Vistra Corp.’s Midlothian power plant. The Public Utility Commission of Texas is recommending changes to the state’s electricity market that aim to ensure a more reliable power supply during extreme weather events like the February 2021 winter storm that caused widespread power outages in Texas.
If the idea is implemented, “this will be the first time … that the companies that sell power to households — who you send your check to when you pay your bill each month — this will be the first time they’re actually responsible for ensuring they can deliver that power,” said Peter Lake, chair of the Texas Public Utility Commission, the board that regulates the state’s power grid operators.
The early heat in May didn’t trigger widespread power outages. But just over a year earlier, a February winter storm sent the state power grid close to collapse when demand suddenly spiked, triggering power outages that left millions of Texans without power or heat for days in subfreezing weather. Hundreds of people died and the fallout from the storm caused a wave of reforms by state lawmakers, the PUC and the grid operator — including the current push to overhaul the state energy market.
State officials have worked to find a fix that would make the grid more reliable without further driving up consumers’ electricity bills. Out of several options analyzed by E3, a California consulting firm, the “performance credit mechanism” fix seemed to gain favor among a majority of members on the five-member commission Thursday.