Analysis Shows Latest Operating Reserves Demand Curve Proposals Would Enhance ERCOT Resource Adequacy

Additional options for setting parameters of an operating reserves demand curve in ERCOT would enhance resource adequacy, even at a lower minimum contingency level, an analysis conducted by The Brattle Group showed.

An earlier analysis had found that an Operating Reserves Demand Curve with a minimum contingency level of 2,300 MW (and no explicit Value Of Non-Market Actions) had been forecast to produce a reserve margin of 13.9% under a "low market response."

The latest analysis included consideration of an Operating Reserves Demand Curve with a lower minimum contingency level of 1,375 MW, but which also included a Value Of Non-Market Actions at $7,000, and a Value of Lost Load at $9,000. This design produced a reserve margin of up to 15.4%, depending on the level of market response to the Operating Reserves Demand Curve. A low market response would produce a reserve margin of 12.6%.

An analysis of an Operating Reserves Demand Curve with a lower minimum contingency level of 1,375 MW, but which also included a Value Of Non-Market Actions at the eventual SWOC of $9,000, as recently proposed by Commissioner Kenneth Anderson, was not included in the report.

Project 40000