Texas REview · 2020-07-31 · for the Lone Star State, and we experienced tight grid conditions when Texans turned on their air conditioning. The Electric Reliability Council of

From the Desk of the CEO

T e x a s R e l i a b i l i t y E n t i t y , I n c .

From the Desk of the

CEO 1-2

Upcoming Texas RE

Events 2

ERO Portal Access 3

Talk with Texas REcap 3

NERC Initiatives and

Activities 4

Upcoming Enforceable

Standards 5

Contact Information 6

Career Opportunities 7

Upcoming Important

Dates at Texas RE 7

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A version of this letter also appears

in the November edition of NERC

News

December usually brings cooler

temperatures, but the summer heat is

still a hot topic in Texas. This past

summer was the fourth hottest on record

for the Lone Star State, and we

experienced tight grid conditions when

Texans turned on their air conditioning.

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas

(ERCOT) Interconnection hit a new peak

consumption record of 74,666 MW on

August 12, 2019. Despite increased

demand for electricity and tighter

reserve margins, the grid ran smoothly

thanks to intensive planning efforts led

by state and industry leaders, active

preparation by registered entities, and

the hard work of all stakeholders to keep

equipment running and reduce demand

at critical times.

It is important to consider the

uniqueness of the Texas Interconnection

as we consider system performance for

summer 2019. There was a tourism ad

in the 1980s that proclaimed, “Texas, It’s

Like a Whole Other Country.” In terms of

energy, that slogan rings true. The

ERCOT Interconnection serves most of

Texas, comprising 90% of the state’s

electric load and 75% of the land area.

ERCOT is not synchronously

interconnected to other grids—it is self-

contained with limited direct current

(DC) ties to the Eastern Interconnection

and Mexico. There are more than

46,500 miles of transmission lines and

650 generation units supplying the

state’s growing residential and industrial

base. On a statewide basis, Texas

produces and consumes more electricity

than any other state. Texas also leads

the nation in wind energy, with more

than 13,000 installed turbines and the

most installed wind capacity with over

24,000 MW. Unlike other

Interconnections, ERCOT is a fully

intrastate market that is subject to

federal policy for reliability and state

policy for market design and resource

adequacy.

Since the opening of the Texas electric

market to competition in 1999, our

deregulated energy market has been a

model of both efficiency and reliability.

The Public Utility Commission of Texas

(PUCT) has established certain

economic price signals that promote a

reliable energy supply by providing

increasing incentives during times of

scarcity. The energy-only market in

Texas is designed to support the

reliability needs of our grid by rewarding

generator performance at peak load

times. While this model promotes high

efficiency, the changing resource mix

has presented new challenges to the

reliable operation of the grid.

Recent thermal generator retirements

have led to diminishing reserve margins

during peak load times. This past

summer, our Interconnection’s reserve

margin dipped below the target, which

notably is not mandatory and can

fluctuate as generation units come

online or retire. Registered entities made

significant investments and upgrades to

improve operations in anticipation of

tight supplies. In addition, PUCT

Chairman DeAnn Walker worked with

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D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9

Texas REview

AG&F Conference Call – December 9, 2019

The Audit, Governance, and Finance Committee meeting usually scheduled between the MRC and Board

meetings will be conducted via conference call on December 9, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. Central. To participate, please

register through WebEx.

MRC and Board Meetings – December 11, 2019

The Member Representatives Committee and Board of Directors meetings will take place on December 11, 2019,

starting at 9:00 a.m. Central in the Texas RE Conference Center located at 805 Las Cimas Parkway, Suite 200,

Austin, TX 78746. All stakeholders are welcome to attend in-person or via WebEx.

*Note* Texas RE’s Annual Membership Meeting will

also take place on December 11, 2019, from 11:30

a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Central in a special luncheon

format. The luncheon is open to Texas RE

members, but seating is limited. If you are

interested in attending, please contact

[email protected].

Fred N. Day, IV

Chair (Independent)

John T. Coughlin

Vice Chair (Independent)

Dr. Delores Etter (Independent)

Milton B. Lee (Independent)

W. Lane Lanford President and CEO

Liz Jones

MRC Chair (Affiliated)

Curt D. Brockmann

MRC Vice Chair (Affiliated)

DeAnn T. Walker

Chairman,

Public Utility

Commission (Ex officio, non-voting)

Lori Cobos

Public Counsel,

Office of Public Utility

Counsel (Ex officio, non-voting)

Texas RE Board of Directors

T e x a s R E v i e w

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 P a g e 2

Upcoming Texas RE Events

From the Desk of the CEO, cont.

ERCOT, Texas RE, and other industry leaders in the months leading up to summer to ensure registered entities

performed critical maintenance and adjusted outage schedules. Industry and consumers also did their part by reducing

electric usage at critical times. A more detailed look at ERCOT’s summer performance is available here.

