PJM will implement a new process for ensuring compliance with training and certification requirements effective Feb. 1.
The Operating Committee unanimously approved changes to Manual 40 to enable the new process, which stems from an August problem statement to improve compliance by generation dispatchers, demand response providers and energy storage device operators. (See “PJM Moves to Tighten Training, Certification Requirements” in PJM Operating Committee Briefs.)
The process requires that operators or dispatchers that are not in compliance be removed from their shifts.
PJM will calculate compliance scores based on a count of operators and months out of compliance. A score of 5 will trigger a violation notice from PJM’s legal department, which will be sent to the company’s Members Committee representative as well as its compliance contact. (A company with one operator out of compliance for two months and a second operator in violation for three months would score a 5.)
Companies that fail to correct scores of 5 or higher within 30 days could be reported to FERC as a violation of the PJM Operating Agreement and Tariff.
“By putting in a requirement to remove a noncompliant operator from their shift, that essentially puts the company back in compliance,” said PJM’s Glen Boyle. “That’s what we would hope would come out of this. We don’t want to go the FERC route.”
The changes will go before the Markets and Reliability Committee on Jan. 28.
PJM Met ACE, Load Forecast Error Goals in 2015
PJM achieved a perfect dispatch score of 86.64% in 2015, beating its goal of 86.62%, officials told OC members.
Perfect dispatch, designed to measure how well PJM commits combustion turbines, is the hypothetical least production cost commitment and dispatch — what PJM would spend if it knew and could control all system conditions (load forecast, unit availability, unit performance, interchange and transmission outages) in advance.
The score is calculated by dividing the optimal CT production cost by the actual real-time CT production cost. The average RTO load forecast error for December was 2.31%, and it remained below the 3% goal throughout the year, said Chantal Hendrzak, executive director of operations support.
There were, however, five days that exceeded the average — two when the weather was warmer than expected, one when temperatures were colder and two days around the holidays, including Dec. 26.
“We always have some trouble with the holidays — what day of the week it is, what the weather is and what history we have,” she said.
PJM’s balance authority area control error (ACE) performance exceeded the accuracy goal of 99% for each month in 2015.
The average forced outage rate for the year was 4.65% (8,484 MW). The average total outage rate was 15.99% (29,186 MW).
All Hot, Cold Weather Action Items Closed out
PJM has completed all 115 hot and cold weather action items, Director of Operations Planning Dave Souder told the OC.
Since the last update in June, PJM closed out three cold weather action items related to Capacity Performance, regulation market rules and gas infrastructure future adequacy.
On the hot weather side, it completed issues involving synchronized reserves, cascading outage analysis procedure, facility limits, the emergency procedure tool and system modeling.
PJM’s Dave Schweizer reported that mild weather in December limited generator cold weather testing, so the exercise was continued into January.
PJM Strategy Would Guide Expansion of PMUs
PJM is developing an RTO-wide strategy for the placement of phasor measurement units (PMU) as their deployment expands on the grid. The strategy aims to address monitoring gaps and provide redundancy.
PJM, which has about 386 PMUs located at 123 transmission substations, is targeting additional installations at 60 substations.
In July 2013, members approved Tariff revisions requiring the installation of PMUs at new generation units of 100 MW and larger. The first generator PMU installation is expected early this year.
— Suzanne Herel
The Eastern Interconnection Planning Collaborative has announced the appointment of Tim Ponseti as chairman of the executive committee for 2016 and Mike Kormos as vice chairman.
Consumer advocates responded positively to the Utility Regulatory Commission’s order requiring Northern Indiana Public Service Co. to resubmit its overall energy efficiency plan after deciding the utility’s filing did not include adequate goals. The commission ordered the resubmittal by 2017.
Low power prices are forcing two biomass plants to suspend operations in March, raising concerns in the state’s logging industry.
Local officials in Huron County have approved construction of Consumers Energy’s proposed $9 million natural gas compressor station, which the utility says would improve reliability of its gas distribution system.
The Federal Communications Commission has reached a $540,000 settlement with Cumulus Media, the former owner of a radio station that in 2011 broadcast 178 ads supporting the Northern Pass transmission project without identifying the ad’s sponsor — Northern Pass Transmission.
PSEG Long Island will roll out a scaled-back smart meter plan aimed mostly at large commercial and solar customers after its initial plan to install 180,000 devices was shelved last year by state regulators.
Modifications to its 350-MW gas-fired power plant will reduce CO2 emissions by 4,000 tons/year, Caithness Long Island Energy says.
A coalition of state ranchers, environmentalists and disgruntled landowners has suffered a major setback in its battle to block a proposed pipeline that would carry natural gas beneath 143 miles of largely untouched Big Bend land.
TransCanada, the developer of the Keystone XL pipeline project, has sued the U.S. for failing to issue crucial permits to allow the project to proceed. The company is seeking $15 billion in damages, saying the State Department’s denial of the permit for the $8 billion pipeline was “arbitrary and unjustified.”
FERC on Friday approved Columbia Gas Transmission’s proposed $45 million Utica Access Project in West Virginia, designed to bring Appalachian shale gas to market. The project, which includes 5 miles of new pipeline and modifications to existing compression facilities, would supply up to 205 million cubic feet of gas per day to the Appalachia Pool.
FERC extended the public comment period for the Northeast Energy Direct pipeline until Jan. 15 after what it described as errors in its online comment system in late December and the first few days of January.
The Energy Department has appointed a team to research the feasibility of drilling deep holes into a crystalline rock structure in North Dakota as a possible method of storing nuclear waste. A team from the Battelle Memorial Institute will drill a test hole in the formation near Rugby, N.D., as part of the project.
