16 TAC §25.507
The Public Utility Commission of Texas (commission) proposes
new §25.507, relating to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT)
Emergency Interruptible Load Service (EILS). The new rule will create a new
service to be available to ERCOT to maintain electric service for customers
if an emergency arises in which electric generation resources are not adequate
to supply customers' demand. In such circumstances, ERCOT has the discretion
to instruct utilities to interrupt firm service to a limited number of customers,
in order to prevent a broader service interruption. The new emergency interruptible
load service is intended to provide a means of reducing demand by interrupting
service to customers who have offered to be interrupted, for a price, rather
than interrupting service to customers who expect to have continuous, reliable
service. This new rule is a competition rule subject to judicial review as
specified in Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.001(e). Project
Number 33457 is assigned to this proceeding.
Mr. Jess Totten, Director, Electric Industry Oversight, has determined
that for each year of the first five-year period the proposed section is in
effect there will be no fiscal implications for state or local government
as a result of enforcing or administering the section.
Mr. Totten has determined that for each year of the first five years the
proposed section is in effect the public benefit anticipated as a result of
enforcing the proposed section will be fewer involuntary interruptions of
electric retail customers. There will be no adverse economic effect on small
businesses or micro-businesses as a result of enforcing this section. There
may be economic costs to persons who are required to comply with the proposed
section. These costs are ERCOT's costs associated with procuring emergency
interruptible load from customers who are willing to provide this service.
However, Mr. Totten believes that the benefits accruing from implementation
of the proposed section will outweigh these costs. Customers will incur costs
in participating in the program, but their participation will be voluntary,
and it is expected that they will participate only if they expect to receive
payments from ERCOT that will result in a net benefit to them.
Mr. Totten has also determined that for each year of the first five years
the proposed section is in effect there should be no effect on a local economy,
and therefore no local employment impact statement is required under Administrative
Procedure Act (APA), Texas Government Code §2001.022.
The commission solicits comments on the following:
1) Establishing the correct baseline is important to insure that there
is actual load available when called upon for interruption. Please comment
as to the requirements necessary to create an effective baseline.
2) For the EILS program to be effective, participating load cannot curtail
on its own leading up to an interruption. What provisions are necessary, if
any, to keep load online until ERCOT calls for an interruption?
The commission staff will conduct a public hearing on this rulemaking,
if requested pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act, Texas Government
Code §2001.029, at the commission's offices located in the William B.
Travis Building, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin, Texas 78701 on Tuesday,
March 6, 2007, at 10:00 a.m. The request for a public hearing must be received
within 14 days after publication of the proposed section.
Comments on the proposed new section may be submitted to the Filing Clerk,
Public Utility Commission of Texas, 1701 North Congress Avenue, P.O. Box 13326,
Austin, Texas 78711-3326, within 14 days after publication. Sixteen copies
of comments on the proposed section are required to be filed pursuant to §22.71(c)
of this title. Comments should be organized in a manner consistent with the
organization of the proposed rule. The commission invites specific comments
regarding the costs associated with, and benefits that will be gained by,
implementation of the proposed section. The commission will consider the costs
and benefits in deciding whether to adopt the section. All comments should
refer to Project Number 33457.
This new section is proposed under the Public Utility Regulatory
Act, Texas Utilities Code Annotated §11.002 (Vernon 2000, Supplement
2006) (PURA), which states that it is the purpose of this title to grant to
the Public Utility Commission of Texas authority to make and enforce rules
necessary to protect customers of electric services consistent with the public
interest; Section 14.002 which provides the Public Utility Commission with
the authority to make and enforce rules reasonably required in the exercise
of its powers and jurisdiction; and specifically, Section 39.151 which provides
that the commission shall adopt and enforce rules relating to the reliability
of the regional electrical network and accounting for the production and delivery
of electricity among generators and all other market participants. This new
section also gives the commission complete authority to oversee an independent
organization's (such as ERCOT) budget and operations to ensure that it adequately
performs its functions.
Cross Reference to Statutes: Public Utility Regulatory Act §§11.002,
14.002 and 39.151.
§25.507.Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Emergency Interruptible Load Service (EILS).
(a)
EILS procurement. ERCOT shall procure EILS, an ancillary
service that is intended to be deployed by ERCOT in an Emergency Electric
Curtailment Plan (EECP) event prior to ERCOT instructing transmission and
distribution service providers to interrupt firm load.
