If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. In counties around Beaumont in eastern Texas, Entergy suffered relatively few outages either, because of previous winterization efforts. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Independent System Operator from October 2015 - October 2018. After the power grid crisis during the February 2021 winter storm that left millions of Texans in the dark during dayslong power outages and caused hundreds of deaths, the Texas Legislature ordered the PUC to make several major changes, including requiring power plants to better prepare for very cold conditions and implementing a reliability standard for the states electricity market. managed and monitored. Texas Public Utility Commission Chair Peter Lake, appointed by Gov. Heat Wave Renews Call for Renewable Energy, Bernie, Casar Lend Support to YouTube Staff on Strike, Hundreds Die-In at Texas Capitol to Demand Movement on Overdose Crisis, I Live Here I Give Here: Amplify Austin Day. Its a shame the public doesnt have confidence in the system, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told Jones. The same is true for critical infrastructure like hospitals, he said: utilities are trying to centralize those lines "so the power goes to the hospital, but those other 100 customers that are on that same line can now help in reducing their load.". The key though, is to make sure we have other resources to balance them." Your donation keeps our trusted reporting free and accessible for all Texans and during a legislative session when lawmakers are set to tackle issues from school choice for K-12 students to school safety improvements to changes in property taxes, its critical that Texans know what lawmakers decisions mean for their futures. ERCOT hires Pablo Vegas as new top executive to help manage Texas' power grid. She has reported on several high-profile stories during her career at KSAT and specializes in trending news and things to do around Texas and San Antonio. An ISO schedules power on an electric grid and ensures the grid can . The legislation abolished the former system, in which power was both generated and consumed locally. Hydroelectric Conventional: 23,086 MWh; Thanks to an updated method for conservation notices, ERCOT has also been able to cut demand beyond what officials expected. Its our 10th year participating in Amplify, and to celebrate, weve got $15,000 in matching funds from four generous Tribune supporters. Lake declined to respond directly to the letter from senators during the House hearing Monday but said that the agency is grateful for feedback., I agree we need more dispatchable power, Lake said. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor. Jones said the June power crunch was caused by issues stemming from the February freeze. Executive Summary. Texas's failure to prepare left the state vulnerable to winter-storm blackouts, including the major disaster that occurred ten years later in February 2021. He's a graduate of Texas State University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The University Star. [36][37] During the power loss, some Texans were forced to survive in record freezing temperatures down to 2F (19C). ", Power plants had until Dec. 1 to file weatherization reports, and all did except eight, who received fines totaling $7.5 million. With the states rapid population growth, this situation is getting more difficult and more challenging every year, he said. [9], ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation,[12][13] and its members include consumers, electric cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers), and municipally owned electric utilities. [18], At the beginning of World War II, several electric utilities in Texas agreed to operate together as the Texas Interconnected System (TIS) to support the war effort. The best way to say it is that before, operators had gotten comfortable standing at the edge of the cliff and looking down, and now we stand 10 feet back. 31,546 people follow this. Solar power doesn't work at night without battery storage, which would have to be scaled up to run for several days to get through a weeklong event like Uri. He has over 30 years of experience as a process engineer. Other senators questioned why in June, two weeks after the regular legislative session ended, some Texas power plants unexpectedly went offline, spurring ERCOT to ask Texans to set thermostats higher during a heat wave to conserve energy. We need a reliability standard.. What percentage of Texas energy is renewable? According to ERCOT officials, the cold weather in the area has resulted in a record-breaking demand on the power grid. However, there are a few ways you can reduce your electric usage at home. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has declared an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 and is urging consumers and businesses to limit their electricity use as much as possible on Sunday. Jones responded that Downtown's grid is a sort of mesh structure, which makes it more reliable for those businesses but also precludes Austin Energy from turning off any one feeder. On May 4, 1976, Central Southwest Holdings attempted to force the issue, with an event that was later called the "Midnight Connection", where it connected the grid to Oklahoma for a few hours. [50], ERCOT is governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Legislature. or. To remove industry jargon, to speak to you in ways that all of us can understand.. September 28, 2021 | Austin, Texas Brad Jones of Liberty Hill is the Interim CEO of ERCOT. [15] A megawatt of electricity can power about 200 Texas homes during periods of peak demand. ", "I commend the ERCOT Board for confirming a leader of Brad's caliber as interim CEO," said PUC Chairman Peter Lake. We can help. Supply and Demand. Tuesdays hearing was more of a status update on the power grid, but it was the first public opportunity for lawmakers to question the grid operators interim president, Brad Jones, and the three-member board of the Public Utility Commission, which oversees Jones and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. The ERCOT Board of Directors today (April 27) announced the selection of Brad Jones to serve as the interim President and CEO for the Texas grid operator serving 90 percent of the state, effective May 4, 2021. Greg Abbott's now-infamous guarantee that last year's Winter Storm Uri catastrophe won't be repeated, Jones said, "We've done everything possible to make sure that the lights do stay on." She is a mentor for American Corporate Partners. This represents 85 percent of the state's electric load and 75 percent of the Texas land area. Erin Douglas, Kate McGee and Jolie McCullough, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 20:02. Updated Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. "Henry Hub Natural Gas Spot Price (Dollars per Million Btu)", "The Price Spike Report issued July 23, 2003", "Extreme winter weather is disrupting energy supply and demand, particularly in Texas", "What went wrong with the Texas power grid? Double your gift when you give by 6 p.m. Thursday. Coal: 78,700 MWh; Conservation is a good thing, Jones said. