02/27/24 ERCOT Board of Directors - Meeting Summary
Grid Monitor AI
03/01/2024
Board of Directors meeting was called to order on February 27, 2024. Excluding the Executive Session, the meeting lasted just over an hour. Pengwei Du, an IEEE fellow, and Kenan Ogleman, soon to retire, were recognized by CEO Pablo Vegas for their contributions to ERCOT. Other key takeaways include:
Solar generation set an all-time peak record, and battery performance was strong during peak periods.
Inverter based resources continues to be discussed with proposed new rules for potential ride through capabilities.
System admin fee expected to be appropriate, with interest income exceeding original projections.
Motion to amend NPRR1186, with ERCOT recommendations, in line with the remand from the PUC, was passed.
DER pilot program phase 1 was officially concluded. Phase 2 now begins.
Selected Agenda item summaries are as follows:
3.Confirmation of Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Chair and Vice Chair for 2024
Board unanimously confirmed Caitlin Smith of Jupiter Power LLC as the TAC Chair, and Colin Martin from Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC as the Vice Chair for the 2024 year.
Winter Storm Heather occurred in January, setting five new peak demands, and lasting a few days, with new peaks emphasizing the need for reliable resources.
Collaboration and planning across the industry was extensive and successful, due to strong performance from the thermal fleet and the large impact of conservation calls during peak periods.
Solar generation set an all-time peak record, and battery performance was strong during peak periods.
New communications tools were rolled out, with increased website views and new followers on social media platforms, as well as subscribers to the TXANS communication system.
Discussion on the potential reliability and resiliency benefits of further interconnecting the ERCOT grid to other grids outside of ERCOT, considering economic costs and market implications.
Inverter-based resources, comprising 43% of ERCOT's capacity, were discussed, along with the proposed set of rule changes addressing their potential ride-through capabilities.
Gave update on House Bill 5066 implementation focused on extending transmission into service areas and increasing available transmission capacity to meet forecasted load in the Permian region – comprehensive plan needed to account for new generation needed to serve significant load growth expected in Permian
Kenan Ogelman, who is retiring soon, was also recognized for his significant contributions and impact during his time at ERCOT.
7. Adjunct Membership Application of Enerwise Global Technologies, LLC d/b/a Cpower
Vote on Adjunct Membership Application of Enerwise Global Technologies, LLC d/b/a Cpower
C Power is an active market participant and qualifies for membership in the independent power market segment, except for its affiliate that makes it ineligible
Motion to approve Adjunct Membership of Cpower passed unanimously.
TAC meetings on January 24th and February 14th had 18 revision requests, all unanimously recommended for approval.
January meeting endorsed TNMP to Pecos County transmission improvement project, discussed annual TAC subcommittee structural and procedural review, and approved 2024 TAC goals.
Proposed to move annual review to every other year for efficiency.
Review of Ancillary Services Methodology ongoing theme for the year, with parallel activities and upcoming reviews in 2024 and 2025.
F&A committee recommended board approval of items 9.1, 9.2, and 9.3 on the agenda.
More specifically in item 9.3. Investment Corporate Standard
ERCOT's 2023 financial summary revealed that revenues net of expenditures were approximately $94 million better than budgeted, primarily driven by higher than anticipated interest income.
Favorable variances projected for early 2024.
System admin fee expected to be appropriate, with interest income exceeding original projections.
ERCOT is in compliance with all investment and debt requirements, including securitization and the Series M&N Bonds
Recommendation to refinance the Series M Bonds before January 31st, 2025.
10.4. Ratification of Officers of Texas Electric Market Stabilization Funding N LLC
A vote was taken to ratify the officers of the two securitization related SPEs, the Texas Electric Market Stabilization Funding I LLC and the Texas Electric Market Stabilization Funding II LLC.
10.5. 2025 ERCOT Board Meeting and Annual Meeting Schedule and Date Change for 2024 Annual Meeting of Members
The date for the annual meeting of the members was changed from December 3rd, 2024, to December 2nd, 2024.
Chad Seeley presented proposed amendments to the board policies and procedures, including clarifications on the revision request process. These amendments will be presented to TAC in March for feedback and will return to the board in April.
All four voting items (11.1 through 11.4) were unanimously passed without discussion.
ERCOT staff recommendation to strike references to the former credit work group because Board subgroup no longer exists.
11.2. PUCT Remand of NPRR1186, Improvements Prior to the RTC+B Project for Better ESR State of Charge Awareness, Accounting and Monitoring
PUC remanded NPRR1186 with suggestions to remove language requiring each qualified scheduling entity relying on energy storage resources to provide Ancillary Services to ensure sufficient state of charge.
ERCOT staff directed to file a revision request with related penalties for non-compliance.
NPRR1209, board priority state of charge Ancillary Services failed quantity allocations under NPRR1149, is pending at the protocol revision subcommittee.
11.3. TNMP Pecos County Transmission Improvement Regional Transmission Group (RPG) Project
Texas New Mexico Power (TNMP) completed RPG review for Pecos County transmission project.
ERCOT staff assessed and unanimously endorsed the project.
Addresses thermal overloads and voltage violations in Reeves and Ward counties in far West weather zone.
Staff recommended designating the project as critical to reliability for accelerated administrative timeline.
11.4. Aggregate Distributed Energy Resource (DER) Pilot Project – Phase 2
Voting item: ERCOT staff recommends closing phase one of the aggregate distributed energy resource pilot project and moving to phase two for further evaluation.
R&M Committee also discussed high profile projects including system planning and weatherization, reliability standard, value of low load cost of new entry studies, and real time co-optimization plus battery program.
R&M Committee also received update on various Ancillary Services initiatives and joint study for the legislature, preparations for balancing the ERCOT system during a total solar eclipse and review of ERCOT operations during winter storm Heather, and
market performance during winter storm Heather and potential price correction from operating days in January.
