAT GO WITH THAT, AND THEN YOU'VE GOT DRRS AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NPRS ARE GONNA BE OF THAT AND HOUSE BILL 1500 AND SENATE BILL SIX, WHERE DOES 1264 FIT IN THE PRIORITIZATION? THAT, THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION THAT ULTIMATELY WILL BE UP TO THE ERCOT BOARD TO ANSWER.
UM, WE, I'M, I'M LOOKING FOR YOUR, I MEAN, YOUR FEEDBACK.
UH, WE, WE, UH, CONSUMERS ARE INCREDIBLY SUPPORTIVE OF, YOU KNOW, MANY OF THOSE THINGS, INCLUDING RTC.
AND WE'RE NOT TRYING TO GET THIS IN FRONT OF RTC.
UM, THERE ARE, UM, INCREMENTAL STEPS.
WE CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THE PROGRAM WITHOUT TAKING AWAY RESOURCES FROM, UH, RTC.
UM, IN TALKING TO OUR MEMBERS, SOME OF WHICH WANT TO USE THIS PROGRAM IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE EXPORT OF HYDROGEN TO EUROPE, UM, WE WILL NEED TO START TO TRANSACT IN THESE CERTIFICATES IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS.
DO YOU WANNA ADD TO THAT, BRYN, OR, UM, GO AHEAD.
I'LL JUST QUICKLY ADD ON THAT.
I MEAN, I THINK THE HYDROGEN PRODUCERS THAT WE'VE SPOKEN WITH TO BE ABLE TO MEET SOME OF THE REQUIREMENTS THAT KICK IN IN 2028, THEY WOULD IDEALLY LIKE TO SEE CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE STARTING NEXT YEAR IN 2026, BECAUSE THEY NEED TO PROCURE THE GENERATION THAT THEN MATCHES UP TO WHAT THEY'RE GONNA HAVE TO SAY THEY'RE SUPPLYING INTO THE EUROPEAN MARKET.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE SIDE OF THE MARKET.
I THINK WHEN WE TALK ABOUT LOW CARBON FUELS OR EVEN DIRECT AIR CAPTURE, THOSE ARE ALSO PRODUCTS THAT ARE LOOKING FOR ACCESS TO THESE TYPES OF CREDITS SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
SO I WOULD JUST ECHO, WE'RE NOT TRYING TO GET IN FRONT OF ANYTHING CRITICAL, BUT I DO THINK IT'S, IT'S SOMETHING WHERE WE WOULD WANNA START TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT ASSESSMENT SOONER RATHER THAN LATER AND TAKE THIS UP IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS TO YEARS.
SO DO WE HAVE SOMEBODY ELSE? YEAH, JUST REAL QUICK, ANDY, YOU MENTIONED THAT THIS IS DONE IN OTHER JURISDICTIONS.
UH, DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THOSE THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATORS CHARGE IN THOSE OTHER JURISDICTIONS TO RUN THIS? DO YOU WANT TO ANSWER THAT? YEAH, YEAH, I THINK, GO AHEAD.
UM, WHEN WE'VE DONE OUR BEST TO NOT RECOMMEND A PARTICULAR VENDOR, BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT THERE TO BE ANY CONFLICT, BUT I, I'VE SPOKEN TO SOME OF THOSE VENDORS, SOME OF THEM HAVE SAID THEY WOULD PAY OR CO FOR THE RIGHT TO ADMINISTER THIS PROGRAM.
AND THEN, BRIAN, JUST REAL QUICK, UM, FROM THE GENERATION STANDPOINT, IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT YOUR VIEW IS THAT A PROGRAM LIKE THIS WOULD HELP YOU MAKE INVESTMENT DECISIONS AND JUSTIFY INVESTMENT IN THE STATE? DEFINITELY.
I MEAN, I THINK IF YOU GO BACK TO THE SLIDE THAT, UM, KEITH SHOWED EARLIER, UH, I THINK IT WAS SLIDE SIX OF HIS, HIS CREDIT PRESENTATION, UH, THERE'S A BIG GAP BETWEEN, UH, WHAT THE FORWARD MARKET IS SHOWING AND WHERE COST TO A NEW ENTRY IS.
AND SO, UH, YOU KNOW, EVERY LITTLE NICKEL AND DIME HELPS IN TERMS OF, OF SENDING A, AN INVESTMENT SIGNAL.
