-: We're good?
-: Yes, sir. -: All right.
-: Allow me to put the participants in.
-: Sure. -: Okay, Lois.
We have Chairman Lake and Commissioner McAdams,
so if you'll just let us know
when the participants are live.
(gavel bangs)
-: This meeting of the Public Utility Co--
-: We gotta wait for Lois to bring us
the meeting live for the public.
Lois: Chairman Lake, the participants are online now,
the public that's online.
-: Thank you, Lois, I'll try again.
McAdams: All set. (gavel bangs)
-: This meeting of the Public Utility Commission of Texas
will come to order to consider matters
that have been duly posted with the secretary of state
of Texas for June 3rd, 2021.
For the record, my name is Peter Lake.
With me today is Will McAdams.
Before we go into public comment, I wanna thank everybody
for being here.
I know this is a new structure for the PUC
and I would like to open with saying
that these work sessions are a venue and a forum
for discussion, exchange of ideas, conversation.
It is not a decision making forum
or a forum for taking action that we will continue
to preserve that for our standard open meetings.
This is very much a discussion venue.
I wanna make sure that everybody has a clear sense
of our purpose and structure here.
I think that works with both our intentions.
-: I very much appreciate it.
I think at the least, these interim workshop open meetings
provide us a way to work through some of the details
before the actual decision points come up
and I think a couple of the items
that we can discuss today help tee that up
and also provide more of a runway for public notice
so that they can get ready for those ultimate decisions.
-: Good point.
All right, at this time, we'll open up for public comment.
I invited world testimony for...
Specific agenda items will be heard when that item is heard.
This is for general comments related to today's agenda.
Speakers will be limited to four minutes each.
Lois, could you go ahead, come on and provide instructions
to the public on how they can be recognized
if they wish to speak?
Lois?
Do we still have the operator with us?
Lois: I'm sorry, yep, I am here.
If you do have a comment, please press one then zero.
Again, it's one, zero.
-: We'll give it a minute
and the operator will let us know
if we have anyone in the queue.
Do we have anybody, Lois?
Lois: We have two people that have queued up.
We're getting their names at this time.
-: (indistinct) the timer.
Lois: The first comment is from Rita Roblar,
please go ahead.
Rita: Hi, my name is Rita Roblar
and I reside in Houston, Texas
in the neighborhood of Denver Harbor, which is Northeast
of Downtown inside the 610 loop between I-10.
Anyway, that neighborhood there,
I grew up there and I recently moved back.
I'm a community activist and the residents,
there's over 24,000 people that live in that area
and after hurricane, I'm sorry, I always say hurricane,
Winter Storm Uri happened, we had a lot of damage over there
where a lot of people had busted pipes because of the freeze
and there are still people today,
I actually spoke with somebody today
who is still waiting for help.
I was trying to connect people where they were
with some nonprofit organizations
that were doing the repairs for free
and she still has been called on
because the one that we were working with ran out of money
and now there's another nonprofit.
So she has to go through the whole bidding all over again.
We're talking about most of these people are elderly,
they're on (indistinct), they live in homes since the '40s.
So if you were to stop the moratorium right now
about the electricity and whatnot,
these people are still trying to get on their feet
and now it's summertime.
We have the heat in the '80s, degrees and above
and then it's also the beginning of hurricane season.
If they can get a (indistinct),
they're gonna start off all over again from square one
and we really need some more support, we need more help.
We need it to be extended just a little bit longer
so that they can at least be prepared
or try to be prepared for the next natural disaster.
Thank you.
-: Thank you for your comments, next speaker, please.
Lois: The next comment is from the line
of Carolyn Rivera, please go ahead.
Carolyn: Good morning, Chairman Lake
and Commissioner McAdams.
My name is Carolyn Edison Rivera.
I am a community advocate, volunteer with Fear,
Northeast Action Collective and West Street Recovery.
I live in Northeast Houston, which is one
of the many areas that experienced a catastrophic crisis
which included death during the Texas February winter storm.
Thank you for initiating the moratorium
to give us some relief.
As part of the large vulnerable population in Texas,
we are asking that you extend the moratorium beyond June 11.
Many homes in Texas were not built
to withstand extensive freezing temperatures.
As a result, there were many unplanned damages.
I am still repairing my home from the effects of the freeze
and I'm 77 years old.
Last weekend, underground and outside pipes burst,
which were weakened from the freeze and had to be replaced.
The economic impact of repair, the pandemic
and loss of jobs is devastating.
We are officially in hurricane season
with the potential for more damages to homes, property
and additional loss of income.
The moratorium should be extended
at least through the summer to assist
with high utility bills.
The Utility Commission set the standard
for utility companies to follow.
Thank you again for protecting the people of Texas.
Texans are experiencing a slow recovery due to the storm,
the pandemic and loss of jobs.
To continue protecting Texans, there is a need to extend
the moratorium past June 11th, thank you.
-: Thank you for your comments.
Next speaker, please.
-: At this time, there's no other participants
in queue. -: Thank you, Lois.
Given there are no other speakers,
public comment is now closed.
We'll move on to the formal agenda.
Item number one, I don't have anything.
Will, do you? -: I do not.
-: All right, item number two, I know you filed a memo.
It will be a good point of discussion.
Will: Yes, sir.
-: I think we're gonna start off with Mr. Gleason
providing a brief overview.
-: Good morning, Commissioners, thank you.
The public comment is a good segue into this item.
As everybody knows, on February 21st of this year,
the Commission issued an order stating
that a public emergency still existed and as such,
they issued an order that basically put the moratorium
on disconnect for nonpayment for customers.
That's now extended for over three months.
We've had discussions internally and with you all separately
about the proper time to end that moratorium.
As you said, Commissioner McAdams filed a memo on June 1st.
In response to that, multiple companies, energy companies,
TXU, members of arm and team associations
filed memos saying what is out there for customers
to assist customers, what they would do,
the steps they would take to help customers
if the moratorium was lifted.
Additionally, there are state resources
that can be leveraged.
Those programs are administered
by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
So this morning we asked Bobby Wilkinson,
the executive director of TDHCA to come
and give you all a presentation
and detail what those programs are
and how they can benefit utility customers.
-: Thank you, it's a tough balance
between taking care of consumers but also ensuring
the continuity of business operations for our reps.
If it works for you, you can go ahead
and invite Bobby up to...
-: Yeah, I'd love to hear what he has to say.
-: Lay out the programs his agency has for consumers.
-: Good morning.
Chairman Lake, thanks for having me.
Commissioner Williams, good to meet you.
We have a couple of programs--
Lake: Start with name and agency.
-: Oh yes, sir, I'm sorry.
