ERCOT Market - Best Practices for Bidding & Settlements for Market Participants

March 14-15, 2024 | Online :: Central Time

0324-ercot-settlements

“Very well done course! Lots of good information packed in 2 days!” … Market Participant who attended seminar in San Antonio

“Excellent overview on bid-to-bill issues for the Texas Nodal Market” … Market Participant who attended seminar in Dallas

“The PCI instructors presented a very complex subject and made it very understandable and enjoyable for me and others. Great job!” … Market Participant who attended seminar in Houston

This course will go through case studies of actual market events to showcase lessons learned and illustrate how market participants can fine-tune bidding and hedging strategies to capture greater market benefits for their assets (Units, Loads, Trades, Virtuals, and CRRs) in the ERCOT Nodal Market.  Attendees will simulate submittal of energy and ancillary-service offers, test bidding strategies, clear the market, compute settlement, and determine the bottom-line profit for their organization’s generation and load assets.

Learning Outcomes

Attendees at this course will:  

• Formulate ERCOT market unit offers and demand bids
• Review ERCOT market and how settlement results can be used as a strategic tool to validate settlement statements and invoices
• Identify ERCOT market settlement errors
• Submit and discuss ERCOT market settlement disputes
• Compute ERCOT market profit and loss (P&L) metrics
• Assess and provide feedback on the effectiveness of ERCOT market bidding strategies
• Review how to minimize costs for serving loads in the ERCOT market markets

Thursday, March 14, 2023 : Central Time

 

8:30 – 8:50 a.m. :: Overview and Introductions

8:50 – 10:30 a.m. :: Overview of ERCOT Nodal Market

• Objectives of ERCOT nodal market
• Reviewing day-ahead and real-time bidding workflow for ERCOT market participants
• Understanding SCUC objectives for DA and DRUC
• How does the two-step settlement work?
• Why use DAM energy-only bids and offers?
• Using CRR contracts to hedge against congestion costs
• Reviewing ERCOT market statistics
• Lessons learned from reviewing price-spike events on Feb 12-18, 2021 (Uri Winter Storm)
• Bid-to-bill timeline & challenges
• Does ERCOT need a capacity market?
• Differences in market rules between ERCOT and other RTO markets

10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. :: Uses of Nodal Locational Marginal Prices in Bidding & Settlement

• Why use nodal locational marginal prices?
• How are nodal LMPs computed?
• Understanding impacts of flowgates on congestion
• Computing DA congestion rent
• Using CRR contracts to hedge against DA congestion costs
• Where does ERCOT get the fund to pay CRR contracts?
• Can nodal LMPs be negative?
• Day-ahead settlement calculations
• How well can you forecast day-ahead nodal LMPs?

12:15 – 1:15 p.m. :: Lunch Break

1:15 – 2:45 p.m. :: Formulating Bidding Strategies for Resources

• Optimizing operation of resources in ERCOT nodal market
• Understanding 3-part energy offers for generators
• What Is current operating plan?
• Should resources be offered in day-ahead market or self-scheduled in real-time market?
• ERCOT mitigation rules for day-ahead market
• Market principles behind make-whole payments and charges
• Computing day-ahead make-whole payments for generators
• Who will pay DA & RUC make-whole charges?
• Understanding RUC clawback charges
• Examples illustrating day-ahead and real-time settlement for generators
• Computing penalties due to basepoint deviation
• Computing payments for voltage-support services
• When do my units receive emergency payments?
• How do you maximize ESR benefits in ERCOT market?

