Public Information Sessions

To complement its stakeholdering efforts, the IESO regularly holds public information sessions on various aspects of the system and market.

Documents referenced on this page, but not posted, can be obtained by contacting engagement@ieso.ca with a link to the web page that lists the document, the document name and date, and advising whether it needs to be provided in an accessible format. Please allow a minimum of one business day for a response.

Congestion Management Settlement Credit Recovery for Dispatchable Loads

October 27, 2020 The IESO will present and gather feedback on proposed market rule amendments to allow the IESO to recover inappropriate Congestion Management Settlement Credit payments when those payments are a result of operational constraints indicated by the dispatchable load to prevent endangering the safety of any person, equipment damage, or the violation of any applicable law (SEAL).

Recorded Presentation | Presentation | Feedback form | Registration list

No stakeholder feedback received | Update on October 27 Congestion Management Settlement Credit Recovery for Dispatchable Loads Webinar | January 22, 2021 Update on CMSC Recovery for Dispatchable Loads

This webinar was presented during the IESO's November stakeholder engagement sessions, see full agenda for more information.

Real-time Generation Cost Guarantee Program webinar

October 28, 2020

A proposed methodology for reimbursing Real-time Generation Cost Guarantee (RTGCG) participants for their eligible carbon costs under the Output-Based Pricing System has been developed by the IESO based on stakeholder feedback received following the April 1 RTGCG - Three-Year Review webinar. The IESO will review and seek feedback from stakeholders on the proposed methodology at a webinar scheduled for 10 a.m. on October 28.

Recorded Presentation | Presentation | Feedback form | Registration list

Note this webinar was presented during the IESO’s October stakeholder engagement sessions, see full agenda for more information.

Stakeholder Feedback: APPrO, Atura Power

Real-time Generation Cost Guarantee Program – Three-Year Review Webinar, April 1 |
Presentation

Market Operations, Forecasting and Planning Updates

The IESO hosted interactive webinars to provide the latest information to market participants and stakeholders on the electricity system impacts of COVID-19. This information is available on the Engagement Updates web page in the Planning and Forecasting section.

COVID-19 Energy Assistance Program (CEAP)

Announced June 1, 2020 CEAP provides a one time, on-bill credit to eligible residential electricity and natural gas customers. The IESO is the settlement agent for this program.

On July 27, 2020 the IESO hosted a webinar on the new settlement form for LDCs and USMPs.

Presentation

Full program details are available on the OEB website.

Transmission Rights Payouts Information Session - March 11, 2020

The Market Surveillance Panel (MSP) “Monitoring Report on the IESO-Administered Electricity Markets for the period from May 2017 – October 2017”, identified that unwarranted transmission rights (TR) payouts were made to TR holders on a TR path for which the transmission transfer capability has been reduced to zero.

As per Market Rules Chapter 8, Section 4.4.2, TR payouts are not permitted when an intertie limit is reduced to zero in the following way:

For the hour in which the intertie limit is reduced to zero, TR payouts owing shall be calculated consistent with when intertie limit is non-zero; and for each subsequent hour during which the intertie limit is zero, including the hour in which the intertie limit returns to an amount greater than zero, the amount owing shall be zero.

The MSP recommended that “the IESO should ensure its procedure for determining an outage when administering Transmission Rights aligns with the Market Rules.” The IESO accepted the Panel’s recommendation and committed to make the required changes to IESO processes and systems to prevent any unwarranted TR payouts in future.

Before making changes that impact TR market participants, the IESO will hold a webinar on March 11, 2020 from 10:00 am – 11:00 am to explain the changes to IESO processes and systems, timing for when the changes will take effect, and impact on TR market participants.

Update: Some webinar participants indicated they would like the IESO to quantify the value of these payments historically: Between January 2017 and December 2019, the IESO paid approximately $2.6 million in TR payouts under these conditions.

