Just Energy Group Reports Files Petition With Texas Public Utility Commission For Relief From ERCOT Settlements Related To Texas Extreme Weather Event

Author: Benzinga Newsdesk | March 03, 2021 11:45am

Just Energy Group Inc. (“Just Energy” or the “Company”) (TSX:JE, NYSE:JE), a retail energy provider specializing in electricity and natural gas commodities and bringing energy efficient solutions and renewable energy options to customers and carbon offsets, announced today that it has filed a petition with the Public Utility Commission (the “Commission”) requesting an order that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (“ERCOT”) deviate from the deadlines and timing in its Protocols and Market Guides related to settlements, collateral obligations, and invoice payments and suspend the execution or issuance of invoices or settlements for intervals during the dates of February 14, 2021 through February 19, 2021, until issues related to the catastrophic winter event of February 2021 raised by executive and legislative branches of the Texas authorities are investigated, addressed, and resolved. Alternatively, Just Energy requested that the Commission grant a waiver of certain ERCOT Protocols to allow Just Energy to delay payment of certain invoices related to the Weather Event (as defined below) while exercising its rights under the ERCOT Protocols to dispute the invoiced payment amounts.

As previously announced by the Company, the extreme cold weather experienced in the State of Texas commencing on or about February 13, 2021 continuing through February 19, 2021 (the “Weather Event”) resulted in the Company having to balance its power supply through ERCOT at artificially mandated high electricity prices and significantly increased ancillary service costs. Just Energy has initiated the dispute process with ERCOT regarding certain charges being invoiced, including the application of the $9,000/ MWh System Wide Offer Cap to any time period after the ERCOT grid ceased shedding load at 1:05 a.m. on February 18, 2021, as applying the System Wide Offer Cap after that time contravened the Commission’s February 15th and February 16th orders. In addition, as the recent comments of the Independent Market Monitor of ERCOT have made clear, the Company has concerns, as do other market participants, regarding how ancillary services charges were calculated and assessed during the Weather Event and is disputing certain ancillary services charges. The requested order and waiver do not require that the Commission make a determination as to whether Just Energy should be relieved of its payment obligations, as Just Energy intends to address these disputes with ERCOT through the dispute resolution procedures set out in the ERCOT Nodal Protocols.   

Just Energy’s petition can be located at https://www.puc.texas.gov/.

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