2:45 – 3:00 p.m. :: Afternoon Break

3:00 – 4:45 p.m. :: Using Profit & Loss Metrics to Provide Feedback to Traders

• Using settlement results to compute DA and DART profits & losses (P&L) for your ERCOT portfolio (generators, loads, trades, DAM energy-only bids and offers, and CRRs)
• Key factors influencing profits & losses
• Computing P&L gains and leakages
• Using P&L metrics to provide feedback to traders on effectiveness of day-ahead and real-time bidding strategies
• Using settlement results to provide feedback to plant managers on plant performance
• Using settlement results to build key performance metrics
• Settlement forensics – where front and back offices meet

4:45 p.m. :: Course Adjourns for Day

 

Friday, March 15, 2023 : Central Time

 

8:30 – 10:15 a.m. :: Strategies for Bidding Ancillary Services 

• A/S products offered under ERCOT Nodal Market
• Formulating A/S offers
• Understanding opportunity costs
• Understanding A/S deployment costs and probabilities
• Using co-optimization to compute DA LMPs and A/S prices?
• Does co-optimization minimize ERCOT energy and ancillary-service costs?
• Does co-optimization maximize revenues and profits for market participants?
• How does ERCOT compute marginal prices for ancillary services?
• Understanding causes for price reversal
• Computing revenues and costs for providing ancillary services
• How does ERCOT allocate A/S charges?

10:15 – 10:30 a.m. :: Morning Break

10:30 am – 12:15 p.m. :: Bidding Strategies for Loads and Virtual Trades

• Reviewing demand-bidding strategies
• Examples Illustrating DA & RT settlement for loads
• Computing A/S Charges for LSEs
• Using energy trades to obtain price certainty and minimize RUC charges
• Can settlement location influence bottom-line profits of energy trades?
• How do you optimally schedule units that are used to serve energy trades?
• Using trades to transfer responsibility for RUC capacity and ancillary service obligations
• Understanding settlement charge codes for energy, capacity, and A/S trades
• Why Use DAM energy-only bids and offers?

Validating ERCOT Settlement Statements and Invoices

• Understanding settlement statements and charge codes for ERCOT nodal market
• Settlement calendar for ERCOT nodal market
• Why perform shadow settlement?
• Key functions of shadow settlement software
• Mapping data sources to support shadow settlement
• Downloading settlement statements and invoices from ERCOT server
• What data does ERCOT provide with the settlement extract files?
• Can you validate ERCOT meter data?
• What are the most common causes for settlement disputes?
• Managing settlement disputes
• Managing ERCOT credit exposure

12:15 – 1:15 p.m. :: Lunch Break

1:15 – 3:00 p.m. :: Using CRR Contracts to Hedge Against Congestion Costs

• Types of CRR contracts
• What is congestion rent?
• Reviewing congestion statistics in ERCOT nodal market
• How do you procure CRR contracts?
• Settlement calculations for CRR contracts
• Should REPs hedge RT congestion between trading hubs and load zones?
• Using point-to-point obligation bids to hedge against RT congestion
• Using settlement results to assess whether your congestion hedges are in the money

Understanding Market Mitigation (Optional)

• Objectives and focus of market monitoring
• Definition of market power
• Nodal market mitigation rules
• Understanding verifiable costs
• Using SCED results to mitigate real-time offers
• Impacts of IMM interventions on settlement results

3:00 – 3:15 p.m. :: Afternoon Break

3:15 – 4:45 p.m. :: Use Software Market Simulator to Perform Bid-to-Bill Studies

• Formulating energy and ancillary service offers
• Quantifying costs for providing ancillary services
• Computing revenues and costs for providing energy and ancillary services
• How should we formulate our energy and A/S bids to maximize our market benefits?
• Should we self-schedule to meet our energy and A/S requirements?
• Case studies illustrating ERCOT bid-to-bill workflow

Course Review & Round-Table Discussion

4:45 p.m. :: Course Adjournment

Khai Le, Sr. Vice President, PCI Energy Solutions

Khai Le has more than 47 years’ experience working with market participants in RTO markets to deploy the PCI Suite to automate their bidding, scheduling, and settlement workflows. He has conducted more than 700 seminars on market-based operations, bidding strategies, portfolio optimization, and shadow settlement for utilities and RTOs worldwide. Mr. Le authored some 100 technical papers on unit commitment, hydro-thermal coordination, emission dispatch, optimization of ancillary services, post analysis, and short-term planning. Five of his papers received prize awards. He received his BS from Harvey Mudd College and his MS from Carnegie Mellon University.  Mr. Le is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Registered Professional Engineer in Pennsylvania.

