The terms of Mr. Jones' engagement with ERCOT will be established with the ERCOT Human Resources and Governance Committee, subject to Board approval. READ ALSO: ERCOT hearings continue in Austin. Amplify your impact and donate now. Recognizing the reliability advantages of remaining interconnected, TIS members continued to operate and develop the interconnected grid. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) Board of Directors (board) selects ERCOT's Chief Executive Officer (CEO), sets overall goals, and guides our direction. ", Power plants had until Dec. 1 to file weatherization reports, and all did except eight, who received fines totaling $7.5 million. In Texas, that would largely mean new natural-gas-fired plants. Set ceiling fans to the winter setting by running them clockwise, to pull the warm air down. Does your plan guarantee new generation? asked state Rep. Todd Hunter, R-Corpus Christi. George Presses of San Antonio is Vice President of Fuel & Energy for H-E-B, where he has worked since 1998. "Is ERCOT a government agency? [20] Instead, under the deregulated regime, retailers could contract with providers across the state, creating a complex market. The selection of Pablo Vegas to head the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, comes about a year and half after a devastating February's 2021 winter storm left dozens dead,. Hydroelectric Conventional: 23,086 MWh; Looking to avert crises like Uri in the future, Jones says, "We want to bring in as much solar and wind as we possibly can. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. [8], As the ISO for the region, ERCOT dispatches power on an electric grid that connects more than 46,500 miles of transmission lines and more than 610 generation units.[9]. by Mitchell Ferman Overall, Jones says, "We've been bringing on additional reserves to make sure we have an abundance of caution. Energy experts say lawmakers could have passed legislation to pay consumers to reduce electricity usage or help Texans better insulate their homes and reduce their electricity usage. Brad Jones, interim CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, expressed confidence in the state's grid heading into summer. Companies are unlikely to begin investing in building new plants until the law is clear, she said. [28] On February 16, electricity shortages caused the price of electricity to spike to over $9,000 per megawatt-hour (MWh),[27][29][30] whereas the week before, the lowest price of power had been less than $30 a MWh. A long-time leader among ERCOT stakeholders, Brad chaired ERCOT's Technical Advisory Committee, a Jobs July 13, 2021 / 8:50 AM / CBS Texas. He oversees Market Operations, Settlement and Retail Operations, Market Design and Development, Credit and Client Relations. Its a shame the public doesnt have confidence in the system, state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, told Jones. Rep. Richard Pea Raymond, D-Laredo, said he doesnt understand why lawmakers in the Senate asked the PUC to hit the brakes on its proposal. Set thermostats to 68 degrees while at home, or as low as comfortably tolerable. He pointed out that even with the winterization requirements, ERCOTs own analysis still points out that there are some extreme weather scenarios that would lead to the grid not having enough power to avoid rolling blackouts. You can do this by setting your thermostat to 78 degrees (or a level that is safe for you); turning off lights and pool pumps; avoiding use of large appliances such as ovens, washing machines and dryers; and turning off or unplugging unused electric appliances. He's a graduate of Texas State University, where he served as the editor-in-chief of the student-run newspaper, The University Star. He is a member of the Texas State University Engineering Advisory Board and the American Heart Association Executive Committee. The operator of the state's main electricity grid has hired a new CEO, ending a 16-month period in the aftermath of . Brad Jones of Liberty Hill is the Interim CEO of ERCOT. Thanks to an updated method for conservation notices, ERCOT has also been able to cut demand beyond what officials expected. Were losing megawatts, but we have more people, more businesses.. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas has named its new leader more than a year after the previous CEO was terminated. [17] The board delivered a 60-day termination notice to Magness, who had been president and CEO since 2016. On Wednesday, Jan. 26, the League of Women Voters and state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, hosted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas ' interim CEO Brad Jones on a " listening tour. The ERCOT region's all-time record peak hour occurred on July 20, 2022, when consumer demand hit 79,828 MW. During a press conference last week, Vegas and Lake both emphasized that the proposed changes would be technologically agnostic and would not prioritize one source of power generation over another. May 17, 20225 PM Central. Pavon's family sued Entergy Texas and ERCOT for gross negligence. Ensure doors and windows are sealed properly. It also performs financial settlement for the competitive wholesale bulk-power market and administers retail switching for nearly 8 million premises in competitive choice areas. Appointment. Lake declined to respond