ERCOT announces proposal to increase energy supply ahead of winter months
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) announced a proposal to increase their energy reserves as they prepare for greater demand this winter.
A report determined the state’s energy supply could be unacceptably low during peak hours in the winter. Now, they’re proposing to add up to 3,000 megawatts in energy supply, enough to power 2.25 million new homes.
Experts say the increase in supply will make the grid more reliable when demand is higher.
“If we anticipate increasing amount of demand, we will have to find resources to build more supply,” Le Xie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Texas A&M, said.
In preparation for another unusually cold winter, local power companies are also increasing their own energy supply.
“Through the last storm like that, we increased our power supply a little bit,” Pat McIntyre, energy coordinator at College Station Utilities, said.
According to McIntyre, doing this will prevent them from needing to buy more power from the market at the last minute, which can be expensive during colder weather. However, he said that any large costs to buy more power likely won’t be passed on to the consumer.
“We anticipate that if we have any storms in ‘24 or ‘23 that the same thing, that rates would not increase,” McIntyre said.
KBTX also reached out to Bryan Texas Utilities, who chose not comment.
