Improving the Texas energy grid - accountability of ERCOT and the State of Texas
The Issue
For at least the last ten years, ERCOT, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas, and the private utility companies that it manages, have refused to undertake recommended winterization protocols at their energy plants. Recently they claimed that they were ready for any winter storm. The massive losses of power in our state this week beginning on February 14th and 15th would say otherwise. These outages have been predicted for years, and yet action has not been taken.
The state of Texas, in its attempt to maintain the competitiveness of our deregulated system, has not allowed power generators to invest and improve. There has been little to no infrastructure improvements of our state’s energy grid, and as a result, our grid has revealed its weaknesses in the last week.
Additionally, the state does not maintain capacity markets, which are a way to pay for resources to be available to meet peak electricity demand at some point in the future. These capacity markets also make it possible to keep prices manageable and affordable.
This petition requests that:
1. Previous profit margins for the last ten years for any and all of the private utilities in Texas be reduced and potentially reversed to cover the current costs experienced by the general public. No predatory increases should be passed on to the customer due to their avoidance of recommendations and lack of action.
2. There must be a mandate to winterize all power plants in Texas in future years so that this never happens again.
3. Due to the presence of the word Reliability in the name of ERCOT, if service is disrupted for less than one day due to a foreseeable, predicted problem or failure of management and planning, a credit will be issued to the customer to cover one day of energy usage. If the power outage lasts more than one day, the customer will be credited for the week. There must be accountability and standards that best serve the citizens of Texas.
4. Create a standard of qualifications for those appointed to ERCOT, including identifying a clear distribution of expertise (utility engineers specializing in all power sources, their storage and distribution, software designers, data managers, efficiency managers, grid designers, safety managers, and economic/financial planners, etc). Additionally identify a a focus group/committee made up of Texas residents that are allowed to comment to and partner directly with the board.
5. Money must be allocated by the state to improve the infrastructure of our energy grid. Our current system virtually failed. The threat to our population must be protected.
6. Money must also be allocated by the state to maintain capacity markets and keep costs low for the consumer.
7. Efforts must be made to increase the efficiency of our power plants and bring our systems into the 22nd century.
The Issue
For at least the last ten years, ERCOT, the Energy Reliability Council of Texas, and the private utility companies that it manages, have refused to undertake recommended winterization protocols at their energy plants. Recently they claimed that they were ready for any winter storm. The massive losses of power in our state this week beginning on February 14th and 15th would say otherwise. These outages have been predicted for years, and yet action has not been taken.
The state of Texas, in its attempt to maintain the competitiveness of our deregulated system, has not allowed power generators to invest and improve. There has been little to no infrastructure improvements of our state’s energy grid, and as a result, our grid has revealed its weaknesses in the last week.
Additionally, the state does not maintain capacity markets, which are a way to pay for resources to be available to meet peak electricity demand at some point in the future. These capacity markets also make it possible to keep prices manageable and affordable.
This petition requests that:
1. Previous profit margins for the last ten years for any and all of the private utilities in Texas be reduced and potentially reversed to cover the current costs experienced by the general public. No predatory increases should be passed on to the customer due to their avoidance of recommendations and lack of action.
2. There must be a mandate to winterize all power plants in Texas in future years so that this never happens again.
3. Due to the presence of the word Reliability in the name of ERCOT, if service is disrupted for less than one day due to a foreseeable, predicted problem or failure of management and planning, a credit will be issued to the customer to cover one day of energy usage. If the power outage lasts more than one day, the customer will be credited for the week. There must be accountability and standards that best serve the citizens of Texas.
4. Create a standard of qualifications for those appointed to ERCOT, including identifying a clear distribution of expertise (utility engineers specializing in all power sources, their storage and distribution, software designers, data managers, efficiency managers, grid designers, safety managers, and economic/financial planners, etc). Additionally identify a a focus group/committee made up of Texas residents that are allowed to comment to and partner directly with the board.
5. Money must be allocated by the state to improve the infrastructure of our energy grid. Our current system virtually failed. The threat to our population must be protected.
6. Money must also be allocated by the state to maintain capacity markets and keep costs low for the consumer.
7. Efforts must be made to increase the efficiency of our power plants and bring our systems into the 22nd century.
The Decision Makers
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Petition created on February 18, 2021