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Justin Shearer, Vice President, PCI Energy Solutions

Justin Shearer actively participates in all phases of solution and business development, deployment, and consulting for market participants in North America.  He has most recently been integrally involved with the deployment of the PCI suite at over a dozen market participants in the US. Mr. Shearer earned both his BA and MBA from the University of Oklahoma.

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Lloyd Prichard, Senior Market Instructor, Electric Reliability Coordinator of Texas (ERCOT)

Lloyd has more than 20 years’ experience with ERCOT market operations and settlements. Mr. Prichard has been with ERCOT for 10 years and before that worked for current and former ERCOT Market Participants. He graduated with honors from MidAmerica Nazarene University with a dual degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education.

We will be using Microsoft Teams to facilitate your participation in the upcoming event. You do not need to have an existing Teams account in order to participate in the broadcast – the course will play in your browser and you will have the option of using a microphone to speak with the room and ask questions, or type any questions in via the chat window and our on-site representative will relay your question to the instructor.

• IMPORTANT NOTE: After November 30 you will not be able to join a Teams meeting using Internet Explorer 11. Microsoft recommends downloading and installing the Teams app if possible. You may also use the Edge browser or Chrome.
• You will receive a separate email with a unique link to a personalized landing page which will include links to join all sessions of this event.
• If you are using a microphone, please ensure that it is muted until such time as you need to ask a question.
• The remote meeting connection will be open approximately 30 minutes before the start of the course. We encourage you to connect as early as possible in case you experience any unforeseen problems.

Please Note: This event is being conducted entirely online. All attendees will connect and attend from their computer, one connection per purchase. For details please see our FAQ

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all attendees for 7 days after the event

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS EVENT:

ERCOT Market - Best Practices for Bidding & Settlements for Market Participants

March 14-15, 2024 | Online

Your registration may be transferred to a member of your organization up to 24 hours in advance of the event. Cancellations must be received on or before February 9, 2024 in order to be refunded and will be subject to a US $195.00 processing fee per registrant. No refunds will be made after this date. Cancellations received after this date will create a credit of the tuition (less processing fee) good toward any other EUCI event. This credit will be good for six months from the cancellation date. In the event of non-attendance, all registration fees will be forfeited. In case of conference cancellation, EUCIs liability is limited to refund of the event registration fee only. For more information regarding administrative policies, such as complaints and refunds, please contact our offices at 303-770-8800

Credits

EUCI is accredited by the International Accreditors for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) and offers IACET CEUs for its learning events that comply with the ANSI/IACET Continuing Education and Training Standard. IACET is recognized internationally as a standard development organization and accrediting body that promotes quality of continuing education and training.

EUCI is authorized by IACET to offer 1.4 CEUs for this event

Instructional Methods  

This program will use PowerPoint presentations, case studies and group discussions. 

Requirements for a Successful Completion of Program  

Participants must log in each day and be in attendance for the entirety of the course to be eligible for continuing education credit. 

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Upon successful completion of this event, program participants interested in receiving CPE credits will receive a certificate of completion.

Course CPE Credits: 16.5
There is no prerequisite for this Course.
Program field of study: Specialized Knowledge
Program Level: Basic
Delivery Method: Group Internet Based
Advanced Preparation: None

EUCI is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA) as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be submitted to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors through its web site: www.nasbaregistry.org

 

Who Should Attend

• Portfolio managers and traders responsible for formulating and submitting energy and ancillary service offers to ERCOT
• Traders who would like to maximize benefits of Energy-Storage Resources in ERCOT
• Back-office employees who need to gain a good understanding of the new settlement rules for the ERCOT Nodal Market
• Power plant managers who would like to understand the impact of LMPs on their plant profitability
• Genco executives who need a good understanding of the potential impacts of the new ERCOT Nodal Market on their genco profits and losses
• Employees of ISO/RTOs, attorneys, and regulators who need to understand market rules, congestion management philosophy, and mitigation guidelines that are proposed for the new ERCOT Nodal Market