Retail Market Assurance Services for the Irish Electricity Market

Anna Anderson LoughlinIGG 26th August 2010

anna.anderson@gemserv.com

Agenda

• Assurance activities

• MCR 0161 & Defect 8455 Update

• June 2010 Feedback / Lessons Learned Review

• November 2010 MDU

Assurance Activities

Assurance Activities• Conducted project closure for June 2010 MDU

– Lessons learned review carried out with RMDS

– Obtained Market Participant feedback for June 2010 MDU

• Two new Suppliers currently undergoing market entry

• Preparation for MCR 0161 & Defect 8455 IPTs

• Initial preparation for the November 2010 MDU assurance activities

MCR 0161 & Defect 8455 Update

MCR 0161 & Defect 8455 Update

• MCR 0161 – Change from MIC to connection voltage as threshold for connection agreement return

• New threshold to be medium voltage or higher

• IPTs are scheduled for September 6th, 2010.

• Go Live is planned for 18th September, 2010.

• IPTs will be run by ESB CS

MCR 0161 & Defect 8455 Update

• Defect 8455 to be included with MCR 0161

• Defect fix will resolve the bug in the following instances:

– Where a reduction in the MIC has been requested

• Existing CA request (in process) not recognised

• Incorrectly triggers 102P

• Incorrectly triggers duplicate CA

June 2010 Market Participant Feedback

Market Participant Feedback from June 2010 Market Design Update

• The approach was to contact all market participants for feedback

• The information collated was categorised by:

– Preparation

– Documentation (RMDS and Gemserv)

– IPT

– Cut-over

– Communication

– Areas for future improvement

Preparation• Expected timescales on Project roadmap were met.

• Relevant documentation was provided in a timely manner to set the expectations required for each market participant.

• The tiered Assurance approach was appropriate for all market participants.

• Greater consultation required for significant dates e.g.

– Go-live date , schema release, IPT window

Documentation• Market documentation was comprehensive and

straight forward to complete.

• Request for the test scripts to be more descriptive for testing requirements.

IPT• A higher number of incorrect market messages were

sent into Networks compared to previous MDU’s.

• Networks were unable to receive/send messages for a period of time due to the test hub being down.

• Most market participants kept to the agreed IPT schedule but there were some significant deviations which resulted in the re-scheduling of timeslots for some suppliers.

• Some market participant evidence submissions were not provided in a timely manner.

Cut-over• RMDS/ESBN were co-located for cut-over and this

was found to be beneficial.

• RMDS staff commended for their assistance and support during this phase.

Communication• All market participants thought communication with

RMDS & Networks was very good particularly during cut-over.

• Market participants were happy with communication with Gemserv.

• Market participants were aware of all fixed dates for this MDU.

• Update e-mails from RMDS re: hub issues are favoured.

Areas for future improvement• Future Market Design Updates for gas and

electricity should not coincide as this puts a strain on internal IT resources (Supplier x 1).

• The format of market messages to be strictly adhered to in testing (Networks).

• Suppliers would like the technical instructions for future MPCC upgrades to be clearer (Supplier x 2).

• More robust controls should be in place for future MPCC upgrades (Supplier x 1).

Areas for future improvement• More testing is executed prior to any future MPCC

upgrade (Supplier x 1).

• Step by step instructions to be provided with test scripts (Supplier x 1).

• Market participants to have greater input into the prioritisation of market change requests (Supplier x 1).

• Suppliers would like future MPCC cut-overs to occur either out of hours or at weekends (Supplier x 2).

Areas for future improvement• Cut-over should not happen at the end of the month

as it clashes with suppliers invoicing cycles (Supplier x 1).

Overall• Overall methodology for the June 2010 Market

Design Update Programme was deemed suitable.

• Some improvements have been identified.

June 2010 MDULessons Learned

Recommendations

Recommendations

• Obtain “implementation specification” for MCRs’ to be delivered from Networks

• Implementation specification to be circulated to IGG members

• Gemserv, RMDS and ESB Networks to formulate joint project team to deliver future Market Design Updates

• Market Participants to use operational staff to conduct future IPT’s

November 2010 MDU

November 2010 MDU

• MCR 0081 and MCR 0177 to be delivered

• IPTs are scheduled for October 11th – 1st November, 2010.

• Go Live is planned for 19th November, 2010.

• IPTs will be run only by the Market Participants who operate in the Unmetered segment of the market.

November 2010 MDU

• Participant Questionnaire will be sent to Market Participants on the 13th September, 2010.

• Market Participants will have 4 weeks to complete and return the questionnaire.

• Questionnaire to be submitted by October 11th, 2010.

Questions & Discussion