ERCOT CEO on summer preps, artificial intelligence stressing grid | Texas: The Issue Is

Texas power grid concerns, chance of closing primaries

The Texas power grid will be tested this summer. FOX 7's Rudy Koski talks to ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas about the status of the grid. Then, FOX 26's Greg Groogan talks about closed primaries with political scientist Mark Jones.

AUSTIN - The head of ERCOT says the grid will have enough power supply to meet demand this summer.

The outlook comes after a gloomy report in February that warned of a fast-approaching power shortage.

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas on power grid

What they're saying:

ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas spoke with FOX 7's Rudy Koski about the positive outlook and why his optimism goes beyond the summer months.

Vegas: "We do have enough power. The grid is ready for that. We've been doing our inspections for the summer season. Some people may not know, but we actually inspect the power plants and the transmission substations in the winter and the summer both. So we want to make sure that they're ready to run in the peak heat and the peak cold and so we've done over 3,000 inspections since this program started. That was something that came out of Winter Storm Uri, a new formal program that ERCOT administers and the inspections are showing that the operators are taking this very seriously, that they're readying their power facilities in order to be able to operate during the peak summer heat." 

Koski: "We heard all about how the Texas power plants are really built for the hot Texas summer, but with that said, and with those inspections, any problems? Any issues that you saw that you say, I have to address this?"

Vegas: "I can tell you there's been nothing significant or concerning that makes me think this is going to be a problem, [or that] we're not going to be able to deal with this summer."

Koski: "We just wrapped up the legislative session and state lawmakers really put an emphasis on natural gas plants. But we do know that solar and wind have played a big role in getting us through some peak periods and times. Are you happy in how this new triplet-type situation is merging together and then throwing in batteries?"

Vegas: "What we're finding is that each of the different supply resources, whether it's wind or solar, whether it's the traditional gas, nuclear, coal, or the brand new batteries that we're starting to see quite a lot of growth on in our system, all of them are bringing something unique to the game."

Koski: "Are you worried that lawmakers are a little bit too focused on natural gas? Are you worried about that kind of rhetoric?"

Vegas: "No, because I think what's really underlying it is a desire for balance. We've seen predominantly, almost limited to, wind and solar and batteries growing on the ERCOT grid over the last five years, and very little natural gas. I think legislators and policymakers are concerned about this imbalance for the long term."

Koski: "You mentioned the growth of back in February, ERCOT caused a little bit of a stir by saying power demand could nearly double by 2030, supply could fall short by 6% by the summer of 2026 and then there would be an even wider gap in 2029. Does that report still hold?"

Vegas: "The core growth story is still the same. So we still expect tremendous economic growth. A lot of it is driven by data centers. You've heard the discussions about artificial intelligence and the amount of energy demand that that uses. That continues to be at the center of the focus and the center of the story. However, the legislature made some really important changes during this last session. They passed a bill called Senate Bill 6. And what Senate Bill 6 did is it kind of defined the rules of the road for how data centers would perform and operate in the ERCOT grid. And one of the key requirements is that data centers, which happen to be built, they all are built with backup generation on site. Those backup generation facilities, if the grid were to get into an emergency condition and be very scarce, those data centers would come off of the grid and use their backup generation. That's now put into law. And that's something that is a game-changer when it comes to reliability. And so that provision, once implemented, is going to, I think, pave the pathway for safe growth on the data center side. And that going to really change the picture of that forecast. I think it's going to change the reliability and improve the numbers when we do our next update."

Koski: "Are you confident that the [local power providers] are ready for the summer?"

Vegas: "I think there were a lot of lessons learned, Rudy. A lot of lesson learned as to how to do better, how to communicate better, how to prepare better, how to manage vegetation better, how to stage people when there is an issue and respond more quickly. I saw a lot of lessons learned and come out of the experiences from last summer and I do believe that our utility partners are ready for the summer weather ahead of us."