Meeting Summary - 01/08/2025 WMS Meeting

▶️ 0 - Validation for WMS Standing Representatives - Suzy Clifton

▶️ 1 - Antitrust Admonition - Suzy Clifton

▶️ 2 - Election of 2025 WMS Chair and Vice Chair - Vote - Suzy Clifton

• Introduction of 2025 WMS representatives including new members from different segments such as cooperative, independent power marketer, independent retail electric provider, and municipal segment.
• Explanation of the election process for WMS Chair and Vice Chair including nomination and voting procedures.
• Nomination and election of Blake Holt from LCRA as WMS Chair for 2025 with no other nominations.
• Nomination and election of Jim Lee as WMS Vice Chair for 2025 with no other nominations.

▶️ 3 - Agenda Review - WMS Leadership

▶️ 4 - Approval of WMS Meeting Minutes - Possible Vote - WMS Leadership

▶️ 4.1 - November 6, 2024

• Motion to approve the November 6, 2024 WMS meeting minutes as submitted added to the combo ballot.

▶️ 4.2 - December 4, 2024

• Inquiry about the availability of December 4th meeting minutes.
• Confirmation that December 4th meeting minutes are not available.
• November 6th meeting minutes are the only ones available at this time.
• Request to defer approval of December 4th meeting minutes to February.

▶️ 5 - ERCOT Operations and Market Items

• Opened the floor for ERCOT to discuss any items related to operations and market.
• Dave Maggio from ERCOT confirmed there were no items to discuss and gave the go-ahead to proceed with the agenda.

▶️ 6 - WMS Revision Requests

▶️ 6.1 - VCMRR042, SO2 and NOx Emission Index Prices Used in Verifiable Cost Calculations

• Motion to table VCMRR042 added to the combo ballot.
• The agenda item VCMRR042 is up for individual assessment (IA), but a motion to table it is needed.

▶️ 6.2 - COPMGRR051, Related to NPRR1264, Creation of a New Energy Attribute Certificate Program

• Motion to table COPMGRR051 added to the combo ballot ‘relating to NPRR1264’ 
• Discussion on taking action under language review items.
• Need for a separate ballot due to Blake's voting requirement as a consumer.

▶️ 6.3 - SMOGRR031, Related to NPRR1264, Creation of a New Energy Attribute Certificate Program

• Motion to table SMOGRR031 added to the combo ballot ‘related to NPRR1264’.

▶️ 6.4 - VCMRR043, Related to NPRR1264, Creation of a New Energy Attribute Certificate Program

• Motion to table VCMRR043 added to the combo ballot ‘related to NPRR1264’.
• Clarification was made that VCMRR043 is not referring to 40 RRs.
• Discussion on whether NPRR1264 should be included in the motion.
• Suggestion to include all revision requests related to the subject under WMS's purview to avoid separate motions.
• Clarification that the NPRR is not under WMS purview and might require a separate request.
• Proposal to table items VCMRR043, COPMGRR051, SMOGRR31, and request for PRS to table NPRR1264.
• Voting took place across various segments including consumer, cooperative, independent generator, independent power marketers, independent retail electric provider, investor-owned utilities, and municipal segments.
• The motion to table the items was carried unanimously.
• Acknowledgments given for clarifications and handling the process.

▶️ 7 - NPRR1264, Creation of a New Energy Attribute Certificate Program - Possible Vote - WMS Leadership

• Motion to request PRS to table NPRR1264 added to the combo ballot ‘related to NPRR1264’.
• Texas Energy Buyers Alliance advocating changes to the renewable energy certificate (REC) program.
• Program to be renamed from REC trading program to Energy Attribute Certificate (EAC) trading program, affecting binding documents.
• NPRR to enable tracking of attributes like production hour, fuel type, location, vintage of generator, with potential for more attributes.
• Certificates to be available for all generator types including nuclear and energy storage.
• Potential benefits for compliance with international and national regulations like those related to energy matching for hydrogen markets.
• Enhanced transparency and market functionality through improved API features, enabling disaggregation and partial transfer of certificates.
• Policies for generator confidentiality with a 60-day delay before public information release.
• Third-party certification possible to verify generator operations, aiding market transactions.
• Effectiveness conditional on system readiness, overlapping with the expiration of the solar RPS program.
• Confidential treatment of RPS industrial customer non-participation election to remain.
• NPRR is voluntary; no mandate for loads to buy certificates.
• Discussion on benefits of a structured market vs. bilateral contracting for attribute transactions.
• ERCOT not expected to perform third-party certification; this could be done by various external companies.
• Clarification on handling of attributes in hybrid systems to prevent double counting.
• Motion to approve the combo ballot as presented carries unanimously with no abstentions.