directly to the letter from senators during the House hearing Monday but said that the agency is grateful for feedback., I agree we need more dispatchable power, Lake said. by Erin Douglas According to an ERCOT report, the major sources of generating capacity in Texas are natural gas (51%), wind (24.8%), coal (13.4%), nuclear (4.9%), solar (3.8%), and hydroelectric or biomass-fired units (1.9%). Mr. Jones has more than 25 years of electric industry . The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. ( ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas 's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, [3] [4] which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. The PUCs favored proposal would leave the basics of the market unchanged a supply-and-demand model that relies on price and gives the biggest financial benefits to generators that can produce the cheapest power. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has declared an Energy Emergency Alert Level 1 and is urging consumers and businesses to limit their electricity use as much as possible on Sunday. ERCOT underestimated the maximum amount of power that would be demanded by homes, businesses and industry during a severe winter storm in its fall projections, and it overestimated the amount of power generation that would be available to the grid during such a storm. Melissa Trevino of Houston is the Assistant Vice President for Power at Occidental Energy Ventures, where she leads the energy management team and oversees the power reporting and compliance group. The scene in North Austin on Feb. 16, 2021, following the devastating winter storm. Your donation keeps our trusted reporting free and accessible for all Texans and during a legislative session when lawmakers are set to tackle issues from school choice for K-12 students to school safety improvements to changes in property taxes, its critical that Texans know what lawmakers decisions mean for their futures. Hydroelectric Pumped Storage: -368; [23], During a major cold-weather event in mid-February 2021, ERCOT declared a statewide emergency, due to a 34,000 MW shortfall in generation that caused widespread blackouts. About See All. But the gas companies that fuel them, despite being the biggest contributors to the blackout (and to Abbott's reelection campaign), didn't have to. Brad Jones, interim CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas . He is a corporate member representative for the Texas Oil & Gas Association, Texas Industrial Energy Consumers, Louisiana Energy Users Group, Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers, Texas Energy Coalition, and the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. Support the free press, so we can support Austin. It puts a lot of wear and tear on some of these older machines. You can get the very latest forecast anytime by bookmarking our weather page and downloading the KSAT Weather Authority App - available for both Apple and Android devices. With BESS, he says, if Austin were to endure the opposite of Uri a heat dome such as Portland experienced last summer, leading to scores of deaths solar would get us through. Thats because we want to stay far enough away from a rolling outage scenario that were asking for it early, Jones said to the Houston Chronicle. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. Recommendations made afterward went unenforced. Conservation is what we should do every day in our lives, conservation is how we treat our use of water in the summers, and when its very hot, I hope that each of you will turn to conservation as a way to both lower your [electricity] bill as well as to help all of us in the market.. The winter storm that has moved across our region has caused temperatures to drop well below average for this time of year. This represents 85 percent of the state's electric load and 75 percent of the Texas land area. Murphy received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the United States Air Force Academy, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and a Master of Public Administration from The University of Texas at San Antonio. Hunter and Rep. John Smithee, R-Amarillo, repeatedly questioned Lake about whether the PUCs vote on the market redesign which is expected in January after the public has an opportunity to comment on the plan would be binding and whether the Legislature would have the opportunity to make changes to it. ERCOT_ISO Electric Reliability Council of Texas ERCOT Board of Directors Brad Jones Interim President and Chief Executive Officer Betty Day Vice President, Security & Compliance and Chief . The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) command center in Taylor. With the states rapid population growth, this situation is getting more difficult and more challenging every year, he said. Tuesdays hearing was more of a status update on the power grid, but it was the first public opportunity for lawmakers to question the grid operators interim president, Brad Jones, and the three-member board of the Public Utility Commission, which oversees Jones and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. (Jordan Vonderhaar For The Texas Tribune, Jordan Vonderhaar For The Texas Tribune). Confidential proposals were due April 9, and ERCOT received eight proposals that it is evaluating for Board