Energy analyst criticizes lack of reform with Texas power grid

Bill Peacock offers this advice for Texans as winter sets in: Hope for a mild one and pray that we won’t experience a storm like the one that battered the state last February.

Peacock said this is because the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is not ready for a rough winter. Peacock added that state officials haven’t done enough to prevent another winter catastrophe.

“If Texas faces another power shortage or outage, it will be because our leaders responded to last winter’s blackouts with fear rather than wisdom,” Peacock told Houston Daily. “They feared being held responsible for years of promoting unreliable and expensive renewable energy — the primary reason for the extent of the blackout.”

Peacock, policy director at the Energy Alliance, he said the practices that have been put in place have allowed energy generators to cash in while consumers are left with ever-increasing bills. What makes it even more painful is the reality that electricity that costs more isn’t always reliable, Peacock argues.

That was the case in mid-February, when Winter Storm Uri caused extensive power outages across the state. As bitterly cold weather set in, millions were without power.

More than 100 people died, and losses were estimated to approach $300 billion. While there was a major outcry, and six ERCOT board members were replaced, such a scenario could occur again this winter.

The Texas Tribune reported in February that on Feb. 16, 16 gigawatts of renewable energy was offline. This was mostly wind generation. The paper also noted that 30 gigawatts of energy was offline on the same day from thermal sources such as coal, as and nuclear. An ERCOT official noted that natural gas was not performing as it should at the time.

ERCOT released its Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy for the ERCOT Region on Nov. 19 and listed five possible severe weather situations. In four cases, blackouts were possible with a lack of capacity to deal with a loss of power generation.

“There is no planned capacity expected to become operational by the start of the winter season based on the latest developer information,” the report noted. “This is largely due to the new practice of classifying projects approved for grid synchronization as operational rather than planned resources.”

ERCOT spokesman Chris Scheid said as part of a comprehensive planning effort, the agency examined “low-probability, high-impact scenarios.”

Scheid said improvements have been made in power plant weatherization. Peacock, however, said the entire system needs to be revised.

He said as wind and solar continue to become a larger part of the Texas grid, they draw more money while adding unreliability. He said renewable energy producers need to pay their fair share.

Most studies show that renewable energy sources account for less than one-third of Texas' power needs.

In February, as Texans were still trying to shake off the cold, Peacock wrote an analysis of why the disaster occurred and how it he says it could be prevented. First, he called on lawmakers to end all subsidies and benefits for renewables, including the renewable energy credit program, property tax abatements under Chapters 312 and 313 of the Texas Tax Code, and subsidized transmission lines.

Peacock also said the Public Utilities Commission of Texas should mandate that wind and solar producers should pay for the costs incurred by their loss of power generation and the federal subsidies they depend upon. He said the PUC must stop playing a major role in power politics.

“Third, the legislature must end the PUC’s constant intervention in the Texas electric market,” Peacock wrote. “It can start by eliminating the ORDC’s electricity tax and other so-called ‘reliability adders‘ that distort market operations. Additionally, the legislature can also eliminate price caps, restrictions on generation ownership and archaic antitrust measures that hinder investment in the Texas market.”

He told the Houston Daily that because this has not happened, if another major winter storm hits, a skyrocketing demand for energy and a loss of power generation could once again plunge thousands or millions of Texans into the dark as wind howl and the thermometer plummets.