▶️ 8 - Revision Requests Tabled at PRS and Referred to WMS - Possible Vote - WMS Leadership

▶️ 8.1 - NPRR1070, Planning Criteria for GTC Exit Solutions

• NPRR1070 shares some overlap with NPRR1247, which was recommended for approval in December.
• There is uncertainty about the necessity of NPRR1070 due to changes in planning with NPRR1247.
• NPRR1070 was put on hold pending NPRR1247, but none of its concepts were included in the latter initiative.
• NPRR1070 is being updated, and certain parts, like PGRR119, are being handled separately.
• NPRR1070 is not redundant to NPRR1247 as it covers issues unaddressed by NPRR1247.
• Concerns exist about potential transmission needs not addressed due to the broad authority given by NPRR1247.
• NPRR1070 ensures transmission issues initially a reliability problem but turned into an economic problem.
• The need for written clarification of practices already in use by ERCOT, particularly regarding GTCs and economic assessments (EAs).
• There are discussions about how to manage generation throttled by GTCs, which is currently not documented in ERCOT's practices.
• NPRR1070 may still hold key unresolved issues, so it is recommended to proceed and wrap up the initiative.

▶️ 8.2 - NPRR1235, Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service as a Stand-Alone Ancillary Service - SAWG

• Stakeholders were requested to provide feedback on the options by January 10th, following an extension from the November SAWG meeting.
• There is an internal discussion on whether to amend the existing NPRR1235 with comments or to propose a new NPRR based on stakeholder feedback.
• Stakeholders expressed the need for a better understanding of the concepts before providing feedback, seeking clarification at the upcoming January 24th SAWG meeting.
• Concerns were raised about ensuring a principle-based approach, questioning the proposal's current direction and the potential creation of unnecessary costs.
• The aim is to develop DRRS as a tool for operational uncertainty and future flexibility while considering stakeholder input.
• Commitment to continue the discussion at future meetings, ensuring stakeholder opportunities for input and developing a robust design.

▶️ 8.3 - NPRR1202, Refundable Deposits for Large Load Interconnection Studies

• ERCOT is considering incorporating NPRR1202 into the larger load effort of NPRR1234.
• Currently at the drawing board stage with ongoing studies to possibly revamp fee amounts.
• Idea to merge the increased interconnection fees proposed by Longhorn Power from NPRR1202 into NPRR1234.
• Bill Barnes expressed dissatisfaction with ERCOT's response for not supporting the fee increase, citing internal accounting issues as the reason.
• ERCOT committed to re-evaluate the fee increase potential for better staffing funding and more discipline in the large load queue.
• Stakeholders believe ERCOT's reasons for not implementing the proposed changes are internal and could be resolved in the future.

▶️ 8.4 - NPRR1238, Voluntary Registration of Loads with Curtailable Load Capabilities

• Still under discussion on the ROS side; ERCOT is working towards filing comments.
• Goal is to align this with the large load NPRR effort.
• No immediate action required from WMS.
• Joe Dan Wilson mentioned ongoing efforts to work with clients to publish comments.

▶️ 9 - Congestion Management Working Group - CMWG - Alex Miller

09-cmwg-update-2025-1-wms.pdf

• Meeting held on December 6th.
• Discussion on CRR technology update, including IT challenges and potential improvements.
• Implementation of hardware changes in April resulted in 20% performance improvement.
• Future upgrades could provide another 30% improvement.
• Cloud foundations project set for completion in Q2 2025.
• CRR Tech Refresh project to start in 2026, focusing on upgrading database, operating system, and software.
• Market changes and potential removal of multi-month products discussed.
• Draft NPRR reviewed to strike references to multi-month strip references.
• Introduction of pricing report with 1 megawatt bid minimum.
• New time of use super peak obligation to be discussed in upcoming CMWG meeting.
• Operational concerns related to IRR telemetry and curtailment logic identified by ERCOT operations staff.
• Widespread issue across regions and resource types with inaccurate telemetry signals.
• ERCOT issuing RFIs to generators with issues, requesting confirmation of accurate RTPP calculations.
• NTE implementation providing operational benefits despite existing issues.

▶️ 9.1 - NPRR1214, Reliability Deployment Price Adder Fix to Provide Locational Price Signals, Reduce Uplift and Risk - CMWG - Possible Vote

• ERCOT staff and sponsors are revising language and looking at draft comments.
• Extensive changes include new sections for vocational adders in settlement protocols.
• Updates made to names and variables to prevent system conflicts, including addition of subscripts.
• Clarified math for positive/negative price adder.
• Hub prices clarified as derived from locational prices.
• Correction made to restore a previous inadvertent change.
• No immediate concerns from the group; ERCOT internal review ongoing.

▶️ 10 - Meter Working Group - MWG - Michael Blum

▶️ 10.1 - SMOGRR028, Add Series Reactor Compensation Factors - MWG - Possible Vote

10-meter-working-group-wms-update-8jan25.pdf

• Draft proposed changes to the methodology were sent to stakeholders in November.
• Changes were reviewed in December, with comments provided by TDSP.
• New obligation for owners to provide TDSPs with key values for compensation calculations was discussed.
• Edits considered editorial in nature were sent out for feedback but no recent feedback was received.
• Revised edits have been submitted to the ERCOT revision process.
• Approval of the SMOGRR028 with the meter working group's edits is recommended.
• Official posting of comments is pending, and discussion is deferred to the next meeting.
• Details of proposed changes are available on the meeting webpage.
• Announcement of leadership change with Kyle Stuckly nominated as the new chair.
• Vote on leadership will occur next month.

