NOTICE DATE: July 26, 2021
NOTICE TYPE: M-B072321-01 Education/Training
SHORT DESCRIPTION: 2021 Severe Weather Drill
INTENDED AUDIENCE: QSE's with Resources, Transmission Operators, Transmission Service Providers and other interested Market Participants
DAYS AFFECTED: September 8 - 9, 2021
LONG DESCRIPTION: The annual Severe Weather Drill (the Drill) as required by the ERCOT Nodal Operating Guide, Section 1.5.4, ERCOT Severe Weather Drill, will be conducted September 8 and 9, 2021. All Transmission Operators (TO's) and Qualified Scheduling Entities (QSE's) that represent Generation Resources are required to participate in the Severe Weather Drill.
This year’s simulation will utilize the ERCOT simulator and will be based on a peak summer load case. Each Market Participant will be issued logins and passwords for remote access to the Macomber Map through Citrix utilizing your company’s digital certificate. The QSE's/TO's access to the Macomber Map will be limited to viewing only their facilities. Unlike previous years, ERCOT will design the training scenario, including the line outages, station outages, unit outages, and other events that will be built into the simulation. Participants will be given a list of events including times they will occur during the simulation and will be required to respond accordingly as well as follow any operational instructions issued by ERCOT.
The Drill will simulate a hurricane path straight in between Matagorda and East Matagorda Bay directly in line with the STP Facilities. The intensity of the winds will reach 115 MPH during its peak. The hurricane weakens from a Category 3 to Category 1 before hitting landfall (times to be determined). The storm path will continue NW towards Lytton Springs then turn more Northly towards Hutto Switch. This year’s drill will produce significant flooding in the path of the storm including South Houston, Austin, Round Rock, Hutto and surrounding areas. Significant outages in the path of the storm can be expected during this Drill.
User logins for Macomber Map will only be issued to Market Participants that RSVP by the cutoff date in the table below.
ERCOT will coordinate the Drill from its Training Center in Taylor. Please do not call the ERCOT Real-Time control room at any time for Drill questions or communications. ERCOT Desk Numbers at their training facility will be provided to all Single Points of Contact. This will help us facilitate the volume of calls expected. The contact list will be provided as outlined below. If you are not on the list, please contact System Operations Training ([log in to unmask] )
ACTION REQUIRED: QSEs that represent Generation Resources and Transmission Operators are to confirm their participation by sending an email to System Operations Training ([log in to unmask] ) by August 6, 2021.
ADDITIONAL ACTION ITEMS-DRILL REGISTRAION DEADLINES:
Below is a timeline of events and due dates:
| Severe Weather Hurricane Drill Timeline of Events | |
| August 6, 2021 | Operations Drill Participants’ confirmations due back to ERCOT |
| August 10,2021 | Market Participant Single Point of Contact Information due to ERCOT |
| September 8, 2021 | ERCOT Corporate Emergency Communications Issued |
| September 8, 2021 | Drill Conference Call (14:00) |
| September 9, 2021 | Drill Day (07:00 – 12:00) |
| September 16, 2021 | Drill Participants’ Critique responses due back to ERCOT |
Market Participant Single Points of Contact are responsible to ensure NO Real-time numbers are provided and used during this drill.
Operations staffs of other Market Participants are welcome to email System Operations Training ([log in to unmask] ) to participate with ERCOT Operations in Hot Line calls.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: 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 Leslie Sopko ([log in to unmask]) by August 16, 2021, if you would like to participate in the communications portion of the annual drill.
Files containing the 2021, Drill Script (TO), Drill Script (QSE), Storm Track and related data, Drill Outage Spreadsheet, Drill Event Spreadsheet and Drill Critique will be sent out to all Market Participants involved in the drill.
The ERCOT 2021 Hurricane Severe Weather Drill will be offered to Market Participants at no cost. However, ERCOT Market Participants will be required to submit their own Individual Learning Activity (ILA) to NERC for obtaining Continuing Education Hours (5 Hours). A sample ILA can be provided if requested via email at [log in to unmask] .
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].
If you are receiving email from a public ERCOT distribution list that you no longer wish to receive, please follow this link in order to unsubscribe from this list: http://lists.ercot.com.
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