PJM is looking to improve the deployment of synchronized reserves during a spin event, but some stakeholders are questioning whether the timing of the issue is appropriate given major changes in the reserve market next year.

Mike Zhang, PJM senior engineer of markets coordination, provided a first read of a problem statement and issue charge during last week’s Operating Committee meeting.

Synchronized reserve events are emergency procedures triggered by PJM to maintain grid reliability in accordance with NERC’s Resource and Demand Balancing (BAL) standards. Such procedures are caused by a variety of conditions, including loss of generation by multiple units going offline at the same time or a sudden influx of load.

Zhang said real-time security-constrained economic dispatch (RT SCED) cases are generally not used by PJM during an emergency event, which can lead to problems like unpredictable levels of unit response and a mixture of over- and under-response across various units.

Zhang said PJM dispatchers have been seeing a pattern of a slow initial recovery period followed by extended over response after the emergency event is over. Because tools like RT SCED are not utilized during an event, Zhang said, pricing and dispatch signals are still from a pre-event RT SCED case and often conflict with all-call instructions because the signals don’t go away immediately.

PJM is looking for controlled deployment of synchronized reserves throughout emergency events by utilizing tools like RT SCED to have consistent pricing and dispatch signals. The goal is to also ensure BAL compliance during recovery and a reliable transition in and out of emergency events.

Key work activities include review and education on existing actions and expectations for synchronized reserve events, and analysis of metrics and data on previous emergency events. PJM also wants to develop solutions and timelines for the overall synchronized reserve deployment process, including the deployment method, the expectations of resources and the evaluation of performance.

The existing performance penalty structure is not in scope for the issue, Zhang said, as PJM views it is adequate.

“We have a variety of metrics and historical data to draw from, and hopefully we can utilize that to get us started,” Zhang said.

PJM’s proposed approach to the issue calls for convening a task force within the OC to recommend potential changes to resource expectations during events. The estimated work schedule is between six to 12 months after endorsement.

One stakeholder said the timing of the work by the task force may be complicated by PJM’s revised operating reserve demand curve (ORDC), set to go into place by the middle of 2022. The stakeholder said he’s hoping the price signals from the ORDC will change whether the events PJM are worried about will even need to be called. (See FERC Approves PJM Reserve Market Overhaul.)

“I’m not sure that you need to still do all-calls, or at least the need would be different,” he said. “And I don’t see that anywhere in the issue charge.”

Zhang said PJM still believes the effort is beneficial even with the ORDC changes. He said those “hit at different areas” of the synchronized reserve market. This proposal revolves around the deployment of reserves, while the ORDC involves how those reserves are procured and priced, he said.

The stakeholder said he believes PJM’s analysis of the ORDC only impacting procurement and pricing is “strongly incorrect” and that all the issues are intertwined more closely. He said the key work activities should at least include an educational piece on how all-calls would work in an environment of the ORDC coming into play next year.

Adrien Ford of Old Dominion Electric Cooperative said she understood the stakeholder’s concerns and thought having education on the impact of the ORDC was important. Ford said the reserve price formation changes set to go into effect next year are “pretty sweeping,” and education should be included in the issue charge.

“Issue charges are to explore what we need to do and not a foregone conclusion that the change would occur,” Ford said.

Stakeholders will vote on endorsement of the problem statement at the March 11 OC meeting.

Manual 40 Changes Endorsed

Stakeholders unanimously endorsed a minor change to Manual 40 as part of the periodic review.

Michael Hoke of PJM reviewed the update Manual 40: Training and Certification Requirements. In section 3.2.1: Transmission Owner Operators, a reference was added to the annual training requirements referenced in NERC standards. A second reference was added regarding using the PJM Learning Management System to track the annual task training requirement.

Hoke said the change was based on feedback from ReliabilityFirst, which expressed a desire to “see a more explicit connection” between Manual 40 and standard requirements in the matrix for transmission owners.

Resource Tracker Quick Fix

Chris Franks of PJM reviewed a “quick fix” problem statement and issue charge to update language in Manual 14D regarding the Resource Tracker application’s ownership confirmation requirement.

Franks said PJM members are responsible for maintaining complete and accurate records as stipulated in section 11.3.1(a) of the Operating Agreement. The Resource Tracker application was created in 2013 to provide a single-point location for generation owner information, Franks said, and stakeholders endorsed changes in 2018 to move the confirmation period to an annual basis with a four-week duration to enter correct information in the application. (See “Resource Tracker,” PJM Operating Committee Briefs: Nov. 6, 2018.)

The 2020 annual confirmation period opened on Oct. 1 and closed on Nov. 1, Franks said, with a total of 1,503 resources requested to confirm information. Of those resources, 60 did not confirm by Nov. 1. As of Feb. 1, four have yet to confirm information.

Franks said PJM is looking to refresh the user interface of the application to reflect similar tools used by the RTO and to add additional fields to provide contacts associated with the resources.

The proposed manual language includes changing “market participants are requested” to the “generation owner, or designated agent, is required” to confirm the resource ownership by Nov. 1.

The OC will be asked to approve the issue charge and endorse the proposed revisions as part of the “quick fix” process at the March meeting.