[1. Call General Session to Order]
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GOOD MORNING, AND, UH, WELCOME TO THE TECHNOLOGY AND SECURITY COMMITTEE.UM, THIS IS JOHN SWENSON, COMMITTEE CHAIR.
UM, THIS IS THE SEPTEMBER 22ND MEETING OF THE TECHNOLOGY SECURITY COMMITTEE, WHICH I'M CALLING TO ORDER.
THIS MEETING IS BEING WEBCAST LIVE TO THE PUBLIC ON ERCOT WEBSITE.
I'VE CONFIRMED THAT THERE IS A QUORUM PRESENT IN PERSON.
UH, BEFORE WE BEGIN, I'D LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE ERCOT BOARD SELECTION COMMITTEE HAS SELECTED THREE NEW DIRECTORS, BILL MOLL, CHRIS RUMMEL, AND KATHLEEN MCALLISTER TO SERVE THEIR FIRST THREE YEAR TERM ON THE ERCOT BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
DETAILS OF THEIR APPOINTMENT AND DATES AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF ARE CONTAINED IN THE BOARD SELECTION LETTER AND THE ERCOT PRESS RELEASES WITH THE THREE NEW DIRECTORS JOINING THE BOARD.
AFTER OUR LAST SET OF MEETINGS, THE BOARD CHAIR BILL FLORES, HAS MADE SOME CHANGES TO COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP, AND I'M DELIGHTED TO MEMBER TO WELCOME BILL MOLE AS A NEW MEMBER WHO WILL SIT, WHO'S RIGHT OVER THERE, UM, WHO WILL SIT ON THE TECHNOLOGY SECURITY COMMITTEE ALONG WITH EXISTING MEMBERS, JULIE ENGLAND AND LINDA.
UM, AND I WELCOME AND LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH ALL OF YOU.
NEXT, LET ME ASK TOM GLEASON, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CALL AN OPEN MEETING OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS TO ORDER.
THIS MEETING, THE PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS WILL COME TO ORDER TO CONSIDER MATTERS THAT HAVE BEEN DULY POSTED WITH THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2025.
UM, LET ME REMIND YOU OF THE ANTITRUST ADMONITION THAT IS SHOWN IN FRONT OF YOU, AS WELL AS A WAY TO GET OUT OF HERE IF SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAPPENS.
UM, THERE IS, UM, AS THERE IS IN ALL MEETINGS, A NOTICE OF PUBLIC COMMENT, UM, AVAILABLE BEFORE THE MEETING.
UM, I'M NOT AWARE OF ANY, BUT BRETT, DO YOU HAVE ANY? THERE ARE NO PUBLIC COMMENTS.
SO, HEARING NONE, WE WILL PROCEED WITH THE AGENDA.
[3. June 23, 2025, General Session Meeting Minutes]
THE FIRST AGENDA ITEM, ACTUALLY THE THIRD AGENDA ITEM, UM, AFTER THE INTRODUCTORY COMMENTS IS, UH, THE MEETING AGENDA FROM, UM, SORRY, THE MINUTES FROM THE PRIOR MEETING, UM, JUNE 23RD, 2025.THERE'S A DRAFT IN THE MEETING MATERIALS.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY COMMENTS OR WISH TO MAKE A MOTION? CHAIRMAN, I'LL MAKE A MOTION.
JULIE, CAN I HAVE A SECONDER PLEASE? THANK YOU, LINDA.
UM, ALL IN FAVOR? ANY OPPOSED, ANY ABSTENTIONS? HEARING NONE.
[4. Guest Presentation: Geothermal Energy and Its Potential in Texas]
AM DELIGHTED.THEN TO INTRODUCE ITEM FOUR, WHICH IS OUR MAIN EXTERNAL SPEAKER FOR TODAY.
UM, THE TOPIC IS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND ITS POTENTIAL IN TEXAS, AND WE HAVE FOUR SPEAKERS WHO WILL BE PARTICIPATING IN THIS.
UH, BARRY SMITHERMAN, WHO'S THE CHAIRMAN, PRESIDENT, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE TEXAS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY ALLIANCE.
HE TEACHES ENERGY LAW AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS LAW SCHOOL AND HAS SERVED ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR BOTH CENTER POINT ENERGY AND ENERGY.
RG HE'S A FORMER CHAIR OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION AND THE TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION, AND HE HOLDS DEGREES FROM TEXAS A AND M, UT AND HARVARD.
CINDY TAF IS, HAS HAD OVER 35 YEARS IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY, MOST RECENTLY AS VP OF SHELL'S GLOBAL UNCONVENTIONAL WELLS OPERATION.
CINDY IS THE CEO OF SAGE GEOSYSTEMS, WHICH IS A GROWING COMPANY BASED IN HOUSTON, PROVIDING SOLUTIONS FOR BOTH ENERGY STORAGE AND GEOTHERMAL PROTECTION.
KENNETH IAN, UH, MAJOR GENERAL US AIR FORCE RETIRED WILL BE JOINING US VIA WEBEX.
HE'S A FORMER, THE ASSOCIATE GE STATE GEOLOGIST OF TEXAS, AND A LECTURER RESEARCHER AT THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS.
IAN IS A GEOPHYSICIST WITH DECADES OF WORK IN GEOTHERMAL ENERGY AND ENERGY RESILIENCY IN US AND ABROAD.
AND FINALLY, DREW NELSON IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF PROGRAM'S POLICY AND STRATEGY AT PROJECT INTERSPACE HAS OVER 20 YEARS EXPERIENCE WORKING IN CLIMATE AND ENERGY ISSUES.
MOST RECENTLY, HE RAN THE CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY PROGRAM AT THE CATANA FOUNDATION, HOLDS JOINT MASTER'S DEGREE IN POLICY IN LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, WITH A CONCENTRATION IN ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY.
WE'D LIKE TO THANK OUR SPEAKERS FOR JOINING US TODAY.
AND NOTE THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WILL HAVE A QUESTION TO A, HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO ASK FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS IN THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, WHICH WILL IMMEDIATELY FOLLOW THIS MEETING.
I'M THE CHAIRMAN, CO-FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE TEXAS GEOTHERMAL
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ENERGY ALLIANCE.IT'S BEEN OVER 14 YEARS SINCE I WAS ON AN ERCOT BOARD MEETING, AND IT'S NICE TO SEE THAT THERE ARE STILL SOME FAMILIAR FACES SITTING AROUND THIS TABLE.
WE'VE ASSEMBLED FOR YOU A REALLY GOOD TEAM TO TALK ABOUT GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN TEXAS IN PARTICULAR.
WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT IT IN THE CONTEXT OF POWER GENERATION.
NOW, TEXAS, AS MOST OF YOU KNOW, IS ENDOWED WITH NATURAL RESOURCES.
WE'RE THE NUMBER ONE OIL PRODUCER.
WE'RE THE NUMBER ONE NATURAL GAS PRODUCER.
WE'RE NOW THE NUMBER ONE WIND ENERGY PRODUCER, THE NUMBER ONE SOLAR PRODUCER.
MY GUESS IS IT WILL SOON BE NUMBER ONE IN BATTERY STORAGE.
WE ALSO HAVE GREAT GEOTHERMAL HEAT RESOURCES BELOW THE EARTH.
NOW, IF YOU, YOU DRILL DEEP ENOUGH ANYWHERE ON PLANET EARTH, YOU'RE GONNA HIT HOT ROCK.
BUT WHAT WE SHOW IN THIS MAP IS THERE ARE CERTAIN AREAS OF TEXAS WHERE THE HEAT, THE HOT ROCK, IS CLOSER TO THE SURFACE.
IN THIS PARTICULAR MAP, YOU CAN SEE A LOT OF THIS IS ALONG THE EAGLEFORD SHALE.
SO THAT IS AN AREA RUNNING FROM THE BORDER, BASICALLY BETWEEN CORPUS AND SAN ANTONIO UP AROUND THE WEST SIDE OF HOUSTON AND OVER TO THE EAST SIDE OF DALLAS.
THAT JUST HAPPENS TO BE WHERE MOST OF THE LOAD IS IN OUR STATE AS WELL.
UH, SO THE GOOD NEWS THERE IS THAT WE HAVE A RESOURCE THAT IS RELATIVELY CLOSE TO LOAD.
THERE ARE A LOT OF IMPLICATIONS FOR THIS, INCLUDING A REDUCTION IN THE NEED FOR NEW TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE, AT LEAST IN THESE PARTICULAR AREAS.
WHY HAS GEOTHERMAL COME TO THE FOREFRONT NOW? WELL, A LOT OF IT HAS TO DO WITH ADVANCES IN OIL AND GAS DRILLING TECHNIQUES.
THE SHALE REVOLUTION BROUGHT TO US BY A NUMBER OF PEOPLE, BUT PRIMARILY THE LATE GEORGE MITCHELL COUPLED HORIZONTAL DRILLING WITH HYDRAULIC FRACTURING TO ACCESS RESOURCES THAT WE KNEW WERE THERE, BUT WE JUST DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO GET 'EM TO THE SURFACE.
WE CAN NOW USE THESE ADVANCED DRILLING TECHNIQUES TO GET DOWN TO HOT ROCK.
AND THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE BEING EXPERIMENTED WITH AT THIS POINT.
WE DON'T KNOW WHICH OF THESE WILL BE THE MOST PREDOMINANT, WHICH WILL BE THE MOST EFFICIENT, UH, BUT WE EXPECT THAT THAT SHAKEOUT WILL HAPPEN IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE.
YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE BEAUTIES OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IS IT'S NOT DEPENDENT UPON THE WEATHER ON THE SURFACE OF THE EARTH.
SO WE ARE GONNA USE STEAM PRODUCED BY HOT ROCK INTERCHANGED WITH SOME SORT OF TRANSFER MEDIUM TO PRODUCE ENERGY AT THE SURFACE.
IT COULD BE RAINING, IT COULD BE SUNSHINE, IT COULD BE SUPER COLD, SUPER HOT.
IT'S NOT GONNA MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
WE'RE NOT DEPENDENT UPON WEATHER.
SO IT IS A RELIABLE 24 7 LOW CARBON RESOURCE FOR POWERING OUR ECONOMY.
ONE LAST THING BEFORE I HAND IT OVER TO CINDY.
IF YOU GO TO THE TICK TEXT GEO WEBSITE, WHICH IS TX GE.ORG, YOU'LL SEE A COPY OF THIS STUDY.
IT'S CALLED THE FUTURE GEOTHERMAL ENERGY IN TEXAS.
THIS WAS LED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS, ALONG WITH A AND M TECH, U OF H AND A NUMBER OF OUR INSTITUTIONS.
AND IT HAS GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT WHERE WE ARE IN TEXAS WITH REGARD TO THE OPPORTUNITY FOR GEOTHERMAL ENERGY.
THE FULL REPORT IS ABOUT 500 PAGES.
LUCKILY FOR YOU, THERE'S AN 11 PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY WITH A LOT OF GREAT PICTURES.
SO I ENCOURAGE YOU TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT.
AND NOW I'M GONNA HAND IT OVER TO CINDY TAF.
I'M THE CEO OF SAGE GEOSYSTEMS, WHICH IS A STARTUP COMPANY IN HOUSTON.
SO GEOTHERMAL POWER IS ABOUT 17 GIGAWATTS OF POWER AROUND THE WORLD, AND IT MOSTLY COMES FROM CONVENTIONAL GEOTHERMAL.
SO IF YOU THINK ABOUT ICELAND, THE GEYSERS IN CALIFORNIA, YOU HAVE TO HAVE A WATER SOURCE, A HEAT SOURCE, AND A PERMEABILITY SOURCE.
AND IT'S A VERY UNICORN GEOLOGY THAT ONLY HAPPENS NEAR THE RING OF FIRE OR VOLCANOES.
SO WHAT SAGE IS DOING AS WELL AS O OTHER COMPANIES, IS PURSUING WHAT'S CALLED NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMAL.
SO FOR NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMAL, YOU'RE LOOKING FOR HEAT.
YOU DON'T NEED THE WATER, YOU DON'T NEED THE PERMEABILITY BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE DOING IS CREATING ARTIFICIAL RESERVOIRS DEEP IN THE EARTH, WHICH THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY KNOWS HOW TO DO.