I should know the drill by now.
Bobby Wilkinson, executive director of Texas Department
of Housing and Community Affairs.
We have a couple of programs that help people
with energy bills.
One is permanent, it's one that we administer every year
and federally, it's LIHEAP,
that's the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
and it goes through federal HHS.
Our 2021 LIHEAP for the state of Texas
is about $161 million Statewide
but we got little bumps with the CARES Act
and the American Rescue Plan.
CARES Act had an additional $94 million,
American Rescue Plan had an additional $134 million
so we're well over double the normal amount.
The department doesn't administer those directly.
We go through a network of subrecipients
and this is standard practice.
We've done it for years but all 254 counties are covered.
I have a list of subs, if needed.
Will: For the purposes of the public,
can you delineate the qualifications for LIHEAP?
-: Sure, LIHEAP, it's federal,
it's not something we can adjust
and it's 150% of federal poverty level or below.
That's Statewide, it doesn't differ by county
or anything that's federal poverty levels that way.
For one person, that's $19,320.
For a family of four, it's a household income of $39,750.
As far as what income counts and how to calculate that,
when you work with the sub if you're close,
they'll help you figure it out.
This one's for owners and renters.
It doesn't matter, it's agnostic that way.
Most of the money goes to utility assistance.
There is also a weatherization component as well.
There's priority populations that are to be served first
and they get a little more generous benefit are the elderly,
disabled and households with children under six.
They're supposed to receive services first.
It's based on an annual usage.
There's like a max benefit of $3,200 for a zero to 50%
of federal poverty level and then it tears up to $2,800
for 51% to 100% of federal poverty level
and $2,400 for above 100% to 150%.
We made some adjustments after the winter storm.
We took February out of the maximum
so that builds kind of a freebie
if you still had that outstanding at this time.
Those maximums I gave are doubled
from what they were previously.
This is to make the benefit more generous, of course
and then also, frankly, to help get the money out the door
because we're at double the normal volume
and our subrecipients, it's hard for them
to kinda build the capacity to get it out.
If you're just listening right now and you're wondering,
how do I find this or sign up for this,
just put help for Texans in your search bar
and you'll come to a spot on our webpage, TDHCA
and there's some buttons down below
whether you need rental assistance or utility assistance
or some of the other programs we offer
and you put in your county or your city
and it'll pop up with the phone number
and the website for the subrecipient that would serve you.
Lake: And this is all within LIHEAP?
-: Yes, this is all LIHEAP.
Now the other one--
-: Quick follow up question to that.
You've got over 200 million, it sounds like
in qualified funding, how much of that is still available?
-: I have to get back to you on that.
It changes monthly.
I can definitely tell you that $94 million
of LIHEAP CARES is mostly done and then the $134 million
from the Rescue Plan Act is probably barely touched.
Lake: Okay, so over 134 million available
and the maximums have been raised
due to the unique nature of the events this year.
So I think by calculus, a qualifying household
will be eligible for over $500 a month with the double,
the $3,200 a year.
-: Depending on how much arrears they had or whatnot.
Lake: But the total max would be over $500 a month
if they qualify, okay.
-: In that vein, for a senior citizen household of one,
the annual income with their own fixed income
and we're talking about social security, say,
what's the target income range that qualifies?
-: $19,320. -: $19,000, okay.
Thank you.
Bobby: Those are federal, we can't adjust them.
-: All right, keep going, thank you.
-: The other program is more temporary in nature.
It's coming in two tranches.
We had from the COVID package at the end of last year,
the initial $1.3 billion for Texas rent relief.
That's our brand name, of course not the federal name
and then in ARPA,
we have another billion coming to the state.
Also, localities above 250,000 got their own allocation
of that same pot of funding
and it's for rent assistance or utilities, either one.
We have a website, texasrentrelief.com
and an 800 number, 833-989-7368.
We can serve multiple languages,
the website's in multiple languages
and we have language service with it
for the call center as well.
To qualify, you need to be at 80% of area median income
and have some kind of back rent due or back utility.
If you have a late utility bill and you're below 80% AMI,
you can qualify.
Will: That is interpreted broadly
so it doesn't have to be tied to any type of COVID layoff
or anything like that, you just have to be behind on a bill?
-: Correct, yes. -: Great.
-: You have to be financially impacted during the pandemic.
You don't have to draw a direct line
or increased costs during the pandemic.
For this one, we can do electric gas, propane, water,
trash and sewer.
We can go arrears as far back as March 13th, 2020
at the beginning of the disaster
and then we can do current month plus two future.
-: Okay. -: Let's see.
I would say, definitely apply now.
Don't wait for any disconnect moratorium to end or anything
just because we have tens of thousands of people in line,
we're paying now close to $10 million a day
and we're over 1,000, 1,500 households--
-: $10 million a day? -: Yes.
We're proving that checks are sometimes a little slower.
In fact, if you are a utility generator,
if you could enter into a direct transfer agreement with us,
it would really help things up, paper checks are...
Lake: A little slower.
-: Been slowing us down a little bit, yeah.
Lake: So it's 10 million a day of approvals
and utility assistance for how many households?
-: A day, approvals are 1,000, 1,500.
It varies, it dips on the weekends a little bit
and we have stronger days during the week.
Lake: That's extraordinary.
-: We have about $250 million either dispersed
or the payment's approved
and it's just a matter of the transfer,
speed of banking or cutting the check.
It's been picking up lately.
Don't expect a two-day turnaround, though.
It's still gonna take you a few weeks to get through.
The more complicated your case is, the harder it might take
and if you don't have all the documentation,
so try to read carefully when you go to the website
if you're listening in
and give us all the information we need.
Make sure you have a good phone number and email address
so that when we try to contact you,
that we can do so.
-: Lemme ask you something.
Once enrolled in your system, you are saved in the system.
So if a hurricane hits or some type of other event
overlapping with the COVID event occurs
and they reapply for assistance later on,
they are already enrolled so it becomes that much easier
to gain assistance in the future?
Bobby: Yeah, we only do current and two months future
and then if you still income qualify later and need help,
we can also provide assistance again.
-: Okay. -: Yeah.
-: It's safe to say there's a tremendous amount of resources
being deployed every day for this kind of assistance?
-: Definitely, we have a external dashboard
if anyone cares to look.
If you go to texasrentrelief.com
and you click the link up at the top, there's a dashboard.
It actually doesn't add up to 250.
It's like a day behind or whatnot but it should be
about $250 million within a few days.
Will: So there's more federal money on the way as well?
-: Correct, now, we're still just working
on that first $1.3 billion, the second billion
and this is to the state, not counting what goes to locals.
Comptroller's received about 40% of it
and then we'll get the rest of it later.