(1)
EILS may be procured for one or more of three contract
periods:
(A)
February through May;
(B)
June through September; and
(C)
October through January.
(2)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the first EILS contract
period shall be from the effective date of this section through May of 2007.
(3)
ERCOT may determine cost limits for each EILS contract
period in order to ensure that the EILS cost cap is not exceeded.
(4)
The maximum amount of EILS for which ERCOT may contract
in an EILS contract period is 1,000 megawatts (MW).
(5)
The minimum amount of EILS for which ERCOT may contract
in an EILS contract period is 500 MW. If ERCOT does not receive enough offers
to meet the required minimum amount for a period in which it seeks to procure
EILS or cannot procure at least 500 MW for a period in which it seeks to procure
EILS due to the EILS cap, ERCOT shall not contract for EILS.
(6)
This section will sunset October 1, 2007, provided the
following conditions are met:
(A)
An alternative long-term solution is approved in the form
of a Protocol Revision that meets the requirements of the Public Utility Commission
of Texas and ERCOT.
(B)
This Protocol Revision must be implemented such that ERCOT
has a solution continuously in place with no interruption of the protection
offered by EILS.
(C)
If a solution is developed, but cannot be implemented by
October 1, 2007, EILS will be extended for an additional contract period.
(b)
Definitions.
(1)
EILS--An ancillary service procured and used by ERCOT in
accordance with this section.
(2)
EILS contract period--As defined in subsection (a) of this
section.
(3)
EILS cost cap--The maximum amount ERCOT may spend on the
EILS program in a year, February-January. The cost cap is set at $17 Million
for 2007 (April 2007 - January 2008) and $20 Million for 2008 (February 2008
- January 2009).
(4)
EILS non-prime hours--Any hours not defined as EILS prime
hours.
(5)
EILS prime hours--Hours occurring on a business day (as
defined by ERCOT Protocols) during the time frame of hour ending 0900 through
hour ending 2000.
(6)
EILS resource--Load that is contracted to provide EILS.
(7)
EILS time period--EILS prime hours or EILS non-prime hours.
(8)
Resource entity--An entity that owns or controls a generation
resource or behaves as a LaaR or emergency interruptible load, that can comply
with ERCOT instructions to reduce electricity usage or provide an ancillary
service.
(c)
Participation in EILS. In addition to requirements established
by ERCOT, the following requirements shall apply for the provision of EILS:
(1)
EILS bids may be submitted to ERCOT by a resource entity
or a qualified scheduling entity (QSE) on behalf of resource entity.
(A)
Bids may be submitted for EILS prime hours or EILS non-prime
hours.
(B)
The minimum amount of EILS that may be offered in a bid
to ERCOT is one MW. QSEs representing EILS resources may aggregate multiple
resources to reach the one MW bid requirement provided that each Electric
Service Identifier (ESI ID) in an EILS Resource aggregation has a peak demand
of 500 kilowatts (kW) or greater. Such aggregated bids will be considered
a single EILS resource.
(2)
To qualify to participate in the EILS program, a resource
shall meet the technical requirements set out in this paragraph.
(A)
Each EILS resource, including each resource participating
in an aggregated bid, shall have an ESI ID.
(B)
Each EILS resource shall have a dedicated installed Interval
Data Recorder (IDR) meter. If the IDR meter is not used for settlement with
ERCOT, then the IDR meter and the method and format used to collect and transfer
the meter data are subject to ERCOT approval. This subsection also applies
to meters behind a Non-Opt-In Entity (NOIE) meter point and behind a private
network's settlement meter point.
(C)
An EILS resource shall be capable of reducing its load
by its contracted capacity compared to its baseline capacity within ten minutes
of an ERCOT verbal dispatch instruction (VDI) to its QSE and must be able
to maintain performance at contracted levels for the entire period of the
EILS deployment.
(D)
EILS resources, once deployed, shall be able to return
to their contracted operating level for providing EILS within ten hours following
the recall instruction.
(E)
EILS resources shall be subject to qualification, testing,
and performance requirements as developed and administered by ERCOT.
(F)
The resource entity responsible for an EILS resource shall
be registered as a Resource Entity with ERCOT.
(G)
The resource entity shall execute a standard form EILS
agreement as developed by ERCOT.
(H)
The resource entity shall be served by a QSE qualified
to provide ancillary services and capable of communicating with ERCOT and
the EILS resource.
