Texas Power System and ERCOT Need Reform to Prepare for the Next Storm
A lack of imagination caused the ERCOT grid failure. No one imagined a weeklong extreme cold spell, despite Hollywood blockbusters imagining extreme weather events and much, much worse. Neither the regulators nor the risk managers across the bulk power system thought much about the 200-page report issued in 2011 that highlighted Texas’ vulnerability to a cold-weather event. Two regulators outside of Texas, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), did imagine the possibility of an extreme cold spell. Until the 2021 winter...
Source: dallasobserver.com