These FAQs provide specific information on ISO New England billing processes and answers to questions frequently asked by participants about billing-related documents and how to obtain them, as well as billing-related rules, processes, and services.
Because the days and month of a market are forecasted, participants can anticipate obtaining MIS reports on the forecasted line items before a bill is released.
ISO-NE uses Market Information Server (MIS) reports to communicate operations, settlement, and billing information to participants. Participants access these reports via secure file transfer protocol (SFTP). A complete listing of each MIS report, including descriptions, templates, and samples explaining the format and content of each MIS report can be found in the references below.
The Settlement MIS reports include summary and detailed information concerning the line items on a participant’s bill. These reports help with accounting, reviewing, and verifying billing statements. Depending on the market, the report may show the total amount receivable from or payable to the participant for each hour in the relevant operating day.
MIS reports are distributed in a .csv format that allows for automatic parsing. There is a macro available that can format the report. The add-in converts your MIS report files into an Excel .xlsx file, and formats the file, making it easier to read and analyze your data.
Participants should review the accuracy of the data on their MIS settlement reports. Identified errors may be corrected through the data reconciliation process (DRP) or, if applicable, the meter data error (MDE) request for billing adjustment (RBA) process.
Learn more about MIS reports’ role, as well as market participants’ responsibilities for retrieving reports and billing statements, and reporting any discrepancies in FAQs: Billing Process and Billing Process Summary.
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A company’s security administrator (SA) determines which employees have direct access to the MIS reports. Contact ISO New England’s Participant Support and Solutions for more information on the SA role.
MIS reports are available for a limited time and then are removed from the FTP server. Participants should save their MIS report information for future reference or billing reconciliation. For the DRP and MDE RBA bills, the bill amounts equal the difference between the current settlement and the prior settlement for the same market and period. To confirm the retention time of a report on the FTP server, locate the report name “Information Supporting All Reports” on the ISO’s MIS Report Descriptions, Templates, and Samples page.
The prefix of the MIS report name is the report type key. SD refers to “Settlement Details,” and SR refers to “Settlement Report.” “SS” refers to Standard Settlement. For a list and description of the different report keys, view MIS Report Descriptions, Templates, and Samples on the ISO’s website.
(1) Specific MIS reports are associated with each market. To locate the MIS report description, select the report name listed on the MIS Report Descriptions, Templates, and Samples webpage. Each column of an MIS report is defined, and if applicable, includes a formula for calculating the column value. To identify which MIS reports are associated with a particular billable line item, select Billable Line Item Descriptions. Scroll down to the Reports heading.
(2) Calculation trees are also available for each market. To view this tool, locate and select the market of the MIS report at Billable Line Item Descriptions. Scroll down to the end of the page to find the Calculation Summary link.
MIS reports for hourly services are typically issued at lags after the operating day, as follows:
ISO New England does not send invoices to participants directly. Participants are responsible for retrieving their invoices, which are typically issued via secure FTP by 11:00 a.m., Eastern Time, on Mondays and Wednesdays. Three files associated with the bill are available for download. Two of them are the BL_PRINT, which is a PDF file and looks like an actual bill, and BL_INVOICE, which is a CSV file containing the same information as BL_PRINT. The last file, BL_DETAILS, provides additional billing information for verification of hourly service line items. BL_DETAILS is a series of five subreports, as shown on the BL_DETAILS Sample XLTX report:
In all cases, contact ISO New England Participant Support.
Participants pay their invoices to the ISO. After the ISO collects the funds from the participants, it pays participants who were issued a remittance advice.
For an invoice payment to be considered on time, the ISO’s bank account must receive the funds by midnight on the due date. Most banks have a deadline for processing same-day wire transfers; the deadline varies for each bank, so the participant must ensure that the transfer is initiated in time.
Updating banking information can be done in the Customer and Asset Management System (CAMS) if you have External Banking viewer and approver roles as well as updating Primary Banking contacts. The easiest way to update billing contact information and banking information is by contacting ISO Participant Support.
Billing statement invoice and remittance advice amounts are not affected by divisional accounting, which is an optional enhancement that provides additional information on the MIS settlement reports. An overview of the MIS report changes for divisional accounting is available in the Quarterly Settlements Webinar Forum, Q3 2012 presentation.
See “Allocation of Load-Based Charges” for a summary table of what is charged and the allocation method for each market. It also provides the applicable references to the ISO’s Transmission, Markets, and Services Tariff.
The Billable Line-Item Descriptions webpage has links to more details on each line item.
The billing period of the charges first needs to be identified; GIS costs are billed one month in arrears of the settlement obligation month. Next, the data on the SS_GISCOST (the MIS report on GIS costs) must be verified. Prior lead asset owners are responsible for contacting APX for questions concerning incorrect load assets appearing on the GIS costs report. The APX contact information is jwebb@apx.com or 408.517.2174. For questions concerning GIS costs exemptions or the annual process of GIS costs exemptions, contact ISO Participant Support.
The ISO New England Billing Policy is available on the ISO website.
Procedures for a Requested Billing Adjustment (RBA) are included in Section 6 of the Billing Policy.
The Meter Data Error Requested Billing Adjustment (MDE RBA) process is in Section 9.1 of ISO Manual 28, Market Rule 1 Accounting.
For an overview of the billing process and billing-related topics, view the Settlements section of the website.
Formal rules and procedures can be found in ISO Manual M-28, Market Rule 1 Accounting and the ISO New England Billing Policy