[00:10:01]
THE SURFACE INTO THAT RESERVOIR TO HARVEST THE HEAT AND THEN BRING THAT HEAT TO SURFACE.NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMAL ACTUALLY EXTENDS THE US ADDRESSABLE GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE FROM GIGAWATTS TO TERAWATTS.
SO THE RESOURCE POTENTIAL IS HUGE.
AND AGAIN, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A, UH, VOL VOLCANO OR A RING OF FIRE.
THERE'S DIFFERENT TYPES OF TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE BEING USED TO CREATE THAT ARTIFICIAL RESERVOIR THAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT IN THE SUBSURFACE.
THESE ARE A FEW OF THEM, NOT ALL OF THEM BY ANY MEANS.
UM, THE ONE ON THE RIGHT'S CALLED CLOSED LOOP, YOU'RE PUTTING PIPE IN THE HOT ROCK THROUGH WHICH YOU CIRCULATE WATER TO HARVEST THE HEAT, AND THEN THE TWO ON THE LEFT BOTH USE FRACKING TO CREATE THAT RESERVOIR OR THAT, UH, SURFACE CONTACT AREA.
THE REASON WHY, UM, FRACKING IS VERY ATTRACTIVE IS BECAUSE IN A MATTER OF ONE TO THREE DAYS, YOU CAN CREATE A HUGE SURFACE CONTACT AREA IN ORDER TO HARVEST THE HEAT FROM THE EARTH.
AND SO, UM, CLOSED LOOP IS, IS DEFINITELY APPLICABLE, UM, ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT ARE A LITTLE BIT MORE ALLERGIC TO FRACKING.
ONE THING TO PUT ON YOUR RADAR IS THE DEEPER YOU GO, THE HOTTER THE ROCK GETS, THE MORE NET POWER OUTPUT YOU CAN GET.
SO YOU MAY HAVE HEARD ABOUT PEOPLE TALKING, UH, SUPER HOT GEOTHERMAL, SUPER HOT GEOTHERMAL IS TARGETING FORMATION TEMPERATURES 300 DEGREES C AND HOTTER.
AND JUST FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE'RE ABLE TO BUILD SOMETHING RATHER THAN, YOU KNOW, CURRENT TRADITIONAL NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMALS IS BUILDING AT 150 TO 200 DEGREES C, YOU GET THREE TO EIGHT MEGAWATT NET OUTPUT.
IF YOU CAN GET THAT FORMATION TEMPERATURE TO 300 TO 350 DEGREES C, IT'S GONNA BE 10 TIMES THAT.
SO 35 MEGAWATTS PER TWO WELL PAIR.
SO HUGE POTENTIAL, HUGE WAY TO GET TO VERY LARGE SCALE, RELIABLE 24 7, UH, BASE LOAD POWER.
AND JUST TO MENTION, WE DO AT SAGE, HAVE A TECHNIQUE TO DO THAT WHICH WE CALL DRILL SHALLOW AND FRACK DEEP.
UM, IT ALLOWS US TO USE EXISTING OIL AND GAS EQUIPMENT RIGHT NOW TO, UH, ADVANCE THIS TECHNOLOGY BY 2030.
UM, I KNOW WE'RE IN TEXAS, SO I JUST WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT SAGE IS DOING IN TEXAS.
TEXAS IS A VERY FRIENDLY PLACE TO DO BUSINESS.
UM, THE RAILROAD COMMISSION IS GREAT ABOUT, UH, PERMITTING.
THEY KNOW THE SUBSURFACE, THEY KNOW OIL AND GAS PERMITTING, AND THEY WERE VERY HELPFUL IN OUR FIRST PERMIT FOR OUR ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY.
UM, SO WE'VE GOT SEVERAL PROJECTS WITH THE DOD IN TEXAS, WHICH I'LL SHOW YOU MORE IN ANOTHER SLIDE.
WE ARE WORKING WITH THE SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN SAN ANTONIO, WHICH IS ALMOST LIKE A NATIONAL LAB IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE.
BUT WE'VE BUILT WITH THEM A SUPER CRITICAL CO2 TURBINE WITH THE INTENT TO REPLACE ORGANIC RANK AND CYCLE TURBINES, WHICH HAVE BEEN USED IN THE GEOTHERMAL INDUSTRY FOR MANY, MANY YEARS.
CO2 TECHNOLOGIES ARE ENABLED BY 3D PRINTING BECAUSE OUR TURBINE WHEEL IS ONLY ABOUT SEVEN INCHES IN DIAMETER.
BUT THE ADVANTAGE OF THIS TECHNOLOGY IS IT WILL PRODUCE MORE ELECTRICITY PER UNIT HEAT THAT YOU PUT THROUGH IT THAN A-O-O-R-C UH, TURBINE.
AND THEN LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE HAVE BUILT OUR FIRST ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY AT THE SAN MIGUEL ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE IN IN TAS, COSA COUNTY.
THESE ARE SOME FIXTURES FROM, FROM THE, UH, BUILD.
SO THIS IS WHEN THE RIG WAS ON LOCATION.
YOU'RE LOOKING AT OUR PELTON TURBINE, WHICH IS ON THE LEFT.
YOU CAN SEE THE CIRCULAR WHEEL AT THE TOP.
SO WE WERE ABLE TO BUILD THIS SINGLE, WELL, THREE MEGAWATT LONG DURATION ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY IN 12 MONTHS FROM FUNDING TO READY TO STORE.
WE ARE NOW JUST WAITING ON THE UTILITY GRID INTERCONNECTION.
AND SO, UM, STORAGE IS GONNA BE IMPORTANT, AS YOU GUYS KNOW, ESPECIALLY LONGER DURATION STORAGE AS WIND AND SOLAR PENETRATE THE MARKET EVEN MORE.
AND WE WE'RE GETTING A LOT MORE INTEREST RECENTLY WITH THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, UH, HAVING, UH, SHORTENED THE TAX CREDITS FOR WIND AND SOLAR.
SO WE ARE WRAPPING UP A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR FORT BLISS AND A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR NAVAL AIR STATION CORPUS CHRISTI.
AND THEN WE'RE WORKING WITH THE AIR FORCE TO DO A GEOTHERMAL DEMONSTRATION
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AT OUR STAR COUNTY.WELL, ONCE WE HAVE PRODUCED ELECTRICITY FROM HEAT, THEY'LL BE WRITING A POWER PURCHASE AGREEMENT FOR US TO ACTUALLY BUILD A FIRST COMMERCIAL GEOTHERMAL FACILITY AT ONE OF THEIR, UH, MILITARY BASES.
AND THEN I'LL FINAL, I'LL, I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH THIS.
UM, GEOTHERMAL HAS ALWAYS ENJOYED SUPPORT FROM BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE.
UM, I THINK WITH THE ONE BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL, UH, THE IRA TAX CREDITS WERE ACTUALLY EXTENDED THROUGH 2023.
WHILE I MENTIONED EARLIER, WIND AND SOLAR TAX CREDITS ARE GONNA BE ENDING IN 2026.
AND SO THE BILL ACTUALLY PROVIDED MOMENTUM AND CONTINUED TO PROVIDE MOMENTUM FOR, UM, FOR GEOTHERMAL.
UM, THE OTHER THING THAT THIS CURRENT ADMIN ADMINISTRATION'S WORKING ON, AS WELL AS THE LAST ADMINISTRATION IS TRYING TO REDUCE THE TIMELINE FOR PERMITS ON FEDERAL LAND, WHICH ARE CURRENTLY FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.
WE CAN GET A PERMIT IN TEXAS IN LESS THAN THREE MONTHS, BUT IF YOU GO TO FEDERAL LAND, IT'S FIVE TO SEVEN YEARS.
SO THAT NEEDS TO BE CHANGED AND IT'S BEING WORKED ON.
SO I'M GONNA BE FLIPPING THE SLIDES FOR KEN.
IT'S, UH, A PLEASURE TO TALK WITH YOU TODAY.
I'M SORRY I CAN'T BE THERE IN PERSON.
UH, I WAS IN ERCOT, UH, ABOUT A DECADE AGO WHEN I WAS STILL IN UNIFORM AND CAME AWAY EXTREMELY IMPRESSED WITH THE CRISIS PLANNING AND OPERATIONS FUNCTIONS AT ERCOT.
I THINK, FRANKLY, Y'ALL SHOULD BE, YOUR STAFF SHOULD BE TEACHING, UH, THAT SUBJECT AT UT GIVEN THE CHANCE.
SO, UH, I'M PART OF THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY.
WE ARE YOUR STATE GEOLOGIC SURVEY AS, AS WELL AS BEING A RESEARCH ORGANIZATION.
AND WE HAVE THE LARGEST AND MOST ACTIVE GEOTHERMAL RESEARCH GROUP, REALLY IN THE CENTRAL US.
AND LET ME GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
YOU'VE SEEN VARIATIONS ON THIS MAP ALREADY.
UH, DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE SCALE, JUST THE RELATIVE, UH, REDNESS SHOWING WHAT ZONES ARE GOOD, WHAT ZONES ARE NOT.
THERE'S A LOT HAPPENING IN TEXAS.
TEXAS IS REALLY DOMINATING THIS GEOTHERMAL REVOLUTION RIGHT NOW.
AND WE HAVE GREAT POTENTIAL, LIKE WE'VE DONE MANY TIMES IN THE PAST TO LEAD AN ENERGY REVOLUTION FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY AND WORLD GOING FORWARD.
THERE ARE MILITARY PROJECTS GOING ON IN TEXAS.
UH, THE DOD HAS JUMPED IN WITH BOTH FEET AND IS EXTREMELY ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL.
THE AIR FORCE RATES GEOTHERMAL AS THEIR NUMBER ONE FUTURE ENERGY SOURCE, EVEN ABOVE SMALL MODULAR REACTORS.
AND THEN THERE'S ALSO CIVIL PROJECTS GOING ON AROUND THE STATE.
SOME ARE STILL IN STEALTH MODE.
I SUSPECT THERE'S ONES I DON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT, BUT, UH, THERE'S A LOT HAPPENING IN TEXAS RIGHT NOW.
WE SPECIFICALLY DID A STUDY FOR PRESIDIO COUNTY IN WEST TEXAS ON GEOTHERMAL DEVELOPMENT.
AND I DON'T NEED TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE GRID STRUCTURE THAT'S OUT THERE RIGHT NOW.
THEY'RE, UH, LITERALLY AT THE END OF THE LINE.
BUT THE COUNTY IS INTERESTED IN DEVELOPING GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, UH, RESOURCES TO SPUR ECONOMIC GROWTH.
AND SO WE PARTNERED WITH THEM AND WITH, SPECIFICALLY WITH THE PRESIDIO MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT TO DO AN ASSESSMENT AND SOME MODELING OF GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL IN THE COUNTY.
IT WAS ESSENTIALLY TO BRING DEVELOPERS AND THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNITY TOGETHER, UH, GIVING BOTH SIDES A BASE OF KNOWLEDGE THAT WOULD SPUR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT.
SO, SKIPPING OVER ALL THE, THE GEOLOGIC AND GEOPHYSICS RESEARCH WE DID, HERE'S ESSENTIALLY THE SUMMARY OF WHAT WE FOUND.
YOU CAN DIVIDE THIS COUNTY UP INTO THREE REGIONS.
YOU HAVE THE INTERIOR ZONE, WHICH IS WARM TO HOT.
YOU HAVE THE BORDER ZONE, WHICH IS QUITE HOT.
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE BIG BEND AREA, WHICH IS THE GREAT UNKNOWN DUE TO LACK OF REALLY ANY DRILLING IN THAT REGION.
IT'S DOMINATED BY BIG BEND STATE PARK, JUST WEST OF BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK.
BUT IN GENERAL, WHERE THERE HASN'T BEEN MUCH OIL AND GAS OR OTHER EXPLORATION DRILLING, ALL WE HAVE IS, IS SURFACE MAPPING INFORMATION.
BUT THE NET RESULT IS THAT THERE IS GOOD RESOURCE IN THE INTERIOR PART OF THE COUNTY.
IT'S ESSENTIALLY AS GOOD AS THE COASTAL AREA OF TEXAS, BUT IT'S KIND OF
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OVERSHADOWED BY THE BORDER ZONE, WHICH IS, UH, VERY, VERY GOOD.IT'S AS GOOD AS IT GETS IN TEXAS AND IS AS GOOD AS THE WESTERN US AS FAR AS THE SHALLOW HEAT GOES.
