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Under a Settlement Agreement Between TPUC Staff And Mercuria Energy America REP Agrees To Disgorge $82,994.52 Of Excess Revenues
“The Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas (Commission) and Mercuria Energy America, LLC (Mercuria) (collectively, the parties) enter into this settlement agreement and file this joint report to the Commission. The agreement resolves and concludes Commission Staff’ s investigation of Mercuria for alleged 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) § 25.503(e)(2), and Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) Nodal Protocol § 4.4.4(17).”
Commission PUCT Staff recommends and Mercuria agrees to pay $82,994.52 of excess revenues realized related to the alleged discussed in this settlement agreement.
Specifically, under the Settlement “Mercuria Energy America, LLC agrees to disgorge $82,994.52 to resolve alleged violations of 16 Texas Administrative Code (TAC) § 25.503(e)(2), and Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) Nodal Protocol § 4.4.4(17), relating to uneconomic Direct Current (DC) tie export transactions.”
“Under 16 TAC § 25.503(e)(2), a market participant is expected to schedule, bid, and operate its resources in a manner consistent with ERCOT procedures to support the efficient and reliable operation of the ERCOT electric system.”
“ERCOT Nodal Protocols § 4.4.4(17) prohibits market participants from engaging in Direct Current (DC) tie export transactions that are reasonably expected to be uneconomic in consideration of all costs and revenues associated with the transaction, excluding Congestion Revenue Right (CRR) Auction Revenue Distribution (CARD) and CRR Balancing Account (CRRBA) allocations.”
“Mercuria enters into DC tie transactions to arbitrage prices between ERCOT and non-ERCOT markets. Additionally, since DC tie exports are categorized as load, to the extent Mercuria has CRR positions outstanding during the period in which DC tie transactions are executed, Mercuria receives a pro-rata share of CARD and CRRBA revenues, which are allocated to load. ERCOT allocates CARD and CRRBA payments to QSEs based on that QSE’s load ratio share in the interval coincident with the ERCOT-wide peak 15-minute settlement interval for the month.”
Corrective Action
“Mercuria has implemented the following corrective measures to prevent non-compliance with 16 TAC §25.503(e)(2), from occurring, and will maintain such measures going forward:
- Mercuria’s Compliance Group reviewed applicable rules as part with relevant personnel.;
- Mercuria’s Compliance Group includes review of applicable rules as part of periodic training with relevant staff;
- Mercuria’s Compliance Group obtains written certifications from relevant personnel with respect to their participation in and understanding of Compliance training;
- Mercuria staff reviews Day Ahead schedules across the DC ties between ERCOT and other control areas/ISO’ s for compliance with applicable rules.
See: Settlement Agreement And Report To The Commission And Proposed Order
See also: Memo From ERCOT Regarding Disgorgement Distribution (04/26/2024)
