Texas PUC Staff File Emergency Response Service Draft Proposal For Adoption
February 03,2017
Texas PUC Staff have filed a draft proposal for adoption addressing changes to the Emergency Response Service (ERS) rules
The changes generally allow ERS to be deployed to address local transmission emergencies, and provide flexibility to ERS resources to participate in Must-Run Alternative arrangements (alternatives to RMRs).
The draft preamble notes that several parties pointed to the potential for localized price suppression when ERS is deployed to address local congestion issues, and argued that this effect would not be addressed through existing mechanisms, such as the Reliability Deployment Price Adder. "The commission shares the concern expressed by these parties, but believes that, like the existing mechanism, this is an issue that, at this time, is best addressed through the ERCOT stakeholder process," the draft preamble states
The draft proposal for adoption declined to increase or eliminate the annual ERS expenditure cap of $50 million annually at this time
The draft proposal for adoption declines a proposal from Shell to make localized deployment of ERS subject to SCED dispatch.
"The commission agrees with ERCOT that requiring ERS resources to telemeter bids to SCED and to respond to SCED dispatch would undermine a core purpose of the ERS program — to capture the benefit of demand response or generation that otherwise would be unable to participate in the ERCOT market," the draft preamble states