Report says ERCOT still not up to power demands of extreme demand

In 1970, the Lone Star State set up it’s own independent power grid run by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, better known as ERCOT.

It serves about 90% of residents. Since the grid is within the state’s borders, it doesn’t fall under federal regulatory jurisdiction– something that has always appealed to lawmakers. But one effect of this was that the Texas was unable to buy power from outside its borders in the event of extreme demand. State officials didn’t see that as a problem.

Then came the freak winter snow storm of February2021. ERCOT wasn’t up to the challenge. About 4.5 million Texans without power, some for weeks. Property damage and economic impact was estimated in the billions.

Even worse, nearly 250 people died.

Gov. Greg Abbott and lawmakers promised quick action to make sure nothing like that would happen again. And by spring the governor was touting reforms that he claimed would “fix all the flaws” with the power grid.

He, the state Public Utility Commission, which oversees ERCOT, and GOP lawmakers have stuck to that story. But a new report from the Federal Energy Regulator Commission says something else again.

This week the Austin American-Statesman reported the report found ERCOT’s reliability only marginally better now than when the storm hit.

It’s fine for normal conditions, the report said. But should something like the 2021 storm happen again, it wouldn’t be able to handle the demand. The American-Statesman reported one energy consultant suggested a likely repeat of what happened in 2021 should the situation ever arise again.

Hopefully, we won’t be faced with such a disaster anytime soon. But no one expected February 2021. It’s time for Texas officials to stop crowing and start fixing the problem. For real, this time.