Presentation

Market Operations Fall 2019 Awareness session

Registration is now open for the IESO Market Operations Fall 2019 Awareness session on November 28th. This is the eleventh operations awareness session in a series intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The session’s theme will be “Resiliency”.

This meeting will be of particular interest to people that manage, plan and operate facilities in the electricity system; however, participation is open to all interested.

The session will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn in Oakville. Registration will be limited. To register send an email to engagement@ieso.ca

Agenda | Presentation

Recorded Presentation

Past Information Sessions

Variable generation forecasting tool webinar
- May 20, 2020

A number of different inputs are used by the IESO’s Dispatch Scheduling Optimization (DSO) tool to determine market schedules, prices and dispatch instructions; these include resource bids and offers as well as forecast data. The IESO uses centralized forecasting to predict future output and availability of variable generator (VG) resources. This forecast tool is used as an input into scheduling. In some circumstances, if the observed output of VG resources differs significantly from forecast amounts, the IESO can temporarily disable the forecast and rely on actual VG output to predict output for the next interval. However, in certain instances, such as when a VG has been curtailed for reliability, the resource’s full offered capacity is used to reflect availability for market scheduling. In this instance, IESO tools could schedule a resource up to its full capacity which could be much higher than actual availability. This can create an ‘artificial supply’ which can cause market price distortions. The Market Surveillance Panel has identified this issue and made recommendations to the IESO to address it. A webinar has been scheduled to provide information and background on this issue and discuss how the IESO intends to address it by replacing the current market scheduling input with a more accurate one. The webinar will take place on May 20 at 3:15 p.m. as part of the May engagement days agenda for the IESO’s new stakeholder engagement framework.

Stakeholders may want to review the IESO’s training materials that explain the two-schedule system currently used in Ontario.

For any questions related to this engagement activity, email engagement@ieso.ca.

Presentation Recorded Presentation IESO Follow-Up Responses to May 20 Webinar Questions

Note this webinar was presented during the IESO’s May stakeholder engagement sessions, see full agenda for more information.

Final Engagement Summary Report

Communication

IESO to introduce new “Icing Event” purpose code for wind generators – Outage Management - August 2018

The purpose of this initiative is to improve the accuracy of variable generation forecasts for icing conditions by ensuring that occurrences of de-rated generation output capacity specifically due to icing are highlighted to the centralized forecast provider.

As this will affect how wind generators submit certain outages in the Outage Management tool, the IESO will be holding two information sessions on August 9 and 14 to discuss the purpose and application of the new “Icing Event’ outage purpose code.

Implementation of this new purpose code in sandbox is scheduled for August 2, 2018 and in production for September 12, 2018.

Information Session availability

August 9, 2018 – 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.
August 14, 2018 – 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

To register for one of the information sessions, please click on the date above.

Feel free to check out this new purpose code in the sandbox environment any time after implementation in sandbox scheduled for August 2. Please note that you will need to be registered in the Equipment Outage Submitter role in sandbox. Feedback on testing the new code in sandbox can be submitted to IESO Customer Relations.

IESO to expand Final Approval in Advance criteria – Outage Management - August 2018

The IESO will be expanding the criteria for Final Approval in Advance (FAA) and update the eligibility for Auto Advanced Approval (AA). Please consult FAA Outage Criteria for additional details.

Expanding the criteria to receive FAA automatically in certain situations will eliminate the need for market participants to call the IESO control room to be granted approval via telephone.

No action is required for users of the outage management system web client (individual user accounts).

Participants connecting via web services (machine account) will need to revise the low impact question highlighted in yellow on page two of the attached document. The IESO has scheduled a two-week market trial for web services users starting August 7, 2018. For details, please see the FAA - Market Trial Test Plan. Please note that market trials have been extended to Friday, August 24, 2018.

Implementation in sandbox is scheduled for August 2, 2018 and in production for September 12, 2018.

