Back in June, ERCOT put out a call for Texans to conserve energy. But, as even hotter temperatures are forecasted, ERCOT says the Texas grid is ready.
"As it stands today, looking at our conditions and what we expect to have next week, we expect to have a sufficient amount of generation to serve all Texans," ERCOT CEO Brad Jones said.
Part of this confidence comes from inspections of power plants done this summer.
"In the past, we did not do summer weatherization checks,” Jones said. “We did that this year. We checked over 31 units to make sure they were ready for the summer season. In addition, we are getting prepared to do checks on all the units that had problems during the winter storm."
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PUC chairman Peter Lake also said operational changes are happening now to help meet demand.
"In July, has called more reserves ... 38% more reserves this year than last year in August,” PUC Chairman Peter Lake said. “They've already called or procured 56% more reserves for this August than they did last August."
Ed Hirs is a University of Houston Energy Fellow. He said things mentioned Thursday by ERCOT and PUC are quick fixes.
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"They're trying to put some band-aids in place for this summer and for next winter,” said Hirs. “But these are short fixes and both chairman Lake and CEO Jones acknowledge that."
Despite ERCOT's confidence about the power supply, it said consumers could still see calls for conservation. That would just be another tool in ERCOT’s toolbox in keeping the power on in Texas.
