Texas QSE To Pay $22,500 Under Settlement With PUCT Staff

Calpine Power Management LLC (QCALP) would pay $22,500 under a settlement with Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to resolve Commission Staff's investigation of QCALP for alleged violations of the Public Utility Regulatory Act § 39.151(d) (PURA) and 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) §§ 25.507(f) and 25.503(f)(2), concerning failure to adhere to Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Protocols § 8.1.3.3.1, related to Suspension of Qualification of Non-Weather-Sensitive Emergency Response Service Resources and/or their Qualified Scheduling Entities.

QCALP is a Qualified Scheduling Entity (QSE), and an Emergency Response Service (ERS) Resource must be represented by a QSE.

As stated in the settlement agreement, QCALP was contracted to provide ERS - 30 during the October 2016 - January 2017 contract period for the following Time Periods: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. In addition, QCALP was also contracted to provide ERS - 30 during the February - May 2017 Contract Period for the following Time Periods: 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6.

Under ERCOT Protocols § 8.1.3.3.1, if a QSE submits an offer during the ERS contract period and that offer is accepted by ERCOT, the QSE must be ready to dispatch. If dispatched by ERCOT, ERS resources shall deploy consistent with their obligations and shall remain deployed until recalled by ERCOT. If the resource is not dispatched by ERCOT, ERCOT will calculate a portfolio-level ERS Availability Factor (ERSAF). If the ERSAF meets or exceeds 0.95, the QSE will be deemed to have met its ERS performance requirements for their ERS contract period. If a QSE does not achieve a 0.95 ERSAF, the QSE is subject to suspension from participating in ERS as well as administrative penalties levied by the Commission.

As stated in the settlement agreement, "QCALP's portfolio-level ERSAF in the October 2016 - January 2017 Contract Period was 0.5423. QCALP's portfolio-level ERSAF in the February - May 2017 Contract Period was 0.9113."

As stated in the settlement agreement, "QCALP failed to achieve a portfolio-level ERSAF of 0.95 or greater for two separate Contract Periods. QCALP failed to maintain the required amount of load available for ERS deployment during any of the time periods for ERS - 30 in the October 2016 - January 2017 Contract Period and for the time periods 1, 5, and 6 for ERS - 30 in the February - May 2017 Contract Period."

As part of the settlement agreement, QCALP asserts the following:

a. Although Canyon River Water Authority (CRWA), the QCALP customer, did fail two Contract Periods, one was with an availability factor of greater than 91%.

b. In addition, CRWA is a non-profit entity serving its customers and will not be participating in the program going forward, which negates any risk of future noncompliance.

Docket 48279