TEXAS, USA — EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above aired on May 31, 2023.
Electric Reliability Council of Texas announced the agency will not be seeking additional capacity as the state is prepared to take on electrical demand ahead of the winter season in Texas.
“The request for additional capacity was an extra layer of precaution to mitigate higher risk during extreme weather this winter,” said Pablo Vegas, ERCOT president and CEO. “ERCOT is not projecting emergency conditions this winter and expects to have adequate resources to meet demand.”
Since 2021, ERCOT has added several reforms and grid improvements, such as weatherization inspections of electric generation units and transmission facilities, additional ancillary services, and firm fuel supply services.
Below is a list of improvements:
- Weatherization and Inspections: ERCOT is entering the third season of winter weatherization inspections with enhanced requirements for generation and transmission facilities, compared to last winter season.
- Firm Fuel Supply Service (FFSS) Phase 2: An additional source of onsite fuel for generators benefits the grid by providing a redundant, or additional, fuel source should there be a natural gas scarcity. FFSS Phase 1 created the FFSS service (deployed for the first time during Winter Storm Elliott and then again for Winter Storm Mara). Phase 2 expanded Resources that can qualify. If a Resource’s fuel service is firm and isn’t under a lower curtailment priority if there’s a curtailment event, they can now qualify.
- Scheduled Maintenance Period: ERCOT has worked with generators and transmission operators to schedule their maintenance to prepare their equipment for winter after running hard this past summer.
- Forecasting Improvements: ERCOT has been working on reducing weather forecast error by procuring additional weather forecasts and developing load forecast models that are tuned for extreme cold weather. ERCOT has also improved the forecasting software testing process related to holidays and other outlier scenarios.
- ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS): Added in June 2023, ECRS takes advantage of Resources that can start within 10 minutes to address unexpected or rapid changes in supply or demand.
- Fast Frequency Response Service: Added in 2022, this addition to our Ancillary Services takes advantage of the capability of faster-responding Resources to respond to events.
- Improved, Transparent Communications: The Texas Advisory and Notification System (TXANS) was launched May 2023. TXANS is a communications tool to keep Texans updated on grid conditions.
- Critical Supply Chain and Critical Infrastructure Map: This map was created in 2022 to share the locations and connectivity of all the critical parts of the Texas power infrastructure.
- Improved Inter-Agency Communications: Agencies are seeing improved, ongoing communications through both the Texas Department of Emergency Management and Texas Energy Reliability Council.
In addition, ERCOT will work with Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and stakeholders to explore what incentives and product designs to reduce peak demand at critical times in the future.