UH, I'M NOT SURE THAT SOMETHING LIKE THIS COVERS THE GAP, BUT IT HELPS, UH, IT ALSO HELPS ATTRACT, UH, UH, NEW INDUSTRY TO TEXAS BECAUSE THEY POTENTIALLY HAVE A, A, A PATH TO, UM, MEET THEIR GOALS WITH VERACITY THAT COMES FROM A PROGRAM LIKE THIS.
AND SO THAT ALSO HELPS SEND A SIGNAL FOR, FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT.
ANDY, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING? OKAY.
I WANTED TO JUST ADD ON TO WHAT, UM, UH, CHAIRMAN GLEASON ASKED EARLIER AS WELL.
I THINK THE REASON FOR PAYING ERCOT FOR THE DATA IS, YOU KNOW, THEY, THEY CHARGE BUYERS AND SELLERS, RIGHT, TO ADMINISTER, UH, THE PROGRAM.
AND THAT'S WHERE, IN OUR PREVIOUS COMMENTS, THAT MITIGATES THE COST TO CONSUMERS BECAUSE THIS, THE, THE USERS OF THE PROGRAMS ARE THE ONES PAYING FOR THE PROGRAM.
AND SO THAT'S ONE WAY, AND I THINK THAT'S WHY I THINK THIS RFI IS REALLY IMPORTANT IS YOU START TO UNVEIL THESE TYPE
[02:35:01]
OF THINGS AND YOU'LL ALSO START TO UNVEIL BACK TO YOUR POINT, UH, CHAIRMAN FLORES ON THE, THE PRIORITIZATION OF THE ITEMS. IF THE RFI IS DEEMED TO COME BACK AND THE THIRD PARTIES ALREADY GOT ALL THE CAPABILITIES TO ADD THIS, AND IT'S VERY LOW BURDEN FOR ERCOT TO DO, THEN THAT COULD BE SOMETHING THAT GETS TRIAGED, AS YOU ALLUDED TO, WITH ALL OF THE OTHER PROJECTS THAT GET IN THERE.BECAUSE WE MAY UNCOVER THAT IT DOESN'T TAKE AWAY FROM A LOT OF ERCOT BANDWIDTH BECAUSE ALL THEY NEED IS ACCESS TO INFORMATION OR DIRECT API CONNECTION WITH THE DATA.
UH, IF THERE'S OTHER COMMENTS, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO THE ERCOT, UH, VIEWPOINTS ON THIS NPR.
[13.1 ERCOT Comments on Stakeholder Education - Understanding NPRR1264]
ROSELL IS GONNA PRESENT, UH, AGENDA ITEM 13.1, ERCOT COMMENTS ON STAKEHOLDER EDUCATION, UNDERSTANDING NPR 1264.UH, MY NAME IS AUSTIN ROZELLE.
I'M DIRECTOR SETTLEMENTS RETAIL AND CREDIT, WHICH ALSO ENTAILS THE BUSINESS TEAM THAT MANAGES THE, UH, CURRENT REC SYSTEM.
CAN YOU PULL THE MICROPHONE A LITTLE CLOSER, PLEASE? YES, SIR.
I CAN, IS THAT BETTER? ALL RIGHT.
SO WE PUT TOGETHER THESE SLIDES TO PROVIDE OUR INITIAL THOUGHTS ON 1264 AND HIGHLIGHT SOME HIGH LEVEL POTENTIAL IMPACT TO ACOT SYSTEMS. SO I WOULD SAY OUR OPINION LAST WE DISCUSSED INTERNALLY IS ON THE, THE NEUTRAL END OF THE SPECTRUM.
HOWEVER, THIS NPRR, UM, IS ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT'S CURRENTLY REQUIRED BY ERCOT IMP, PIRA, AND PUC RULES AND NEW, IT'S A NEW SYSTEM, NEW SYSTEMS, NEW COSTS, HR IMPACTS, PRIORITIZATION IMPACTS, LIKE SOMEBODY BROUGHT UP IF THERE'S, UH, YOU KNOW, SYSTEM UPGRADES OR, UM, TECH HEALTH UPGRADES, UH, CONFLICTING WITH, YOU KNOW, DIFFERENT SYSTEMS. SO THERE'S COSTS INVOLVED, THERE'S IMPACT INVOLVED, AND WE JUST WANTED TO, UH, PROVIDE VISIBILITY INTO THAT TO YOU ALL, UM, TODAY.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME AND IT'S ALREADY BEEN TEED UP BEFORE.