consideration. [31][32] Some retail electricity providers were possibly facing huge losses or bankruptcy,[33] and customers of Griddy reported receiving absurdly high electric bills. [34][35], Approximately 4 million customers in Texas were without electricity for various times during the multi-day storm. Other senators questioned why in June, two weeks after the regular legislative session ended, some Texas power plants unexpectedly went offline, spurring ERCOT to ask Texans to set thermostats higher during a heat wave to conserve energy. [46] By late March, the total number of deaths surpassed 110. Jones says the ideal backup is "micro-grids": Companies like H-E-B and Walmart can use generators to "separate from the grid until ERCOT is safe enough for them to return." This spring, ERCOT forecasters predicted just a 5% chance that this summer's peak load demand would reach the levels it has. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, ERCOT Interim president and CEO Brad Jones said forecasters for the organization did not anticipate the extreme heat and projected that on the hottest day of summer, the grid demand could reach a max of 77,300 megawatts. [53], The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) makes policy recommendations to the ERCOT Board of Directors. Dan Patrick has already demanded: a guarantee that more natural gas plants will be built in Texas. Regulators say it would. Jakob Rodriguez is a digital journalist at KSAT 12. That's the difference.". The board oversees major functions of ERCOT: open access to the transmission grid on nondiscriminatory terms, system reliability and adequacy, and . Greg Abbott and many state lawmakers quickly criticized the Electric Reliability Council of Texas because several members of its large . Your donation keeps our trusted reporting free and accessible for all Texans and during a legislative session when lawmakers are set to tackle issues from school choice for K-12 students to school safety improvements to changes in property taxes, its critical that Texans know what lawmakers decisions mean for their futures. An ISO schedules power on an electric grid and ensures the grid can . Creighton added that it may take the PUC and ERCOT months or years to implement some of the changes lawmakers approved in the spring, such as requiring power plants to protect critical infrastructure from extreme weather. ", One of the main questions from attendees was on equitable load-shedding during a blackout; many emailed asking why Downtown's lights stayed on. The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved Vegas' selection Tuesday and he will begin his new position Oct. 1. During the war, the grid was interconnected to other states and excess power generation was sent to industries on the Gulf Coast, providing a more reliable supply of electricity for production of metal and other material needed for the war.[19]. The rule, if implemented, would punish those who failed to produce the power they promised with financial penalties. The fastest-growing sources of power in fast-growing Texas are wind turbines and solar panels, which typically dont provide as much power during the winter months as during the summer. In the weeks since the winter storm, both ERCOT and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the regulatory body that oversees it, have been lambasted for failures in preparing for and responding to the storm. Find a complete list of them here. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is a nonprofit organization that ensures reliable electric service for 90 percent of the state of Texas. [15] A megawatt of electricity can power about 200 Texas homes during periods of peak demand. Lake said that right now, according to an analysts report commissioned by the PUC, the Texas grid can be expected to experience rolling blackouts at least one day per year on average. 9:50 AM Dec 2, 2021 CST, Brad Jones, interim president and CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, shared new accountability plans and fielded several questions in a town hall coordinated by state Reps Matt Shaheen, R-Plano, and Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, on Dec. 1 at the George A. Purefoy Municipal Center. | (512) 463-2000, Office of the Texas Governor | Greg Abbott, Governor Abbott Appoints Six to Texas Energy Reliability Council. Mr. Jones was elected by the Board to serve as interim President and CEO until the permanent position has been filled, up to a term of one year (pursuant to ERCOT Bylaws). Dec. 5, 20223 PM Central. That didnt stop a Senate committee from calling the states top electricity and utility regulators to the Capitol Tuesday morning to discuss the state of the power grid following unexpected power plant outages in June, lingering issues with the states energy infrastructure from Februarys deadly winter storm and plans to implement legislation that lawmakers approved in the spring during the regular legislative session. "He brings the right combination of ERCOT knowledge and broad industry expertise needed to provide the stability and reliability that Texans expect and deserve.". Disclosure: Texas Competitive Power Advocates has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. [20] The 1999 deregulation also dropped limits on rate increases. 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