FERC releases report on 2021 Texas freeze with winterization recommendations

Published on November 18, 2021 by Dave Kovaleski


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A new report examining the impact of the Texas freeze in February 2021 on the bulk electric system in Texas was released this week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

The report includes 28 formal recommendations that seek to prevent a recurrence of the failures experienced during Winter Storm Uri. The report highlights the critical need for stronger mandatory electric reliability standards, particularly with respect to generator cold weather-critical components and systems. It found that protecting just four types of power plant components from icing and freezing could have reduced outages by 67 percent in the ERCOT region, 47 percent in the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), and 55 percent in the Midcontinent Independent System Operator South (MISO) regions.

It also found that natural gas-fired units represented 58 percent of all unplanned outages. The remaining portion was comprised of wind (27 percent), coal (6 percent), solar (2 percent), and other generation types (7 percent), with four nuclear units making up less than 1 percent. In addition, the recommendations include revisions to the NERC Reliability Standards surrounding generator winterization and gas-electric coordination.

“The final report on Winter Storm Uri is a sobering analysis that highlights the significant work that needs to be done. I previously committed to take the recommendations seriously, and I plan to do exactly that,” FERC Chairman Rich Glick said. “The devastating effects of extreme cold on our bulk power system’s ability to operate in 2011 and now, 2021, must not be allowed to happen again. We have a duty to protect the bulk power system and public safety, and we will do just that.”

Winter Storm Uri caused more than 4.5 million people in Texas to lose power – some for as long as four days – and led to numerous deaths. The Texas grid operator (Electric Reliability Council of Texas or ERCOT) ordered a total of 20,000 MW of rolling blackouts in an effort to prevent grid collapse. This was the largest manually controlled load shedding event in U.S. history, the report said.

“Extreme weather events, such as the one in February 2021, are unfortunately becoming more commonplace, and the electricity ecosystem needs to come together to plan for and prepare to operate under more extreme, longer duration, and wide area weather events,” NERC President and CEO Jim Robb said. “The FERC-NERC-Regional Entity Staff Report also highlights the need for substantially better coordination between the natural gas system and the electric system to ensure a reliable supply that nearly 400 million people across North America depend upon to support their way of life.”

Among the report’s findings, it revealed that 81 percent of freeze-related generating unit outages occurred at temperatures above the units’ stated ambient design temperature. Also, 87 percent of unplanned generation outages due to fuel issues were related to natural gas, predominantly related to production and processing issues, while 13 percent involved issues with other fuels such as coal or fuel oil.