WE ALSO WANTED TO KICK OFF THE QUESTION, DOES THE POLICY AROUND THIS NPR ALIGN WITH OUR STRATEGIC GOALS? AND IF SO, WHERE SHOULD THE POLICY DISCUSSION TAKE PLACE AT THE PC LEVEL OR AT THE STAKEHOLDER LEVEL? UM, I'LL GO QUICK THROUGH THIS 'CAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE EVERYBODY'S PRETTY WELL VERSED, AND THEN IT'S ALREADY BEEN DISCUSSED A LITTLE BIT.
BUT CURRENTLY WE ADMINISTER A REC PROGRAM.
IT FOCUSES JUST ON RE UH, RENEWABLE GENERATION.
YOU GET ONE MEGAWATT HOUR, UM, YOU GET ONE RACK FOR ONE MEGAWATT HOUR PRODUCED WITHIN A QUARTER.
SO IT'S A VERY, THAT'S THE GRANULARITY OF IT.
AND THESE THINGS LAST FOR ABOUT THREE YEARS.
UH, UP UNTIL RECENTLY, RETAILERS WERE REQUIRED TO RETIRE A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF WRECKS BASED ON THEIR LOAD.
BUT HOUSE BILL 1500, UH, PUT A STOP TO THAT IN STARTING, UH, IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR.
THE PROGRAM WILL GO TO A COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY PROGRAM WITH NO MANDATORY RETIREMENTS OF RACKS.
AND I FLASHED SOME THE LANGUAGE OF THE, UH, HOUSE BILL 1500 ON HERE, IF THAT'S HELPFUL.
YOU KNOW, BASICALLY TELLING ERCOT, WE NEED TO MAINTAIN THIS ACCREDITATION AND BANKING SYSTEM FOR VOLUNTARY RENEWABLE ENERGY CREDITS.
SO I THINK THIS, THIS IS ABOVE AND BEYOND, UH, BEYOND THAT, UH, MANDATE IN PURE, IN MY OPINION.
SO 1264, AS YOU ALL KNOW, CREATES A NEW TYPE OF CERTIFICATE CALLED AN EAC.
REX WOULD ACTUALLY BE A SUBTYPE OF THIS NEW, UM, THIS NEW THING.
THEY'RE MUCH MORE GRANULAR, WATT HOUR AND HOURLY.
THERE'S SOME COMMENTS OUT THERE PROPOSING THEY SHOULD LIVE LONGER, 10 YEARS.
UM, IT'S NOT LIMITED TO RENEWABLE GENERATION, LIKE WE HEARD.
THERE COULD BE OTHER ATTRIBUTES, UH, LIKE THIRD PARTY CERTIFICATIONS, EMISSION, UH, TYPE, UH, ATTRIBUTES, EVEN LOCATIONAL TYPE ATTRIBUTES.
IT DEFINITELY EXPANDS THE, THE, THE CURRENT ATTRIBUTES WE HAVE NOW FOR RACKS.
AND ALSO, WE THOUGHT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO POINT OUT THAT THIS LANGUAGE CLOSELY ALIGNS WITH REGULATIONS REGARDING CLEAN HYDROGEN PRODUCTION TAX CREDITS ADOPTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY AND THE IRS UNDER THE INFLATION REDUCTION ACT.
SO WHAT IS OUR INITIAL OPINION ON 1264? WELL, ONE REASON WHY WE'RE WE'RE NEUTRAL IS, WELL, THE REASONS WHY WE'RE NEUTRAL IS IT DOES NOT APPEAR TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON SYSTEM RELIABILITY.
HOWEVER, IF WE LOOK AT A A STATEWIDE LEVEL, MACROECONOMIC LEVEL, WE DO SEE THERE'S BENEFITS TO, TO INDUSTRY, UM, TO MEET THEIR, YOU KNOW, PERSONAL, THEIR, THEIR BUSINESS GOALS OR, UM, CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS ON EXPORTS FOR THINGS LIKE GREEN HYDROGEN.
SO, SO WE DO SEE THE USE CASE FOR
[02:40:01]
SOME SORT OF CENTRAL, UM, AUTHENTICATION OF, OF THESE EACS.HOWEVER, IT DOES SEEM TO BE, IT COULD BE SEEN AS OUTSIDE ERCOT SCOPE.
SO WE WOULD BE SUPPORTING A GREATER GOOD, I GUESS.
UM, YEAH, SO THE IMPACTS TO ERIKA, WHICH IS WHY I THINK I'M UP HERE.
UM, SO OBVIOUSLY IT CAN, UH, INCREASE OUR SCOPE FROM A REGULATORY AND A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE.
