ERCOT promises power for the summer during grid reform briefing
AUSTIN, Texas - If you thought your AC unit is working hard now, just wait. A record power demand is expected next week.
On Thursday in recognition of that coming heat wave, the Interim CEO of ERCOT made this promise. "We believe next week looks good, based on all of our expectations, all of our forecasts, we believe we have plenty of generation to meet the needs of Texans," said Brad Jones, who manages the state's electrical power grid.
Jones and Public Utility Commission chairman Peter Lake did not rule out that at some point this summer, a conservation alert will be needed. But if one comes, they made it clear it's not a panic button.
"Conservation of electricity is about the little things, for a few hours at a time, its a simple thermostat change, its waiting to run your dishwasher, washing machine, overnight, instead of when you get home from work at 5:00," said Lake.
To help avoid an alert, an increase in power resources for August has been acquired: a 56% bump when compared to the same time last year. Lake and Jones, as part of a Thursday grid briefing, also updated power grid reforms state lawmakers are requiring.
"Currently we have completed 22 of the 60 initiatives," said Jones about the plan ERCOT calls its Road Map To Improving Grid Reliability.
The first big step in the reform effort was to flip the primary mission of the grid from affordability to reliability. Regaining consumer confidence, Lake admits, will involve preventing monthly power bills from going through the roof. "We don't want to raise costs, and we don't expect that we will raise costs," Lake said.
The winter storm claimed more than 200 lives in texas and for consumers buying into the reform plan could be a hard sell.
"I'll believe it when I see it, thats all I can say, I hope it doesn't happen again," said Marcus Snow, who lost power in his apartment and took extreme measures to stay warm. "I got about 5 blankets and got into my closet at one time."
A key part to preventing another winter shutdown is a crackdown on power generators. They are required to weatherize their plants. "In the past we did not do a summer weatherization check, we began doing that this year, we checked over 31 units to make sure they are ready for the summer season, in addition we are getting prepared to do checks on all of the units that had problems during the winter storms," said Jones.
Regulatory ideas being considered include mandatory storage systems to tap into during a power crisis and changing the way power companies are paid. Critics of the current market driven model argue it encourages delays in producing electricity until demand and price are at the highest. A new model is expected by the end of the year.
"What form that takes and the mechanics and what that looks like under the hood, we don't know yet, and there are a lot of implications there that impact stakeholders, customers and the companies that generate power. We need more companies coming to Texas to generate power, right now we don't have any," said Lake.
Next week a "Poles and Wires" discussion will be held with a focus on the supply chain. During the winter crisis some power sites, which were needed to keep gas lines pumping, were shut down in order to help local utilities shed power which led to confusion about what locations was considered to be critical infrastructure.
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