Ercot Nodal is going live this winter. Are you ready?

August 24, 2010, Denver, Colorado -

August 24, 2010 – Richmond, B.C. − If you are either active or preparing to be active in the ERCOT market, you need to be ready for the challenges of collecting the massive volume of data that is being provided through the upcoming Nodal market transition. The Zema Data Management and Analysis Suite simplifies the process by automating the collection of all forms of ERCOT reports, nodes and data classes for you.
Zema PowerGroup Inc. (Zema) is actively preparing and ensuring that its clients and market participants are up-to-date and ready to meet the intensive requirements well ahead of the anticipated go live date of December 1st 2010. Zema enables organizations to capture the full range of market data reports with ample time for clients to get their internal systems ready for the launch date. Data is collected from both publicly posted and secured (certificate based) areas of the ERCOT site collecting generally available or client specific information.
The Zema software already provides the capability to import and centralize a wide range of ERCOT Nodal reports and already making them available to its clients, including:

In the coming weeks, Zema will be interfaced with over 150 additional reports including:

Already a proven system for the collection of all forms of ISO and commodity related market data, Zema downloads millions of records daily across all North American ISOs aggregating data in real time for its users. Similar to the launch period for the California ISO MRTU, Zema will be staging and preparing interim releases for the upcoming ERCOT Nodal.
As ordered by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) in September of 2003, ERCOT will be moving from a Zonal to Nodal Wholesale Market in Texas. This transition involves moving from a grid system divided into 4 Congested Management Zones (CMZs) to one comprising of nearly 4000 nodes. In a nodal market, wholesale electricity prices are calculated for specific delivery points (called nodes) based on the demand, generation and transmission available to serve the local area. This type of system is intended to increase reliability and create more efficiently managed operations.

What’s Changing?

The transition to the nodal market will require significant changes to processes and systems. The major components that will impact ERCOT’s current business model include the following:

Today’s Zonal	Tomorrow’s Nodal
Transmission Congestion Rights (TCR)	Congestion Revenue Rights (CRR)
Day-ahead market for ancillary services procured for capacity No day-ahead energy market	Day-ahead energy and ancillary services co-optimized market (DAM)
Replacement reserve service (RPRS) and out-of merit capacity (OOMC)	Day-ahead reliability unit commitment (DRUC)
Hour-ahead studies	Hourly reliability unit commitment (HRUC)
Portfolio-based offers by zone	Resource-specific offers
Balancing energy service (BES) every 15 minutes Zonal congestion management by portfolio for CSCs Resource-specific for local congestion	Security constrained economic dispatch (SCED) generally every five minutes (still 15-minute settlement) All congestion management will be resource-specific Enhanced load frequency control
Zonal average shift factors for resources	Actual shift factors for resources
Zonal market clearing prices for balancing energy for generation and loads	Nodal locational marginal pricing (LMP)for generation Zonal weighted LMP for loads

Key benefits of nodal market structure:

Transition Status

The transition is currently in the 5th stage of the Market Trials. There will be a 168-hour test on September 1st, 2010 then the official changeover will likely go live on December 1st, 2010. Once the transition has been implemented, consumers of Ercot Zonal data will no longer have access to the market data; providing detrimental implications to market players.
Zema has taken a proactive approach to this transition much like the preparation for the Market Redesign and Technology Upgrade MRTU program developed by the California Independent System Operator (CAISO). As developers of Zema Suite, the leading Enterprise Data Management solution, Zema has been preparing for the transition since early 2009.
Zema is currently working with Zema clients to mitigate potential data issues resulting from the transition. As this transition has significant implications for our clients, Zema has dedicated resources to ensure complete and timely market data from Ercot is accessible to Zema users as soon as the new data is published. For Zema users, the transition will be seamless and the new data will be manageable on day one of implementation.
The preparation for the Ercot transition is just one example of how the Zema provides its clients with superior service. The Zema software applications are supported by the expertise of dedicated energy professional that provide a tremendous amount of added value to the client.
For information on how you can prepare for the Ercot Nodal Market Implementation, contact a Zema representative at Zema@ze.com or 1-866-550-zema (9362).

---

For media inquiries please contact:

Claire Peel,
Chief Marketing Officer
Direct: +447801932631
Email: claire.peel@ze.com