The goal is to get it all out as soon as possible,
actually have on that second pot of a few years
but I don't see any reason to dribble that out.
Lake: So it's safe to say there are multiple hundreds
of millions of dollars available right now?
-: At least over a billion, yeah.
Lake: All right.
-: I don't think I have any more talking points on it.
If anyone has any questions, I'll be happy to answer.
-: For folks listening in, could you lay out that website
and phone number one more time?
-: Sure, texasrentrelief.com.
The 800 number is 833-989-7368.
This is for renters only.
I think I might've failed to mention that
and again, for that other resource,
if you're below 150% of the federal poverty level,
just Google or search bar help for Texans
and then at the bottom, click
that you need utility assistance and enter your county
and you'll be able to find the subrecipient
that serves your area.
Lake: Outstanding, any other questions--
Will: Good deal.
-: Chairman? -: Yes, ma'am.
-: Connie Corona, Commission staff.
I just wanted to emphasize a point that Mr. Wilkinson made
to our retail electric providers that are listening.
In order to smooth the way with this assistance,
they should be registering with TDHCA
to receive direct deposit of funds rather than a paper check
and that will help immensely.
So a reminder to that, and we will post some information
on our website about how they can contact TDHCA for that.
-: Very good point, thank you
and just to be clear, that direct deposit
to the retail electric provider
is on behalf of households and arrears
and that's just a more logistically streamlined method
of relieving that utility bill burden.
-: Yes, sir. -: Excellent.
Thank you very much.
-: In the vein of agency communication
and the state of Texas communication to consumers,
and this will come up on other things as well.
Again, we've been stressing greater communication
with the public, especially in the aftermath of Uri
but the PUC staff has been working on a one pager
of resources that will be available to the public
with the design to distribute that just from the agency
but also to the legislature as well
because one of the things that's gonna be coming up,
especially as we move away from signing (indistinct)
and the conclusion of session is legislative newsletters
will be going out.
District officers will be promulgating everything
that their state government did during the session.
So at least something from PUC can go out
on the widest possible distribution to the public
providing a one-stop resource for all these programs
that they can access either through TDHCA or 211.
I know retailers are present to brief on what they can offer
to consumers but I think staff has a good workup
that could go out as well.
-: Can we make that available
if it's not already on the...
Connie: Absolutely, we're putting the final touches on it
and we'll make that available for distribution.
-: Thank you, good point, thank you.
Thank you, Bobby, really appreciate it.
Bobby: Thanks for having me.
-: I don't know if it's appropriate.
At this time, I'd like to let you know,
on this issue, I have engaged with AARP
'cause to me, when I was on the eve of publishing my memo,
it was certainly compelling a story
as we heard from the public comments at the beginning
of the open meeting, that we've got a vulnerable population.
Senior citizens, they own their homes
so they may not qualify for the rent relief program
but as I was talking through this issue with AARP,
one of the things that came up was,
look, we just need more time because COVID
is such a traumatic event
and then Uri was such a dramatic event.
So it's been a compounding effect and the bills are so high
that they just need more time
to work through a flexible assistance program.
I wanna highlight for the public
that once the moratorium is removed as per our rules,
and staff can correct me and also the stakeholders,
as per our rules, a five-month bill assistance requirement
goes into effect where retailers provide
flexible payment programs for five months
and timing gets to be a big deal now
because if the moratorium is lifted, say on June 11th,
that puts us into November.
If folks can't handle the payment obligations
and then they run out of that flexible assistance
capability, then that puts them disconnected in November,
which I would highlight is a fairly mild month
typically in the state of Texas
but stakeholders have asked for a nine-month extension.
One that would require a rule change
and then two, that puts people on disconnection
in the month of February and after Uri,
I have great concerns about disconnecting people
during the teeth of the winter.
I don't care what the forecasters say.
So I just wanna highlight,
that's through stakeholder conversations,
that's what's been coming forward.
Cathy can come up, too and talk through that.
-: Before we do that, can we recognize Lori from OPUC
and we'd love to hear your thoughts and resources
that are available through your office
and certainly, we wanna make sure that...
Thank you for being here
and certainly wanted to invite you here today,
especially you and Bobby could both appear
before the public to make sure everyone can see
both of your offices and the resources available
from both of those arenas.
-: Absolutely, thank you, Chairman Lake
and Commissioner McAdams.
I really appreciate the opportunity to be here today
and participate in the open meeting workshop.
For the record, my name is Lori Cobos,
public counsel for the Office of Public Utility Council
and I also appreciate the thoughtful consideration
that you both are putting into this important decision
for residential and small commercial consumers.
As you can imagine, since the storm,
well really, since COVID and then the storm,
we've been receiving a lot of calls from residential
and small commercial consumers.
With respect to our latest crisis, the storm,
we have received a lot of, I guess I should say
from the storm through maybe the end of March,
we received a lot of calls from residential consumers
that, obviously were without power
but more so related to the issues at hand now
with high electricity bills.
Most of them were on wholesale price index plans
or fixed rate plans that expired unknowingly
and they were switched over to a higher variable rate plan
and so what we focused on for those residential consumers
at the time was providing them with advice
with respect to the available options.
So if you had a billing dispute,
your bill was too high in your opinion, to contact your rep
and try to resolve the issue.
If they couldn't then and the disputed amount
was still unacceptable to the customer,
then they would file a complaint at the Commission.
Now, the Commission thankfully continued the DPP,
the deferred payment plan per the PUC COVID orders
and so we encouraged residential consumers
that were unable to pay their bill
to enter into a deferred payment plan,
which is currently still available today
and also to ask the reps
for bill payment assistance programs
that they may have available, the specific provider
and have been referring customers to TDHCA's
financial assistance programs.
First, the LIHEAP program, we had been promoting that
on our COVID page and then the Texas rent relief program,
when that became available had been promoting that
on our social media and agency websites and press releases.
The other resource that we've promoted
to residential consumers that need help with assistance
and paying is referring them to 211.
211 will provide local community
and nonprofit organizations that will provide
payment assistance for them in their area.
That was our focus on residential.
I will say that from the end of March
and over the last two months,
we have heard from a fairly significant amount
of small business consumers
and typically those are about 5% or less of the calls
we get per year.
Right now in the last two months,
there were 60% of the calls we've received
and so a lot of them, and I'd be remiss not to say
that the calls that we've gotten are small businesses
or other small commercial consumers like churches
or even housing authorities that have received bills
that are extremely high
because their retail electric provider
passed through ancillary service charges to them.
Sometimes in some cases, they're eight to 20 times higher
and they're significant amounts.