REGULATORY IS, IS OBVIOUS, RIGHT? WHAT I JUST SAID BEFORE.
UH, PURE HAS US RUNNING THIS, UH, THE PROGRAM AS, AS, AS WE'LL BE RUNNING IT TODAY.
UM, THIS WILL EXPAND THAT TO A, TO A NEW PROGRAM AND, UH, IT WILL INCREASE OUR SCOPE FROM A TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE.
AND I WILL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THIS, UM, USING A THIRD PARTY OR NOT LATER, BUT, UM, IT IS A MORE COMPLEX PROGRAM.
IT ENTAILS MORE RESOURCES, MORE FEATURES, UH, MORE GRANULARITY.
UM, WE NEED TO HAVE SOME BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY WITH THE REC PROGRAM.
UM, AND, UH, THE DATA OF STORAGE NEEDS COULD GO QUITE A BIT SINCE WE'RE GOING FROM A, UM, MEGAWATT HOUR PER QUARTER TO A WATT HOUR, UH, GRANULARITY.
AND THE KEY TAKEAWAYS HERE, WE'VE, WE'VE STATED US THE SAME POLICY QUESTIONS THAT YOU'VE HEARD THREE TIMES BEFORE, THAT YOU ALL HAVE ALREADY BEGAN, BEGAN DISCUSSING.
SO THIS IS MY, THIS IS MY LAST SLIDE HERE.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS? SO WE HAVE, I HAVE TWO OPTIONS HERE.
AND I THINK THE IMPORTANT THING TO, TO NOTE, TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN THE OPTIONS IS WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM? THE WAY THE NPR IS WRITTEN TODAY, ERCOT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM REGARDLESS IF WE OUTSOURCE SOME OF THAT WORK TO A VENDOR OR NOT, OR HAVE SOMEBODY BUILD THE SYSTEM FOR US OR NOT, OR HOST IT OFFSITE OR NOT.
ERCOT, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S STILL ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTERING THE PROGRAM.
AND I THINK WITH THAT COMES INCREASED COSTS AND RISKS.
OPTION ONE, WHERE I THINK CAME UP ONCE BEFORE, WE ARE NOT THE ADMINISTRATOR.
UM, WE PROVIDE DATA TO A THIRD PARTY THAT IS THE ADMINISTRATOR.
AND WHY I'M HARPING ON THIS IS IF ERCOT JUST FACILITATES A THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR, THE BUCK WOULD REALLY STOP WITH THE THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR.
THEY'LL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR FINANCING THEMSELVES, GETTING INTO, UH, RELATIONSHIPS WITH, UH, THE REC OWNERS, DISPUTES AND WHATNOT WOULD BE HANDLED AT PROBABLY OUTSIDE OF THE ERCOT STAKEHOLDER PROCESS.
AND US JUST PROVIDING DATA TO A THIRD PARTY ADMINISTRATOR SHOULD BE ON THE LOW END OF THE SPECTRUM.
WE HAVE 200 K HERE, YOU KNOW, THAT COULD GO UP OR DOWN, THAT'S A ROUGH ESTIMATE.
BUT THAT WOULD JUST FOR THE, WELL, THERE COULD BE A, A, A CONTINUUM HERE IN OPTION ONE.
WE COULD BE REALLY, REALLY LIGHT AND MAYBE, MAYBE ER, I COULD MAYBE DO SOME MORE.
UM, BUT THAT 200 K ESTIMATE IS BUILT WITH THE ASSUMPTION THAT ERCOT WOULD HAVE TO BUILD SOME SORT OF OPT-IN SYSTEM FOR GENERATORS AND SOME SORT OF PROGRAMMATIC INTERFACE FOR WHOEVER THE ADMINISTRATOR WAS TO PROVIDE THE DATA TO THEM.
OPTION TWO, ERCOT SERVES AS THE E AS THE ADMINISTRATOR.
UM, WE COULD BUILD THE, WE COULD BUILD THE SYSTEM IN-HOUSE OR SELECT A VENDOR.
UM, WE PROBABLY WOULD, UH, WE, THE SYSTEM WOULD BE GUIDED MORE STRONGLY BY THE PROTOCOLS.