AND THE WESTERN US IS WHERE THE CURRENT, UH, UH, GEOTHERMAL PRODUCTION IS IN THE US.
SO THIS IS AS GOOD AS WHAT YOU FIND IN NEVADA IN UTAH, UH, UTAH, CALIFORNIA AND SUCH.
SO A VERY ATTRACTIVE RESOURCE ON THE MOUNTAINS.
UH, VERY ATTRACTIVE REGION FOR DEVELOPMENT.
WE TOOK ALL THAT DATA AND THEN DID SOME PRELIMINARY TECHNO ECONOMIC MODELING OF DIFFERENT OPTIONS OF DEVELOPING RESOURCES IN THE BORDER ZONE, IN THE INTERIOR ZONE, USING BOTH EGS AND AG GS OR THE, UH, CLOSED LOOP TYPE DEVELOPMENT.
AND YOU COME UP WITH A VARIETY OF SCENARIOS HERE WITH, UH, A COMPLETE FINANCIAL LAY DOWN BEARING IN MIND, THIS IS ESSENTIALLY A RECONNAISSANCE LEVEL EFFORT.
BUT YOU SEE THERE'S VARIATIONS IN WHAT YOU CAN DO, BUT YOU CAN DEVELOP WHAT SHOULD BE PROFITABLE GEOTHERMAL ACROSS MUCH OF THE COUNTY.
UH, IT VARIES WHETHER YOU'RE USING EGS OR A GS AND A GS IN THESE MODELS IS A LITTLE BIT PESSIMISTIC RIGHT NOW.
WE NEED TO UPDATE THE DRILLING DATA, AS CINDY HAS MENTIONED.
WHAT'S ENABLING ALL THIS GEOTHERMAL DEVELOPMENT REALLY IS FUNDAMENTALLY THE ADVANCES IN OIL AND GAS DRILLING, WHICH MAKE IT CHEAPER AND FASTER.
AND THAT'S PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE IN A GS.
SO AS THIS TECHNOLOGY CONTINUES TO ADVANCE, THE A GS COSTS WILL COME DOWN.
BUT YOU CAN SEE THAT THERE'S DEFINITE POTENTIAL THERE.
UH, THERE'S MORE DATA TO BE COLLECTED 'CAUSE IT'S STILL A LITTLE BIT SPARSE IN THE AREA, BUT IT LOOKS GOOD.
THE NET RESULT OF THIS, UH, IS THAT WE CAN SHOW THAT THIS AREA AND THIS KIND OF A MODEL STUDY, THIS AREA, BUT PROBABLY MANY OTHER AREAS OF TEXAS ARE REALLY RIPE FOR DEVELOPMENT.
THEY JUST, LIKE WE DEVELOPED WINDS, UH, WIND AND SOLAR, THE GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL IS REALLY GOOD.
AND THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO ATTRACT DEVELOPMENT.
AND I'M VERY HAPPY TO SAY THAT WITHIN A YEAR OF US PUBLISHING THIS STUDY, WHICH WAS ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, UH, A DEVELOPER HAS COME INTO THE COUNTY AND SIGNED INITIAL CONTRACTS TO DEVELOP GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE THERE.
IT'S EXCEED GEOTHERMAL, UH, GEO ENERGY BASED HERE IN AUSTIN, A STARTUP THAT ALSO HAS A CONTRACT WITH AUSTIN ENERGY.
AND THEY'RE GONNA BE DOING CLOSED LOOP.
I EXPECT THEM TO BREAK GROUND ON THIS PROJECT LATE THIS CALENDAR YEAR OR EARLY NEXT YEAR.
BUT THE POINT BEING ACROSS THE STATE, WHETHER IT'S THE MILITARY WHO REALLY LIKES THE IDEA OF UNBREAKABLE POWER OR RURAL COMMUNITIES, OR EVEN THE MAJOR CITIES THAT WANNA DEVELOP THE RESOURCES UNDERNEATH THEM, UH, THE POTENTIAL IS GREAT IN TEXAS.
AND BY THE WAY, I'LL MENTION IN CLOSING, WE ARE UPDATING, DOING MUCH MORE DETAILED UPDATES OF THESE MAPS THAT YOU'VE BEEN SEEING.
SO THAT'S A WORK IN PROGRESS, BUT WE ARE, UH, ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THAT.
AND WE HAVE AN INBOUND CONTRACT WITH DOD TO, UH, ASSESS AND PRIORITIZE THEIR TOP 50 BASES ACROSS THE STATE, ACROSS THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND I THINK THAT IS IT FOR ME.
I'LL BE STANDING BY FOR QUESTIONS LATER.
UP NEXT IS DREW NELSON WITH PROJECT INTERSPACE.
I'M THE VICE PRESIDENT OF POLICY PROGRAMS AND STRATEGY AT PROJECT INTERSPACE, UH, WHICH IS A 5 0 1 C3 NON-PRO NONPROFIT FOCUSED EXCLUSIVELY ON CATALYZING NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMAL ENERGY, PRECISELY TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THESE OPPORTUNITIES THAT THE PREVIOUS AMAZING SPEAKERS HAVE TALKED ABOUT.
AND I HAVE THE UNVIABLE TASK OF FOLLOWING THEM.
UH, WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL GROUP.
I JUST HAPPEN TO BE BASED HERE IN, IN AUSTIN.
UM, AND WE HAVE DONE A, A TON OF WORK, WHETHER IT'S HERE IN THE STATE, IN THE US OR GLOBALLY.
UH, THE STUDY THAT BARRY MENTIONED, A, A STUDY THAT WE SPEARHEADED.
WE'VE DONE SIMILAR STUDY STUDIES IN THREE OTHER STATES WITH FOUR OTHERS UNDERWAY, UH, AND HAVE SIMILAR STUDIES ONGOING IN INDIA, INDONESIA, UK PLUS A COUPLE OTHERS THAT ARE SOON GOING TO FOLLOW.
UM, AND WE'VE ALSO WORKED VERY CLOSELY WITH A NUMBER OF INTERNATIONAL GROUPS, INCLUDING THE INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, WHICH PUT OUT A STUDY LATE LAST YEAR LOOKING AT GLOBAL GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL.
UM, AND WE DID ALL THE SUBSURFACE MODELING FOR THEM BASED ON OUR GEO MAP TOOL, WHICH I'LL TALK ABOUT IN A LITTLE BIT MORE.
UM, AND IT KIND OF REALLY SHOWS THE POTENTIAL OF THIS NOW TRULY GLOBAL SOURCE OF GEOTHERMAL.
THESE ARE THE PLACES, THE HOTSPOTS NOW WHERE GEOTHERMAL
[00:25:01]
EXISTS.UH, BUT AS YOU ARE ABLE TO GO DEEPER WITH MORE, UH, ADVANCEMENTS IN OIL AND GAS DRILLING THAT WE'VE GOT, YOU REALLY OPEN UP WHOLE SEGMENTS OF THE WORLD AND WHOLE, UH, ENERGY POTENTIAL THAT WE JUST DON'T, HAVEN'T SEEN.
AND THE IEA BASED ON THE MODELING THAT WE GAVE THEM, FOUND THAT THERE'S, UH, ENOUGH GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL GLOBALLY, UH, TO 140 TIMES MEET THE CURRENT GLOBAL ENERGY DEMAND.
SO IT'S A HUGE OPPORTUNITY, UM, AND ONE THAT IS, IS RIPE FOR PICKING AND ONE THAT TEXAS YET AGAIN, CAN LEAD ON, UH, JUST AS IT'S DONE WITH SOLAR, JUST AS IT'S DONE WITH BATTERY STORAGE, JUST AS IT'S DONE WITH OIL, JUST AS IT'S DONE WITH GAS.
UM, AND, UH, IT'S REALLY, REALLY EXCITING TIMES.
UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF STUFF THAT WE'VE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT, BUT, UH, I JUST WANNA HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE OTHER THINGS.
ONE, GEOTHERMAL LITERALLY CHECKS ALL OF THE BOXES, UH, THAT YOU WOULD WANT FROM AN ENERGY SOURCE.
IT'S CLEAN, IT'S FIRM, IT'S GOT A SMALL SURFACE FOOTPRINT.
IT LEVERAGES EXISTING, UH, OIL AND GAS EXPERTISE AND JOBS, WHICH IS IMPORTANT HERE FOR THE STATE OF TEXAS.
UH, LOW TRANSMISSION BUILD OUT, WHICH I ASSUME IS PROBABLY A PRIORITY HERE FOR THE FOLKS IN THE ROOM.
UM, AND YOU DON'T HAVE AN ONGOING, UM, UH, OPEX 'CAUSE OF A FUEL SOURCE.
UM, IT'S ALSO GOT A REALLY, REALLY SMALL SURFACE FOOTPRINT.
IT'S THE SMALLEST SURFACE FOOTPRINT OF ANY ENERGY SOURCE, UH, AND A MUCH MORE ENERGY DENSE SURFACE FOOTPRINT, UH, WHICH IS IMPORTANT IN THE CONTEXT OF HOW WE'RE GONNA PACK A WHOLE BUNCH OF NEW ELECTRONS INTO THE STATE, UH, AS WE'RE HAVING SURGING ENERGY DEMAND.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU'VE SEEN VARIOUS VERSIONS OF THIS, UH, THROUGHOUT THE PRESENTATION, BUT JUST TO DOUBLE DOWN ON SOMETHING THAT COMMISSIONER SMITHERMAN SAID EARLIER, UH, IS THAT WE ARE BLESSED WITH ABUNDANT RESOURCE HERE IN THE STATE.
UH, AND WE ARE DOUBLY BLESSED THAT THAT RESOURCE LIES VERY CLOSE TO MAJOR URBAN LOADS, UH, WHICH IS AN IMPORTANT ISSUE, UH, FOR PLANNERS AND FOLKS LIKE YOU WHO ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE ALL THESE ELECTRONS ARE GONNA COME FROM.
UM, WE, UH, FUNDED AND WORKED WITH A, A CONSULTING GROUP CALLED THE RHODIUM GROUP TO ASSESS WHERE IS GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL VIS-A-VIS THE SURGING DEMAND FOR ENERGY FOR DATA CENTERS.
UH, AND SO THEY TOOK A LOOK AT THAT GEOMAP TOOL THAT I MENTIONED EARLIER.
THAT'S THE SAME TOOL THAT, UH, WENT INTO THE I A'S MODELING.
UH, AND IT'S A FREE OPEN ACCESS TOOL.
UH, IT'S BASED ON, UH, DATA FROM HUNDREDS OF DIFFERENT SOURCES.
85 DIFFERENT SCIENTISTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE ARE FEEDING THEIR INFORMATION INTO IT.
UM, AND I WOULD ARGUE IT'S PROBABLY THE BEST AVAILABLE SOURCE OF INFORMATION OF WHAT IS GOING ON ON THE SUBSURFACE.
NO ONE'S GOT A PAIR OF X-RAY GOGGLES THAT THEY CAN PUT ON TO SEE HOW DEEP DO THEY HAVE TO DRILL TO GET TO WHAT LEVEL OF HEAT.
UH, BUT YOU CAN GET PRETTY DARN CLOSE WITH GEOMAP.
UM, AND THAT TOOL, UH, FED INTO THIS MODELING THAT THE RHODIUM GROUP DID, UH, WHICH FOUND OVERALL THAT GEOTHERMAL CAN MEET COST-EFFECTIVELY MEET, UH, TWO THIRDS OF THE PROJECTED ENERGY DEMAND FOR ENERGY, UH, DATA CENTERS IN THE US.
UH, WHICH IN AND OF ITSELF IS I THINK A PRETTY STAGGERING FACT.
UH, BUT ALSO FOUND THAT WITHIN TEXAS AND THE DATA CENTER LOADS WITHIN TEXAS FOUR GIGAWATTS, UH, OF GEOTHERMAL ENERGY COULD, COULD HELP, UM, FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE DATA CENTER DEMAND, UH, AND HELP MEET THAT DEMAND PRETTY COST EFFECTIVELY.
UH, SO THAT TO ME IS A PRETTY IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY.
HAPPY TO DIG IN MORE PUN INTENDED ON THAT.
UH, IF YOU GUYS WOULD LIKE, UM, AND THEN I ALSO JUST WANNA LEAVE YOU WITH THIS IMAGE.
THIS IS, AGAIN, BASED ON OUR GEO MAP.
UH, NO STATE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
NO STATE HAS MORE GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL THAN THE STATE OF TEXAS.