I would say or I would add that
what we've been telling these consumers,
the small business consumers that contact us
is to contact their rep, try to see if they can resolve
the issue with them.
If not, file a complaint and see what can be worked out
with respect to those charges
because those are significant charges.
That has been our tip for those customers at this time
while we await for solutions to help them out.
The other thing that I like to highlight on that is
if the Commission does proceed to lift the moratorium
for residential and small commercial,
I would encourage the Commission to strongly encourage
the reps to work with the small business consumers
as well, as many of them have gotten really high bills
and even entering into a deferred payment plan
could be a significant amount of money.
-: A huge benefit and I think it's important to note,
we've had pending legislation that has passed
both chambers that would play a big role
in the financial situation of those reps
and of course, it's pending the Governor's consideration
but important to note that for those small businesses
is they're engaging with those reps
that that is still legislation under consideration.
Lori: Absolutely.
-: Lori, just to clarify for the public
so everybody out there listening knows,
and Connie jump in here too.
It's a question for both of you.
Our rules contemplate requiring flexible payment
assistance programs for five billing cycles
for residential consumers and it also applies
that that requirement overlay is to small commercial
as well. -: Correct.
-: So they apply for the flexible payment assistance program
but again, until the moratoriums are lifted, they cannot...
Well, it's just a compounding thing.
They're not paying anything right now, theoretically
that may be the situation.
So those bills just keep adding up and eventually,
they're gonna come due.
It's a question of making that number manageable
for their purposes and that plays into
the flexible assistance program.
20% of a small number is a lot smaller of a number
than 20% of a big number
and that's what we wanna try to keep from happening here.
Lori: Right, just to be mindful of that
because some of these customers have had $100,000 bills
and I'm glad there's that flexibility there
and I think that is helpful
but I wanted to highlight that issue.
-: Absolutely, $100,000 is an extraordinary,
unanticipated liability on a small business.
-: Right, absolutely. -: It's terrible.
Also second thing, and I know
that we'll all be watching this,
that second tranche of money that's coming in
from the federal government.
Again, it is hoped, for the purposes of TDHCA
and all recipient agencies at the state level
that we can start crafting those for at-need populations,
again, small commercial being one of those
because again, the federal PPP program expired
at the end of last month, May 31st
so whatever type of supplemental program
is created after that, there is hope.
That's all I would say.
-: Absolutely, any other thoughts?
-: No, I appreciate the bill payment assistance options
that the reps submitted in the letters in 51812.
I think it's very helpful to understand what programs
each of the providers have available
for the residential consumers and certainly,
we'll continue to promote TDCHA's financial assistance
and 211.
We're here to help, I'm here to help
so if there's anything that I can do to help
as we transition with this decision, please let me know.
-: Thank you so much for being here
and thank you for helping share the resources
the state has available.
Thanks, Lori.
If Cathy would like to address the Commission,
I'm happy to hear from her.
-: Thank you, Catherine Webb King, I'm representing the team.
I appreciate the opportunity to be here
as a resource to you all today
and thank you for your very careful
and deliberate consideration of this issue.
It is a very critical issue for all customers,
including those that are having difficulty paying
at the current time as well as just making sure
that the market stays healthy and competitive
so that the best options can be available to all customers
and we appreciate very much the testimony
you've brought here today with Mr. Wilkinson and Ms. Cobos.
Both of those resources are very critical
in this overall analysis.
As they all said, I think the very first step
for the customers, just to reach out
to their retail electric provider and that provider
is equipped to communicate with that customer,
to design exactly what the best option is for that customer,
direct them to resources, the ones we've heard about today
and others that may be available
and also customize a payment plan
or a deferred payment plan for that customer
depending on their individual needs.
There's no one size fits all that's best
and that rep has a relationship with that customer
and their interest is in keeping that customer on
and keeping that customer with power flowing
and serving that customer for months and years to come.
There's every incentive to work this in the right way
and those are the sincere efforts, I think
that you will find throughout
and the resources fortunately are coming available
for some of these entities through the federal assistance,
which definitely helps.
The retail electric providers worked well
with this Commission and everyone in the industry.
We put together that COVID ERP plan to try
to help last year to get transitioned through
and that was one stage of it and now we have some new issues
and we're facing those and appreciate all the efforts
of everyone combined to try to get this done.
The retail electric providers, I think as you probably know,
for every dollar they bill, that dollar includes
almost at least probably 90 cents of someone else's costs.
The transmission distribution utilities,
the generation providers, ERCOT system admin fee,
PUC fees, all those fees are all bundled
into that one invoice and it's important
for the overall cashflow liquidity in the market
that that process continues
and moves forward in a healthy way.
That's the effort we're all making
and we really appreciate everybody's consideration here
and I'm happy to answer any questions.
Lake: Thank you for laying that out
and thank you for being here.
-: Absolutely. -: Any questions, comments?
-: Just 'cause I feel compelled to try to help educate
the broader public, not just the legislature
but the public in general how this works, Cathy
and if you could describe the payments that you make,
that you pass on, they go to transmission
and distribution service providers that then invest that
into the infrastructure that allows us to meet summer needs
and peak needs, is that accurate?
Cathy: That's exactly right.
-: Okay, so with the moratorium in place,
we now have a liquidity problem flowing through
to those entities that maintain the critical infrastructure
of this state going into the heart of the summer.
-: Is that accurate? -: That is accurate.
It is transmission and distribution companies,
as we talked about, it's also generation
to make sure all the generation has the appropriate funds
available to do the maintenance
and get their equipment ready for what may shape up
to be a long, hot summer by the end of it.
-: Okay. -: Yeah, good point.
All right, thank you, ma'am.
Cathy: Thank you.
-: Also on this item, I think we have an ERCOT update.
If you're ready to move on to that one--
-: I'm good to go.
-: All right, at this point, we'll call up Kenan
and let him lay out the ERCOT update.
-: Oops. (chuckles)
Good morning, Chairman Lake, Commissioner McAdams.
For the record, Kenan Ögelman with ERCOT.
I'm here to talk about two NPRRs that we would like to file
and co-sponsor with the independent market monitor.
These two NPRRs address the urgent market design changes
that are in the state of the market report.
The first change to the market design
would cap ancillary service prices at $9,000.
Lori mentioned the financial impact of prices
going above $9,000 and we would do this by,
we have what are called penalty factors that try
and cover opportunity costs.
Those would be capped at the system wide offer cap.
If the system wide offer cap was $2,000,
it would not let prices go above $2,000.
If the system wide offer cap was at $9,000,
it would not let the prices go above $9,000.
This change we can implement relatively quickly
and at a low cost of $5,000 is our estimate.
