Governor to PUC: Improve electric reliability in Texas - KWTX - KBTX

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AUSTIN, Texas (KWTX) - Gov. Greg Abbott, in a letter Tuesday, directed members of the Public Utility Commission “to take immediate action to improve electric reliability across the state,” in the aftermath of widespread outages during the deadly February freeze, a conservation notice in April and a call for power conservation in June, building on reforms the Texas Legislature approved “to increase power generation capacity and ensure the reliability of the Texas power grid.

“The objective of these directives is to ensure that all Texans have access to reliable, safe, and affordable power, and that this task is achieved in the quickest possible way,” Abbott said in the letter.

“Through clear communication, transparency, and implementation of these critical changes, the PUC and ERCOT can regain the public’s trust, restore ERCOT’s status as a leader in innovation and reliability, and ensure Texans have the reliable electric power they expect and deserve.”

Abbott is calling on the PUC to streamline incentives in the ERCOT market to spur development of reliable power sources; to ensure power generators can generate a minimum amount of power at any time; to instruct ERCCOT to develop a maintenance schedule for all non-renewable energy producers including gas, coal and nuclear, and to ensure ERCOT is using non-renewable electricity in sufficient amounts to maintain reliable power throughout the state.

Central Texas State Rep. Kyle Kacal, R-Bryan, says the reforms the Legislature passed should leave the state’s electric grid in better shape.

“We found common ground, we worked for it, we knew the people of Texas deserved a dependable, electrical grid, and I think we’re going to get there,” he said.

“We’ve got some hot temperatures to get through and we’re working through all the kinks and implementing all the programs and the winterization programs, we say winterization but it’s just keeping your facilities ready at all times whether it’s hot or cold, and so those programs are being implemented now, they’re being effective, we should get through this summer and be ready for the next cold front.”

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which oversees most of the state’s electric grid, called for power conservation on June 14 because of “tight grid conditions” resulting from forced generation outages and the potential for record demand for power during the month.

Officials said they started to see unexpected, forced outages over the weekend, then they saw more plants go down on June 13 and June 14 for “unexpected maintenance issues.”

ERCOT asked residents to set thermostats to 78 degrees or higher, to turn off lights and pool pumps and to avoid using large appliances.

Two months earlier, on April 13, ERCOT urged Texans to conserve energy, leaving some worried the state would see a repeat of the widespread power outages that occurred during the historic winter storm in February that left at least 151 dead.

On the evening on April 13— as ERCOT issued its conservation notice — about half of the state’s thermal power plants were offline because of maintenance.

ERCOT released released a preliminary report in early April on the power outages during the historic February storm that attributed generator outages and reductions during the bitter freeze from Feb. 14 to Feb. 19 primarily to weather related problems including frozen equipment, ice accumulation on wind turbine blades, snow and ice cover on solar panels and flooded equipment resulting from melting snow and ice.

Other factors include existing outages, some of which ended before or during the winter weather event; fuel issues including a lack of fuel, contaminated fuel, fuel supply instability, low gas pressure or less efficient alternative fuel supplies; and general equipment failures and malfunctions.

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