ERCOT, PUC say they are ready for winter
AUSTIN, Texas - The Texas Public Utility Commission held its Winter Preparedness workshop Friday in Austin.
Winter is coming, even if it doesn't feel like it in late October in North Texas.
"In short, we will be prepared for this winter season," said Patrick Reinhart, the Vice President of Centerpoint Energy.
Since the 2021 winter storm, which caused blackouts for days and hundreds of deaths, the power grid's reliability has been in question.
Following the storm, lawmakers passed multiple bills, elevating standards for inspections and weatherization of power generators and plants.
"Today, ERCOT has been successful in meeting our targeted inspections," said Brandon Manley, Senior Weatherization Analyst for ERCOT.
Friday, ERCOT gave an update to the Public Utility Commission about weatherization inspections.
Manley says the state has nearly 1,300 generation facilities.
Manley said they are ahead of schedule with their inspections that have to happen by law in a 3-year time period.
Representatives from energy companies also gave an update on their plans for the winter.
Oncor announced a new program, but gave few details about a new winter plan.
"Oncor will be offering both residential and commercial load management programs this winter. The residential program is a new program we are kicking off this winter," said Gary Jones, Oncor's Director of Energy Efficiency.
Specifics of how the residential load management program would work were not given in the meeting.
Gary Jones with Oncor said the plan could service more than 30,000 homes.
Dan Woodfin with ERCOT talked about planned outages.
Woodfin said right now, before winter is the peak for the outage season.
He says new protocols will help ensure there is no surprise outages when the grid is tight in the winter.
"We do allow some outages during the winter, that tends to be private use networks," Woodfin said.
You may have seen the emergency notifications this summer, more will be used this winter if conditions become tight.