Below is a summary of the issues scheduled to be brought to a vote at the Markets and Reliability Committee Thursday. 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 RTO Insider.

RTO Insider will be in Wilmington covering the discussions and votes. See next Tuesday’s newsletter for a full report.

2. PJM Manuals (9:10-9:30) — The committee will be asked to endorse the following manual changes:

1. Manual 36: System Restoration: Annual update of manual as required by NERC Standards EOP-005-2 (R3) and EOP-006-2 (R3).
2. Manual 03: Transmission Operations: Updates to special protection schemes, operating procedures, etc.
3. Manual 28: Operating Agreement Accounting:Changes resulting from the Settlements Formulation Review project — including revisions regarding calculation of regulation lost opportunity cost credits during shoulder hours — and other clean-up items.
4. Manual 18: PJM Capacity Market: Revisions developed by the Demand Response Subcommittee that would allow a curtailment service provider to add additional MWs as “existing” for offer into RPM auction through an exception process, if the nominated amount on the registration is low because the peak load contribution is low due to a load data anomaly. The current process does not allow for exception for one-time events such as power outages or major equipment failure.
5. Manual 33: Administrative Services for the PJM Interconnection Operating Agreement: Sets forth rules for communicating with electric distribution companies and reallocating load reallocation due to defaults by load serving entities. (See PJM Considers New Rules on Defaults.)
6. DR Operational Enhancements: Changes to Manuals 11: Energy & Ancillary Services Market Operations, 13: Emergency Operations, 18: PJM Capacity Market, 19: Load Forecasting and Analysis, and 28: Operating Agreement Accounting. The changes will implement a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order approving most of PJM’s proposal for making demand response an “operational resource.” The order (ER14-822) allows operators to dispatch DR before emergencies, reduces default notice times to 30 minutes from as long as two hours and reduces minimum run times to one hour from two. It also includes an escalating price cap based on notice requirements. (See PJM Wins on DR, Loses on Arbitrage Fix in Late FERC Rulings.)
7. PJM Regional Practices: Removes a requirement that all interchange transactions be at least 45 minutes long to comply with an April 17 FERC ruling. FERC ruled PJM’s 45-minute rule did not comply with Order 764, which required 15-minute energy scheduling intervals with 20-minute notifications. The order, issued in 2012, is intended to remove barriers to variable generation sources such as wind. PJM removed the 45-minute restriction from the EES application and from the Regional Practices document effective May 19. The MRC will be asked to endorse these revisions at first reading, due to the implementation date required in the FERC order. (See FERC Rejects PJM Schedule Rules.)

3. Regionial Planning Process Senior Task Force (RPPTF) (9:30-10:00)

The committee will be asked to approve Operating Agreement and Tariff revisions related to “multi-driver” transmission projects under an approach developed by the RPPTF. Members of the task force expressed overwhelming support for the changes in a poll in March. But a parallel initiative by the Transmission Owners Agreement Administrative Committee (TOs) to incorporate multi-driver projects in Schedule 12 of the Tariff has caused unease among some state regulators. On May 22, the TOs issued a notice that they had revised their proposed changes based on feedback from members. (See Conflict Ahead for States, TOs over ‘Multi-Driver’?)

4. Frequently Mitigated Units (FMU) (10:00-10:20)

The committee will vote on proposed rule changes to reduce “adder” payments to frequently mitigated generation units (FMUs). Three generator-backed proposals won at least 60% support from the Market Implementation Committee on May 7 and are eligible to be considered by the MRC. The MIC rejected a joint proposal from PJM and the Market Monitor. (See Members Reject PJM-IMM Plan on FMUs.)

5. Energy and Reserves Pricing and Interchange Volatility (ERPIV) (10:20-10:50)

Members will vote on PJM’s plan for cutting uplift and capturing reserve costs in energy prices. The proposal was developed during special sessions of the MIC. (See PJM Reserve Proposal OK’d Despite Misgivings.)

6. Auction Specific Transactions in RPM (10:50-11:05)

The committee will consider a problem statement and issue charge proposed by Barry Trayers of Citigroup Energy Inc. to consider changing rules that are making it difficult for banks to purchase capacity providers’ revenue streams. (See Bankers: Change Timing on Capacity Revenue Reassignments.)

7. Revisions to definition of Zonal Base Load (OA 1.3.39) (11:05-11:20)

Stakeholders will consider a revised definition of zonal base load to ensure zones don’t lose Auction Revenue Rights due to anomalies caused by storms or other extraordinary events. (See Superstorm Sandy Stirs Change to Zonal Base Load Definition.)

8. FTR Market Enhancements (11:20-11:35)

The committee will be asked to approve a problem statement and issue charge presented by Executive Vice President for Markets Andy Ott on first reading. The initiative will attempt to address the underfunding of Financial Transmission Rights. (See FTR Holders Seek Shortfall Fix.)