To achieve the goal of assisting the ERCOT utility grid during peak demand periods, CenterPoint Energy has set the maximum number of annual curtailments to five, including one annual Scheduled Curtailment of one-hour's duration, and a maximum of four annual Unscheduled Curtailments. In other words, a Project Sponsor will not be requested to curtail Curtailable Load more than five times during a program year totaling a maximum of 17 hours.

The SOP will have one, 1-hour scheduled curtailment at the beginning of the peak demand season in each Agreement year. CenterPoint Energy will determine the date and notify program sponsors with sufficient lead time for planning and preparation. Scheduled curtailments are for testing program participation in the event of an EECP notice or request by CenterPoint Energy's Dispatch Center during the peak demand season.

The SOP requires program participants to participate in up to four unscheduled curtailments each Agreement year. An unscheduled curtailment will occur in the event ERCOT notifies CenterPoint Energy that it is issuing an alert pursuant to Step 3 or a subsequent step of the ERCOT/EECP or upon request by CenterPoint Energy's Dispatch Center (see Appendix C for details). Thereafter, CenterPoint Energy will notify Project Sponsors of an unscheduled curtailment with at least one-hour advance notice of the start-time for the curtailment.

The duration of an unscheduled curtailment will be a minimum of one hour and a maximum of four hours. Starting times will occur between 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. Ending times will occur between 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time.

After completion of all unscheduled curtailment(s) of Curtailable Load and approval of all IDR data, CenterPoint Energy will pay the Project Sponsor the Performance Period Payment in November.