Briefly

NRG Greens Bayou Unit 5 May Be Required for RMR Service

ERCOT reported that its preliminary review indicates that NRG Texas Power LLC's Greens Bayou Unit 5 may be needed for Reliability Must-Run (RMR) Service. ERCOT will issue its final determination by August 29, 2011. ERCOT had received a Notification of Suspension of Operations (NSO) on June 30, 2011 for the unit.

CenterPoint Energy Opens Enrollment for New Usage History Inquiry Tool

CenterPoint Energy issued a formal announcement for open enrollment registration for its new Usage History Inquiry Tool, an alternative to the "paper" Letter of Authorization process, which uses a business to business API interface for requesting and fulfilling usage history inquiries (see 6/20). Requesting parties must still obtain the customer’s authorization, but will transmit the authorization information over the API instead of forwarding the paper Letter of Authorization. While the paper Letter of Authorization process will still be available, 15 minute AMS interval data will only be available through the new Usage History Inquiry Tool. Information available on CenterPoint's CR website

EverBright Energy Expands to Ameren Territory

EverBright Energy has expanded its online brokering service to the Ameren territories, after Integrys Energy Services officially launched residential and small commercial service at Ameren (see related story). EverBright Energy is an exclusive agent of Integrys Energy Services.

Complaints Higher Under Deregulation, RechargeTexas.com Says

Texans have lodged more than 800 percent more electricity complaints on an annual basis after retail deregulation than they did before deregulation, according to an analysis by RechargeTexas.com, an arm of the Texas Coalition for Affordable Power. The most common complaint relates to billing, although discontinuance and provision of service complaints also rank high. RechargeTexas.com said that electric complaints averaged 1,316 annually for the years prior to deregulation, and 12,013 complaints annually after the start of deregulation. David Chase, General Manager of Texas Power, said that an increase in complaints coincident with the introduction of customer choice is not surprising given that choice has empowered customers, who now feel they have recourse when dissatisfied with their provider. While customers could file complaints under monopoly regulation, customers may have felt disengaged and isolated, and ceased filing complaints after a prior complaint was denied, Chase noted.