CALIFORNIA ISO MARKET NOTICE

Requested Client Action:  Information Only

 

Date of Distribution:  November 30, 2007

 

Categories:  Grid Operation, Legal/ Regulatory, Market Operations

 

Subject:  CAISO Proposal for Spinning Reserve Certification

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Summary:  The CAISO has completed the stakeholder initiative on Spinning Reserve Certification and reminds all Market Participants to comply with the CAISO Tariff requirements for providing Spinning Reserve.

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Main Text:  On June 13, 2007 the California ISO (CAISO) issued a Market Notice and posted a whitepaper entitled "Proposal for Spinning Reserve Certification" to commence a stakeholder initiative on Spinning Reserve Certification.  The stakeholder initiative was undertaken as part of a CAISO effort to review its certification process for Spinning Reserve Capacity and the bidding practices of Aggregated Units to ensure that the Spinning Reserve service the CAISO procures from the Aggregated Units is in fact provided and complies with the CAISO Tariff and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) Minimum Operating Reliability Criteria (MORC). 

 

Through this initiative, the CAISO offered multiple opportunities for stakeholders to provide comments and suggestions for the CAISO’s consideration as part of its review of Spinning Reserve certification.  The CAISO received input from stakeholders through written comments and discussion of the whitepaper in conference calls held on June 26, 2007 and August 7, 2007.  In response to stakeholder comments received following the August 7, 2007 conference call, the CAISO posted a Supplement to Proposal for Spinning Reserve Certification to provide additional information about its proposal and the focus of this issue.  A follow-up conference call was then held on September 27, 2007 to obtain stakeholder comment on that supplemental whitepaper.  The CAISO thanks the stakeholders who participated in this process.

 

This stakeholder initiative is now being closed.  The CAISO has determined that the Tariff clearly sets forth the requirements for providing Spinning Reserve and contains the necessary monitoring and enforcement mechanisms for the CAISO to ensure that all Market Participants, including aggregated units, comply with these requirements.  Accordingly, the CAISO has decided not to file a Tariff amendment related to the Spinning Reserve provisions at this time.

 

The CAISO, however, reminds Market Participants that Spinning Reserve is defined by the CAISO Tariff as, the “portion of unloaded synchronized generating capacity that is immediately responsive to system frequency and that is capable of being loaded in ten-minutes, and that is capable of running for at least two hours”.  Under CAISO Tariff, Section 37.3.1.1, Market Participants “must bid and schedule Energy and Ancillary Services from resources that are reasonably expected to be available and capable of performing at the levels specified in the bid and/or schedule, and to remain available and capable of so performing based on all information that is known to the Market Participant or should have been known to the Market Participant at the time of bidding or scheduling”.

 

The CAISO also conforms to the WECC MORC for procurement of Operating Reserves, including Spinning Reserves and Non-Spinning Reserves, to ensure that adequate generating capacity is available at all times to maintain scheduled frequency and to prevent the loss of firm load during contingency events.  If the Spinning Reserves procured or self-provided in the forward Ancillary Services markets fail to perform to real-time dispatch and frequency response requirements, the CAISO’s ability to respond to system needs may be compromised and could lead to system reliability and stability problems.

 

In order to comply with the requirements of the CAISO Tariff and to meet the WECC MORC for Spinning Reserve, the CAISO reminds all Market Participants awarded Spinning Reserves of the following requirements and capabilities:

• Governors must be properly tuned and in-service in order for the Generating Unit(s) to be frequency responsive;  
• Telemetry between the Generating Units and the CAISO’s Energy Management System must be maintained and functional;
• The aggregated Generating Units’ unloaded capacity must be equal to or greater than the awarded Spinning Reserve capacity; 
• The entire awarded Spinning Reserve capacity must be synchronized to the Grid; and must be synchronized to the Grid at the beginning of the interval awarded.  
• The awarded Spinning Reserve capacity must be converted to energy within ten minutes of notification. 

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For More Information Contact:  Clyde Loutan at cloutan@caiso.com