Despite these challenges, ERCOT continues to beat expectations and maintain a highly reliable system. Resource

performance continues to outpace historical patterns, and should continue to do so as we improve our management of

wind resources and accumulate data to refine our analyses. If you have any questions about Texas RE or the ERCOT

Interconnection, please contact me at [email protected].

Regards,

Lane Lanford

Texas RE recently

conducted its annual

food drive to benefit

the Central Texas

Food Bank. We’re

proud to report that

through the

generosity of Texas

RE employees, over

12,000 meals will

be given to those in

need in the Austin

area.

T e x a s R E v i e w

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 P a g e 3

Evaluating Compliance Culture for Oversight – Jeff Hargis, Manager of Risk Assessment

A culture of compliance is defined as a company-wide set of policies and practices that have buy-in at all levels of an

organization. A culture of compliance indicates an entity’s commitment to reliability and fosters an organic relationship

between compliance and reliability that shifts compliance goals from simply passing an audit, to making continuous

improvements throughout an organization. When Texas RE’s risk assessment team evaluates entities they take many

factors into account, including the organization’s culture of compliance.

Compliance culture evaluation has its roots in a series of questions from past

audits. They focus not only on the activities of compliance personnel, but on

organizational practices that incorporate standards compliance into routine

business; such as routine documentation of compliance activities, regular

training and development of lessons learned, and encouragement of self-

identifying and reporting of compliance issues.

A robust culture of compliance not only heightens an entity’s reliability, but

gives Texas RE greater confidence that non-compliance issues will be self-

discovered and mitigated promptly. Compliance culture is one of the six

performance risk considerations used to create Compliance Oversight Plans

(COP). A strong rating for compliance culture can lead to extended intervals

between engagements.

Talk with Texas RE is a monthly outreach activity where Texas RE staff

discuss reliability-related topics. If you have a subject you would like to be

addressed, please contact [email protected].

ERO Portal Access

An ERO Portal account is required to access applications such as the Centralized Organization Registration ERO

System (CORES), Coordinated Functional Registration (CFR), Misoperation Information and Data Analysis System

(MIDAS), Align, and NERC Membership. Prior to the Align Release 1 Go-live, all Primary Compliance Contacts (PCCs)

with an ERO Portal account will be automatically granted permissions. As a result, it is imperative that all users who

need access to any of these applications set up or verify access to the ERO Portal.

To set up an ERO Portal Account:

1) Navigate to https://eroportal.nerc.net.

2) Select “Register” in the upper left corner.

3) Complete the registration form and click “Submit.”

To verify an ERO Portal Account:

1) Navigate to https://eroportal.nerc.net.

2) Select “Sign In” in the upper left corner.

3) Enter your credentials to confirm access to the ERO Portal.

If you cannot remember your username/password, select the “Forgot Password/Username” to retrieve your username

or reset your password. If you have questions or problems concerning your ERO Portal account, please submit a

support ticket here.

If you have any questions regarding CORES,

contact Abby Fellinger, Manager,

Registration and Certification Program.

The latest newsletter about The Align

Project is available here. For additional

information about Align, contact Rochelle

Brown, Manager, CMEP Coordination and

Special Projects.

Talk with Texas REcap

T e x a s R E v i e w

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 P a g e 4

NERC Initiatives and Activities

Project Name Open through 8:00 p.m. ET on date listed

Project 2017-07—Standards Alignment with Registration

Initial Ballot and Non-Binding Poll

December 12, 2019

Project 2016-06—Modifications to CIP Standards | CIP-002-6 (Draft 4)

Additional Ballot and Non-Binding Poll

December 16, 2019

Technical Rationale for Reliability Standards December 18, 2019

Comment and Ballot Periods

On November 1, 2019, NERC filed Comments in Response to Notice Inviting Post-Technical Conference

Comments.

These comments are regarding the Managing Transmission Line Ratings Technical Conference.

On November 14, 2019, NERC submitted a Compliance Filing in response to the January 16th Order.

This is NERC’s unaudited report of its budget-to-actual variance information for the third quarter of 2019.

On November 21, 2019, NERC submitted its 2019 Frequency Response Annual Analysis Report. This is in

support of Reliability Standard BAL-003-1.1.

Want to participate in a ballot for a Regional Standard?

Entities must be in the Registered Ballot Body (RBB) before joining a registered ballot pool.

To join, please fill out the RBB Application form and email it here.

*NERC has released the 2020 ERO Enterprise Data Submittal Schedule, as well as an update of the 2020

ERO Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Program Implementation Plan. Both of these documents

have been added to the Compliance page of the Texas RE website.