The only caveat I would share with you
is that when we cap prices,
we would actually in the day ahead, potentially
not procure all the ancillary services in our plan.
However, operationally that's not a concern
because we have other means to get those reserves
between the day ahead in real time
but I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware
of that issue.
The second change that we would--
Lake: Hold on, Kenan, I wanna make sure we have covered
any questions or comments on that first one.
On the ancillary services cap,
could you lay out what the existing protocol is
versus changing to a capped version?
-: Certainly, the existing design allows both a risk premium
and an opportunity cost to be added onto the price
for ancillary services and that allows it
to go above $9,000
and in fact during Uri, we saw prices as high as $26,000,
regular pricing around $18,000 to $16,000
and that, of course created large ancillary service costs
for the retailers and ultimately load.
-: So for example, the small businesses that Lori
was talking about may have focused on limiting
their liability on their energy costs
without necessarily thinking about the potential
for the ancillary services in such a unique event
to be part of their bill and to be that high
and safe to say, that's a big part
of how some of those businesses or just general consumers
got caught with the $100,00 bill?
-: That is entirely accurate.
Another thing I would share with you is ancillary services
are more challenging to hedge than energy
because your allocation is a load ratio share
and so you have to guess what everybody else's share is
to know what your share it.
It's also difficult to hedge as well.
-: And even more difficult when load is changing real time
so your share of a shrinking or increasing pie
makes it even more difficult and thus,
isn't more expensive? -: Precisely.
-: Okay, thank you.
Any questions or comments on this one?
-: Yeah, thank you, sir.
Kenan, Senate Bill three hasn't been signed yet
but it's passed both chambers, it's on the Governor's desk.
Does this conform with what they required
in Senate Bill three?
They imposed a cap.
They addressed ancillary services, didn't they?
They basically said we cannot go above high cap
for ancillary services.
So your proposed change is absolutely in line
with the statutory change that's now being contemplated,
is that accurate?
-: That's my understanding.
Ultimately, there is some rulemakings that might follow
that law and--
Will: But you would not need to change your protocol
once this moves forward,
should we pass our conforming rule change?
-: That would be my expectation.
Will: Okay, got it.
-: The other benefit is that I think we can get this
in at least around July, so it could be in effect
through the hotter time of the summer.
-: So this change could potentially be in place
when we get into the time of year for high potential prices
and so that protection for those unhedged
or very difficult to hedge ancillary services
and the potential for a pass through to customers in July
and August would be limited?
Kenan: Correct.
-: We could potentially avoid the problem
that we ran into in February.
-: Yes. -: Excellent, thank you.
Ready for the next one? -: Yep.
-: All right. -: Okay.
The next change would ensure that the price
was at the system wide offer cap when we are in EEA3
and shedding firm load.
So the way we accomplish that is the system wide price
is a combination of the average offer plus adders,
the adders would be structured to ensure
that we got to the cap.
This change or notable protocol revision request,
we could implement manually almost immediately as well
once we got a board and Commission approval
but that would be a manual process.
We would automate that with a project that we estimate
to take two to three months and around $25,000 to $35,000
but I think the key thing is that we do have a process
in place to implement very quickly
but there would be a project that followed that.
-: This would say, for example, I guess in the most
simplistic term, streamline the pricing signal
when we're in the most stressed point of grid conditions
where we have to shed load, it automatically goes
to the system wide cap and then once, importantly
you exit load shed, what happens?
-: It would return to the normal operation.
So if there is no load shed being instructed by ERCOT
and EEA and we were out of EEA3
and the main thing is no load shed instructed by ERCOT,
then there would be no adder for that purpose.
Those adders work with other factors
but this feature would be shut off.
-: It would automatically revert to normal market
pricing conditions and normal clearing scenarios.
-: Correct. -: An important feature.
-: Yeah, it actually accounts for load shed,
the important parameter.
-: Yeah, so I think both getting to the proper pricing signal
on this, I know in extreme grid conditions
before we've had some problems with the RDC
and the clearing mechanisms not getting
to the proper market pricing signal for those conditions
and on the front end, this would address that.
Is that fair? -: Yes.
-: And then on the back end of the load shed scenario,
it provides an automatic mechanism to revert back
to normal clearing and market operations.
-: Yes. -: Okay, gotcha.
I think that would address a clear challenge
we've had in the past
and I would also encourage you all to,
as you make these changes, think through and go through
how they would look in the 1% tail event.
I think these are good changes and making big improvements
in a very short timeframe
but I certainly wanna make sure that we stress test them
and evaluate how they would perform
under different extreme conditions
so that if we do get into those extreme grid conditions,
it's not the first time we see how they function.
-: Each NPRR that we submit, once it's approved,
we actually do test them
and we plan to introduce testing scenarios
that are the tail events.
-: Outstanding, that's a big part of making sure we're ready
for scenarios that we hope don't come to pass
but we need to be prepared to address it if they do.
-: Yes. -: Agreed.
-: The one thing I forgot to add is we plan to file
both of these notable protocol revision requests
with urgent status to try and move them
through the process as quickly as practical.
Lake: I very much appreciate that urgency.
I know all Texans appreciate that urgency
as we come into the summer.
-: I think just listening to you, Mr. Chairman,
these are important to me.
From a policy standpoint, I think it should be expedited.
I think that any type of,
and we're gonna talk about this later
but the handover of ERCOT governance,
from my perspective as just an individual
on the Commission here,
I don't think the transition mechanisms should stand
in the way of ultimate implementation
for the purposes of this summer.
I think it's necessary to have this in place
before any type of scarcity event could trigger
unintended consequences as we saw before.
That's just my thoughts. -: Absolutely.
Reliability, safety is paramount and we'll--
-: Governments' hiccups--
-: We'll figure out the rest on the way there.
-: Cool. -: All right, thank you, Kenan.
-: Thank you.
-: I think that covers everything for item two
unless you have anything else.
-: No, sir.
-: I think we can probably take up item three through 13
in one lump sum and other various subsections of that
but at this point, we'll turn it over to Connie to lay out.
-: Absolutely, and just for your reference,
I believe Andrew Barlow from our communications group
and ERCOT's communications team are here
and available to provide you an update
on planned communications for the summer,
if you'd like to do that now.
-: Yeah, we can go ahead and start with that,
stick with the ERCOT theme.
Man: You can add a chair to the arrangement.
(indistinct) -: Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good morning, Chairman, Mr. McAdams.
I'm Andrew Barlow on behalf of the Commission staff
speaking this morning to update you on the progress
that we're making working with the ERCOT team
in terms of a forensic look back on the events of February,
looking for elements that we could have done better,
looking at the impact of whether it was shortcomings
or some of the things that we did well
and the goal looking forward is to continue
to work in alignment together making sure that all the bases
are covered and that there's areas
where we can de-conflict certain areas
where there may be unnecessary overlap
but also being very intentional on certain areas
where we would overlap to really provide emphasis
on critical information.
