By Suzanne Herel

With just seven weeks until PJM conducts its first Base Residual Auction incorporating the newly approved Capacity Performance product, stakeholders gathered last week for a peek at the comprehensive changes Manual 18 must undergo before resources begin submitting offers.

But there were more questions than clarity at the specially called Markets and Reliability Committee meeting. It was scheduled for three hours but went on for more than six, as tempers ran high and patience low.

“I’m frustrated and I’m crying,” said Old Dominion Electric Cooperative’s Ed Tatum during a discussion of unit-specific parameters. “This is really complicated.”

At issue was whether units adhering to their parameters were safe from penalty in an emergency situation. The answer? No.

“It governs what we will pay in uplift cost, and that’s not what we wanted either,” Mike Kormos, senior vice president for operations, told Tatum. “But it will not govern whether you are in a penalty or not. It is not what we filed. It is the order we got.”

Dozens of scenarios were presented: What can be used for replacement capacity? When does the force majeure provision go into effect? What difference does it make if it’s a transition year? How do we know why we weren’t called? What happens if you choose to self-schedule? And most commonly, when and how are non-performance charges assessed?

Stakeholders have one more education session on Wednesday before the red lines to the 235-page manual are presented for endorsement to the MRC the following day. (The Members Committee, which follows the usually short MRC gatherings, has been canceled.) (See FERC OKs PJM Capacity Performance: What You Need to Know.)

PJM staff urged stakeholders to send their questions to capacityperformance@pjm.com to be considered in Wednesday’s training.

PJM must make a compliance filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission by July 9.

“We need to get this manual out there and discussed,” PJM’s Dave Anders said. “We do not have the luxury of time to go through multiple iterations.”

The new Capacity Performance product is a response to poor generator performance during the polar vortex of January 2014. It aims to strengthen grid reliability by rewarding overperforming participants and charging under-performers penalties.

The changes will be phased in over the 2018/19 and 2019/20 delivery years.