ERCOT: POWER PLANTS READY FOR WINTER WEATHER
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) says power plants and facilities around the state are prepared for winter weather.
On Thursday, ERCOT announced it has completed on-site inspections of mandatory winterization efforts, saying results show the independently-owned electric generation fleet and electric transmission companies serving the ERCOT region are ready for winter.
Inspections were completed at 302 electric generation units, representing 85 percent of the megawatt hours lost during Winter Storm Uri due to outages, and 22 transmission station facilities.
ERCOT said it has filed a preliminary summary inspection report with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), and will submit its final inspection report on January 18, 2022.
Woody Rickerson, ERCOT’s Vice President of Grid Planning and Weatherization, said “Texans can be confident the electric generation fleet and the grid are winterized and ready to provide power.”
Of the generation resources inspected, ERCOT found that some generators had exceeded PUC winterization requirements. Only 10 plants had items identified during inspection that needed to be fixed, and ERCOT said all 10 of the plants are still operational.
In addition, ERCOT said six of the 22 transmission facilities inspected had potential identified deficiencies, but most were minor corrections that have already been made.
New regulations created by the 87th Legislature increased the maximum penalties for violating weatherization rules up to $1 million per day per violation. The changes were brought about by Winter Storm Uri, which knocked out power for millions of Texans and killed hundreds. It also led to sweeping changes on the boards for ERCOT and the PUC.