AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott hosted a press conference Wednesday at the State Operations Center in Austin to provide an update on the State's response to cold winter weather approaching this week.
Abbott was also joined by a number of Texas officials, including:
- Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) Chief Nim Kidd
- Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Peter Lake
- Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) CEO Pablo Vegas
- Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) Director Marc Williams
- Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Commissioner (TCEQ) Emily Lindley
- Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) Commissioner Jim Wright
Watch the full press conference here:
While there is currently little to no expectation of wintery precipitation this week that could impact roadways, there is still a big question on a lot of Texans' minds after Winter Storm Uri last year.
"One thing that we do know, and that is with the ultra cold temperature for several days, there are many people in the state of Texas that are wondering about or may be concerned about the power grid," said Gov. Abbott on Wednesday. "And we want to make sure that everybody across the entire state of Texas hears directly from the head of the Public Utilities Commission, as well as the head of ERCOT, to know exactly the way that both the PUC and ERCOT are prepared to make sure that the power grid will will remain up and running very robustly during this very cold snap."
Abbott then turned the floor over to PUC chairman Peter Lake.
"The grid is ready and reliable. We expect to have sufficient generation to meet demand throughout this entire winter weather event," said Lake. "Texans have seen the impact of the landmark reforms. We went through an extremely cold February last winter and a record breaking summer and delivered power throughout without disruption. These landmark reforms include winterization of infrastructure, both generators and poles and wires. We have more power available than ever before."
Lake added that a number of efforts have been prepared for this specific weather event.
"Our poles and wires companies have mobile generators ready to go," said Lake. "They rescheduled maintenance to make sure the wires are available. And generators have also rescheduled maintenance to make sure that every generator available in Texas is ready to go. We verified additional fuel inventories, increased staffing at power plants and verified the winterization requirements."
Lake reminded the public that outages are still possible as high winds could cause falling branches.
"That does not mean that ERCOT or the state does not have sufficient generation. As always, stay in communication with your local power providers and local leaderships and they will keep you up to date on local issues like that," said Lake.
ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas added that its staff would be working around the clock to ensure reliable service over the next few days.
"Earlier this morning, we issued a Watch, which is our highest level of preparation and readiness, for the extreme cold weather that we're expecting. In order to make sure that all market participants are prepared for the conditions that we're expecting, by issuing a watch, it ensures that we have all of the tools in our toolbox available to deal with the service demand," said Vegas
Vegas said the current load forecasts show the highest expected electric demand period from Thursday evening through Saturday morning, with the peak being Friday morning.
"We expect that to hit near 70,000 megawatts," said Vegas. "With all the available resources performing as planned, we are forecasting to have near 85,000 megawatts of supply available to meet that demand, with wind and solar during those peaks making up around 12,000 megawatts of that."
Vegas added that ERCOT has completed more than 200 weatherization inspection to date of its generation facilities, noting that these inspections are going "very well."
Meanwhile, TDEM has posted information for warming centers across Texas on the local level. That information can be found here.
"As you've heard, the grid is good, but that should not stop you from making plans to protect your home from these dangerous weather conditions and have your vehicles ready as well for these dangerous conditions," said TDEM Chief Nim Kidd. "We've heard that the precipitation is not in the forecast and it's very light in the Panhandle, so the rest of the state should stay dry. But listen, any flat tire or any bad battery problems and stuck out in this dangerous cold can be life threatening. So please make plans to prepare your vehicles and your homes."