CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — If they didn't before, many learned about the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or better known as ERCOT, in February 2021. When ERCOT's power grid failed during a winter storm, it caught the attention of all Texans.
“We are using every available tool in our tool belt to be reliable through this next winter season and through the next summer after that," Pabol Vegas, CEO and President of ERCOT said.
Vegas was in Corpus Christi on Monday to present at the Office of Public Utility Council's annual meeting. In an exclusive interview, Vegas said an effort is being made to regain the public's trust.
“What we’re trying to focus on is being more transparent, and clear, and consistent in our communications,” Vegas said.
How ERCOT does this is providing more real-time information so people understand the why of ERCOT's decisions. They've added several dashboards to their website.
"You can actually see what's powering the grid right now, at any given moment. There's dashboards that show that. There's dashboards that show what we expect the demand to be today and what we expect it to be the next six days. And, how much supply we expect to have and whether it's going to be tight or not. We share what the pricing of the wholesale power market is at any given point in time," Vegas said.
This summer tested the power grid, with this July being the hottest it's ever been in Corpus Christi in recorded history. Vegas said this summer was the second hottest in recorded Texas history. That alone prompted 11 conservation pleas from ERCOT. The public could go online to see why conservation may be needed.
Vegas said the combination of record heat and increasing demand were the reasons the grid was being pushed.
"We're seeing the city the size of Corpus Christi, larger than Corpus Christi added to the State of Texas every single year. That kind of growth is adding to fuel more demand for electricity, as well," he said.
The coming winter is a concern for Texans. Vegas said ERCOT is preparing to begin their Weatherization Program once again. It was born from the lessons learned from the winter storm in February 2021.
The program ensures ERCOT is inspecting all power plants in the state on average every three years. Vegas said another requirement was added this year for evaluations.
“The power plant has to withstand weather based on the geography of where they are in Texas. So, a power plant down in Corpus Christi will have a different temperature profile it needs to operate to versus one that's up in Amarillo,” he said.
On top of weather, ERCOT faces more challenges. As previously mentioned, the population growth has been happening at a rapid rate in Texas.
In an interview last year, Gov. Greg Abbott said he sees Corpus Christi doubling in population in the next 10 to 15 years.
"While it's a strong benefit to the state of Texas, it does require investment in infrastructure and that investment is really important in order to make sure we can reliably serve Texans every single day," Vegas said.
Vegas said because of how unique and competitive the Texas energy industry is, it drives innovation that in turn keeps the supply of energy moving up.
“That has resulted in the fastest amount of renewable energy growth in Texas compared to anywhere in the United States," he said. "We have more wind here than anywhere else. By the end of next year, we may have more solar power generated here than anywhere else. And, we’re one of the fastest growing battery systems in the country.”
To view ERCOT's real-time data, view on their website, here.
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