Frequently Asked Questions for: Settlement Dispute System Submittal Process California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved
TABLE OF CONTENTS SETTLEMENT DISPUTE SYSTEM... 3 Q1: What is a settlement dispute?... 3 Q2: How do I submit a settlement dispute?... 3 Q3: What is CIDI?... 3 Q4: Who has access to CIDI?... 3 Q5: How do I get a Digital Certificate?... 3 Q6: How do I access CIDI?... 3 Q7: How do I submit a dispute if I cannot access CIDI?... 3 Q8: What do I do if the CIDI system is off-line?... 3 SETTLEMENT DISPUTE SUBMITTAL... 4 Q1: What ISO Tariff and/or BPM sections are relevant to settlement disputes?... 4 Q2: What are the deadlines for submitting disputes?... 4 Q3: What information is needed by the ISO when submitting a dispute?... 4 Q4: What happens after I submit a dispute?... 4 Q5: What are Incremental Changes?... 4 Q6: What is a Placeholder Dispute?... 4 Q7: What is the Settlement Run Number?... 4 Q8: Where do I find the Settlement Run Number?... 5 SETTLEMENT DISPUTE PROCESS... 5 Q1: What is the settlement dispute process?... 5 Q2: When should I expect to hear back from the ISO regarding my dispute?... 5 Q3: What if I don t agree with the determination made by the ISO regarding my dispute?... 6 Q4: If I disputed an issue on the Daily_Initial_Market settlement statement, is it necessary for me to submit another dispute on the issue if I see that it s not fully corrected on the next Settlement Statement that is published for the given Trade Date?... 6 California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 2 of 6
SETTLEMENT DISPUTE SYSTEM Q1: What is a settlement dispute? A1: A settlement dispute is a Scheduling Coordinators notice of disagreement with the settlements results calculated by the ISO. Q2: How do I submit a settlement dispute? A2: Settlement disputes should be submitted through the Customer Inquiry Dispute and Information system known as CIDI. CIDI can be accessed through the Market Participant Portal using a valid digital certificate. Q3: What is CIDI? A3: CIDI stands for Customer Inquiry Dispute and Information and is an on-line application for Scheduling Coordinators to submit inquiries regarding ISO market activities and products, and disputes regarding the settlements results calculated by the ISO. Q4: Who has access to CIDI? A4: Any authorized representative of a Scheduling Coordinator who has a valid digital certificate should be able to access CIDI. Q5: How do I get a digital certificate? A5: Your User Access Administrator (UAA, formerly POC) would request access for you via the Access Identity Management (AIM) application. Contact your Client Representative with any questions. Q6: How do I access CIDI? A6: The Customer Inquiry, Dispute, and Information system known as CIDI can be accessed from the Market Participant Portal at https://mpp.caiso.com/pages/default.aspx. Q7: How do I submit a dispute if I do not have access to CIDI? A7: Another representative of your company who does have access to submit disputes in CIDI may submit the dispute for you. Contact your User Access Administrator (UAA) for more information. Q8: What do I do if the CIDI system is off-line? A8: Scheduling Coordinators are still bound by the settlement dispute timelines published in the ISO Tariff. You may submit a manual dispute by using the guides and instructions and the Settlement Dispute Form located on the Methods of Dispute Submittal webpage accessed from the Dispute Processes webpage. Once completed, e-mail the form along with any applicable supporting information to isodispute@caiso.com. Please copy your Client Representative on the e-mail to alert them to your issue with CIDI. California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 3 of 6
SETTLEMENT DISPUTE SUBMITTAL Q1: What ISO Tariff and/or BPM sections are relevant to settlement disputes? A1: ISO Tariff sections 11.29.7.1.2 and 11.29.8 and Business Practice Manual (BPM) for Settlements and Billing section 2.3.5 and section 5. Q2: What are the deadlines for submitting disputes? A2: Please see the ISO Tariff and/or BPM sections referenced above. In addition, the ISO Payment Calendars posted on our website illustrate the deadlines for each respective Settlement Statement by calendar date. Q3: What information is needed by the ISO when submitting a dispute? A3: The ISO needs as much information as possible to insure an accurate understanding of the dispute issue. This information includes, but is not limited to the Trade Date, Charge Code, Resource(s), and Billing Determinant of the disputed settlement. For specific guidelines, please see the information posted under the Dispute Information Requirements section of the Dispute Processes webpage. Q4: What happens after I submit a dispute? A4: You will receive an automated e-mail from no-reply@salesforce.com with an 8-digit Reference ID Number for your dispute that is used for tracking, reference and communication purposes. Q5: What are Incremental Changes? A5: Incremental Changes are differences found on subsequent settlement statements as compared to the value for the same item found on the immediately preceding settlement statement. For example, if a Scheduling Coordinator received a payment of $100 in Charge Code 6011 on a settlement statement and that value changed to $125 on the subsequent settlement statement, the incremental change is $25 and this incremental $25 may be disputed. The term incremental change refers to any change in the value as compared to the previous statement to include both increases and reductions in the value. Q6: What is a Placeholder Dispute? A6: A Placeholder Dispute is a dispute filed that reflects a recurring issue over multiple Trade Dates. Please see the BPM for Settlements and Billing section 5.4, ISO Tariff section 11.29.8.4.9 as well as the Methods of Dispute Submittal section of the Dispute Processes webpage for more detailed information. Q7: What is the Settlement Run Number? A7: The Settlement Run Number is a 10 or 11-digit number that reflects the unique identifier for each Settlement Statement calculation run. The format is YYYYMMDDTC with T being either 1 for statement or 3 for invoice, and C or CC being the actual sequential run number of that particular calendar day. For example, the third settlement run on June 5 th, 2016 would have a Settlement Run Number of 2016060513. California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 4 of 6
