ERCOT optimistic about energy restoration for all Texans
The CEO of EROT, who manages the state’s electricity grid, said at a news conference that he is optimistic that they can bring everyone’s energy back sooner or later.
DALLAS – There seems to be a lot of blame for the failure of the Texas power grid. But things are looking up.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the agency that manages the Texas power grid, said it has suspended the order for controlled interruptions now that there is an increase in generation and demand is stable.
During a news conference on Thursday morning, ERCOT CEO Bill Magness said the power grid was slowly being repaired. He is optimistic that Texans will have their power back sooner or later.
The number of powerless customers in the service area of Oncor, the North Texas electricity delivery company, dropped from around 220,000 overnight to just over 150,000. There were more than 600,000 on Wednesday and 1.1 million on Tuesday morning.
As of Thursday morning, there were about 71,000 Oncor customers in Dallas-Fort Worth still without power. The company said the remaining outages are the result of storm damage that its teams are working to repair.
RELATED: Oncor defends decisions about who gets power and who doesn’t stay in North Texas
ERCOT said the reason it lost so much power generation earlier this week is because of the extremely low temperatures.
Magness admitted that he did not do a good job of letting the public know that, instead of blackouts that should happen, the interruptions would last for days.
ERCOT planned the worst possible scenario for the winter, basically the winter of 2011. It was ready for anything that came close to that.
Supervisory group for Texas dealerships says plants don’t need to be weathered
The governor also told the state legislature to order power plants to meet winter preparation requirements. But with almost 60,000 homes and businesses still without power in our four largest counties, who can guarantee that these requirements are actually met?
But what if there is a winter system like this that places a demand on the power grid several thousand megawatts higher than the worst case scenario?
“Having seen the extent of this event, it certainly figures in what we think we will see in history, just as we were measuring against the most severe system that we saw in Texas before. “said Magnes.
The public learned on Wednesday that while winter preparation for Texas mills is recommended, it is not mandatory. Many do not take steps to protect themselves against the types of winter conditions that Texas has seen in recent days.
RELATED: ERCOT says winter is optional, power will not be fully restored until at least Thursday
ERCOT said that power plants did not invest in winter preparation because extreme cold events like this are rare in Texas and their worst variety usually occurs during the hottest periods of summer.
Magness said the group that regulates the grid, the North American Electrical Reliability Organization, may intervene and demand that the plants be prepared for the winter.
The agency also said that the decision on Monday to start cutting power to millions of people for long periods prevented a major crisis, such as a catastrophic blackout that could have taken months to overcome.
How about having a better system?
Andrew Barlow is the spokesman for the Texas Public Utility Commission.
They provide regulatory oversight for, among other things, the electricity sector in the state.
“ERCOT, for example, responds to us,” explained Barlow.
ERCOT called for forced conservation this week at a level they said they never expected. That’s why people are sitting in the dark.
“For what it’s worth, the system worked until Saturday, for years, for decades,” said Barlow. “Things got really bad because the power plants were simply shut down because they had mechanical failures, wire failures and weather problems.”
At the moment, private plants in the state do not need to be subjected to bad weather.
“As a business model and business people, they realize that the best opportunity to get a return on investment is to be 100% ready when conditions of scarcity in the network arise as a result of a weather event like this,” said Barlow.
In Texas, there are 680 plants.
It is suggested that each one take measures to protect their generators with weathering, but how they do it is strictly voluntary.
[REPORTER: “Why is there no mandatory weatherization for power generators in the state of Texas?”]
“It is not something that was established by the legislature,” replied Barlow.
It is mandatory that the plants simply report the presence of a plan. Barlow said there are no mandatory parameters for what needs to be in that plan.
It is a requirement that came after the 2011 ice storm, which left Texans in the dark during the days leading up to the Super Bowl.
“The systems were implemented by requiring generators to provide reports and updates on climate control efforts,” said Barlow.
But some say, ironically, the requirement lacks any real power.
“With regard to a broad standard that is inspected in detail at all factories in the state, this is not something that exists,” explained Barlow.
In fact, of these 680 power plants, ERCOT personally checks around 100 each year to offer advice on how to make them better.
Last year, the reliability council did not visit a single site, instead it reviewed about 95 of them virtually, citing the care of COVID-19.
“You plan the worst, and then the worst is 100 times that. You have to change your standards, ”said Barlow.
Now, Barlow said that Texans can expect a complete legislative overhaul to determine whether Texas will decide to prepare itself better for the next time Mother Nature comes.
“When the meteor falls, someone will complain that the government has not prepared for the meteor to fall,” said Barlow.
RELATED: No, frozen wind turbines are not the main culprit for power cuts in Texas
Texas leaders blaming the Texas power grid
The people who designed, bragged and managed the Texas power system are now attacking him and each other. Texas Tribune reporter Alana Rocha joined Good Day to talk about how even Governor Greg Abbott moved from ERCOT defense to criticism. He is also blaming renewable energy, which Texas boasted of just a few days ago.
Governor Abbott said the extremely cold weather of the past few days had compromised all Texas energy sources.
“There are several sources of energy that go into the grid in the state of Texas,” he said. “Some of these coal and natural gas facilities froze or had a mechanical failure.”
The governor said that not only coal and natural gas facilities were affected, but also other sources, such as nuclear, wind and solar.
He is calling on the Texas Legislature to investigate how ERCOT handled events in the past few days.
RELATED: Texas Governor Greg Abbott urges state lawmakers to investigate ERCOT
As for the pending investigation, the ERCOT CEO said that “guilt can be assessed very soon. Guilt will certainly be assessed”.
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