Our process looking forward, our critical points right now
are certainly working to communicate the outcomes
of the legislative session
so the Texans can understand what their representatives
have done to mitigate the issues that were identified
in the course of the Uri storm event
but also we have a very sharp focus
on the pending summer challenges.
Obviously, we're heading into the summer
with a wider margin than we have in past years
so there's some assurances there
but one of the things that we realized
is that we really are dealing with a Statewide populous
that has been badly traumatized by the events of February
and so we've also realized
that of all the communications channels available to us,
that in a large part, while social media is certainly
a positive channel that truthfully,
the legacy media, TV, radio and newspapers
really are the best channel to deliver information
directly to Texans.
So we're working together to make sure
that we're focusing on the right audiences
and taking a phased approach going into the summer
to essentially follow a process of engaging directly
with critical reporters in each of the markets
across the state, making sure that they're really up
to speed on the language and the protocols
that a process would follow in the event
of any a weather event,
be it a tight reserves situation or even a tropical storm,
making sure they understand the language,
understand the processes so that they're fully informed
and fully connected so that they can communicate properly
with their audiences.
Then to also follow on that with our own outreach activities
to go directly to Texans through our various media channels
to provide information and to provide places for them
to go to discover what they need to know
if they hadn't gotten around to it
by the time they're in trouble.
That's the broad effort that we're pursuing together
in alignment with ERCOT and I think we've got
a draft communications plan here
that I'll be able to share with you on the 11th
after some closer review from agency leadership.
That's our broad plan going into the summer.
-: Hi, good morning.
For the record, my name is Chris Shine,
an interim communications leader for ERCOT.
As Andrew said, we're working closely together.
I came on board almost 30 days ago,
Monday will be my 30th day.
We've been charging ahead quickly trying to implement
a number of the lessons learned as a result
of the February event but we are very much looking forward.
I've spent more than 20 years of my career
working in the Texas electric utility industry.
It's been my job to communicate clearly and concisely
and one of the things that we heard as a result of February
is that we, ERCOT need to communicate more clearly
and so we're implementing the policies and practices
to do that and working very closely with Andrew
on our plans moving forward to make sure that all happens.
Lake: Excellent.
-: If I could mention as well, if it's okay to link back
to the previous conversation about the programs
being offered by the Texas Department of Housing
and Community Affairs.
We've been actively involved in an outreach effort
to utilities that everybody who's on our database,
whether it's a water and sewer utility,
retail electric provider, any of the other
load serving entities, co-ops and so forth
sharing with them information, emails, points of contact
so that they can go through that process
of getting themselves registered with TDHCA
for the purpose of processing those payments
so that they can get the funds as quickly as possible.
That's something that's ongoing
and then this next phase that we talked about
will be adding additional resources to the website
and just continuing that process because again,
TDHCA is doing a fantastic job.
We work closely with them.
They've got a great advertising firm
that's working with them to support their efforts,
providing us materials as well.
So customers can expect to see things
like bill inserts that describe their program to 'em,
that's coming to them directly from their provider.
Again, whether it's water, sewer, electric
and then we're also working again to make sure
that the entities who would be processing
the payments are engaged.
We're just gonna keep beating that drum,
keep getting the word out as best we can
just to make sure that the people who need these resources
will have access to them as quickly as possible.
The other element I wanted to mention going into the summer,
I talked about the notion of, in Texas,
we deal with the high temperatures
but we also often deal with the possibility of storms.
There was conversation during the session
and legislation moving forward that talks
about the whole notion of the use
of the emergency alert system.
We've been in conversation with the Texas Department
of Emergency Management with meetings coming up
to talk with their communicators to mesh with ours
and with ERCOT as well.
It's not happened in the past necessarily
that the Texas Department of Emergency Management
has activated the State Operations Center
for a summer weather episode
or specifically I'll say heat related episode
that pertains to the grid.
However, in the absence of a SOC activation,
they still have communications channels
that we could utilize to get information out
to local councils of government, county judges,
the different groups that align with them.
They're willing already to,
if we need it in the midst of a heat event
and a grid event that they're ready to go.
We're continuing those conversations
and looking at the implementation
of the emergency communications,
finding out where on the spectrum that role was
and then the final comment I would make is that
from a philosophical and theoretical perspective
going into the summer, the goal is that we will very likely
be communicating more earlier.
There will be no reticence on our part to express concerns
about if we are looking at tight grid conditions
so that people can prepare.
The challenge that we have
and the thing that we invite Texans
to be in this process with us to realize
is that in the interest of communicating
as much as they need, there may be an initial sense
of overcommunication and there may be a knee-jerk reaction
of panic because of what they experienced in February
but we really believe that it's just gonna take
some repetition in this communication
so that by the time, should we encounter
tight grid conditions that they realize in context
what they're looking at,
how summer is different from winter, how the response times,
how the recovery times that so many things are different
so that they can realize that contextually speaking,
they're dealing with a different animal
and they can take different steps
as we work through the process together.
-: Sure, outstanding. (indistinct)
Thank you, gentlemen for laying that out.
I think the most important part of what you said
is the working together part and that is by far
the most significant element of this new approach
to communicating with Texans.
I think Chris, probably both of you mentioned
more streamlined, clear communication, less jargon,
more plain English, which I think we'll all appreciate
and that it's also more than just emergency grid conditions.
It's water providers, it's a variety of...
It's the utility bills, high utility bills.
It's making sure people know those resources are available.
This partnership in communication extends beyond
just emergency grid conditions and I very much look forward
to seeing the completed plan when it's ready.
-: Yes, sir. -: Any questions?
-: Thanks, sir.
If I could make one ask.
After the session concluded
having spoken to some policy makers,
it's apparent that you guys are on the right track.
We need to educate the public as much as we can.
They are now familiar with the existence of ERCOT
and the Public Utility Commission.
We are no longer a sleepy little agency
but as such, we need to promulgate as many products,
educational products as we can to signal to folks
that in periods of tight grid conditions or at least EEA1,
they need to be familiar somewhat with the EEA process.
Again, that's the exact metrics we are confined in
through NERC guidelines but the public needs to understand
when you hit EEA1, that is a market signal
as much as anything else.
Yes, we ask for conservation but again,
that trigger signals to market participants
to bring products into the market that help assist
in ensuring reliability.
