'We're ready for it': ERCOT is prepared for extreme heat next week, officials say

It’s been a hot summer — and temperatures are about to increase. 

The embattled Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) of Texas have made plans to prepare for it, according to PUC Chairman Peter Lake and ERCOT Interim President and CEO Brad Jones.

Lake and Jones held a joint press conference to discuss their plans Thursday morning. They said the forecast calls for extremely hot weather next week, but Texans need not worry about the power supply.

“It’s going to be tight the rest of the summer,” Lake said. “We’re ready for it.”

He and Jones said sweeping operational changes have been made and will continue to occur as ERCOT rebuilds its process for acquiring and distributing power to more than 26 million customers in Texas. They were needed after the disaster in February when a powerful winter storm slammed Texas, causing power outages amidst freezing weather.

It left more than 200 people dead and sent power bills spiking. Leadership at both ERCOT and the PUC was forced out and Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature, under extreme public pressure, demanded changes.

Jones and Lake, who also serves on the ERCOT board, said that message was heard, and that the governor and lawmakers gave them the authority and tools they needed to increase reliability and keep Texans safe. They said people “demand and deserve” a reliable electric grid and they will get one.

“The market needs and will receive a major overhaul,” Lake said.

More power will be available in advance of peak demands, they said. Next week, as severe heat bears down on Texas, a record could be set for power requests, Jones said.

The record now is 74,280 megawatts. The forecast now calls for a demand of 74,000 MW next week, he said, and ERCOT will have that available. If needed, it could go as high as 80,000 MW, he pledged.

Can ERCOT regain the public’s trust? Jones admitted that was “no small task” but he said it can be accomplished. One way to do so is by being completely transparent about its efforts, including holding regular press conferences and informing the public about its efforts.

“We’re dedicated to that mission,” he said. “And we’re on the way to doing that.”

This will be done by acquiring power from more sources, and rewarding generators who can provide it as needed, Jones and Lake said.

“We’ve completely reorganized the way ERCOT is run,” Lake said. “We’ve completely turned that market on its head.”

He said in the past, ERCOT operated by responding to a crisis. That’s what led to the problems that devastated the state this winter.

On July 13, ERCOT released a “Roadmap to Improving Grid Reliability,” listing 60 improvements to Texas power grid.

According to a release, the roadmap includes:

• Taking a more aggressive operating approach. ERCOT is bringing more generation online sooner if it is needed to balance supply and demand. The grid operator is also purchasing more reserve power, especially on days when the weather forecast is uncertain.
• Requiring CEO certifications. After a rule change, all market participants who own or operate generation resources and/or transmission/distribution power lines will be required to submit a letter signed by their CEO twice a year certifying their companies have completed their weatherization preparations to protect the electric grid for the summer and winter seasons.
• Adding new requirements for generation owners. ERCOT is proposing a new market rule that requires generators to provide operational updates more frequently.
• Assessing on-site fuel supplies. ERCOT is reviewing the need for on-site fuel supplies for some generators.
• Performing unannounced testing of generation resources. This testing helps verify that generators have provided accurate information about their availability.
• Addressing transmission constraints in Rio Grande Valley. ERCOT and the PUC are initiating a process to address RGV transmission limitations and provide increased market access for resources in the Valley. This will improve reliability for customers during normal conditions and high-risk weather events.

The PUC and the Texas Legislature oversee ERCOT, a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation that manages the flow of electric power to more than 26 million Texas customers, covering about 90% of the state’s electric load. The state’s electric grid connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and more than 710 generation units.

“It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for nearly 8 million premises in competitive choice areas,” according to the ERCOT website.

Lake, the former chairman of the Texas Water Development Board, was named chairman of the PUC by Gov. Abbott on April 12. His term expires Sept. 1, 2023. All three PUC members had resigned in the wake of the bungled response to February’s winter storm.

Jones was named to lead ERCOT in May. He had served as its senior vice president and chief operating officer between April 2013 and October 2015, and was president and CEO of the New York Independent System Operator, a for-profit corporation that operates the state's bulk electricity grid, from October 2015 to October 2018.

He replaced Bill Magness, who was issued a 60-day termination notice in early March. Five board members, none of whom lived in Texas, resigned after the powerful winter storm.