ERCOT Reveals Texas Power Grid Improvement Plan

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has unveiled their "Roadmap to Improving Grid Reliability" to Texas state officials and the public.

After the Texas power grid totally collapsed five months ago, resulting in over 200 deaths, improvements to the grid needed to be made. Here's what ERCOT's Interim President/CEO Brad Jones said:

"Change is required for ERCOT to continue to reliably serve the millions of customers and businesses that depend on us... We have extensively reviewed our processes to better serve Texans and will continue to work very closely with the PUC to ensure we’re aligned in these efforts. These changes will benefit all Texans and support continued economic growth for the state of Texas."

The group's 60-item roadmap is a comprehensive plan addressing improvements needed for the power grid. Improvements consist of creating new legislation, or following current laws, maintenance, conducting studies into a variety of areas and refreshing company policies and training.

The roadmap has been delivered to Texas Governor Greg Abbott, as he had recently outlined reforms and changes in a Governor's Letter to members of the Texas Legislature and the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas. Individuals interested in reading their plans can view them here.

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"ERCOT’s Roadmap puts a clear focus on protecting customers while also ensuring that Texas maintains free market incentives to bring new generation to the state," said PUC Chairman and ERCOT Board Member Peter Lake. "Texans deserve a more reliable grid, and we’re aggressively moving to make that a reality."

Lubbock Power & Light (LP&L) joined ERCOT earlier this year after LP&L's initial request in March 2018. The merge was done in order to connect Lubbock with the rest of Texas' power, to simplify regulation, diversify the city's energy portfolio with a mix of conventional and renewable options, cuts power costs and eliminate the need for additional power plant construction.

ERCOT manages the flow of power to over 26 million Texas customers, representing over 90 percent of Texas' electric load.