Below is a summary of the issues scheduled to be brought to a vote at Thursday’s Markets and Reliability Committee meeting. Each item is listed by agenda number, description and projected time of discussion, followed by a summary of the issue and links to prior coverage in PJM Insider.
Rich Heidorn will be in Wilmington covering the votes. Sign up for his Twitter feed to get real-time alerts on when these issues come up for discussion, and see next week’s newsletter for a full report.
2. PJM MANUALS (9:10-9:20)
The committee will be asked for endorsements of changes to Manual 13: Emergency Operations related to the integration of East Kentucky Power Cooperative.
East Kentucky Coop to Join PJM
Tariff Changes OK’d for East Kentucky Integration
3. SYSTEM RESTORATION STRATEGY SENIOR TASK FORCE (SRSTF) (9:20-9:50)
- Transmission operators providing cranking paths for black start generators would recover capital costs over five years under a proposal by the System Restoration Strategy Task Force that the MRC will be asked to approve. The task force rejected an alternate proposal that would have extended capital recovery over the entire asset life.
MRC First Readings: Capital Cost Recovery for Black Start Generators
- MRC will be asked to approve on first read a revised charter that will expand the scope of the task force’s work. The revised charter would include consideration of “back stop options.”
4. PROVISION OF E-TAG DATA TO ISOS, MMUS, AND FERC (9:50-10:00)
PJM needs to make revisions to the confidentiality provisions of its tariff to comply with FERC Order 771, requiring provision of E-Tag data to Independent System Operators, Market Monitoring Units and FERC.
MRC First Readings: Provision of E-Tag Data
5. FREQUENCY CAPABILITY VERIFICATION (10:00-10:15)
Ken Carretta, of PSEG, will ask the MRC to endorse a problem statement exploring whether PJM has sufficient safeguards to ensure that Emergency Demand Response resources perform as needed.
PJM expects DR to be called on increasingly in the future due to declining installed generation reserve margins. That has led to concern by some that performance may suffer as a result of DR “fatigue.”
At MRC’s March 28 meeting, curtailment service providers said that there was no evidence of “fatigue” and alleged the proposal was anticompetitive. Carretta said reporting requirements that could result from the inquiry would be no more onerous than those for generators.
Cool Reception for DR “Fatigue” Study
Demand Response Calls Expected to Grow in 2014
6. UP-TO CONGESTION TRANSACTION ENHANCEMENT (10:15-10:40)
PJM delayed a vote on its proposal to limit Up-to Congestion (UTC) bids Feb. 28 when MRC members asked for a broader review to come up with a consensus definition of the bidding technique.
PJM is proposing the cap because high bid volumes can make it difficult for the RTO’s day ahead markets software to reach solutions. Although the proposal was supported by financial market players who are the predominant users of UTC, other members balked, calling for a broader review of the impact of UTCs, which have grown in popularity since their creation in 2000.
MRC will be asked to approve bid limits similar to those that apply to increment offers and decrement bids for inclusion in Manual 11. The proposed revisions also add the following definition of Up-To Congestion transactions to the OA and Tariff:
“A Market Participant may elect to submit in the Day-ahead Energy Market a form of Virtual Transaction that combines an offer to sell energy at a source, with a bid to buy the same megawatt quantity of energy at a sink where such transaction specifies the maximum difference between the Locational Marginal Prices at the source and sink. The Office of Interconnection will schedule these transactions only to the extent this difference in Locational Marginal Prices is within the maximum amount specified by the Market Participant.”
Facing Opposition, PJM Delays UTC Cap Pending Broader Review
7. APPLICATION OF FTR FORFEITURE RULES TO UP-TO CONGESTION TRANSACTIONS (10:40-11:00)
PJM will ask MRC approval to apply FTR forfeiture rules to Up-to Congestion transactions. The action will require changes to the OA, Tariff and PJM Manual 6: Financial Transmission Rights.
The rules are intended to prevent market participants from submitting virtual bids that boost the value of their FTRs.
On March 28, the MRC rejected PJM’s proposed tariff changes specifying how the FTR forfeiture rules are applied to increment offers and decrement bids.
PJM, Monitor in Stalemate on FTR Forfeiture Rule
8. COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING COMMISSION (CFTC) EXEMPTION ORDER (11:00-11:30)
PJM announced April 7 that it may deny trading privileges to as many as 55 small market participants if they are unable to qualify for the Dodd-Frank exemption approved by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month.
MRC will be asked to approve changes to the Operating Agreement and Tariff to comply with conditions in the CFTC order and to implement PJM’s response to it.
CFTC Approves Dodd-Frank Exemption for RTOs
PJM May Bar Some Financial Players from Trading; 55 Companies Affected by Response to CFTC Order