Appendix D of Market Manual 7.3 which outlines the criteria for Auto AA and FAA has been updated to reflect these changes and is posted on the Pending Changes webpage for comments, due July 11 – August 3, 2018, in accordance with the Baseline 40.0 schedule.

Important Reminder:

Planned outage requests, which have automatically been advanced to the Final Approval in Advance state, do not require Final Approval to be granted over the telephone from the IESO’s control room prior starting the outage.

FAA Outage Criteria

New regulatory requirements for embedded generation data submission by Local Distribution Companies - June 2018

Effective July 1, 2018, the way Local Distribution Companies (LDCs) submit embedded generation data to the IESO via the Portal is changing. This change was introduced by the Ministry of Energy through amendment 516/17 to Ontario Regulation 429/04 on December 15, 2017.

Currently, LDCs submit Class A Load and Embedded Generation Offsetting Load. As a result of the updated regulation, the IESO requires the following:

Class A Load (including load consumed by Class A energy storage facilities)
Embedded Generation Offsetting Load (including generation from Class A and Class B energy storage facilities that was used to offset load in your service territory)
Class B Energy Storage Generation/Injection (i.e. the total energy conveyed into the distribution system by Class B energy storage facilities)
Class B Energy Storage Load/Consumption (i.e. the total energy consumed by Class B energy storage facilities)
Gross Embedded Generation (i.e. all embedded generation in LDC’s service territory including generation from Class A and Class B energy storage facilities)

A webinar has been scheduled for June 5, 2018 from 10 to 11 a.m. to present these changes to LDCs. Please register by e-mailing engagement@ieso.ca.

Presentation

Changes to Industrial Accelerator Program - November 19, 2018

The IESO, in collaboration with LDCs, implemented changes to the Process & System Upgrades (PSU) Program under the Conservation First Framework in May 2018. The program changes were broadly supported by customers, consultants and LDCs and are expected to achieve the following outcomes:

increase program participation;
shorten project cycles including review periods and agreement execution;
increase cost effectiveness via efficiencies and scale; and
improve customer satisfaction.

To foster consistent program offerings for customers across Ontario, the IESO sought feedback relating to similar changes considered for adoption in the Industrial Accelerator Program (IAP). On November 19, 2018, the IESO hosted a webinar to present an overview of proposed IAP changes to stakeholders. Access the presentation and webinar recording. Feedback from stakeholders on the proposed changes was accepted until December 7, 2018. Read a summary of feedback with IESO responses, as well as an overview of the Engineering Feasibility Study Model.

MACD Compliance and Enforcement Guidance (CEG) Process Webinar and Launch – March 6, 2018

On March 7, 2018 the IESO’s Market Assessment and Compliance Division (MACD) launched a process to provide, upon request or on its own initiative, compliance and enforcement guidance regarding specific market rules and manuals. This guidance will represent, on a forward looking basis, MACD’s view as to the meaning of that specific provision and its potential application to compliance and other enforcement determinations.

Presentation

Request for Information about Non-emitting Resources - December 21, 2017

The IESO hosted an information webinar to explain more about the Request for Information to be issued in February on the role of the non-emitting resources sector in the future electricity marketplace.

Access the recorded webinar or view the presentation.

Market Information System Refresh

The engine behind Ontario's electricity market is scheduled to be refreshed with a new IT solution. The Market Information System contains the tools and processes that optimize the dispatch of Ontario's electricity system. The IESO hosted an information webinar on October 6, 2015 to discuss the project objectives, scope and timeline and potential opportunities to test the new solution. Implementation was scheduled for December 2017.

Communication: Pre-implementation review as part of Market Information System refresh project completed - December 4, 2017

Pre-implementation Review of the Day-Ahead Dispatch Algorithm

Pre-implementation Review of the Real-Time Dispatch Algorithm

Communication: Get ready to test the new Dispatch Advisory Reports– Testing period scheduled for November 13 to 24, 2017

Communication: MIS Refresh Project Update - August 24, 2017

Presentation: MIS Refresh Project | Meeting Minutes - October 6, 2015

Communication: MIS Refresh - Request for Feedback – October 8, 2015

Stakeholder Feedback: Ontario Power Generation, TransCanada Energy Ltd.