SO PROTOCOL CHANGES COULD OUR MODIFICATIONS OR WHATNOT LATER COULD IMPACT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE VENDOR AND OUR GOVERNANCE OF THE, OF THIS PROJECT, UM, OR MORE AIRCRAFT STAFF NEEDS TO BE INVOLVED, RIGHT? EVEN THOUGH, EVEN IF WE DO OUTSOURCE IT, WE STILL ARE ULTIMATELY ACCOUNTABLE FOR CERTIFYING, DOING RFIS FOR AUDITORS.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF A, IF A PROTOCOL IS WRITTEN THAT WANTS TO MAKE A CHANGE TO THE PROGRAM, KICKING OFF THAT R-F-P-R-F-I PROCESS TO CHOOSE A NEW VENDOR OR TO MAKE A CHANGE TO THE, TO THE CURRENT SYSTEM.
SO IN SOME DISCUSSIONS INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY WITH SOME FOLKS TO TRY TO GET A ROUGH ESTIMATE, UM, ON THAT COST.
'CAUSE LIKE ERIC SAID, THERE'S, THERE'S OPPORTUNITIES FOR, FOR GRANTS AND FOR EVEN PAYMENTS TO ERCOT.
IT SEEMS LIKE THE, THE, THE SYSTEM COST THOUGH, IF WE, IF WE JUST LOOKED AT THE COST AND ABSOLUTE VALUE TERMS COULD BE GREATER THAN 2 MILLION.
UM, PLUS AN ADDITIONAL, AND WE HAVE A RANGE THERE OF, OF 200,000 TO 1.25 MILLION ADDITIONAL COSTS FOR FTE IMPACTS FULL-TIME EMPLOYEE IMPACTS.
UM, AND THEN WE WOULD'VE TO DECIDE HOW TO FUND THIS, UM, IS IT THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATIVE FEE OR SOME SORT OF USER FEE? AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE TO, YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT HOW TO DEAL WITH THAT.
YOU KNOW, PEOPLE DIDN'T, DIDN'T PAY THEIR BILLS AND, AND OR DISPUTED THINGS, UM, WITH ER, ARCHIVET BEING THE, UH, THE ADMINISTRATOR THERE.
UM, YEAH, I HOPE THAT WASN'T TOO FAST, BUT I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S
[02:45:01]
ALL I WANTED TO SAY ABOUT THAT.SO ANY, ANY QUESTIONS OR CLARIFICATIONS.
ANY QUESTIONS? I, I HAVE A QUESTION.
DOES, DOES YOUR SECOND OPTION, AUSTIN, INCLUDE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR ERCOT SETTING UP A BILLING SYSTEM AND ALL OF THAT KIND OF STUFF? LOOK, WHAT THIS IS ULTIMATELY DOING IS TAKING MONEY FROM CONSUMERS AND GIVING IT TO GENERATORS.
THAT'S, THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT THESE PROGRAMS DO, AND YOU HAVE TO WAIT, DO ACCOUNTING FOR IT.
YOU HAVE TO WAIVE A BILL FOR IT.
HAVE, HAVE YOU INCLUDED ALL THOSE COSTS IN YOUR ANALYSIS? WE INCLUDED, WE, WE CONSIDERED THE COSTS OF FUNDING.
THE, THE SYSTEM BUILD ITSELF NOT ON THE TRADES OR ANY TYPE OF FINANCIAL, YOU KNOW, FOR ONE PERSON SELLING AN EAC TO ANOTHER, WE ASSUMED THAT WOULD NOT BE PART OF THE ERCOT SYSTEM LIKE IT IS IN TODAY.
WE DON'T DO THAT FOR REX TODAY.
SO WE, WE DID, WE DID CONSIDER THAT, BUT STILL, DEPENDING ON HOW COMPLEX THE FINAL SOLUTION COULD BE, IT, IT COULD MOVE THAT, THAT ESTIMATE UP OR DOWN SOME.
UM, BUT THAT IS ALSO SOMETHING TO CONSIDER IN THE FTE IMPACT, RIGHT? TO HAVE THE CHASE DOWN PEOPLE THAT DIDN'T PAY THEIR INVOICES AND THAT SORT OF THING.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FOR AUSTIN? THANK YOU, AUSTIN.
[13.2 Other Comments on Stakeholder Education – Understanding NPRR1264]
AGENDA ITEM IS 13.2.UH, OTHER COMMENTS ON STAKEHOLDER EDUCATION, UNDERSTANDING NPR 1264.
UH, THE BOARD MATERIALS INCLUDED COMMENTS, UH, SUBMITTED BY JOHN FLORE OF THE ALLIANCE RISK GROUP.