YES, A BIG PART OF THAT IS A FUNCTION OF OUR SIZE.
THE MODEL LOOKS AT THE SIZE AND SAYS, HEY, THERE'S A LOT OF GEOTHERMAL POTENTIAL IN THIS AREA.
YOU HAVE A STATE THE SIZE OF TEXAS, YOU'RE GONNA GET A LOT OF INPUT.
UM, BUT WE ALSO HAVE A LOT OF HEAT RESOURCE.
UH, THAT'S REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT, UH, AS WE TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHERE THESE, UH, WHERE THE URGING DEMAND IS GONNA BE MET.
UH, AND SO THERE'S A LOT OF REALLY EXCITING THINGS THAT CAN BE DONE.
PROJECT INTERSPACE AND OUR FRIENDS AT TEX GIA, UH, HAVE DONE SOME THINKING ABOUT WHAT STATE COULD DO.
UH, A LOT OF THAT THINKING HAS MADE ITS WAY INTO LAWS THAT HAVE PASSED, BUT THERE'S STILL PLENTY MORE THAT CAN BE DONE TO INCENTIVIZE THIS TECHNOLOGY.
AND HAPPY TO TALK TO YOU IN MORE DETAIL ABOUT THAT.
SO THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
JUST JUST A FEW CONCLUDING REMARKS.
MR. CHAIRMAN, OBVIOUSLY, UH, WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM.
THERE ARE MANY OTHERS INVOLVED.
OUR ALLIANCE IS COMPOSED OF A VERY DIVERSE SET OF IN INDUSTRIES.
WE HAVE OIL AND GAS, WE HAVE TDU, POWER GENERATORS, STARTUPS, AND OTHERS.
ANY OF THESE PEOPLE ARE AVAILABLE TO TALK TO OFFLINE.
I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT ONE THING THAT WAS SAID IN THIS PARTICULAR POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT THAT WE
[00:30:01]
HAVE.THE MIDDLE IS SHRINKING VERY QUICKLY, AND YET IN THE 23 SESSION AND IN THE 25 SESSION, GEOTHERMAL WAS THE UNICORN THAT HAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT, NOT ONLY IN WASHINGTON, BUT HERE IN TEXAS.
WE HAD BILLS THAT PASSED WITH NO OPPOSITION AT ALL.
AND WE CONTINUE TO SEE THAT BEING A RESOURCE THAT THE LEFT, THE RIGHT, THE MIDDLE, EVERYONE CAN GET ON BOARD.
AND WE THINK THAT THAT IS VERY UNIQUE.
SO WITH THAT, MR. CHAIRMAN, WE'LL STOP AND WE'LL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS OR WE'LL BE PREPARED TO COME BACK LATER ON.
I GUESS I'LL, I'LL KICK IT OFF WITH, WITH A QUESTION AND, AND GIVE US, GIVE US A SENSE OF THE TIMING.
SEVERAL OF YOUR SPEAKERS ALLUDED TO THE FACT THAT THERE ARE PROJECTS THAT ARE LOOKING TO GET STARTED IN THE NEXT YEAR OR SO.
UM, BUT WHEN REALISTICALLY DO YOU THINK WE COULD EXPECT TO SEE PEOPLE ACTUALLY APPLYING FOR GRID SCALE PROJECTS TO CONNECT INTO THE ERCOT GRID? SO WE HAVE A SINGLE WELL, UH, LONG DURATION ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY THAT, UH, WE'VE APPLIED FOR INTERCONNECTION TO THE GRID.
WE'RE WAITING ON THAT GRID TO BE, THE SUBSTATION TO BE BUILT AND THE INTERCONNECTION TO COME.
UM, AS FAR AS SCALE, WE'RE LOOKING AT, UH, OUR SECOND ENERGY STORAGE FACILITY WILL BE A 10 TO 12 MEGAWATT FACILITY.
UH, WE'RE WORKING WITH A MAJOR UTILITY IN HOUSTON AS WELL AS AN IPP.
SO WORKING, UH, TOLLING AGREEMENTS WITH BOTH OF THEM, WE CAN BRING THAT ON IN LATE 2026, EARLY 2027.
IT'S REALLY ABOUT, UM, THE ABILITY TO BRING THE FUNDING.
SO YOU, YOU GET THE OFFTAKER, YOU GET THE INTEREST, AND IT'S, IT'S ABOUT THE ABILITY TO BRING THE FUNDING, I WOULD SAY FOR THE ENERGY STORAGE SIDE, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE DOING.
UM, AND IN ADDITION TO THE POWER GENERATION, STORAGE IS A LOT QUICKER.
WE CAN DO THE, THE STORAGE IN 12 TO 18 MONTHS BECAUSE THE EQUIPMENT THAT YOU HAVE TO BUY ON THE SUBSURFACE IS A LOT FASTER FOR GEOTHERMAL.
THERE IS RIGHT NOW A NEAR, NEAR TERM BOTTLENECK FOR ORGANIC RANK AND CYCLE, UM, POWER PLANT EQUIPMENT.
IT TAKES 18 TO 24 MONTHS TO ORDER THAT LEAD LONG LEAD TIME.
BUT THAT'S ALSO WHY WE'RE BUILDING OUR CO2, UH, TECHNOLOGY SO THAT WE CAN GET IN THE MARKET AND HELP TO, UH, UH, REDUCE THOSE TIMELINES.
SO IN TEXAS, WE COULD GET A GEOTHERMAL, UM, PLANT AT SCALE IN 24 TO 36 MONTHS.
AND THAT'S FRONT TO BACK FROM INITIAL EVALUATION TO COMMERCIAL OPERATION? YES, SIR.
WHAT'S A A, A ASSUMING THE GRID INTERCONNECTIONS THERE OR UNDERSTAND, OR WE CAN, WE CAN GO BEHIND THE METER.
AND SO THIS IS A BASE LOAD RESOURCE, BUT IT SAID IT'S FLEXIBLE OPERATIONS.
SO WHAT'S THE DISPATCHABILITY O OF THESE RESOURCES? YEAH, SO THE INTER ENERGY STORAGE RESOURCE IS, UH, IS HIGHLY DISPATCHABLE.
WE CAN GET THE TURBINE SPINNING IN LESS THAN A MINUTE.
WE'VE ALREADY TESTED THAT IN THE FIELD AT OUR SAN MIGUEL ELECTRIC CO-OP FACILITY.
UM, FOR POWER GENERATION, IT'S 24 7, UM, POWER GENERATION.
SO, UH, THE ABILITY FOR DISPATCHABLE DISPATCHABILITY THERE IS, IS, UH, IS VERY DISPATCHABLE.
I THINK BARRY MENTIONED THAT IT DOESN'T RELY ON WEATHER, IT DOESN'T RELY ON, UH, HOW COLD IT IS NOW.
THE NET OUTPUT WILL VARY DEPENDING ON THE AMBIENT TEMPERATURE.
THE COLDER IT IS OUTSIDE, THE LESS ENERGY YOU HAVE TO PUT INTO THE SYSTEM TO COOL THE, THE REFRIGERANT THAT YOU'RE USING IN THE POWER PLANT.
SO YOU'RE GONNA HAVE MORE NET OUTPUT.
BUT, UM, IT'S, IT'S, UH, OTHERWISE IT'S DEPENDENT ON THE WEATHER.
AND ON A PROJECT BY PROJECT, I KNOW IT VARIES DEPENDING ON THE CONDITIONS, BUT WHAT'S THE RANGE OF CAPACITY SIZE THAT WE'RE TALKING PER PROJECT? YEAH, NO.
SO FOR ENERGY STORAGE, UH, SINGLE, WELL, WE CAN BUILD THREE TO FIVE MEGAWATTS.
THE WAY YOU SCALE IT IS MULTI-WELL, UH, PADS, JUST LIKE OIL AND GAS.
SO YOU CAN BUILD A 30 OR 50 MEGAWATT PAD OF STORAGE.
UH, THAT SIZE WOULD PROBABLY BE 15 TO 20 ACRES.
'CAUSE YOU DO HAVE TO ACCOUNT FOR THE WATER, UH, IMPOUNDMENT ON THE SURFACE.
UH, THE STORAGE IMPOUNDMENT FOR GEOTHERMAL, UM, YOU'RE LOOKING AT A TWO WELL PAIR, YOU KNOW, WITH A NET OUTPUT OF THREE TO SIX MEGAWATTS.
IT CAN BE HIGHER THAN THAT, NOT IN TEXAS, BUT IN ALASKA.
AND SO YOU'LL AGAIN SCALE THERE.
SO A 10 WELL PAD, YOU'LL HAVE A 25 TO 30 MEGAWATT OUTPUT IN A, IN A SIZE OF ABOUT FIVE ACRES.
NOW WHEN WE, WHEN WE CRACK THE NUT ON SUPER HOT GEOTHERMAL, THEN WE CAN GET THAT 10 TIMES NET OUTPUT.
[00:35:01]
IT'S GONNA BE A LOT LARGER SCALE WITH A LOT SMALLER, WITH THE SAME SMALL FOOTPRINT.THE STORAGE CAPACITY NUMBERS, I ASSUME ARE MEGAWATT HOURS? IS THAT WHAT, UM, THE, WELL, IT'S, IT'S MEGAWATT, UH, AND THEN WE MULTIPLY BY HOURS.
SO WE ARE TARGETING DISCHARGE DURATIONS GREATER THAN FIVE HOURS.
WE'RE NOT TRYING TO COMPETE WITH LITHIUM ION BATTERIES FOR TWO TO FOUR HOURS MM-HMM
UM, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE TO START STACKING LITHIUM ION BATTERIES, THEN OUR COST IS GONNA BE LESS.
SO YES, WE CAN DO THREE MEGAWATTS FOR SIX HOURS, EIGHT HOURS, 17 HOURS EVEN.
HELPFUL BILL, UH, BARRY, I'M GLAD YOU, UH, SET UP AN ORGANIZATION TO REPRESENT THE INTEREST OF, OF, UH, THIS SPACE.
I'VE GOT A QUESTION FOR YOU,
SO, UH, CINDY, MY QUESTION FOR YOU IS, BY THE WAY, THANKS FOR THE, UH, CLARIFICATION ON THE STORAGE DURATION.
WHAT ARE THE HURDLES THAT COULD SLOW DOWN OR IMPEDE THE, UH, LARGE SCALE DEPLOYMENT OF GEOTHERMAL IN TEXAS? SO THE, THE HURDLES THAT WE THINK ABOUT ARE GRID INTERCONNECTION TIMELINES.
I MEAN, ONE THING TO THINK ABOUT, AND THE REASON WHY WE MENTION IT A LOT IS WE'RE A STARTUP COMPANY.
SO ONCE WE BUILD SOMETHING, WE NEED TO BE MAKING REVENUE.
UM, SO GRID INTERCONNECTION TIMELINES THE, THE SUPPLY CHAIN FOR THE POWER PLANTS.
UM, SO THE, THE POWER PLANTS IN THE PAST HAVE BEEN BUILT FOR CONVENTIONAL GEOTHERMAL, UM, THAT WE TALKED ABOUT EARLY IN, IN THE SLIDES.
CONVENTIONAL GEOTHERMALS HAS BUILT, YOU KNOW, MAYBE FIVE TO 20 WELLS A YEAR ACROSS THE US WHEREAS NEXT GENERATION GEOTHERMAL IS POISED TO BE KIND OF LIKE THE UNCONVENTIONAL SHALE REVOLUTION 2.0.
WE'RE GONNA NEED TO DRILL MANY, MANY WELLS.
AND SO TO KEEP UP THE, THE COMPANIES THAT ARE BUILDING ORC POWER PLANTS, THEY NEED TO, UH, EITHER, YOU KNOW, UP THEIR PRODUCTION.
AND WE ALSO, WE WERE ALSO SEEING OTHER COMPANIES LIKE BAKER HUGHES COMING INTO THE FOLD WITH BUILDING.
SO ORC POWER PLANTS IS ANOTHER, UH, BOTTLENECK.
AND THEN I WOULD JUST SAY WHERE WE ARE MATURITY WISE IN THE, UM, DEVELOPMENT OF, OF THE TECHNOLOGY, IMPROVING THE, YOU KNOW, TECHNOLOGY AND BUILDING POWER PLANTS THAT WILL PRODUCE ELECTRICITY AT AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE, YOU KNOW, COSTS, UM, IS HARDER TO GET CAPITAL.