IESO Response to Stakeholder Feedback

Expanding Participation in Operating Reserve - November 10, 2017

At a webinar, Expanding Participation in Operating Reserve (OR), the IESO engaged in a dialogue with stakeholders to review the current OR requirements and registration criteria for providing reserve to the Ontario energy market, as well as a discussed the potential to expand participation in Operating Reserve to resources types that are not currently participating.

Presentation

IESO Settlement System Replacement Project

The IESO is embarking on a multi-year project that, with direct stakeholder input and involvement, will upgrade the IESO Settlement System. To prepare stakeholders for the work, the IESO held a series of webinars with groups of market participants to discuss the details of the project. The Settlement System Replacement Project is currently in a visioning phase which will lead to a formal IESO engagement open to all interested stakeholders in mid-2018. To ensure that stakeholder feedback is included in the entire process, from visioning to implementation of a new system, feedback is encouraged by October 31 and will continue to be requested throughout the engagement process.

If you are interested in providing feedback on this initiative, please direct it to the IESO at engagement@ieso.ca.

To help inform your feedback by providing background on the initiative, please find below a copy of the presentation used during the Settlement System Replacement Project webinars which also include questions that are intended to inform your feedback.

Presentation

Control Action Operating Reserve (CAOR) Phase I - October 13, 2017

The CAOR Phase I is one stream of the Expanding OR Initiatives project that was outlined during the October 3rd public webinar.

The objective of CAOR Phase I was to review the reallocation of CAOR offer quantities to better represent the capabilities of the two control actions in the 10 and 30 minute OR markets respectively.

Presentation

Introduction of Operating Reserve Initiatives - October 3, 2017

The IESO initiated a series of public information sessions pertaining to the Operating Reserve (OR) market with some streams possibly leading to formal IESO Engagements in the future. The OR streams that were introduced during the October 3rd webinar were as follows:

Enabling System Flexibility (Webinar: October 29 – already an existing Engagement within Market Renewal)
Control Action Operating Reserve, Phase I (Webinar: October 13)
Introduction to Expanding Participation in OR (Webinar: November 10)
CAOR, Phase II (Date in 2018, TBD)

The objective of these various initiatives was to review the expanding participation in OR to additional resource types as well as explore changes to the Control Action Operating Reserve (CAOR) mechanism.

Presentation

CROW Enhancements to the Outage Management SystemWebcast - August 24, 2017

The CROW Enhancements to the Outage Management System were scheduled to go-live the week of September 11.

In preparation, the IESO offered a one hour training webinar tomarket participants required to report outages in the tool.

Presentation - Recorded Presentation

Solar Eclipse Information Webinar – August 3, 2017

A solar eclipse passed over parts of the continental U.S. and Canada on August 21, 2017. Although Ontario only saw a partial eclipse, IESO’s Operations group planned for any potential impacts this might have on the electricity grid. All interested stakeholders were invited to participate in an information webinar to learn how the IESO forecasted the conditions and planned for the potential actions that might be required by the IESO to maintain reliability.

Presentation

Seasonal Readiness Program Webinar - June 6, 2017

The IESO may exercise the Seasonal Readiness Program in preparation for peak demand seasons or as deemed necessary for reliability. The IESO is looking to expand the program starting in September 2017 to further ensure unit readiness during all periods of the year. A public information session was held by to detail the changes.

More information on the Seasonal Readiness Program is available in section 7.3 of Market Manual 7.1.

Regulation Services Overview Webinar - April 25, 2017

The IESO presented an overview on regulation services to provide interested market participants and sector stakeholders with background information on how providers of regulation services interact with the IESO market.

