KRIS 6 NEWS: ERCOT CEO discusses reliability and challenges for the power grid
KRIS 6 NEWS: ERCOT CEO discusses reliability and challenges for the power gridOct. 23 — If they didn’t before, many learned about the Electric Reliability Council of Texas or better known as ERCOT, in February 2021. When ERCOT’s power grid failed during a winter storm, it caught the attention of all Texans.
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CultureMap Austin: Texas is one of the least energy efficient states in the country in 2023, study says
Oct. 24 — Texas ranked as the 40th most energy efficient state, according to WalletHub’s annual report. Only eight continental U.S. states ranked poorer, including Oklahoma, Tennessee, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, and South Carolina, respectively.
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ABC TV 13: 5th area code officially coming to Houston by the end of 2025
ABC TV 13: 5th area code officially coming to Houston by the end of 2025Oct. 25 — Houston, if you were just getting used to the 713 area code, we have news for you. New phone lines will soon start getting a 621 number. The Public Utility Commission of Texas says it’s expected to run out of the current area code numbers — 281, 346, 713, 832 — by the end of 2025 due to the continued population growth.
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Utility Dive: New ERCOT battery rule could limit energy storage use in grid emergencies, operators say
Utility Dive: New ERCOT battery rule could limit energy storage use in grid emergencies, operators sayOct. 25 — New state of charge rules “will substantially reduce energy storage participation in the ancillary markets and reduce competition,” Eolian CEO Aaron Zubaty said.
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Utility Dive: Texas ban on non-incumbent transmission is unconstitutional: US solicitor general
Oct. 25 — The solicitor general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to dismiss a petition to review an appeals court finding that a Texas law likely violates the Commerce Clause.
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CW39 TV Houston: Texans to vote on funding to increase electric grid’s ‘reliability’
CW39 TV Houston: Texans to vote on funding to increase electric grid’s ‘reliability’Oct. 23 — Texas Proposition 7, originating from S.J.R. 93, would create the Texas Energy Fund, which would support and finance the “construction, maintenance, and modernization of electric generating facilities.”
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San Antonio Express-News: ‘Costly and illegal’: PUC commissioners worry how much ERCOT could spend for extra power reserves
San Antonio Express-News: ‘Costly and illegal’: PUC commissioners worry how much ERCOT could spend for extra power reservesOct. 23 — Regulators with the Public Utility Commission of Texas expressed uneasiness after leaders from the state’s electric grid operator said last week that they have not set a budget for how much they could spend to secure 3,000 extra megawatts of power for winter emergencies this season.
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NBC DFW TV: ‘Texas has taken steps to make things better’; Experts weigh in ahead of Utility Commission workshop
Oct. 18 — Dr. Daniel Cohan is an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at Rice University. He said we’re in better shape than we were nearly three years ago when a winter storm devastated much of the state with widespread power outages.
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Fox 7 TV: ERCOT prepares power grid for winter weather
Fox 7 TV: ERCOT prepares power grid for winter weatherOct. 21 — State regulators discussed what work needs to be done to make sure the lights stay on in Texas this winter.
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WFAA TV: Energy companies in Texas prepare for winter
WFAA TV: Energy companies in Texas prepare for winterOct. 20 — Even though temperatures are still warm and comfortable, planning for winter can’t come soon enough in the State of Texas.
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El Paso Times: El Paso seeks $100 million to provide solar power to thousands of households
El Paso Times: El Paso seeks $100 million to provide solar power to thousands of householdsOct. 18 — The city of El Paso could receive as much as $100 million from the federal government to develop solar projects for thousands of low-income households and renters across the region after City Council on Tuesday approved the grant request.
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Reuters: Rising curtailments in Texas magnify grid, storage shortfalls
Reuters: Rising curtailments in Texas magnify grid, storage shortfallsOct. 19 — Curtailment of U.S. wind and solar farms are set to rise in the coming years, denting the revenues of generators, as renewable energy deployment outpaces the buildout of transmission capacity and energy storage.
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Texas Monthly: The Year the Texas Legislature Changed the Energy Game Forever
Texas Monthly: The Year the Texas Legislature Changed the Energy Game ForeverNovember 2023 — If you lived in Houston in 1999, Reliant Energy called the shots. The company owned the power plants that generated your electricity, controlled the wires that delivered the electricity, and billed you for every watt of electricity you used. If you didn’t like that setup, too bad. As the parenting saying goes: you get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit.
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Texas Standard: A $1.2 billion hydrogen hub promises clean energy and jobs on the Gulf Coast
Texas Standard: A $1.2 billion hydrogen hub promises clean energy and jobs on the Gulf CoastOct. 18 — With funding from the Biden administration’s infrastructure law, the HyVelocity Hub is a consortium of seven energy-producing companies.
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ABC 13: CenterPoint avoids strike after union workers vote to approve new contract
Oct. 18 — A Wednesday vote avoided a potential strike by CenterPoint Energy’s union employees after workers agreed to accept a contract offer, according to the company.
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S&P Global: Gas utilities take step toward hydrogen future with DOE hub selections
S&P Global: Gas utilities take step toward hydrogen future with DOE hub selectionsOct. 18 — More than a dozen gas utility operators were partners or potential beneficiaries of the $7 billion in DOE hydrogen hub funding. Should the hubs come to fruition, they would provide a source of low- and zero-carbon hydrogen for potential offtake, and they would open opportunities to transport the fuel through existing gas grids.
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FOX 26: ERCOT changes could mean more power outages; here’s why
FOX 26: ERCOT changes could mean more power outages; here’s whyOct. 18 — ERCOT has changed what triggers the grid’s Energy Emergency Action (EEA) levels.
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Taylor Press: ERCOT CEO gives update on winter
Taylor Press: Oct. 18: Electric Reliability Council of Texas is using new tools to prepare itself for the upcoming winter, CEO Pablo Vegas said.
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Inside Climate News: Texas Continues to Issue Thousands of Flaring Permits
Inside Climate News: Texas Continues to Issue Thousands of Flaring PermitsOct. 18 — State regulators raise doubts about natural gas flaring permits but rarely reject them. Advocates for reform say the permit process is a “rubber stamp” and that companies shouldn’t get a free pass to keep flaring indefinitely.