The ERCOT supervisory board held an urgent meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the winter storm that hit most of Texas last week. They apologized for the devastation the power outages caused and pledged to gather the facts to help lawmakers determine how to prevent this from happening again.
ERCOT CEO Bill Magness faced questions from his own board as to why these power outages were so severe and why the agency was unable to predict such a devastating outcome before the storm came.
“I mean, we saw something here that, you know, surpasses any extreme scenario,” said Magness.
In an online presentation to the ERCOT board, Magness showed slides revealing an updated analysis showing almost half of the power generating units, 48.6%, in the disconnected state at the height of the interruptions.
All of this was caused by a climate system that he described as greater than anything the agency’s meteorologists had predicted, calling into question the forecasting models used to forecast the state’s winter climate and energy needs.
“This is the kind of thing that, you know, moves the goal posts, number one, so we have to know that we can see another February 2021 event when we look at the extremes,” said Magness.
ERCOT weather data shows that the Dallas / Fort Worth area was frozen or below freezing for more than 140 hours. That’s 40 hours longer than the 2011 winter storm, which caused power outages.
This time, demand for energy reached a historic record, while all types of plants – and even the natural gas distribution lines for some plants – closed in the cold, forcing ERCOT to request interruptions to avoid a much worse collapse of the entire power system.
A graph presented at the meeting shows that Texas was less than five minutes from a blackout that may have paralyzed the power system for weeks or months.
Magness expressed frustration at the meeting about how long it took to bring some power plants back online. The graphs shared today showed that for days many were unable to restart and that is what turned this into such a devastating crisis with lives lost and houses damaged.
A board member criticized Magness today, saying he did not do enough to alert the council to the possibility of a crisis before the storm came.
“I feel, as a board member, very frustrated that it didn’t happen,” said counselor Jacqueline A. Sargent. “And I just wanted to make that statement.”
As NBC 5 Investigates first reported, ERCOT’s audio recordings show that Magness spent less than a minute discussing the impending storm at the last board meeting, just five days before the storm’s arrival
Today he offered an apology.
“I certainly could have done a better job emphasizing what was to come and also having a deeper communication with the board. So I understand your frustration, ”said Magness.
On Thursday, he will face more questions from House and Senate lawmakers. The beginning of what some, including Dallas state senator Nathan Johnson, describe as the beginning of an investigative mission.
“It is certainly possible that ERCOT made decisions or did not make the decisions it should have made, and I have some information about that. But until I have complete information, I am not launching a judgment. There are many other participants in this process, both private and public, ”said Johnson.
A fifth ERCOT board member resigned today by joining four others who announced their resignation yesterday, saying they wanted to avoid controversy over living in other states.