SO WE ARE STILL FUNDING OUR PROJECTS WITH EQUITY, BUT ONCE WE BUILD AND OPERATE, WE HOPE TO THEN GET TO PROJECT FUNDING, WHICH THEN ALLOWS US TO SCALE A LOT QUICKER.
COULD I JUST ADD SOMETHING ELSE? GO AHEAD.
UM, YEAH, I JUST, I THINK IT'S AN IMPORTANT DATA POINT THAT NONE OF US WERE ABLE TO TOUCH ON IN OUR INITIAL REMARKS.
'CAUSE WE'VE BEEN FOCUSED ON GEOTHERMAL AS A SOURCE OF POWER.
BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I'M PERSONALLY EXCITED ABOUT WITH GEOTHERMAL IS THAT IT'S ESSENTIALLY A SWISS ARMY KNIFE.
IT IT, IT'S POWER, IT'S ALSO DIRECT USE INDUSTRIAL HEAT.
YOU'RE TAKING HEAT OUT OF THE GROUND AND TURNING IT INTO INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES INSTEAD OF BURNING SOMETHING TO CREATE THAT HEAT.
AND YOU ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL SIGNIFICANT POTENTIAL FOR GEOTHERMAL HEATING AND COOLING OF BUILDINGS.
GROUND SOURCE HEAT PUMPS ARE A MATURE TECHNOLOGY THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOREVER.
THEY'RE FAR MORE EFFICIENT THAN ANY OTHER HEATING AND COOLING SOURCE, UH, ORDER MAGNITUDE MORE THAN TRADITIONAL HVAC AND MORE, UH, MORE EFFICIENT THAN AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS.
UM, IN ADDITION, WHEN YOU ADD IN THINGS LIKE THERMAL ENERGY NET NETWORKS OR DISTRICT COOLING, YOU'RE ABLE TO CREATE LARGE AREAS LIKE IN WHISPER VALLEY THAT ARE USING THIS VERY EFFICIENT, UH, SOURCE OF COOLING, WHICH HAS AN IMPORTANT IMPACT ON THE GRID, PARTICULARLY ON REALLY HOT SUMMER DAYS OR REALLY COLD WINTER DAYS BECAUSE GEOTHERMAL IS ABLE TO MAKE THINGS A LOT MORE EFFICIENT.
SO AS YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT IS THE ROLE OF GEOTHERMAL IN TEXAS IN ARCOT, THERE IS A HUGE ROLE THERE FOR, UM, BUILDINGS THAT I THINK SHOULDN'T BE IGNORED AND COULD BE AN IMPORTANT PART OF BALANCING ALL THESE COMPETING DEMANDS.
IF I MIGHT JUST, UH, LOOK AT THE FLIP SIDE OF THE IMPEDIMENT COIN, WHICH IS THE ADVANTAGES.
TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSION HAS BEEN PERMITTING DRILLING FOR OVER A HUNDRED YEARS.
SO THEY KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING.
WE DRILLED OVER A MILLION WELLS IN TEXAS OVER THE LAST A HUNDRED YEARS.
SO THAT REGULATORY BODY THAT WORKS WITH US, NOT AGAINST US IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
UH, TWO, WE RUN A WHOLESALE COMPETITIVE MARKET HERE, AS YOU ALL KNOW, THAT GIVES US THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT OUR POWER ON THE GRID AS THE COST COMES DOWN.
I THINK THERE'S BEEN TOO MUCH FOCUS OVER THE YEARS ON LCOE BECAUSE THAT DOESN'T TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION FIRM DISPATCHABILITY.
BUT IF YOU FACTOR THAT IN, THEN WE'RE GONNA BECOME A LOW COST FIRM DISPATCHABLE RESOURCE.
AND THE LAST THING IS THE BUILDING OF TRANSMISSION.
[00:40:01]
TRANSMISSION TO BE BUILT FASTER AND QUICKER, BUT BY COMPARISON TO THE OTHER STATES, AND PARTICULARLY IF YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH THE FERC PROCESS, WE GET IT DONE REALLY QUICKLY.THE SOUTHERNMOST PERMIAN BASIN IMPORT PROJECT FROM HOWARD TO THE SOLSTICE SUBSTATION, DEPENDING UPON THE ROUTE, IS GONNA COME VERY CLOSE TO SOUTH TEXAS AND THE BORDER.
THAT PROVIDES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INTERCONNECTION OF THOSE REALLY GOOD HOT ROCK AREAS THAT WE SAW ALONG THE BORDER AND OUT WEST VERY MUCH.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO TALKING MORE.
I'M GONNA TURN MY MICROPHONE ON SO PEOPLE ONLINE CAN HEAR ME.
[5. Notice of Annual Committee Self-Evaluation Questionnaire]
GONNA MOVE US ON NOW TO OUR NEXT TOPIC, WHICH IS THE ANNUAL SELF-ASSESSMENT.UM, OUR CHARTER IS THIS NOTES, UH, COMMANDS THAT WE DO A SELF-ASSESSMENT.
THE INTENT, UM, WOULD BE TO ADMINISTER THAT FOLLOWING TODAY'S MEETING AND THEN REVIEW THE RESULTS IN DECEMBER.
UM, AND OBVIOUSLY WE'D LIKE TO HAVE RESULTS BACK WELL BEFORE THAT SO WE CAN ACTUALLY LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE SAID.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS? ANY COMMENTS, THOUGHTS? OKAY, HEARING NONE.
[6.1 Projects and Technology Update]
MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM SIX, WHICH IS THE START OF OUR VARIOUS BRIEFS AND JP AND VENCAT ARE UP FOR THE REST OF THESE.UM, START WITH JP AND GET AN UPDATE ON REAL TIME CO-OP OPTIMIZATION, THE TOPIC DIJOUR.
SO JOHN, COUPLE OF CORRECTIONS.
ONE IS WE TO START WITH PROJECTS AND IT'S JUST ME ALL THE WAY
UM, ALRIGHT, SO, UM, I'M HERE FOR A PERIODIC UPDATES ON WHERE WE ARE WITH PROJECTS.
UM, AND UM, ONE THING WE CAN SEE ON THIS SLIDE IS THAT COMPARED TO LAST YEAR, UM, THAT UM, THE DARK, UM, UH, ONE ON THE LEFT IS 2024.
WE ARE CERTAINLY NOT STARTING AS MANY PROJECTS AS LAST YEAR AND UM, DEFINITELY NOT COMPLETING AS MUCH.
AND THE REASON IS THAT WE ARE DOING RTC AS YOU ALL AWARE, WHICH HAS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY.
AND SINCE JUNE WE ARE IN A DEPLOYMENT FREEZE, WHICH MEANS THAT WE CAN'T DEPLOY ANY CHANGES IF IT CONFLICTS WITH RTC.
SO, SO, SO THE REASON YOU ARE SEEING WHY NOT AS MANY PROJECTS ARE GETTING COMPLETED AS LAST YEAR IS JUST THAT EVERY TIME THEY ARE IN CONFLICT WITH RTC, THEY ARE IN A HOLD.
UM, AND UM, AND AND EVERY TIME WE DETECT THAT, WE JUST SAY JUST KEEP WAIT AND AS SOON AS RTCS GO LIVE, WE WILL COME BACK TO THAT.
SO I'M NOT, UM, ALTHOUGH IT LOOKS LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE, I'M NOT CONCERNED ABOUT THAT.
UM, 'CAUSE THE MAIN THING IS TO GET THE FOCUS ON RTC.
I ALSO WANT TO CALL OUT ON THIS SLIDE THAT WE OFFICIALLY CLOSED OUT A DC FIVE PROJECT, UM, WHICH IS A MAJOR INFRASTRUCTURE REPLACEMENT, UM, A PROJECT THAT HAS BEEN ON TIME AND UNDER BUDGET.
AND I WANT TO THANK OUR TEAM FOR THAT.
SO JUST FOR PEOPLE'S EDIFICATION, DC DC SENSOR DATA CENTER AND IT'S THE DATA CENTER REFRESH PROJECT THAT THIS IS THE FIFTH INCARNATION OF IT.
I REMEMBER THAT WE HAVE NEW BOARD MEMBERS HERE.
AND WE DO IT ABOUT EVERY FIVE YEARS, IS THAT CORRECT? EVERY FIVE YEARS APPROXIMATELY.
AND WE'LL HAVE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK MORE ABOUT THE DATA CENTER PROJECTS IN DETAILS.
SO WHILE I TALKED ABOUT SLOW DOWN AND THINGS LIKE THAT IN MY FIRST SLIDE, BUT, UH, IN REALITY, IF I LOOK AT THE PROJECT HOURS, THE LABOR THAT WE ARE RECORDING, WE HAVE BEEN OPERATING ABOVE THE PEAK THAN ANY YEAR PRIOR.
NOW EVEN, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HAVE VACATIONS, UH, YOU SEE THE DIPS IN JUNE 24.
UH, WE HAVEN'T TOUCHED DECEMBER, BUT, BUT WE HAVE DIPS WHEN PEOPLE TAKE VACATION.
AND THIS REFLECTS THE COMMITMENT OF OUR TEAM TO WORK ON RTC.
AND I DO WANT TO REPORT HERE THAT I DO NOT SEE ANY LABOR PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME FOR RTC OR ANY CRITICAL PROJECT, UM, ON FOR THESE LABOR HOURS.
UH, THIS IS A BREAKDOWN OF THE PROJECT HOURS BASED ON RTC VERSUS NON RTC.
AND YOU CAN SEE THAT THE IT HOURS, WHICH HAS THE BLUE, DARK BLUE ON THE BOTTOM, THEY ARE REDUCING AND BUSINESS HOURS ARE INCREASING, WHICH IS
[00:45:01]
RIGHTLY SO SINCE WE ARE PAST DEVELOPMENT MOSTLY FOR OUR CRITICAL SYSTEMS AND WE HAVE A LOT OF BUSINESS TESTING GOING ON.UM, SO OVERALL, UM, NOTHING TO REPORT HERE, IT'S ALL GOING AS PER OUR PLAN.
NOW, USUALLY ON THIS SLIDE I REPORT ON, UH, THINGS THAT WE HAVE RELEASED OR UPCOMING RELEASES UNTIL THE NEXT BOARD MEETING.
BUT BECAUSE OF THE DEPLOYMENT FREEZE, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT OTHER THAN GO RTC.
SO, AND THAT BEING SAID, UH, IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS, I WILL SWITCH TO RTC OH LINDA.
OKAY, SO MY COMMENT IS VAGUE STATEMENT LIKE EMPLOYMENT FREEZE THIS.
SO YOU CAN CALCULATE THE NUMBER OF HOURS THAT ARE EMPLOYED, THE NUMBER OF VACANCIES, EQUAL HOURS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN REPLACED.
SO YOU KNOW, THE REDUCTION IN HOURS, THAT'S A MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION.
AND THEN WHAT YOU'RE SAYING IS YOU'VE BEEN ABLE TO CONTAIN THE WORK WITHIN THE LOWER NUMBER OF EFFECTIVE HOURS MM-HMM
SO RATHER THAN VAGUE ARM WAVING, JUST SAY THAT, OKAY, GIVE A NUMBER, IT'S DONE.
YOU'RE ABLE TO CONTAIN IT, BUT YOU'RE ABLE TO CONTAIN IT BY YOUR DELAYED SPECIFIC THINGS.
YOU CAN BE SPECIFIC AND YOU CAN DO THIS IN THREE MINUTES.
'CAUSE I, I DON'T KNOW HOW, WHAT TO THINK BECAUSE YOU SAY EVERYTHING'S FINE, BUT THERE'S A HIRING FREEZE.
DO YOU NOT NEED THOSE PEOPLE? THAT'S THE IMMEDIATE QUESTION THAT COMES UP.
ARE THEY UNNECESSARY TO BE REPLACED? AND THE ANSWER IS PROBABLY NO, BUT NOT, BUT THE WAY YOU PRESENTED IT DID NOT GIVE THAT IMPRESSION.
NO, I I'M NOT ASKING YOU TO DO IT NOW.
I DON'T THINK YOU UNDERSTOOD HIS, HIS COMMENT.
SO WHAT I'M SAYING IS EVEN IF YOU ARE ON FREEZE, IT'S NOT LIKE PEOPLE ARE NOT WORKING ON IT.
