TEXAS, USA — ERCOT is facing more and more pressure to be transparent with the public about the electricity grid.
Yes, the lights and air conditioning are on now, but we already got a few warnings from ERCOT that this is not a guarantee when temperatures really soar later this summer.
Just last month, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued a conservation alert and asked Texans to reduce electric use.
That was on June 14.
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The next day, ERCOT explained there were a number of forced generation outages, that's why it needed to us power down. Basically, a bunch of power plants wasn't operating.
But why?
Up until now, ERCOT didn't have to disclose that info for 60 days. But now that's changing.
As of Wednesday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas issued an order that said instead of waiting two months, ERCOT has to put that information out within three days and it will be on the front page of the website.
The information could include which power plants were down and for how long, but experts said that information does not contain great detail.
“It’s not a narrative, it’s data,” said Caitlin Smith, an energy advisor and ERCOT expert in Austin. “There’s usually never anything published that’s like: ‘this is what broke and why,’ unless it’s in an investigation and there’s a settlement.”
So the information about June outages — which could be released as early as next week — may not answer lingering questions about root causes raised by experts and regulators. That includes questions about whether there were damages to the power grid infrastructure stemming from February’s deadly winter storm or if nefarious actors were looking to manipulate the electricity market.
The rule the three PUC board members directed ERCOT to change will provide a breakdown of data power generators provide to the grid operator.
ERCOT’s independent watchdog is expected to investigate what happened last week. Beth Garza, who was director of the watchdog from 2014 to 2019, said in an interview this week that she had encouraged ERCOT to adopt rules that would allow the grid operator to release information more swiftly after certain electricity or power-related “events.” ERCOT and the PUC never did so.
The Texas Tribune contributed to this story. You can read more at TexasTribune.org. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.