Uri

In Texas, rising power demand, increasing dependence on variable-output renewables, and declining availability of dispatchable fossil-fired plants to back up wind and solar have left the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) power grid in a pickle. As part of its response, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) adopted a tool called the Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM) to help ensure the grid will be able to meet a yet-to-be-defined reliability standard. But while key metrics for the PCM have been identified, the details will determine which dispatchable resources will be supported with additional revenue, how much the whole approach will cost, and how effective it might be. In today’s RBN blog, we explore the debate ahead of the PUCT’s August 29 meeting — where it is expected to finalize rules around the PCM — and explore the difficulty of compensating generators annually so that they are also there for those once-in-10-year events. 

In the three years since the deadly electrical outages caused by Winter Storm Uri, the Texas Legislature, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) have been working overtime to design and implement changes to ensure a more reliable Texas power grid. But it hasn’t been easy. The state’s energy-only electricity market and its outsized reliance on intermittently available wind and solar power have forced policymakers, regulators and the electric-grid operator to develop a wide range of fixes aimed at maintaining a competitive atmosphere while at the same time incentivizing market players to have power available when it’s needed most. In today’s RBN blog, we look at what they’ve been up to. 

Everyone in Texas remembers the infamous Winter Storm Uri of three years ago. What started out as a simple cold snap for many quickly turned into something far more serious: the biggest power outage in state history, with billions of dollars in property damage and hundreds of lives lost. Since then, the expected arrival of frigid temperatures has been met with some trepidation, but the critical failures of February 2021 have so far been avoided in subsequent storms. In today’s RBN blog, we look at the steps the state has taken in recent years to weatherize its power grid, show why January’s cold snap turned out to be no big deal, and explain why renewables are playing an increasingly important role in grid reliability during extreme weather conditions. 

In a part of the world where enduring a cold winter is often seen as a badge of honor, the latest cold blast that descended on Canada just before Christmas — and during Christmas in the U.S. — was another one for the natural gas record books. By almost every measure, the recent frigid temperatures, though not long-lasting, set new Canadian records for daily demand, storage withdrawals, and net exports to the U.S., and went well beyond the records set during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. In today’s RBN blog, we delve into the latest record-busting Canadian gas data.