Market Assessment and Compliance Division (MACD) Technical Resources

The following describes the areas of work and reporting relationships in which Qualified Vendor(s) could be engaged. Qualified Vendor(s) will provide subject matter expertise in the Service Category for which they have obtained qualified status. 

It should be noted that in certain instances, the IESO may engage Qualified Vendors for Services across the broader organization where such Services would not be deemed to be in conflict with the Services that the Qualified Vendor is providing, or may provide, to MACD.
Rule Compliance and Market Surveillance unit functions:
 

• Monitoring: the Rule Compliance and Market Surveillance unit, on its own initiative or through referrals from IESO business units, monitors compliance of the IESO and market participants with market rules and reliability standard obligations. Monitoring activities include: audits and inspections (scheduled or otherwise), self-reporting, scheduled reporting, routine checks of information (electronic or otherwise), and evaluation of information of various forms for these purposes.
• Investigations: the Rule Compliance and Market Surveillance unit conducts investigations into possible breaches by the IESO and market participants of the market rules and reliability standard obligations.
• Enforcement: the Rule Compliance and Market Surveillance unit support the VP of MACD in determining breaches and appropriate enforcement actions (financial penalties or other sanctions, settlements or otherwise) for conduct by the IESO and market participants as related to market rules and reliability standard obligations. The unit executes this function via quasi-adjudicative processes.
• Litigation/Dispute: market participants and the IESO may dispute enforcement actions through the dispute resolution process. Market participants can also appeal MACD enforcement actions to the OEB.
• The Technical Feasibility Exception (TFE) Assessor and Maintainer is responsible for reviewing and managing TFE applications to ensure they meet requirements and are supported by appropriate evidence. This includes evaluating applications, reviewing IT security assessments, and preparing assessment reports for MACD. The role also involves working directly with applicants and TFE holders by leading meetings, resolving issues, and supporting the completion of assessments. In addition, the TFE Assessor and Maintainer helps develop and manage efficient internal and external TFE processes, tracks assessment costs and expenses, and provides updates to MACD on the status of applications and processing activities.

Market Assessment Unit (“MAU”) functions:

• Monitoring: The OEB’s Market Surveillance Panel is assisted in its functions by the MAU, a ring-fenced division within the IESO’s MACD. In support of the MSP and for the purpose of reporting observations and outcomes to the MSP, the MAU monitors market outcomes to identify inefficiencies of market design and the IESO’s procurement/operational procedures, errors of calculation engine implementation, as well as market participant behaviour. Monitoring activities include but are not limited to the review of market/operation data and reports, control room log and audio records, market participants/IESO’s submissions to the MSP, recordings and inspections.
• Investigations: The MAU, on behalf of the MSP, conducts investigations into potential misconduct by market participants or the IESO. Investigations may involve search and seizure of materials at market participant facilities, and compelling of testimony. Outcomes of these investigations may be made public by the MSP.

Governance, Performance and Strategy Team functions:

• MACD may require subject matter support to develop, implement, and train on policies and procedures which govern monitoring techniques (e.g. audits, inspections, etc.), investigative techniques (e.g. compelling testimony, searches and seizure), or enforcement activities (adjudicative processes), specific to a Service Category. As directed by MACD, Qualified Vendor(s) will research and develop policy, procedures and user requirements for tools for any of the Service Categories. These activities can also include the development of protocols with counterparts or interfacing organizations, for example, NERC, NPCC, FERC, regulators (OEB, Regie, National Energy Board, Manitoba Government), and IESO business units.

Market Power Mitigation (MPM) Team functions:
The IESO’s Market Power Mitigation (MPM) framework is meant to stop market participants from unfairly driving up electricity prices or gaining extra payments for their own benefit. If the IESO finds that a participant is using market power improperly, it can replace parts of that participant’s market offer with preset reference values or quantities.
As part of this framework, the IESO estimates what a participant would normally offer in a competitive market. These estimates are called reference levels and reference quantities, and they are developed with input from the market participant.

• Financial reference levels estimate a resource’s short-run operating costs, including:
  • startup costs,
  • hourly operating costs,
  • costs to produce additional energy, and
  • costs to provide standby operating reserve.
• Non-financial reference levels reflect a resource’s normal technical and operational capabilities under competitive market conditions.
• Reference quantities estimate how much electricity or operating reserve a resource can realistically supply, considering factors like equipment outages or reduced capability. These quantities help ensure participants do not withhold available capacity from the market.

Bidding and Documents are available on http://www.merx.com. Fees may apply; See https://www.merx.com/public/pricing for more information.