The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) unveiled Wednesday morning their new campaign to alert Texans to changing grid operations and conditions.
ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas held a virtual press conference at 10:30 a.m. to discuss the new campaign.
The company said the new campaign will deliver “clear and reliable messaging” regarding grid operations and conditions.
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ERCOT Warns of Brownouts This Summer in Forecast of Power Grid Demand
Earlier this month, ERCOT shared their seasonal assessment for this summer and warned that in extreme conditions the demand for power could outpace the available supply.
“On the hottest days of summer there is no longer enough on-demand, dispatchable power generation to meet demand in our system,” said Peter Lake, chairman of the Public Utility Commission of Texas, in early May.
Dispatchable power is electricity that can be created on demand, from non-renewable coal, nuclear, or natural gas generation facilities and does not include renewable energy sources like solar or wind.
“We are having to rely more on renewables during can peak conditions than we ever have before,” said ERCOT’s CEO, Pablo Vegas. “And as a result of this dynamic, this summer could have tighter hours than last summer, with a higher risk of emergency operations.”
But the state’s ongoing population boom is faster than the state’s grid can keep up with.
“We have the equivalent of the entire city of Oakland, California moving to Texas every year. More devices, more demand for electricity. So it’s that increase in demand without the market incentives to increase the supply of the dispatchable power that is now the resource adequacy problem,” Lake said.
He said from 2008 to 2022, Texas’ on-demand dispatchable power supply grew only 1.5%. However, in that same timeframe, our population has grown by 24%.
“The Texas grid faces a new reality,” said Lake. “Data shows for the first time that the peak demand for electricity this summer will exceed the amount we can generate from on-demand dispatchable power, so we will be relying on renewables to keep the lights on.”
“The challenges that we’ve been describing today have been on the horizon for several years,” Lake said.
