ERCOT has canceled a program to boost power reserves for what could be a precarious winter for Texas’ electric grid after no energy companies volunteered to fire up their shuttered plants.
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas had sought enough additional electricity generation to power about 600,000 homes to shore up reserves after it forecast a near 20% chance of reaching emergency conditions this winter.
However, the power grid operator canceled the program on Friday after it received offers for only enough power for 2,200 homes, all of which came from companies willing to shed electricity usage during emergency conditions.
“It was disappointing that there wasn’t more available in the procurement,” ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas said in an interview. “We’re going to really take the learning to focus on what we can do to improve down the road.”
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