THEY'RE NOT DEPLOYING TO PRODUCTION BECAUSE A PRODUCTION DEPLOYMENT IS FROZEN.
BUT THERE IS WORK THAT WE CAN MOVE, UH, THERE ARE OTHER WORK THAT WE CAN DO THAT ARE NOT CONFLICTING WITH THE DEPLOYMENT.
SO HENCE THE WORK IS GOING ON.
BUT WE CAN'T MARK PROJECTS AS COMPLETED BECAUSE THEY CAN'T DEPLOY AND THEY'RE WAITING FOR, HE STILL HAS 50 PROJECTS UNDERWAY.
WHICH IS, HE, HE JUST DOESN'T, HE CAN'T BRING ANY OF THEM THAT WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE RTC PROJECT ON TO FRUITION UNTIL RTC IS READY TO GO.
LIKE I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE STATEMENT, I UNDERSTAND THE STATEMENT AND YOU'RE CONTAINING IT, BUT IT'S NOT A CRISP STATEMENT AS TO WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
I TAKE THAT AND TO JOHN'S POINT, I MEAN THIS IS THE POINT, RIGHT? WE ARE STILL RUNNING SAME KIND OF PROJECTS BUT NOT DEPLOYING.
SO THANKS FOR THAT CLARIFICATION, LINDA.
[6.2 Real-Time Co-Optimization Implementation Update]
TO RTC IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTION.ALRIGHT, SO NOW GIVEN THAT WE DO HAVE NEW BOARD MEMBERS, I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THIS OLD VIEW SLIDE A LITTLE BIT MORE.
AND EVERY TIME I TRY TO REPLACE THIS, I DO HAVE ALWAYS NEW BOARD MEMBERS.
SO THIS TIME I'M NOT TRYING TO REPLACE IT.
SO HERE'S THE HIGH LEVEL VIEW OF OUR SYSTEMS AND HOW THE RTC PROJECT IS SET UP.
OKAY? SO ON THE ALL, ALL THE SHADED BOXES ARE AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS AND THE FIRST BOX, UM, SHOWS OUR CRITICAL SYSTEM, WHICH IS OUR ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND OUR MARKET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.
AND THAT'S REALLY WHERE THE BULK OF THE WORK IS.
OKAY? SO, SO THAT, THAT WORK IS ENCAPSULATED IN ONE OF THE THREE PROJECTS THAT MAKE UP RTC.
THE NEXT BOX IS THE REGISTRATION AND SETTLEMENTS AND CREDIT MONITORING, AND THAT'S OUR PROJECT TWO.
UM, AND THE LAST PROJECT IS, UH, INTEGRATION PROJECTS AND AS WELL AS REPORTS THAT WE PUT OUT ON THE WEB FOR PUBLIC AS WELL AS MARKET PARTICIPANTS.
NOW, WHAT IS DIFFERENT ABOUT THIS PROJECT COMPARED TO EVERY OTHER PROJECT WE DO IS THAT THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT REQUIRES CHANGES IN OUR MARKET PARTICIPANT SYSTEM.
OKAY? UM, WHICH MEANS IN THEIR EMS OR GMS SYSTEM GENERATION MANAGEMENT OR ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS OR IN THEIR BIDDING SYSTEM.
SO, WHICH MEANS THAT WHEN WE GO LIVE, IT'S NOT JUST THAT WE GO LIVE WITH OUR SYSTEM, BUT WE HAVE TO WORK WITH THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS AND IN A COORDINATED MANNER GO LIVE WITH ALL OF THEM.
OKAY? SO THAT'S WHAT MAKES THIS PROJECT CHALLENGING AND WHY WE ARE TRYING TO LOCK DOWN THE SCOPE AND MAKE SURE THAT WE GET THIS DONE.
BECAUSE ONCE WE ARE DONE EVERY OTHER SCOPE CHANGES ARE LIKE ANY, I THINK WE DO ALL THE TIME.
WE DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS ISSUES.
SO, SO THIS BOARD HAS BEEN VERY HELPFUL TRYING TO LOCK DOWN THE SCOPE JUST TO PUT SOME BACKGROUND ON SOME OF THE DISCUSSIONS
[00:50:01]
THAT'S HAPPENED HERE.AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON THIS.
THE, THE NEXT SLIDE, IT IS JUST THE DOLLAR BREAKDOWN OF, UM, OF THOSE SET PROJECTS.
NOW I DIDN'T MENTION THAT IN ADDITION TO THE THREE PROJECTS, THERE IS A CONTROL PROJECTS THAT, UH, PROJECT THAT UH, OVERALL MONITORS, IT CONTROLS THE HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE LICENSES AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO THERE ARE EFFECTIVELY FOUR PROJECTS THAT MAKE UP RTC.
UM, AS A BACKGROUND, AGAIN, OUR ORIGINAL BUDGET BEFORE WE STARTED THIS PROJECT WAS 50 MILLION.
BUT AS WE G TO EXECUTION, WHICH MEANS PLANNING COMPLETE DESIGN COMPLETE, WE REVISED OUR BUDGET DOWN TWO 35 MILLION BASED ON UM, UM, YOU KNOW, HARDWARE IMPROVEMENTS AND UH, LICENSE IMPROVEMENTS AND SCOPE CLARIFICATION AND ALL THAT KIND OF STUFF.
OKAY? SO WE WERE 35 MILLION AND OUR ESTIMATE TO COMPLETION AT THIS POINT IS ABOUT 32 MILLION.
UM, AND THIS IS EVEN AFTER OUR CLOSED LOOP TEST, WHICH MEANS THAT WE HAVE NOT FOUND ANY SIGNIFICANT DEFECTS THAT ARE REFLECTING IN OUR ESTIMATE TO COMPLETION.
UM, AND UM, AND AGAIN, A KEY REASON WHY WE ARE HOLDING THE SCOPE AND TIME IS THE HELP IN THIS BODY HELPING US CONTROL OUR SCOPE AND KEEPING THE SCOPE IN CHECK.
ONE QUICK QUESTION JP, AND THAT, THAT'S TREMENDOUS THAT YOU'RE ABLE TO COME IN UNDER BUDGET WHEN YOU DO THE CLOSED LOOP TEST.
UM, SUB PROJECT ZERO THROUGH OH THREE WE'RE ALL BEING TESTED.
IS THAT CORRECT? INCLUDING THE INFORMATION? NO.
SO, UM, I I I'M GOING TO SKIP TO AN APPENDIX SLIDE.
SO, SO BASICALLY WHAT WHAT IS HAPPENING IS WE ARE TESTING OUR CRITICAL SYSTEMS. THE, THE CLOSED LOOP TEST WAS ABOUT TESTING LFC LOW FREQUENCY CONTROL AND WE MANAGE THAT.
UM, WE ARE TESTING THE SC THE, UH, OR REAL TIME MARKETS SO TO SAY, BUT WE ARE NOT EFFECTIVELY TESTING OUR SETTLEMENTS OR TESTING OUR, OUR INTEGRATION TO ERCO.COM.
OKAY? SO IT'S NOT A FULL END TO END TEST, OKAY? THAT WOULD'VE BEEN IDEAL.
BUT THAT MEANS WE, WE NEED A COMPLETE REPLACEMENT THAT MEANS SWITCH OVER TO, SO, SO WE DIDN'T DO THAT, BUT WE TESTED THE MOST RISKIEST PORTIONS OF THE SYSTEM, INCLUDING THE CUTOVER.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO CUT OVER OUR CRITICAL SYSTEMS WITH THE MARKET SYSTEM? AND IT MAKES US FEEL GOOD THAT WE ARE PAST OUR, WHAT WE CONSIDER THE RISK.
OKAY? SO, SO I THINK THIS SLIDE WON'T MAKE SENSE I GUESS UNTIL I EXPLAIN IT, BUT IT, WHEN I GO THROUGH THE CUTOVER PROCESS, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THIS SLIDE, YOU'LL SEE THAT IT HAS LESSER SCOPE THAN AN ACTUAL CUTOVER.
UM, JP WERE THERE ANY LESSONS LEARNED AT THE CLOSED LOOP TEST OR DID EVERYTHING GO THERE WERE, UM, YOU KNOW, I'M GOING TO, UM, MATT IS GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE CLOSED LOOP TEST IN THE FULL BOARD IN MORE DETAIL.
SO I'M NOT GOING TO STEAL AWAY HIS THUNDER, UH, BUT I'M JUST GOING TO SAY IT WENT WELL.
BUT YOU WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY HERE ABOUT THAT IN THE FULL BOARD.
I JUST HAVE ONE QUESTION ON THE BUDGET.
HAVE YOU RELEASED ALL THE CONTINGENCIES IN THAT 35 MILLION OR ARE YOU STILL HOLDING SOME? THE WAY WE DO OUR PROJECTS, WE DO NOT HAVE A CONTINGENCY BUCKET ON EACH PROJECT.
I MEAN, AND I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE SAYING 'CAUSE I WAS RUN PROJECTS WITH THE CONTINGENCY BUCKET IN THERE, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE THAT.
BUT WE DO HAVE, UH, IMPLIED HOURS ALLOCATED FOR DEFECTS, UH, THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THOSE WE HAVEN'T RELEASED BECAUSE THERE MAY BE, UH, DEFECTS WE FIND ARE POST GO LIVE DEFECTS THAT WE MAY HAVE.
BUT AS TO IN TERMS OF DO YOU HAVE AN ALLOCATION FOR RISK OR, UH, CONTINGENCY EXPENDITURE AS A LINE ITEM, WE DO NOT DO THAT AS PROJECT PRACTICE.
SO HOW MUCH DO YOU HAVE ALLOCATED FOR DEFECTS? UM, RESOLUTION, I'LL CALL IT.
I DO NOT HAVE THE NUMBER, BUT UH, BUT WE DO HAVE, UM, WE ARE PROBABLY GOING TO UNDERSPEND THAT THIS IS WHAT I'M GOING TO SAY BECAUSE WE DID NOT FIND AS MANY DEFECTS AS WE ANTICIPATED OR, OR AS, AS WHEN WE PLANNED THE PROJECT.
SO COMING OUT OF CLOSE LOOP, THE FACT THAT IS SUCCESSFUL, I MEAN, NOT FINDING AS MANY DEFECTS IS A TESTAMENT TO BOTH OUR VENDOR RELEASES AS WELL AS INTERNALLY
[00:55:01]
WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING.UM, AND, AND JUST TO BE CLEAR, UM, I THINK THE EXPERIENCE OF OUR TEAM AS WE DELIVERED SIGNIFICANT PROJECTS LIKE ECRS AND FFRA IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS AND THE EXPERIENCE WE'VE GAINED FROM THAT AND THOSE ARE ALSO BEING RELATIVELY LOW DEFECT, I THINK HAS BOOSTED OUR CONFIDENCE THAT WE ARE DOING GOOD.
IF THAT HELPS, I'LL GET BACK TO YOU WITH A NUMBER ON THAT AND I'M SURE SOMEBODY IN MY TEAM IS LOOKING AT THAT ALREADY.
WELL, AND MY ADD-ON TO THAT QUESTION IS HOW MUCH, UM, RESOURCE ARE YOU ALLOCATING IN 2026 FOR OH YEAH, SO FOLLOW ON.
YEAH, SO ACTUALLY THAT BRINGS US TO THE NEXT SLIDE.
IF YOU JUST FOLLOW THE MONEY, OKAY, THAT POST DECEMBER, YOU KNOW, WE STILL PLAN TO BE SPENDING DOLLARS ON THE PROJECT.
UM, I GUESS THE DECREASE DOESN'T HELP BECAUSE THE, THE DECREASE IN BUDGET IS DUE TO THE, UH, HARDWARE AND UH, THAT WE CREDIT THAT WE GET BACK, BUT WE DO PLAN TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF PEOPLE, UM, STILL BLOCKED IN WHAT WE'D CALL STABILIZATION.
SO, SO THEY WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR THAT, UM, AND BLOCKED SO THAT WE DON'T LIKE LOSE THEM TO PROJECTS.
IT STILL CONTINUES TO BE OUR PRIORITY ONE PROJECT EVEN AFTER GO LIVE, UH, UNTIL WE ARE PAST WHAT WE WOULD CALL STABILIZATION.
I THINK I HAVE A BETTER SLIDE FOR THAT AS WELL.
SO THIS IS, YOU KNOW, OVERALL A PROJECT WINDOW OF WHAT, WHAT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR SOME TIME.
