The ERCOT Grid Is “More Reliable Now Than It’s Ever Been,” But Renewables and Reforms Are Crucial: PUC
There will be enough electricity and reliability to power Texas this summer, but the population has grown 24% in 14 years while “on-demand dispatchable power” has only grown 1.5%. ERCOT faces a new reality: Texas has an electricity supply-and-demand problem.
May 3, 2023 –The seasonal overview of grid preparedness for most of the State of Texas as released by the Public Utility Commission of Texas is very good but with a caveat — the grid is losing ground against population increases.
At a news conference Wednesday morning, PUC Chairman Peter Lake said, “The ERCOT grid is ready for this summer, the reliability reforms that were put in place have been tested and continue to work.”
But for the first time in memory, there is a very small possibility (possibly 1% according to ERCOT Chairman Pablo Vegas) that there won’t be enough “dispatchable power” (natural gas) to meet the state’s needs under some conditions, notably in mid-evenings on the hottest days when solar power ends for the day and there isn’t enough wind to augment fossil fuel generation.
Chairman Lake indicated that renewables are crucial to the grid unlike never before……