AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Public Utility Commissioner Brandy Marty Marquez quietly resigned Thursday, saying she will pursue life in the private sector after two decades of public service.
Her resignation is effective April 2.
The announcement came several hours after the PUC’s open meeting. There was little hint of what was to come during the meeting, other than when Chairman DeAnn Walker, a close friend of Marquez, choked up in announcing the commission was going into a closed session to “deliberate personnel matters.” Walker avoided looking at Marquez as she gathered her composure.
“Is that it? Can we go?” Marquez said, smiling broadly. She had already met separately with Walker and fellow Commissioner Arthur D’Andrea before the open session to tell them of her decision.
Marquez’s resignation will mean the three-person PUC has completely turned over since last May, when longtime Chair Donna Nelson left. Her departure was followed by that of Ken Anderson, who resigned after his term expired in August. They were the two longest serving commissioners in PUC history, each having served eight years or more.
Marquez was appointed to the commission in August 2013 by then-Gov. Rick Perry and reappointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in 2015. Her term was to expire in September 2019.
She said in a statement she leaves the commission knowing it will continue to serve Texas “with fairness under the principled leadership” of Walker and D’Andrea.
“Supported by the best staff of any Texas agency, the PUC will continue working tirelessly on behalf of stakeholders and consumers,” Marquez said. “I am honored to have served my fellow Texans. I leave with a happy heart.”
Despite speculation that she would return to the political arena, Marquez said she plans to enter the private sector. She served as Perry’s policy director during his successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign and was his chief of staff during Texas’ 83rd legislative session. The Legislature next meets in January 2019.
“The state of Texas has benefited greatly from the more than 17 years of dedicated service from Brandy Marquez,” Abbott said. “Her commitment and passion for public service have been on full display throughout her impressive career. I commend Brandy for her extraordinary accomplishments during her tenure as commissioner.”
While at the commission, Marquez also served on the Texas Reliability Entity, which serves as the PUC’s reliability monitor for the ERCOT region and enforces NERC standards.
Commission Directs ERCOT to Revise ORDC
The PUC directed ERCOT to begin the process of removing reliability unit commitment (RUC) capacity from the ISO’s operating reserve demand curve (ORDC), which creates a real-time price adder to reflect the value of available reserves and is meant to incentivize resources to produce more energy and reserves (Project No. 47199).
Marquez said her preference was to wait until after the summer, when operating reserves are expected to be tight, but she joined with Walker and D’Andrea in the decision.
“I think taking out the RUC is the right thing to do,” Walker said. “I don’t think it’s going to make a significant difference for the summer, but it sends the signal we’re fully supportive of the energy-only market, and we will stand behind it.
“I want to be clear that this decision is based on what I believe is the correct decision, and not because anyone has made me believe this,” she continued. “I’ve been there a long time, and I didn’t need help getting there.”
“I can’t envision anybody … who believes in this market that wouldn’t support this change,” Marquez said. “We’ve never gone into a summer like this. It will be an incredible learning opportunity for our market. Anything we’re preparing for now will potentially look very different after August.”
PUC staff have also recommended removing the RUC and reliability-must-run capacity from the ORDC, saying it would ensure that scarcity pricing is accurate and reflective of market dynamics. Some market participants have pushed back, sharing Marquez’s view that it would be best to wait until after the summer to make the change. (See “Participants Caution Against Market Changes Before Summer,” Overheard at the Infocast ERCOT Market Summit.)
ERCOT staff filed a report with the PUC on March 2 that indicates removing RUC capacity from the ORDC would have provided generators an additional $6.6 million and $18.6 million in revenue in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Given that total generator revenues in ERCOT were about $8.4 billion in 2016 and $9.5 billion in 2017, the adders respectively represented about 0.07% and 0.2% of total revenue, staff said.
The ISO study estimated it would cost $15,000 to $25,000 to modify ERCOT’s systems to remove online RUC and RMR resources from the ORDC capacity value, and could be done internally within 60 days.
ERCOT will include the revised protocol language for its April 10 Board of Directors meeting.
PUC to Intervene at FERC in MISO’s Docket
Following the PUC’s executive session, Walker announced the commission would be intervening in MISO’s application before FERC to create targeted market efficiency projects, a new category of small interregional transmission projects (ER18-867).
Walker also said Thomas Gleeson, the commission’s director of finance and administration, will serve as its interim executive director until a full-time replacement can be found. Brian Lloyd resigned from the position March 1, after seven years. (See Texas PUC Executive Director to Resign.)
— Tom Kleckner
