AUSTIN, Texas — The head of the state’s power grid operator said Tuesday that they are ready for the hot months ahead.
“We are prepared for this summer,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said at Tuesday’s board meeting in Austin.
Vegas told board members the riskiest time will be in August from 8 to 10 p.m. due to hotter temperatures and also the increased reliance on renewables.
Vegas said since the previous year, which saw the second-hottest summer on record, the grid’s added new generation, including more than nine gigawatts of solar and battery storage, 1.5 gigawatts of wind and 146 megawatts of natural gas.
ERCOT estimates that’s enough to power 2 million more homes.
“Because of the additional solar and storage resources and the forecasted summer weather conditions, the risk profile for the grid this summer compared to the last summer is about the same to slightly improved,” said Vegas.
Ed Hirs, Energy Fellow at the University of Houston, is skeptical.
“It was just two weeks ago that (Vegas) said that we had a 16% opportunity of going into emergency alerts and preparing for conservation and a 12% chance of rolling blackouts,” said Hirs. “So, these statements don’t line up.”
Hirs says the state needs more plants it can quickly turn on, known as dispatchable power. However, Hirs warns natural gas plants built today could take five years to come online.
During Tuesday’s meeting, Dan Woodfin, Vice President, System Operations for ERCOT, also told the board their team is watching the tropical system in the Gulf of Mexico forecasted to bring heavy rain to Texas.
“We work with the PUC through the state operations center and Texas Department of Emergency Management to help them know what we’re seeing on the power system and then respond to anything that we need to do to coordinate with all those other entities,” Woodfin said.
At the end of Tuesday’s meeting, ERCOT Board Chair Paul Foster announced his resignation, effective Wednesday.
Foster told board members he had spoken with Governor Abbott and wanted to allow enough time to find a replacement before the next legislative session in January.
Vice Chair Bill Flores will serve as interim chair.