(The Center Square) – Gov. Greg Abbott says that Texas’ grid reforms are continuing, which will ensure the state’s electricity is reliable and stable.
“The State of Texas continues to monitor the reliability of our electric grid, and I thank ERCOT and PUC for their hard work to implement bipartisan reforms we passed last year and for their proactive leadership to ensure our grid is stronger than ever before,” the governor said after meeting with Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) Interim President and CEO Brad Jones, Incoming ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas, and Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) Chairman Peter Lake to discuss ongoing implementation of grid reforms.
“Going into the fall, we have sufficient resources to meet demand for power,” Lake said. “As our record-setting summer winds down, now is no time to rest. We will continue to ensure the grid is reliable using all the tools we have, including closely managing outages generators need to take for maintenance.”
According to a new ERCOT report, it’s expected “to have sufficient installed generating capacity to serve peak demands in the upcoming fall season, October-November 2022, under normal system conditions.” ERCOT says it anticipates a fall 2022 peak demand of 64,928 MW and 93,492 MW of resource capacity available during fall peak demand hours, including 5 MW of additional planned utility-scale solar capacity.
The announcement also comes after ERCOT’s Board of Directors last month announced they’d selected Vegas to serve as ERCOT’s next president and CEO. Vegas assumes the role Oct. 1. He currently serves as executive vice president of NiSource and Group President, NiSource Utilities.
His selection follows an exhaustive nationwide search by the board after the legislature implemented a series of reforms to the PUC and ERCOT. The search was conducted after PUC and ERCOT leaders resigned after millions of Texans were left without power, heat and water during [a] historic winter freeze in February 2021.
ERCOT Board Chair Paul Foster said Vegas “brings a strong record of operational excellence managing system growth with a diverse and rapidly evolving energy mix. He clearly understands the challenges we face in Texas as one of the fastest growing and most dynamic energy grids in the United States, and how to meet them.”
“Texas is the fastest growing electric grid in the nation with peak demand larger than any other state and leads the nation in advancing reliable resources,” Vegas said. “Texas leaders have faced the challenges in the ongoing energy transition head-on and are committed to driving improvements in the energy economy for the benefit of generations to come.”
ERCOT’s Board of Directors notes that ERCOT supports the fastest growing economy and electric grid in the U.S., completes $50 million a day in settlement transactions, manages a $28 billion electric market, and oversees the third largest grid and the largest renewable fleet in the U.S.
ERCOT previously announced in July that Texas’ energy grid could meet peak demands as more people were moving to Texas, requiring more power, and temperatures were entering triple digits. While it issued a conservation warning in July, it also announced there was enough power for current demand and the grid met demand throughout the summer.