Q8: Where do I find the Settlement Run Number? A8: The Settlement Run Number can be found in the name of the Settlement Statement file downloaded from CMRIS. It is the 10 or 11-digit value after the word Settlement and before the name of the file (e.g. Daily_Initial_Market) in the name of the downloaded file. On the opened PDF version, it is the last 10 or 11-digits of the value shown as the Statement #. SETTLEMENT DISPUTE PROCESS Q1: What is the Settlement Dispute Process? A1: The Settlement Dispute Process is the methodology by which the ISO reviews and resolves submitted settlement disputes. First, the dispute is reviewed for timeliness, completeness and accuracy. If it is submitted after the applicable dispute deadline, it will be deemed not tariff compliant. If additional information is needed, the ISO will contact the dispute submitter. Once it is deemed that sufficient information is available for the ISO to understand the dispute issue as well as the suggested correction, a member of the ISO Dispute Team will review the information provided as compared to information captured in ISO databases and determine whether the disputed issue is valid or not. Additional analysis may include, but is not limited to review of the ISO Tariff, BPMs, Procedures, Market Notices, phone recordings and published whitepapers. The review and analysis of the above items by a Dispute Analyst may not yield a clear picture of whether the dispute should be approved or denied, in which case, additional efforts to achieve a resolution to a submitted dispute may include retrieval and analysis of the relevant market run, review of the issue by ISO Subject Matter Experts, ISO management personnel and the ISO Legal Department. In addition, the Scheduling Coordinator may be contacted again to provide additional information not previously identified as necessary and not readily available to the ISO. At the conclusion of the dispute review and analysis process, a decision will be made to either approve or deny the dispute. This decision will be communicated formally through a response to the dispute in the Customer Inquiry Dispute and Information system (CIDI). If the dispute issue is deemed to be denied, an explanation of why that determination was reached will be communicated via the Resolution and/or Case Comments section of the dispute in CIDI. If the dispute issue is deemed to be approved, the necessary corrections will be coordinated with the proper ISO Department(s) for publication on the appropriate Settlement Statement, and communicated accordingly to the Scheduling Coordinator. Q2: When should I expect to hear back from the ISO regarding my dispute? A2: In general, most disputes are reviewed and resolved by the publication of the next Settlement Statement for the given Trade Date. The ISO provides a response via CIDI as soon as appropriate during this time. For approved disputes, the ISO may wait until the California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 5 of 6
relevant subsequent settlement statement is calculated to validate that the appropriate adjustment is reflected on the statement. In some cases, additional time and research is necessary to reach a resolution on a dispute. In those cases, the ISO provides periodic updates via CIDI as appropriate and also upon request. Once resolved, or when status updates are made in CIDI, an e-mail will be sent to the submitter of the dispute notifying them that either an update has been made to their dispute or that it has been resolved. The ISO s communication regarding the dispute may be viewed on-line in CIDI. Q3: What if I don t agree with the determination made by the ISO regarding my submitted settlement dispute? A3: If a Scheduling Coordinator disagrees with the determination made by the ISO on their settlement dispute, the Scheduling Coordinator should contact their Client Representative. It may be that a conference call with the Dispute Analyst to discuss how the decision was reached and what information may have been the key factors in the decision is all that is necessary to better understand the ISO s decision. If that effort does not resolve the disagreement, then a Scheduling Coordinator has the right to submit a request for Good Faith Negotiation through their Client Representative. Q4: If I disputed an issue on one settlement statement, is it necessary for me to submit another dispute on the issue if I see that it s not fully corrected on the next Settlement Statement that is published for the given Trade Date? A4: The first thing to do is review the case comments, response information, and resolution sections of your dispute in CIDI. An explanation for what adjustment was made and why it was made should be documented in CIDI, and may explain the discrepancy between what was adjusted and what was expected to be adjusted. If the dispute remains open, but no information exists in the case comments section of the dispute, then it may just be a matter of the Dispute Analyst drafting and posting the dispute resolution. If no explanation is provided, you may contact your Client Representative for assistance in receiving this explanation. Unless the ISO closes a dispute, the original open dispute maintains your rights to have your issue resolved for the given trade date, and submittal of another dispute on the same issue is not necessary. California ISO. Copyright 2016. All Rights Reserved Page 6 of 6