AND WE ARE CURRENTLY, UM, IN THIS BOX WHERE WE ARE, UM, SHOWING THE CLOSED LOOP TEST THAT'S A, NOW THAT YOU SEE THERE AT THE BOTTOM.
AND UM, THIS CLOSED LOOP TEST NOT ONLY GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEST OUR KEY KEY SYSTEMS, BUT ALSO TEST OUR CUT OVER PROCESS, OUR PROCESS OF CUTTING TO THIS SYSTEM AS WELL AS OUR MARKET PARTICIPANT AND JUST AS IMPORTANT THE PROCESS TO CUT BACK IF WE NEED TO.
AND, UM, WE DID PERFORM THIS TEST ON SEPTEMBER 11, AS YOU KNOW, AND UM, THE TESTING AS WELL AS THE CUT OVER AND CUT BREAK, CUT BACK WAS GREAT.
AND LIKE I SAID, MATT WILL GO OVER THAT, UH, TESTING IN MORE DETAIL IN THE FULL BOARD.
AND THESE ARE, OOPS, THE PROJECT MILESTONES THAT I REPORTED EVERY BOARD.
AND UM, AS YOU CAN SEE, UM, MY SLIDES WERE SUBMITTED BEFORE THE CUTOVER, BUT I'LL SAY, UH, PUT A CHECK MARK HERE THAT, UH, THAT SHOWS, UM, WE ARE ACTUALLY DONE WELL.
OKAY, SO THE ONLY REMAINING MILESTONE IS OUR GO LIVE ON DECEMBER FIVE AND THERE'S A MINOR MILESTONE FOR A SIGN OFF, BUT, UM, EFFECTIVELY, UM, AND, AND, AND, AND I'M ALSO TRYING TO SAY IT'S NOT A FLASH IN THE PAN.
WE HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY MEETING OUR MILESTONES, WHICH ALSO GIVES US, UH, CONFIDENCE.
OKAY, SO I WANT TO SPEND MAYBE A FEW MINUTES ON THE CUTOVER PROCESS.
AND IN MY FIRST SLIDE I KIND OF TALKED ABOUT, UH, WHAT OUR SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE, UH, WHEN WE OPERATE, BUT UM, IN REALITY WE HAVE TWO SETS OF SYSTEM, UH, PRE RTC SYSTEM, SO TO SAY, AND THE RTC SYSTEM THAT WE WILL CUT OVER TO.
AND THAT'S A SYSTEM IN THE BOTTOM HERE.
UM, AND IN SOME CASES WE DON'T HAVE TWO SYSTEMS LIKE THE, LIKE SETTLEMENTS WHERE THERE IS ONE SYSTEM OR AIR CODE.COM OR WEBPAGE OR OUR DATA WAREHOUSE.
SO IN THOSE SYSTEMS, WE WILL JUST DEPLOY CODE WHEN WE DO THE CUTOVER.
AND, UM, UM, ONE THING I WANT TO CLARIFY IS THAT THIS IS ULTIMATELY A VERY SIMPLIFIED PICTURE.
SO, SO I DON'T WANT TO CREATE AN IMPRESSION THAT THE WHOLE CUTOVER IS SO SIMPLE, JUST THROW A COUPLE OF SWITCHES AND WE ARE DONE.
UM, BUT I'M TRYING TO SIMPLIFY THIS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, BUT AT THE SAME TIME ALSO SAY THAT WE ARE VERY CONFIDENT ABOUT THIS.
UM, AND FOR THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS TOO, UM, SOME OF THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS HAVE VENDORS WHERE THE RTC CHANGES ARE JUST IMPLEMENTED AS A FLAG, WHEREAS SOME MARKET PARTICIPANTS SIMILAR TO US HAVE A PRE RTC SYSTEM AND A, UM, RTC SYSTEM THAT WHICH MEANS THAT THEY TOO HAVE TO DO A EQUIVALENT OF A CUTOVER.
UM, AND ONE THING THAT WE HAVE DONE IS THAT WE HAVE TELEMETRY FEEDING
[01:00:01]
TO BOTH OUR SYSTEMS AND WITH ALL THE TESTS THAT ARE HAPPENING IN VARIOUS STAGES, UH, WE ARE TODAY SENDING REPORTS TO THE, UM, OUR PORTAL THAT MARKET PARTICIPANTS CAN LOOK AND EVALUATE.AND, AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE ACTUAL CUTOVER, SOME OF THOSE PROCESSES WILL GO AWAY.
SO WHAT DOES THAT CUTOVER LOOK LIKE? SIM IN A VERY SIMPLIFIED WAY, IT TURNS OFF THE SWITCHES TO OUR CURRENT SWITCH SYSTEMS CURRENT PRE RTC SYSTEM, AND WE TURN ON THE SWITCHES FOR THE RTC SYSTEM AND FOR THE SYSTEMS WHERE THERE ARE NO SWITCH SYSTEM TO SWITCH OVER TO, WE'LL JUST DEPLOY ADDITIONAL CHANGES THAT IT NEEDS TO.
ROUGHLY HOW MANY OF THOSE KARU POINTS ARE THERE IN, IN, IN THIS PROCESS? I THINK WE HAVE PAGES AND PAGES BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE A TRUE INTEGRATION LAYER, WE HAVE DATABASE LINKS BETWEEN MANY SYSTEMS. SO ALL THOSE DATABASE LINKS NEED TO BE SWAPPED.
SO, SO THERE ARE, I NOT KNOW IN TERMS OF STEPS, UM, BUT IT'S UH, QUITE ELABORATE, BUT I'M, I'M THINKING ABOUT EXTERNALLY.
I MEAN, WHEN YOU, OH, WHEN YOU CUT OVER A MARKET PARTICIPANT, WHAT DOES THAT ACTUALLY MEAN? DO YOU CUT OVER TELEMETRY AND CUT OVER SIGNALING BACK TO THEM OR DO YOU, DO YOU HAVE MULTIPLE STEPS INVOLVED IN THAT? AND I THINK HOW DO YOU SEQUENCE THOSE? THE, UH, THE, WHAT WE HAVE MADE IT IS VERY SIMPLE FOR THE MARKET PARTS BECAUSE THE TELEMETRY FOR THE NEW SYSTEM AND OLD SYSTEM, THEY'RE ALL COMING IN IN PARALLEL, SO THERE'S NO TELEMETRY TO CUT OVER.
SO THE, SO WE HAVE DESIGNED IT SO THAT THE CUT OVER IS AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE FOR THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS.
BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE OUR RISK IS INTERNALLY.
WE CAN MANAGE ALL OUR PRO ISSUES.
UM, WHEN COULD YOU WANNA ADD, AND THEN JOHN, ON THE MARKET PARTICIPANT SIDE, UH, MOST OF THEM HAVE JUST A FLAG PRE R-T-C-R-T-C, AND UH, SO WHEN WE SAY WE ARE READY TO GO, THEY JUST TURN ON THAT FLAG OR TURN OFF, THAT'S ALL.
YEAH, EXCEPT FOR THE FEW THAT HAVE A TWO SYSTEMS, BUT THAT'S A FEW NUMBER OF SYSTEMS AND WE TESTED ALL OF THAT AND THEY ALL WENT, UH, VERY WELL.
BUT, BUT AGAIN, MATT WILL TALK A LOT MORE ABOUT THOSE KIND OF STUFF TOO TOMORROW, HOW THAT WENT.
I JUST WANNA CHECK MY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU, YOU, HOW YOU ANSWERED THE QUESTION.
YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S ONLY BASICALLY ONE CONNECTION TO A MARKET PARTICIPANT ONE.
WELL, WE HAVE ONE LINE OF, WE HAVE TELEMETRY COMING, RIGHT? THAT DOESN'T CHANGE.
RIGHT? WHICH, THAT IS THE REAL TIME TELEMETRY DATA THAT'S COMING THAT'S ALREADY SET UP.
UM, BUT FOR THE MARKET PARTICIPANTS WHERE THERE IS A SYSTEM CHANGE, THEY'LL HAVE TO DO A CUT OVER INTERNALLY, BUT FOR MOST PEOPLE IT IS JUST GOING TO BE A FLAG THAT THEY JUST SAY, OOPS, I'M GOING TO USE RTC SOFTWARE.
NOW IT'S A, THERE MIGHT BE SEPARATE COMMUNICATIONS ON THE SETTLEMENT SIDE FROM THE 10 TELEMETRY SIDE.
YEAH, SO ON THE, WE DIDN'T DO SETTLEMENT TESTING OR SWITCH OVER OUR SETTLEMENTS FOR THE CLOSED LOOP.
UM, BUT OUR MARKET PARTICIPANTS ARE NOT DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO A SETTLEMENT SIDE.
SO, SO, SO THERE IS THE BID SUBMISSION PROCESS, WHICH, UM, WHICH THEY WILL ACCOUNT FOR.
THEY MAY HAVE PARALLEL BIDS THAT THEY SUBMIT BOTH IN COP AND UH, FOR RTC, BUT AS FAR AS THE SETTLEMENTS THAT'S INTERNAL TO US, THE SWITCH OVER WILL BE TRANSPARENT TO THE, UH, MARKET PARTICIPANTS.
UH, MATT, FEEL FREE TO ADD SOMETHING OR IF ANYTHING I HAVE MISSPOKEN.
UM, BUT UH, LIKE I SAID, HE WILL GO THROUGH A LOT OF THIS THING TOMORROW AS WELL.
MATT MARINA ERCOT, UM, I THINK THE, THE ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE, WE ARE ABLE TO DECOUPLE AND KEEP THE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM OFF TO THE SIDE BECAUSE WE ACTUALLY PAID ON THE CURRENT SYSTEM MARKET PRICES.
SO I THINK THAT MAYBE THAT'S THE DISCONNECT.
SO THE TWO AIRPLANES ARE FLYING SIDE BY SIDE.
THE EMS SYSTEMS ARE CONNECTED WITH A SINGLE PIPE OF TELEMETRY AND WE SHARE IT, IT ACTUALLY CARPOOLS AND HAS RTC AND PRE RTC DATA FLOWING THROUGH WHEN IT COMES TO THE ECONOMIC OFFERS, THAT'S A SEPARATE PORTAL, SEPARATE CHANNEL.
SO THEY'VE BEEN FLYING THOSE TWO AIRPLANES, SO THEY SWITCHED TO USE THE ONE, BUT ACTUALLY THE MARKET WAS ABLE TO PRE-POPULATE IT AS WE WENT INTO THE TEST BECAUSE YOU CAN SUBMIT STUFF INTO THE FUTURE.
SO EVERYONE WAS POSTURING TO BE READY FOR THE TEST, BUT THEN WHEN IT COMES TO REPORTS, SETTLEMENTS, NETWORK MODEL, ALL THOSE OTHER THINGS ARE OFF TO THE SIDE THAT IS JUST THE PINNACLE OF THOSE TWO CRITICAL SYSTEMS THAT RAN DURING THE TEST.
SIR, I THINK THAT THAT ANSWERS MY QUESTION TOO, I THINK.
SO, UH, IN THIS SLIDE, UH, YOU KNOW, WHILE I WAS TRYING TO SAY THE CUTOVER IS SIMPLE, THIS SLIDE ACTUALLY ILLUSTRATES THAT, UM, HOW REALLY LONG OUR
[01:05:01]
CUTOVER PROCESS IS.AND REALLY OUR CUTOVER PROCESS WILL START WITH A GO NO GO DECISION AS EARLY AS, UH, UM, END OF NOVEMBER, UM, STARTING WITH MARKET NOTICES THAT WE NEED TO SEND OUT, UM, 10 DAY MARKET NOTICES THAT THAT'LL BE THE FIRST THING THAT THE MARKET WILL SEE.
BUT THE, THE CUTOVER PROCESS THAT I DESCRIBED IS REALLY IN THAT PINK WINDOW.
BUT IN THE MEANTIME, WE WILL HAVE PARALLEL MARKET SUBMISSIONS, INCLUDING COP IN PLACE FOR BOTH THE PRE RTC SYSTEMS AS WELL AS THE RTC SYSTEM.
AND ON DECEMBER FOUR, THE DAY BEFORE, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL HAVE A CHECKPOINT FOLLOWED BY MARKET NOTICES.
AND, UH, YOU CHECK WITH A CONTROL ROOM, HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT IT AND ALL THAT KIND OF, UH, LAST MINUTE CHECK.
