5.1 - Proposed Changes to Ancillary Service Methodology for 2025 - Vote - Luis Hinojosa
Presented a high-level overview and proposed changes to the 2025 Ancillary Service (AS) Methodology.
Initial discussions kicked off in July and continued with ROS and TAC.
Changes in regulation service from net load ramping to forecasted net load error.
Adjustments to generation to be dispatched (GTBD) application to use net load forecast error.
Three changes in ERCOT:
Removal of 90th percentile minimum for sunset hours,
Adjusted the frequency recovery portion of accounting for historical load to the 70th percentile, matching RRS methodology.
Compute the minimum ECRS requirements as the larger of the capacity needed to recover frequency and capacity needed to support net load forecast errors.
Non-spin service changes: using 4-hour net load forecast error for low peak hours and 6-hour ahead methodology for others.
No changes in RRS methodology, but changes to the IFRO resulting in new minimum RSPFR limit for 2025 at 1,365 MW from 1,185 MW.
Proposed methodology sheets and quantities by month will be updated and presented to TAC next week.
Questions raised about potential regulation shortfalls in winter mornings and their risks.
Discussion on possible nesting methodology for non-spin and ECRS proposed by IMM.
General support for ERCOT's proposed plans but suggestions for PUC involvement in policy settings.
Decisions:
To endorse proposed changes to the Ancillary Service Methdology for 2025 as submitted by ERCOT Staff.
5.2 - Congestion Revenue Rights Auction Mitigation - Samantha Findley
Performance issues in long-term auctions, especially those spanning three years.
Increase in settlement points, registered CRRAH account holders, and counterparties causing constraints on optimization.
Historical performance issues: A recent sequence took 363 hours to converge on a solution, causing delays.
Medium and long-term market design changes proposed to improve auction performance.
Short-term mitigation includes new per TOU limits, potentially setting a transaction adjustment period to ensure timely auction solutions.
Potential changes discussed: Lowering per account holder limits, increasing minimum bid prices, removing multi-month bid functionality, and modifying capacity percentages for long term auctions.
Concerns about the future impact due to increasing CRRAH account holders and settlement points.
Sympathy expressed for stakeholders facing disruption in congestion hedging strategies with limited notice.
Discussion on hardware and software optimizations undertaken, including running up to 28 CPUs.
Feedback from stakeholders on improving systems, concerns over potential limits, and future planning for system capacity.
5.3 - Large Load Interconnection Report - Manuel Navarro Catalan - Chris Cosway
Significant growth in co-located and standalone projects.
Standalone projects make up the majority of new megawatts and are growing faster.
Current total queue capacity increased by 4,439 MW since last month.
Significant increase in projects with in-service dates in 2028.
Most megawatts are under ERCOT review due to pending and under review studies.
Slight decrease in planning studies approved recently, but steady approved energized megawatts.
5,496 MW approved to energize, with a notable amount in the west load zone and consisting mostly of standalone projects.
Observed a steady increase in non-simultaneous peak load and simultaneous peak consumption.
Bill Barnes
Request to provide information on what has actually been energized.
Include a breakdown of loads by type if possible.
Request for a timeline on the remaining approved loads.
Brian Sams
Echoed Bill Barnes' comments on the need for more transparency.
Emphasis on the importance of understanding potential double counting in the large load queue.
More transparency would add credibility to long-term load forecasts.
Seth Cochran
Inquired about the expected timeline for projects to come online.
Questioned the proportion of projects that might not come online.
Asked about the duration for which projects can stay in the queue without progress.
Bob Wittmeyer
Noted the necessity of considering load ramp schedules.
Suggested a legal review of sharing limitations.
Commented on the hibernation of the large flexible load task force.
Referred to NPRR1202 dealing with queue filtering and associated fees.
Ian Haley
Supported the idea of including connected loads in reports for clarity.
General Discussion
Overall transparency and detailed breakdowns in reports are crucial for stakeholders.
Continuation of monthly reports to address evolving questions from stakeholders.
6 - Wholesale Market Working Group - WMWG - Amanda Frazier
6.1 - NPRR1235 Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service Discussion
ERCOT outlined their comments from August 23.
High-level discussion about adding ESRs to the service with no real consensus or plan to endorse.
Understanding that ESRs wouldn't be added in phase one.
ERCOT committed to continue looking at the issue and to file an NPRR this year but did not commit to moving forward with phase two.
Details of comments from the NPRR were reviewed to highlight specific policy decisions embedded in the language.
Reminder for market participants to review the detailed NPRR.
This was the second discussion on NPRR1229, which was filed by STEC following an incident with one of their plants.
The proposal involves a payment for when ERCOT implements a CMP if it impacts a generator.
ERCOT has policy concerns about this NPRR and has engaged with STEC and market participants offline.
There is a consideration whether this issue should be elevated to TAC for higher-level policy discussions.
A clarification was made that there was no specific incident of a unit trip offline, but it's more about what actions are needed if such an event occurs.
Decision on WMS's recommendation is postponed until item twelve,
6.3 - NPRR1238, Voluntary Registration of Loads with Curtailable Load Capabilities - ORDC Implications
Luminant proposed a change but decided not to pursue it due to timing with real-time co-optimization.
The issue is considered OBE (overtaken by events) and will not stay on the discussion for WMW.
