This browser does not support the Video element.
ERCOT sent back to drawing board for load projections
The people who run the power grid in Texas, the Electric Reliability Council, or ERCOT, this week said the state should prepare for a surge in power demand over the next six years. They predict numbers that are nearly quadruple what we currently use.
DALLAS - The people who run the power grid in Texas, the Electric Reliability Council, or ERCOT, this week said the state should prepare for a surge in power demand over the next six years. They predict numbers that are nearly quadruple what we currently use.
The Public Utility Commission (PUC) Friday held back on giving the green light to ERCOT's proposals.
New ERCOT demand projections
PUC's role is to regulate the state's utilities and oversee ERCOT to make sure we have reliable service.
Their reason for holding back on fully accepting the preliminary long-term load forecast is because the commission thinks the projections are inflated and based on speculative data.
ERCOT says peak power demand will quadruple in six years, projecting a peak demand of 367,790 megawatts by 2032. To put that in perspective, the highest demand ever for the state was around 85 thousand megawatts in 2023.
The increase is largely because of data centers, more people moving to the state, mining cryptocurrency, and West Texas oil production.
ERCOT projections
The grid operator is looking to expand power sources and how that power is moved across the state.
Everything the state does around producing electricity is based on ERCOT's long-range forecast. It all comes with price tags that eventually get passed on to the consumer.
Texas residents resistant to expansion
Dig deeper:
But landowners currently facing the prospect of having big transmission lines running through the Hill Country to the West Texas oil patch — the Permian Basin — don't like it.
One speaker said the only way to keep electricity prices from rising in a system with growing demand is to increase supply, not move existing electrons around more efficiently and have rate payers on the hook for massive transmission build-outs.
Texas data center grid impact sparks legislative testimony
Texas lawmakers and ERCOT officials are evaluating new frameworks to ensure the state’s rapidly expanding data center industry does not compromise power grid reliability or increase electricity rates for residential utility customers.
PUC sends ERCOT back to drawing board
PUC is not currently sold on the accuracy of ERCOT's long-term forecast. They're opting to use new rules requiring ERCOT to go back and begin again with its six-year projections.
They say they need to engage in the process to look at ways to refine this number to something that's more usable.
In its oversight role, PUC can require ERCOT to go back to energy producers and ask hard questions about how to trim expectations and still generate enough electricity to meet all expected energy demands.
The Source: Information in this article comes from ERCOT and a public meeting of the Public Utilities Comission.