Below is a summary of the issues scheduled to be brought to a vote at the Markets and Reliability and Members committees 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.

Markets and Reliability Committee

2. PJM Manuals (9:10-9:30)

1. Members will vote on endorsing revisions to Manual 01: Control Center and Data Exchange Requirements and Manual 14D: Generator Operational Requirements that incorporate requirements for installation of SynchroPhasor Measurement Units (“PMU”) at new generation interconnections. Related Tariff changes were approved by members last June and approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in February. The requirements apply to interconnection customers entering the new services queue on or after Oct. 1, 2012 with facilities with a maximum output of 100 MW or greater. (See Members Approve PMU Requirement.)
2. Members will be asked to endorse changes to Manual 01: Control Center and Data Exchange Requirements and Manual 14D: Generator Operational Requirements governing rules for members wishing to purchase access to the PJMNet data feed. (See Final OK for Membership Inquiry, PJMNet.)

3. Designated Entity and Interconnection Coordination Agreements (9:30-9:45)

Members will be asked to approve the proposed Designated Entity Agreement (DEA) and Interconnection Coordination Agreement (ICA) developed by the Regional Planning Process Task Force (RPPTF).

The documents define the duties, accountabilities and obligations of companies designated to build and operate transmission projects awarded under the competitive rules of FERC Order 1000. They include project scope, planning criteria, development schedules, project milestones and terms and conditions. The committee will also be asked to sunset the RPPTF.

FERC ordered PJM to file the DEA for commission approval by July 14. (See: 147 FERC ¶61,128).

4. MOPR Unit Specific Review (9:45-10:00)

PJM’s chief economist Paul Sotkiewicz will seek MRC approval for a joint PJM-Independent Market Monitor proposal to improve unit-specific reviews under the Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR). The proposal is intended to develop more standardized assumptions and reduce PJM-IMM discretion. It would require use of nominal levelized values, a 20-year asset life and a residual value of zero. It would also bar inclusion of sunk costs.

The proposal received the support of 72% of participants in a poll by the Capacity Senior Task Force. An alternative by PSEG Energy Resources & Trade won 64% support and may be brought to a vote if the PJM-IMM proposal fails. PSEG says it would use the best available evidence of the developer’s costs, while the PJM-IMM proposal would provide developers incentives to understate costs. The PSEG proposal also makes the main cost element publicly available, unlike the PJM-IMM plan, under which key cost items are confidential and cannot be challenged by other stakeholders. (See comparison in MOPR Unit Specific Review Matrix.)

5. RPM Supply Curve Transparency (10:00-10:15)

The MRC will vote on a proposal supported by Exelon and opposed by the Market Monitor to create more informative supply curves from capacity auctions. The measure was approved by the Market Implementation Committee with only 54% support, short of the two-thirds sector-weighted vote it will need to clear the MRC.

Stakeholders had approved a problem statement by Exelon on the issue without opposition last June. But support for the change eroded after Market Monitor Joe Bowring signaled his opposition, saying it could reveal sensitive data about price-quantity offers and cause collusion among generators. Load representatives opposing the change cited Bowring’s concerns and news reports indicating Exelon had helped boost clearing prices in the May auction by offering 4,255 MW of nuclear capacity at the maximum price allowed. (See Load Balks at Supply Curve Fix in Response to Auction Strategies.)

6. Forward Price Projection Performance (10:15-10:30)

PJM’s Becky Carroll will ask for MRC approval to proceed with implementation of the new Coordinated Transaction Schedule (CTS) product for trading between PJM and the New York ISO. CTS, which is intended to reduce uneconomic power flows between the two regions, could be implemented as soon as November if the MRC votes to endorse the accuracy of the scheduling tool that would be used to optimize the cross-border transactions. PJM officials told members in March that the Intermediate Term Security Constrained Economic Dispatch (IT SCED) tool is accurate within $5/MWh more than two-thirds of the time. (See PJM Price Forecasts: Close Enough for Power Trading?)

7. TO Data Feed (10:30-10:45)

The committee will be asked to approve a revised issue charge for the Transmission Owner Data Feed Task Force (TODFTF) to include consideration of generator real-time reactive capability data. Members approved creation of the task force in April to consider an easier method for transmission owners to access real-time generator data, an effort intended to improve situational awareness and emergency response.

During initial task force discussions, stakeholders shared concerns about TOs having access to generator-characteristic data in addition to real-time telemetry. Exelon responded that generator real-time reactive capability data is necessary for accurate state estimator and contingency analyses. Exelon will present the revised issue charge. (See Members to Consider Easier Sharing of Real-Time Generator Data.)

8. Cost Development Subcommittee (CDS) Sunset (10:45-11:00)

The committee will be asked to sunset the subcommittee, which was created in 2011 to develop standard procedures for calculating the costs of products or services provided to PJM when those products or services are required to be provided at a cost-based rate.

9. FTR/ARR Senior Task Force (FTRSTF) (11:00-11:15)

The MRC will be asked to approve the proposed FTRSTF charter. The MRC approved the creation of the task force in May to determine the causes of financial transmission rights underfunding and whether changes to current FTR and auction revenue rights (ARR) processes could improve funding levels. (See New Task Force to Target FTR Underfunding.)

10. Cap Review Senior Task Force (CRSTF) (11:15-11:30)

The committee will be asked to approve the proposed charter for the CRSTF, which was created to consider changing the current $1,000/MWh offer cap. (See Effort to Lift Offer Cap Advances After Debate.)

Members Committee

3.  Regional Planning Process Senior Task force (RPPTF) (1:25-1:40)

Members will be asked for approval of Operating Agreement (OA) and Tariff revisions governing multi-driver transmission projects, which are intended to lower costs for public policy transmission projects under FERC Order 1000. (See States Still Miffed with TOs’ `Multi-Driver’ Cost Allocation.)

4.  Designated Entity and Interconnection Coordination Agreements (1:40-2:00)

The MC will vote on the proposed Designated Entity Agreement (DEA) and Interconnection Coordination Agreement (ICA). See MRC item #3 above.

5.  Frequently Mitigated Unit Adders (2:00-2:15)

The committee will be asked to approve a joint proposal from PJM and the Independent Market Monitor to reduce payments to frequently mitigated units (FMUs). The Tariff changes were approved by the MRC in May. (See PJM-IMM Limits on FMU Adders Prevail.)

6.  Operating Agreement Errata (2:15-2:20)

Members will be asked to revise OA Schedule 11 to correct a typo that refers to “Section 16” as “schedule 16.”