IT'S MY UNDERSTANDING THAT BRAN AND ERIC ARE AVAILABLE ON BEHALF OF MR. FLORE TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
IF ANY BOARD MEMBER HAS ANY QUESTIONS ON THE COMMENTS THAT WERE SU UH, SUBMITTED BY MR. FLORE, OKAY, I'M NOT SEEING ANY.
SO THAT WILL, UH, CONCLUDE THE DISCUSSION ON NPR UH, 1264.
I DO APPRECIATE THE WAY THIS CAME UP, THAT THE BOARD'S GETTING AN ADVANCED PREVIEW OF AN INITIATIVE COMING FROM TAC, UH, AND I SUSPECT THAT WE'LL HAVE MORE OF THESE IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO, UH, THANK YOU FOR EVERYONE THAT WAS INVOLVED IN THIS INITIATIVE.
UH, MOVING FORWARD, I WILL SAY, BEFORE WE GET INTO THE NEXT REST OF THE BOARD MEETING, WE'RE RUNNING ABOUT, UH, A HALF HOUR BEHIND.
SO TO THE EXTENT THAT THE FUTURE COMMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS CAN BE SNAPPY, IT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
SO, UH, NEXT WE HAVE BOARD COMMITTEE
[14.1 Finance and Audit (F&A) Committee]
REPORTS AND AGENDA ITEM 14, UH, BECAUSE OF THE RESIGNATION OF, UH, SIG AS A BOARD MEMBER, I STEPPED BACK IN THE ROLE AS FNA CHAIR YESTERDAY, AND I'M GONNA GIVE THAT REPORT NOW AND THEN WE'LL HAVE TWO VOTING ITEMS. UH, THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS, UH, VOTED TO RECOMMEND ACCEPTANCE OF ERCOT 2024 401K, SAVINGS, AUDIT PLAN REPORT, OR SAVINGS PLAN AUDIT REPORT.THERE WERE NO, UH, UH, COMMENTS FOUND FROM THE AUDITORS ON THAT REPORT.
UH, THE COMMITTEE ALSO REVIEWED THE FINAL DRAFT OF ERCOT.
UH, ERCOT PROPOSED 20 25, 20 26, EXCUSE ME, 20 26, 20 27, UH, BIANNUAL BUDGET.
UH, WE LOOKED AT CHANGES TO OPERATING ENVIRONMENT.
UH, WE HAD A ROBUST DISCUSSION ON THIS.
AND THE, THE, UH, BIANNUAL BUDGET INCLUDES APPROPRIATE FUNDS AND STAFF TO ADDRESS ERCOT STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES.
UH, IT INCLUDES COMPLIANCE WITH THE FINANCIAL CORPORATE STANDARD, AND ASSOCIATED FINANCIAL, UH, PERFORMANCE MEASURES AS APPROVED BY THE BOARD, INCLUDES FUNDING FOR THE IMM PUBLIC UTIL FOR THE PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY ACT, AND THE NORTH AMERICAN RELIABILITY CORPORATION COMPLIANCE FUNCTIONS.
THE TOTAL AUTHORIZED SPIN IS 485 MILLION FOR 2026 AND 585 MILLION FOR 2027.
THOSE ARE BOTH SHOW SUBSTANTIAL INCREASES IN THE BUDGET FROM WHERE WE ARE TODAY.
BUT IT, AS WE ALL RECOGNIZE, UH, BECAUSE OF THE MANDATES, UH, PROMULGATED BY, UH, THE LEGISLATURE OVER THE LAST TWO LEGISLATIVE SESSIONS, AS WELL AS THE INCREASING COMPLEXITY AND DYNAMIC NATURE OF THIS MARKET, AS WELL AS, UH, THE, UH, FOCUS ON RELIABILITY, THE COST OF RUNNING THE ORGANIZATION IS HIGHER THAN IT WAS BEFORE.
THAT SAID, IT DOES INCLUDE A DECREASE IN THE SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION FEE FROM 63 CENTS, UH, PER MEGAWATT HOUR TO 61 CENTS PER MEGAWATT HOUR.
THAT WOULD BE EFFECTIVE NEXT JANUARY.
UH, THAT, UM, THE WAY THE BUDGET WAS PUT TOGETHER AT THIS, USING THE ASSUMPTIONS THAT WERE IN THE BUDGET, THAT FEE COULD BE MAINTAINED FLAT FOR SIX YEARS, UP TO SIX YEARS.
UH, THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS ALSO RECEIVED REGULAR REPORTS ON OUR COTS, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND INVESTMENT, COMPLE, UH, INVESTMENT AND DEBT COMPLIANCE AT THE SEPTEMBER MEETING.
