ERCOT has a long list of improvements for Texas electric grid. What’s in the plan?
Five months after a winter storm caused widespread power outages and an estimated death toll of hundreds of people, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced a 60-item list of reforms that the agency hopes will improve the state’s power grid and repair its strained relationship with Texans.
“Change is required for ERCOT to continue to reliably serve the millions of customers and businesses that depend on us,” Brad Jones, the agency’s interim president and chief executive, said in a statement. “These changes will benefit all Texans and support continued economic growth for the state of Texas.”
The “roadmap” released on Tuesday comes just a week after Gov. Greg Abbott issued a public letter instructing the Public Utility Commission of Texas, which oversees ERCOT, to incentivize energy companies to develop and maintain more natural gas, coal and nuclear power resources.
He also instructed the three-member board, which the governor appoints, to establish a regular maintenance schedule to prevent too many power plants from going offline at one time and require renewable energy companies to pay for power when wind and solar aren’t able to provide it. State legislators rejected the renewable energy idea in May, according to The Texas Tribune.
ERCOT’s plan addresses some of Abbott’s requests, vowing to “adopt a more aggressive approach” to operating the grid. That will mean bringing more power online sooner if necessary and purchasing more reserve power in advance to keep the grid stable on days when the weather forecast is uncertain.
The checklist will be updated regularly throughout the rest of the year, according to an ERCOT press release. Jones and his staff worked with the Public Utility Commission, retired industry executives, environmental advocates and companies participating in the energy market to “ensure all areas for improvement were considered and included,” the release reads.
Jay Zarnikau, a research fellow for UT Austin’s economics department and an author of a new report analyzing ERCOT data during the February winter storm, said he was “really impressed” by what he had seen of the roadmap, though it may not accomplish each of Abbott’s priorities. The Public Utility Commission funded the UT Austin study and provided previously unreleased data, though researchers say the agency did not influence the content or findings of the analysis.
“I think (the roadmap) is a really good step forward,” Zarnikau said. “It’s not necessarily going to address all failures identified in our report, but I think it’s a good document.”
Of the 60 items on its list, the agency has completed 20 as of Tuesday. Those actions include proposing a new rule requiring energy generators to report all forced outages — such as those due to weather-related complications — and automatically release outage information to ERCOT. Companies would also have to provide operational updates more frequently under the proposed rule.
In addition, ERCOT has conducted more than 30 on-site inspections of power plants to ensure that companies are “following their weatherization plan in preparation” for hot summer weather. The agency also says it has improved its assessment and communication of “extreme low-probability, high-impact weather scenarios,” which includes information like temperatures, rainfall and wind speed.
Still, the agency has a long way to go in accomplishing all of the priorities listed on its roadmap. The legislature passed several new laws this spring, including the creation of a winter storm emergency alert plan, changes to how ERCOT can price energy during periods of scarcity and a mandate for companies to prepare their power plants for extreme weather.
ERCOT must now implement those laws across the state, and the agency has introduced an idea of its own: requiring the chief executives of power companies to sign a letter twice per year “attesting that their companies have completed their weatherization preparations” for summer and winter conditions.
In addition, ERCOT staff acknowledged the need to “eliminate industry jargon” from its communications materials in order to reach a broader audience, including people who speak Spanish. Staff members are also planning a listening tour to hear the perspectives of different communities across Texas, according to ERCOT documents.
The agency also pledged to review how it sends out alerts to “minimize false alarms and public fatigue.” Last month, an ERCOT alert urging residents to reduce electricity use for a week raised concerns that the grid could not withstand the hot Texas summer. The number of unplanned outages at Texas power plants increased more than tenfold in June compared to May, and the agency has not yet explained what led to the issues.
It remains to be seen how Jones, the interim chief executive of ERCOT, will enforce some of his proposed reforms. ERCOT is expected to hire a new president by the end of the year, according to The Houston Chronicle.
Jones was scheduled to testify before state legislators Tuesday and face questions about some of his more controversial ideas, including paying gas-fired power plants to store fuel on site so it could be used in case of emergencies.
“It’s a very thorough plan,” Michael Greene, a former ERCOT board chairman, told the Chronicle. “They talk about reforming the market, but a lot is going to depend on what the (Public Utility Commission) does.”