So my ask would be, for the purposes of the legislature
as they go out and talk about what they've done
and what PUC and the state is doing
to address the aftereffects of the crisis,
if we could provide them a one pager that states
in layman's terms, how EEA functions,
again, what it is designed to signal and at what points.
Conservation is important but again,
it sends a market signal for more resources to come in
to ensure that the lights don't go out.
I think it's a fine line and a bright line
that we need to paint ahead of August and September
when those conservation alerts will go out,
we will see that.
Transmission constraints will occur
but they need to know that our communication strategy
has a two-part approach, is that possible?
Again, June 11th, we'll come up in our open meeting
but we've done a great job.
You guys have done Ögelman's work on the part
of the disconnect moratorium, the resource one pager.
Could we produce something like that
so that a third grader can understand
how this all plays together?
-: Absolutely, I mean, the truth is
if something could be simplified to the point
that I can understand it, then anybody can understand it.
-: Me, too.
-: We're gonna take that perspective for sure.
Will: Awesome.
Lake: All right, thank you, gentlemen.
-: Thank you very much.
-: We'll turn it back over to Connie
for the next part of this item.
-: Thank you, Commissioners.
I have prepared, in conjunction with numerous staff folks
some points to discuss with you
regarding upcoming rulemaking projects
and associated timelines.
My plan is to gather your feedback here on those topics
and timelines and then assemble it into a document
to be filed for the public to better understand
what our priority, sorry, the tiers and the order
in which we plan to take these things up
and also the forum in which we'd like to do it.
The first one I want to talk about is project number 51830.
That is currently styled as review
of wholesale index products
for compliance with customer protection rules
for retail electric service.
Staff proposes to broaden the scope of that project
such that we'll incorporate the changes made
by House Bill 16, which prohibits these types of products
for residential and small commercial customers
and it further enhances customer notification requirements
regarding their electric plans.
That's why we believe that this should be a broader project
and in doing so, we would also like to review the document
that's called in our rules, your rights as a customer
and this serves to summarize and notify customers
of their customer protection rights under our rules.
We believe there's some additions as regards load shed
and critical load status so we'd like to add that
to the (indistinct) as well.
We believe that customer protection issues are urgent
and we would like to get implementation of House Bill 16
started as soon as possible.
For that reason, we propose to bring you a proposal
for publication in July
at your July 15th open meeting tentatively
and to prepare for that, we plan to potentially offer
a straw man, so a very rough draft of the rule changes
and discuss it with you,
discuss it with market participants, gain their feedback
through the month of June and early July,
then bringing you a proposal in July.
It might be an appropriate use of these work sessions
to bring you the draft and seek some feedback
from you on that.
-: I think that'd be a great use of these work sessions
and would also emphasize that one,
I love the idea of the straw man and it's very difficult
coming up with these types of rules in a vacuum.
So the more input from market participants and especially,
consumers related to this particular project,
they're always a big factor but even more so
in this project, I think it's even more valuable for them
to get a look at a straw man version.
I would also ask that in looking
at the wholesale indexed products for commercial users
to certainly include the ancillary component
that's gotten so much discussion today.
I know that snuck up on a lot of people, a lot of businesses
and commercial users during the winter event.
We certainly wanna keep that in mind
as we work out the conditions under which those contracts
can be offered. -: Absolutely.
-: Any thoughts on this one?
-: I think that's right and I'm good with the schedule, too
but I like the format.
-: Sounds great.
The next one on my list is 51840,
rulemaking to establish weatherization standards.
This one in particular has a six-months statutory deadline
from Senate Bill three, the pending legislation
that we've been referring to this morning
that sits on the Governor's desk.
It has maybe a greater amount of detail,
obviously in Senate Bill three
than the targeted issues we see in HB 16.
So we'd like to take a little more prep time in our draft
while still keeping an urgent pace
and bring that to you for a workshop in July
to work through those weatherization issues
and then bring the proposal for publication in August.
That would still allow us to meet a six-month deadline
of November.
Lake: Yeah, that timing works for me.
Will: Yeah, I think it has to 'cause of the statute, too.
-: I know we're just on the front end of this
for this project regarding reliability,
weatherization, et cetera.
One thing I would ask as we start this
is to one, keep in mind, not just you
but collectively as the Commission evaluates this,
keep in mind the summer-winter dynamic
and don't solve for just one.
What works in the summer can impede
operations in the summer and vice versa and then two,
I'd also ask to be keenly aware of the fact
that one size doesn't fit all in almost everything in Texas
and especially in weather conditions,
what may be appropriate for Amarillo
would probably be very different for Brownsville
and El Paso to Beaumont as well.
I don't know what that looks like in practice or in detail
but please keep that notion in mind as we develop these.
Connie: That's very helpful feedback.
-: One more thing
and it's always as we look at this,
I know this is a new initiative for the Commission.
To the extent possible,
it's always good to see who else out there has done this
and done well, not only across the U.S but globally.
-: Australia (indistinct).
-: Australia may be a candidate,
there's no monopoly on good ideas
and if it helps with reliability and keeping people safe,
I'm happy to steal from others good ideas.
It'd be good to see, if nothing else as a reference
what other folks have done around the world.
-: Glad to.
Skipping over a couple of my notes here
down to project number 51888,
review of critical load standards and processes.
I bring that up next
because I believe we should take a similar timeline on that
as we do with the weatherization.
Those will follow along the same schedule
with the July workshop
and then a potential rule adoption in November.
The remaining rulemaking that we've brought to discuss
with you today for scoping purposes is 51841 review
of R25.53 relating to electric service
emergency operations plans.
Staff is digging into that.
They're currently looking
at the existing emergency operations plans
and proposing to come up with some standards
for potential revisions to the requirements for those.
We don't yet have a proposed schedule on that
but they have already begun the review
and are looking at those issues.
Finally, we have three new projects
that we've proposed to open arising from legislation
that has passed.
Senate Bill two changes the ERCOT governance significantly
as well as the composition of the board
and calls for a protocol approval process
with the market impact statement here at the Commission.
We've proposed to open a project on that
and get to work quickly on it
because it needs to be in place by September 1st.
Lake: Pending the Governor's signature.
-: That's right, that's correct.
Anything further on that one?
-: Not from me, let's just go on.
-: Again from Senate Bill three, which is sitting
on the Governor's desk awaiting his signature,
we have a directive to create a criteria
for a power outage alert that would cover
the content activation and termination.
That would be a new project to get started on
as soon as the bill is signed
and then finally, there are a number
of water customer protections that are included
in Senate Bill three as well as other legislation
that we would propose to run concurrently
with some of these projects in the electric industry.
I think that concludes the list
of what I've brought to you for scoping and timelines today.
Lake: It all works for me, Will?