Regulation services act to match the total system generation to total system load and help correct variations in power system frequency. The IESO is planning to expand its capability to schedule regulation by increasing the amount of regulation usually scheduled from 2017-2019. More information is available on the Ancillary Services Market webpage.

Recorded Presentation - Presentation Slide Deck

Interchange Enhancements

A number of public meetings were held regarding proposed changes aimed at improving the efficiency of the interchange scheduling process. See Interchange Enhancements for posted materials and upcoming meetings.

Market Renewal Education Workshops

The IESO hosted five education workshops to help stakeholders, market participants and the broader sector better understand the design elements of the market renewal project.

The half-day workshops covered how market design components work with a focus on how they are used in other jurisdictions. The first workshop provides a general overview, and the subsequent four provide more detail and context into the elements.

The workshop schedule:

Market Design Overview, January 25, 2017, 9am-12pm - Recorded Presentation
Single Schedule, February 8, 2017, 9am-12pm - Recorded Presentation
Capacity Market, February 15, 2017, 9am-12pm - Recorded Presentation
Day-Ahead Market, February 22, 2017, 9am-12pm - Recorded Presentation
Real-Time Unit Commitment, February 22, 2017, 1pm-4pm - Recorded Presentation

To register for one or all of these workshops, please register at engagement@ieso.ca.

Enhanced Outage Management System – March 22, 2017

The IESO held a webinar to provide information on planned enhancements to the Outage Management System to address feedback from market participants.

Presentation

Grid-LDC Interoperability Framework Webinar– November 25, 2016

The IESO hosted an information webinar to discuss the development of a grid-LDC interoperability framework. The objective of the framework was to identify opportunities to enhance the reliability and efficiency of Ontario’s electricity grid through the coordination of IESO and LDC-controlled resources.

Through a Grid-LDC Coordination partnership with PowerStream, the IESO identified existing real-time IESO market and system information that may be useful to LDCs in managing their day-to-day operations as well as a number of short and long-term collaboration opportunities for the IESO and LDC’s. The IESO presented these early learnings during the webinar and provided an opportunity for input on the draft framework including identifying any barriers or other opportunities that might not have been contemplated.

Presentation | Draft Grid-LDC Interoperability Framework | Feedback and IESO Response | Grid-LDC Interoperability Update

Proposed changes to Peak Demand Hours and the Adequacy Report Webinar – November 25, 2016

The IESO presented the changes to be made to the Peak Demand Hours and the Adequacy Reports and invited feedback.

Proposed change to curtail wheel-through transactions as a control action Webinar – April 28, 2016

The IESO is proposing changes to Market Manual 7.2: Near-Term Assessments and Reports. The proposed change would add a new condition in section 1.3.4: IESO Control Actions (Nuclear Manoeuvres Forecasted or Occurring) to allow the IESO to curtail wheel-through transactions if a nuclear shutdown is scheduled in future hours concurrent with wheel-through transactions.

Curtailing wheel-through transactions to prevent a nuclear shutdown may be the appropriate market response during this circumstance given:

The IESO’s scheduling tool does not account for all of the implications of a nuclear shutdown for future hours – including the fact that a nuclear unit can take up to 72 hours to re-start after a shutdown; and
The fact that the next set of economic resources after the nuclear shutdown are likely to have limited flexibility to be dispatched in this timeframe.

The IESO hosted a stakeholder webinar on April 28 at 10:00 am to discuss the proposal in more detail, answer questions and outline next steps.

Presentation | IMDC - Curtailment of Wheel-Through Transactions to Prevent a Nuclear Shutdown: Update and Next Steps| Q&A Document|
May 20, 2016 Update - Wheel Through Curtailments as a Control Action | IESO Response to Feedback

Market Information System Refresh - October 6, 2015

The engine behind Ontario's electricity market is scheduled to be refreshed with a new IT solution. The Market Information System contains the tools and processes that optimize the dispatch of Ontario's electricity system. The IESO hosted an information webinar on October 6 to discuss the project objectives, scope and timeline and potential opportunities to test the new solution. Implementation is currently scheduled for November 2017.

