By Tom Kleckner
Former ERCOT staffer Carrie Bivens on Monday will begin her new role as director of the grid operator’s Independent Market Monitor.
Bivens has spent nearly 14 years with ERCOT, most recently as director of wholesale operations. She oversaw the Texas grid operator’s day-ahead market and congestion revenue rights auctions, as well as integration of load resources, distributed generation and emergency response service. As a subject matter expert in ERCOT’s stakeholder process, Bivens has made frequent appearances in recent years before both its Board of Directors and the Texas Public Utility Commission.
Virginia-based Potomac Economics has provided ERCOT’s market monitoring services since 2005 and was recently awarded another stint by the PUC, which has jurisdictional authority over the grid operator. Potomac also serves as the IMM for ISO-NE, MISO and NYISO.
Potomac interviewed the candidates and made the final selection. The PUC was given an opportunity to approve or reject the hire.
“I’m grateful to the PUC and to Potomac Economics for the trust bestowed upon me in this vital era in ERCOT as major initiatives such as real-time co-optimization of energy and ancillary services get underway,” Bivens told RTO Insider.
As the IMM’s director, Bivens will collaborate with the PUC to detect and prevent market manipulation and identify potential design improvements for the ERCOT wholesale market. She said her initial focus will be ensuring a “timely and comprehensive” State of the Market report for 2019. The report traditionally comes out in May or June.
Bivens replaces Beth Garza, who announced her departure as the IMM’s executive director in December. (See Garza Steps Down as Head of ERCOT IMM.)
Steve Reedy, who served as the IMM’s acting director following Garza’s departure, will return to his role as assistant director.
In a statement emailed to RTO Insider, ERCOT said, “Carrie Bivens’ skills as a manager and communicator are only exceeded by her intelligence and wit. The PUC could not have made a better choice, and ERCOT will miss her.”
Before coming to ERCOT, Bivens worked at FERC evaluating market-based rate filings and conducting market power analyses. She is a native Texan and a graduate from her hometown University of Houston.
