Market Renewal Newsletter - June Update
June 30, 2021
Every issue we’re featuring an update from someone different on the Market Renewal team to shed light into their line of work.
From the desk of...
Anuradha Sridhar, Technical Writer, Energy Implementation, Market Renewal Program
The Market Renewal Program (MRP) is now well into the Implementation phase after completing the detailed design phase earlier this year. The key implementation deliverables – market rules, market manuals, internal manuals, processes and tools – are being developed. The first series of these market rules and market manuals for Market Entry and Prudentials have already been published and provisionally approved by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) Board of Directors.
I’m part of a small but efficient team of technical writers supporting MRP. Both me and my colleague, Robert Long, are primarily responsible for ensuring that all external and internal documentation meets the requisite IESO and industry standards and requirements.
The new market rules and market manuals are being drafted to provide both the IESO and the market participants a detailed description of the revised rules and procedures that will be required to implement the MRP design. The 13 detailed design documents are organized into five batches of market rules and market manuals. These documents will be available for stakeholders to review and provide feedback.
As technical writers, we check the content of all MRP documentation for clarity, readability and consistency with existing documentation. We help the subject matter experts incorporate feedback from stakeholders and prepare revised versions of all materials for the review process.
We also assist the team of business analysts document the changes related to processes and tools that need to be developed for the new market. This will help the MRP team create a robust set of documented procedures and user guides to help market participants and other users adapt to the new systems.
One of the key tasks that a technical writer performs is ensuring the documents conform to the accessibility and compliance requirements as specified by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
As part of our technical writer review, we support the MRP team by fine tuning various presentations, reports and other corporate documents to be easily digestible for stakeholders. We then run accessibility checks and fix any errors to ensure the documents comply with the AODA requirements.
It’s a rewarding and enriching experience to play a role on MRP by supporting the creation of all the documentation produced, getting an opportunity to work with talented subject matter experts and seeing our efforts come to fruition as we publish the materials.
Anu
What we're working on
Replacement of the IESO’s Settlement System: Summary of the final settlement disagreements and resettlements document
On June 24, a stakeholder session was held on the design of the settlement disagreements and resettlements process, building on the presentation in February and providing an update on some changes being contemplated.
The design document is finalized and the drafting of the market rule amendments has started.
We are targeting to return to stakeholders with testing, training and implementation details in Q3 2021, and aiming for Q4 2021 to engage on market rule and market manual changes.
Implementation update on navigating design solutions
As the MRP team works through the process of implementing the detailed design, there may be issues and opportunities that need to be resolved, and the IESO wants to be proactive and transparent about how these items are resolved.
The IESO will provide quarterly updates if any design integration issues exist, show how they were resolved, and the rationale behind decisions. Stakeholders are open to provide advice on the solutions, ask questions, or recommend alternatives to resolve these challenges.
On June 24, the IESO presented three design solutions. View the slide deck to review the proposed design solutions and submit feedback (download the feedback form) to engagement@ieso.ca by July 15.
MRP Technical Advisory Group
On June 18, the first meeting was held of the MRP Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The main objective of the group is to provide advice and input, and to support IESO efforts to engage in testing activities and train market participants on the renewed energy market. Stakeholders inquired about information on testing plans and timing, among other topics. Summary notes will be posted to the MRP Implementation Engagement page.
Related IESO news
Latest Reliability Outlook Now Available
Ontario’s electricity system is ready for summer. The IESO’s most recent Reliability Outlook is now available outlining system adequacy over the next 18 months.
Demand for electricity is not expected to increase in a material way in the near term, having largely returned to normal after initial lockdowns last spring. A diverse supply of resources will contribute to grid reliability this summer, including demand response, imports, generation and energy storage that were competitively secured in last December’s capacity auction. Large industrial customers will also be supporting grid reliability this summer, by curtailing energy use and reducing peaks through the Industrial Conservation Initiative (ICI). In 2019, the ICI helped reduce demand by ~1,550 MW.
Ontario is forecast to have adequate supply this summer while reserves are forecast to be less than needed during a brief period in the summer of 2022. This potential shortfall will be mitigated by outage management and by the availability of a diverse set of resources acquired in the December 2021 capacity auction.
IESO and OEB join forces to support innovative projects to help meet province's growing energy needs
Businesses and communities will soon be able to test innovative energy technologies and approaches as a result of a new collaboration between the IESO and the Ontario Energy Board (OEB). The IESO’s Grid Innovation Fund and Ontario Energy Board’s Innovation Sandbox will hold a joint, targeted call later this year for proposals testing distributed energy resource capabilities to provide local and provincial grid services. If harnessed effectively, DERs have the potential to increase grid reliability, affordability and competition.
A new stakeholder engagement initiative has been launched to gather input on the details of the targeted call from interested parties. The anticipated open intake period for proposals is November 2021.
Reminders
Stakeholder feedback due by July 15:
- Market Renewal RSS detailed design: Questions related to the introduction of location-specific settlement of Global Adjustment. View the slides and submit feedback (download the feedback form) to engagement@ieso.ca.
- Implementation phase three design solutions: View the slides and submit feedback (download the feedback form) to engagement@ieso.ca.
Key dates
- Mid-August: Technical Advisory Group Meeting
- August 24-26: Engagement Days
- September 21-23: Engagement Days
Did you know?
What is locational marginal pricing?
Locational marginal pricing is the concept of reflecting the value of energy at different locations on the system, accounting for the system constraints and losses. Locational marginal pricing will replace the current uniform price for settlement of all dispatchable generation facilities, non-dispatchable generation facilities, dispatchable loads and price responsive loads.
In the future day-ahead and real-time market, locational marginal prices will be used for settlement and informational purposes. These locational prices will provide more accurate pricing signals and result in improved incentives for market participants to submit offers at marginal cost. A new Ontario zonal price will be applied for settlement of non-dispatchable loads.