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Browse the common questions that market participants have ahead of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) launching the Real-Time Co-Optimization Plus Batteries (RTC+B) market changes on December 5, 2025.
Your Frequently Asked Questions
General Market Design and Objectives
Q: I am a Yes Energy customer. Where can I find out more about the current or future state of ERCOT data in Yes Energy products?
A: You can find out more information by going to the Yes Energy help system (Yes Energy login required). You can also reach out to your dedicated account manager or support@yesenergy.com.
Q: How many public reports and dashboards will be changing with RTC+B?
A: ERCOT has announced changes impacting 97 public reports and dashboards as of September 25, 2025; however, ERCOT has not yet released a full list of all impacted public reports and dashboards.
Q: Will there still be a price adder report post-RTC?
A: Yes, there will still be a price adder report post-RTC. While the market trials version of this report is currently included in Group 1, the post-RTC production version of this report will be included in Group 3 (available after go-live). The EMIL ID will remain NP6-323-CD but the report name will change from “Real-Time ORDC and Reliability Deployment Price Adders and Reserves by SCED Interval” to “Real-Time Price Adders by SCED Interval” and include RTC+B specific data.
While the ORDC-related price adders will be going away under RTC+B and excluded from the new version of the report, there will still be a Real-Time Reliability Deployment Price Adder (RTRDPA) included in the new report. See both reports linked above for more details on the changes being made to adders post-RTC.
SCED Operations and Market Mechanics
Q: How often does SCED update the reserve levels and publish them to the public?
A: Typically, the SCED runs and updates every five minutes in the real-time market. This includes when ERCOT RTC+B goes into effect. Under RTC+B, ERCOT's SCED engine will be enhanced to simultaneously optimize both energy and AS at a similar five-minute interval.
With respect to the publication of SCED once RTC+B goes live: Our team is not aware of concrete details published by ERCOT yet around whether all SCED data will be immediately publicly available or if some portions will be delayed.
Q: What are the specific changes to base points, and will Updated Desired Base Points be fully replaced by Updated Desired Set Points?
A: The Updated Desired Base Point (UDBP) will be retired and replaced with the Updated Desired Set Point (UDSP). The UDSP includes information similar to the UDBP (i.e. four-minute ramp instruction) but now will also include resource-specific signals for regulation deployment.
Put another way, UDBP = four-minute ramp instruction, UDSP = four-minute ramp instruction + regulation instructions (as applicable).
Q: Since AS offers are now required in real time and market trials data is dependent on participation, how representative is the trial data of how SCED will actually run in production?
A: RTC+B Market Trials data is dependent on participation in the trials and there has been high participation from QSEs in SCED market trials (compared to lower participation in DAM trials). ERCOT did have 100% QSE participation in the LFC closed-loop test on September 11, 2025. It is interesting to look at the data for September 11, 2025, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. CST. This is when ECROT was conducting its closed-loop LFC test, and RTC+B was the production system during this time. Based on initial observations, prices seemed to be comparable between current production and the RTC+B system.
Q: I am comparing HB_NORTH (RTLMP) Average to HB_NORTH (RTC_SETTLEMENT_LMP) Average, and there seems to be a big delta in the two. Do you know why that is?
A: The large delta is likely a cause of RTC+B testing being a current and ongoing process in a test environment. In the Weekly RTC+B Market Trials Webex, ERCOT mentioned that pricing data is still not perfect since there is scarcity in the RTC+B system. This is because energy offers are not always being replicated in the RTC+B system around the clock.
Pricing, ASDC, and Virtual Participation
Q: What is the max LMP under RTC?
A: The system-wide offer cap for the DAM is $5,000/MWh and $2,000/MWh for the RTM. There are rare instances where the LMP may exceed these prices, but this would be an exception (e.g. extreme congestion). This Yes Energy blog has some additional info on exceptions. The system lambda used to determine LMPs and the real-time MCPCs (ancillary service clearing prices) will be capped at the effective VOLL, which is currently $35,000/MWh according to the latest PUCT reliability standard adopted in August 2024.
Q: How will energy prices be impacted by ASDC? Is it based on the understanding that energy offers will increase when ASDC is active?
A: From an offer perspective, RTC+B does not change the fundamental market premise that energy and ancillary services are offered to the market based on the marginal cost to the resource of providing those services.
What will be new from an energy clearing price perspective is that the LMP calculation will now also include the opportunity cost of providing reserves. The expectation is that through the process of co-optimization, a more optimal, least-cost mix of energy and reserves will be achieved, resulting in lower overall costs to the system. These lower costs will be due in part to reduced energy prices, on average over time, relative to the energy prices that would be realized in the absence of co-optimization.
Q: Do you anticipate the addition of virtual participation in ancillaries to have a material effect on AS prices?
A: It's too early to say with certainty, as this is a new market feature. Virtual participation will add liquidity and market competition, which may have a material and disruptive impact on existing DART price spreads, particularly at the onset of the market launch. We anticipate that over time, the additional DAM liquidity will contribute to greater price convergence between the DA and RT, i.e., reduced DART spreads.
Q: For virtual AS offers post-RTC, will participation be purely financial (similar to today’s energy bids/offers), or will it require physical qualification?
A: Virtual participation in the AS market under RTC+B will be purely financial, just like virtual energy offers/bids today, and will not require physical qualification to participate.
Batteries (ESRs) and Telemetry
Q: Will there be any changes for batteries SOC?
A: Batteries, or ESRs, will now be modeled as a single resource. The telemetry changes for ESRs, including state of charge, are included in this checklist available from ERCOT. ESRs will continue to be expected to provide SOC-related telemetry items such as SOC (MWh), Max SOC (MWh), Min SOC (MWh), Max Operating Discharge Power Limit (MW), and Max Operating Charge Power Limit (MW).
The SCED will incorporate SOC into the market optimization, ensuring that awards to ESRs are feasible. The awards for each ESR will be limited based on a number of inputs, including SOC information.
This will be different from today, where currently it's the responsibility of the QSE to ensure sufficient SOC to cover its responsibilities.
Market Trials and Data Availability
Q: Is the trial data available in DataSignals? If so, is there a way to identify it in the data catalog?
A: Market trials data is available via the PowerSignals Time Series Analysis module and the DataSignals API. The easiest way to find market trial data in the data catalog is to select ERCOT as the ISO and then search for "RTC."
More Resources
Want to learn more about the ERCOT RTC+B Program? Browse our resource hub or download the on-demand webinar.
Have a question not answered here? Reach out to support@yesenergy.com.
About the author: Portia Gilman manages the Market Monitoring Team, a group that stays abreast of the North American energy markets so you don’t have to. The team serves internal and external clients with regulatory market knowledge and subject matter expertise on the impacts to Yes Energy’s clients, data, and the energy industry as a whole. Previously, Portia was an analyst for ISO New England’s internal market monitoring group for over six years, specializing in compliance, price formation, SCED dispatch, and capacity market economics.
