Former Texas PGC To Pay $50,000 Under Settlement With Texas PUC Staff, Includes Stay-out Prohibiting Individuals From Serving As Principals At Retail Provider

Meadow Park ESS Assets, LLC (Meadow Park) would pay $50,000 under a settlement with Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to resolve alleged violations of PURA § 39.151(j), 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) § 25.503(f)(8), Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Nodal Protocols § 16.1.3; and ERCOT Planning Guide § 5.2.2, related to market participant citizenship, ownership, or headquarters.

Meadow Park was a power generation company (PGC) registered with the PUC, and was registered as a Resource Entity (RE) with ERCOT effective June 16, 2025, and was therefore a market participant as that term is defined in 16 TAC § 25.503(c)(5) and ERCOT Nodal Protocols § 2.1

The Lone Star Infrastructure Protection Act (LSIPA) prohibits business entities from entering into agreements related to critical infrastructure in the state wherein the agreement would grant direct or remote control of critical infrastructure to a company known to be owned or controlled by nationals of, or otherwise headquartered in China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or any other designated country

Applicants seeking to enter the ERCOT market as market participants are required to submit an Attestation Regarding Market Participant Citizenship, Ownership, or Headquarters (Form Q) to ERCOT as part of the application process.

Form Q contains two questions for the applicant. Question 1 asks whether the applicant, or a wholly-owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company, or an affiliate of the applicant is either owned or controlled by governmental entities of or individuals who are citizens of countries identified under the LSIPA. Question 2 is answered only where the applicant answers Question 1 as “true” solely because of a wholly-owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, or affiliate, and asks whether that entity will have access to ERCOT systems or ERCOT market data.

The settlement states, "On June 10, 2025, Joshua Gunderson, a manager for Meadow Park, submitted its Form Q attestation to ERCOT as part of Meadow Park’s application for registration as an ERCOT market participant. In its Form Q attestation, Meadow Park answered that one or more of the statements offered in Question 1 were true, and also provided an answer to Question 2, stating that the subsidiary or affiliate would not have direct or indirect access to ERCOT systems or system data."

Applicants seeking to initiate a Generator Interconnection or Modification (GIM) agreement with ERCOT must submit a completed request (Attachment D) and provide all required information to the ERCOT Resource Integration Ongoing Operations (RIOO) unit. Attachment D requires the interconnecting entity (IE) to indicate whether the IE, the property owner, or a wholly-owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company, or affiliate of the IE or property owner is owned or controlled by governmental entities of, or individuals who are citizens of, countries identified under the LSIPA.

The settlement states, "On June 13, 2025, Joshua Gunderson submitted Meadow Park’s Attachment D attestation to ERCOT’s RIOO unit, responding that none of the statements offered were true".

The settlement states, "By a Delegation of Control effective May 30, 2025, CleanAmps AssetCo LLC (CleanAmps) delegated to Joshua Gunderson, a United States citizen, exclusive operational and administrative control over all certifications and attestations relating to the Meadow Park project, including physical and remote access control and configuration of cybersecurity measures."

The settlement states, "By a Conditional Assignment of Membership Interest effective May 31, 2025, CleanAmps conditionally assigned to Mr. Gunderson all membership interest in Meadow Park, including the rights to vote, manage, and exercise operational control over the project, subject to automatic reversion upon the naturalization of Geng Tian as a United States citizen."

The settlement states, "Geng Tian applied for naturalization on February 4, 2025 and became a naturalized United States citizen on July 17, 2025. Upon naturalization, the membership interest reverted to CleanAmps as confirmed by a Memorandum of Satisfaction and Restoration of Membership Interest effective July 17, 2025. Mr. Tian has been a United States citizen at all times since July 17, 2025".

The settlement states, "Meadow Park did not file either the Delegation of Control or Conditional Assignment of Membership Interest with the Texas secretary of state or provide a copy of either document to ERCOT as part of its application process while seeking to enter the ERCOT market. Accordingly, Geng Tian appeared to be the owner of Meadow Park when its application for entry into the ERCOT market was under review".

ERCOT terminated Meadow Park's Standard Form Agreement (SFA) on May 18, 2026.

Commission Staff has asserted that, "Meadow Park violated PURA § 39.151(j) and 16 TAC § 25.503(f)(8) in connection with the June 10, 2025 Form Q Attestation and June 13, 2025 Attachment D attestation because it contained false or inaccurate information concerning its LSIPA exposure to ERCOT Specifically, on the dates the attestations were submitted, Geng Tian was a Chinese national."

"Commission Staff asserts that Meadow Park violated ERCOT Nodal Protocols § 16.1.3(1) on June 10, 2025, when it attempted to register as an ERCOT market participant as its owner (Geng Tian) was a Chinese national at the time Meadow Park submitted its Form Q attestation. Commission Staff acknowledges that, while Meadow Park did correctly indicate it had potential LSIPA exposure in its response to Form Q, Question 1, Meadow Park improperly answered Form Q, Question 2. Commission Staff asserts that Form Q, Question 2 is limited to instances where the potential LSIPA exposure is isolated to a wholly-owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, or affiliate of the applicant, and that exposure associated with the owner or parent-company of an applicant is not contemplated by Form Q, Question 2. In this instance, Meadow Park’s identified exposure was due to its ownership. Accordingly, Commission Staff asserts that Form Q, Question 2 should not have been answered."

The settlement states, "Meadow Park does not admit, and the parties agree that this agreement and the attached proposed order contain no finding, that Meadow Park or any of its principals acted knowingly, willfully, or with actual intent to provide false or misleading information to ERCOT or to the Commission."

The settlement states that Meadow Park identifies the following mitigating factors and corrective actions:

"a. The attestations at issue were prepared and submitted by Meadow Park’s principals without the assistance of legal counsel, during a compressed period in which the project’s ownership and operational control structure was being restructured for the express purpose of assuring LSIPA compliance.

"b. Before either attestation was submitted, Meadow Park’s principals executed the Delegation of Control and the Conditional Assignment of Membership Interest described [in the settlement], which placed operational control and the controlling membership interest of Meadow Park in a United States citizen.

"c. Geng Tian’s naturalization application was filed months before either attestation and was completed on July 17, 2025, approximately five weeks after the Form Q submission. There is no prospective LSIPA concern with respect to Meadow Park or its principals.

"d. The Form Q attestation disclosed, rather than concealed, the circumstance at issue: Meadow Park answered Question 1 'true.' ERCOT was on notice of the potential exposure from the date of the attestation.

e. Meadow Park cooperated fully and promptly with Commission Staff’s investigation and voluntarily produced the underlying ownership and control documents including metadata.

f. Meadow Park has voluntarily relinquished its PGC registration during the pendency of this docket.

g. Neither Meadow Park nor its principals has been the subject of any prior violation in any ERCOT or Commission proceeding."

The settlement states, "Meadow Park has relinquished its assigned PGC registration number. The Parties agree that the relinquishment is voluntary and does not constitute, and must not be characterized as, a revocation, suspension, cancellation, or involuntary termination of Meadow Park’s registration by the Commission."

The settlement provides that, for the period of one calendar year from the effective date of Meadow Park’s relinquishment of its PGC registration, Mr. Joshua Gunderson and Mr. Geng Tian will not seek to reapply as principals for either a PGC or retail electric provider.

Docket 60334