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas ensures a reliable electric grid and efficient electricity markets. "He is an experienced leader and understands the ERCOT vision and mission. Brad Johnson January 20, 2023. . Dan Patrick has already demanded: a guarantee that more natural gas plants will be built in Texas. Electric Reliability Council of Texas has 125 employees, of which 19 are in a leadership position. ERCOT underestimated the maximum amount of power that would be demanded by homes, businesses and industry during a severe winter storm in its fall projections, and it overestimated the amount of power generation that would be available to the grid during such a storm. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has named its new leader more than a year after the previous CEO was terminated. Natural Gas: 125,704 MWh; With BESS, he says, if Austin were to endure the opposite of Uri a heat dome such as Portland experienced last summer, leading to scores of deaths solar would get us through. Latest local news from South Texas from KSAT12. Trevino received a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Business Administration from the Texas Tech University. [43][44] On March 8, 2021, ERCOT began releasing a weekly market notice that includes entities that have paid previously identified short-pay amounts and provides an updated estimate of the aggregate outstanding short-pay amount. Energy experts say lawmakers could have passed legislation to pay consumers to reduce electricity usage or help Texans better insulate their homes and reduce their electricity usage. Dec. 5, 20223 PM Central. [5] Patrick Svitek contributed to this story. Dan Patrick had called for Magness and DeAnn Walker, then the head of the PUC, to resign. Community See All. Lawmakers cannot pass laws to improve Texas power grid during the special legislative session. When lawmakers reconvene for another special session in the fall, some are hoping grid-related issues will be on the agenda. Instead, the PUC plan would prioritize technology that can quickly switch power on and off throughout the grid to balance drops in renewable power generation when the sun doesnt shine or wind doesnt blow. All four regulators replaced officials ousted after the winter storm that crippled the grid for days during subfreezing weather. Seems to me we asked you to do something, and youre doing it, he said. You can do this by setting your thermostat to 78 degrees (or a level that is safe for you); turning off lights and pool pumps; avoiding use of large appliances such as ovens, washing machines and dryers; and turning off or unplugging unused electric appliances. July 13, 2021 / 8:50 AM / CBS Texas. ERCOT is prioritizing backup gas resources for generating plants: "If natural gas becomes unavailable, they can switch to the alternate fuel on-site. [14], Power demand in the ERCOT region is typically highest in summer, primarily due to air conditioning use in homes and businesses. If the agency completes its rule-making as scheduled, Lake said during the hearing, he expects that the plan would be fully implemented by 2026. There are many things that are on us, Creighton said. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. This spring, ERCOT forecasters predicted just a 5% chance that this summer's peak load demand would reach the levels it has. In the days and weeks before the plant failures, ERCOT had asked several energy companies to delay their scheduled maintenance in order to keep up with the hotter-than-expected May weather. Other Gas: 972 MWh; Brad Jones, interim CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, expressed confidence in the states grid heading into summer at a Tuesday press conference. [28], Texans outside the ERCOT-controlled grid had a different power experience. During the war, the grid was interconnected to other states and excess power generation was sent to industries on the Gulf Coast, providing a more reliable supply of electricity for production of metal and other material needed for the war.[19]. broke down Friday, and industry officials say others did, too. Meanwhile, the Texas Railroad Commission, which regulates the natural gas industry, has required those providers to sign up as critical services whose own electricity won't be shut down during a blackout. Looking to avert crises like Uri in the future, Jones says, "We want to bring in as much solar and wind as we possibly can. In counties around El Paso in western Texas, El Paso Electric reported that, as a result of it having investing millions in cold weather upgrades after the 2011 cold snap, 3,000 customers lost power for less than five minutes. Solar: 5,381 MWh; Prior to becoming President and CEO of the New York ISO, Brad served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. ERCOT_ISO Electric Reliability Council of Texas ERCOT Board of Directors Brad Jones Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Betty Day Vice President, Security & Compliance and Chief . Breaking down the state's power sources from gas to wind. On Tuesday, Abbott amended his statement in regards to this week's ice storm: "No one can guarantee there won't be a load shed event. The Chronicle welcomes opinion pieces on any topic from the community. Industry veteran Brad Jones is taking over as interim president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of . over the last decade to implement meaningful grid-related improvements. Three PUC commissioners, including the chair, are appointed by the governor of Texas. A long-time leader among ERCOT stakeholders, Brad chaired ERCOT's Technical Advisory Committee, a Jobs The Electric Reliability Council of Texas Board of Directors has selected Brad Jones to serve as interim president and CEO for the organization that manages the Texas power grid.. During PUC Chair Peter Lakes testimony before the House State Affairs Committee on Monday, lawmakers questioned whether the proposal would actually achieve what many Republican members appeared to most want, and what Lt. Gov. 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