Market Renewal Newsletter-November Update
November 19, 2024
November 2024 Updates
The Market Renewal Program (MRP) newsletter provides information related to Market Participant readiness activities in support of the launch of the renewed market on May 1, 2025. The newsletter features information on testing, training and stakeholder engagement activities. Visit the MRP Readiness section of IESO’s website to learn more about our Readiness Program.
Final Alignment of Market Rules and Market Manuals
IESO Board Approves Market Renewal Program Market Rules
The IESO Board of Directors has approved the market rule amendments for the full suite of market rules required to operationalize the Market Renewal Program. This includes market rule amendments MR-00481-R00-R13 - Market Renewal Program (MRP) Final Alignment. The Board’s approval follows the unanimous recommendation made by IESO’s Technical Panel to advance this market rule package and marks the completion of a major milestone in this multi-year effort with the sector to advance towards a renewed electricity market. The rule amendments are effective as of November 11, 2024, facilitating registration activities in advance of the launch of the renewed market on May 1, 2025. The amendment proposals, and the Board’s reasons for adopting the amendments are available on the Proposed Market Rule Amendment webpage.
Market Participant Testing
Posting of the End-to-End Testing Plan
End-to-End Testing is the final phase of Market Participant Testing where Market Participants will have an opportunity to validate their ability to execute key business processes and system interactions that are affected by MRP. The IESO posted the first version of the End-to-End Testing Test Plan on the Market Participant Testing page. This document provides insight into what inputs and conditions will be applied in the IESO’s systems to support the testing of specific scenarios, identifies what systems and workflows will be in scope during this test phase and outlines key dates and other information that Market Participants will need to be aware of to complete their testing activities on time.
Wrap-up of Market Trials
A wrap-up meeting was held on November 6, 2024 to provide an overview of lessons learned and a summary of issues encountered during the Market Trials test phase. The presentation deck and recording of the wrap-up meeting can be found on the Market Participant Testing section of the Market Renewal webpage.
Please note that the last day of Market Trials was on October 23, 2024. Market Participants can continue to access the Sandbox applications for Online IESO, IESO Report Site, Energy Market Interface (EMI)/Market Information Management (MIM), and Dispatch Service but may experience intermittent outages as the IESO prepares its Sandbox applications for End-to-End Testing in January 2025.
Defect Resolution process for submitted defects
The IESO will be closing any issues that have been opened for more than 10 business days and where a response has not been received from the Market Participant. A note will be sent via qTest to participants indicating that the issue is now closed.
If Market Participants wish to re-open a closed record in qTest, they can do so by updating its status to “Re-Opened.” If Market Participants are currently using the Issue Log Template, they can notify the IESO to keep the investigation open by emailing IESO Customer Relations including the defect ID that needs to remain open.
Posting of the updated Format Specifications for Settlement Statement Files and Data Files
The Format Specifications for Settlement Statement Files and Data Files have been updated to address stakeholder feedback and align with ongoing implementation. Changes include the addition of a new data file, and minor modification to the settlement statement for charge types 145,195, 206, 208, 210, 213 215, 217, 1101, 1103, 1104, 1105, 1107, 1109, 1111,1113, 1911, and 1917. The updated Format Specifications for Settlement Statement Files and Data Files can be found on the Settlement Reference Materials page.
MRP Readiness Plan for Market Renewal Launch
Posting of the MRP Readiness Plan for Market Renewal Launch and the Registration Launch and Reference Level Launch Checklist
In preparation for the launch of the renewed market on May 1, 2025, the IESO posted the MRP Readiness Plan for Market Renewal Launch on the Market Participant Readiness page. Also known as the MRP Go-Live Plan, this document provides a comprehensive roadmap for the planned Market Transition, including pre-launch preparation milestones, activities, and actions, as well as the specific cutover steps before, during, and after the Market Renewal Launch window. The IESO also developed a Registration Launch and Reference Level Launch Checklist to identify the actions Market Participants may need to complete prior to the launch of the renewed market.
Stakeholder Engagement
Upcoming MRP Stakeholder Engagement Meetings in November
The IESO will be providing an overview of End-to-End Testing on November 20, 2024 from 2:30-4:00 p.m. Market Participants can register by clicking the link or visiting the Implementation Engagement page.
On November 21, 2024 from 9:00-10:30 a.m. the IESO will be providing an update on the MRP Readiness Plan for Market Renewal Launch. Market Participants can register by clicking the link or visiting the Implementation Engagement page.
Request for Vendors of Record
Request for Vendors of Record for Independent Technical Review consultants
The IESO posted a Request for Vendors of Record (“RVOR”) to Merx.com for additional independent technical review consultants. As part of MRP, Market Participants may request that an independent technical consultant selected through the RVOR process review their reference levels, reference quantities, any component thereof and/or the documentation used to support a requested reference level or reference quantity or any component thereof. This process is called the Independent Review Process.
The RVOR is posted here: https://www.merx.com/solicitations/open-bids/Independent-Technical-Review-Consultants/0000280185?origin=2
All inquiries about the RVOR must be emailed to nathan.king@ieso.ca and cc’d to RFPInfo@ieso.ca or submitted directly through the Merx posting.
Training
Posting of new Training Documents
The IESO released the following training documents:
- Guide to Prices in the Renewed Market – Includes an overview of locational marginal prices, prices for non-dispatchable loads, intertie prices, operating reserve prices, prices for virtual transactions and discusses price setting eligibility.
- Guide to the Renewed Market for Local Distribution Companies – Provides an overview of renewed market changes that are of interest to local distribution companies (LDCs). This includes a description of the main features of the renewed market, plus discussions of the market prices charged to LDCs, updates to the calculation of prudential support obligations, and updates to settlement processes.
Both guides are available on the MRP Training Materials webpage of the IESO website.
Posting of the Quick Take: How to Obtain an MRP Estimate of Prudential Support
A Quick Take titled “How to Obtain an MRP Estimate of Prudential Support” is now posted on the Market Renewal Program - Participant Tool Training page to assist Market Participants on how to calculate their estimated Prudential Support Obligations (PSOs) for the renewed market in Sandbox Online IESO.
Upcoming Events and Key Dates
November 20, 2024:
MRP November Stakeholder Engagement Meeting #1: The IESO will provide an overview of the last phase of Market Participant testing in the Market Renewal Program (MRP), End-to-End Testing.
November 21, 2024:
MRP November Stakeholder Engagement Meeting #2: The IESO will provide an update on the MRP Readiness Plan for Market Renewal Launch