-: So for the purposes of,
and I know you guys have been looking at it, too,
there's other implied things that were
in either Senate Bill two or three,
some of which were clearly envisioned under PURA
at various times over the years but this is outside
and again, this has been jelled with Connie's matrix
of different issues that we believe, that I believe
have presented themselves, not only during the winter storm
but after it.
One relates, and I won't stress this too hard.
There are other conversations going on
about market participants, how do they interplay in ERCOT?
How do they participate in the wholesale market?
That may be one workshop related
just so that we can get our arms around how everybody
is acting together, especially in light
of some of the obligations that have been built in
by the state to assist folks impacted by Uri.
The other one is reliability metrics.
The CDR and the CERA have been identified.
I think ERCOT staff and even the board in conversations
with them has agreed we need to revamp that.
I mean, there's so many pending things out there
that as you identified on a seasonal basis
versus this twice a year report or even the CERA,
what's being computed into that.
We now have batteries coming into the market,
solar forecasted to come in to an intense degree
over the next two years
so we need to have some type of venue
where everybody can come together
and start wargaming this out because after that 20 gigs
or two thirds of which is on the ground, it's gonna create
some real policy considerations for us and the legislature.
I think that would help going into 2023
for the legislature to consider.
Securitization, obviously, man, I'm not well versed
in how this functionally will work
so I'll lean on you and the more opportunities
I get to hear you out and what your thinking on that.
I would value that.
Scarcity pricing mechanism.
As a part of Senate Bill three, of course
pending the Governor's signature,
they require us to open that up.
Again, we have a rulemaking right now that'll close out
and then I would propose opening that back up
to look at other issues, including high cap
but also in tandem with that, ORDC,
how should that interact with it.
I think all of those are gonna require experts to come in
and tell us what they think.
I think you would value that, I know I certainly would.
I also think these topics, combined with Connie's
would provide...
I think the legislature is gonna be back sooner or later
and they're gonna wanna know productivity wise
what we're doing.
This would actually give them an opportunity to engage.
I mean, they could sit in on this stuff and--
-: Sure, you're braver than I am to speculate
on when the legislation's gonna be back.
-: I know, yeah. (laughs)
Anyway, that's just my spitball ideas.
You can see what sticks.
-: I've got a very similar list I've been working on
and have gone so far as to start identifying experts,
like you said, everything from engineers to professors.
It's a work in progress but once I get that to...
-: We could just meld 'em all together.
-: Yeah, absolutely.
-: And see what the schedule works--
-: I'll say that with a caveat
that I think pending the timeline,
I think especially in June or in the next 30 days,
our focus should be acutely and incredibly focused
on stabilizing for the summer.
-: Yes, sir.
-: Like the urgent NPRRs we're working on now,
that's not a perfect solution forever
but that's to make sure we can get this grid
in as good a condition as possible
for whatever this summer holds.
Kenan, I know you mentioned this
but I don't want it to go overlooked
that when we talked about the scenario analysis
for any new NPRR,
you're also starting to do stress tests, scenario tests
on tail events, like flying a plane.
99% of the time, it's very boring but that 1% of the time
when it's not boring is when we need the skills
and expertise of a lot of stakeholders.
I know that's an expansion of y'all's normal process,
I commend you for that.
I know they're looking at CERA also
has had an expanded scope of scenario analysis.
Offer that as a caveat before we get into the...
I'd like to make sure we get all of those taken care of
so going into July and August, we're in as good a condition
as we can be and then dive in on, say, starting in July
if that makes sense.
Then we can dive into the longer term bigger issues.
Of course-- -: I just was taking shots
on what I thought might come into play sooner
rather than later, say on securitization.
Man, I frankly just don't know when that will come
full force upon us and--
-: Yeah, well pending the Governor's consideration--
-: And then other things.
-: Yeah, a variety of factors but in many ways,
that would be a price shock protection mechanism
for consumers and so the sooner the better.
None of it's simple or straightforward,
so it's not something that can happen overnight
but certainly, that's something we wanna move forward.
I'll continue to flush out my version of this list
and we can, with the next work session
perhaps combine everything and get a more concrete roadmap
going forward. -: That sounds good to me.
-: I love all these topics and probably even a few more
that we can-- -: I think so.
I think they'll probably become apparent
as the bills are signed
and market participants actively start to adjust to those.
They'll be identified but we have more
than enough buckets to warp some work in.
-: I was gonna get into this later on item 15
but I'll go ahead and throw it into this bucket.
I'd like to include as a big part of this, cyber security.
That's obviously a hot topic right now
but it's something that I've worked on,
I worked on extensively at the Water Development Board
to the extent that its infrastructure
is a very much a financial institution.
That's a key concern and I know it's gonna be a key concern
for this agency, for ERCOT and our market participants.
I don't know if it takes the form of a new project
or working within an existing project
but I think we need to make a concentrated effort
to evaluate that and implement
the best possible practices we can.
If you'd be willing as we move through the next 30, 60 days,
put your thoughts on paper about what the key things are,
the key areas of focus should be.
I would really appreciate your input on that.
-: Absolutely, will do.
That also goes hand in hand, Kenan with RTC
when that was being envisioned,
just how secure the other parameters
that we need to integrate into that.
I know it's being discussed at other RTOs
around the country, too, just as everything
becomes more integrated, the security of those conditions.
-: In the spirit of borrowing other people's good ideas,
I know your engagement with SBP and (indistinct).
Feel free to note the best practices other places--
-: I'll bring back a book report, yes, sir.
-: Bring back what you think is most useful.
Kenan: Chairman, just real quickly on the cyber issue.
If you think it'd be beneficial to both of you,
we have a cyber monitor that we contract with.
We can come give a presentation on the work
that they've been doing
over the last couple of years as well.
-: Yeah, we'll absolutely do that.
I don't know which work session it'll be
most appropriate for but we'll absolutely do that.
Good idea, thank you.
-: Cool. -: All right.
Anything else for these items?
-: Nope. -: Okay, all right.
I think that'll get us to 14, I just did 15.
Anything on 14?
-: I don't think so at this time,
I think I'll save that for the next workshop.
-: All right, at this point, we're going to adjourn
for closed session.
Having convened in a duly notice open meeting,
the Commission will now at 10:59 AM on June 3rd,
hold a closed session pursuant to Chapter five
on the Texas government code, section 551.071, 551.074
and 551.076.
We are in recess.
All right, closed session concluded at 11:58 AM
on June 3rd, 2021 and the Commission will now resume
its public meeting.
No action will be taken by the Commission
regarding matters discussed in closed session.
At this point, having no further business,
this meeting of the Public Utility Commission
is hereby adjourned. (gavel bangs)