1. Cold Snap Task Force Update
Stephen J. Rourke
ISO-New England
May 21, 2004

2. New England Cold Temperature History January saw the sixth coldest temperatures in 45 years.
2004
- 10
- 5 5 10 15 20
1968
1984
1976
1971
1981
1982
1994
1961
1965
1988
1974
2003
1983
1970
1997
1996
1977
1986
1963
1973
1999
2000
1972
1979
1966
1962
1987
1991
1969
1989
1964
1992
1985
1967
1998
1975
1960
1980
1978
1995
1993
2001
1990
2002
Temperature (F)

3. Winter Cold Snap Summary
Generation Outages in MWs
Jan. 14
Jan. 15
Jan 16
Peak Demand
22,450
22,817
21,885
Unit Types OOS
Gas
7,238
6,820
4,941
Coal
430
344
166
Nuclear 12 16
Oil
842
746
817
Hydro
262
311
277
Other
143
130
111
MWs OOS
8,927
8,363
6,328
Surplus/(Deficit)
(108)
717
2,184

4. ISO Actions to Protect New England
Ordered offline generation and transmission back in service
Requested voluntary conservation from public
Coordinated with North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC)
Arranged for additional imports from adjacent Control Areas
Issued alert of impending capacity deficiency followed by emergency procedures to balance supply and demand
Requested manning of substations as precautionary measure, based on lessons learned from August 14th blackout
Kept regulators and public informed of system conditions

5. Cold Snap Report Key Findings
Electricity and gas markets performed reasonably well
Availability of gas for non-firm generation customers affected gas unit availability:
Dual-fuel units had much better availability than gas-only units
No evidence of anti-competitive behavior
No evidence that economic outages approved by ISO-NE exacerbated reliability issues or resulted in increased electricity clearing prices
Supply offers for gas-fired units were affected by timing inflexibility of electric market
Electricity markets provided only weak incentives for units, especially gas units, to be available during the Cold Snap

6. Cold Snap Task Force Formed at March 19, 2004 FDWG-EGWI meeting
Three meetings held to date:
April 5
April 15
April 29
Broad Stakeholder Representation
ISO-NE
NEPOOL Members
Natural Gas Industry
Various NE State Agencies

7. Cold Snap Task Force
Several straw proposals presented to begin addressing the market timeline issues and associated system reliability concerns
Cold Snap Working Group formed to deal with possible market changes to be implemented for winter 2004/2005
Possible Alternative: Move up the “Market Process” by 12 (?) hours – Straw Proposal #1

9. Next steps Schedule next working group meeting(s)
Continue development of market timeline straw proposal, including market impacts
Detail all technical impediments to be resolved
Develop trigger mechanisms
Develop communication plan
Prepare for Cold Snap Task Force and NEPOOL Markets Committee in June

10. ISO-NE Priority Items for Winter 2004/2005
Formalize interaction between ISO Operations and Natural Gas pipeline operations
Communication protocols
Sharing of operational information
Notification of major events
Address market timeline issues under “event driven” conditions
Maximize use of existing dual fuel capabilities
Verify existing capabilities
Document facility specific operating issues
Address permit limitations

11. Questions?