June 15, 2016

 

 

Requested Client Action Action Date

Categories

Legal and Regulatory

Market Operations

Market Rules and Market Design

 

 

Registered Master File Value Review Requested

 

Summary

The California ISO requests that all scheduling coordinators for generating units review the values registered in master file for "Maximum Daily Start-Ups" and "Maximum Daily Transitions" to ensure the values meet ISO tariff requirements.  Master file data not consistent with the tariff-defined principles could have adverse operational and financial impacts to the ISO system.  Please make any appropriate changes through the regular master file change process by June 30, 2016.

 

Main Text

The California ISO requests that all scheduling coordinators for generating units review the values registered in master file for "Maximum Daily Start-Ups" and "Maximum Daily Transitions" to ensure the values meet ISO tariff requirements.

 

Particularly in light of the limited operability of the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, the ISO is concerned that generating units whose daily start capability or daily transition limit values currently registered in the master file are not consistent with the tariff-defined principles could have adverse operational and financial impacts to the ISO system.

 

Maximum Daily Start-Ups is defined in Appendix A of the ISO tariff as: "The maximum number of times a Generating Unit can be started up within one day, due to environmental or physical operating constraints." 

 

Maximum Daily Transitions is defined in the ISO's generator resource data template as: "The maximum number of times [a multi-stage generator] transition can be performed each day." Further, section 4.6.4 of the tariff requires "[a]ll information provided to the ISO regarding the operational and technical constraints in the Master File shall be accurate and actually based on physical characteristics of the resources . . . ." 

 

Consistent with these tariff provisions, market participants must ensure that values registered in master file reflect environmental/physical constraints, and not contractual or any other factors.

 

Please make any needed changes through the regular master file change process by June 30, 2016.

 

The ISO understands there may be possible confusion regarding the relationship between this topic and the ISO Board's approval on March 25, 2016, of the Commitment Costs Enhancement Phase 3 initiative.  That initiative has not yet been presented to FERC for approval so any rule changes considered in that initiative are not yet in effect.  Assuming it were in effect now, that initiative includes a limited recognition of existing contractual limitations for a three-year transition period in the context of calculating opportunity cost adders.  The ISO clarifies that the three-year transition period recognizing existing contractual limitations will not extend to the Maximum Daily Start-Ups or Maximum Daily Transitions fields.

 

In that same initiative, but completely unrelated to the calculation of the opportunity cost adders, the ISO Board also approved the ISO's proposal to require all units to register a minimum value of two Maximum Daily Starts-Ups and two Maximum Daily Transitions unless the resource provided a detailed mechanical justification of a lower value.  FERC has yet to approve the minimum values requirements and thus they are not currently effective. 

 

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