Public Utility Commission of Texas undertakes public electric industry review as part of resilience overhaul
With the battering of recent winter seasons still firmly in mind, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) hosted a public work session last week to review weather preparations, grid reliability and resiliency measures and industry compliance with weatherization standards.
As part of this review, commissioners heard from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), electric generators and transmission utilities alike, questioning the moves they’ve made to comply with PUCT weatherization rules. These rules were implemented after the February 2021 storms that pelted the usually warmer state in snow and ice, plunging millions into darkness and cold as the state’s electric grid operator lost control of the power supply. Blackouts extended for days, as different officials pointed the fingers to different causes.
“Making sure we’re ready to meet the power demands of the state is our number one focus as we head into the winter months,” PUCT Commissioner Will McAdams said. “Today’s work session was a great opportunity for us and the public to review the many steps Texas has taken to prepare for extreme cold weather.”
PUCT requires power plants to winterize equipment against extreme cold, maintain certain personnel training and staffing considerations, and identify critical components vulnerable to cold weather. In recent years, PUCT – together with the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Division of Emergency Management – has also mapped the critical infrastructure of Texas to improve situational awareness and coordinated response during bad weather.
For its part, ERCOT oversees weatherization inspections of electric facilities. At the meeting, it concluded that weatherization inspections required by PUCT rules were ahead of schedule. ERCOT also provided updates on its Firm Fuel Supply Service, which guarantees generators have back-up fuel available on site, on demand response programs, opportunities to improve transmission and scenario modeling.
According to its latest reports, ERCOT noted that the ratio of installed dispatchable to total capacity is 62 percent. The greatest risk of ordering controlled outages or encountering an energy emergency alert were both figured to be between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m.
That said, PUCT claimed that operational reforms have led to greater reliability and disruption prevention through 2022 and 2023 so far. Nevertheless, it should be noted that a January 2023 storm still rendered more than 350,000 Texans without power – albeit due to damage to infrastructure by ice, rather than demand exceeding supply, among other issues that complicated the 2021 disaster.
