Board Report
RMGRR Number / 126 / RMGRR Title / Additional ERCOT Validations for Customer Billing Contact Information FileTimeline / Normal / Action / Approved
Date of Decision / April 14, 2015
Effective Date / Upon system implementation.
Priority and Rank Assigned / Priority – 2015; Rank – 1290
Retail Market Guide Sections Requiring Revision / 7.11.3.2, Monthly Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information
7.11.3.3, Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information During a Mass Transition Event
9, Appendix F6, Customer Billing Contact Information
Other Binding Documents Requiring Revision or Related Revision Requests / None.
Revision Description / This Retail Market Guide Revision Request (RMGRR) requires ERCOT to validate that the submitting Competitive Retailer’s (CR’s) Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number (DUNS #) and the Electric Service Identifiers (ESI IDs) provided in the Customer Billing Contact Information file are valid in the ERCOT registration system.
Reason for Revision / Addresses current operational issues.
Meets Strategic goals (tied to the ERCOT Strategic Plan or directed by the ERCOT Board).
Market efficiencies or enhancements
Administrative
Regulatory requirements
Other: (explain)
(please select all that apply)
Procedural History / Ø On 10/10/14, RMGRR126 was posted.
Ø On 10/28/14, RMS considered RMGRR126.
Ø On 11/21/14, an Impact Analysis was posted.
Ø On 12/2/14, RMS considered the 10/28/14 RMS Report and Impact Analysis for RMGRR126.
Ø On 1/26/15, Texas Standard Electronic Transaction (Texas SET) Working Group comments were posted.
Ø On 2/3/15, RMS considered the 12/2/14 RMS Report and Impact Analysis for RMGRR126.
Ø On 2/25/15, a revised Impact Analysis was posted.
Ø On 2/25/15, ERCOT comments were posted.
Ø On 3/3/15, RMS considered the 2/3/15 RMS Report and the revised Impact Analysis for RMGRR126.
Ø On 3/13/15, PRS comments were posted.
Ø On 3/26/15, TAC considered RMGRR126.
Ø On 4/14/15, the ERCOT Board considered RMGRR126.
RMS Decision / On 10/28/14, RMS unanimously voted to recommend approval of RMGRR126 as submitted. The Independent Generator Market Segments was not present for the vote.
On 12/2/14, RMS unanimously voted to table RMGRR126. The Independent Generator Market Segment was not present for the vote.
On 2/3/15, RMS unanimously voted to endorse the 12/2/14 RMS Report as amended by the 1/26/15 Texas SET Working Group comments and to request ERCOT bring a revised Impact Analysis back to RMS for review. All Market Segment were present for the vote.
On 3/3/15, RMS unanimously voted to endorse and forward to TAC the 2/3/15 RMS Report and revised Impact Analysis for RMGRR126 with a recommended priority of 2015 and rank of 1290. All Market Segments were present for the vote.
Summary of RMS Discussion / On 10/28/14, there was discussion regarding possible methods to validate that the CR DUNS and ESI IDs contained in the Customer Billing Contact Information file are valid in the ERCOT registration system.
On 12/2/14, RMGRR126 was tabled to allow ERCOT to reevaluate the Impact Analysis for potential implementation options.
On 2/3/15, the 1/26/15 Texas SET Working Group comments were reviewed. There was discussion regarding validation concerns and response files.
On 3/3/15, the 2/25/15 ERCOT comments, and a priority and rank for RMGRR126 were reviewed.
TAC Decision / On 3/26/15, TAC unanimously voted to recommend approval of RMGRR126 as recommended by RMS in the 3/3/15 RMS Report. All Market Segments were present for the vote.
Summary of TAC Discussion / On 3/26/15, there was no discussion.
ERCOT Opinion / ERCOT supports approval of RMGRR126 to reduce the risk of invalid ESI ID information in the Customer Billing Contact Information file.
Board Decision / On 4/14/15, the ERCOT Board approved RMGRR126 as recommended by TAC in the 3/26/15 TAC Report.
Business Case
Qualitative Benefits / · Reduces potential invalid data in Customer Billing Contact Information file.
· Reduces delays during a Mass Transition event.
Quantitative Benefits
Impact to Market Segments
Other
Sponsor
Name / Diana Rehfeldt on behalf of the Texas SET Working Group
E-mail Address /
Company / Texas-New Mexico Power
Phone Number / 800-738-5579 Ext 5204
Cell Number / 832-221-9905
Market Segment / Not applicable.
Market Rules Staff Contact
Name / Lindsay Butterfield
E-Mail Address /
Phone Number / 512-248-6521
Comments Received
Comment Author / Comment Summary
Texas SET WG 012615 / Proposed revisions to allow for ERCOT to send two response files to the CR.
