ERCOT officials spent 40 seconds on winter storm preparedness at Feb. 9 meeting – Austin American-Statesman

During their last meeting ahead of the winter storm that left millions of Texans without electricity and potable water for days on end, top officials at the state electric grid operator spent less than one minute discussing the impending storm and whether the state was prepared.

Bill Magness, president and chief executive officer of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, spoke briefly about the winter weather during his report to the board at the Feb. 9 meeting, the only mention of the incoming storm during the public portion of the virtual meeting, which spanned two hours, 28 minutes.

Magness spoke about the approaching cold front for about 40 seconds:

“It is actually going to be winter here pretty soon. As those of you in Texas know, we do have a cold front coming this way. We’ll probably see our winter peak later this week or in the very early part of next week. And Operations has issued an operating condition notice just to make sure everyone is up to speed with their winterization and we’re ready for the several days of pretty frigid temperatures to come our way.

“So more on that in the next couple of days, but it does look like we’ll have a little bit of winter weather to contend with during the course of the rest of this week. We do have a cold front coming this way.”

More:Explaining Austin’s power outages amid an unprecedented cold snap

More:Is ERCOT a government agency? Answers to 5 questions about the group that operates Texas’ power grid.

Millions without power

When the front arrived, it brought subfreezing temperatures, ice and snow. On Sunday evening, major generation units begin failing in rapid succession, and early Monday morning, operators at ERCOT ordered a series of rolling blackouts intended to protect the electric grid from a catastrophic failure that could have lasted for months.

But instead of rolling blackouts, millions of Texans were left without power for days. ERCOT on Friday ended its emergency conditions and reported that operations had “returned to normal,” five days after the blackouts started.

ERCOT has come under fire from state leaders and residents alike. Gov. Greg Abbott designated reform of the operator as an emergency item for lawmakers to tackle during this year’s legislative session, in addition to power system winterization.

More:Abbott: ‘I’m taking responsibility for the current status of ERCOT’

As recently as one month ago, operators at ERCOT offered a positive assessment about the preparedness of Texas power plants for winter storms, according to an American-Statesman report.

In an Extreme Weather Reliability Assessment filed Jan. 15 with the Texas Public Utility Commission, ERCOT wrote that a “review of plants indicates that the majority of plants are following their weatherization plans.”

Pete Warnken, ERCOT’s manager of resource adequacy, said in the council’s Seasonal Assessment for Resource Adequacy prepared in November: “We studied a range of potential risks under both normal and extreme conditions … and believe there is sufficient generation to adequately serve our customers.”

More:ERCOT said grid was prepared for winter weeks before Texas power crisis

ERCOT board leadership

The agenda for the Feb. 9 ERCOT meeting did not include discussion of weatherization or the impending winter storm, as first reported by KSAT-TV, San Antonio’s ABC affiliate.

During the meeting, members approved minor consent agenda items and heard reports from ERCOT’s Finance and Audit Committee and the Human Resources and Governance Committee, in addition to remarks by Magness.

It also included nominations and elections of a new chair and vice chair for the ERCOT Board of Directors.

More:Why is Texas the only state with its own power grid?

Sally Talberg, a former state utility regulator from Michigan, was elected to serve as chairwoman of the board and joked during the meeting that she has “large cowboy boots” to fill as she assumes her new position.

Source Article from https://www.statesman.com/story/news/environment/2021/02/19/winter-storm-texas-ercot-officials-spent-40-seconds-preparedness-meeting/4507805001/

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ERCOT officials spent 40 seconds on winter storm preparedness at Feb. 9 meeting – Austin American-Statesman

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