Board of Directors Meeting - Nodal Program Update

ERCOT senior vice president and chief technology officer Mike Cleary made his first report to the ERCOT’s Board of Directors at its April 22 meeting. Cleary, who was announced as the Texas Nodal Market Implementation Program’s lead at the March board meeting, updated the board on the program’s progress and risks and reviewed the timeline of major deliverables and testing required before the 2010 launch date. All of the 14 major milestones scheduled for March were completed as required.  Thirteen milestones are scheduled for April.

Cleary said the team is finalizing applications development and shifting into integration, while identifying and resolving risks that could slow down the process. He said the Network Model Management System (NMMS) poses a problem, and is being fixed. Another challenge is to ensure the nodal project, advanced metering and data center all have sufficient resources.

Chief financial officer Steve Byone provided an update on the nodal program’s financial management. The board discussed how to record a $4 million year-end adjustment and recommended it become part of the overall $600 million budget, rather than taken out of the $59 million contingency funding. The activities were budgeted but not properly reflected in the budget approved by the board in February.

Utilicast presented another report on the progress of the nodal program, including a number of recommendations that will be addressed by the Special Nodal Program Committee.

The Board also approved NPRR149 (Change the name of Emergency Electric Curtailment Plan (EECP) to Energy Emergency Alert).