April 12, 2005 Report to RMS

SCR742 Automated Retail Transaction Verification Develop tools that support the market in testing retail transactions in an automated fashion. Requirements broken into 3 functional groups  Transaction Validation  File Communication Requirements  Transaction Samples

Benefits Improve the quality of transactions during the market test flight. Improve the quality of the data in the ERCOT marketplace during testing Reduce the effort required to complete certification testing for all MP’s – decrease costs associated with certification testing Improve the ‘time-to-market’ for new REPs or REPs entering new TDSP territories

Transaction Validations Allows market participants to validate the accuracy of their transactions to X12 and TX Set Guidelines Error Message will inform tester of problem with the transaction

File Communication Requirements Allows Market Participants to upload and download test files via  NAESB URL  HTTPS  Web Screen

Transaction Samples Inventory (library) of transaction samples available for MP’s to download and use to test internal systems Examples of all EDI transactions would be available for download Ability to support 2 TX Set Versions of transaction samples (when a Version upgrade is planned)

ERCOT Comments on SCR742 ERCOT analyzed errors from Flight 0105 and determined that 44.1% of errors could have been avoided if Automated Testing system was available for MP’s From April 2003 thru March 2004 there were 2432 files tested against the ETOD system

TDSP Comments on SCR742 AEP  Add 4 th item to functional group ETOD Simulated TDSP Certification Testing  Automated tool creates simulated TDSP transactions for participating TDSPs, in lieu of TDSPs generating E2E scripts  Tool should automatically create a proper response transaction to the CR’s initiating transaction, including if possible, a tie back to the ISA, GS, and ST control numbers  TDSPs should have the choice of using this tool or E2E testing during non-TX SET version release flight testing

TDSP Comments on SCR742 AEP  Documented savings of 50% labor hours on non version Release Flights when using the previous testing tool - ETOD End to End testing hours ETOD Testing- 480 Hours

TDSP Comments on SCR742 TNMP  Agrees with AEP’s comments on the ETOD Simulated TDSP Certification Testing  Documented savings of 77% labor hours on non version Release Flights when using the previous testing tool - ETOD End to End testing- 700 hours ETOD Testing- 160 Hours

TDSP Comments on SCR742 TXU ED & Centerpoint  Will not use ETOD Simulated TDSP Certification Testing but continue to do end to end testing for each Flight  All TDSP’s agree that an automated testing tool could not be used for billing, payment and point to point testing  All TDSP’s suggest ERCOT being added to the transaction validation requirements for new TX Set Version Release Testing

Questions