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 P a g e 5

Upcoming Enforceable Standards

PRC-005 – See the Implementation Plan

Implementation Plan – Calendar View

Implementation Plan – Requirements View

PRC-025 – See the Implementation Plan

T e x a s R E v i e w

Non-CIP Standard/Requirement Enforcement Date

TPL-007-3 R5, R9 1/1/2020

IRO-002-6 1/1/2020

PRC-026-1 R2, R3, R4 1/1/2020

MOD-026-1 R2 50% by 7/1/2020

MOD-027-1 R2 50% by 7/1/2020

PRC-002-2 R2-R4, R6-R11 50% by 7/1/2020

PER-006-1 10/1/2020

PRC-027-1 10/1/2020

PRC-012-2 1/1/2021

TPL-007-3 R11, R12 7/1/2021

TPL-007-3 R6, R10 1/1/2022

PRC-002-2 R2-R4, R6-R11 100% by 7/1/2022

PRC-002-2 R2-R4, R6-R11: Entities owning only one BES bus, BES Element, or generating unit shall be fully compliant within 6 years

7/1/2022

TPL-007-3 R3, R4, R8 1/1/2023

TPL-007-3 R7 1/1/2024

MOD-026-1 R2 100% by 7/1/2024

MOD-027-1 R2 100% by 7/1/2024

Enforcement Date CIP Standard/Requirement

1/1/2020 CIP-003-7 R1 – R4

4/1/2020 CIP-003-8 R1 – R4

7/1/2020 CIP-005-6 R1 – R2

7/1/2020 CIP-010-3 R1 – R4

7/1/2020 CIP-013-1 R1 – R3

1/1/2021 CIP-008-6 R1 – R4

Contact Information for Texas RE Management

Main Phone Number: (512) 583-4900

Website: www.texasre.org

Name and Title Phone Email

Lane Lanford—President & CEO (512) 583-4940 [email protected]

Jim Albright—Vice President & Chief Operating

Officer

(512) 583-4962 [email protected]

Tammy Cooper—General Counsel & Corporate

Secretary

(512) 583-4960 [email protected]

Judy Foppiano—CFO & Director, Corporate

Services

(512) 583-4959 [email protected]

Curtis Crews—Director, Compliance Assessments (512) 583-4989 [email protected]

Derrick Davis—Director, Enforcement, Reliability

Standards & Registration

(512) 583-4923 [email protected]

Mark Henry—Director, Reliability Services (512) 583-4988 [email protected]

Joseph Younger—Director, Texas Reliability

Monitor

(512) 583-4939 [email protected]

Matthew Barbour—Manager, Communications and

Training

(512) 583-4931 [email protected]

Irma Bernard—Manager, Accounting (512) 583-4914 [email protected]

Rochelle Brown—Manager, CMEP Coordination

and Special Projects

(512) 583-4921 [email protected]

Kenath Carver—Manager, CIP Compliance

Monitoring

(512) 583-4963 [email protected]

Rachel Coyne—Manager, Reliability Standards

Program

(512) 583-4956 [email protected]

Paul Curtis—Assistant General Counsel (512) 583-4924 [email protected]

Abby Fellinger—Manager, Registration &

Certification Program

(512) 583-4927 [email protected]

Katherine Gross—Manager, Enforcement (512) 583-4995 [email protected]

Jeff Hargis—Manager, Risk Assessment (512) 583-4933 [email protected]

Kara Murray—Manager, Human Resources (512) 583-4919 [email protected]

J.W. Richards IV—Manager, IT Infrastructure &

Physical and Cyber Security

(512) 583-4954 [email protected]

Keith Smith—Manager, O&P Compliance

Monitoring

(512) 583-4965 [email protected]

Follow Us

T e x a s R E v i e w

D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 9 P a g e 6

805 Las Cimas Parkway Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746

Phone: (512) 583-4900 E-mail: [email protected]

Texas Reliability Entity, Inc.

Upcoming Important Dates at Texas RE

December 9 – Audit, Governance & Finance Committee Conference Call – 2:00 p.m.

December 11 – MRC Meeting – 9:00 a.m.

December 11 – Annual Membership Meeting – 11:30 a.m.

December 11 – Board of Directors Meeting – 1:30 p.m.

December 12 – NSRF Meeting – 9:30 a.m. (Texas RE Conference Center)

December 19 – Talk with Texas RE – 1:30 p.m.

December 23-25 – Texas RE Office Closed

December 31 – Texas RE Office Closed at Noon

January 1 – Texas RE Office Closed

January 23 – Talk with Texas RE – 1:30 p.m.

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December 2019

To assure effective and efficient

reduction of risks to the reliability and

security of the bulk power system

within the ERCOT Interconnection.

Texas Reliability Entity, Inc. monitors

and enforces compliance with

Reliability Standards for the North

American Electric Reliability

Corporation; develops regional

standards; and monitors and reports on

compliance with the ERCOT Protocols.

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January 2020

Career Opportunities

Check out our Careers Page for more information on these current openings:

Compliance Monitoring Coordinator

Enforcement Attorney