Category: FERC

Changes to EQR Validations

Changes to EQR Validations

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has updated their Electric Quarterly Reporting (EQR) software to Release 3.6, which has affected a few validations.

FERC EQR Release 3.6

  • 12/2/2019 – FERC posted updated EQR Release Notes identifying changes made in Release 3.6.
  • 12/31/2019 – FERC posted updated validation rules documentation (PDF, Excel).

Summary of Changes

  • A few existing validation warnings no longer apply for reporting periods of Q4 2019 and later
    • F.25.19 – Trade Date (Field 53) should not be empty or null if the transaction was entered into on or after 7/1/2013.
    • F.25.20 – Standardized Price (Field 68) should not be empty or null for Energy, Booked Out Power, or Capacity products if the transaction was entered into on or after 7/1/2013.
    • F.25.21 – Type of Rate (Field 55) should not be empty or null if the transaction was entered into on or after 7/1/2013.
    • F.25.24 – Standardized Quantity (Field 67) should not be empty or null for Energy, Booked Out power, or Capacity products if the transaction was entered into on, or after 7/1/2013.
  • A few new validation errors were added that apply for reporting periods Q4 2019 and later
    • F.30.42 – Trade Date (Data Dictionary Field No. 53) is required WHEN Contract Execution Date (Data Dictionary Field No. 21) is on or after 7/1/2013. Please review transactions with Transaction Unique IDs […list…]
    • F.30.43 – Transaction Type of Rate (Data Dictionary Field 55) is required when Contract Execution Date (Data Dictionary Field 21) is on or after 7/1/2013. Please review transactions with Transaction Unique IDs […list…]
    • F.30.44 – For product names ENERGY, CAPACITY, and BOOKED OUT POWER only. Standardized Price (Data Dictionary Field No. 68) is required when Contract Execution Date (Data Dictionary Field 21) is on or after 7/1/2013. Please review transactions with Transaction Unique IDs […list…]
    • F.30.45 – For product names ENERGY, CAPACITY, and BOOKED OUT POWER only. Standardized Quantity (Data Dictionary Field No. 67) is required when Contract Execution Date (Data Dictionary Field 21) is on or after 7/1/2013. Please review transactions with Transaction Unique IDs […list…]
    • F.30.48 – Transaction Point of Delivery Specific Location (PODSL) (Data Dictionary Field No. 58) is required. Please review transactions with Transaction Unique IDs […list…]
Figure 1: Changes highlighted in FERC Validations document

Next Steps for PowerShark EQR

We are working on a software update that will accommodate these changes to EQR validations as well as other enhancements to make PowerShark EQR faster and easier to use. Stay tuned for more info.

Do you have questions or need help with PowerShark EQR, contact Support.

If you haven’t seen PowerShark EQR in action or it’s been a while since you last saw a demo, then maybe it’s time you took another look at our product and see what many are saying is the most complete and affordable EQR solution available!  Please contact Bob VanValkenburg at sales@powersharkeqr.com or call 847-252-7286 to schedule a demo or free trial of PowerShark EQR today!

FERC Posts One New Balancing Authority

On April 1, 2019, FERC posted an update to the following EQR resources:

What has changed?

Starting with Q1 2019, HMPL is a new, valid balancing authority.

How does this affect me?

When you prepare an EQR, the data you provide in Data Dictionary fields 39, 41, and 57 are verified against a set of predefined, valid values. EQRs prepared for Q1 2019 and later may use Balancing Authority value HMPL.

How do we update PowerShark EQR?

Use the PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility (or LRU) to stay current with FERC data values. If you are already running the LRU on a scheduled basis, your database has been updated and there is nothing more to do. You can learn more about the LRU in our October 2017 announcement.

Questions?

If you have questions or run into any issues downloading or running the LRU, PowerShark EQR Support is ready to assist.

New Utility to Keep PowerShark EQR Databases Current

Background

FERC recently posted updates to PORBA and PODBA values, which is something that happens about twice per year. To keep PowerShark EQR in lockstep with FERC, historically, we have released a new Database Installer. For our Enterprise customers (whose PowerShark EQR databases are on-premise), folks in IT have had to download and run the new installer to update the databases. For our Hosted customers, we have provided this service.

Today we are announcing a new utility that keeps PowerShark EQR databases in sync with FERC’s lookup values.

PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility

The PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility is a tool for IT folks to ensure that PowerShark EQR databases always have the latest lookup values.

What Does It Do?

The PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility sends a secure request to powersharkeqr.com asking for the latest lookup values.  It compares these to the ones present in the PowerShark EQR database.  If the lookup values in the database are out-of-date, it updates the database with the latest values.

How Do We Run It?

The PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility is a console application that runs in a Windows Command Prompt by your IT group.  For example, running the command below would ensure the lookup values in database PowerSharkEQR-DB on server MyServer are current:

pseqrlr.exe --server=MyServer --database=PowerSharkEQR-DB

How Does It Keep Our Database Current?

The real value of the PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility comes from running it as a scheduled task.  Schedule it to run weekly and the lookup values in your PowerShark EQR database will never be more than 7 days out of date.

Where Can We Get It?

The PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility is available for download on the PowerShark EQR website at https://powersharkeqr.com/downloads, where you will also find a detailed usage guide.

 

If you would like to know more about the new PowerShark EQR Lookup Refresh Utility or if you have any other questions, please contact PowerShark EQR Support.

FERC Posts Updates to PORBA, PODBA Values

As of September 25, 2017, FERC has posted updates to the following EQR resources:

What has changed?

Q2 2017

  • Starting with Q2 2017, BCHA is no longer a valid balancing authority.

Q3 2017

  • Starting with Q3 2017, AVRN and NLSO are new, valid balancing authorities.

How does this affect me?

When you prepare an EQR, the data you provide in Data Dictionary fields 39, 41, and 57 are verified against a set of predefined, valid values.  EQRs prepared for Q2 2017 and later must not use the Balancing Authority value BCHA.  EQRs prepared for Q3 2017 and later may use Balancing Authority values AVRN and NLSO.

Will PowerShark EQR be updated?

We will soon release a new utility to greatly simplify the acquisition of balancing authority changes and the update of your PowerShark EQR databases.  We will post to this blog when the utility is available.

In the meantime, if you have questions, please contact PowerShark EQR Support.