WE PLAN TO, UH, SIT DOWN WITH THE AUDITORS BEFORE THE, AS THEY PLAN THAT 2025
[02:50:01]
AUDIT REVIEW INSURANCE RENEWALS, REVIEW THE INTERNAL AUDIT PLAN DEVELOPMENT FOR 2026 AND UNDERTAKE OUR ANNUAL, UH, COMMITTEE SELF-EVALUATION.UH, NOW I'LL MOVE INTO THE, UH, UH, MOTIONS THAT CAME OUT OF THE COMMITTEE, UM, ON BEHALF OF
[Items 14.1.1 & 14.1.2]
THE, UH, FINANCE AND AUDIT COMMITTEE.I MOVE THAT THE, UM, ACCEPTANCE.
ONE IS, UH, THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE 2024 CO 401K SAVINGS PLAN, AUDIT REPORT, AND AGENDA ITEM 14.12, ACCEPTANCE ADOPTION APPROVAL OF THE 20 26, 20 27 BUDGET AND FEE.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY, THE, UH, 401K AUDITS APPROVED AND THE BUDGET FOR 20 26 20 27 IS APPROVED AS WELL AS SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION FEE.
[14.2 Human Resources and Governance (HR&G) Committee]
GONNA TURN IT OVER TO PEGGY HEGG, THE CHAIR OF THE HUMAN RESOURCES GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE IS GONNA PRESENT.UH, THE HRMG COMMITTEE REPORT, PEGGY.
THE HRG COMMITTEE HAD A VERY LIGHT AGENDA, SO THIS WILL BE SHORT.
WE HAD NO VOTING ITEMS OTHER THAN THE MEETING MINUTES.
UH, THE FIRST ITEM WE DISCUSSED WAS CHAD PRESENTED, UH, TO THE COMMITTEE AND UPDATE ON THE PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES, UH, THAT WE HAD PREVIOUSLY DISCUSSED.
CHAD HIGHLIGHTED THE CHANGES PROPOSED BY STAKEHOLDERS AND, UH, POINTED OUT THAT THERE'S A PUBLICLY AVAILABLE RED LINE OF THE PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES AVAILABLE.
UH, HE ALSO JUST GAVE US AN UPDATE ON THE LITIGATION CONCERNING THE ERCOT BYLAWS APPROVAL PROCESS.
THIS REMAINS PENDING BEFORE THE 15TH COURT OF APPEALS.
AS A RESULT, THE POTENTIAL CHANGES TO THE BYLAWS WILL AWAIT RESOLUTION OF THAT LITIGATION.
UH, THEN THE COMMITTEE ALSO DISCUSSED THE DRAFT COMMITTEE SURVEYS THAT, UH, HAVE BEEN PROVIDED TO THE COMMITTEE AND DISCUSS THE PROCESS GOING FORWARD.
THE VARIOUS COMMITTEES WILL BE, UH, STAFF WILL SEND OUT AN ELECTRONIC VERSION AND WE WILL, UH, GET THE COMMITTEE SELF-EVALUATION RESULTS, AND EACH COMMITTEE WILL ADDRESS THAT THEIR DECEMBER COMMITTEE MEETINGS.
[14.3 Technology and Security (T&S) Committee]
I'M GONNA INVITE JOHN SWENSON, CHAIR OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE TO PRESENT A JEDI 14.3, HIS COMMITTEE'S REPORT.UH, WE HAVE NO ITEMS TO, FOR CONSIDERATION AT THE FULL BOARD.
UM, WE HAD A FULL AGENDA, WHICH STARTED WITH THE PRESENTATION BY DR. WEBER, MICHAEL WEBER FROM UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ON GLOBAL ENERGY TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS.
UM, I THINK, UH, MANY OF YOU SAW THE PRESENTATION.
IT WAS, UH, VERY INTERESTING TO SUMMARIZE WHAT HE SAID IN, IN KIND OF A NUTSHELL, UM, WE'RE INTO A PERIOD OF MORE OF THE SAME IN TERMS OF THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE SEE.
UM, THERE'S NO, UM, SILVER BULLETS ON THE IMMEDIATE HORIZON.
I WOULD SAY THE EARLIEST WE CAN EXPECT SORT OF ADVANCES IN TECHNOLOGY REALLY ARE IN THE 20 KIND OF 30 TIMEFRAME FOR THINGS LIKE NUCLEAR AND EVEN FOR NEW GAS GENERATION, JUST GIVEN THE SUPPLY, STATE CHAIN CONSTRAINTS.