IF THE WEATHER IS NOT CONDUCIVE, WE MAY HAVE REASONS TO HOLD OFF.
SO ALL THOSE KIND OF THINGS ARE UNKNOWN.
BUT, UH, IF ALL GOES WELL AND WE HAVE THE GO AHEAD, WE WILL START THAT PROCESS.
SO ON DECEMBER 4TH, WE WILL HAVE A DAY AHEAD MARKET WITH THE PRE RTC SYSTEM, BUT WE'LL SETTLE WITH AN RTC SETTLEMENT, UM, WITH THE INTERNAL DATA FAIR THINGS.
BUT ON THE MIDNIGHT OF DECEMBER FOUR, OR MORNING OF DECEMBER FIVE, WE WILL CUT OVER TO THE NEW SYSTEM BASED ON THE PROCESS I KIND OF DESCRIBED AND AT, THAT'S A POINT WHERE WE WILL RUN SCARED AND HR WITH THE NEW SYSTEM.
AND DECEMBER FIVE WILL BE THE FIRST DAY THAT WE RUN DAY HEAD MARKET WITH THE NEW SYSTEM, BUT FOR WHICH MEANS THAT'S FOR THE OPERATING DAY DECEMBER 6TH.
NOW, ONE THING TO HIGHLIGHT HERE IS THAT CUT BACK WINDOW FOR CRITICAL ISSUES AND BE LIKELY BE FOR THE FIRST FEW HOURS AFTER MIDNIGHT THAT WE LABELED AS A CRITICAL SYSTEM STABILIZATION.
AND BEYOND THAT, IF, IF WE DON'T HAVE ISSUES, UH, IF WE FIND ISSUES, WE ARE MORE LIKELY GOING TO FIX THE ISSUE ON THE SPOT AND TRYING TO CUT BACK.
BECAUSE AS MORE AND MORE TIME GOES BY, IT'S HARDER AND HARDER TO CUT BACK FOR EVERYBODY BECAUSE IT'S NOT JUST AN INTERNAL AIRCRAFT THING, IT'S ACROSS THE BOARD AND WE WILL BE EVALUATING WHAT, WHAT ARE THE ISSUES THAT WE'VE SEEN AND WE'LL FIX IT.
AND, AND TO THAT POINT, UM, I JUST WANT TO EXPRESS THE CONFIDENCE WE HAVE IN OUR TEAM.
UM, AND, AND IF YOU RECALL, FOR EXAMPLE, THE MARKET ISSUES WE HAD WHEN WE, OUR INTENTION NUMBERS, UH, STOPPED ROLLING.
I MEAN THAT'S AN EXAMPLE OF UH, UM, YOU KNOW, AN UNKNOWN THING THAT OUR TEAM REACTED TO AND FIXED VERY QUICKLY.
AND THIS IS THE SAME TEAM THAT WE HAVE EFFECTIVELY HERE.
AND, UH, I'M VERY CONFIDENT OF OUR TEAM TO FIX ISSUES GOING FORWARD.
BUT THAT BEING SAID, IF WE FIND THAT WE REALLY HAVE TO ROLL BACK, WE WILL.
BUT, UM, BUT I'M JUST AS CONFIDENT THAT WE'LL JUST FIX ISSUES LOOKING FORWARD AND GIVEN THAT WE WILL NOT FOUND ANY ISSUES.
SO I'LL JUST LEAVE WITH THAT AS WELL.
NOW LASTLY, I DO WANT TO SAY THAT WE DO HAVE A SECOND, UH, CLOSED LOOP TEST PLANNED END OF OCTOBER.
UM, AND LIKELY THE ANALYSIS FROM THAT WILL CONTINUE INTO THE FIRST WEEK OF NOVEMBER.
SO IT'S PRACTICALLY DIFFICULT TO PLAN ANY KIND OF ACCELERATION FROM OUR SCHEDULED DECEMBER FIVE GO LIVE.
'CAUSE I GET THIS QUESTION THAT, YOU KNOW, IF EVERYTHING'S GOING WELL, YOU DON'T HAVE DEFECTS, WE ARE NOT ADDING MORE SCOPE, THEN WHY NOT ACCELERATE OR GO LIVE? OKAY? SO, UM, BUT IT'S STILL A QUESTION WORTH ASKING THAT CAN WE GO LIVE IF THERE ARE NO DEFECTS? AND IF OUR MARKET PARTICIPANTS ARE WILLING, MAYBE THERE'S A SHOT TO TAKE, BUT AT LEAST IT MIGHT HIGHLIGHT WHAT ARE THE ISSUES THAT ARE RISKY AND WE CAN FOCUS ON THAT.
BUT IT'S HARD TO CHANGE ALL THIS PLANNING ON A DIME, BUT IT'S MAYBE WORTH ASKING THAT QUESTION JUST TO KNOW WHERE EVERYBODY IS.
UM, LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MATT OR ME.
UM, BUT I'LL JUST CUT TO THE RISK SIDE THAT, UM, UM, I THINK THAT THE, THE, UH, CHANGE FROM LAST TIME YOU'VE SEEN IS THAT ANY IMPACT FROM A LOSS OF KEY RESOURCES HIGHER THAN EVER AS WE GO CLOSER TO GO LIVE, UM, JUST BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO MISS THAT WINDOW FOR DECEMBER FIVE.
IF YOU, IF YOU HAVE FLEXIBILITY ON TIME, IT'S NOT AS MUCH OF A PROBLEM.
BUT IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THE SAME TIME AND IF YOU LOSE KEY RESOURCE, OBVIOUSLY IT'S A RISK IS, IS THAT HUMAN RESOURCE YOU'RE REFERRING TO THERE? YES.
AND UH, WE ALSO ADDED A NEW RISK ABOUT TESTING AND DEFECT RESOLUTION.
IT'S KIND OF, UH, VARIATION OF THAT, THAT OBVIOUSLY IF YOU FIND SOMETHING NEW TOWARDS GO LIVE THAT IS UH, YOU KNOW, SEVERITY ONE OR TWO KIND OF DEFECT THAT HOLDS UP OUR GO LIVE, THAT'S A NEW RISK
[01:10:01]
THAT WE ARE TRACKING.AND ANOTHER POSSIBILITY OF THAT RISK IS IF YOU HAVE FOR SOME REASON AN UNCONTROLLED CHANGE THAT WENT IN AND WE ARE LOCKING DOWN EVERY CHANGE THAT COMES IN, REVIEWING EVERY REQUIREMENT, ASK THAT PEOPLE ARE MAKING, WHETHER IT'S, YOU KNOW, UM, THROUGH OUR PROJECT PROCESS.
SO WE ARE LOCKING DOWN THAT SO WE AVOID THAT KIND OF RISK AS WELL.
LET ME KNOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ON RTC.
JP, HOW MANY FTES DO YOU HAVE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PROJECT? I THINK EVERYONE IN THE COMPANY SEEMS TO BE WORKING ON IT, BUT UM, I THINK, UH, WE HAVE UPWARDS OF A HUNDRED, UH, MATT OR I'M AT, OKAY.
BILLING TO THE PROJECT RIGHT NOW IS ABOUT 300 FTES OUT OF THE THOUSAND STAFF.
SO WHERE ARE YOU GETTING PRESSURE TO ACCELERATE DECEMBER FIVE? BECAUSE YOU'RE TRYING, IT'S NOT JUST THE ERCOT IMPLEMENTATION, IT'S A ENTIRE STAKEHOLDER GROUP IMPLEMENTATION.
THERE IS NO PRESSURE, THERE IS NO PRESSURE, BUT THE QUESTION, THERE'S QUESTION THAT ASKED, RIGHT? THAT HEY, WE ARE, IF YOU'RE DOING WELL AND WE ARE NOT ADDING MORE SCOPE, THEN WHAT ARE WE DOING BETWEEN MID-OCTOBER AND DECEMBER FIVE? YOU'RE LETTING THE REST OF THE ME STAKEHOLDER MEMBERS GET READY FOR DECEMBER FIVE WOULD BE MY ANSWER.
IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT ERCOT AT THIS POINT, RIGHT? YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.
SO, BUT IT MAY BE, WE JUST BE GOOD TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION TO MAKE SURE IF WE SAY NOVEMBER 15, WHERE IS EVERYBODY? BECAUSE THAT HIGHLIGHTS, WHAT'S THAT REMAINING WORK BETWEEN DECEM NOVEMBER 15 AND DECEMBER FIVE THAT WE CAN FOCUS ON AND TRACK BETTER, AT LEAST A THOUGHT EXERCISE.
SO I DON'T THINK YOUR MIC IS ON.
JUST TO BUILD ON WHAT JULIE SAID, YOU HAVE A CRITICAL PATH CALCULATED AND THAT CRITICAL PATH ISN'T SHORTENED BY THE FACT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE A DEFECT.
SO YOU JUST, AND THE CRITICAL PATH IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT'S DEPENDENT ON THINGS HITTING AT THE RIGHT TIME.
SO THAT'S THE ANSWER, WHICH IS WHAT JULIE WAS SAYING.
AND JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ON SCHEDULE DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN CUT, YOU CAN SHORTEN THINGS.
[7. Future Agenda Items]
THE NEXT ITEM IS ALSO WITH JP AND YEAH, IT WILL BE QUICK AGENDA, I THINK.WELL THIS IS OUR LOOKING AT THE FUTURE, UM, AGENDA ITEMS AND, AND UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT JP AND I HAVE DISCUSSED IS SORT OF OUR ROADMAP FOR AI TECHNOLOGY WITHIN THE FIRM.
WE'VE HAD A COUPLE OF PRESENTATIONS ON AI FROM THE GUYS AT GEORGIA TECH ABOUT A YEAR AGO, I GUESS, BUT IT FEELS LIKE IT'S TIME FOR US TO REALLY START TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE AI ROADMAP FOR ERCOT IS AND WILL BE.
UM, SO THAT'S CERTAINLY ONE TOPIC THAT WE'VE STARTED TO DISCUSS.
UM, ARE THERE OTHER IDEAS THAT BOARD MEMBERS WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM THE TEAM ON? WELL, I WOULD LIKE TO, UM, MAYBE SHED SOME LIGHT ON AI.
SO IT'S CAN BE ADOPTED IN A LOT OF DIFFERENT WAYS AND I'M SURE YOU'RE ALREADY EXPERIMENTING WITH THAT.
UH, WHEN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR AI PLANS, PLEASE SPECIFICALLY SPIKE OUT HOW YOU'RE APPLYING IT TO TESTING.
THAT, THAT'S A COMMON PLACE FOR A LOT OF, UH, SOFTWARE INTENSE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN STARTED.
AND I THINK YOU'RE GONNA FIND THAT THEY'RE ALREADY DOING SOME OF THAT.
I THINK THE REALLY INTERESTING QUESTIONS THOUGH ARE WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT AI WITH RESPECT TO THE OPERATIONAL SYSTEMS OF THE BUSINESS, THINGS WE'VE JUST BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
THERE WERE SOME OTHER TOPICS I THINK CHAD BROUGHT UP ABOUT ESRS.
I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S A FUTURE TOPIC AS WELL.
UM, I, I JUST LIKE TO HAVE MULTIPLE THINGS, ESPECIALLY FOR THE EXTERNAL SPEAKER SO THAT I CAN GO FIND THE SPEAKERS.
IS THERE ANY TOPIC FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE THAT THE BOARD IS, UH, COMMITTEE IS INTERESTED IN? WELL, I DID RECENTLY TALK TO THE DEAN OF ENGINEERING AT TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY AND THEY HAVE A STANDALONE MICROGRID WHERE THEY'RE TESTING, UH, FOR RESILIENCY AND STABILIZATION.
SO THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE OF INTEREST TO YOU.
I'VE SENT YOU THE CONTACT INFORMATION.
I'LL FOLLOW UP ON THAT, UH, FOR THE EXTERNAL SPEAKER.
UM, ANYTHING ELSE, LINDA, BILL? NOPE.
ALRIGHT, I THINK WE ARE NOW AT THE END OF THE REGULAR SESSION.
[Convene Executive Session]
TO EXECUTIVE SESSION, TAKE A FIVE MINUTE BREAK AS WE SWITCH OFF, SWAG IT AND ALL THAT KINDA STUFF.SO IF YOU WANT TO GRAB A COFFEE AND WE'LL START BACK IN HERE AT ABOUT, UM, NINE 50.