Meeting Summary - 05/12/2025 PDCWG Meeting

▶️1 - Antitrust Admonition - 9:30 a.m.

▶️2 - RTC+B Telemetry for Resources with Power Augmentation Capacity

• ERCOT presented new telemetry points for combined cycle plants or generation resources with power augmentation capacity at the last PDCWG meeting.
• ERCOT requested feedback from market participants but received none so far.
• The topic was kept on the agenda to seek feedback from market participants, particularly combined cycle operators.
• Discussion suggests that market participants might be up to speed with the information as it was already part of ICCP documents and previous RTC meetings.
• The frequency responsive capacity telemetry should illustrate the high and low limits of the GT.
• The NFRC telemetry point is being retained after reconsideration for its importance within a reevaluation period.
• ERCOT working on reinstating the NFRC telemetry point, discussed in TWG group and RTC+B task force meetings.
• Meeting participants were encouraged to email ERCOT with any questions.

▶️3 - NPRR1278 – Establishing Advanced Grid Support Service as an Ancillary Service.

• The introduction was an overview of the current direction and objectives.
• The topic was presented with a slightly different request from ROS this month.
• The request asked for responses specifically on frequency or voltage issues.
• Focus was on potential concerns or issues that the NPRR1278 could create.

▶️3.1 - Does the NPRR Create Frequency or Voltage Issues or Risks?

• Bob Helton, ENGIE,  emphasized the NPRR is intended to decrease risk and enhance grid reliability. There is a possibility to implement this service sooner rather than ramping up over time.
• Fred Huang, ERCOT, highlighted the need for stakeholder discussion on the market process and adoption mechanisms for grid reliability improvements.
• Ken Donohoo queried if the NPRR would be discussed at the PRS meeting, and Bob confirmed it would be formally introduced there.
• David Penney, TRE, asked about the potential resource requirements to address stability issues ERCOT is encountering. Bob noted no clear quantity is defined yet, but proposed NPRR would allow existing resources to supply ERCOT’s needs earlier.
• Concerns raised regarding missed opportunities to use existing battery resources in the market before the stakeholder process concludes.
• A discussion highlighted that the NPRR does not seem to pose significant voltage or frequency issues, as per current review.
• A suggestion was made to start a dialogue about timelines and future work on the NPRR implementation.
• No substantive concerns were raised, and ERCOT intends to support the ongoing development of the NPRR.
• Upcoming topics include ERCOT's adjustments to the ancillary service methodology with a new probabilistic model and discussions on frequency response and FME occurrences.

Additional Notes:

• A workshop on the AS methodology is scheduled for May 19 to align stakeholders on the new probabilistic method and gather feedback.
• Future meetings will continue to address NPRR1278’s impact on grid reliability and how it aligns with stakeholders' expectations.

▶️4 - Frequency Control & Regulation Report – April

Frequency Control

PDCWG-Frequency-Control-Report-for-April-2025.pdf

• The CPS score for April is 174.28%, with no scores falling below a certain percentage.
• No BAAL exceedances were recorded in April.
• 15-minute average CPS1 was consistently above 160%.
• 12-month rolling average CPS1 score was 176.3%, aligning with expectations.
• CPS score for April is slightly lower compared to previous months.
• Daily RMS1 frequency mean for 2025 was 14.42 mHz.
• Frequency profile shows fewer instances of frequency falling below dead bands compared to previous years.
• No time correction errors made since December 2016.

Energy Statistics

• Increase in total energy and wind generation in April.
• Slight decrease in wind generation contribution percentage.
• Increase in solar generation total, but slight decrease in contribution percentage.
• Minimum inertia for April was 131 gigawatt seconds.

Regulation Analysis

Regulation-Analysis-Post-SCR-773_PDCWG_April-25.pdf

• No changes made to GTBD parameters for April.
• Increased ramp rate errors during ramping hours for both wind and solar.
• Total regulation deployment increased during sunset hours.
• Overall regulation trend biased towards regulation down, consistent with previous years.
• Total regulation exhaustion rate for April was 1.75%, lower than April 2024.
• Regulation bias shows differences in reg-up and reg-down price occurrences.