▶️ 11 - Wholesale Market Working Group - WMWG - Blake Holt

11-wmwg-update-to-wms-of-december-10-jan-6-meetings.pdf

• WMWG held two meetings recently, one in December and another a few days ago.
• Discussed leadership positions for 2025; Amanda Frazier nominated as chair and Trevor Safko as vice chair, with no other nominations received.
• ERCOT's Sam Morris provided information on how wholesale storage load is forecasted and settled like regular load.
• Opportunity for input and changes with real-time co-optimization implementation when EMS is reopened was discussed.
• WMWG to continue discussing NPRR1256 among other NPRRs.

▶️ 11.1 - NPRR1229, Real-Time Constraint Management Plan Energy Payment - WMWG - Possible Vote

• NPRR1229 involves cost recovery payments for units that trip offline and sustain damage due to a constraint mitigation plan.
• The topic has been under discussion for several months.
• STEC presented their most recent set of comments.
• There were substantive questions on calculation methods for the payments.
• A broader question was raised about inclusion of these payments in the global mitigation concept of NPRR1190.
• Discussion to continue in the next meeting.

▶️ 11.2 - NPRR1241, Firm Fuel Supply Service FFSS Availability and Hourly Standby Fee - WMWG - Possible Vote

• Motion to endorse NPRR1241 as amended by the 12/3/24 Luminant comments added to the combo ballot.
  • NPRR1241 is ready for WMS's action with comments on revising the clawback proposal for firm fuel resources.
  • Discussion on the CARD and CRR balancing account allocation, considering the removal of the zonal component.
  • ERCOT to collect data on historic CRR account and TCOS allocations for further recommendations.
  • Pending discussion on EPA impacts on ERCOT fleet, with Susana Hildebrand set to present at the next WMWG meeting.
  • Katie Rich acknowledges stakeholder feedback on the revised NPRR1241.
  • Revised proposal aims to balance penalties for resource availability during watches.
  • WMWG endorses the proposal, considering a combo ballot for approval.
  • No objections to the proposal; moving forward with recommended actions.

▶️ 11.3 - NPRR1256, Settlement of MRA of ESRs - WMWG - Possible Vote

• Discussion focused on how ESRs would be settled when selected as a must-rent alternative.
• ERCOT representatives, including Ino González and Kenneth Ragsdale, explained the NPRR.
• There is a need for further discussion on verifying ESRs’ state of charge when serving as an MRA.
• A follow-up discussion is scheduled for the next WMSWG meeting.
• Query raised about distinction between state of charge and availability payments for MRA.
• Current NPRR allows for reducing standby payments if the resource is not available.
• Comments are being prepared to further reduce standby payments if an ESR does not have the required state of charge at the beginning of their obligation block.
• Proposal to introduce a reduction factor for state of charge at the next WMSWG meeting.

▶️ 12 - Combo Ballot - Vote - WMS Leadership

• Motion to approve the combo ballot as presented carries unanimously with no abstentions.

▶️ 13 - Notice of Withdrawal

▶️ 13.1 - NPRR1200, Utilization of Calculated Values for Non-WSL for ESRs

• Notice to withdraw NPRR1200 as filed by NextEra.
• No action required by WMS on NPRR1200.

▶️ 14 - Other Business - WMS Leadership

▶️ 14.1 - 2025 WMS Goals

14-2024-wms-goals-tac-approved-20240327.pdf

• 2025 WMS goals are introduced, with an emphasis on revisiting them in the next meeting.
• The group is tasked with reviewing the 2024 goals and proposing any changes for future discussion.
• Discussion on whether the annual setting of goals is necessary; this has been raised before.
• TAC's subcommittees may need direction on whether to continue the goal-setting process.
• Previous reports on goals have been discontinued, leading to questions on their applicability.
• Kara Beckmann raised an ongoing item about transparency in large load interconnection reporting, which may become a goal within WMS.
• An NPRR related to the aforementioned transparency issue is being prepared, aimed at ensuring customer confidentiality.
• The report related to the NPRR allows for discretion in reporting, balancing accuracy with confidentiality.
• Discussion will resume in the next month for any potential edits to the 2025 goals, with approvals possibly in February or March.

▶️ 14.2 - 2025 WMS Working Group Leadership

• A chair is established, but a vice chair is still needed.
• Aim to finalize the working group leadership by March.
• Working groups are advised to prioritize establishing leadership.
• Consider adopting a co vice chair structure to enhance leadership and succession planning.

▶️ 14.3 - Review Open Action Items - WMS Leadership

• No open action items need review; issues were resolved in December.

▶️ 15 - Adjourn - WMS Leadership