the Public Utility Commission, which regulates electricity in Texas, to make sure power generators prepared their infrastructure for extreme weather — those facilities have since been weatherized. They also instructed the PUC to find a way to keep lights on when wind and solar energy production lag.The PUC unanimouslywhat it calls the performance credit mechanism.
Here electricity is bought and sold in an energy-only market. This means that power generators are paid for what they produce. A nonprofit called the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, operates the grid and facilitates these transactions. That’s what nearly happened in February 2021, when people cranked up their heaters to ward off subfreezing temperatures as the unusually cold weather knocked power producers offline. Natural gas-fueled plants in particular hadenough gas from natural gas producers battling power outages, icy roads and frozen equipment.
Industrial shutdowns: ERCOT can now pay industrial and commercial customers to shut down sooner ahead of an emergency to lower demand on the grid. Power generators said the additional income would prompt them to build enough gas plants to add 4,500 megawatts to the grid. Another executive announced that his renewable energy company would be encouraged to increase its battery storage system development if the credits are adopted.