Texas regulators last week postponed action on improvements to ERCOT’s day-ahead market (DAM), citing potential delays to implementing the real-time co-optimization (RTC) of energy and ancillary services (48540).
During the Texas Public Utility Commission’s open meeting Thursday, PUC Chair DeAnn Walker said she had met with ERCOT staff earlier in the week. Walker said she was told that incorporating DAM improvements along with RTC would cause a two-year delay in the latter’s implementation.
“ERCOT told me there would be a delay in opening the hood,” Walker said. “Fixing [the DAM] at the same time doesn’t fit in there. I’d rather have them focusing on real-time co-optimization than coming up with a solution on this.”
ERCOT says it could deploy RTC by mid-2024, keeping it on the same timeline with upgrades to the grid operator’s core energy management system. (See ERCOT Real-time Co-optimization Falls into Place.)
Walker said delaying day-ahead improvements would give ERCOT’s market participants and the Independent Market Monitor time to determine how they want to move forward.
“This is not anywhere close to being thought through,” she said. “I think they can do this in the regular stakeholder process.”
Rate Case Recovery Remanded Back
The commission remanded back to docket management Southwestern Electric Power Co.’s request to recover $3.9 million in rate case expenses, asking the parties involved to seek a settlement (47141).
Walker told fellow Commissioners Arthur D’Andrea and Shelly Botkin she has long been concerned with the methods used by utilities to recover rate case expenses.
“We would be approving ratepayer expenses that have nothing to do [with the case]. To me, they seem to be the cost of doing business,” Walker said. “The goal by utilities is to recover every single penny over a period of time. If that’s the goal, then we have to start seriously looking at the risks involved when setting their [returns on equity].”
Commission staff, SWEPCO, the municipal group Cities Advocating Reasonable Deregulation (CARD), the Office of Public Utility Counsel and Texas Industrial Energy Consumers had reached a settlement over rate case expenses incurred through June 30, 2018, in dockets 46449 and 48233.
The commission’s remand asked the parties to reach an agreement that will “fully and finally resolve all issues concerning SWEPCO and CARD’s rate case expenses.” If they are unable to do so, they will request that the case be sent to the State Office of Administrative Hearings for a hearing.
SWEPCO, Entergy Get TCRF Approvals
The PUC approved transmission-cost recovery factor (TCRF) modifications for SWEPCO (49042) and Entergy Texas (49057). The changes will result in TCRF annual revenue requirements of $11.5 million for SWEPCO and $2.7 million for Entergy.
— Tom Kleckner
