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NOTICE DATE: August 20, 2021

NOTICE TYPE: M-B072321-02 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 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 on September 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.

The 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. 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, and will be required to respond and follow any operational instructions issued by ERCOT.

The Severe Weather Drill will simulate a Category 3 hurricane between Matagorda and East Matagorda Bay with intensity of the winds will reach 115 MPH during its peak. The simulated storm then weakens to Category 1 once making landfall (times to be determined). The storm path will continue NW towards central Texas before ultimately dropping below tropical depression levels. The Drill will simulate significant flooding and forced outages in the path of the storm during the 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 provide desk phone numbers to use to reach the ERCOT operators during the Drill to all Single Points of Contact. Do not call the ERCOT Real-Time control room at any time for Drill questions or communications.

Requirements for Market Participants to participate:

ERCOT Gateway Access (https://gateway.ercot.com),
Workplace with good internet connectivity and no background noise,
A computer with latest Citrix receiver installed (Download Receiver for Windows LTSR - Citrix),
Internet explorer 11.x (you can see the configuration from User Guides (ercot.com)),
Computer with a minimum hardware specs are recommended (Windows 10, RAM 16GB, intel i5 or similar configuration).

ACTION REQUIRED: QSE's with Resources, Transmission Operators, Transmission Service Providers, and other interested Market Participants who have not confirmed their participation should send an email to System Operations Training ([log in to unmask]) as soon as possible, as the target notification date was August 6, 2021.

Companies that have not yet provided phone numbers to use for hotline calls and communications should send numbers to [log in to unmask] as soon as possible.

Companies that have not provided the minimum number of logons they require for the Drill should send this to [log in to unmask] as soon as possible.

Registration is required for all participants that wish to receive a participation certificate and/or Continuing Education Hours (CEHs). NERC-certified participants seeking CEHs are eligible to receive 8 CEHs upon successful completion of all requirements. The cost for NERC-certified participants seeking CEHs is $200; there is no charge for NERC-certified facilitators seeking CEHs. There is no charge for individuals seeking a participation certificate but no CEHs. Registration will begin Monday, August 23 at 9:00 a.m. and end on Friday, September 3 at 5:00 p.m. at the following link: https://cvent.me/zPNDVw

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Other interested Market Participants are invited to participate in the Emergency Communications Drill which runs simultaneously with the 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]) as soon as possible 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.

DRILL REGISTRATION 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 3,2021	Deadline for Market Participants to Register in Cvent
September 8, 2021	ERCOT Corporate Emergency Communications Issued
September 8, 2021	Drill Conference Call (14:00)
September 9, 2021	Drill Day (08:00 – 16:00)
September 16, 2021	Drill Participants’ Critique responses due back to ERCOT

Please review the ERCOT website for previous Market Notice related to this subject.

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.