Summary: "A new study shows that Texas may be unprepared for another winter storm.With winter on the horizon, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a report calling into question the ability of Texas’ power grid to withstand extreme weather conditions... Although the assessment found that Texas’ grid is prepared for average winter temperatures, FERC said the state’s power supply is still vulnerable to extreme winter weather conditions."
Latest Update: Wednesday, 09 November, 2022
Tags:#Electricity
Texas Scorecard
31 October 2022
Excerpts
A new study shows that Texas may be unprepared for another winter storm.With winter on the horizon, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) released a report calling into question the ability of Texas’ power grid to withstand extreme weather conditions.
FERC’s Winter Energy Market and Reliability Assessment predicts conditions for the upcoming winter, analyzes the energy market, and assesses the reliability of power grids across the country. Although the 2022-2023 report forecasted relatively average temperatures for most regions, FERC highlighted the instability of Texas’ energy supply in emergency conditions.
Currently, Texas is the only state operating its own power grid. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) tracks electricity usage and supplies power to more than 26 million Texans, covering nearly 90 percent of the state’s energy supply. The organization is a “membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation,” and ERCOT members include “consumers, cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities, transmission and distribution providers, and municipally owned electric utilities.”
Despite Abbott’s claims in May 2021 that “everything that needed to be done was done to fix the power grid in Texas” after signing two ERCOT reform bills into law, the new FERC report contradicts his statement. Although the assessment found that Texas’ grid is prepared for average winter temperatures, FERC said the state’s power supply is still vulnerable to extreme winter weather conditions.
Following the report’s release, Rich Parsons, a spokesman for the Public Utility Commission of Texas, disputed FERC’s account in a statement to the Austin American-Statesman, claiming the report contained “inaccuracies.” However, Parsons did not specify which section of the study contradicted ERCOT’s internal data
Willow Park Civics Research
Electric Power Markets > Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Weather: Higher than average temperatures are expected for the coming winter in many regions of the country, which should translate into reduced natural gas and electric demand. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecasts for December 2022 through February 2023 suggest a 50% to 80% likelihood of higher-than-average temperatures in Southern California, the Desert Southwest, Texas, and the Eastern Seaboard, with lower-than-average temperatures expected for the Northwest and the West North Central regions. Forecasts of above-average temperatures imply lower-than-average electric and natural gas demand, although a prolonged cold weather event nevertheless could cause disruptions and price impacts, even within the context of a warmer winter.
Report 2022-2023 Winter Assessment pages 29 - 30 > Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
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