SO HE'S BASICALLY SAYING THAT, UH, WE ARE LIKELY TO JUST CONTINUE TO GET INCREMENTAL IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TECHNOLOGIES THAT WE HAVE TODAY AND FIGURE OUT HOW TO LIVE WITH THAT.
UM, WE THEN HAD AN UPDATE ON OUR OWN PROJECTS AND TECHNOLOGY BY JP AND HIS TEAM.
UM, PROJECTS ARE ON, ON TIME, ON SCHEDULE.
UM, THE, A LOT OF THE RESOURCE IN THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR OR THE TECHNOLOGY TEAM IS BEING FOCUSED ON RTC AS YOU WOULD IMAGINE.
UH, AS YOU HEARD FROM THE PRESENTATION LAST NIGHT AT THE FULL BOARD, UM, WE'RE, WE'RE IN NOW SORT OF TESTING, UH, ADVANCED STAGE OF TESTING WITH, WITH OUR MARKET PARTICIPANTS.
AND THAT WILL CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER COUPLE OF MONTHS.
AND THEN WE KIND OF GET INTO, YOU KNOW, A SORT OF PILOT STAGE AND THEN, AND THEN GO LIVE AT THE END OF THE YEAR.
UM, WE THEN HAD A, A FINAL PRESENTATION ON GRID TRANSFORMATION BY VENKAT.
UM, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE INNOVATION SUMMIT, WHICH HIT VENKAT AND HIS TEAM WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN PUTTING TOGETHER.
UH, AND I'M PLEASED TO SEE THAT A LOT OF THE PROJECTS THAT HAVE BEEN PUT IN PLACE, UH, HAVE SORT OF MOVED FROM THE WHITE PAPER STAGE TO THE PILOT IMPLEMENTATION STAGE.
AND SOME OF THEM ARE ACTUALLY MOVING, UH, BEYOND THAT INTO A FULL IMPLEMENTATION.
UH, AND THAT CONCLUDES MY REPORT.
[15. Other Business]
ITEM 15.ANY OTHER BUSINESS THAT ANY OTHER DIRECTOR WOULD LIKE TO RAISE? OKAY, I'M NOT HEARING ANY.
[Convene Executive Session]
SO AT THIS POINT IN TIME, WE'RE[02:55:01]
GONNA TRANSITION TO EXECUTIVE SESSION.UH, THE BOARD WILL ADJOURN GENERAL SESSION, CONVENE AN EXECUTIVE SESSION, UH, FOLLOWING EXECUTIVE SESSION.
THERE ARE TWO VOTING ITEMS. SO THE GENERAL SESSION WILL RECONVENE AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION.
THE GENERAL SESSION ERCOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS NOW RECESSED AND THE WEBCAST WILL BE SUSPENDED.
OKAY, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I RECOMMEND THAT,
[Reconvene General Session]
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON AGAIN.I'M BILL FLORES, BOARD CHAIR OF ERCOT.
I HEREBY RECONVENE THE MEETING OF THE ERCOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
I'VE CONFIRMED THAT A QUORUM IS PRESENT IN PERSON.
[16. Vote on Matters from Executive Session]
TWO VOTING ITEMS THAT CAME OUT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION.FIRST, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO AUTHORIZE AND APPROVE ERCOT TO ENGAGE BAKER TILLY TO PERFORM ERCOT 401K SAVINGS PLAN AUDIT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31ST, 2025.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY.
BAKER TILLY HAS BEEN APPROVED AS A 401K PLAN AUDITOR FOR 2025.
SECOND, I'LL ENTERTAIN A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONTINUING ENGAGEMENT OF ERCOT IN EFFORTS TO PREPARE, DOCUMENT, AND CONSUMMATE AN EARLY REDEMPTION OF THE CURRENT SERIES OF SUBCHAPTER M BONDS AND REFINANCING PURSUANT TO RULE 1 44 A OF A 2025 SERIES OF SUBCHAPTER M BONDS.
SUCH EFFORTS WILL INCLUDE THE ENGAGEMENT OF AN UNDERWRITER.
DO I HAVE A MOTION? THANK YOU, LINDA.
I HAVE A SECOND, SECOND, SECOND FOR PEGGY.
ANY OPPOSED? ANY ABSTENTIONS? OKAY, THAT IS APPROVED.
THIS MEETING OF THE CROT BOARD OF DIRECTORS IS NOW ADJOURNED AND THE WEBCAST WILL BE CONCLUDED.