What is the history of the ERCOT brand?
History ERCOT brand used until 2016. At the beginning of World War II, several electric utilities in Texas agreed to operate together as the Texas Interconnected System (TIS) to support the war effort.
What is the ERCOT grid?
As the independent system operator for the region, ERCOT schedules power on an electric grid that connects more than 52,700+ miles of transmission lines and 1,030+ generation units, including Private Use Networks.
Who are ERCOT members?
ERCOT's members include consumers, electric cooperatives, generators, power marketers, retail electric providers, investor-owned electric utilities (transmission and distribution providers), and municipally owned electric utilities. Power demand in the ERCOT region is highest in summer, primarily due to air conditioning use in homes and businesses.
Who oversees ERCOT?
ERCOT is governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Legislature. [52] [13] The PUC has primary jurisdiction over activities conducted by ERCOT. Three PUC commissioners, including the chair, are appointed by the governor of Texas. [53]
Where is the ERCOT grid located?
Facilities. ERCOT's operations activities are headquartered in Taylor, about 25 miles northeast of Austin in an 85,000-square-foot operations center and additional 75,000-square-foot facility. An additional backup operations center is located in Bastrop.
Who is ERCOT owned by?
ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.
What companies are part of ERCOT?
The scope of the ERCOT grid is massive: the organization manages electric delivery for over 24 million Texan homes and businesses, relying on a power grid that spans over 46,500 miles....Texas Electricity + ERCOTAEP Texas Central.AEP Texas North.CenterPoint.Oncor.TNMP.
What area of Texas does ERCOT cover?
The ERCOT region encompasses about 75 percent of the area in Texas, including the urban load centers of Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and Austin, as well as most of West Texas, portions of the Panhandle and the Rio Grande Valley.
Why is Texas not part of the national power grid?
By not crossing state lines, the synchronous power grid is in most respects not subject to federal (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) regulation. All of the electric utilities in the Texas Interconnection are electrically tied together during normal system conditions and operate at a synchronous frequency of 60 Hz.
Is ERCOT all of Texas?
Minor interconnections exist, but they lack the capacity for large-scale energy trade with neighboring states. Texas has four power grids in operation, but ERCOT covers 75% of the state territory and 90% of the population. Some western areas of Texas are covered by the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC).
Who controls the power grid?
the Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionQ: How is electricity regulated? A: The Federal government, through the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission , regulates interstate power sales and service. State governments, through their public utility commissions or equivalent, regulate retail electric service as well as facility planning and siting.
Where does Texas get its electricity?
Generation, Demand and Capacity. Early power plants produced electricity primarily from coal, steam or hydroelectric energy. Today, Texas still generates electricity from some of these traditional sources but increasingly relies on natural gas as well as renewable resources, primarily wind.
Who owns Texas electric?
TXU Energy's parent company, Vistra Energy, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 10, 2017.
What is the biggest utility company in the US?
1. PG&E, CA. Pacific Gas & Electric Company of California claims the title of nation's largest utility with more than 5.5 million customers across California.
Can Texas get power from other states?
Texas relies on a separate power grid from the two larger national grids and is in most respects not subject to federal regulation. The state can draw a very limited amount of power from out-of-state sources.
Where is the Texas power grid located?
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) operates the electric grid for 75 percent of the state. The Panhandle, South Plains and a corner of Northeast Texas are under the Southwest Power Pool (SPP).
Is ERCOT privately owned?
ERCOT is a membership-based 501(c)(4) nonprofit corporation, governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Texas Legislature.
Who owns Texas electric?
TXU Energy's parent company, Vistra Energy, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 10, 2017.
Where does ERCOT get its power?
According to ERCOT, nearly half of Texas' electricity was generated by natural gas-fired power plants in 2019....Exhibit 2: Texas Electricity Generation by Fuel, 2019.FuelGWh GeneratedShare of TotalNatural Gas181,77047.4 %Coal77,85720.3 %Wind76,70820.0 %Nuclear41,31410.8 %5 more rows
Who is the CEO of ERCOT?
Vegas becomes ERCOT's first permanent chief executive in 16 months, since former CEO Bill Magness was fired in the aftermath of the February 2021 power grid disaster, when a strong winter storm left millions of Texans without power for days after freezing temperatures shut down natural gas facilities and power plants, ...
What is an ercot?
ercot.com. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. ( ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas 's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) ...
When was ERCOT formed?
In 1970, ERCOT was formed to comply with NERC requirements.
How many miles of transmission lines does ERCOT have?
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.
When is the peak hour for electric in the ERCOT region?
The ERCOT region's all-time record peak hour occurred on August 12, 2019, when consumer demand hit 74,820 MW.
Is ERCOT mandatory in Texas?
ERCOT and its regulator, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, failed to adopt a mandatory standard for preparing electricity infrastructure for such occurrences (winterization), despite recommendations from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).
What Does ERCOT Do?
ERCOT does many things, but all in the service of two primary objectives:
How is ERCOT Funded?
As of April 2021, ERCOT states that it is funded by a System Administration Fee of 55.5¢ per megawatt-hour (MWh), which is 0.0555¢ per kilowatt-hour (kWh). For most Texans, this means around 50-60¢ of your electricity bill is going to fund ERCOT every month.
Is ERCOT a non profit?
ERCOT is a non-profit corporation defined by section 501 (c) (4) of the Internal Revenue Code. It is membership-based, governed by a directorate board, and is subject to oversight by the Texas legislature and the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC).
Is Texas interconnection regulated by ERCOT?
The Texas Interconnection, which is regulated by ERCOT, does not fall within the jurisdiction of federal oversight since no section of its transmission network falls beyond the state’s borders. Given that it has no connections to the other two major grids, ERCOT and other state-based electric transmission agencies can operate their grid any way they see fit.
Overview
The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc. (ERCOT) is an American organization that operates Texas's electrical grid, the Texas Interconnection, which supplies power to more than 25 million Texas customers and represents 90 percent of the state's electric load. ERCOT is the first independent system operator (ISO) in the United States and one of nine ISOs in North America. ER…
History
At the beginning of World War II, several electric utilities in Texas agreed to operate together as the Texas Interconnected System (TIS) to support the war effort. 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 f…
Governance
ERCOT is governed by a board of directors and subject to oversight by the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) and the Texas Legislature.
The PUC has primary jurisdiction over activities conducted by ERCOT. Three PUC commissioners, including the chair, are appointed by the governor of Texas.
The ERCOT organization is governed by a board of directors made up of independent members…
See also
• Deregulation of the Texas electricity market
• List of power stations in Texas
• Energy in Texas
Related Energy Entities
• Energy Information Administration (EIA)
Further reading
• "Report on Outages and Curtailments during the Southwest Cold Weather Event of February 1-5, 2011 - Causes and Recommendations" (PDF). Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. August 2011. 357 pages.
External links
• ERCOT website
• Real-time price map
• Real-time grid status
• Assessing climate sensitivity of peak electricity load for resilient power systems planning and operation: A study applied to the Texas region