Presentation: MIS Refresh Project | Meeting Minutes
Communication: MIS Refresh - Request for Feedback
Stakeholder Feedback: Ontario Power Generation, TransCanada Energy Ltd.
IESO Response to Stakeholder Feedback

Past Market Operations Awareness Sessions

Market Operations Spring 2019 Awareness session

The IESO hosted a Market Operations Spring 2019 Awareness session on June 10th, 2019. This was the tenth operations awareness session in a series intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The session’s theme was “Impacts of Extreme Events”, with a focus on the near-term planning and operating timeframes.

Agenda | Presentation

Market Operations Spring 2018 Awareness Session

The IESO hosted a Market Operations Spring 2018 Awareness session on June 20, 2018. This was the eight operations awareness session intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The session’s theme was “integration”, with a focus on the near-term planning and operating timeframes.

Presentation

Market Operations Fall 2017 Awareness Session - November 14, 2017

The IESO held a Market Operations Fall 2017 Awareness session on November 14. This is the seventh operations awareness session in a series intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The session focused on innovation in the marketplace.

Agenda | Presentation

Market Operations Spring 2017 Awareness Session - May 3, 2017

The IESO hosted the Market Operations Spring 2017 Awareness session. this was the sixth operations awareness session in a series intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The session focused on the development of the Operating Plan.

Agenda | Presentation

Spring 2016 Market Operations Awareness Session – May 5, 2016

The IESO held its fifth Market Operations Spring Awareness session on May 5, 2016. The objective of the session was to increase transparency of IESO market operations, with a focus on the IESO's assessment of future system operability needs and review NERC's long-term reliability assessment.

Agenda | Presentation

Fall 2015 Market Operations Awareness Session – December 2, 2015

The IESO Market Operations Fall 2015 Awareness session was held on December 2. It is the fourth operations awareness session in a series intended to increase transparency of IESO market operations. The theme of this session is variable generation. The session provided information on how the IESO coordinates with market participants to enhance reliability, from connection, performance validation, visibility and forecasts.

This meeting will be of particular interest to people that manage, plan and operate facilities in the electricity system; however, participation was open to all interested.

Agenda | Presentation

2015 Summer Outlook – June 3, 2015

The IESO provided an operational overview of the most recent winter period and what is expected for summer 2015. There were also presentations on Demand Response progress and information specific to participants in the Industrial Conservation Initiative including a new eligibility requirement.

Presentations: Overview | Demand Response | Industrial Conservation Initiative

Spring 2015 Market Operations Awareness Session – May 5, 2015

The IESO discussed its coordination efforts with market participants and neighbouring jurisdictions to enhance reliability − from long term planning to real-time operations.

2015 Winter Outlook - December 10 and 15, 2014

The IESO provided a 2014 operational overview and what is expected for winter 2015. There were also presentations on Demand Response progress and information specific to participants in the Industrial Conservation Initiative. For more information on the Industrial Conservation Initiative, see Global Adjustment Class A.

Presentations: Overview | Demand Response | Industrial Conservation Initiative

Gas-Electric Coordination – November 5, 2014

At this session, the IESO provided information on gas-electric coordination, the 2015 Spring outage plan, a review of summer 2014 operations and a preview of 2014-15 winter operations.

Presentations: Spring 2015 Outage Planning | IESO Gas-Electric Coordination | IESO External Gas-Electric Activities

2014 Summer Operations – April 9, 2014

This meeting featured presentations on the management of surplus baseload generation, the 18-Month Outlook methodology and a preview of 2014 summer operations.

Agenda | Presentations: 18-Month Outlook Reliability Assessment Methodology | 2014 Summer Operations |Surplus Baseload Generation | System Operations – Managing Minimum Generation Conditions

Overview