ERCOT 022515 / Proposed validating the ESI ID for the Customer Billing Contact Information file on a manual and biannual basis to lower the cost impact of RMGRR126.
PRS 031315 / Endorsed the RMS recommended priority of 2015 and rank of 1290 for RMGRR126.
Proposed Guide Language Revision
7.11.3.2 Monthly Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information
(1) All CRs shall submit monthly, timely and complete Customer Billing Contact Information Files. Files shall be created and submitted to ERCOT between the 1st and the 15th of each month. The recommended file naming convention is <DUNS<Reportname<datetime<counter>.csv in addition to any application file naming conventions used in transmitting the file. For example, “999999999MTCRCustomerInformation20070427113001999.csv” where:
DUNS # / CR DUNS # / Numeric (9 or 13)Reportname / “MTCRCustomerInformation” / Alphanumeric (23)
datetime / File transmission date/time stamp / Datetime format = ccyymmddhhmmss
counter / Counter with no specified value / Numeric (3)
.csv / Value of .csv mandatory in file name
(2) At a minimum the filename must contain .csv after decryption otherwise the file will be rejected by ERCOT. Files will be sent with a NAESB input-format of “FF.” Any file extension other than .csv, such as .xml or .x12 will fail at ERCOT.
(3) CRs will not split their Customer billing contact information for a single DUNS # into multiple files. An additional file for the same DUNS # will overwrite the previously sent file, resulting in only partial information being saved. For any DUNS #s that do not have active ESI IDs, the CR will not be required to submit a file for Customer billing contact information.
(4) ERCOT will validate that all mandatory data elements are present and meet formatting requirements.
(a) ERCOT will verify that the ESI IDs are valid in the ERCOT registration system.
(b) ERCOT will verify that the CR DUNS # is valid in the ERCOT’s registration system.
(5) ERCOT will send atwo response files to the submitting CR via NAESB.
(a) File 2A - MTCRCustomerInformationERCOTResponse.csv is an acknowledgement sent by ERCOT to the CR with information as to the status of the data.
(i) ERCOT will inform the submitting CR of any data fields that did not meet formatting requirements.
(ii) ERCOT will inform the submitting CR or of any required data fields that were not provided.
(b) File 2B – MTCRDataValidationERCOTResponse.csv is a response to business level validation
(i) ERCOT will inform the CR of any ESI IDs that are not valid in the ERCOT registration system.
See Section 9, Appendices, Appendix F6, Customer Billing Contact Information, for information on the formats for transmittal of Customer billing contact information and ERCOT response.
7.11.3.3 Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information During a Mass Transition Event
(1) Upon the initiation of a Mass Transition event, ERCOT will request that the exiting CR provide Customer billing contact information for all ESI IDs which the exiting CR serves. CRs shall submit timely and complete files, as required by ERCOT in a Mass Transition event. All information must be sent in a pipe delimited Comma Separated Values (CSV) file format via NAESB and must contain all required Customer billing contact information.
(2) ERCOT will validate that all mandatory data elements are present and meet formatting requirements as described in paragraph (4) of Section 7.11.3.2, Monthly Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information. ERCOT will also validate that information is provided for all ESI IDs involved in the Mass Transition and will contact the exiting CR with any discrepancies. All ERCOT response files will be transmitted back to the exiting CR via NAESB. See Section 9, Appendices, Appendix F6, Customer Billing Contact Information, for information on the formats for transmittal of Customer billing contact information and ERCOT responses.
(3) The submission of Customer billing contact information described in this Section 7.11.3.3 is not applicable to an Acquisition Transfer.
Appendix F6
Customer Billing Contact Information
Reference: Sections 7.11.3.1, Flight Testing Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information, 7.11.3.2, Monthly Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information, 7.11.3.3, Submission of Customer Billing Contact Information During Mass Transition Event, and 7.11.3.3.1.2, Provision of Data to the Transmission and/or Distribution Service Providers
There are four five (4) files within this process.
(1) File 1 – MTCRCustomerInformation.csv – This file is sent by the Competitive Retailer (CR) to populate the file system at ERCOT, or in the event of an Acquisition Transfer, the Losing CR sends to the Gaining CR as described in paragraph (2)(f) of Section 7.11.2.4.1, Losing Competitive Retailer Responsibilities in an Acquisition Transfer event the Losing CR.
(2) File 2A – MTCRCustomerInformationERCOTResponse.csv – This file is an acknowledgement sent by ERCOT to the CR with information as to the status of the data.
(3) File 2B – MTCRDataValidationERCOTResponse.csv – This file is sent by ERCOT to the CR in response to business level validation.
