Change Management

On an ongoing basis, proposed changes to the market rules are initiated by IESO staff or stakeholders. The IESO uses a consultative market rule amendment process through which individuals with an interest in the operation of the electricity market can request a rule amendment or comment on a rule amendment under consideration.

The IESO Board of Directors has the authority to make and approve the market rules. The Technical Panel, comprising stakeholder representatives, supports the IESO Board in the development and consideration of amendments to the market rules. Rule amendments currently under consideration by the Technical Panel, or approved by the IESO Board but not yet incorporated into a baseline, are listed under the proposed market rule amendments. Once an amendment is incorporated into the baseline set of market rules, it is included in the market rule amendment archive. A five-year rolling inventory of market manuals is also available in the market manuals archive. The Ontario Energy Board may be asked to review specific amendments by the IESO.

A new baseline is published every quarter reflecting changes to market-related documents that may be as a result of the market rule amendment process. Proposed changes may also be discussed through the IESO’s other change review processes such as engagement initiatives or reliability standard development. As a result, proposed changes to technical interface documents, market manuals and other related documents are posted under Pending Changes – Documents. Stakeholder feedback will be taken into account during the baseline schedule and can be sent to pending.changes@ieso.ca.

In certain circumstances, changes to market documentation will be made during the current baseline to accommodate urgent rule amendments, system changes or IESO procedural changes. These Interim Market Document Changes (IMDC) are posted on dates outside of the baseline schedule and will also be documented through the Pending Changes – Documents webpage. Notifications for an IMDC may also be made through the weekly IESO Bulletin.

Market participants may seek exemptions from the obligations or standards set out in the market rules, market manuals or to any standard, policy or procedure established by the IESO pursuant to the market rules. The IESO Board of Directors is responsible for making a determination of a market participant's application for an exemption. See exemptions for details on the exemption procedure and a list of active exemption applications.

Changing IT systems and reports

On the Technical Interfaces webpage, the IESO publishes a series of documents, which detail the requirements and processes for interfacing with IESO technical systems.

IT changes are implemented through scheduled releases four times annually, which are published through the IT release schedule (with preliminary, target and final plans). Technical interfaces documentation is typically available for comment earlier than changes to the market manuals and related documents. The timing of releases is intended to ensure that market participants are given sufficient notice of changes that affect them and an opportunity to provide feedback to the IESO.

Proposed changes to IESO Reports together with the targeted implementation date are listed under Pending Changes – Reports.