NOTICE DATE: March 30, 2010

NOTICE TYPE: W-A033010-01 Operations

SHORT DESCRIPTION: ERCOT 2010 Severe Weather Hurricane Drill

INTENDED AUDIENCE: QSEs that provide Ancillary Services, Transmission Service Providers and other interested Market Participants

DAYS AFFECTED: See table below

LONG DESCRIPTION: The annual “Severe Weather Drill” as required by the ERCOT Operating Guide, Section 1.8.5, will be conducted May 24 – 26, 2010. All Qualified Scheduling Entities (QSEs) that provide Ancillary Services and Transmission Operators (TOs) are required to participate in the Drill. This year’s Drill will simulate a 12-day event leading up to a Category 4 Hurricane making landfall at San Antonio Bay on day 8 of the Drill (see Drill script for details). The Drill will begin at 9:00 AM on Monday, May 24, 2010. Below is a timeline of events and due dates.

Severe Weather Hurricane Drill Timeline of Events
April 23, 2010	Operations Drill Participants’ confirmations due back to ERCOT
May 17, 2010	Drill Conference Call
May 24 – 26, 2010	Drill Days (8:00 AM – 5:00 PM)
May 28, 2010	Drill Participants’ Critique responses due back to ERCOT
June 7 – 9, 2010	Back-up Drill days

Other interested Market Participants are invited to participate in the Emergency Communications Drill which runs simultaneously with the Operations Drill. ERCOT corporate communications will conduct an email-only Drill which simulates crisis notification. Participants are welcome to simulate the use of their own internal emergency plans. RSVP to Dottie Roark ([log in to unmask]) by Thursday, May 20, 2010, if you would like to participate in the communications portion of the annual Drill.

ACTION REQUIRED: QSEs that provide Ancillary Services and Transmission Operators are to confirm their participation by sending an RSVP email to Kelly Blackmer ([log in to unmask]) by Friday, April 23, 2010, that includes the following required information:

· Your company’s Drill Coordinator and his/her phone number.

· The phone number of the site from which you intend to run your Drill. These numbers will be assembled into one phone list to be used by all Drill participants, in order to facilitate inter-communication.

· A copy of your training plan. Your plan will be forwarded to the Texas Regional Entity (TRE) – ([log in to unmask]).

Operations staffs of other Market Participants (e.g., QSEs that do not provide Ancillary Services) are welcome to email Kelly Blackmer ([log in to unmask]) to participate with ERCOT Operations in Hot Line calls.

For compliance purposes, it will be necessary to document your company’s participation. Your company is required to develop its own additional in-house Drill scenarios, which should include coordination and participation with neighboring TOs and QSEs. Companies should also conduct a post-mortem critique immediately following the Drill and apply this time toward ERCOT’s 32-hour reliability training requirement. Please note that ERCOT will not be able to issue NERC Continuing Education Hours for this Drill.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: The attached files contain the 2010 Drill Invitation, Drill Scripts (ERCOT and Participant versions), Drill Activities (QSE and TO) and Drill Critique.

CONTACT: If you have any questions, please contact your ERCOT Account Manager. You may also call the general ERCOT Client Services phone number at (512) 248-3900 or contact ERCOT Client Services via email at [log in to unmask].

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