(34) File 3 – MTERCOT2CRCustomerInformation.csv – This file is sent by ERCOT to the Gaining CR upon a Mass Transition event.
(45) File 4 – MTERCOT2TDSPCustomerInformation.csv – This file is sent by ERCOT to the appropriate Transmission and/or Distribution Service Providers (TDSP(s)) upon a Mass Transition event.
File 1 and 3 use the same format with one additional record for each Electric Service Identifier (ESI ID) without Customer information.
All information must be sent in a pipe delimited Comma Separated Values (CSV) file format via North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) and must contain all required Customer billing contact information. All records sent in the file must be terminated by a Carriage Return Line Feed (CRLF).
File 1 – Record Layout for the MTCRCustomerInformation.csv file (CR to ERCOT or Losing CR to Gaining CR in an Acquisition Transfer event)
Header record – Use this template to identify the data provided, a unique tracking number and the sender or receiver.
Data Element / Texas SET Mandatory / Optional / Comments / Format /Record Type / Mandatory / Record Tag “HDR.” / Alpha numeric (3)
Report Name / Mandatory / Mutually defined report definition. Hard Code “MTCRCustomerInformation.” / Alpha numeric (80)
Report ID / Mandatory / The unique report number designated by the Sender to be used in the MTCRCustomerInformationERCOTResponse. / Alpha numeric
CR Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) Number / Mandatory / Retail Electric Provider (REP) of record DUNS Number. This is the DUNS Number for the CR submitting Customer information file or used as the receiver when ERCOT is sending the Customer information during a Mass Transition event. / Numeric (9 or 13)
Detail record - The DET record contains the Customer contact information sent by the CR and represents the positively validated data sent by ERCOT to the Gaining CR upon a Mass Transition event.
Data Element / Texas SET Mandatory / Optional / Comments / Format /Record Type / Mandatory / Record Tag “DET.” / Alpha numeric (3)
Record Number / Mandatory / The unique sequential record number starting with “1.” / Numeric (8)
CR DUNS Number / Mandatory / REP of record DUNS Number. This is the DUNS Number for the CR submitting information during either file submission or the exiting CR in a Mass Transition event. / Numeric (9 or 13)
ESI ID Number / Mandatory / The basic identifier assigned to each Service Delivery Point (SDP) in the ERCOT registration and Settlement systems. / Alpha numeric (36)
Customer Account Number / Optional / Recommended to help with communication.. / Alpha numeric (80)
Customer First Name / Conditional / Must be provided (along with Customer last name) if Customer Company Name is not provided. / Alpha numeric (30)
Customer Last Name / Conditional / Must be provided (along with Customer First Name) if Customer Company Name is not provided. / Alpha numeric (30)
Customer Company Name / Conditional / Must be provided if Customer First Name and Customer Last Name are not provided. / Alpha numeric (60)
Customer Company Contact Name / Optional / Used in conjunction with Company Name if the company has designated a specific contact. / Alpha numeric (60)
Billing Care Of Name / Optional / Alpha numeric (60)
Billing Address Line 1 / Mandatory / If billing address is the same as the Service Address, populate with Service Address. / Alpha numeric (55)
Billing Address Line 2 / Optional / Use for address overflow. If billing address is not different than the Service Address, populate with Service Address. / Alpha numeric (55)
Billing City / Mandatory / If billing address is the same as the Service Address, populate with Service Address. / Alpha numeric (30)
Billing State / Mandatory / If billing address is the same as the Service Address, populate with Service Address. / Alpha numeric (2)
Billing Postal Code / Mandatory / If billing address is the same as the Service Address, populate with Service Address. Note that punctuation (spaces, dashes, etc.) must be excluded. Postal codes will only contain uppercase letters (A to Z) and digits (0 to 9). / Alpha numeric (15)
Billing Country Code / Optional / Required when billing address is outside the United States, use valid X-12 Country Code. / Alpha numeric (3)
Primary Phone Number / Mandatory / Needed for Gaining CR to contact Customers. Punctuation (dashes, symbols etc.) must be excluded. / Alpha numeric (10)
Primary Phone Number Extension / Optional / Needed for Gaining CR to contact Customers. Punctuation (dashes, symbols etc.) must be excluded. / Alpha numeric (10)
Secondary Phone Number / Optional / Needed for Gaining CR to contact Customers. Punctuation (dashes, symbols etc.) must be excluded. / Alpha numeric (10)
Secondary Phone Number Extension / Optional / Needed for Gaining CR to contact Customers. Punctuation (dashes, symbols etc.) must be excluded. / Alpha numeric (10)
E-mail Address / Optional / Needed for ERCOT to contact Customers. / VarChar (80)
Summary record – This template is used to convey record totals of the number of DET records from the file being sent from the sender or receiver.