Load and Capacity

• Increase in load profile for March and April compared to previous years.
• Net load higher than last year, but less net load during ramping hours.
• Startup and shutdown hour trends follow previous years with more capacity during sunset hours.

Unexpected Events

• Largest forecast error recorded on April 18 was 465 MW, and the largest negative error was 553 MW on April 14.
• Expected generation deviation highest during ramp hours, primarily from wind and solar.

Updates and Miscellaneous

• Discussion on the timing and update of the NERC report for December 2024 and its impact on the operating year 2025.
• Explanation of the need for more statistically valid samples for FRO calculation.
• No new questions or comments from attendees.

▶️5 - Texas TRE Report

• David Penney provided updates related to the quarterly board and MRC report scheduled for the week.
• A meeting with Texas RE concerning the summer outlook is planned for the following week.
• Significant focus on the implications of FERC order 901 regarding the inclusion of inverter-based resources (IBR) at greater than or equal to 20 MW and 60 kV levels(Category 2 GO).
• Stakeholders approved the language related to these changes, pending FERC approval.
• The impact of these changes includes modifications to the BAL-001-TRE criteria, affecting evaluations of generator owners and operators.
• Several standards related to IBRs, such as MOD-32, MOD-33, TOP-3, and IRO-10, are undergoing ballots and comment periods.
• David highlighted the importance of stakeholder participation in the comment processes to influence the drafting teams.
• Chad Mulholland is expected to provide updates on the efforts of the BAL-001 standard drafting team.
• Transition to Ajibola presenting the frequency control topic.
• Chad summarized the status of BAL-001-TRE Standard Adjustments later in the meeting.
• Revisions to the allowed dead bands table nearing completion.
• Adjustments to the sequence of events and rolling averages in BAL-001-TRE scoring.
• Upcoming focus on changes to energy storage resource wording and scoring mechanics.

▶️6 - Analysis of Disturbances – April

Non-FMEs-for-Apr-25_PUBLIC.pdf

▶️6.1 - FME: 4/24

• Event Date: 04/24
• Event Time: 21:47:06
• Unit Tripped Offline: Carrying 773 megawatts
• Starting Frequency: 60.012
• Minimum Frequency: 59.916
• A to C Time: 3 seconds
• Recovery Time: 5 minutes 6 seconds
• Trip Reason: unknown
• Noted considerable time lags on telemetry, especially on FME.
• A question arose about whether the lag was longer than usual.
• Telemetric lags considered typical but being observed more frequently.

▶️6.2 - Non FMEs: 4/3, 4/5, 4/15, 4/23

Non FMEs: 4/3, 4/5, 4/15, 4/23

• Event Date: 04/03
• Event Time: 21:47:06
• Unit Tripped Offline: Carrying 477 megawatts
• Starting Frequency: 59.986
• Minimum Frequency: 59.95
• A to C Time: 3 seconds
• Recovery Time: 5 minutes 33 seconds
• Trip Reason: oil leak issue
• Non-selection Reason: trip wasn't clean, c point 59.95
• Event Date: 04/05
• Event Time: 22:19:20
• Unit Tripped Offline: Carrying 528 megawatts
• Starting Frequency: 59.979
• Minimum Frequency: 59.935
• A to C Time: 2 seconds
• Recovery Time: 2 minutes 43 seconds
• Trip Reason: unknown
• Non-selection Reason: frequency was outside the dead band, c point 59.935
• Additional Info: 134 megawatts of regulation up deployed
• Event Date: 04/15
• Event Time: 05:17:32
• Unit Tripped Offline: Carrying 629 megawatts
• Starting Frequency: 59.996
• Minimum Frequency: 59.928
• A to C Time: 2 seconds
• Recovery Time: 5 minutes 4 seconds
• Trip Reason: back house issue
• Non-selection Reason: c point 59.928
• Contextual Note: Recovery time tends to be around 5 minutes without regulation.
• Event Date: 04/23
• Event Time: 05:17:32
• Unit Tripped Offline: Carrying 560 megawatts
• Starting Frequency: 60.015
• Minimum Frequency: 59.939
• A to C Time: 3 seconds
• Recovery Time: 5 minutes 4 seconds
• Trip Reason: loss of boilers or circulation pumps
• Non-selection Reason: c point 59.939

▶️7 - Adjourn