AUSTIN, Texas — ERCOT’s Technical Advisory Committee assigned two subcommittees to consider responses to discrepancies in day-ahead market make-whole payments.

ERCOT staff said it noticed a material increase in make-whole payments in November, which it said resulted from the implementation in June of NPRR617, which eliminated the caps on the first two parts of three-part day-ahead offers. It said a review determined the increase resulted from a mismatch between start-up and minimum energy costs used by the day-ahead market’s clearing engine and those used for payments.

None of the operating days met the 2% threshold to prompt resettlements. A software code fix corrected the problem effective Nov. 16.

The ISO is evaluating additional means of monitoring settlement outcomes “to more rapidly identify implementation issues or other anomalies in the future.”

TAC Chair Adrianne Brandt assigned the issue to the Commercial Operations and Wholesale Market subcommittees for further discussion and potential policy recommendations.

Committee Vice Chairs Approved

The TAC unanimously confirmed Oncor’s Martha Henson as vice chair of the Protocol Revision Subcommittee. The committee also unanimously confirmed the re-election of TXU Energy’s John Schatz as vice chair of the Commercial Operations Subcommittee.

Revision Requests Approved, Tabled

The TAC approved three nodal protocol revision requests (NPRRs), one nodal operating guide revision (NOGRRs) and two revisions to the Settlement Metering Operating Guide (SMOGRRs).

The committee tabled a Commercial Operations Market Guide revision request (COPMGRR044), pending the COPS’ resolution of the related NPRR794. The changes relocate reporting requirements for unregistered distributed generation from the Commercial Operations Market Guide to the protocols.

• NPRR773: Broadens the scope of acceptable letter of credit issuers, allowing electric cooperatives to post letters from the National Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance Corp. with ERCOT.
• NPRR792: Aligns the nodal protocols with NERC’s definition for special protection system (SPS) and uses “remedial action scheme” and “automatic mitigation plan” in place of SPS for consistency purposes, when applicable. Also approved was the related PGRR051.
• NPRR803: Removes un-codified language from NPRR439, which was approved four years ago and updated a counter-party’s available credit limit for the day-ahead market’s current day.
• NOGRR162: Establishes a process for resolving real-time data discrepancies that affect ERCOT’s network security analysis. NERC Standard IRO-010-2 (Reliability Coordinator Data Specification and Collection) requires ERCOT and applicable entities to have a mutually agreeable process for resolving real-time data conflicts.
• SMOGRR018: A change sponsored by the Texas Industrial Energy Consumers will allow efficient private use network configurations without jeopardizing ERCOT-polled settlement metering requirements.
• SMOGRR019: Makes several changes to the Settlement Metering Operating Guide, including a requirement that nameplate photos be submitted as part of site certification package for new or replacement instrument transformers.

Stakeholders also left NOGRR164 on the table until its accompanying protocol change (NPRR792) can be taken up by the board next week. The TAC will then conduct an email vote on the NOGRR.

– Tom Kleckner