(I)
An EILS resource shall not provide other ancillary services,
including balancing energy services with the same capacity, while under an
EILS Agreement.
(3)
ERCOT shall establish an individual load baseline for each
proposed EILS resource. If the EILS resource is an aggregation of ESI IDs,
ERCOT shall take into account the load characteristics of each ESI ID represented
by the EILS resource.
(A)
ERCOT shall review IDR data from the most recent available
12-month period to determine the baseline consumption. ERCOT may use its own
data at its reasonable discretion. If ERCOT does not possess sufficient data,
the EILS Resource or its QSE must provide data to ERCOT according to ERCOT's
specifications.
(B)
The baseline shall be used to verify or establish an EILS
Resource's maximum contract amount and to verify the EILS resource's performance
as compared to its contracted capacity during an EILS deployment event.
(4)
EILS shall be deployed by ERCOT by VDIs in a single phone
call to all QSEs providing EILS.
(A)
When ERCOT issues a VDI, 100% of the available contracted
EILS resources shall be deployed.
(B)
ERCOT may deploy EILS at any time during a settlement interval.
(C)
An EILS resource entity shall be subject to a maximum of
two deployments per EILS contract period lasting no more than eight hours
total, unless an EILS deployment is still in effect when the eighth hour lapses,
in which case EILS deployment shall continue until ERCOT releases the EILS
resource.
(D)
ERCOT may conduct a load-shedding test of each resource
once a year unless the resource has met its performance obligations during
an EILS deployment during the preceding 12 months. ERCOT tests are not "deployments"
under subparagraph (C) of this paragraph.
(d)
EILS Payment and Charges.
(1)
ERCOT shall pay a capacity payment to each QSE representing
an EILS resource on an as-bid basis subject to modifications determined by
ERCOT based on the EIL resource's availability during an EILS contract period,
and the EILS resource's performance in a deployment event.
(2)
ERCOT shall charge each QSE a capacity charge for EILS
based upon its load ratio share during the relevant EILS time period and EILS
contract period.
(3)
There shall be no energy payments for providing EILS above
and beyond typical load imbalance payments pursuant to the ERCOT protocols.
(4)
ERCOT shall settle an EILS contract period via payments
and charges on a settlement statement of a single operating day within 70
days following the completion of the EILS contract period.
(5)
ERCOT shall make the following available to market participants
via market notices and by posting on a publicly accessible section of the
ERCOT web site:
(A)
Baseline formulas;
(B)
Formulas used for wholesale market settlement; and
(C)
Equations used to determine an EILS resource's compliance
with its obligations in an EILS deployment.
(e)
Compliance. Resource entities representing EILS resources
and QSEs representing EILS resources are subject to penalties for failure
to meet their obligations under this section. ERCOT shall withhold all or
part of an EILS resource's capacity payment for a contract period if the EILS
resource fails to make its committed load available during its committed hours,
or fails to meet its load reduction obligations in an EILS deployment event.
(f)
Reporting. At the completion of each contract period, ERCOT
shall review the effectiveness and benefits of the EILS and report its findings
to the commission within 70 days of the completion of the contract period.
The report shall contain at a minimum the number of MW procured in each period,
the total dollar amount spent, the number and level of EECP events, and the
number and duration of deployments.
(g)
Implementation. ERCOT shall develop additional procedures,
guides, and/or protocols that are consistent with this section and that ERCOT
finds necessary to implement EILS, including but not limited to developing
a standard form EILS Agreement and establishing specific performance guidelines
and grace periods for EILS Resources.
(h)
Long-term solution. Any long-term solution must offer ERCOT
the ability to avoid shedding firm load by bringing more resources online
or curtailing load voluntarily. In this context the commission is interested
in:
(1)
Better price signals leading up to an EECP event;
(2)
Bringing more resources (both interruptible load and generation)
online through existing ancillary services;
(3)
Examining the priorities set by TDSPs when shedding firm
load;
(4)
Paragraphs (1) - (3) of this subsection in combination
with an EILS program.
This agency hereby certifies that the proposal has been
reviewed by legal counsel and found to be within the agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office of
the Secretary of State on February 2, 2007.
TRD-200700298
Adriana A. Gonzales
Rules Coordinator
Public Utility Commission of Texas
Earliest possible date of adoption: March 18, 2007
For further information, please call: (512) 936-7223